Guest guest Posted August 25, 2001 Report Share Posted August 25, 2001 Introduction to Vedanta ========================== http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/1415/veda.html Vedanta philosophy, based on my understanding, has two main concepts. The first is the human's real nature is divine and the second concept is that the aim of human life is to realize this divinity. Let us try to examine each of the concepts separately. Vedanta asserts that the universe perceived by the senses is not real. This is called Maya. Unfortunately, maya has been confused to be really illusion leading to questions like, 'Wouldn't blood flow out if I slit my wrists?.' Maya just means out that the perception of a person not 'self-realized' is not real because such a person associates himself with his emotions, and his ego. Since we are unable to perceive the world as a superimposition of the One reality (which is unchanged in time and space) and thus that all beings are inter-related, the vedantist says that the world we perceive is an illusion. Thus what the vedantist implies is that the world is not unreal like the existence of an offspring of a barren woman, but the world is unreal like the mistaking of a rope to be a snake. Having said that, it is difficult to imagine that a lotus, the marsh where it resides, and the rock nearby are all made up of identical units. But, an scientist will agree with this statement, saying that it is indeed true. Vedanta goes on to assert that beneath this outward changing appearance lies an fundamental reality which is supreme, called Brahman. This is the 'Sat-chit-ananda (being- consciousness- bliss)' and 'the peace of god which passeth all understanding'according to the Bible. The scientist protests this contention, saying that he cannot measure this underlying reality, if any. The vedantist is not surprised, he adds that since Brahman is beyond the senses, not being able to detect an underlying reality does not prove anything. Now, we are at crossroads, we can either agree with the scientist or the Vedantist. But in order to examine the next concept carefully, we have to have to agree with the Vedantist for a moment, and come back and question him later. The vedantist goes on to say that the purpose of human life is to realize this underlying reality. He refers to the essential nature present in every human being as Atman (which is called God Immanent). A few vedantists differ on whether that this Atman is essentially the same as Brahman. This led to many philosophies including the three main ones, Advaita, Dvaita etc.. as mentioned in the Hinduism section. Advaita philosophy says that everything is Brahman and that only maya prevents us from seeing that. The other philosophies differ from this contention. But we will not worry about that, since all of the Vedantists seem to agree that Atman and Brahman are 'related' and the aim of the human life is realization of this. A good contention is to realize this Atman for ourselves, and investigate how the Atman is related to Brahman. We are prone to ask why do we want to realize Atman ? To answer why, we have to find an alternate purpose unless one contends that life is of no real purpose. Of course there is no need to seek a new purpose if one is satisfied with his present life. Let us see what the majority do: get a education, get a job, make money, be beautiful, become strong, have children, and preferably, become famous. But, does one become satisfied with any of this ? Of course not, one always wants more since the desire is endless. Therefore desire can be satisified only by the infinite. But a common person does have periods of happiness and periods of sorrow. But is this really happiness or just pleasure ? Everyone would agree that sickness, death etc are suffering. Not getting what we want or getting what we don't want is also suffering. The only question is whether getting what we want and not getting what we don't want is also suffering. Actually, they are also suffering. Most of us when we get what we want don't really enjoy it. It is like eating a small ice-cream cone. One eats it hurriedly so that the ice cream won't melt and make a mess. The pleasure from these objects are so fleeting, yet the mind tries to repeat this experience and assumes it as happiness. When it so happens that we can't get this object, we experience sorrow and unhappiness. --------- There is more to read about Duality in continuing paragraphs. Please go to: http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/1415/veda.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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