A Tradition of Teachers: Sankara (Shankaracharya) and the Jagadgurus Today

From the Jacket:

The uniqueness of the Indian guru rests upon the uniqueness of the Indian teaching tradition. Before anything else, the Hindu saint and spiritual guide are teachers of tradition. An understanding of a religious figure in India can be achieved only within the framework of the teaching tradition from which that individual has come.

The study selects one way of understanding the guru in classical Hindu life in the belief that this articulation offers something normative for an understanding of guru in the wider Indian development and History. Sankara has been selected because he identified with the scriptural tradition of Upanishads and the early Vedanta system. Moreover, Sankara’s conception of guru continued for 1200 years, even into our times.

The first part of this book is drawn from the texts that trace the role of guru and the guru-sisya relationship in the writing of Sankara. The second part of the book is an investigation of the five major acharyas of the Sankara tradition reigning during the last half of the twentieth century. Thus, the articulation of the guru in the writings of Sankara, in part one, is tested from the historical context among the Sankaracharyas of the recent past.

About the Author:

DR. WILLIAM CENKNER is the Katherine Drexel Professor of Religion at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He is the author of The Hindu Personality in Education: Tagore, Gandhi, and Aurobindo. He has also edited and authored, The Religious Quest; The Multicultural Church; and Evil and Response of world Religions. Having researched frequently in India, his teaching includes an Indian focus along with the religious traditions of East Asia. His articles appear in various American, European, and Asian Journals of religion and philosophy.