Advaita Vedanta Flashcards
Vedanta
end or goal of the Vedas
Purpose of Vedanta
set out to deliberately underwrite the main conclusions of the Upanishads
Advaita school of Vedanta
most widely accepted philosophical school in India, founded by Shankara (788-830 A.D.), practical guide to spiritual experience
Advaita Vedanta
to know is to be, shows how opposing views are self contradictory/ implausible therefore Vedanta has a negative approach “neti, neti”
Advaitic conception of Brahman
describes the experience of Brahman
Brahman
obliteration of subject/object distinction
Saccidananda
fullness of being which enlightens and is joy
Saccidananda and Brahman
Saccidananda is not the qualities of Brahman, but express human apprehension of Brahman, a symbol of Brahman, experience
Nirguna
Brahman is without characteristics, the highest, the transcendent, nothing can be said in the positive, as it is in itself
Saguna
Brahman with qualities, he is affirmed and interpreted by the kind from its necessarily limited standpoint
Brahman for Advaita Vedanta
name for that fulness of being which is the content of non-dualistic spiritual experience, an experience in which all distinctions between subject and object are shattered and in which remains only a pure, unqualified oneness
Subration
mental process whereby one disvalues some previously appraised object or content of consciousnes because of its being contradicted and replaced by a new experience
Three levels of being are determined by
levels of knowledge
Three levels of being
reality, appearance, unreality
Reality
that which cannot be subrated by any other experience, cannot be contradicted, applies to nirguna Brahman
Appearance
can be subrated by other experiences
Three parts of appearance
real existent, existent, illusory existent
Real existent
can be subrated only by Reality; ex/ religious experiene of union with god
Existent
can be subrated by Reality or real existent; ex/ sensory experience
Illusory existent
can be subrated by all other types of experience; ex/ hallucinations, dreams
Unreality
neither can nor cannot be subrated by other experiences; ex/ self contradiction, logical impossibilities
Brahman and the world
satkaryavada and vivartavada
Satkaryavada
theory that the effect pre-exists in its cause
Vivartavada
theory that the effect is only an apparent manifestation of its cause
Maya
power of Brahman by which the world of multiplicity is brought into existence; ex/ magic trick
Avidya
cause of bondage of not realizing Brahman
Adhyasa
ignorance of Brahman
Arguments for satkaryavada
cause/effect unrelated or random, infinite regress of casual links, a change in form doesn’t make a completely different entity
Six pramanas
Perception,Inference,Testimony, Comparison, Postulation, Non-cognition
