According to nondualism, many forms of religion are based on an experiential or intuitive understanding of "the Real". Nondualism, a modern reinterpretation of these religions, prefers the term "nondualism", instead of monism, because this understanding is "nonconceptual", "not graspable in an idea". To these nondual traditions belong Hinduism (including Vedanta, some forms of Yoga, and certain schools of Shaivism), Taoism, Pantheism, Rastafari, and similar systems of thought.
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When referring to nondualism, Hinduism generally uses the Sanskrit term Advaita, while Buddhism uses Advaya (Tibetan: gNis-med, Chinese: pu-erh, Japanese: fu- ni).Loy, David, Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy, Prometheus Books, 2012, p. 1. "Advaita" (अद्वैत) is from Sanskrit roots a, not; dvaita, dual, and is usually translated as "nondualism", "nonduality" and "nondual". The term "nondualism" and the term "advaita" from which it originates are polyvalent terms.
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According to Amidon, this reality is signified by "many names" from "spiritual traditions throughout the world": According to Renard, nondualism as common essence prefers the term "nondualism", instead of monism, because this understanding is "nonconceptual", "not graspapable in an idea". Even to call this "ground of reality", "One", or "Oneness" is attributing a characteristic to that ground of reality. The only thing that can be said is that it is "not two" or "non-dual":Swami Jnaneshvara, Faces of Nondualism According to Renard, Alan Watts has been one of the main contributors to the popularisation of the non-monistic understanding of "nondualism".
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Apart from Hinduism and Buddhism, self-proclaimed nondualists have also discerned nondualism in other religious traditions.
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However, unlike Vishishtadvaita which envisions ultimate qualified nondualism, the dualism of Dvaita was permanent. Salvation, in Dvaita, is achievable only through the grace of God Vishnu.
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This text, like other Shaiva Upanishads, is presented with Vedanta nondualism terminology, and states that the individual Atman (soul) is identical with the supreme reality Brahman.
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The Abhavya state of soul is entered after an intentional and shockingly evil act. Jainism considers souls as pluralistic each in a karma-samsara cycle, and does not subscribe to Advaita-style (not two) nondualism of Hinduism, or Advaya-style nondualism of Buddhism. A liberated soul in Jainism is one who has gone beyond Saṃsāra, is at the apex, is omniscient, remains there eternally, and is known as a Siddha.
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In spirituality, nondualism, also called non-duality, means "not two" or "one undivided without a second". Nondualism primarily refers to a mature state of consciousness, in which the dichotomy of I-other is "transcended", and awareness is described as "centerless" and "without dichotomies". Although this state of consciousness may seem to appear spontaneous, it usually follows prolonged preparation through ascetic or meditative/contemplative practice, which may include ethical injunctions. While the term "nondualism" is derived from Advaita Vedanta, descriptions of nondual consciousness can be found within Hinduism (Turiya, sahaja), Buddhism (emptiness, pariniṣpanna, nature of mind, rigpa), Sufism (Wahdat al Wujud, Fanaa, and Haqiqah) and western Christian and neo-Platonic traditions (henosis, mystical union).
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He wrote commentaries in the 15th century on three different schools of Indian philosophy, Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, and Yoga, and integrated them into a nondualism platform that belongs to both the Bhedabheda and Advaita (nondualism) sub-schools of Vedanta. According to Andrew Nicholson, this became the basis of Neo-Vedanta. His integration is known as Avibhaga Advaita ("indistinguishable non-dualism"). His sub-commentary on the Yoga Sutras, the Yogavarttika, has been an influential work.
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Eliot Deutsch (1980), Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction, University of Hawaii Press, , pp. 10–13 The nondualism concept of Advaita Vedanta asserts that each soul is non-different from the infinite Brahman.
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The Asian ideas of nondualism developed in the Vedic and post-Vedic Upanishadic philosophies as well as in the Buddhist traditions. The oldest traces of nondualism in Indian thought are found in the earlier Hindu Upanishads such as Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, as well as other pre-Buddhist Upanishads such as the Chandogya Upanishad, which emphasizes the unity of individual soul called Atman and the Supreme called Brahman. In Hinduism, nondualism has more commonly become associated with the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Adi Shankara. In the Buddhist tradition non-duality is associated with the teachings of emptiness (śūnyatā) and the two truths doctrine, particularly the Madhyamaka teaching of the non-duality of absolute and relative truth, and the Yogachara notion of "mind/thought only" (citta-matra) or "representation-only" (vijñaptimātra).
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In late Vedic era, with the start of Upanishadic age (~800-600 BCE), from the henotheistic, panentheistic concepts emerge the concepts which scholars variously call nondualism or monism, as well as forms of non-theism.
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Further, Jaina traditions believe that there exist Abhavya (incapable), or a class of souls that can never attain moksha (liberation). The Abhavya state of soul is entered after an intentional and shockingly evil act. Jainism considers souls as pluralistic each in a karma-Saṃsāra cycle, and does not subscribe to Advaita style nondualism of Hinduism, or Advaya style nondualism of Buddhism. The Jaina theosophy, like ancient Ajivika, but unlike Hindu and Buddhist theosophies, asserts that each soul passes through 8,400,000 birth-situations, as they circle through Saṃsāra.
