Everyone is searching for everlasting happiness. Yet, none can find it by pursuit; at the same time, none can stop the pursuit. This seems to be the tragedy of human life—nay, the life of every being. Every pursuit is limited space-wise, time-wise and object-wise. Any pursuit that is limited cannot give everlasting happiness. Some promise eternal happiness after death if one follows their path. Yet, no one has returned to claim that they achieved it by following that path. One sage declares that ‘truth is a pathless land’. Vedanta ascertains that the truth is beyond the space-time-object-wise limitations, and you are that truth–tat tvam asi. The journey beyond space and time limitations is the central theme of the discussions in this text.

The aim of this book is to study certain meditation methods followed not only by religious traditions or metaphysical movements that are still alive nowadays like Advaita Vedanta, Kabbalah (within the Jewish tradition), Christianity or Islam (particularly Sufism), but also practiced by other currents or schools that, even though already gone, significantly influenced the West. This is the case of Neoplatonism or Stoicism, whose influence was felt by ancient and medieval Christianity, or Greco-Egyptian Hermetism, which played an important role in the European cultural Renaissance from the 15th century on. A special consideration has been given to Christian tradition, introducing some of the most representative authors of recollection and their meditation methods. Este libro tiene por finalidad el estudio de ciertos métodos de meditación seguidos no solo por tradiciones religiosas o movimientos metafísicos que continúan vivos actualmente como el vedanta advaita, la cábala (en la tradición judía), el cristianismo o el islám (particularmente el sufismo), sino practicados también por otras corrientes o escuelas que, aunque ya desaparecidas, influyeron significativamente en Occidente. Es el caso del neoplatonismo o del estoicismo cuya influencia se dejó sentir en el cristianismo antiguo y medieval, o del hermetismo greco-egipcio que tuvo un papel destacado en el Renacimiento cultural europeo a partir del siglo XV. Especial consideración se ha dado a la tradición cristiana mostrando algunos de los autores más representativos del recogimiento y de su método de meditación.

When we see something, instantaneously a thought forms in the mind. Objective Scientists have no tools to evaluate how the sensory input about the perceived object is transformed into thought in the mind. This aspect has been analyzed by our Vedic scholars. Dharmaraja Advarindra of the 17th century presented in his book ‘Vedanta Paribhasha’, how they analyzed this problem. This book provides a critical analysis of Vedanta Paribhasha dealing with how knowledge takes place in the mind from the perspective of a scientist and a Vedantin.

All objective sciences deal with the objectifiable entities and ignore in the process the very subject, who is doing the analysis. This book deals with the limitations of the objective sciences and also discusses how to prepare the mind so that it can see the truth. Transcending Science, therefore, involves how to transcend the subject-object duality, using the Yoga-Sastra discussed in the Gita and the Upanishads, and how to abide in the knowledge by overcoming all the mental obstacles that arise in the process. This forms the very purpose of life itself.

All scriptures declare that the Lord is omnipresent. Scripture says ‘tvam eva mataa..’, you are the mother, you are the father.. ultimately, you are everything. Seeing the Lord involves recognizing the Lord in the form of the mother, father, teacher, and then in every form. This book evolves with that vision, with salutations to mother, father, teacher, and with the vision of the Lord in and through the whole creation. This understanding culminates with the Self and the Supreme becoming one through the Advaitic Teaching. The evolution of the Self to become one with the Supreme forms the essence of this book.

A questioning mind always wants to know the underlying truth in all aspects of our life. It will not stop until it finds a satisfying answer. The desire to know forms the fundamental pursuit of life until the mind discovers the absolute truth, knowing there is nothing more to know. In all objective sciences, the more one knows, the more he recognizes that there is much more to know. Hence, the thirst for knowledge will never end. In contrast, a Vedantic student approaches a teacher and asks, ‘Sir, Please teach me that knowing which I will know everything.’; The teacher was happy to teach that substratum, that absolute truth that forms the foundation for everything. This book presents a variety of questions asked by seekers of divergent backgrounds on Quora, and the author answers all from the perspective of scientific and absolute truth.

While phenomenology and Yogacara Buddhism are both known for their investigations of consciousness, there exists a core tension between them: phenomenology affirms the existence of essence, whereas Yogacara Buddhism argues that everything is empty of essence (svabhava). How is constructive cultural exchange possible when traditions hold such contradictory views? Answering this question and positioning both philosophical traditions in their respective intellectual and linguistic contexts, Jingjing Li argues that what Edmund Husserl means by essence differs from what Chinese Yogacarins mean by svabhava, partly because Husserl problematises the substantialist understanding of essence in European philosophy. Furthermore, she reveals that Chinese Yogacara has developed an account of self-transformation, ethics and social ontology that renders it much more than simply a Buddhist version of Husserlian phenomenology. Detailing the process of finding a middle ground between the two traditions, this book demonstrates how both can thrive together in order to overcome Orientalism.