About the Book
A serial of lectures on Indian philosophy as delivered by Swami Sri Ananda Acharya, in 1916, at the University of Stockholm in Sweden constitutes the contents of the present book. It contains six chapters named as First Evening. Second Evening, etc. so as to indicate the contents thereof in the form of lectures. The First evening effectively serves the purpose of an introduction to the major philosophical systems of Vedic India. In the Second Evening the Theistic Realism as revealed in the Vaisesika-darśana of the sage Kanāda has been discussed at great length. The Third Evening treats, exhaustively, the Spiritual Naturalism as propounded by the sage Kapila in his Sankhya-darśana. In the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Evenings, the three mystic topics, namely, (1) Exi-stential import of Words, (2) Being and Knowing, and (3) Dreams and Beyond are interpreted. Besides these s chapters, short notes on as many as other relevant topics are also appended to the book. For the benefit of the readers an informative Foreword and a brief Biographical Sketch of the author have been included in the beginning of the book. Towards enhancing the reference-value of the volume an Index of important words has also been provided at the end.
Foreword
Swami Sri Ananda Acharya who spent the major part of his life in promoting world peace and harmony through the propagation of Indian philosophical and cultural ideals among the people of Norway and other West European countries was one of the little known but the most enligh-tened scholar-sages of modern India. He, the Maitreya Buddha as he is known among his followers in Europe, was born in an orthodox Brahmin family of Hooghly in West Bengal on December 29, 1881 and he attained the state of Nirvana by absorbing himself in the Eternal Spiritual Bliss at his cottage on the slopes of Mt. Tron in Norway on May 8, 1945, the day on which the armistice was signed marking the end of the Second World War. Thus, a staunch votary of universal peace and harmony calmly passed away on the same day, at the very same hour, when peace was declared in Europe. Indeed, it is a curious but fitting coincidence. As back as in 1957, our Institute had the privilege of publishing a book entitled Spiritual Talks, the contents thereof were culled, in the form of extracts arranged under different topical headings, from the major works of the late Swami Sri Ananda Acharya. Later on, in 1971, at the instance of Mr. Einar Beer of Norway, a most devoted disciple of the Swami Ji, the Institute decided to start a new spirituo-cultural series under the caption of Anandacharya Universal Series. In pursuance of this decision, with the financial help so dutifully extended by the said devout disciple of the Swami Ji, the Institute was able to publish, during 1971-74, four works of the late Swami Ji, to wit, (1) Karlima Rani or Lectures on Yoga, (2) Yoga of Conquest, (3) Snow-Birds and Other Poems, and (4) Arctic Swallows and Other Poems. These four books appeared in the aforesaid Series as its Nos. 1 to 4. And now, the Institute deems it again a privilege to issue the present book of the Swami Ji through the same Series as its No. 5. With a view to interpreting the spirituo-cultural values of the ancient India to the West, in 1911, at the young age of 30, Surendranath Boral, by which name Swami Sri Ananda Acharya was known then, left his motherland for ever and reached England after a voyage extending over a month. After staying in that country for a period of about three years, in 1914, he crossed over to the main Continent and came to Norway. Before settling per-manently in this "Land of the mid-night sun" from 1917 onwards, he toured extensively in Norway and Sweden delivering several serials of lectures on Indian philosophy at the leading Scandinavian Universities of Christiana and Oslo in Norway and of Stockholm and Uppsala in Sweden. One of such serials of lectures delivered at the University of Stockholm, in 1916, constitutes the contents of the present publication. This serial of lectures, in book-form, had first been published in Swedish language from Stockholm in 1917 and later on, an English version of the same was issued under the title Tattvajñānam: The Quest of Cosmic Consciousness from Alvdal (Norway) in 1921. The one which is being issued now, is the first Indian edition of the said English version of the book, in a revised form. The book contains six chapters named as First Evening, Second Evening, etc. so as to indicate the contents thereof in the form of lectures. The First Evening effec-tively serves the purpose of an introduction to the major philosophical systems of Vedic India. In the Second Evening, the Vaiśeşika-darśana or the Theistic realism of the sage Uluka, also known as Kanāda, has been discussed at great length.
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