From Duality to Nonduality: Sankhya & Nondualism Shaivism

By Vajragarbha Acharya

Book Overview

This book is the spiritual sequel to my earlier book, Contemporary Sankhya Philosophy: Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World (2021). In this previous work I write about Sankhya (Sāṅkhya, also spelled Sāṃkhya) philosophy not as an ancient Indian system, but as a path to freedom modern people can successfully follow and thereby attain liberation from suffering. However, I do not believe Sankhya has the final word on spiritual evolution. For many years I have studied and practiced the basic principles of Nondual Shaivism. Whereas Sankhya philosophy is squarely based on the fundamental metaphysically duality between puruṣa as pure witness consciousness and prakṛti as the material world, Nondual Shaivism is based on the essential nonduality of consciousness and the world.
Although the two systems seem completely incompatible, the Shaiva masters borrowed heavily from Sankhya and even incorporated the twenty-five principles (tattva) of Sankhya into their thirty-six principles model. In this way, Nondual Shaivism philosophically "encompassed" the Sankhya system. In fact, Sankhya is a necessary stage in spiritual evolution. First, one must realize the duality of Sankhya; then, one is able to approach the nonduality of the Shaivas. With this idea in mind, the current book first discusses the Sankhya path to liberation, and then investigates the path of Nondual Shaivism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B09MD6GHGD
• ISBN13: 9798776234194
• Release Date: November 2021
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"