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Several schools of Vedanta teach a form of nondualism. The best-known is Advaita Vedanta, but other nondual Vedanta schools also have a significant influence and following, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta and Shuddhadvaita, both of which are bhedabheda.
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Souls can be good or evil in Jainism, unlike the nondualism of some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism. According to Jainism, a Siddha (liberated soul) has gone beyond Saṃsāra, is at the apex, is omniscient, and remains there eternally.
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The Advaita Vedānta ideas, particularly of 8th century Adi Shankara, were challenged by theistic Vedānta philosophies that emerged centuries later, such as the 11th-century Vishishtadvaita (qualified nondualism) of Ramanuja, and the 14th-century Dvaita (theistic dualism) of Madhvacharya.
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It has been popularized in Neo-Vedanta, which has dominated the popular understanding of Hinduism since the 19th century. It emphasizes mysticism. Swami Vivekananda presented the teachings of Neo-Vedanta as radical nondualism, unity between all religions and all persons.
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Identityism is the school of Sufi metaphysics of unity of being traditionally known as Wahdat al-Wujud or Wahdat ul-Wujood (Arabic: Literally, unity of existence) formulated by Ibn Arabi. Identityism is similar to monism in the west and nondualism and advaita vedanta in Hinduism.
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Some evolve to a higher state, some regress asserts the Jaina theory, a movement that is driven by the karma. Further, Jaina traditions believe that there exist Abhavya (incapable), or a class of souls that can never attain moksha (liberation). The Abhavya state of soul is entered after an intentional and shockingly evil act. Jainism considers souls as pluralistic each in a karma- samsara cycle, and does not subscribe to Advaita style nondualism of Hinduism, or Advaya style nondualism of Buddhism. The Jaina theosophy, like ancient Ajivika, but unlike Hindu and Buddhist theosophies, asserts that each soul passes through 8,400,000 birth-situations, as they circle through Saṃsāra.
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Madhvācārya's teachings are built on the premise that there is a fundamental difference between Atman (individual soul, self) and the Brahman (ultimate reality, God Vishnu), these are two different unchanging realities, with individual soul dependent on Brahman, never identical. His school's theistic dualism teachings disagreed with the monist teachings of the other two most influential schools of Vedanta based on Advaita's nondualism and Vishishtadvaita's qualified nondualism. Liberation, asserted Madhva, is achievable only through the grace of God. The Dvaita school founded by Madhva influenced Vaishnavism, the Bhakti movement in medieval India, and has been one of the three influential Vedānta philosophies, along with Advaita Vedanta and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta.
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Shaivism has many different sub-traditions with regional variations and differences in philosophy.For an overview of the Shaiva Traditions, see Flood, Gavin, "The Śaiva Traditions", in: Flood (2003), pp. 200–228. Shaivism has a vast literature with different philosophical schools ranging from nondualism, dualism, and mixed schools.Tattwananda, p. 54.
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Vadakke Madhom popularly known as Brahmaswam Madham, is one of the four ancient South Indian madhoms that propagate Adwaita or nondualism. Spiritual leader Adi Shankara's disciple Hasthamalakacharya started the Madhom. It is located at Thrissur city in Kerala, India. Totakacharya was the first Madhapathi (Head) of Vadakke Madhom.
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Modern scientific research on the history of Zen discerns three main narratives concerning Zen, its history and its teachings: Traditional Zen Narrative (TZN), Buddhist Modernism (BM), Historical and Cultural Criticism (HCC). An external narrative is Nondualism, which claims Zen to be a token of a universal nondualist essence of religions.
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The book contains Dhruv's articles which he contributed to the magazines Sudarshan and Vasant. In the books, Dhruv has explained logically the theory of Advaita Vedanta (nondualism), a branch of Indian philosophy. He has presented his view rationally and tried to remove some of the misunderstandings about the Indian mythological episodes by giving new interpretation.
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These include Ramanuja, Madhva, Vallabha and Nimbarka.Richard Kieckhefer and George Bond (1990), Sainthood: Its Manifestations in World Religions, University of California Press, , pages 116-122Axel Michaels (2003), Hinduism: Past and Present, Princeton University Press, , pages 62-65 These writers championed a spectrum of philosophical positions ranging from theistic dualism, qualified nondualism and absolute monism.
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As a result, the energy that was previously invested in limitation becomes accessible for being directed towards the greater good.Encounter: Aghoris The teachings and practices of Aghor defy easy categorization. Some adherents classify Aghor as a non-dualistic (advaita) Hindu philosophy. Classic nondualism explains that only the one eternal Self – alternately referred to as God, Brahman, or Atman – is real.
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Balsekar taught from the tradition of Advaita Vedanta nondualism. His teaching begins with the idea of an ultimate Source, Brahman, from which creation arises. Once creation has arisen, the world and life operate mechanistically according to both Divine and natural laws. While people believe that they are actually doing things and making choices, free will is in fact an illusion.
