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PreviewAdvancedSpecial charactersHelpHeadingLevel 2Level 3Level 4Level 5FormatInsertLatinLatin extendedIPASymbolsGreekGreek extendedCyrillicArabicArabic extendedHebrewBanglaTamilTeluguSinhalaDevanagariGujaratiThaiLaoKhmerCanadian AboriginalRunesÁáÀàÂâÄäÃãǍǎĀāĂ㥹ÅåĆćĈĉÇçČčĊċĐđĎďÉéÈèÊêËëĚěĒēĔĕĖėĘęĜĝĢģĞğĠġĤĥĦħÍíÌìÎîÏïĨĩǏǐĪīĬĭİıĮįĴĵĶķĹĺĻļĽľŁłŃńÑñŅņŇňÓóÒòÔôÖöÕõǑǒŌōŎŏǪǫŐőŔŕŖŗŘřŚśŜŝŞşŠšȘșȚțŤťÚúÙùÛûÜüŨũŮůǓǔŪūǖǘǚǜŬŭŲųŰűŴŵÝýŶŷŸÿȲȳŹźŽžŻżÆæǢǣØøŒœßÐðÞþƏəFormattingLinksHeadingsListsFilesDiscussionReferencesDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getItalic''Italic text''Italic textBold'''Bold text'''Bold textBold & italic'''''Bold & italic text'''''Bold & italic textDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getReferencePage text.<ref>[https://www.example.org/ Link text], additional text.</ref>Page text.[1]Named referencePage text.<ref name="test">[https://www.example.org/ Link text]</ref>Page text.[2]Additional use of the same referencePage text.<ref name="test" />Page text.[2]Display references<references />↑ Link text, additional text.↑ Link text==Reality and ignorance== [[File:SwansCygnus olor.jpg|right|thumb|The swan is an important motif in Advaita. The white colour of swan symbolises [[Sattva]] gun & the ability to discern '''Satya''' (Real, Eternal) from '''Mithya''' (Unreal, Changing), just as the mythical swan [[Paramahamsa]] discerns milk from water.]] Classical Advaita Vedānta states that all reality and everything in the experienced world has its root in Brahman, which is unchanging Consciousness.{{sfn|Menon|2012}} To Advaitins, there is no duality between a Creator and the created universe.{{sfn|Menon|2012}}{{sfn|Sharma|2008|p=5–14}} All objects, all experiences, all matter, all consciousness, all awareness are somehow also this one fundamental reality Brahman.{{sfn|Menon|2012}} Yet, the knowing self has various experiences of reality during the waking, dream and dreamless states,{{sfn|Nicholson, Hugh|2011|pp=171–172, 191}} and Advaita Vedānta acknowledges and admits that from the empirical perspective there are numerous distinctions.{{sfn|Grimes|2004|pp=31–33}} Advaita explains this by postulating different levels of reality,{{sfn|Puligandla|1997|p=232}}{{sfn|Sharma|1995|pp=174–178}}{{sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=246–247}}{{sfn|Nicholson, Hugh|2011|pp=171–172, 191}} and by its theory of errors (''anirvacaniya khyati'').{{sfn|Thrasher|1993|p=1–7}}{{sfn|Menon|2012}} ===Three levels of Reality/truth=== {{See also|Three Bodies Doctrine (Vedanta)|Two truths doctrine}} Shankara proposes three levels of reality, using sublation as the ontological criterion:{{sfn|Puligandla|1997|p=232}}{{sfn|Sharma|1995|pp=174–178}}{{sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=246–247}} * ''{{IAST|Pāramārthika}}'' (''paramartha'', absolute), the Reality that is metaphysically true and ontologically accurate. It is the state of experiencing that "which is absolutely real and into which both other reality levels can be resolved". This reality is the highest; it can't be sublated (assimilated) by any other.{{sfn|Puligandla|1997|p=232}}{{sfn|Sharma|1995|pp=176–178}} * ''{{IAST|Vyāvahārika}}'' (''vyavahara''), or ''samvriti-saya'',{{sfn|Renard|2010|p=131}} consisting of the empirical or pragmatical reality. It is ever changing over time, thus empirically true at a given time and context but not [[metaphysics|metaphysically]] true. It is "our world of experience, the phenomenal world that we handle every day when we are awake". It is the level in which both ''[[jiva]]'' (living creatures or individual Selfs) and ''[[Iswara]]'' are true; here, the material world is also true but this is incomplete reality and is sublatable.{{sfn|Sharma|1995|pp=176–178}}{{sfn|Malkovsky|2001|p=42–44}} * ''{{IAST|Prātibhāsika}}'' (''pratibhasika'', apparent reality, unreality), "reality based on imagination alone". It is the level of experience in which the mind constructs its own reality. Well-known examples of ''pratibhasika'' is the imaginary reality such as the "roaring of a lion" fabricated in dreams during one's sleep, and the perception of a rope in the dark as being a snake.