Yohanan Grinshpon – författare

Explores the experience of yoga in the Yogasutra of Patanjali.Silence Unheard maintains that the reality of Patañjali's Yogasūtra is a profound silence barely and variously audible to the scholars and interpreters who approach it. Even the Yogasūtra itself is an "approach," a voice articulating an other— a silent, beyond-speech yogin. Author Yohanan Grinshpon presents Patañjali as a Sāṅkhya-philosopher, who interprets silence in accordance with his own dualist metaphysics and Buddhistic sensibilities. The Yogasūtra represents an intellectual's conceptualization of utter otherness rather than the yogin's verbalization of silence. Silence Unheard focuses on the yogin's supra-normal experiences (siddhis) as well as on the classification of silences and the ultimate goal of disintegration through guṇa balance. The book provides a translation of the Yogasūtra divided into two sections: an essential text, concerning the yoga practitioner, and a secondary text, concerning the philosopher. Grinshpon also surveys the encounters of intellectuals, scholars, seekers, devotees, and outsiders with the Yogasūtra.

Sankaracharya of the 8th century A.D is considered the greatest philosopher of India up to this day. His teaching of the one and only self has become the most prestigeous expression of the Hindu spirit. Sankara is the author of the Brahmasutrabhasya, the most important text of the school known as Advaita-Vedanta. Sankara teaches of the self by dialogues between a winning exponent and a losing opponent. Up to this day, Sankara's teaching has been invariably identified with the exponent's doctrines. In this book a distinction between the invisible authon and his alleged exponent is offered. Sankara the author is a new intellectual hero different from his exponent. Thus, due to the aforementioned distinction, a new philosophy and theory of freedom emerges, the teaching of Sankara, the author distinguished from his apparent exponent.