Brahman

====Advaita Vedanta====
{{Main|Advaita Vedanta}}
{{Advaita}}
[[Advaita Vedanta]] espouses [[Nonduality (spirituality)|nondualism]]. ''Brahman'' is the sole unchanging reality,<ref name=acdas>AC Das (1952), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1397304 Brahman and Māyā in Advaita Metaphysics], ''Philosophy East and West'', Vol. 2, No. 2, pages 144–154</ref> there is no duality, no limited individual Self nor a separate unlimited cosmic Self, rather all Self, all of existence, across all space and time, is one and the same.<ref name=jeffreybrodd/><ref name=barbarasca/><ref name=rdalal>Rosen Dalal (2014), Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-8184752779}}, see article on Brahman</ref> The universe and the Self inside each being is Brahman, and the universe and the Self outside each being is Brahman. Brahman is the origin and end of all things, material and spiritual. ''Brahman'' is the root source of everything that exists. He states that Brahman can neither be taught nor perceived (as an object of intellectual knowledge), but it can be learned and realized by all human beings.<ref name="Arvind Sharma 2007 pages 19-40"/> The goal of Advaita Vedanta is to realize that one's Self (''[[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]]'') gets obscured by ignorance and false-identification ("[[Avidya (Hinduism)|Avidya]]"). When Avidya is removed, the Atman (Self inside a person) is realized as identical with Brahman.<ref name="dx.doi.org"/> The Brahman is not an outside, separate, dual entity, the Brahman is within each person, states Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism. ''Brahman'' is all that is eternal, unchanging and that which truly exists.<ref name=acdas/> This view is stated in this school in many different forms, such as "''Ekam sat''" ("Truth is one"), and all is ''Brahman''.

The universe does not simply come from Brahman, it ''is'' Brahman. According to [[Adi Shankara]], a proponent of [[Advaita Vedanta]], the knowledge of Brahman that [[shruti]] provides cannot be obtained by any other means besides self inquiry.<ref>Anantanand Rambachan (1994), ''The limits of scripture: Vivekananda's reinterpretation of the Vedas.'' University of Hawaii Press, pages 125, 124</ref>

In [[Advaita Vedanta]], nirguna Brahman is held to be the ultimate and sole reality.<ref name=acdas/><ref name=williamw/> Consciousness is not a property of Brahman but rather its very nature. In this respect, Advaita Vedanta differs from other Vedanta schools.<ref>[Sangeetha Menon (2007), ''Advaita Vedānta''], ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''</ref>

Example verses from [[Bhagavad-Gita]] include:
{{Blockquote|
<poem>
The [[Yajna|offering]] is Brahman; the oblation is Brahman;
offered by Brahman into the fire of Brahman.
Brahman will be attained by him,
who always sees Brahman in action. – Hymn 4.24<ref>Christopher Key Chapple (Editor) and Winthrop Sargeant (Translator), ''The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–Anniversary Edition'', State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-1438428420}}, page 224</ref><ref>Jeaneane D. Fowler (2012), ''The Bhagavad Gita'', Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1845193461}}, page 83</ref>

He who finds his happiness within,
His delight within,
And his light within,
This yogin attains the bliss of Brahman, becoming Brahman. – Hymn 5.24<ref>Christopher Key Chapple (Editor) and Winthrop Sargeant (Translator), ''The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–Anniversary Edition'', State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-1438428420}}, page 266</ref>
</poem>
|Bhagavad Gita|}}