{{sfn|Sharma|1995|pp=176–178}}{{sfn|Hiriyanna|1993|p=359–363}}{{sfn|Sharma|1997|p=1–16}} Absolute and relative reality are valid and true in their respective contexts, but only from their respective particular perspectives.{{sfn|Nicholson, Hugh|2011|pp=171–172, 191}}{{sfn|Grimes|2004|pp=31–33}}{{sfn|Murti|1996|p=294–296, 194–195}} John Grimes explains this Advaita doctrine of absolute and relative truth with the example of light and darkness.{{sfn|Grimes|2004|pp=31–33}} From the sun's perspective, it neither rises nor sets, there is no darkness, and "all is light". From the perspective of a person on earth, sun does rise and set, there is both light and darkness, not "all is light", there are relative shades of light and darkness. Both are valid realities and truths, given their perspectives. Yet, they are contradictory. What is true from one point of view, states Grimes, is not from another. To Advaita Vedānta, this does not mean there are two truths and two realities, but it only means that the same one Reality and one Truth is explained or experienced from two different perspectives.{{sfn|Grimes|2004|pp=31–33}}{{sfnp|Grimes|1994|pp=35–38}} As they developed these theories, Advaita Vedānta scholars were influenced by some ideas from the [[Nyaya]], [[Samkhya]] and [[Yoga]] schools of Hindu philosophy.{{sfnp|Sinha|2013|pp=306–314}}{{sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=246–247}} These theories have not enjoyed universal consensus among Advaitins, and various competing ontological interpretations have flowered within the Advaita tradition.{{sfn|Menon|2012}}{{sfnp|Ram-Prasad|2013a|pp=190–194}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Timalsina|2008|p=xvii}}: "Advaita can be approached from various angles. Not only are there multiple interpretations of Advaita, there are different starting points from which one can arrive at the conclusion of non-duality".}} ===''Pāramārthika'' - ''Sat'' (True Reality)=== ====Ātman==== {{Main|Ātman (Hinduism)}} {{See also|Samadhi|Buddha-nature|Sunyata|Choiceless awareness}} Ātman ([[IAST]]: ātman, [[Sanskrit]]: आत्मन्) is the "real self"{{sfnp|Dalal|2011|p=38}}{{sfnp|Johnson|2009|p=entry "Atman (self)"}}{{sfn|Bowker|2000c|loc="Atman"}}{{sfn|Timalsina|2014|pp=3–23}}{{refn|group=note|[https://web.archive.org/web/20141230210157/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/atman Atman], Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press (2012), '''Quote''': "1. real self of the individual; 2. a person's soul"}} or "essence"<ref group=web>{{Cite web |url=http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=+atman&trans=Translate&direction=AU |title=Sanskrit Dictionary, ''Atman'' |access-date=21 December 2015 |archive-date=22 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222144841/http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=+atman&trans=Translate&direction=AU |url-status=live }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|name="Payne2005p200"}} of the individual. It is ''caitanya'', Pure Consciousness,{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=103 (verse 1), p.105 (note 1)}} a consciousness, states Sthaneshwar Timalsina, that is "self-revealed, self-evident and self-aware (''svaprakashata''),"{{sfn|Timalsina|2014|pp=3–23}} and, states Payne, "in some way permanent, eternal, absolute or unchanging."{{refn|group=note|name="Payne2005p200"}} It is self-existent awareness, limitless and non-dual.{{sfn|Rambachan|2006|pp=7, 99–103}} It is "a stable subjectivity, or a unity of consciousness through all the specific states of individuated phenomenality."{{sfn|Ram-Prasad|2013|p=235}} Ātman, states Eliot Deutsch, is the "pure, undifferentiated, supreme power of awareness", it is more than thought, it is a state of being, that which is conscious and transcends subject-object divisions and momentariness.{{sfn|Deutsch|1973|pp=48–51}} According to Ram-Prasad, "it" is not an object, but "the irreducible essence of being [as] subjectivity, rather than an objective self with the quality of consciousness."