Abstract

This chapter explores the possible role of grace in liberation within Indian religions that maintain a non-dualism. At first glance, grace seems to require a division between the one who bestows grace and the one who receives it. In other words, how can grace function soteriologically if reality is non-dual? In order to address this problem, Cha discusses the role of grace in the non-dual philosophy of the Hindu advaitin Śankara, and explores how Śankara’s notion of grace can enhance the soteriology in Yogācāra Buddhism, specifically in the philosophy of the Yogācārin Vasubandhu. Cha’s aim is to show that grace can function in a non-dualistic context when the immanent sphere of the human condition is the locus of liberation.