draft of "Primer for Beginners in Advaita" part 4/4

[Guest guest]

Hari Om,

 

 

This is the concluding part 4. The three earlier parts were: Religion, Hinduism

and Vedanta, as points 1 to 18. Like the earlier postings, this is also just

less than 500 words.

ADVAITIN SIMPLIFIED

 

19) Advaita Vedanta philosophy is based largely on the interpretation of Hindu

Vedanta by Adi Shankara (AD 788-820). Advaita (a-dwaita) means non-dualism. It

is a philosophy of oneness of all creation (matter as well as consciousness).

The Advaitin tradition recognizes three scriptural sources of importance: the

Upanishads, Brahma Sutra and Bhagavad Gita, all derived from Vedas, the

original revealed scripts of Hindus.

 

20) According to Advaita Vedanta, everything inanimate or animate is nothing but

Brahman, which is the absolute reality and there is no other reality but that.

According to Adi Shankara, “Brahman alone is truth, the world is unreal

[impermanent and changing]. The individual atman is Brahman only and none

other.”

 

21) According to Advaita, your atman/soul (and mine and everybody's) is the same

as the underlying absolute reality of the whole universe, called Brahman, which

corresponds to the Western idea of God, except that it isn't a super-powerful

person. It's impersonal; it's the source of everything; it's what the universe

really is. Your inner self — the true "me" — is God. According to Advaita, if

you (subject) are aware of something (object), it isn't really you. The real you

(the atman) is the part, that's aware.

 

22) What distinguishes Advaita from other interpretations of the Upanishads is

that it asserts that not just there is only one Brahman (most religions say

that), but there is only one Atman- not many, not even two. There's only one

"me" and we all (and also they- animals, matter etc) share it. We're all one

"thing" — Brahman. Moreover, only Brahman is real. The other things in the

universe, like hills and trees and our bodies, are Maya, which is illusory,

because it seems to be different from Brahman but it's not. Advaita says that

Maya is “origin” of ignorance and a “veil”.

 

23) One of ways that Maya misleads us is with regard to our selves. We think of

ourselves as our bodies, our thoughts, our desires, and so forth. They seem to

be "me" but this is an illusion. Actually, our awareness (the part that is

really "me") is nothing but just: “Brahman”. It means that you aren't you,

really, You are a “reality” in one plane of existence which itself is unreal.

You are the supreme reality that underlies the entire universe. In that sense,

it is revolutionary concept of different “phases” of reality, with progressively

higher levels of truth with “Brahman alone” forming the top crust. How this

infinite and indivisible “Brahman”, seemingly (“as it were-not really”) became

different units of “realities” is still debated.

 

24) Advaita Vedanta is important because by understanding it, you may be able to

reach self-realization, as it is not a new state to reach with effort, but is

your existing “real” state to be realized- you just don’t know it is there

within you, now. Sounds simple- then try it. In making such efforts, you are

engaging in Gyana Yoga, the path of knowledge, by solving problems

intellectually and conceptually.

 

Pranams.

P.B.V.Rajan

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