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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} | {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} | ||
{{Infobox book | {{Infobox book | ||
| name = Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality | | name = Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality | ||
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}} | }} | ||
'''''Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna & Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion''''' is a book by Ayon Maharaj on [[Ramakrishna|Sri Ramakrishna]] and the philosophy of religion. | '''''Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna & Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion''''' is a book by Ayon Maharaj on [[Ramakrishna|Sri Ramakrishna]] and the philosophy of religion. | ||
The book was published in the [[United States|US]] and [[United Kingdom|UK]] in 2018 in hardcover. An Indian hardcover edition was published in 2019. The book has been reviewed in professional and popular journals | The book was published in the [[United States|US]] and [[United Kingdom|UK]] in 2018 in hardcover. An Indian hardcover edition was published in 2019. The book has been reviewed in professional and popular journals,<ref name=pandya19/><ref name=mehta19/><ref name=narasimhananda19/> and in 2021 was the focus of a fourteen-article book symposium in the ''[[International Journal of Hindu Studies]]''.<ref name=ijhs2021toc/> | ||
The author | |||
The book's author holds a doctorate in philosophy from the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. At the time of the of the book's original publication, the author was known as Ayon Maharaj, was a professor at [[Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute |Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University]], and was a monk-in-training. He subsequently became a fully ordained monk with the name Swami Medhananda.<ref name=medhananda2021reply>{{cite journal |last1=Medhananda |first1=Swami |title=Continuing the Philosophical Conversation on Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa: A Response |journal=International Journal of Hindu Studies |date=1 August 2021 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=141–164 |doi=10.1007/s11407-021-09300-z |s2cid=233356180 }}</ref><ref name=maharajfacpage>{{cite web |title=Faculty, Programme in Philosophy |url=http://philosophy.rkmvu.ac.in/faculty/ | access-date=18 March 2019 |publisher=[[Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute|Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University]] |location=[[Belur, West Bengal]], [[India]]}}</ref> He explained in his 2021 book symposium reply that "Prior to 2010, I published under my premonastic name 'Ayon Roy.' Since joining the Ramakrishna Order in 2010, I have published under the name 'Ayon Maharaj.' In February 2020, I was ordained into Sannyāsa and given the name 'Swami Medhananda,' so I am now publishing under my new name."<ref name=medhananda2021reply/>{{rp|141}} | |||
==Topics covered== | ==Topics covered== | ||
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In ''Infinite Paths'', Maharaj argues that "Ramakrishna's spiritual standpoint of [[Vijñāna#Hinduism|vijnana]] holds the key to understanding his nuanced position on religious diversity".<ref name=pandya19/> | In ''Infinite Paths'', Maharaj argues that "Ramakrishna's spiritual standpoint of [[Vijñāna#Hinduism|vijnana]] holds the key to understanding his nuanced position on religious diversity".<ref name=pandya19/> | ||
==Reception== | ==Reception== | ||
Reviews have appeared in ''[[Philosophy East and West]]'',<ref name=long20/> ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'',<ref name=pandya19/> ''[[The Indian Express]]'',<ref name=mehta19/> and ''Reading Religion'' | Reviews have appeared in ''[[Philosophy East and West]]'',<ref name=long20/> ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'',<ref name=pandya19/> ''[[The Indian Express]]'',<ref name=mehta19/> and ''Reading Religion'',<ref name=narasimhananda19>{{cite journal |last1=Narasimhananda|first1=Swami |title=Review Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality by Ayon Maharaj |journal=Reading Religion |date=16 September 2019 |doi=10.17613/n1v1-se30 |url=http://readingreligion.org/books/infinite-paths-infinite-reality}}</ref> and the ''[[Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies]]''.