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Madhvacharya (1238-1317 CE), the main proponent of Dvaita Vedanta Dvaita Vedanta (; ) is a sub-school in the Vedanta tradition of Hindu philosophy. Alternatively known as Bhedavāda, Tattvavāda and Bimbapratibimbavāda, the Dvaita Vedanta sub-school was founded by the 13th-century scholar Madhvacharya. The Dvaita Vedanta school believes that God (Vishnu, supreme soul) and the individual souls (jīvātman) exist as independent realities, and these are distinct, being said that Vishnu (Narayana) is independent, and souls are dependent on him. The Dvaita school contrasts with the other two major sub-schools of Vedanta, the Advaita Vedanta of Adi Shankara which posits nondualism – that ultimate reality (Brahman) and human soul are identical and all reality is interconnected oneness, and Vishishtadvaita of Ramanuja which posits qualified nondualism – that ultimate reality (Brahman) and human soul are different but with the potential to be identical.
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Ramanuja was a Hindu theologian, philosopher, and an exponent of the Sri Vaishnavism (Vishnu) tradition in 11th and early 12th century. Like his Vedanta peers, Ramanuja wrote a bhashya (commentary) on the Gita. Ramanuja's disagreed with Adi Shankara's interpretation of the Gita as a text on nondualism (Self and Brahman are identical), and instead interpreted it as a form of dualistic and qualified monism philosophy (Vishishtadvaita).
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The Saiva Siddhanta temple belongs to a monistic branch of the school of Saiva Siddhanta. Its theology is grounded in the Vedas, Saiva Agamas and the ancient Tirumantiram, a Tamil scripture composed by Tirumular. The temple's theology is based on a synthesis of devotional theism and uncompromising nondualism. It is referred to as "monistic theism", which recognizes that monism and dualism/pluralism are equally valid perspectives.
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I Am That is a compilation of talks on Shiva Advaita (Nondualism) philosophy by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, a Hindu spiritual teacher who lived in Mumbai.About Nisargadatta Maharaj The English translation of the book from the original Marathi recordings was done by Maurice Frydman, edited by Sudhakar S. Dixit and first published in 1973 by Chetana Publications.Chetana Publications. The book was revised and reedited in July 1981.
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Sikh theology suggests human souls and the monotheistic God are two different realities (dualism), distinguishing it from the monistic and various shades of nondualistic philosophies of other Indian religions. However, Sikh scholars have attempted to explore nondualism exegesis of Sikh scriptures, such as during the neocolonial reformist movement by Bhai Vir Singh of the Singh Sabha. According to Mandair, Singh interprets the Sikh scriptures as teaching nonduality.
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The western world has been exposed to Indian religions since the late 18th century. The first western translation of a Sanskrit text was made in 1785. It marked a growing interest in Indian culture and languages. The first translation of the dualism and nondualism discussing Upanishads appeared in two parts in 1801 and 1802 and influenced Arthur Schopenhauer, who called them "the consolation of my life".
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Wayne Hankey, "Aquinas, Plato, and Neo-Platonism" The mystic Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 – c. 1328) was also influenced by neoplatonism, propagating a contemplative way of life which points to the Godhead beyond the nameable God. Neoplatonism also had a strong influence on the perennial philosophy of the Italian Renaissance thinkers Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, and continues through nineteenth-century Universalism and modern-day spirituality and nondualism.
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Modern scientific research on the history of Zen discerns three main narratives concerning Zen, its history and its teachings: Traditional Zen Narrative (TZN),Andre van de Braak, ZEN SPIRITUALITY IN A SECULAR AGE. Charles Taylor and Zen Buddhism in the West Buddhist Modernism (BM), Historical and Cultural Criticism (HCC). An external narrative is Nondualism, which claims Zen to be a token of a universal nondualist essence of religions.
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Devotion and self-surrender to guru. Best realised as a part in Prapatti, and not as an independent means, although it can be so. Sri Nimbarka made the "Bhasya" (commentary in which alle the words of the verses are used, in contradistinction to a tika, which is a more free commentary) of the Brahmasutra on his Dvaitadvaita Vedanta (Principle of Dualism-Nondualism) in his famous book "Vedanta Parijata Sourabha".
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In the acknowledgements section of his book "Who Dies: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying" (1986), Stephen paid tribute to a number of spiritual teachers whose work he acknowledged to have influenced his writing. As well as crediting "years of Buddhist practice and teaching," he cited the writings of Nisargadatta Maharaj, an Indian spiritual teacher and philosopher of Advaita (Nondualism), as well as Neem Karoli Baba and Ramana Maharshi.
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Deida's ecumenical approach has caused some to question his discrimination for audiences EnlightenNext, March–May 2009, pp. 52-62. but Deida characterizes his recent work as “spiritual theater” rather than “religious teaching”.David Deida: The Complete Recordings, Volumes 1-4 (Audio CD). This orientation has led one critic to suspect Deida's spiritual depth and integrity, specifically questioning whether his approach has conflated post-modern nihilism with mystical nondualism.
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Rise of Nondualism in Bengal in Modern Hindu Personalism: The History, Thought and Life of Bhaktisiddhanta. Oxford University Press, 2013. pp. 39–40. Although his ultimate aim was the spread of English education, Duff was aware that a foreign language could not be mastered without command of the native language. Hence in his General Assembly's Institution (as later in his Free Church Institution), teaching and learning in the dominant vernacular Bengali language was also emphasized.
