Sankara and Heidegger : Being, Truth, Freedom

Contents: Preface. 1. Sankara and Heidegger - the quest. 2. Sankara. 3. Heidegger. 4. Some problems in Heidegger and Sankara. 5. Similarites and differences between Heidegger and Sankara. 6. Conclusion. Glossary. Bibliography.

"Is there a truth, somewhere, which is so certain that no reasonable individual could doubt its veracity? The excitement of this quest comes from the scent of freedom. Both Sankara and Heidegger erect a 'metaphysics of experience' upon the pillars of Being, Truth and Freedom. Metaphysics is concerned with a theory of reality while a 'metaphysics of experience' is a quest for Being qua Being. The comparative study of religion and philosophy will find that these two unique thinkers resonate together in an uncanny way even if they eventually come to different conclusions.

Sankara is the Indian master of this quest par excellence. His elucidation and insight into Being is unparalleled. As well, Heidegger is the Western philosopher who has come the closest to thinking Being in terms other than the terms of the 'categories of beings'. In fact, he may be the first Western philosopher to do so since the pre-Socratics."