FROM ONTOLOGY OF THE SPIRIT TO EPISTEMOLOGY OF THE SELF: A CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF NARAYANA GURU’S APPLIED ADVAITA AND THOMAS MERTON’S APOPHATIC THEOLOGY

Abstract [English]

This article employs a comparative perspective to explore the metaphysical and sociopolitical worldviews of two perennial philosophers of the twentieth century— Sree Narayana Guru (1855–1928), an Advaitin of South India and Thomas Merton (1915–1968), an American apophatic Catholic monk. As practitioners of mystical activism, these philosophers operated on a shared premise that profound spiritual realization is not as escape from the society but an espousal of the society and demonstrated how spirituality can be successfully employed as a potent tool to fight systemic oppression and discrimination. The differences in their philosophical traditions (applied Advaita and apophatic theology) notwithstanding, there are striking similarities in their ontological beliefs, cognitive frameworks, epistemological sensitivity to the other, deconstructive critique of constructed/divisive/collective identities, and compelling ethical frameworks. It is argued that in a disgruntled world marred by ethnoreligious chauvinism, communalism, casteism, hyper nationalist revanchism, majoritarianism, political tribalism and algorithmic radicalization, their unitive-contemplative approach towards an actionable universal human ethics holds immense potential for realizing a peaceful and harmonious world sans calamitous divisions and systemic injustices.