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While Zongmi acknowledged that the essence of Buddha-nature and its functioning in the day-to-day reality are but difference aspects of the same reality, he insisted that there is a difference. To avoid the dualism he saw in the Northern Line and the radical nondualism and antinomianism of the Hung-chou school, Zongmi’s paradigm preserved "an ethically critical duality within a larger ontological unity", an ontology which he claimed was lacking in Hung-chou Chan.
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He made Hindu spirituality, intellectually available to the Westernized audience. His famous speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago on 11 September 1893, followed huge reception of his thought in the West and made him a well-known figure in the West and subsequently in India too. His influence can still be recognised in popular western spirituality, such as nondualism, New Age and the veneration of Ramana Maharshi. A major element of Vivekananda's message was nationalist.
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Madhvacharya interprets the Upanishadic teachings of the self becoming one with Brahman, as "entering into Brahman", just like a drop enters an ocean. This to the Dvaita school implies duality and dependence, where Brahman and Atman are different realities. Brahman is a separate, independent and supreme reality in the Upanishads, Atman only resembles the Brahman in limited, inferior, dependent manner according to Madhvacharya. Sri Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita school and Shankara's Advaita school are both nondualism Vedanta schools,J.
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Due to this western popularity, it also gained authority back in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. The best-known representatives of this amalgamated tradition are Annie Besant (Theosophical Society), Swami Vivekenanda and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (Neo-Vedanta), Anagarika Dharmapala, a 19th-century Sri Lankan Buddhist activist who founded the Maha Bodhi Society, and D.T. Suzuki, a Japanese scholar and Zen-Buddhist. A synonymous term for this broad understanding is nondualism. This mutual influence is also known as the pizza effect.
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Gorakhnath led a life as a passionate exponent of ideas of Kumarila and Adi Shankara that championed the Yoga and Advaita Vedanta interpretation of the Upanishads. Gorakhnath considered the controversy between dualism and nondualism spiritual theories in medieval India as useless from practice point of view, he emphasised that the choice is of the yogi, that the spiritual discipline and practice by either path leads to "perfectly illumined samadhi state of the individual phenomenal consciousness", states Banerjea.
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Thus, Gaudapada differs from Buddhist scholars such as Nagarjuna, states Comans, by accepting the premises and relying on the fundamental teaching of the Upanishads. Among other things, Vedanta school of Hinduism holds the premise, "Atman exists, as self evident truth", a concept it uses in its theory of nondualism. Buddhism, in contrast, holds the premise, "Atman does not exist (or, An-atman) as self evident".Dae-Sook Suh (1994), Korean Studies: New Pacific Currents, University of Hawaii Press, , pp.
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While Zongmi acknowledged that the essence of Buddha-nature and its functioning in the day-to-day reality are but different aspects of the same reality, he insisted that there is a difference. To avoid the dualism he saw in the Northern Line and the radical nondualism and antinomianism of the Hung-chou school, Zongmi’s paradigm preserved "an ethically critical duality within a larger ontological unity", an ontology which he claimed was lacking in Hung- chou Chan.
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In Buddhism, the concept of the individual lies in anatman, or "no-self." According to anatman, the individual is really a series of interconnected processes that, working together, give the appearance of being a single, separated whole. In this way, anatman, together with anicca, resembles a kind of bundle theory. Instead of an atomic, indivisible self distinct from reality, the individual in Buddhism is understood as an interrelated part of an ever-changing, impermanent universe (see Interdependence, Nondualism, Reciprocity).
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Online Etymology Dictionary: kathenotheism Henotheism refers to a pluralistic theology wherein different deities are viewed to be of a unitary, equivalent divine essence. Another term related to henotheism is "equitheism", referring to the belief that all gods are equal. Further, the term henotheism does not exclude monism, nondualism or dualism. Various scholars prefer the term monolatrism to henotheism, to discuss religions where a single god is central, but the existence or the position of other gods is not denied.
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Ippen's doctrine was primarily influenced by Shōkū, founder of the Seizan branch of the Jōdo-shū, who "insisted that the various Buddhist practices contain no more than a portion of the merit of the single practice of the nembutsu and serve merely to lead people to recite the nembutsu."Ippen (1239-1289), The Ji School, The Votive Nembutsu However he was also strongly influenced by the nondualism of Zen and even received Dharma transmission as a Zen master from Rōshi Kakushin.
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Michel Hulin was born on 31 January 1936. An alumn of the École normale supérieure, he obtained his doctorate in philosophy from the Paris-Sorbonne University in 1977 with a dissertation on the Vedic concept of ahamkara. He was a professor of Indian and comparative philosophy at Paris-Sorbonne from 1981 to 1998. His research has focused on classical Indian philosophy, such as the nondualism in Vedanta, Tantric-inspired texts in Shaivism and the confrontations between European and Asian traditions of thought.
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Nisargadatta MaharajThe American pronunciation of his first name is or , whereas his last name is pronounced or (17 April 1897 – 8 September 1981), born Maruti Shivrampant Kambli, was a Hindu guru of nondualism, belonging to the Inchagiri Sampradaya, a lineage of teachers from the Navnath Sampradaya and Lingayat Shaivism. The publication in 1973 of I Am That, an English translation of his talks in Marathi by Maurice Frydman, brought him worldwide recognition and followers, especially from North America and Europe.
