[Advaita-l] shaDdarhana and other unorthodox schools

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007, Ram Garib wrote:

> Pratyabhijna is Kashmir Shaivism. It is an orthodox
> system. As per mAdhvAcharya, it is an independent
> system, however modern scholars often treat it as a
> branch of Advaita Vedanta.
>

Like you said, the boundaries between the sects get blurry sometimes.  In
contemporary times one of the major exponents of Kashmiri Shaivism has
been Swami Muktananda who was initiated into Dashanami
(Advaita) sannyasa.  But on the merits of the concepts themselves I don't
think one can make the case that it is a branch of Advaita Vedanta.


> In contrast to western philosophy, where "unorthodox"
> means "atheist",  strands of theism and atheism cut
> across both the categories in indian philosophy.
>

Classical Samkhya is atheistic.  Purva Mimamsa is at best agnostic on the
question of God.  But it is interesting that this kind of thing is mostly
found in the older texts.  The trend has been increasing towards some kind
of theism though the Advaita and Nyaya concepts of God are quite different
from the typical "man in the sky" idea of God.

Another interesting trend in tradtional Indian philosophy is an increasing
preoccupation with linguistic and logical ideas to the detriment of other
branches of philosophy.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>