Advaita

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Advaita

(Sanskrit: "Nondualism") Most influential school of Vedanta. It originated with Gaudapada's 7th-century commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad. Gaudapada builds on the Mahayana Buddhist philosophy of emptiness, asserting that there is no duality; the mind, awake or dreaming, moves through maya (illusion). The mind's ignorance conceals the truth that there is no becoming and no individual soul or self (jiva), only a temporary delineation from the atman (all-soul). In the 8th century Sankara developed Advaita further, arguing that the world is unreal and that the Upanishads teach the nature of Brahman, the only reality. The extensive Advaita literature influences modern Hindu thought.

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Philosophy Dictionary: advaita

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(Sanskrit, non-duality) The doctrine of the Vedantic school associated with Shankara, that asserts the identity of brahman and atman; the empirical world is one of phenomena bene fundata and, like the self, is entirely a manifestation of God.

Asian Mythology: Advaita

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Literally “nondual,” advaita is the Hindu (see Hinduism entries) term for the state of nondifferentiation that is Brahman (see Brahman) or the absolute reality (see Advaita Vedānta).

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	adhyatman (philosophy)
	Hari-hara (Asian Mythology)
	Advaita Vedānta (Asian Mythology)

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		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Asian Mythology. A Dictionary of Asian Mythology. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by David Leeming. All rights reserved. Read more