Dvaita, Advaita and Visishtadvaita

[suchandra]

Somehow it seems that Hindus in the West are all Advaitans.

Could be that there's no more eduacation explaining the "small difference".

 

Central Questions

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/may98/0061.html

 

One of the central questions concerning Vedanta philosophers

is the relationship of the individual self to the Absolute

or Supreme Self. The sole purpose for this question is

to determine the nature of contemplative meditation and

to determine whether moksha, the state of release, is something

worth seeking.

 

The Dvaita school, inaugurated by Madhvacharya (Ananda Tirtha),

argues that there is an inherent and absolute five-fold difference

in Reality -- between one soul and another, between the soul

and God, between God and matter, between the soul and matter,

and between matter and matter. These differences are not only

individuations, but also inherent qualitative differences, i.e.,

in its essentially pure state, one individual self is _not_

equal to another in status, but only in genus. Therefore, there

are inherently female jIvas, inherently male jIvas, brahmin

jIvas, non-brahmin jIvas, and this differentiation exists

even in liberation.

 

Consequently, any sort of unity, whether it be mystical or

ontological, between the individual self and God is impossible

in Dvaita. Hence the term ``Dvaita'' or ``dualism''. Liberation

consists of experiencing one's essential nature in parama padam

as a reflection of God's glory. Such liberation is achieved

through bhakti or loving devotion.

 

The Advaita school, represented in its classical and most

powerful form by Sankaracharya, argues that only the Absolute Self

exists, _and_ all else is false. The universe and our existence

as individuals is not _unreal_, mind you, but a false imposition

on a real substrate, the non-dual, undifferentiated principle

of consciousness. This is a very important distinction.

 

Liberation in Advaita Vedanta consists of the realization that individuality is false, and that one's very

essence is the Absolute Self, pure undifferentiated consciousness,

one without a second. Such a realization, which according to

Advaita can happen long before death, is achieved after a long

period of introspection on Vedic teachings. At some point, the

unity of the non-dual Self reveals itself, upon which all doubts

are shattered and liberation is achieved.

 

In this system, since there is only one, and ultimately

nothing else, the system is called Advaita, or ``non-dualism''.

To distinguish it from other forms of Advaita, it is also

called nirvisesha Advaita, or ``non-duality of the Absolute

without qualities.''

 

 

Visishtadvaita is also an Advaita, since only God the Absolute,

omnipresent Self exists. However, our concept of God

refers to that Supreme Entity which contains all within

itself; the entire universe, including all living beings, are

fundamentally real and internally distinguishable from one another.

However, there is only one total reality, as God includes all

existence within Its very being. The individual selfs and the

universe exist as God's attributes, since God pervades absolutely

everything and gifts these substances with their reality.

In other words, God is the indwelling

Self of all, and this ``all'' is real as they are included in

His body. Therefore, Visishtadvaita literally means

non-duality of the qualified, since God is qualified by

innumerable glorious attributes, including individual selves

and matter.

 

Liberation is eternal communion and service of God, the supreme,

infinite, blissful Absolute. Ramanuja writes that such liberation

is achieved by constant meditation on God's supreme perfections --

His omnipresence, His splendorous forms, His actions in His various

manifestations, His existence in the hearts of all creatures,

His nature as the First Cause of All. Such meditation, when

practiced with a pure heart and mind and filled with extreme love,

will yield a better and better conception of God in the mind of

devotee over time, eventually leading to recollection of God

so vivid it is like sight itself. Such a vision, when practiced

to the point of being unbroken, is the liberating knoweldge

spoken of in the Vedas, a result of God's love of His beloved

devotee.

 

Notice the difference in approach of Advaita and Visishtadvaita.

The former's conception of the Absolute has no attributes --

hence the discipline of meditation there does not in the end

rely on bhakti. The latter has as its centerpiece a supreme being

full of perfections and attributes, so the aspirant has no choice

but to revel in these kalyANa-guNas. From this basic difference

in approach we can derive all the other differences between these

schools of Vedanta.

 

Mani

 

P.S. All individual selfs are fundamentally equal and alike

in Visishtadvaita. Ramanuja is emphatic about this.