Advaita
Advaita, derived from the Sanskrit term meaning "nondualism," is a philosophical concept within Hinduism that emphasizes the oneness of reality. It is rooted in ancient texts known as the Upaniṣads, particularly the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, and was further developed by the influential philosopher Śaṅkara in the 8th century CE. Advaita posits that the ultimate reality is brahman, the singular essence of all existence, while the perceived diversity of the universe arises from illusion (māyā) and ignorance (avidyā). According to Advaita, the individual soul (ātman) is not separate from brahman; instead, they are one and the same. This foundational idea is encapsulated in the phrase "tat tvam asi," meaning "that you are," highlighting the spiritual goal of realizing one’s identity with brahman through disciplined practice and guidance. In Advaita, the existence of a personal god is viewed as an illusion, as ultimate reality is indivisible and transcends individual identities. The teachings invite individuals to navigate beyond illusion to attain a profound understanding of their true nature as brahman.
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Subject Terms
Advaita
Related civilization: India
Date: concept appears in Upaniṣads, compiled c. 1000-c. 200 b.c.e.
Locale: India
Advaita
The earliest expressions of the concept of advaita (ahd-VAH-ee-tah) in the Hindu world appeared in the Upaniṣads (a large group of documents compiled and composed c. 1000-c. 200 b.c.e.), particularly the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (n.d.; English translation in The Sacred Books of the East: Part 1, the Upanishads, 1900). It was during the era immediately after the appearance of the Upaniṣads that the concept of advaita began to replace the former Hindu belief in dualism. The best-known exponent of advaita, however, was Śaṅkara, the Hindu philosopher of the eighth century c.e. who expounded the concept in his commentaries on the Upaniṣads, the Brahmāsūtras (group of documents and fragments also known as the Vedānta Sūtras, compiled between 400 b.c.e. and 200 c.e.), and the Bhagavadgītā (c. 200 b.c.e.-200 c.e.; The Bhagavad Gita, 1785). The studies of Śaṅkara resulted in the formalization of Advaita Vedānta, one of the six philosophies, or darsanas, of which Hinduism consists.
Advaita addresses the Hindu concern with the paradox of the simultaneous existence of the universal and the individual. According to the advaita view, the only reality is brahman, the primary origin and essence of all things. The multiplicity of the universe as people perceive it, apparently made up of so many entities, including individual persons, is the result of illusion (māyā) and ignorance (avidyā). A person’s individual soul (ātman)—the “I” that one perceives in oneself—is actually brahman. This is expressed succinctly in the term itself, as advaita in Sanskrit means “without a second.” The term is most commonly translated, however, into the philosophical term “nondualism.” A commonly quoted passage from the Chandogya Upaniṣad expresses the idea succinctly: tat tvam asi, or “that you are.”
According to the Vedānta philosophy, the goal of humankind is to come to realize this truth, and the diverse paths of spiritual study—discipleship with a guru and yoga practice—have this common aim. One’s identity with brahman is realized with the complete removal of illusion and ignorance, which is effected only by means of rigorous effort. The result of this effort is expressed in the phrase brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati, or “one who comes to know brahman is brahman.”
Because it admits of no existence separate from brahman, advaita precludes the existence of god. Conceptions of a supreme being (īśvara) are the illusion of an omniscient and omnipotent divine personality, like the figure of Krishna (Kṛṣṇa) in the Bhagavadgītā. The individual existence of such a god cannot be real, however, for the same reason that the individual person is not essentially real; that is, brahman is indivisible, eternal being (sat), pure consciousness (cit), pure bliss (ānanda). The classic phrase in the Bṛhadāraṣnyaka Upaniṣad for this is neti neti, or “not this, not this [other].” Illusory conceptions of divinity serve only to focus one’s attention and clarify concepts that can lead one to a realization of brahman.
Bibliography
Lipner, Julius. Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. New York: Routledge, 1994.
Sundararajam, K. R., and Bithika Mukerji, eds. Hindu Spirituality I: Vedas Through Vedanta. New York: Crossroad, 1997.
Zimmer, Heinrich, with Joseph Campbell, ed. Philosophies of India. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969.