{{sfn|Ram-Prasad|2013|p=237}} According to Shankara, it is self-evident and "a matter not requiring any proof" that Atman, the 'I', is 'as different as light is from darkness' from non-Atman, the 'you' or 'that', the material world whose characteristics are mistakingly superimposed on Atman, resulting in notions as "I am this" and "This is mine."<ref name="ShankaraBSBpreamble"/> One's real self is not the constantly changing body, not the desires, not the emotions, not the ego, nor the dualistic mind,{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p=44–45, 90}}{{sfn|Deutsch|1973|pp=50–51, 101–107}}{{sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=256–258, 261–263}}}} but the introspective, inwardly self-conscious "on-looker" (''saksi''),{{sfn|Raju|1985|pp=[https://archive.org/details/structuraldepths0000raju/page/448 448]–449}} which is in reality completely disconnected from the non-Atman.<ref name="ShankaraBSBpreamble"/> The ''jivatman'' or individual self is a mere reflection of singular Atman in a multitude of apparent individual bodies.{{sfn|Indich|2000|p=50}} It is "not an individual subject of consciousness,"{{sfn|Ram-Prasad|2013|p=235}} but the same in each person and identical to the universal eternal [[Brahman]],{{sfn|Sharma|2007|pp=9–13, 29–30, 45–47, 79–86}} a term used interchangeably with Atman.{{sfn|Mayeda|1992}} ''Atman'' is often translated as [[soul]],{{refn|group=note|name="Soul"}} though the two concepts differ significantly, since "soul" includes mental activities, whereas "Atman" solely refers to detached witness-consciousness. =====Three states of consciousness and Turiya===== Advaita posits three states of consciousness, namely waking (jagrat), dreaming (svapna), deep sleep (suṣupti), which are empirically experienced by human beings,{{sfn|Sharma|2004|p=3}}{{sfn|Indich|2000|pp=57–60}} and correspond to the [[Three Bodies Doctrine (Vedanta)|Three Bodies Doctrine]]:{{sfn|Wilber|2000|p=132}} # The first state is the waking state, in which we are aware of our daily world.{{sfn|Sharma|2004|pp=15–40, 49–72}} This is the gross body. # The second state is the dreaming mind. This is the [[subtle body]].{{sfn|Sharma|2004|pp=15–40, 49–72}} # The third state is the state of deep sleep. This is the [[causal body]].{{sfn|Sharma|2004|pp=15–40, 49–72}} Advaita also posits "the fourth," [[Turiya]], which some describe as pure consciousness, the background that underlies and transcends these three common states of consciousness.<ref group=web name=rm>{{cite book |url=http://bhagavan-ramana.org/ramana_maharshi/books/tw/tw617.html |author=Ramana Maharshi |title=States of Consciousness |access-date=16 February 2013 |archive-date=9 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209164417/http://bhagavan-ramana.org/ramana_maharshi/books/tw/tw617.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref group=web name=sc1>{{cite book|url=http://www.yogaofsrichinmoy.com/yoga/summits_of_god-life|author=Sri Chinmoy|title=Summits of God-Life|access-date=16 February 2013|archive-date=15 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215153917/http://www.yogaofsrichinmoy.com/yoga/summits_of_god-life/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Turiya is the state of liberation, where states Advaita school, one experiences the infinite (''ananta'') and non-different (''advaita/abheda''), that is free from the dualistic experience, the state in which [[ajativada]], non-origination, is apprehended.{{sfn|King|1995|p=300 note 140}} According to Candradhara Sarma, Turiya state is where the foundational Self is realized, it is measureless, neither cause nor effect, all pervading, without suffering, blissful, changeless, self-luminous,{{refn|group=note |name=self-luminous}} real, immanent in all things and transcendent.{{sfn|Sarma|1996|pp=122, 137}} Those who have experienced the Turiya stage of self-consciousness have reached the pure awareness of their own non-dual Self as one with everyone and everything, for them the knowledge, the knower, the known becomes one, they are the ''Jivanmukta''.