Mystical Wayfaring in the Vedanta Tradition and Catholic Religion Based on Shankara’s Tattvabodha and Vivekachudamani and Bonaventure’s A Soul’s Journey into God
Subject Areas : New analyses and findings in the field or Oriental wisdomHamid Khosravani 1 , Rasoul Rasoulipour 2
1 - PhD Candidate of Kalam, Shahid Motahari University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Associate Professor, Philosophy Department, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Keywords: Shankara, Bonaventure, Advaita Vedanta, Christian theology, Mind, sense,
Abstract :
This paper, following a descriptive-analytical method, provides a comparative analysis of two spiritual systems: Shankara's six essences in the Vedanta tradition and Bonaventure's six spiritual exercises in Christian theology. Both systems seek human perfection and the knowledge of absolute truth, and their goal is to guide the individual towards union with absolute truth. The main question here is to examine the similarities and differences between these two systems regarding their structure, stages, and goals, despite their specific contexts and perspectives. The importance of the present study lies in identifying the commonalities and differences between these two mystical systems, as it can contribute to a deeper understanding of the shared dimensions of spiritual experiences in religious traditions and explore how these systems adapt to the spiritual challenges of contemporary humanity. This comparison can also serve as a bridge for intercultural and interreligious dialogues and interactions. This research aims to make a comparative analysis between Shankara’s six ascetic methods and soul purification and Bonaventure's six spiritual exercises to clarify their overlaps and differences in methodology, goals, and approaches. It has been tried to accomplish this task by investigating certain texts such as Shankara’s Tattvabodha and Vivekachudamani and Bonaventure’s works.
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