A Modern Advaita-Vedāntin: Locating Swami Chinmayananda and His Understanding of Consciousness in the Context of Scripture and the Contemporary World
Apollo (University of Cambridge) March 1, 2016 Varun Khanna
This dissertation explores the nature of the Self as Consciousness through the lens of Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1993), a 20th-century philosopher of advaita-vedānta and Hindu guru. It draws on core Vedānta texts, the Upaniṣads, and the works of Śaṅkara (788-820 CE). The first two chapters provide a biography and analysis of Chinmayananda's life, noting how the struggle for India's independence influenced his interpretation. Chapters three and four analyze his philosophy as an intellectual biography, comparing his views with predecessors like Swami Vivekananda and Śaṅkara. The final chapter situates him within Hinduism's ongoing hermeneutical process across three strands: Hinduism and science, modernity, and diaspora configurations.