Vedanta Press

Vedanta Press is the publishing wing of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, founded in 1930 by Swami Prabhavananda. It publishes a number of important books in Indian philosophy and the Vedanta tradition, both original works and translations of Sanskrit scriptures.[1] Vedanta Press published collaborations, original articles, and books by leading intellectuals of the 1940s to the present, including Aldous Huxley, Christopher Isherwood, Fredrick Manchester, among others.[2]

Vedanta Press
Parent companyVedanta Society of Southern California
Founded1940s (1940s)
FounderSwami Prabhavananda
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationHollywood
DistributionWorldwide
Nonfiction topicsSpirituality, Philosophy, Vedanta, Hinduism
Official websitevedanta.com

After its establishment in the late 1940s, Publishers Weekly reported that "Vedanta Press, the recently established Hollywood firm.... has received considerable publicity in articles appearing in Time, Life, Holiday, and Vogue."[3] It also noted that

Vedanta Press... plans six titles for its first list of books about the Vedanta philosophy, which is currently reflected in the writings of Aldous Huxley, Christopher Isherwood, and others. [These are] the "Wisdom of God," "The Eternal Companion," "Vedanta— Its Philosophy," and "What is Vedanta?" [and translations of] "Crest-Jewel of Discrimination,"... and... the "Upanishads"[3]

Main Titles

Several of the Vedanta Press books were adopted by Colleges and Universities as a standard textbook for comparative religion and Eastern Philosophy courses. They also major reviews in leading newspapers and journals:

Bhagavad Gita – The Song of God

Through a collabortion between noted English author, Christopher Isherwood and Vedanta Scholar, Swami Prabhavananda this literary translation earned strong reviews and became one of the best selling English translations of the Hindu scripture. Aldous Huxley and Isherwood were students of Prabhavananda. Isherwood worked closely with the Swami, getting the meaning from the Swami and putting it into literary English verse and prose. Huxley wrote the introduction, in which he traces the origins and dissemination of the Perennial Philosophy through all the major religions of the world; a favorite theme of the author, "The Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the most systematic scriptural statement of the Perennial Philosophy."[4]

  • Spiritual Heritage of India (see article) by Swami Prabhavananda
  • The Eternal Companion: Brahmananda, his Life and Teachings
  • How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali
  • Ramakrishna and his Disciples
  • Vedanta for the Western World
  • Vedanta for Modern Man
  • Living Wisdom: Vedanta in the West
  • Upanishads: Breath of the Eternal
  • Bhagavad Gita – The Song of God
  • Vedanta: A Simple Introduction
  • Sermon on the Mount according to Vedanta
  • Shankara's Crest-jewel of Discrimination
  • Narada's Way of Divine Love: The Narada Bhakti Sutras
  • Vedanta: A Religion, a Philosophy, a Way of Life
  • Seeing God Everywhere: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Living
  • Six Lighted Windows: Memories of Swamis in the West

Vedanta and the West

Vedanta Press published the bimonthly Vedanta and the West from 1941 to 1970. From 1951 to 1962, Aldous Huxley, Christopher Isherwood, and Gerald Heard were editorial advisors for the journal.[5] Karl Jackson in his book, Vedanta for the West said, "The journal is arguably the best edited Eastern spiritual periodical published in the West...[6][7]

Altogether nearly 1,000 articles were published, including 47 by Aldous Huxley, 41 by Christopher Isherwood, 35 by Gerald Heard, and hundreds by senior swamis of the Ramakrishna Order.[8]

References
  1. Jackson, Carl (1994). Vedanta for the West. Indiana University Press. p. 124. ISBN 0-253-33098-X.
  2. SRINIVAS, SMRITI. “Utopian Settlements and Californian Vedanta.” A Place for Utopia: Urban Designs from South Asia, University of Washington Press, 2015, pp. 87–120. "Many of these were collaborations with scholars and intellectuals such as Frederick Manchester and Christopher Isherwood; and many were later published as books through the Vedanta Press (established in 1947)" JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcwnx0v.7. Accessed 24 July 2023.
  3. Editorial (1947). "Reviews". Publishers Weekly. 147: 1573.
  4. Introduction to the Bhagavad Gita – The Song of God by Aldous Huxley, page 15 2023 Edition, Vedanta Press
  5. Rice, Laban Lacy. “Reply to Mr. Viereck.” The American Scholar 21, no. 2 (1952): 246–48." "Vedanta and the West A Periodical of Exploration and Expression of the Perennial Philosophy Editor: Swami Prabhavananda Managing Editor: John R. Yale Editorial Advisers: Gerald Heard, Aldous Huxley, Christopher Isherwood... http://www.jstor.org/stable/41206900
  6. Jackson, Carl (1994). Vedanta for the West. Indiana University Press. p. 124. ISBN 0-253-33098-X.
  7. Bridges, Hal. Aldous Huxley: Exponent of Mysticism in America. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 37, no. 4, 1969, pp. 341–52. JSTOR, "After [Huxley's] meeting with Prabhavananda, he undertook an intensive study of the lives and teachings of outstanding mystics in the major religions. The ideas thus derived from study and practice flowed into writings dominated by mystical concern -- into essays for the magazine Vedanta and the West" http://www.jstor.org/stable/1460759. Accessed 29 July 2023.
  8. Index of the publication history of Vedanta and the West.


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