"Shankara" help for AS level RE study

[wcrow]

I am currently doing an AS level R.E cource, and as part of our course we have to study mysticism and experience of God. As part of this, we study 2 of 5 "mystics" within several religious traditions. Our teacher has said we must study St. Teresa of christianity, but the other can be one of our liking (from the list). The name Shankara is one of those listed, and I thought it must be Adi Shankara - who I would very much like to study for my course.
I asked the teacher, and she said that she did not know the first name, or who it was - it was as new as it was to her as to me, apparenty.
The other names are Meister Echthart, Isaac Luria, Rumi (the sufi mystic, I presume), St. Teresa, and Shankara of course.
Anyway, I was wondering whether anyone here might know of another Shakara connected with mysticism?
If not, or if you think it must be Adi Shankara, could you perhaps point me towards sources of information? We will be doing internet research tomorrow, so anything from the web, or otherwise, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Wilfred.

[sambya]

yes it must be adi shankara . although there have been other shankaras in india , they were never as famous and consequently their name cannot have been possibly mentioned in an 'international' list of mystics .

just google the name to find tons of information .

by the way , what does the abbvrebiation R.E. stands for ?!!

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté
　
Ādi Śaṅkara we know as Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda.

ādi = first, beginning
Śaṅkara = śaṃkara = causing prosperity , auspicious , beneficent. This is another name for śiva or rudra.
Bhagavatpāda = Bhagavat+pāda bhagavat is glorious , illustrious , divine + pāda or pādāḥ is added to proper names or titles in token of respect. With this case pāda it is then a ray or beam of light (considered as the foot of a heavenly body).Yet what is this 1st or beginning? He was the first Śaṅkarācārya¹ , as he set up the maţha-s (some write as mutt's, math's) across India.
Why so ? To preserve and perpetuate knowledge of the Supreme. There are 4 +1 maţha-s. Some think more, some stick to 4 ( North, South, East and West). The +1 that I recognize as do many is kanchipuram - Tamil Nadu.


praṇām

words
Śaṅkarācārya is roughly = to ~ pontiff~ .

[amith vikram]

undoubtebly it is adi shankaracharya.
check out this link:http://www.shankacharya.org
the site is not of best standards and some times u may miss some part of texts,but its a very good site otherwise.also just make sure u read his works which justifies his fame.

[wcrow]

Thanks all of you. I am glad it is him because I at least know a bit more about him than any of the others, thanks to people on this site!

Sambya:

R.E stands for Religious Eductation. It is compusory for the lower schools, and informs us about different religious traditions across the world, to create tolerance and deeper understanding of other cultures.
My A level course is not actually called "RE", more like "Religious Philosophy and Ethics" but the name has stuck from doing it in lower years.

[amith vikram]

go to this wonderful site:http://www.astrojyoti.com

[wcrow]

go to this wonderful site:http://www.astrojyoti.com

Thanks once again. I think I am the only one in my class that has chosen to learn about Shankara. Hopefully I will be able to impress the teacher with my knowledge!

[amith vikram]

i'm sure u will.
more than anything else,u will be surprised to see an altogether different dimension in his thoughts,his intellect,compassion etc,.

[sambya]

Sambya:

R.E stands for Religious Eductation. It is compusory for the lower schools, and informs us about different religious traditions across the world, to create tolerance and deeper understanding of other cultures.
My A level course is not actually called "RE", more like "Religious Philosophy and Ethics" but the name has stuck from doing it in lower years.

thats good . our schools in india generally dont have this thing . although when we were in fourth standard we were given a book on world religions , which was included within the school curriculum . but it was kept as an optional read and therefore never taken up by the teachers , but mostly left for the child's personal reading .