<ref name="beldio19">{{cite journal |last1=Beldio |first1=Patrick |title=Book Review: Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna & Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion |journal=[[Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies]] |date=2019 |volume=32 |pages=Article 17 |doi=10.7825/2164-6279.1743|url=https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1743&context=jhcs }}</ref> The book is the focus of a book review symposium published in the ''[[International Journal of Hindu Studies]]'' (2021, volume 25, pp. 55-164), that included thirteen scholarly commentaries on ''Infinite Paths'', followed by a reply from the book's author (Swami Medhananda, formerly Ayon Maharaj).<ref name=ijhs2021toc>''[[International Journal of Hindu Studies]]'', [https://link.springer.com/journal/11407/volumes-and-issues/25-1 Volume 25, Issues 1-2] (accessed 18 September 2021).</ref> | ||
In ''[[Philosophy East and West]]'', [[religious studies]] scholar [[Jeffery D. Long]] stated that | In ''[[Philosophy East and West]]'', [[religious studies]] scholar [[Jeffery D. Long]] stated that | ||
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In ''[[The Indian Express]]'', [[Pratap Bhanu Mehta]], Vice-Chancellor of [[Ashoka University]], characterized ''Infinite Paths'' as "a pathbreaking work... philosophically astute, textually scrupulous, and [an] imaginatively subtle reconstruction of Ramakrishna Paramhansa's teachings".<ref name=mehta19>{{cite news |last1=Mehta |first1=Pratap Bhanu |author-link1=Pratap Bhanu Mehta |title=The Seeker of Infinity |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/the-seeker-of-infinity-5619135/ |access-date=18 March 2019 |work=[[The Indian Express]] |date=10 March 2019 |language=en-IN}}</ref> Mehta views ''Infinite Paths'' as treating [Ramakrishna] as a "philosopher of unusual depth and consistency", and as defending | In ''[[The Indian Express]]'', [[Pratap Bhanu Mehta]], Vice-Chancellor of [[Ashoka University]], characterized ''Infinite Paths'' as "a pathbreaking work... philosophically astute, textually scrupulous, and [an] imaginatively subtle reconstruction of Ramakrishna Paramhansa's teachings".<ref name=mehta19>{{cite news |last1=Mehta |first1=Pratap Bhanu |author-link1=Pratap Bhanu Mehta |title=The Seeker of Infinity |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/the-seeker-of-infinity-5619135/ |access-date=18 March 2019 |work=[[The Indian Express]] |date=10 March 2019 |language=en-IN}}</ref> Mehta views ''Infinite Paths'' as treating [Ramakrishna] as a "philosopher of unusual depth and consistency", and as defending | ||
{{quote| | {{quote| | ||
Ramakrishna against the charge of an indiscriminate eclecticism on the one hand, or a covert hierarchy on the other. [The book] meticulously reconstructs Ramakrishna’s thought around four pillars: the nature of God’s infinitude, the nature of [[religious pluralism]], the epistemology of [[ | Ramakrishna against the charge of an indiscriminate eclecticism on the one hand, or a covert hierarchy on the other. [The book] meticulously reconstructs Ramakrishna’s thought around four pillars: the nature of God’s infinitude, the nature of [[religious pluralism]], the epistemology of [[Scholarly_approaches_to_mysticism#Mystical_experience|mystical experience]] and the [[problem of evil]]. In each of these four areas, Maharaj both advances an original interpretive thesis and brings Ramakrishna into a dialogue with comparative philosophy and religious practice.<ref name=mehta19/> | ||
}} | }} | ||
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{{quote| | {{quote| | ||
arrives at six central tenets of Sri Ramakrishna’s ''Vijñāna'' Vedanta. This is Maharaj’s singular contribution to Sri Ramakrishna scholarship. Through this approach, Maharaj gives his readers an excellent model for doing cross-cultural philosophy. In his interpretive principles, Maharaj holds that Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophy is self-contained, context-based, nonsectarian, spiritual, and syncretic. Maharaj argues that the central tenets of Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophy are the state of ''[[vijñāna]]'', the ultimate authority of spiritual experience, the statement that the Infinite Divine Reality is both personal and impersonal, the proclamation that there are two levels of [[Advaita Vedanta|Advaitic]] realization, the teaching that the ''vijñānī'' accepts both the ''nitya'' (real) and the ''[[Lila (Hinduism)|līlā]]'' (apparent), and the message that various religious paths are "salvifically efficacious paths to realizing God" (44).