This book is aimed at rigging out the reader with the instruments that are necessary for both understanding philosophical and scientific problems related to Indian thought and constructively debating them with representatives of the Western academic culture. Therefore, this is not merely a theoretical book, but also a practical one.

It furthermore primes the reader on the currently massive use of psychological techniques by governments, fundamentalist movements, and the corporate society for the purpose of fabricating ‘scientific’ convictions and manufacturing consent by means of distorted and maliciously reframed 'traditional sciences'.

An effective understanding of any given system of thought requires the precise appreciation of its structural peculiarities by rapport to the predominating or pre-existing mental framework(s) of the scholar's cultural milieu and background.

Developing the awareness of those different frameworks is of paramount importance. Therefore, my approach to the subject of Indian Philosophy is based on an introductory comparative analysis of some of the Western and Eastern main epistemological methods, presuppositions and frameworks and their interaction.

A special attention has been paid in order to clarify the meaning of a number of technical key-terms, such as 'philosophy', 'metaphysic', 'transcendent', 'transcendental', 'idealism', 'ontology', 'ego' that (also owing to their being polysemic, i.e. having many a meaning) are currently misunderstood and misapplied, thus giving rise to all sorts of confusions.

To begin with, 'critical' -this is a critical introduction to Vedanta- does not actually mean 'derogative' or 'hostile', as popularly held. It means 'verifying', 'reasoning'. 'Critics', 'critical', 'criticism', ‘critique’ 'criterion' all come from the Indo-European root kr, like Greek word 'krisis', which means 'discrimination', 'distinction' - 'viveka' in Sanskrit - and also 'judgment'.