{{sfn|Sarma|1996|pp=126, 146}}{{sfn|Comans|2000|pp=128–131, 5–8, 30–37}}{{sfn|Indich|2000|pp=106–108}}{{sfnp|Sullivan|1997|pp=59–60}}{{sfnp|Gupta|1998|pp=26–30}} Advaita traces the foundation of this ontological theory in more ancient Sanskrit texts.{{sfn|Raju|1985|pp=32–33}} For example, chapters 8.7 through 8.12 of [[Chandogya Upanishad]] discuss the "four states of consciousness" as awake, dream-filled sleep, deep sleep, and beyond deep sleep.{{sfn|Raju|1985|pp=32–33}}{{sfnp|Hume|1921|p=Chandogya Upanishad – Eighth Prathapaka, Seventh through Twelfth Khanda, [https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n289/mode/2up pp. 268–273]}} One of the earliest mentions of ''Turiya'', in the Hindu scriptures, occurs in verse 5.14.3 of the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad''.{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Olivelle|1998|p=77}};<br/>Sanskrit ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/बृहदारण्यकोपनिषद् Wikisource]): प्राणोऽपानो व्यान इत्यष्टावक्षराणि अष्टाक्षर ह वा एकं गायत्र्यै पदम् एतदु हैवास्या एतत् स यावदिदं प्राणि तावद्ध जयति योऽस्या एतदेवं पदं वेद अथास्या एतदेव '''तुरीयं''' दर्शतं पदं परोरजा य एष तपति यद्वै चतुर्थं तत्तुरीयम् दर्शतं पदमिति ददृश इव ह्येष परोरजा इति सर्वमु ह्येवैष रज उपर्युपरि तपत्य् एव हैव श्रिया यशसा तपति योऽस्या एतदेवं पदं वेद ॥ ३ ॥}} The idea is also discussed in other early Upanishads.{{sfn|Indich|2000|pp=58–67, 106–108}} =====''Svayam prakāśa'' (self-luminosity)===== {{Main|prakāśa}} In the Advaita tradition, consciousness is svayam prakāśa, "self-luminous,"{{sfn|Indich|2000|p=24, 28}}{{sfn|Menon|2012}}{{refn|group=note|name=self-luminous}} which means that "self is pure awareness by nature."{{sfn|Ganeri|2019|p=103}} According to Dasgupta, it is "the most fundamental concept of the Vedanta."{{sfn|Dasgupta|1975|p=148-149}} According to [[Tiruppattur R. Venkatachala Murti|T. R. V. Murti]], the Vedanta concept is explained as follows: {{blockquote|The point to be reached is a foundational consciousness that is unconditional, self-evident, and immediate (''svayam-prakāśa''). It is that to which everything is presented, but is itself no presentation, that which knows all, but is itself no object. The self should not be confused with the contents and states which it enjoys and manipulates. If we have to give an account of it, we can describe it only as what it is not, for any positive description of it would be possible only if it could be made an object of observation, which from the nature of the case it is not. We "know" it only as we withdraw ourselves from the body with which we happen to be identified, in this transition.{{sfn|Murti|1983|p=339}}{{refn|group=note|Compare {{harvnb|Fasching|2021}}: For Advaita Vedānta, consciousness is to be distinguished from all contents of consciousness that might be introspectively detectable: It is precisely consciousness of whatever contents it is conscious of and not itself one of these contents. Its only nature is, Advaita holds, prakāśa (manifestation); in itself it is devoid of any content or structure and can never become an object.}}}} According to Jonardon Ganeri, the concept was introduced by the Buddhist philosopher [[Dignāga]] (c.480–c.540 CE), and accepted by the Vedanta tradition;{{sfn|Ganeri|2019|p=103}} according to Zhihua Yao, the concept has older roots in the [[Mahasanghika#Self-Awareness and the Mind|Mahasanghika]] school.{{sfnp|Yao|2005|p=2}} ====Brahman==== {{Main|Brahman|Satcitananda}} According to Advaita Vedānta, [[Brahman]] is the true Self, consciousness, awareness, and the only Reality (''[[Satya|Sat]]'').{{sfn|Potter|2008|pp=6–7}}{{sfn|Lochtefeld|2002a|p=122}}{{sfn|Raju|2006|p=426; Conclusion chapter part XII}}{{refn|group=note|name=Brahman_definitions}} Brahman is ''Paramarthika Satyam'', "Absolute Truth"{{sfn|Venkatramaiah|2000|p=xxxii}} or absolute Real.{{sfn|Padiyath|2014|p=177}} It is That which is [[Ajativada|unborn]] and unchanging,{{sfn|Lochtefeld|2002a|p=122}}{{sfn|Brodd|2009|p=43–47}} and immortal.