Why Souls?

A Mirror to the Universe

By: Joshua Farris

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Paperback | 30 June 2026

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288 Pages

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Dennis Waite sees Advaita as the philosophy underlying most religions, including Christianity, though it is more usually associated with Hinduism. Its essence is summed up in its Sanscrit name, which essentially means "there are not two things". The full title of the philosophy is "Advaita Vedanta". Vedanta, derived from the scriptures which form the last part of the Vedas, means "the end of knowledge", in the sense of being the highest knowledge one can attain. It is not in itself an organized religion, however - there are no churches or priests. Waite believes that Advaita Vedanta provides the answers to the questions of "life, the universe and everything". His book aims to be practical, yet satisfying to the intellect, providing a simple framework within which the problems of life and death may be understood and resolved.

Industry Reviews

'A masterful and profoundly insightful survey of the Advaita teaching and the contemporary scene. This book will greatly contribute to a deeper understanding of this important movement, sweeping the West, and which eventually leads to Self Realisation.' Alan Jacobs, Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK.

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Non-Fiction Philosophy Non-Western Philosophy Oriental & Indian Philosophy Religion & Beliefs Hinduism Religion Philosophy of Religion Mind, Body, Spirit Psychic Powers & Psychic Phenomena

Acknowledgements	p. 11
Preface	p. 13
Introduction	p. 15
Why Advaita philosophy?	p. 15
What do we want from life?	p. 16
The Unreal	p. 21
What I am not	p. 23
Not the body	p. 24
Not the mind	p. 25
Not the ego	p. 26
Not a 'person'	p. 27
Attachment in general	p. 29
Confusion of Self with ego	p. 31
Nature of man	p. 35
Hierarchy--minerals, plants, animals, man	p. 35
The three 'Qualities' of nature	p. 36
The 'covering' of our true nature	p. 37
What we think we can know	p. 41
Ignorance	p. 41
Thinking	p. 42
Opinions	p. 44
Beliefs	p. 44
Memory	p. 46
Experience	p. 46
Knowledge, wisdom and truth	p. 47
Self-knowledge	p. 50
Language	p. 50
The driving forces of our lives	p. 55
Happiness	p. 55
Desire	p. 57
Fear, anger and grief	p. 61
Love	p. 61
Actions and results	p. 65
Cause and effect	p. 65
Karma	p. 66
Sanskara	p. 68
Good and evil	p. 69
Sin	p. 71
The Spiritual Path	p. 73
Some traditional paths	p. 75
Spiritual 'path'--sadhana	p. 76
Prerequisites for the seeker	p. 78
Bhakti yoga	p. 79
Purification of the mind	p. 80
Karma yoga	p. 81
Jnana yoga	p. 86
Faith	p. 87
Gods and religion	p. 88
Scriptures	p. 89
Meditation	p. 91
What is it?	p. 92
The mind	p. 92
Japa and mantra	p. 93
The problem with thoughts	p. 95
Other practices	p. 97
Attention	p. 97
Silence	p. 100
Discrimination	p. 101
Indifference	p. 102
Witness	p. 103
Keeping good company	p. 104
Obstacles	p. 105
Gurus	p. 109
What is a guru	p. 109
The value of a guru	p. 112
The Real	p. 115
Appearance and reality	p. 117
Only the Self--not things, body, mind, etc	p. 117
Appearance vs. reality--metaphor of magician	p. 118
Name and form	p. 118
You are the 'Self'	p. 120
Play and lila	p. 121
Appearance	p. 121
The Limits of knowledge	p. 125
What can we know? (Kant and Schopenhauer)	p. 125
Paramarthika	p. 131
More on maya	p. 134
Mistaking the real for the unreal	p. 136
Objects	p. 137
Creation and time	p. 141
Creation	p. 141
Nirguna vs. saguna Brahman	p. 142
The illusion of time	p. 143
The myth of action	p. 151
Only the guna act	p. 151
Determinism, fate and free will	p. 153
Another look at cause and effect	p. 158
Apparent contradictions in Advaita	p. 161
Consciousness	p. 163
Dream state	p. 166
Waking state	p. 167
Deep-sleep state	p. 169
Turiya--awareness	p. 169
Death	p. 171
Reincarnation	p. 172
Summary of Consciousness from Advaita viewpoint	p. 175
The nature of the Self	p. 177
Perceiving or thinking of the Self	p. 177
The 'soul'	p. 178
Description of the Self	p. 181
The Self in Advaita	p. 182
Individual differences	p. 186
The individual and the Self	p. 187
Realisation	p. 189
What is a 'realised' man?	p. 189
Process of realisation	p. 192
Samadhi	p. 195
The 'Transition'	p. 195
Views from the Sages	p. 197
Classical viewpoint	p. 199
Direct Path teachings	p. 201
'Who am I?'	p. 204
Meditation without an object	p. 204
Dictionary of common Sanskrit spiritual words	p. 209
Sources of further information	p. 223
Organisations	p. 225
Internet	p. 231
Recommended reading	p. 243
Introduction to Sanskrit alphabet and transliteration	p. 253
References	p. 263
Index	p. 269
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Why Souls?

A Mirror to the Universe

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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