Great stuff, subscribed! Never saw ontological and phenomenological dualism so clearly distinguished.
Minor nitpicks:
As you yourself say that Ramanuja probably wouldn't agree with Barth on everything; my impression is that Ramanuja only wants to qualify non-dualism to the extent of preserving the "I-thou" relationship with God, instead of the unity that Shankara proposes. But AFAIK mainstream Christianity never gives up the "I-thou" relationship, so wouldn't all or most of Christianity fall on Ramanuja's side? We might have two completely different "theological dualisms" here.
Also, reports of Yogacara's death are slightly exaggerated, if you look under the veil of "shentong" in Nyingma/Kagyu Tibetan Buddhism you'll find it right there :)
Excellent point on Ramanuja vis-a-vis Christianity. I, too, would think that Christian theology would have to prefer Ramanuja over Shankara on the basic relationship of God/the One to the individual person. Of course, there are other options too, especially the straight-up Dvaita school of Vedanta.
Interestingly, though, Bede Griffiths, a Benedictine monk who lived in India about half his life and dedicated himself to Hindu/Christian dialogue, presents a more nuanced picture in his aptly named Vedanta and Christian Faith. He prefers to draw from Shankara, Ramanuja, and at least two other Vedanta philosophers together, seeing some elements within each that would be of value to Christian theology. I definitely recommend this book.
I have actually just begun a short series on theological language—the first post just went up today. In Part 3, I will be exploring the I-Thou relationship between the individual and God, and I will suggest that it might not be so cut and dry as it first seems. I'd love to hear your comments on it, when it arrives! Part 1 is here: https://phenomenologyeastandwest.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-talking-about-god
Oh, and also: I'm glad to hear the Yogacara is still in force! It was definitely the philosophical school within Buddhist thought that interested me most when I took a course in that in grad school. I will have to look into those traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
Many thanks for this. I am currently reading The Face of Truth by Lipner (per your recommendation) and so am digging more into Ramanuja. I am definitely interested in how the "qualified" monist schools compare to each other. Ramanuja, for example, seems keen to taken down the Bhedabheda school, even though at first glance it seems rather close to his own position.
Great stuff, subscribed! Never saw ontological and phenomenological dualism so clearly distinguished.
Minor nitpicks:
As you yourself say that Ramanuja probably wouldn't agree with Barth on everything; my impression is that Ramanuja only wants to qualify non-dualism to the extent of preserving the "I-thou" relationship with God, instead of the unity that Shankara proposes. But AFAIK mainstream Christianity never gives up the "I-thou" relationship, so wouldn't all or most of Christianity fall on Ramanuja's side? We might have two completely different "theological dualisms" here.
Also, reports of Yogacara's death are slightly exaggerated, if you look under the veil of "shentong" in Nyingma/Kagyu Tibetan Buddhism you'll find it right there :)
Skaladon,
Excellent point on Ramanuja vis-a-vis Christianity. I, too, would think that Christian theology would have to prefer Ramanuja over Shankara on the basic relationship of God/the One to the individual person. Of course, there are other options too, especially the straight-up Dvaita school of Vedanta.
Interestingly, though, Bede Griffiths, a Benedictine monk who lived in India about half his life and dedicated himself to Hindu/Christian dialogue, presents a more nuanced picture in his aptly named Vedanta and Christian Faith. He prefers to draw from Shankara, Ramanuja, and at least two other Vedanta philosophers together, seeing some elements within each that would be of value to Christian theology. I definitely recommend this book.
I have actually just begun a short series on theological language—the first post just went up today. In Part 3, I will be exploring the I-Thou relationship between the individual and God, and I will suggest that it might not be so cut and dry as it first seems. I'd love to hear your comments on it, when it arrives! Part 1 is here: https://phenomenologyeastandwest.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-talking-about-god
Oh, and also: I'm glad to hear the Yogacara is still in force! It was definitely the philosophical school within Buddhist thought that interested me most when I took a course in that in grad school. I will have to look into those traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
Many thanks for this. I am currently reading The Face of Truth by Lipner (per your recommendation) and so am digging more into Ramanuja. I am definitely interested in how the "qualified" monist schools compare to each other. Ramanuja, for example, seems keen to taken down the Bhedabheda school, even though at first glance it seems rather close to his own position.