Tradition of Teachers

by William Cenkner

The uniqueness of the Indian guru rests upon the uniqueness of the Indian teaching tradition. An understanding of a religious figure in India can be achieved only within the framework of the teaching tradition from which that individual has come. The study selects one way of understanding the guru in classical Hindu life in the belief that this articulation offers something normative for an understanding of guru in the wider Indian development and history. The first part of this book is drawn from the texts that trace the role of guru and the guru-sisya relationship in the writings of Sanskara. The second part of the book is an investigation of the five major acaryas of the Sankara tradition reigning during the last half of the twentieth century. Thus, the articulation of the guru in the writings of Sankara, in part one, is tested from the historical context among the Sankaracaryas of the recent past. DR. WILLIAM CENKNER is the Katharine Drexel Professor of Religion at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He has authored many books and his articles appear in various American, European and Asian journals of religion and philosophy. "Cenkner has produced a helpful work on an important facet of the tradition of Sankara: the succession of acaryas of Sankara order, their contemporary teaching, and methods." DANIEL P. SHERIDAN "A fascinating book, of meticulous scholarship, it maintains the previous high standard set by the author in his earlier work, Eminently readable." SIMON ROCHE "This timely monograph cannot fail to inspire the modern man who tends to esteem a religious figure no longer `for his or her capacity to articulate a religious tradition or administrate a religious group`, but for his or her ability to be a `guide in the developing life of the human spirit.` A.M. MUNDADAN Cenkner`s excellent study focuses on the guru-sisya relationship as articulated in the tradition of Sankara. As one of the central sustaining institutions in Indian culture, the Sankara lineage not only upholds the more conservative aspects of Indian social and religious life, but maintains a flexible spirituality at its core as well. In his treatment of the history of the teaching tradition past and present, the author addresses doctrinal questions, the nature of transmission, the development of character in education, teaching methods, curriculum, student-teacher life, and rival schools. ELLISON B. FINDLY