the VEDANTA SOCIETY and its ADVAITA (non-dualist)
VEDANTA perspective.
Isherwood was born into a well-to-do fam-
ily in Cheshire, England. He was educated at
Repton School and Corpus Christi College at
Cambridge, though he did not finish his degree
program. In 1925 he reestablished a friendship
with his fellow writer W. H. Auden, whom he
had met in prep school, and, along with Ste-
phen Spender, would constitute the so-called
Auden Gang of angry young writers who made
their mark on the English literary scene in the
1930s. Isherwood’s initial contributions were
his novels, All the Conspirators (1928) and The
Memorial (1932).
In 1939 Isherwood moved to the United States
and began to write for Hollywood films. At this
time he became associated with the VEDANTA
SOCIETY and became a disciple of Swami Prabha-
vananda, who headed the Los Angeles center. An
emergent pacifism, fed by his experience in Ger-
many during the 1930s, was integral to his adopt-
ing advaita VEDANTA as a philosophical-religious
perspective. Over the next several decades, he
assisted Prabhavananda in preparing translations
of Hindu texts and wrote several books on Vedanta
himself. His edited volume, Vedanta for the Western
World (1945), later issued as Vedanta for Modern
Man, was arguably his most lasting contribution.
Among his later works was an autobiographical
volume describing his relationship with his teacher,
Prabhavananda, My Guru and His Disciple (1980).
Beginning in 1953, Isherwood lived with his
significant other, Don Bachardy. His 1964 autobio-
graphical novel A Single Man represented his public
acknowledgment of his gay life. He later became
involved in various gay-rights efforts. His last novel
mixed his Hindu and gay experience. A Meeting by
the River (1967) tells the story of a bisexual movie
producer who tries to stop his younger brother
from taking vows as a Hindu monk.
Further reading: Christopher Isherwood, An Approach
to Vedanta (Hollywood, Calif.: Vedanta Press, 1963); —
——, Essentials of Vedanta (Hollywood, Calif.: Vedanta
Press 1969); ———, My Guru and His Disciple (New
York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1980); Christopher Isher-
wood, ed., Vedanta for the Western World (Hollywood,
Calif.: Marcel Rodd, 1945).ishta devata
Ishta devata (desired divinity) is an important
concept in theistic Hinduism. It is understood
that each person has a divinity that best fits
his or her personal inclinations and way of life.
Usually, the ishta devata will be chosen within
the sectarian context—a person who has grownA woman worships her personal divinity (ishta devata)
at the Ganesh shrine in Belur, Bengal. (Gustap Irani)ishta devata 203 J