I would like to announce publication of my book ‘Answers… to the Difficult Questions’. It will be ‘in the shops’ (if you know of a shop that sells this sort of book) on March 27th.
All seekers encounter problems periodically. A question arises which appears to challenge the veracity of their chosen path. If an answer is not found quickly, there is a great danger that the particular teaching will be abandoned and another sought. I cannot speak for other teachings but I know that traditional Advaita has answers to all (seeker-related) questions. This book records the questions from hundreds of seekers over the years and the answers I gave. (I first invited questions to my website in 2005.) It would be surprising if your particular worries are not covered somewhere and it is likely that there will be answers to many questions that have not yet occurred to you! (If you have one which is not answered, contact me via the website!)
The questions that are covered (over 450) can be read here but there are several problems with doing this. Firstly, the questions here appear in the order in which they were asked; questions covering a particular topic could be anywhere. Secondly, my own understanding and knowledge has obviously increased over the 15 years since I first began answering questions. Accordingly, my answers to early questions may not be as informed as they would now be. Thirdly, there is no introductory or summary material for the various key topics in Advaita.
This book does not simply record the questions and answers as originally made. They are grouped into 7 sections and 57 sub-sections, and I provide additional introductory and clarifying material. Each section in the book begins with an introduction. This is then followed by the questions that have been asked, which relate to this topic. I retain the chronological numbering of the original questions so that reference back to the original material will still be possible but I have often reworded my answers or added additional comments in order to make them clearer. There may also be introductory material at the beginning of a sub-section. Finally, a summary of the key points is provided at the end of a section or sub-section, where this is considered to be helpful.
Most seekers picking up this book will already be familiar with most of these Sanskrit terminology so the answers (and sometimes the questions) often use these words without any explanation. For those readers who are not familiar, however, all terms are defined in the Glossary at the end of the book.
The topics and sub-topics that are covered are as follows:
What is Advaita
Teaching
Scriptures
Summary
Seeking the Truth
Other religions/philosophies
Neo-Vedanta
Direct Path
Satsang teachers
Neo-Advaita
Science
Art
The State of the Person
Emotions
Body
Mind and Thinking
Ego
Desire and Fear
Happiness
Suffering
Ignorance
States of consciousness
Meaning
The State of the world
Appearance
World
Creation
Summary
Good and evil
What we can do
Seeking
Preparation and Practice
Yogas
karma yoga
bhakti yoga
j~nAna yoga
Meditation
samAdhi
pramANa-s
Experience
Free Will
Introduction
Knowledge
The Teaching of Advaita
General points
General concepts
dharma
karma
Death and reincarnation
Ishvara
mAyA
Brahman
satyam and mithyA
Teaching Devices
Language and Sanskrit
Guru
Advice on teachers/scriptures
General comments and questions
Ramana Maharshi
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Ramesh Balsekar
Osho
Other Teachers
Summary
The Goal
Enlightenment
Some miscellaneous observations
Enlightened Man
Nature of Self
Reality
Summary
Links to pre-order the book are given below. The publisher has asked if anyone intending to buy it might place an order during February so as to raise the profile in the Amazon ‘popularity’ tables. Because the book is large (over 700 pages – I had suggested it be published in 3 parts), it is also expensive. The list price is £32.99 in the UK and $48.95 in the US. I would like to think it is worth it, however – a lot of effort went into answering each question! The Amazon price may, of course, be lower as they often offer a reduced price for advance orders. If you would prefer to purchase the E-Book version, this will undoubtedly be cheaper but it will not appear until sometime after the hardcopy version – I do not yet have a date for this.
Dear Dennis,
I’ve been browsing and delving into your book this weekend. It is a superb anthology, developed over so many years, of answers to questions, that any aspiring seeker is likely to have at some point or other. I even found one of my questions there!
I’d suggest it is not one to read cover to cover. Read the first chapter, and the very end – the final question ‘A simple summary of advaita’. And then delve into it as and when questions arise.
Thanks Dennis for the meticulous and patient work in putting this together. I’m sure many seekers on the Advaita path will find this really helpful.
Best wishes,
venkat
Dear Venkat,
Many thanks for that – comments much appreciated. (Posting this as an Amazon review would be even more appreciated!) I agree that ‘delving’ is the way to approach the book; way too much to read cover to cover.
Best wishes,
Dennis
Dennis
Thanks for the information. I have ordered this book on Amazon.