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Sannyasa Upanishads focus on the monastic traditions within Hinduism. Some of the oldest Sannyasa Upanishads have a strong Advaita Vedanta outlook, and these pre-date Adi Shankara. Most of the Sannyasa Upanishads present a Yoga and nondualism (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy. This may be, states Patrick Olivelle, because major Hindu monasteries of early medieval period (1st millennium CE) belonged to the Advaita Vedanta tradition. The 12th-century Shatyayaniya Upanishad is a significant exception, which presents qualified dualistic and Vaishnavism (Vishishtadvaita Vedanta) philosophy.
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The Hung-chou school has been criticised for its radical subitism. Guifeng Zongmi (圭峰 宗密) (780–841), an influential teacher-scholar and patriarch of both the Chan and the Huayan school, claimed that the Hongzhou school teaching led to a radical nondualism that denies the need for spiritual cultivation and moral discipline. While Zongmi acknowledged that the essence of Buddha-nature and its functioning in the day-to-day reality are but difference aspects of the same reality, he insisted that there is a difference.
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Sripati, a Virasaiva scholar, explained Basava's philosophy in Srikara Bhasya, using the Vedanta Sutra, suggesting Basava's Lingayat theology to be a form of qualified nondualism, wherein the individual Atma (soul) is the body of God, and that there is no difference between Shiva and Atma(self, soul), Shiva is one's Atma, one's Atma is Shiva. Sripati's analysis places Basava's views in Vedanta school, in a form closer to the 11th century Vishishtadvaita philosopher Ramanuja, than to Advaita philosopher Adi Shankara. However, Sripati's analysis has been contested by other scholars.
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She is of a blue skin tone, with a high, red chignon ("she who has but one chignon" is another one of her titles). She has one head, three breast, two hands, and a third eye. However, she can also be depicted with more body parts; up to twelve heads and twenty four arms, with different tantric attributes (sword, kukuri, phurba, blue lotus axe, vajra) In another form, her hair is arranged in the same single bun with a turquoise forehead curl. This and her other features signify her blazing allegiance to nondualism.
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This philosophy serves as a meeting of two opposing schools of Hindu philosophy, pure monism (God and the soul as one entity) and pure dualism (God and the soul as absolutely separate). This philosophy largely recapitulates the concepts of qualified nondualism practiced by the older Vedantic school Vishishtadvaita, but emphasizes the figure of Krishna over Narayana and holy sites in and around Bengal over sites in Tamil Nadu. In practice, Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy has much more in common with the dualistic schools especially closely following theological traditions established by Madhvacharya's Dvaita Vedanta.
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McCagney, Nancy (1997), Nāgārjuna and the Philosophy of Openness, Rowman & Littlefield, 1997, pp. 128. The later Madhyamikas, states Yuichi Kajiyama, developed the Advaya definition as a means to Nirvikalpa- Samadhi by suggesting that "things arise neither from their own selves nor from other things, and that when subject and object are unreal, the mind, being not different, cannot be true either; thereby one must abandon attachment to cognition of nonduality as well, and understand the lack of intrinsic nature of everything". Thus, the Buddhist nondualism or Advaya concept became a means to realizing absolute emptiness.
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The Pancabrahma Upanishad (, IAST: Pañca-brahma Upaniṣad) is a medieval era Sanskrit text and is one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism. The text is classified as one of 13 Shaiva Upanishads, and one of the 32 Upanishads of the Krishna Yajurveda. The Upanishad glorifies Shiva, with Vedanta nondualism terminology. The text is notable for its focus on Sadashiva,as Brahman,with his five faces corresponding to five Ishwaras, and for its recommendation of meditation on "So'ham" or "I am he, He am I" to achieve moksha, the union with Brahman.
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Since the late 18th century, an intensive exchange of cultural and religious ideas has been taking place between Asian and western cultures, changing and shaping both cultural hemispheres. In 1785 appeared the first western translation of a Sanskrit-text. Since then, modernisation movements appeared in eastern countries and cultures, such as the Brahmo Samaj and Neo-Vedanta in India, Dharmapala's Maha Bodhi Society, and Buddhist modernism in Japan. In the west, as early as the 19th century the Transcendentalists were influenced by Eastern religions, followed by the Theosophical Society, New Thought, Western Buddhism, the Perennial Philosophy of Aldous Huxley, New Age and Nondualism.
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The axiology in the text includes a discussion of the value of Yamas and Niyamas, such as non-violence, truthfulness, compassion, abstinence from anger, temperance in food (Mitahara), among others. The text details yogic postures such as Svastikasana, Gomukhasana, Padmasana, Virasana, Simhasana, Bhadrasana, Muktasana, Mayurasana and Sukhasana. These Asanas are discussed in various breathing and cleansing exercises in later sections. The Upanishad thereafter proceeds to presenting its Vedantic ideas on meditation and nondualism, stating its premise in verse 7.13-7.14, that the Yogin should ascertain his Atman (soul) in the "nondual, cosmic Atman" (Brahman, unchanging, ultimate reality).
