Interfaith Dialogue and Mystical Consciousness in India

Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo, the Hari-Hara Mystery, and the Hindu-Christian Encounter

Isaac Portilla

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040306260
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Hinduism

Interfaith Dialogue and Mystical Consciousness in India is a research inquiry in interfaith studies that uses hermeneutical phenomenology to address vexing issues arising in the study of mysticism and enlightened sages.

This book raises the following questions: If all human beings have access to mystical consciousness, and some do access it, how is it that only a few become luminary sages, displaying extraordinary power? What is the ethical responsibility of such sages? And how is the encounter among sages/mystics of different traditions contributing to the harmonious unfolding of religious diversity? The author provides original answers and a renewed vision of Hinduism through the lens of two of the most loved and admired sages of modern India—Sri Ramana Maharshi and Sri Aurobindo.

This book is a blueprint for transformative research on religion: it envisions an innovative method—integrative hermeneutical phenomenology—contributing to the development of interfaith mysticism. Bringing to the fore key themes such as Self-realization, the Hari-Hara mystery, and Mystic Fire, the author shows the importance of mystical experience in the understanding of the religious "Other" and the future of religion.

The book will be of interest to scholars and students of religious studies, inter-religious/interfaith studies, comparative religion/theology, and interfaith relations, and to thoughtful readers with an interest in Asia and spiritual practice. Those interested in the mysteries of India and Hindu spirituality will find in this book a pioneering analysis of Hindu mystical consciousness and the Christian encounter with it.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Endorsement Page
• Half Title page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Preliminary Sections
• Special Section: Toward an Integrative Hermeneutical Phenomenology
• 1 Sri Ramana Maharshi and Sri Aurobindo in Context
• 2 Sri Ramana Maharshi and Sri Aurobindo: An Inquiry Focused on Mystical Experience
• 3 The Hari-Hara Mystery and Other Intra-Hindu Explorations
• 4 Hindu-Christian Interfaith Explorations
• 5 Existential Interfaith: A Practical Framework
• Conclusions
• Note on Texts
• Sanskrit Transliteration
• Index