Wk 09 Mon, Mar 1 Advaita Vedānta
Wk 09 Mon, Mar 1
Today
Advaita Vedānta – Khilnani, Sunil. 2016. "Adi Shankara: A God without Qualities." In Incarnations – Hamilton IP: VSI section on Śaṅkara, pp. 125-31 in Ch. 8, "The Word and the Book." – Deutsch, Eliot S. 1965. "Karma as a ‘Convenient Fiction’ in the Advaita Vedānta." Philosophy East and West 15 (1): 3-12. – Matilal, Bimal K. 1992. "A Note on Śaṃkara's Theodicy." Journal of Indian Philosophy 20 (4): 363-76. – Sthaneshwar Timalsina’s Ch. 8 “Self, Causation, and Agency in the Advaita of Sankara” in FWASIP
1 Looking Ahead
Wed: Viśiṣṭādvaita Martin Ganeri’s “Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Ramanuja,” Ch. 10 in FWASIP Mumme article?
Next Mon: Dvaita David Buchta’s “Dependent Agency and Hierarchical Determinism in the Theology of Madhva,” Ch. 11 in FWASIP
Final Paper Grading Rubric
The paper is worth 100 points. The paper + presentation constitute 35% of your course grade. Points are awarded for the paper as follows: 10 - Formatting, length, proofreading (no egregious spelling mistakes!) 10 - Consistently formatted Bibliography 10 - Citing your sources 20 - Structure & clarity of writing 50 - Content & coverage
2 Final Paper & Presentation
10-12 pgs + Bibliography 35% of Course Grade Due Mon Finals Week 2pm – Mar 15 – 10 min Presentation 2:30-4:20 pm. Goal: Synthesis, your own position on karma vs. free will Important concepts studied: – Karma, dharma, reincarnation, self, theodicy – Free Will & Agency – Determinism, fatalism, compatibilism, libertarianism – Bhagavad Gītā, Brahma-sūtras & Agency – Consciousness? Luck? Systems Considered: 7. Grammarian 1. Sāṅkhya 8. Advaita Ved nta 2. Nyāya ā 3. Abhidharma Buddhism 9. Viśiṣṭādvaita 10. Madhva Ved nta 4. Mādhyamika Buddhism ā 5. Jainism 11. Kashmir Śaivism 12. Gau ya Vai avism 6. Mīmāṃsā ḍī ṣṇ
Final Paper, cont’d
Some questions to address: – Is karma necessary? Why (not)? – What are implications of (not) accepting karma as seen in the different systems? – What in your opinion is the best solution to the problem karma is trying to answer? – Is there free will? Why (not)? – How do the different systems answer this question? . Are they successful? . Why, or why not? – How has this class affected your thinking on free-will? – What is/are the most significant take-away(s) for you?
3 WOTD
• avidyā, ignorance / nescience, “the cosmic misconception” Mat. 363 Dhandeep
Questions
Who has karma? Ātman / Brahman? Locus of ignorance? Karma : beginning of creation :: chicken : egg
4 Vedānta
Literally “end of the Vedas” Versions: Advaita … Viśiṣṭādvaita … Dvaita Three source texts, “canons” 1. Upaniṣads, śruti - revelation 2. Bhagavad Gītā, smr̥ti - recollection . bet. 200 BCE and 200 CE. 3. Brahmasūtras, systematization . bet. 200 BCE and 200 CE. Commentaries on these three written by “founders”
4. Not included by all: Purāṇas
Śaṅkara’s Advaita-vedānta
Textbook dates for Śaṅkara: 788-820 CE Recent scholarship: late 7th-early 8th c. Teacher’s teacher: Gauḍapāda, 7th c.?
Hagiography - “life stories of saints” . Only child of a Kerala Brahmin family . encounter w. crocodile, age 8 . debates w. Mandana Miśra & wife Sarasvati
5 Conquest of the four quarters
Monastic organizations setup in the corners of India: 5 1. Śṛṅgerī (Karnataka) 2. Kāñcī (Tamil Nadu) . controversial 3 3. Dvārakā (Gujarat) 4 4. Purī (Orissa) 5. Badrināth (NW Himalaya mtns) 1 2 All are still functioning & significant
Śaṅkara & Buddhism Śaṅkara is credited with Hindu revival, precipitating decline of Buddhism in India . Introduced Buddhist principles of organization into Hinduism . Rejected sacrificial practices & extreme asceticism . Moved away from rituals: BU 4.3.22: “[in liberation] gods are not gods, the Vedas are not the Vedas” . Familiarity w. Buddhist thought . Accused of being a “crypto- Buddhist”
6 What is advaita, non-duality?
Ātman, Self = Brahman, ultimate reality, ground of being . Eternal, uncreated, indivisible, unchanging, infinite, pure, free, liberated . sat existence, cit consciousness, ānanda happiness . Analogies: wave/ocean, gold/ornament, diamond
Māyā, “illusion” = avidyā, ignorance . Degrees of reality: conceptual & absolute . Indescribable, neither real nor unreal, beginning-less . Mysterious power of Brahman as Īśvara . Brahman ≠ māyā . Movie analogy
What is Non-duality?
