Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Volume 6 Article 18

January 1993

Book Review: "Theology After : An Experiment in Comparative Theology"

Harold Coward

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Recommended Citation Coward, Harold (1993) "Book Review: "Theology After Vedanta: An Experiment in Comparative Theology"," Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol. 6, Article 18. Available at: https://doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1087

The Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies is a publication of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. The digital version is made available by Digital Commons @ Butler University. For questions about the Journal or the Society, please contact [email protected]. For more information about Digital Commons @ Butler University, please contact [email protected]. Coward: Book Review: "Theology After Vedanta: An Experiment in Comparative Theology" 56 Book Reviews

Theology After Vedanta: An Experiment in Comparative Theology. Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993, XVIII+265pp., $14.95 paper, $44.50 hardcover.

THIS IS A TRULY original and important approach to doing comparative theology. book. It shows that people live from the This chapter is so insightful that it could well world of scripture rather than from the be used as a text for students studying dogmas that scripture may generate. It is also comparative methodology.· It is in tune with a most original and successful experiment in modem hermeneutics in that Clooney's focus comparative theology. Clooney's aim is 'the throughout is on 'how learning, writing and delineation of a better way that is more true knowledge follow from patient reading practical, more engaged in texts and in the .. .' (p.2). A method for balancing an engage­ concreteness of multiple theological ment of an 'other' tradition through reading traditions ... ' (p.2). What is offered is nothing and through the reappraisal of one's own short of a new way of doing theology which position is outlined. Clooney's comparative is at once comparative and based upon the theology moves one beyond the mere careful reading of scriptures and com­ cataloguing of different traditions for their mentaries. The comparative aspect is focused similarities or differences. It pushes one to on the Hindu commentarial grapple with questions of the truth of one's tradition which is read together with the own or of others' knowledge of God - this is Christian Summa Theologiae of Thomas what makes his method 'theological'. But the Aquinas. motivation is not to see whose truth wins out, What Clooney offers is more than rather 'comparative theology' aims at the simply a comparison, it is also a sensitive rereading and rewriting of one's own truth and original exploration of how in such a from the outside perspective of another study the reader moves from the status of tradition - in this case the rewriting of 'observer' to 'participant' and the impact of Catholic theology from the reading of the this shift upon one's experience of truth. A Summa in the context of Advaita. This is not further contribution is Clooney's clear an easy method, for it requires of the theo­ demonstration that, contrary to most scholar­ logian the hard linguistic and Indological ship on Advaita Vedanta, what Sankara study necessary for a credible reading of the offers us is not philosophy but theology - a Advaita texts. But unlike much Indological theology deeply embedded in an exegetical or and Religious Studies methodology, commentarial tradition. In his analysis Clooney's approach is 'throughout invested Clooney gives us a fresh presentation of the with the dimension of faith. As he observes, content, character and soteriology of Advaita 'The faith of the inquirer cannot be separated Vedanta (chapters 2-4). The concluding from the faith claims of the inquirer's chapter is devoted to the reflective compari­ community; this faith is explicitly at issue in son of this new understanding of Advaita the comparative exercise, as much as a with the Summa of Aquinas resulting in an concern for truth that may emerge and claim enriched understanding of the latter. In short the scholar more or less profoundly during the end result is a rethinking and rewriting of the project of comparison' (p.8). Thus Christian theology after a close reading of Clooney distinguishes the study of religion Advaita Vedanta. and its goal of syllpathetically understanding In Chapter One the author sets out in another religion from the goal of comparative systematic fashion the key elements of his theology which aims at a critical restating of

