Monism

====Hinduism====
{{Main|Hinduism|Hindu philosophy|Hindu denominations}}

=====Vedanta=====
{{Main|Vedanta}}
[[File:Raja Ravi Varma - Sankaracharya.jpg|''[[Adi Shankara]] with Disciples'', by [[Raja Ravi Varma]] (1904)|right|thumb|x216px]]
Vedanta is the inquiry into and systematisation of the Vedas and Upanishads, to harmonise the various and contrasting ideas that can be found in those texts. Within Vedanta, different schools exist:<ref>Wilhelm Halbfass (1995), Philology and Confrontation: Paul Hacker on Traditional and Modern Vedanta, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791425824}}, pages 137–143</ref> 
* [[Advaita]], unqualified [[nonduality]], is the school of [[Adi Shankara]];
* [[Vishishtadvaita]], qualified monism, is from the school of [[Ramanuja]];<ref>Jeaneane Fowler (2012), The Bhagavad Gita: A Text and Commentary for Students, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1845193461}}, page xxviii</ref>
* [[Shuddhadvaita]], in-essence monism, is the school of [[Vallabha]]; 
* [[Dvaitadvaita]], differential monism, is a school founded by [[Nimbarka]]; 
* [[Achintya Bheda Abheda]], a school of [[Vedanta]] founded by [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]] representing the philosophy of ''inconceivable one-ness and difference''. It can be understood as an integration of the strict dualist (dvaita) theology of [[Madhvacharya]] and the qualified monism (vishishtadvaita) of [[Ramanuja]].

=====Vaishnava=====
{{Main|Vaishnavism}}
All [[Vaishnava]] schools are [[panentheistic]] and view the universe as part of [[Krishna]] or [[Narayana]], but see a plurality of souls and substances within [[Brahman]]. Monistic theism, which includes the concept of a personal god as a [[Universality (philosophy)|universal]], [[omnipotent]] [[God|Supreme Being]] who is both [[Immanence|immanent]] and [[transcendence (religion)|transcendent]], is prevalent within many other schools of Hinduism as well.

=====Tantra=====
{{Main|Tantra}}
[[Tantra]] sees the Divine as both immanent and transcendent. The Divine can be found in the concrete world. Practices are aimed at transforming the passions, instead of transcending them.

=====Modern Hinduism=====
{{Main|Hindu reform movements}}
The colonisation of India by the British had a major impact on Hindu society.{{sfn|Michaels|2004}} In response, leading Hindu intellectuals started to study western culture and philosophy, integrating several western notions into Hinduism.{{sfn|Michaels|2004}} This modernised Hinduism, at its turn, has gained popularity in the west.{{sfn|Rambachan|1994}}

A major role was played in the 19th century by [[Swami Vivekananda]] in the [[Hindu reform movements|revival of Hinduism]],{{sfn|Dense|1999|p=191}} and the spread of Advaita Vedanta to the west via the [[Ramakrishna Mission]]. His interpretation of Advaita Vedanta has been called [[Neo-Vedanta]].{{sfn|Mukerji|1983}} In Advaita, Shankara suggests meditation and [[Nirvikalpa|Nirvikalpa Samadhi]] are means to gain knowledge of the already existing unity of ''Brahman'' and ''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]]'',{{sfn|Comans|1993}} not the highest goal itself:
{{blockquote|[Y]oga is a meditative exercise of withdrawal from the particular and identification with the universal, leading to contemplation of oneself as the most universal, namely, Consciousness. This approach is different from the classical Yoga of complete thought suppression.{{sfn|Comans|1993}}}}

Vivekananda, according to [[Gavin Flood]], was "a figure of great importance in the development of a modern Hindu self-understanding and in formulating the West's view of Hinduism."{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=257}} Central to his philosophy is the idea that the divine exists in all beings, that all human beings can achieve union with this "innate divinity",{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} and that seeing this divine as the essence of others will further love and social harmony.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} According to Vivekananda, there is an essential unity to Hinduism, which underlies the diversity of its many forms.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} According to Flood, Vivekananda's view of Hinduism is the most common among Hindus today.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=259}} This monism, according to Flood, is at the foundation of earlier Upanishads, to theosophy in the later Vedanta tradition and in modern Neo-Hinduism.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=85}}