{{refn|group=note|name=Brahman_immortal}} Other than ''Brahman'', everything else, including the universe, material objects and individuals, are ever-changing and therefore [[maya (illusion)|maya]]. Brahman is "not sublatable",{{sfn|Potter|2008|pp=6–7}} which means it cannot be superseded by a still higher reality:{{sfn|Puligandla|1997|p=231}} {{blockquote|the true Self, pure consciousness [...] the only Reality (''sat''), since It is untinged by difference, the mark of ignorance, and since It is the one thing that is not sublatable".{{sfn|Potter|2008|pp=6–7}}}} In Advaita, Brahman is the substrate and cause of all changes.{{sfn|Lochtefeld|2002a|p=122}}{{sfn|Brodd|2009|p=43–47}} Brahman is considered to be the material cause{{refn|group=note|It provides the "stuff" from which everything is made}} and the efficient cause{{refn|group=note|It sets everything into working, into existence}} of all that exists.{{sfn|Raju|2006|p=426 and Conclusion chapter part XII}}{{sfnp|Dhavamony|2002|pp=43–44}}{{sfnp|Martinez-Bedard|2006|pp=18–35}} }}The Brahma Sutras I.1.2 state that Brahman is: {{blockquote|...that from which the origination, subsistence, and dissolution of this universe proceed.{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=18-19}} {{refn|group=note|Gambhirananda: "That (is Brahman) from which (are derived) the birth etc. of this (universe)."{{sfn|Gambhirananda|2021|p=13}}}}}} Advaita's Upanishadic roots state Brahman's qualities{{refn|group=note|''Svarupalakshana'', qualities, definition based on essence}} to be ''[[Satcitananda|Sat-cit-ānanda]]'',{{sfn|Raju|1992|p=228}}{{sfn|Deutsch|1980|p=9}}{{sfnp|Arapura|1986|pp=12, 13–18}} "true being-consciousness-bliss,"{{sfnp|Arapura|1986|pp=12, 13–18}}{{sfn|Deutsch|1980|p=9–10 with footnote 2}} or "Eternal Bliss Consciousness".{{sfn|Werner|1994}}{{refn|group=note|The Advaitin scholar Madhusudana Sarasvati explained Brahman as the Reality that is simultaneously an absence of falsity (sat), absence of ignorance (cit), and absence of sorrow/self-limitation (ananda).{{sfnp|Arapura|1986|pp=12, 13–18}}}} A distinction is made between ''[[nirguna Brahman]]'', formless Brahman, and ''[[Saguna brahman|saguna Brahman]]'', Brahman with form, that is, ''Ishvara'', God. ''Nirguna Brahman'' is undescrible, and the Upanishadic ''[[neti neti]]'' ('not this, not that' or 'neither this, nor that') negates all conceptualizations of Brahman.{{sfn|Derrida|1992|p=203}}{{sfnp|Pradhan|2014|p=19}} ===''Vyāvahārika'' (conventional reality) – ''Avidya'' and ''{{IAST|Māyā}}'' === ====''Avidyā'' (ignorance)==== ''[[Avidyā (Hinduism)|Avidyā]]'' is a central tenet of Shankara's Advaita, and became the main target of Ramanuja's criticism of Shankara.{{sfn|Murthi|2009|p=152}}{{sfn|Grimes|1990|p={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}} In Shankara's view, avidyā is ''adhyasa'', "the superimposition of the qualities of one thing upon another."{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=77}} As Shankara explains in the ''Adhyasa-bhasya'', the introduction to the ''Brahmasutrabhasya'': {{blockquote|Owing to an absence of discrimination, there continues a natural human behaviour in the form of 'I am this' or 'This is mine'; this is avidya. It is a superimposition of the attributes of one thing on another. The ascertainment of the nature of the real entity by separating the superimposed thing from it is vidya (knowledge, illumination).}} Due to ''avidya'', we're steeped in ''loka drsti'', the empirical view.{{sfn|Murthi|2009|p=157}} From the beginning we only perceive the empirical world of multiplicity, taking it to be the only and true reality.{{sfn|Murthi|2009|p=157}}{{sfn|Rambachan|2006|pp=114–122}} Due to avidyā there is ignorance, or nescience, of the real Self, ''[[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman-Brahman]]'', mistakingly identifying the Self with the body-mind complex.<ref group=web name="EB_Maya"/> With ''parmartha drsti'' ignorance is removed and ''vidya'' is acquired, and the Real, distinctionless Brahman is perceived as the True reality.