I have started reading and studying Indian philosophy. I have seen that most of my recent conversations with friends and dear ones get peppered with my thoughts derived from this subject matter reading of mine. Invariably I get asked how does one go about it. Whats the best book to read for somebody who is interested to understand more about Indian philosophy but does not know have an academic or educational background in philosophy.

In my experience the first thing one needs to have is a stable mind. A mind ready to spend cycles reading and understanding new concepts. A mind capable of functioning normally even if it is has input from multiple (and maybe contradictory) inputs. An open mind.

Having a guru/advisor/friend interested in this topic would be great. S/he can act as sounding board or guide you in this journey. If this does not happen don’t worry. Books can fill the void to some extent. You may find such a person eventually.

The three main books around Indian Philosophy are:

The Gita, Upanishads & Brahma Sutras. These books were originally written in Sanskrit. Many knowledgable gurus have written commentaries on them. Adi Shankara is typically seen as the most authoritative commentator (some vaishnava philosophers may disagree). Then there are numerous translations, into English and various Indian languages. Some by Indian Gurus who consider the whole body of philosophy while translating (the translations published by Rama Krishna Mission come to mind), some by westerners. Some of the western translations are comprehensive while some are lossy translations due to pre-conceived notions and prejudices.

One of the most comprehensive book to detail and explain Indian Philosophy is this. Another one is this. I liked these books because the author (Dr. Radhakrishnan) really is able to understand and articulate the ideas very clearly. Also my cultural and historical setting (Indian born and educated in India but who has travelled to western world and works very much in a western setting) enables me to understand and accepts many of the thoughts expressed. But these books are pretty detailed and need quite some effort from the reader as the area being covered is huge.

A good starter book on Advaita (which is a branch of Indian Philosophy) is this. I think I really like this book as I understand what the author is articulating and that maybe because of the author’s background. Professor Rambachan was born in Trinidad and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. He received his M.A. (Distinction) and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom. Professor Rambachan also studied for three years at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, a Hindu seminary of the Chinmaya Mission in Mumbai, India.

If this post is useful to folks I plan to write more on this topic.