Rediscovering God with Transcendental Argument
A Contemporary Interpretation of Monistic Kashmiri Saiva Philosophy

Rediscovering God with Transcendental Argument provides a comparative philosophical study of the Pratyabhij a system of the medieval Kashmiri Shaiva thinkers Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta. Beginning with intensive descriptive and prescriptive reflections on the nature of philosophy itself, the book examines the special characteristics of the Pratyabhij a discourse as both philosophical apologetics and spiritual exercise. Lawrence situates the Pratyabhij a speculation within the larger context of Hindu and Buddhist deliberations about the role of interpretation in experience, and gives a groundbreaking exposition of the epistemology and ontology of Shiva's self-recognition. He observes the similarities and differences of the Pratyabhij a with Christian understandings of the divine logos, and argues that the Shaiva philosophy elucidates a cogent way of demonstrating the reality of God against contemporary relativism, deconstructionism and other forms of skepticism.