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one's own beliefs in the context of the non­ its function in determining the main meaning reductionist reading of another's tradition. In of a text. Unlike the modem West where this sense comparative theology results in reason (as in Kant) functions ontologically to practical rather than theoretical knowledge - generate meaning, here reason is a technical it opens one to the possibility of being trans­ tool that removes obstacles to seeing the formed through the process of comparative given revelation of a text. reading and writing. It is in this sense that Although available to outsiders and Clooney talks of moving 'from reader as moderns, the reading of Advaita texts, as observer to reader as participant' (pp.34-5). Clooney demonstrates, is a slow and Chapter Two offers a close examination demanding process, which for the one willing \ of the texture of the Advaita text. The to make the intellectual effort can be a upon which the Advaita pathway to truth. The way in which the commentaries depend are shown to evoke the extratextual truth of is realised teacher-student context and the proper through various reading strategies is relation of oneself to the world. What they described in Chapter Three. The truth claims offer is not to be passively received nor is it of Advaita Vedanta are embedded in the mere information, rather, it is new knowledge Truth-Text-Reader complex relationship. the student must gain through direct experi­ The truth of Advaita is shown to be inter­ ence. Clooney shows that the approach of the textual. Although language is limited it can, Upanishads in raising questions that are not through the careful reading of Upanishads entirely answered is preserved and extended and commentaries, mediate knowledge of in Advaita texts. He then goes on to examine Brahman. Chapter Four offers a sensitive the forms of Advaita text - and analysis of just how this truth about adhikarana - and how they function in· Brahman is mediated in the interaction relation to the original Upanishads. They' are between the Advaita texts and their readers. shown to lead to an ever-deeper reading of Vacaspati Misra's analogy that learning the text as well as a widened understanding to hear Brahman in the text is like learning to of the passage in the context of those coming truly hear a note of music (p.126) is before and after it (p.48). revealing. It also highlights one problem I The way in which this process works in have with Clooney's otherwise splendid 's systematisation of the presentation. He does not give enough Upanishadic text and the later commentaries attention to the oral hearing aspect of the of Sankara and others is well demonstrated in Advaita process of having truth mediated Clooney's careful tracing of specific example through texts. Clooney's approach con­ texts such as Taittiriya 2.1-6a ('Is Brahman centrates too much on careful reading at the the fifth sheath "consisting of bliss" or is it expense of careful hearing through constant beyond that sheath?'). The author's aim in repetition of the sort suggested by this close reading of Advaita texts is not just Vacaspati's analogy. However, it may well to provide a better insight into these ancient be that the careful reading is 'hearing' the texts but to show that through this process words read 'in the mind' so that the reading the modem reader becomes a part of the process of Advaita is functioning as a yogic exchange - the ancient process comes alive repetition of the meaning mantra of the text. as one participates in it, offering new clari­ In this chapter Clooney offers the best fications and posing new questions. It i$ in analysis I have seen on Sankara's famous this way that the revealed text of the prerequisite requirements for 'becoming a Upanishad is kept fresh and relevant in its reader' (Brahmajijndsa). These are nicely constant evolution through the commentarial integrated with the four stages of life which process. The role of reason in this intricate is the only way to have them make sense. process is also examined (pp.63-74) to show The same may be said for the necessary https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs/vol6/iss1/18 DOI: 10.7825/2164-6279.1087 2 Coward: Book Review: "Theology After Vedanta: An Experiment in Comparative Theology" 58 Book Reviews