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Advaita Vedanta espouses nondualism. Brahman is the sole unchanging reality,AC Das (1952), Brahman and Māyā in Advaita Metaphysics, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 2, No. 2, pages 144–154 there is no duality, no limited individual souls nor a separate unlimited cosmic soul, rather all souls, all of existence, across all space and time, is one and the same.Rosen Dalal (2014), Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide, Penguin, , see article on Brahman The universe and the soul inside each being is Brahman, and the universe and the soul outside each being is Brahman, according to Advaita Vedanta.
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Various Mahayana texts such as the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras focus on this idea and over time it became a very influential doctrine in Indian Buddhism, as well in East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism. The Buddha nature teachings may be regarded as a form of nondualism. According to Sally B King, all beings are said to be or possess tathagata- garbha, which is nondual Thusness or Dharmakaya. This reality, states King, transcends the "duality of self and not-self", the "duality of form and emptiness" and the "two poles of being and non being".King, Sally (1991), Buddha Nature, SUNY Press, pp. 99, 106, 111.
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Madhvacharya was a fierce critic of competing Vedanta schools, and other schools of Indian philosophies such as Buddhism and Jainism. He wrote up arguments against twenty one ancient and medieval era Indian scholars to help establish the foundations of his own school of thought. Madhvacharya was fiercest critic of Advaita Vedanta, accusing Shankara and Advaitins for example, as "deceitful demons" teaching Buddhism under the cover of Vedanta. Advaita's nondualism asserts that Atman (soul) and Brahman are blissful and identical, unchanging transcendent Reality, there is interconnected oneness of all souls and Brahman, and there are no pluralities.
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Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, Tuttle, 2000, p. xii According to Taigen Dan Leighton, this practice is a "nondual objectless meditation" which: > ...involves withdrawal from exclusive focus on a particular sensory or > mental object to allow intent apprehension of all phenomena as a unified > totality. This objectless meditation aims at a radical, refined nondualism > that does not grasp at any of the highly subtle distinctions to which our > familiar mental workings are prone and which estranges us from our > experience. Such subject-object dichotomization is understood as artificial, > a fabrication.
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Vallabhacharya (1479–1531 CE), also known as Vallabha, was an Indian Telugu philosopher who founded the Krishna-centered Pushti sect of Vaishnavism in the Braj region of India, and the philosophy of Shuddha advaita (Pure Nondualism). Vallabha was born in a Telugu family that had been living in Varanasi, who escaped to Champaran of Chhattisgarh state while expecting Vallabha, during the turbulent times of Hindu-Muslim conflicts in the late 15th century. Vallabha studied the Vedas and the Upanishads as a child, then travelled throughout the Indian subcontinent over 20 years. He became one of the important leaders of the devotional Bhakti movement.
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Neo-Advaita, also called the Satsang-movement and Nondualism, is a New Religious Movement, emphasizing the direct recognition of the non-existence of the "I" or "ego," without the need of preparatory practice. Its teachings are derived from, but not authorised by, the teachings of the 20th century sage Ramana Maharshi,David Frawley, Misconceptions about Advaita. The Mountain Path, Sri Ramanashram as interpreted and popularized by H. W. L. Poonja and several of his western students. It is part of a larger religious current called immediatism by Arthur Versluis, which has its roots in both western and eastern spirituality.
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Madhyamaka forms an alternative to the perennialist and essentialist (neo-)Advaita understanding of nondualism or modern spirituality.Emptiness. Buddhist and BeyondEmptiness teachings The classical Madhyamaka-teachings are complemented with postmodern philosophy,Review of Richard Rorty's "Philosophy and Social Hope" critical sociology,Patrick jennings (2014), Tsongkhapa: In Praise of Relativity; The Essence of Eloquence and social constructionism.emptiness.co, Review of Kenneth J. Gergen's "An Invitation to Social Construction" These approaches stress that there is no transcendental reality beyond this phenomenal world,Susan Kahn, The Two Truths of Buddhism and The Emptiness of Emptiness. and in some cases even explicitly distinguish themselves from (neo-)Advaita approaches.emptiness.
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The Vedic hymns treat it as "limitless, indescribable, absolute principle", thus the Vedic divine is something of a panentheism rather than simple henotheism. In late Vedic era, around the start of Upanishadic age (~800 BCE), theosophical speculations emerge that develop concepts which scholars variously call nondualism or monism, as well as forms of non-theism and pantheism. An example of the questioning of the concept of God, in addition to henotheistic hymns found therein, are in later portions of the Rigveda, such as the Nasadiya Sukta. Hinduism calls the metaphysical absolute concept as Brahman, incorporating within it the transcendent and immanent reality.
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The Hung-chou school has been criticised for its radical subitism. Guifeng Zongmi (圭峰 宗密) (780–841), an influential teacher-scholar and patriarch of both the Chán and the Huayan school claimed that the Hung-chou tradition believed "everything as altogether true". According to Zongmi, the Hung-chou school teaching led to a radical nondualism that believed that all actions, good or bad, are expressing the essential Buddha-nature, but therefore denies the need for spiritual cultivation and moral discipline. This would be a dangerously antinomian view as it eliminated all moral distinctions and validated any actions as expressions of the essence of Buddha-nature.