{{sfn|Murthi|2009|p=157}} The notion of avidyā and its relationship to Brahman creates a crucial philosophical issue within Advaita Vedānta thought: how can avidyā appear in Brahman, since Brahman is pure consciousness?{{sfnp|Kaplan|2007}} For Shankara, ''avidya'' is a perceptual or psychological error.{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=78}} According to Satchidanandendra Saraswati, for Shankara "''avidya'' is only a technical name to denote the natural tendency of the human mind that is engaged in the act of superimposition."{{sfn|Murthi|2009|p=160}} The later tradition diverged from Shankara by turning ''avidya'' into a metaphysical principle, namely ''mulavidya'' or "root ignorance," a metaphysical substance which is the "primal material cause of the universe (''upadana'')," thereby setting aside Shankara's 'Unevolved Name-and-Form' as the explanation for the existence of materiality.{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=78}}{{sfn|Murthi|2009|p=149}} According to Mayeda, "[i]n order to save monism, they characterized ''avidya'' as indefinable as real or unreal (''sadasadbhyam anirvacanya''), belonging neither to the category of being nor to that of non-being."{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=78}} In the 20th century, this theory of ''mulavidya'' became a point of strong contention among Advaita Vedantins, with [[Satchidanandendra Saraswati]] arguing that Padmapada and Prakasatman had misconstrued Shanakara's stance.{{sfn|Murthi|2009|p=150}} Shankara did not give a 'location' of ''avidya'', giving precedence to the removal of ignorance.{{sfn|Doherty|2005|p=209-210}}{{refn|group=note|Compare [[Parable of the Poisoned Arrow]]}} Sengaku Mayeda writes, in his commentary and translation of [[Adi Shankara]]'s Upadesasahasri: {{blockquote|Certainly the most crucial problem which Sankara left for his followers is that of avidyā. If the concept is logically analysed, it would lead the Vedanta philosophy toward dualism or nihilism and uproot its fundamental position.{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=82}}}} The later Advaita-tradition diverged from Shankara, trying to determinate a locus of ''avidya'',{{sfn|Potter|2006|p=7-8}} with the Bhamati-school locating ''avidya'' in the ''jiva'' c.q. ''prakriti'', while the Vivarana-school locates it in Brahman.{{sfn|Murthi|2009|pp=155-156}}{{sfn|Potter|2006|p=7-8}} ====''{{IAST|Māyā}}'' (appearance)==== In Advaita Vedanta, the perceived empirical world, "including people and other existence," is Māyā, "appearance."{{sfnp|Vroom|1989|pp=122–123}}{{sfn|Shastri|1911|pp=5 and ix}} Jiva, conditioned by the human mind, is subjected to experiences of a subjective nature, and misunderstands and interprets the physical, changing world as the sole and final reality.{{sfnp|Vroom|1989|pp=122–123}} Due to ''avidya'', we take the [[phenomenon (philosophy)|phenomenal world]] to be the final reality,<ref group=web name="EB_Maya"/> while in Reality only ''Sat'' ( True Reality, Brahman) is Real and unchanging.{{sfn|Shastri|1911|pp=58–73}} While Shankara took a realistic stance, and his explanations are "remote from any connotation of illusion," the 13th century scholar [[Prakasatman]], founder of the influential [[Vivarana]] school, introduced the notion that the world is illusory.{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|pp=25–27}}{{sfn|Koller|2006}}{{sfn|Koller|2013}} According to Hacker, maya is not a prominent theme for Shankara, in contrast to the later Advaita tradition, and "the word ''maya'' has for [Shankara] hardly any terminological weight."{{sfn|Nicholson, Hugh|2011|p=266, note 21}} ====Five ''koshas'' (sheaths)==== Due to avidya, atman is covered by ''[[koshas]]'' (sheaths or bodies), which hide man's true nature. According to the [[Taittiriya Upanishad]], the Atman is covered by five koshas, usually rendered "sheath".{{sfnp|Roeser|2005|p=15}} They are often visualized like the layers of an onion.