inter-relation of ritual and textual knowledge. parallel reading is introduced with To his credit Clooney also takes up the Amalananda's text dealing with the qualities traditional exclusivism and elitism of Advaita of Brahman (p.163). After identifying some (its reading is open only to upper-caste basic similarities and differences, Clooney males) and offers what he considers a outlines five strategies for reading the two 'loophole' - namely the fact that he, a texts together, two of which come from Christian outsider, has been able (faithfully it Advaita while the others include would seem) to take part in the prescribed Wheelwright's understanding of metaphor careful reading of Advaita texts. Even those and Derrida's notion of 'collage'. In Derrida's who patiently read the text in English, he terminology the parallel reading of two such suggests; may be transformed by it. texts invokes the momentarily disorienting In Chapter Five Clooney turns to the act of decontextualisation of the too familiar comparative task of the 'rereading and and the recontextualisation beyond the old retrieval of one's prior theology after an margins. The result is productive of new appropriation of Vedanta' (p.153). This, he insights which then must be tested out in makes clear, is not a choosing from Advaita continuing 'comparative theological analysis.' of a few ideas one likes, but rather, the As a test case of the method, the author process by which' a Christian theologian considers a Christian text (the discussion of begins to think again the entire range of Christ's passion by Aquinas ST 1lI.46-49) problems and possibilities in the (Christian) for which there seems to be no Advaita theological tradition, after a serious engage­ parallel, and concludes that even in the face ment with the Advaita text' (p.153). In of extreme dissimilarity 'there is' no reason to particular Clooney rereads the Summa end the reading' (p.179). As benefits of the Theo!ogiae of Thomas Aquinas and its comparative reading Clooney identifies the commentaries. This rereading is new in that recovery of attention to biblical citations in it follows the Advaita approach of taking not the Summa (its exegetical quality) and a. just the original text of the Summa but also retrieving of, the reading of the Summa's its commentaries as a larger corpus which is commentaries, especially that by Cardinal then read together with the Advaita Vedanta Cajentan on ST 1.13.4. Neither of these, sa,}s texts previously considered. The goal, as the author, are common approaches--­ to stated by Clooney, is to use 'the Summa Aquinas in current scholarship. A contribu­ Theologiae to clarify the changes that occur tion of comparative theology is to cause one in the Christian reader who has engaged to look at precisely those aspects of one's seriously in the reading of Advaita' (p.157). tradition that are not current in contemporary He further suggests that rather than a scholarship. normative expression of the Christian A more substantive point is the question worldview, the Summa in this comparativist of how to deal with the confrontation over experiment demonstrates the margins of that issues of truth that seems bound to occur in worldview when it is read in a larger context , such a comparative reading of Christian and that neither its author nor its tradition . Clooney counsels the patient intended. New aspects of Aquinas' thought deferral of such questions until after the are brought to the fore as especially comparison is coinplete. Then the question of important and relevant for today. Possi­ the truth one discovers should be dealt with bilities, hidden by centuries of familiarity not as the simple restatement of an earlier may be uncovered by this process. position, but as a deepened understanding As an example, Clooney focuses on the which will change the conceptualisation of Introductory Section of the Summa and the truth if not its substance. The comparison problem of how to name God when God is tested out is Aquinas' claim that it is the not subject to the limitation of names. A passion of Christ that is the only source of

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salvation for the world and the Advaita Clooney's experiment needs to be teaching that knowledge of Brahman is all repeated by others using different texts, and that is required. Clooney has not 'fudged' the the results compared. But, as Clooney warns, tough question. But, even more to be ad­ such work is demanding and requires much mired, he does not leave it at the intellectual patient scholarly effort. Iri this, however, the level only. After m]Jch patient reading, approach proposed is not unlike· the best thinking and writing, the comparative theo­ science. Surely theologians and their students logian must go on to the practical experience can be as dedicated as our colleagues in of salvation or realisation (as the Advaitan science - the potential goal may be as would prefer to call it). The final goal is important as any scientific discovery. Frank clearly soteriological or as a Hindu would Reynolds, in his Foreword (p. xVi) to the put it the realisation of the of book puts it this way: knowledge. This is also why Clooney's For theologians. committed to a project is theological rather than philo­ particular religious tradition, Theology sophical in nature. The chapter ends with a After Vedanta opens a path toward a brief reflection on the requirements for the new kind of theology of religions. '" an education of a comparative theologian. inclusivist, comparatively oriented, Clooney conservatively calls this book potentially transformative theology of an experiment in comparative theology. religions [that] could revitalise con­ While not all experiments are successful, this temporary theological research and one clearly is. This review has assumed reflection not only in Christianity, but (with appropriate adaptations) in other, considerable length due to the conviction of religious traditions as well. the reviewer that Clooney has moved us to a " new paradigm for· comparative study , This is the single most important book I have generally, and for theology in particular. This read in a long while. book needs to be read by theologians, Hindu and Christian, who wish to pursue their work Harold Coward in today's pluralistic context. University of Victoria Victoria, Canada V8W 3P4 ~

Exploring the Christian-Hindu dialogue: A Visit with Bede Griffiths and Russill Paul. 55 Minute VHS Video. VHS video $19.95 (U.S.); audiotape from video $6.95 (U.S.); available from Inner Growth Books and Videos, Box 520, Chiloquin, OR 97624 USA.

BEDE GRIFFITH'S VISION of renewal in Christian sannyasi and how he sees lay the Church includes the formation of small communities developing. lay Christian contemplative communities in Of particular interest are his comments the West, open to different religious on topics such as the doctrine of the Trinity traditions, yet firmly grounded in their own and his experience of Advaita, Christian traditions. versus Hindu mysticism, and the difference In the first part of this video, Father between an ashram and a monastery. Bede responds to a series of carefully posed In the second part, Russill Paul, a questions concerning his life in as a professional musician born in the Anglo-

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs/vol6/iss1/18 DOI: 10.7825/2164-6279.1087 4