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His chosen field of research were the Dinka of southern Sudan, a people closely related to the Nuer studied by his mentor, (1947–50) and the Anuak (1952-1954). His work on the former, culminating in Divinity and Experience: the Religion of the Dinka, is regarded as unsurpassed as a study of African religion. His central, ultimately Durkheimian premise here is that religion is not reducible to a matter of beliefs and practices, but rather to a complex set of natural and social practices.T. M. S. Evens "Contradiction and Choice among the Dinka and in Genesis" in Anthropology as ethics: nondualism and the conduct of sacrifice, Berghahn Books, 2008 ch.
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His works in Sanskrit concern themselves with establishing the doctrine of advaita (nondualism). He also established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mimamsa school established strict ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. Shankara represented his works as elaborating on ideas found in the Upanishads, and he wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic canon (Brahma Sutra, principal upanishads and Bhagavad Gita) in support of his thesis. The main opponent in his work is the Mimamsa school of thought, though he also offers arguments against the views of some other schools like Samkhya and certain schools of Buddhism.
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800 BCE), theosophical speculations emerge that develop concepts which scholars variously call nondualism or monism, as well as forms of non-theism and pantheism. An example of the questioning of the concept of God, in addition to henotheistic hymns found therein, are in later portions of the Rigveda, such as the Nasadiya Sukta. Hinduism calls the metaphysical absolute concept as Brahman, incorporating within it the transcendent and immanent reality.PT Raju (2006), Idealistic Thought of India, Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XIIPaul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 91 Different schools of thought interpret Brahman as either personal, impersonal or transpersonal.
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Madhvacharya was also a critic of Advaita Vedānta. Advaita's nondualism asserted that Atman (soul) and Brahman are identical, there is interconnected oneness of all souls and Brahman, and there are no pluralities. Madhva in contrast asserted that Atman (soul) and Brahman are different, only Vishnu is the Lord (Brahman), individual souls are also different and depend on Vishnu, and there are pluralities.Stafford Betty (2010), Dvaita, Advaita, and Viśiṣṭādvaita: Contrasting Views of Mokṣa, Asian Philosophy: An International Journal of the Philosophical Traditions of the East, Volume 20, Issue 2, pages 215–224 Madhvacharya stated that both Advaita Vedānta and Mahayana Buddhism were a nihilistic school of thought.
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Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of the World's Religions (1893) Syman begins The Subtle Body by describing in turn the precursors of American yoga, namely Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau. She notes that Emerson's 1856 poem Brahma concisely introduced Hindu nondualism, repudiating "sacraments, supernaturalism, biblical authority, and ... Christianity". Thoreau, she states, tried to practice yoga, and was seen by some as "the first American Yogi", but by others as "a misanthropic hermit". However, Syman identifies the dramatic arrival of Vivekananda and his Raja Yoga as marking the start of modern yoga, and the key moment in this as being his appearance at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago.
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The Hung-chou school has been criticised for its radical subitism. Guifeng Zongmi (圭峰 宗密) (780–841), an influential teacher-scholar and patriarch of both the Chán and the Huayan school claimed that the Hung-chou tradition believed "everything as altogether true". According to Zongmi, the Hung-chou school teaching led to a radical nondualism that believed that all actions, good or bad, are expressing the essential Buddha-nature, but therefore denies the need for spiritual cultivation and moral discipline. This was a dangerously antinomian view as it eliminated all moral distinctions and validated any actions as expressions of the essence of Buddha-nature.
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"Advaita" refers to nondualism, non-distinction between realities, the oneness of Atman (individual self) and Brahman (the single universal existence), as in Vedanta, Shaktism and Shaivism. Although the term is best known from the Advaita Vedanta school of Adi Shankara, "advaita" is used in treatises by numerous medieval era Indian scholars, as well as modern schools and teachers. The Hindu concept of Advaita refers to the idea that all of the universe is one essential reality, and that all facets and aspects of the universe is ultimately an expression or appearance of that one reality. According to Dasgupta and Mohanta, non-dualism developed in various strands of Indian thought, both Vedic and Buddhist, from the Upanishadic period onward.
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The nondualism of Advaita Vedanta and Neoplatonism have been compared by various scholars, such as J. F. Staal,J. F. Staal (1961), Advaita and Neoplatonism: A critical study in comparative philosophy, Madras: University of Madras Frederick Copleston, Aldo Magris and Mario Piantelli,Special section "Fra Oriente e Occidente" in Annuario filosofico No. 6 (1990), including the articles "Plotino e l'India" by Aldo Magris and "L'India e Plotino" by Mario Piantelli Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan,Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (ed.)(1952), History of Philosophy Eastern and Western, Vol.2. London: George Allen & Unwin. p. 114 Gwen Griffith-Dickson, John Y. FentonJohn Y. Fenton (1981), "Mystical Experience as a Bridge for Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion: A Critique", Journal of the American Academy of Religion, p.
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Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita school and Shankara's Advaita school are both nondualism Vedānta schools,J.A.B. van Buitenen (2008), Ramanuja – Hindu theologian and Philosopher, Encyclopædia Britannica both are premised on the assumption that all souls can hope for and achieve the state of blissful liberation; in contrast, Madhvacharya and his Dvaita subschool of Vedānta believed that some souls are eternally doomed and damned. Shankara's theory posits that only Brahman and causes are metaphysical unchanging reality, while the empirical world (Maya) and observed effects are changing, illusive and of relative existence. Spiritual liberation to Shankara is the full comprehension and realization of oneness of one's unchanging Atman (soul) as the same as Atman in everyone else as well as being identical to the nirguna Brahman.