{{sfnp|Belling|2006}} From gross to fine the five sheaths are: # Annamaya kosha, physical/food sheath # [[Prana|Pranamaya kosha]], life-force sheath # Manomaya kosha, mental sheath # [[Vijñāna|Vijnanamaya kosha]], discernment/wisdom sheath # [[Anandamaya kosha]], bliss sheath (''[[Ananda]]'') ===''Parinamavada'' and ''vivartavada'' - causality and change === {{See also|Samkhya#Causality|l1=Satkāryavāda|Ajativada|Vivartavada}} Cause and effect are an important topic in all schools of [[Vedanta]].{{refn|group=note|These concepts are discussed in ancient and medieval texts of [[Hinduism]], and other Indian religions, using synonymous terms. Cause is referred to as ''{{IAST|kāraṇa}}'' (कारण), ''nidana'' (निदान), ''hetu'' (हेतु) or ''mulam'' (मूलम्), while effect is referred to as ''{{IAST|kārya}}'' (कार्य), ''phala'' (फल), ''parinam'' (परिणाम) or ''Shungam'' (शुङ्ग).<ref group=web name ="spokensanskrit_cause"/>{{sfnp|Nagao|1991|pp=127–128}} Two sorts of causes are recognised, namely {{IAST|Nimitta kāraṇa}}, the [[efficient cause]], that which causes the existence of the universe, and {{IAST|Upādāna kāraṇa}}, the [[material cause]], that from which the matery of this universe comes.{{sfnp|Lipner|1996|pp=109–126}} All schools of Vedānta agree that Brahman is both the material and the efficient cause, and all subscribe to the theory of ''[[Satkaryavada|Satkāryavāda]]'',<ref group=web name="IEP_Bheda"/> which means that the effect is pre-existent in the cause.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=27}}{{refn|group=note|Advaita furthermore states that effect ({{IAST|''kārya''}}) is non-different from cause ({{IAST|''kāraṇa''}}), but the cause is different from the effect. This principle is called {{IAST|''kārya-kāraṇa ananyatva''}}. When the cause is destroyed, the effect will no longer exist. For example, cotton cloth is the effect of the cotton threads, which is the material cause. Without threads there will be no cotton cloth. Without cotton there will be no thread. According to Swami Sivananda, in his comments on the {{IAST|Brahmasūtra-Bhāṣya}} 2.1.9, Adi Shankara describes this as follows: {{blockquote|{{IAST|''ananyatve'pi kāryakāraṇayoḥ kāryasya kāraṇātmatvaṃ na tu kāraṇasya kāryātmatvaṃ''}}<br>Despite the non-difference of cause and effect, the effect has its self in the cause but not the cause in the effect.<br>The effect is of the nature of the cause and not the cause the nature of the effect.<br>Therefore the qualities of the effect cannot touch the cause.<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/bs_2/bs_2.1.03.html |title=Brahma Sutras by Swami Sivananda |publisher=Swami-krishnananda.org |access-date=2011-06-10| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110612173736/http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/bs_2/bs_2.1.03.html| archive-date= 12 June 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref>}}}} There are different views on the origination of the empirical world from Brahman. All commentators "agree that Brahman is the cause of the world," but disagree on how exactly Brahman is the cause of the world.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=27}} According to Nicholson, "Mediaeval Vedantins distinguished two basic positions." ''[[Parinama-vada (Hindu thought)|Parinamavada]]'' is the idea that the world is a real transformation (''parinama'') of Brahman.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=27}} ''[[Vivartavada]]'' is the idea that {{blockquote|the world is merely an unreal manifestation (''vivarta'') of Brahman. Vivartavada states that although Brahman appears to undergo a transformation, in fact no real change takes place. The myriad of beings are unreal manifestation, as the only real being is Brahman, that ultimate reality which is unborn, unchanging, and entirely without parts.