Due to ignorance, diversity is superimposed on Brahman – Rope/snake analogy . Hamilton IP:VSI 127 – 10th man
Individual self, jīva = reality + illusion –Real → jīva is Brahman – Illusory → jīva is limited and finite –Story: Śaṅkara’s encounter w. tiger
7 More on “reality”
Three levels: 1. Illusory, prātibhāsika 2. Empirical/conventional/phenomenal, vyāvahārika 3. Ultimate, pāramārthika
Empirical Reality is anirvacanīya, “indescribable” – Logically undefinable, neither absolutely real nor empirically false (cf. Tetra-lemma) – Rope/snake, mother-of-pearl/silver
Liberation, mokṣa
Mokṣa = removal of ignorance . By knowledge alone . Action (karma), devotion (bhakti) assist . No becoming, no transformation . Liberation now, while alive . Philosophy just a means for Śaṅkara . Relation w. Brahman 2 kinds . saguṇa Brahman = Īśvara . nirguṇa Brahman
8 From Wk01: Advaita Vedānta
Non-duality – God, self, creation are identical Brahman = ātman / ātmā Three levels of reality – Absolute – Empirical –Dream Leading proponent: Śaṅkara, 8th cent. CE –Sureśvara, immediate disciple –=? Maṇḍana Miśra, contemporary
From Wk01: Advaita Vedānta Triple Canon / Foundation, prasthāna-trayī 1. Upaniṣads 2. Brahmasūtras 3. Bhagavad Gītā Types of karma, [ritual] acts A. Prescribed, vidhi 1. regular rites, nitya-karman 2. special occasion rites, naimittika-karman 3. rites to attain specific desires, kāmya-karman 4. rites for atonement, prāyaścitta-karman B. Forbidden, niṣedha
9 From Wk01: Advaita Vedānta
3 types of stores of karma 1. prārabdha-karma, active in present life 2. sañcita-karma, inactive, accumulated over past lives 3. āgāmī-karma, to be effective in the future 3 paths after death 1. uttarāyaṇa, devāyana, Northern path 2. dakṣināyana, pitrāyaṇa, Southern path 3. saṃyamana, world of Yama, lord of death
From Wk01: Liberation in Advaita Vedānta Achieved through knowledge of identity –Brahman = ātmā Neutralizes sañcita-karma, āgāmī-karma – Subsequent new karma doesn’t accumulate – Non-attachment Only prārabdha-karma remains and must be worked out – Already launched arrow
10 Other Advaitins
Bhartṛprapañca, 550 CE Gauḍapāda, early 7th c.? Maṇḍana Miśra, 660-720 CE Śaṅkara’s students –Sureśvara, 8th c. author of Naiṣkarmya-siddhi –Padmapāda, 8th c., Pañcapādikā . Prakāśātman, 11th c., Vivaraṇa Vācaspati Miśra, 842 CE, Bhāmati on BSBh Sarvajñātman, 1050 CE, Saṃkṣepa-śārīraka Prakāśānanda, 1550-1650 CE, Siddhānta-muktāvalī
Means Of Knowledge, pramāṇa Revisited by Deutsch 1. Pratyakṣa, perception: nirvikalpa & savikalpa 2. Upamāna, comparison 3. Anupalabdhi, non-perception / non-cognition – karma is not an sense-object like a table, a tree, a pot 4. Anumāna, inference –“the nature of inferential reasoning in Indian philosophy precludes the possibility of universal proposition or law be the conclusion of an inference (6-7)” 5. Arthāpatti, postulation – Not unique explanation of effects 6. Śabda, verbal testimony – Only for truths which transcend reason, senses and derived from spiritual experience. Karma is not content of spiritual experience (9)
11 Deutsch’s Conclusion
Karma is undemonstratable – Not an object of a valid means of knowledge. Convenient Fiction – PRO: Motivation to escape bondage – PRO: Persuasion to live a moral life – PRO: Preserves morale: no effort goes to waste – CON: Induces apathy
The Western Problem (Wk06 W)
If God exists, then God is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect. If God is omnipotent, then God has power to eliminate all evil. If God is omniscient, then God knows when evil exists. If God is morally perfect, then God has the desire to eliminate all evil. BUT evil exists. If evil exists and God exists, then either God doesn’t have the power to eliminate all evil , OR God doesn’t know when evil exists, OR God doesn’t have the desire to eliminate all evil. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.
12 Matilal on Śaṅkara’s Theodicy
“the Creator is not independent. He does not have free choice (365).”
“In the very beginning of creation, no karma existed, so whence the diversity (366)?”
“[karma] is the given in Indian religion...It produces a morality that is important. Not to believe in it would be a taboo. And there cannot be a culture without taboos (375).”
Timalsina on Advaita
“the self is devoid of action, and action and wisdom are as contradictory as light and darkness (189).” “… agents are bound due to ignorance ... Due to self- imposed bondage, the phenomenal self undergoes karmic flux (190).” “since the self is nothing but Brahman in reality, the self is autonomous in giving rise to the world of common- sense experience (193).” “From the Advaita standpoint, the discourse on the autonomy of an agent is a quest to alter one's own dreams, and the Advaitins are interested not in changing the dream, but in waking up (197).”
13 Īśvara, the Lord & Jīva, the individual Sureśvara – Īśvara =Collective ego (204) = Brahman conditioned by avidyā – Jīva = Brahman conditioned by buddhi Vidyāraṇya, Sarvajñātman – Īśvara = reflection of consciousness in māyā – Jīva = reflection of consciousness in avidyā
Questions Revisited
Who has karma? Ātman / Brahman? Locus of ignorance? Karma : beginning of creation :: chicken : egg
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