This section is for newcomers to Vedanta.

Newcomers to Vedanta who have read a book or an article on Vedanta or Yoga, or have attended a lecture or two at a Vedanta Center, may find the subject abstract and difficult to understand. This section, appropriately titled Vedanta 101, intends to serve the needs of such spiritual aspirants. In this section we present:

• Vedanta and Hinduism - An Introduction
• How Vedanta Came to the West

This introduction, a thirty-eight page article titled Hinduism and How it is Transmitted by Swami Tathagatananda was first published in Religious Pluralism and Religious Education, ed. Norma Thompson, (Religious Education Press, Birmingham, AL, USA, 1988). The articles was reprinted later with permission in Swami's book Meditation on Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, (pp. 1-38). We present this article in thirteen chapters for newcomers to Vedanta and first-time viewers of this site.
 

Suggested books for further study:

1. Vedanta - A Simple Introduction, by Pravrajika Vrajaprana
2. The Wishing Tree, by Christopher Isherwood.
3. Living Wisdom, edited by Pravrajika Vrajaprana
4. The Essentials of Hinduism, by Swami Bhaskarananda

To purchase these books, please visit Vedanta Society of New York, or contact us at 212-877-9197, email: VedantaSoc@aol.com.

For contact information of other Vedanta Centers nearest you, please click here.
 

Under this title, we present an eight-part article, The Bhagavad-Gita Casts its Spell on the West by Swami Tathagatananda. The article is based on his book Journey of the Upanishads to the West.