Offers a commentary on spiritual learning for the twenty-first century rooted in two classic texts from the Hindu and Christian traditions: the Essence of the Three Auspicious Mysteries by r Ved nta De ika and Treatise on the Love of God by St Francis de Sales.

Preface Chapter 1Two Spiritual Classics and the Possibilities They Present I. On Writing as a Scholar Beyond Himself:1996 II. Reading Loving Surrender across Religious Boundaries 1. Ved nta De ika, His r vaisnava Tradition, and the Essence 2. Francis de Sales, His Catholic Tradition, and His Treatise 3. Ved nta De ika and Francis de Sales, Brought into Conversation 4. "Loving Surrender" as the Key in This Double Reading III. Some Cautions as We Look Ahead Chapter 2 Thinking, Writing, Reading: Finding a Path to Loving Surrender I. The Problem of Reason in Interpreting Religious Truths 1. Reason's Limits and Potential in the Treatise a. De Sales on Pagan and Christian Learning 2. Reason's Limits and Potential in the Essence a. The Ascent of the Mind and Heart to God II. Conversion: Reason and the Leap Beyond 1. De ika on Conversion 2. De Sales on Conversion III. The Self-Understanding and Intentions of De ika and de Sales as Writers 1. Why de Sales Writes, and with What Authority 2. Why De ika Writes, and with What Authority IV. From Writer to Reader: On the Exercise of Religious Reading 1. Paul Griffiths 2. Pierre Hadot Chapter 3 Awakening: Reading and Learning on the Way to God 1. Scripture, Inscribed in the Treatise and Essence 1. De Sales' Use of Scripture a. Appropriating Scripture's Wisdom b. An Example: The Liquefaction of the Soul 2. De ika's Use of Scripture a. "Five Things to be Known": First, God's Nature b. The Self and the Obstacles to Attaining God II. Engaging the Reader: Person to Person 1. De Sales Makes It Personal: Learning by Example a. Reports of Heroic Persons b. Addressing the Reader: O, Theotimus 2. De ika's Sparer, More Traditional Approach a. Hearing Great Persons of the r vaisnava Tradition b. Shifting the Way We Read: From Prose to Poetry c. A Lineage of Verses, A Lineage of Teachers III. Reading More Intensely to Discover a Destiny 1. The Particulars of Rapture: Advice from Charles Altieri 2. The Complex Text and the Complex ReaderChapter 4Loving Surrender: Insight, Drama, and Ecstasy I. The Theological Presuppositions of Self-Abandonment 1. De Sales: Freely Choosing to Let God Be All in All 2. De ika: From Devotion to Human ReadinessII. De ika's Exegesis of the Dvaya Mantra 1. The First Clause: I approach for refuge the feet of N r yana with r a. I approach N r yana: N r yanam prapadye b. I approach N r yana with r : r man-N r yanam prapadye c. I approach the feet of N r yana with r : r mannn r yana-caranau prapadye d. For refuge I approach the feet of N r yana with r : r mann r yana-caranau aranam prapadye e. I approach: prapadye 2. The Second Clause:Obeisance to N r yana with r a. With r : r mate b. For N r yana: N r yana- ya c. Obeisance: namah 3. The Whole Dvaya Mantra III. De Sales on Love and Loving Surrender 1. The Foundations of Love 2. A Note on Deep Pleasure (Complaisance) 3. Deep Pleasure, Conformity, and Obedience 4. The Role of the Indifferent Heart 5. De Sales' Mantra?IV. Loving Surrender-Intensified Chapter 5 As We Become Ourselves: On the Ethics of Loving Surrender and of Persistence in ReadingI. Life after Loving Surrender to God 1. De ika on Life after Refuge 2. De Sales on Life after Loving SurrenderII. On Being a Religious Reader and Writer after the Essence and Treatise 1. On Becoming the Right Person 2. Reason Humbled and Restored (Chapter 2) 3. The Grounded, Liberated, Passionate Reader (Chapter 3) 4. The Vulnerability and Safe Haven of the (Inter)Religious Reader (Chapter 4)III. A Final Word NotesBibliographyIndex

Beyond Compare is an amazing book. The research is thorough and the appreciation of Śrī Vedānta Deśika’s thoughts and writings prove beyond doubt that [Clooney] has imbibed the teachings of our great Teacher in the true spirit of a Srivaishnava. The comparative study of St.Francis de Sales’ Treatise and Swami Desika’s Srimad Rahasyatrayasara makes most interesting reading and invites Srivaishnavas to read about the Catholic saint’s ideas on loving surrender to God. Beyond Compare is truly beyond compare!

Beyond Compare is an amazing book. The research is thorough and the appreciation of r Ved nta De ika's thoughts and writings prove beyond doubt that [Clooney] has imbibed the teachings of our great Teacher in the true spirit of a Srivaishnava. The comparative study of St.Francis de Sales' Treatise and Swami Desika's Srimad Rahasyatrayasara makes most interesting reading and invites Srivaishnavas to read about the Catholic saint's ideas on loving surrender to God. Beyond Compare is truly beyond compare! -- Anuradha Sridharan, associate editor, Sri Nrsimhapriya Salesian scholars will certainly find this work rich and rewarding, especially in the novel and refreshing way in which the Treatise on the Love of God is read and reflected upon in the light of a recognized scholarly work in an entirely different religious tradition. Moreover, theologians and philosophers interested in furthering the debate and dialogue between faith and reason or religion and reason will relish the observations and insights demonstrating in an engaging fashion both the power and limitations of 'undisciplined' reason. -- Alexander Pocetto, DeSales University