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These Kesins of the Vedic era, are described as follows by Karel Werner: The Vedic and Upanishadic texts of Hinduism, states Mariasusai Dhavamony, do not discuss self-inflicted pain, but do discuss self- restraint and self-control. The monastic tradition of Hinduism is evidenced in 1st millennium BCE, particularly in its Advaita Vedanta tradition. This is evidenced by the oldest Sannyasa Upanishads, because all of them have a strong Advaita Vedanta outlook.Stephen H Phillips (1995), Classical Indian Metaphysics, Columbia University Press, , page 332 with note 68 Most of the Sannyasa Upanishads present a Yoga and nondualism (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy.Antonio Rigopoulos (1998), Dattatreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara, State University of New York Press, , pages 62–63 The 12th- century Shatyayaniya Upanishad is a significant exception, which presents qualified dualistic and Vaishnavism (Vishishtadvaita Vedanta) philosophy.
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Unlike Jainism, Hindu philosophies encompass nondualism where all souls are identical as Brahman and posited as interconnected one While both Hinduism and Jainism believe "soul exists" to be a self-evident truth, most Hindu systems consider it to be eternally present, infinite and constant (vibhu), but some Hindu scholars propose soul to be atomic. Hindu thought generally discusses Atman and Brahman through a monistic or dualistic framework. In contrast, Jain thought denies the Hindu metaphysical concept of Brahman, and Jain philosophy considers the soul to be ever changing and bound to the body or matter for each lifetime, thereby having a finite size that infuses the entire body of a living being. Jainism is similar to Buddhism in not recognizing the primacy of the Vedas and the Hindu Brahman.
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Sara Grant, RSCJ (19 December 1922 – 2002) was a British Indologist, Christian missionary, and one of the pioneers of interreligious dialogue in the twentieth century. She came to India in 1956, as a missionary and member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, became actively engaged in interreligious dialogue in India. In time, she became a leading figure in the inculturation (imbibing local cultures) movement that was started in India by Roman Catholic priest Fr Richard De Smet, SJ in the early 1970s, with whom she was closely associated with. Her association with Swami Abhishiktananda, further led to working on the Advaita Vedanta (Nondualism) teachings of Hindu philosopher Adi Sankara, as revealed in her spiritual autobiography, Towards an Alternative Theology: Confessions of a Non-dualist Christian (1991).
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However, all Sannyasa texts including the Shatyayaniya Upanishad emphasize nondualism, same renunciation rites and outlook, the use of yoga, meditation on Om and Brahman as the ultimate reality, pursuit of living liberation, a virtuous simple life that journeys towards and with self-knowledge, with Shatyayaniya calling Vishnu as the "very self, and into whom the renouncers enter, liberated". The Shatyayaniya text extensively references and includes hymn fragments from the Vedas and ancient Principal Upanishads of Hinduism. It opens, for example, with verses from section 6.34 of the Maitri Upanishad, stating "the mind alone is the cause of people's bondage" and suffering, and the mind alone is also the cause of their liberation. It is the mind of man that is the eternal mystery and one that shapes his future course, states its third verse, again referencing the Vedic literature.
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Ravindra KhareRavindra S Khare (1985), The Untouchable as Himself, Cambridge University Press, , pages 41, 46 states that there are two divergent versions that emerge from the study of texts relating to Ravidas's philosophy. The 17th century Bhaktamal text by Nabhadas provides one version, while the 20th-century texts by Dalits (the modern term for those previously called "untouchables") provide another. According to Bhaktamal text, Ravidas was of pure speech, capable of resolving spiritual doubts of those who held discussions with him, was unafraid to state his humble origins and real caste. Further, the Bhaktamal text states that Ravidas's teachings agreed with Vedic and ancient scriptures, he subscribed to nondualism, discussed spiritual ideas and philosophy with everyone including Brahmins without gender or caste discrimination, and his abilities reflected an individual who had reached the inner content state of the highest ascetic.
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Tillich, Merton, and Panikkar are exemplars of openness to intercultural and interreligious dialogue. Dallmayr examines their intensive interest in Zen Buddhism as distinct cases of the Christian- Buddhist encounter during the past half century: the intersection of Tillich's dialectical theology with Japanese Buddhist thought; the dialogue of Thomas Merton's trans-individualism with Zen Buddhism; and the encounter of Raimon Panikkar's Vedantic thoughts with the Buddhist “silence of God.” Dallmayr pays special attention to the intercultural-interreligious and spiritual dimensions of Panikkar's works. His nondualistic views are congenial to those of Panikkar, who expresses nondualism in using the Indian notion of Advaita and who sees our age “as capable to moving beyond the ‘Western dilemma’ of monism/dualism or immanence/transcendence.”Dallmayr, Spiritual Guides, 40–41. Dallmayr, being critical of both an agnostic immanentism lacking spirituality and a radical transcendentalism indifferent to social-ethical problems, sees in Panikkar’s holism a third possibility, pointing to the potential overcoming of the “transcendence-immanence” conundrum.
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