Advaita Vedanta

==Ethics==
Some claim, states Deutsch, "that Advaita turns its back on all theoretical and practical considerations of morality and, if not unethical, is at least 'a-ethical' in character".{{sfn|Deutsch|1973|p=99}} However, Deutsch adds, ethics ''does'' have a firm place in this philosophy. Its ideology is permeated with ethics and value questions enter into every metaphysical and epistemological analysis, and it considers "an independent, separate treatment of ethics are unnecessary".{{sfn|Deutsch|1973|p=99}}<ref>{{cite journal | last=Bauer | first=Nancy F. | title=Advaita Vedanta and Contemporary Western Ethics | journal=Philosophy East and West | publisher=University of Hawaii Press | volume=37 | issue=1 | year=1987 | pages=36–50 | doi=10.2307/1399082 | jstor=1399082}}</ref> According to Advaita Vedānta, states Deutsch, there cannot be "any absolute moral laws, principles or duties", instead in its axiological view Atman is "beyond good and evil", and all values result from self-knowledge of the reality of "distinctionless Oneness" of one's real self, every other being and all manifestations of Brahman.{{sfn|Deutsch|1973|p=100}} Advaitin ethics includes lack of craving, lack of dual distinctions between one's own Self and another being's, good and just [[Karma]].{{sfn|Deutsch|1973|pp=101–102 with footnotes}}

The values and ethics in Advaita Vedānta emanate from what it views as inherent in the state of liberating self-knowledge. This state, according to Rambachan, includes and leads to the understanding that "the self is the self of all, the knower of self sees the self in all beings and all beings in the self."{{sfn|Rambachan|2006|pp=109–111}} Such knowledge and understanding of the indivisibility of one's and other's Atman, Advaitins believe leads to "a deeper identity and affinity with all". It does not alienate or separate an Advaitin from his or her community, rather awakens "the truth of life's unity and interrelatedness".{{sfn|Rambachan|2006|pp=109–111}} These ideas are exemplified in the [[Isha Upanishad]] – a ''sruti'' for Advaita, as follows:

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
One who sees all beings in the self alone, and the self of all beings,
feels no hatred by virtue of that understanding.
For the seer of oneness, who knows all beings to be the self,
where is delusion and sorrow?
</poem>
|''Isha Upanishad 6–7''|Translated by A Rambachan{{sfn|Rambachan|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ORPkAf3SZBQC&pg=PA109 109]}}}}

Adi Shankara, in verse 1.25 to 1.26 of his ''Upadeśasāhasrī'', asserts that the Self-knowledge is understood and realized when one's mind is purified by the observation of [[Yamas]] (ethical precepts) such as [[Ahimsa]] (non-violence, abstinence from injuring others in body, mind and thoughts), [[Satya]] (truth, abstinence from falsehood), [[Asteya]] (abstinence from theft), [[Aparigraha]] (abstinence from possessiveness and craving) and a simple life of meditation and reflection.{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|pp=88–89}} Rituals and rites can help focus and prepare the mind for the journey to Self-knowledge,{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|p=92}} but can be abandoned when moving on to "hearing, reflection, and meditation on the Upanishads."{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=33}}

Elsewhere, in verses 1.26–1.28, the Advaita text Upadesasahasri states the ethical premise of equality of all beings. Any ''Bheda'' (discrimination), states Shankara, based on class or caste or parentage is a mark of inner error and lack of liberating knowledge.{{sfn|Śaṅkarācārya|1949|pp=17–19}} This text states that the fully liberated person understands and practices the ethics of non-difference.{{sfn|Śaṅkarācārya|1949|pp=17–19}}

{{Blockquote|One, who is eager to realize this highest truth spoken of in the Sruti, should rise above the fivefold form of desire: for a son, for wealth, for this world and the next, and are the outcome of a false reference to the Self of Varna (castes, colors, classes) and orders of life. These references are contradictory to right knowledge, and reasons are given by the Srutis regarding the prohibition of the acceptance of difference. For when the knowledge that the one non-dual Atman (Self) is beyond phenomenal existence is generated by the scriptures and reasoning, there cannot exist a knowledge side by side that is contradictory or contrary to it.
|Adi Shankara, Upadesha Sahasri 1.44|{{sfn|Sankara|2006|pp=226–227}}<ref group=note>{{harvnb|Śaṅkarācārya|1949|p=32}};<br/>'''Sanskrit''': तच् चैतत् परमार्थदर्शनं प्रतिपत्तुमिच्छता वर्णाश्रमाद्यभिमान-कृतपाञ्क्तरूपपुत्रवित्तलोकैषणादिभ्यो व्युत्थानं कर्तव्यम् । सम्यक्प्रत्ययविरोधात् तदभिमानस्य भेददर्शनप्रतिषेधार्थोपपत्तिश्चोपपद्यते । न ह्येकस्मिन्नात्मन्यसंसारित्वबुद्धौ शास्त्रन्यायोत्पादितायां तद्विपरीता बुद्धिर्भवति । न ह्य् अग्नौ शितत्वबुद्धिः, शरीरे वाजरामरणबुद्धिः । तस्मादविद्याकार्यत्वात् सर्वकर्मणां तत्साधनानां च यज्ञोपवीतादीनां परमार्थदर्शनिष्टेन त्यागः कर्तव्यः ॥ ४४॥</ref>}}