<ref name=narasimhananda19/> | arrives at six central tenets of Sri Ramakrishna’s ''Vijñāna'' Vedanta. This is Maharaj’s singular contribution to Sri Ramakrishna scholarship. Through this approach, Maharaj gives his readers an excellent model for doing cross-cultural philosophy. In his interpretive principles, Maharaj holds that Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophy is self-contained, context-based, nonsectarian, spiritual, and syncretic. Maharaj argues that the central tenets of Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophy are the state of ''[[vijñāna]]'', the ultimate authority of spiritual experience, the statement that the Infinite Divine Reality is both personal and impersonal, the proclamation that there are two levels of [[Advaita Vedanta|Advaitic]] realization, the teaching that the ''vijñānī'' accepts both the ''nitya'' (real) and the ''[[Lila (Hinduism)|līlā]]'' (apparent), and the message that various religious paths are "salvifically efficacious paths to realizing God" (44).<ref name=narasimhananda19/> | ||
}} | |||
The ''[[International Journal of Hindu Studies]]'' published a book review symposium on ''Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality'' in its issue of August 2021 (volume 25, numbers 1-2).<ref name=ijhs2021toc/> The symposium contained separate commentaries by Jonathan C. Gold, [[Jeffery D. Long]], Jonathan B. Edelmann, Michael S. Allen, [[Benedikt Paul Göcke]], Perry Schmidt-Leukel, [[Francis X. Clooney]], Christopher J. Bartley, [[Amiya P. Sen]], Ethan Mills, [[Arvind Sharma]], [[Julius Lipner]], and Michael Williams, followed by a reply<ref name=medhananda2021reply/> by the book's author, Swami Medhananda (formerly known as Ayon Maharaj). | |||
As part of Medhananda's response to the 13 commentators on his book, he contextualized his book as follows: | |||
{{quote| | |||
there are many ways to philosophize, and one typical way to do analytic philosophy is to stake out a philosophical position and defend it against rival positions. For instance, the renowned Catholic philosopher of religion [[Eleonore Stump]], in her book ''Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering'' (2010), provides a detailed interpretation of the [[theodicy]] of Saint [[Thomas Aquinas]] and defends its philosophical cogency and contemporary value. It would make little sense to fault Stump for having a Catholic bias or for failing to criticize Aquinas, since the aim of her book is precisely to defend his theodicy. The more rigorous and charitable way to engage her book is to examine her interpretation of Aquinas’s theodicy and identify the strengths and weaknesses of her philosophical arguments in support of his theodicy. My aims in ''IPIR'' parallel those of Stump. I attempted to reconstruct Ramakrsna's philosophical views on four key topics — namely, God, religious pluralism, mystical experience, and the problem of evil — and to argue, from a cross-cultural perspective, that his views have distinct advantages over rival positions held by recent Western philosophers of religion.<ref name=medhananda2021reply/>{{rp|145-146}} | |||
}} | }} | ||
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*{{cite book |last1=Maharaj |first1=Ayon |title=Infinite paths to infinite reality: Sri Ramakrishna and cross-cultural philosophy of religion. |date=2018 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780190868239 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVRuDwAAQBAJ |oclc=1079877496 |language=en}} | *{{cite book |last1=Maharaj |first1=Ayon |title=Infinite paths to infinite reality: Sri Ramakrishna and cross-cultural philosophy of religion. |date=2018 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780190868239 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVRuDwAAQBAJ |oclc=1079877496 |language=en}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Maharaj |first1=Ayon |title=Infinite paths to infinite reality: Sri Ramakrishna and cross-cultural philosophy of religion. |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press India |isbn=9780190053758 | *{{cite book |last1=Maharaj |first1=Ayon |title=Infinite paths to infinite reality: Sri Ramakrishna and cross-cultural philosophy of religion. |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press India |isbn=9780190053758 |language=en}} {{ISBN|0190053755}} | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||