Author: Jiten Ruparel
Pages: 190
Year of Publication: 2015
Price: Rs 600
ISBN:
978-93-5045-096-3 (9789350450963)
About the Author:
Jiten Ruparel holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, an M.A.Sc. in Management Sciences, and a Ph.D. in International Technology Transfer. Specializing in the design and construction of nuclear power plants in the UK, Canada and the US between 1962 and 1996, he has worked at General Electric in India, Atomic Energy of Canada in Toronto, and American Electric Power in Columbus, Ohio. He taught at Ohio State University, Franklin University and Otterbein University between 1998 and 2010 and retired as Associate Professor of Business Policy and Strategy in June 2010.
Dr Ruparel’s father was a Vedantin associated with the Ramakrishna Mission in Kolkata, India, and his mother was a Krishna devotee. He studied Sanskrit at home and in school. He attended lectures of Swami Chinmayananda in Kolkata and Shivananda Yoga camps in Canada and the Bahamas. He completed a one-year yoga teacher’s training programme in Toronto in 1978 and a one-year residential Vedanta course conducted by Chinmaya Mission in Piercy, California, between August 2010 and July 2011. He was taught by Swamis Tejomayananda, Shantananda, Ishwarananda and Bodhatmananda, and many other teachers over the years.
Teaser:
With colour plates, tables and other visual aids, this book is an excellent resource on the Vedas. In his preface to the book, Dr Ruparel writes:
“This book is being written for emotionally mature men and women, regardless of age, who have an open mind and want to understand the wisdom of the Vedas and who have a rational, enquiring mind that is not totally satisfied by rituals and pronouncements, no matter how ancient and hallowed they may be. This book is about you, about me, about each one of us who has the courage and audacity to examine life lovingly, critically and dispassionately. The purpose of this book is to make you happy.
This book is suitable for those who have a nodding familiarity with the teachings of Vedānta. If you have read one or more Vedānta texts, it will help you connect the conceptual dots in your mind. It is an intermediate-level text. It will prepare you to go deeper into Vedānta, if that is what you decide to do.
This book is ideal for those of Hindu descent/background or those who were socialized in such a family environment. This book will benefit you if you have some exposure to an Indian language or are able to cope with Sanskrit Vedānta terminology that will be introduced, explained and only then used in this book.”
Contents:
PREFACE: Is This the Book for You? / 11
INTRODUCTION / 15
SECTION ONE: Vedic Background / 35
SECTION TWO: The Vision and Wisdom of the Rishis / 51
SECTION THREE: Related Topics / 133
EPILOGUE / 177
APPENDICES
1. Timeline of Indian Worldviews / 178
2. The Five Sheaths and the Three States / 179
3. Sequence of Apparent Creation / 180
Vedic Worship / 181
Personal Prayer / 182
Further Reading / 183
TABLES
1. How to Pronounce Transliterated Sanskrit / 13
2. The Three Gunas / 99
3. Relationship between the Elements and the Senses / 147
4. Sequential Manifestation of the Five Elements / 149
5. Microcosm and Macrocosm Terms / 176