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=27}}}} {{Quote box |width=25em | bgcolor=#e6f2ff |align=right |salign = right |quote=20th verse of ''Brahmajnanavalimala'', attributed to Shankara: ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या <br/> जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः Brahman is real, the world is an illusion<br/> Brahman and [[Jiva]] are not different. ''Brahmajnanavalimala'' 1.20<ref>Sanskrit:[https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_z_misc_shankara/brahmajna.html?lang=sa Sanskrit documents] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623112419/https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_z_misc_shankara/brahmajna.html?lang=sa |date=23 June 2021 }}, Brahmajnanalimala 1.20</ref>}} The ''Brahma Sutras'', the ancient Vedantins, most sub-schools of Vedānta,{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=27}}<ref group="web" name="IEP_Bheda" /> as well as Samkhya argue for ''parinamavada''.<ref group="web" name="IEP_Bheda" /> The "most visible advocates of Vivartavada," states Nicholson, are the Advaitins, the followers of Shankara.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=27}} "Although the world can be described as conventionally real", adds Nicholson, "the Advaitins claim that all of Brahman's effects must ultimately be acknowledged as unreal before the individual self can be liberated".<ref group="web" name="IEP_Bheda" />{{refn|group=note|According to Eliot Deutsch, Advaita Vedānta states that from "the standpoint of Brahman-experience and Brahman itself, there is [[Ajativada|no creation]]" in the absolute sense, all empirically observed creation is relative and mere transformation of one state into another, all states are provisional and a cause-effect driven modification.{{sfn|Deutsch|1973|pp=40–43}}}} Yet, Adi Shankara himself most likely explained causality through ''parinamavada''.<ref group="web" name="IEP_Bheda" />{{sfn|King|1999|p=221}}{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=27}}{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|pp=25–27}} In Shankara's works "''Brahman'' constitutes the basic essence (''svabhava'') of the universe (BS Bh 3.2.21) and as such the universe cannot be thought of as distinct from it (BS Bh 2.1.14)." In Shankara's view, then, "The world is real, but only in so far as its existence is seen as totally dependent upon ''Brahman''."{{sfn|King|1999|p=221}} Shankara introduced the concept of "Unevolved Name-and-Form," or primal matter corresponding to ''Prakriti'', from which the world evolves,{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=20}} but this concept was not adopted by the later Advaita tradition.{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|pp=25–27}} Vivartavada became the dominant explanation, with which the primacy of Atman/Brahman can be maintained.{{sfn|Koller|2006}}{{sfn|Koller|2013}} Scholars such as Hajime Nakamura and Paul Hacker already noted that Adi Shankara did not advocate ''Vivartavada'', and his explanations are "remote from any connotation of illusion".{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|pp=25–27}}{{refn|group=note|According to Hugh Nicholson, "the definitive study on the development of the concept of ''vivarta'' in Indian philosophy, and in Advaita Vedanta in particular, remains Hacker's ''Vivarta''.{{sfn|Nicholson, Hugh|2011|pp=266 note 20, 167–170}} According to Hacker, "the word ''maya'' has for [Shankara] hardly any terminological weight."{{sfn|Nicholson, Hugh|2011|p=266 note 21}}}} It was the 13th century scholar Prakasatman, who founded the influential [[Vivarana]] school, who gave a definition to ''vivarta'', introducing the notion that the world is illusory. It is Prakasatman's theory that is sometimes misunderstood as Adi Shankara's position.{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|pp=25–27}} Andrew Nicholson concurs with Hacker and other scholars, adding that the ''vivarta-vada'' isn't Shankara's theory, that Shankara's ideas appear closer to ''parinama-vada'', and the ''vivarta'' explanation likely emerged gradually in Advaita subschool later.<ref group="web" name="IEP_Bheda" />{{refn|group=note|Compare the misunderstanding of [[Yogachara]]s concept of [[The doctrine of Vijñapti-mātra|vijñapti-mātra]], 'representation-only', as 'consciousness-only'.}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). 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