अद्वैत / अद्वय
Non-duality (advaya / advaita)
advaita / advaya
In simple words
Non-duality means 'not two'. Several traditions say that, at the deepest level, the self and ultimate reality, or subject and object, are not separate — but they explain this in quite different ways.
What is it?
Non-duality is the view that ultimate reality is without a second. In Advaita Vedanta it means that the individual Self is identical with Brahman and the world is an appearance. In Kashmir Shaivism it means that everything is the real self-expression of one dynamic consciousness. In Mahayana Buddhism, advaya refers to the non-duality of subject and object, or of samsara and nirvana, without positing a single underlying substance. Qualified non-dualism (Vishishtadvaita) holds that God and the world are one as a body is one with its soul, while remaining distinct.
Scholar’s note
Gaudapada's Mandukya Karika and Shankara's commentaries are the classical sources of Advaita; the doctrine of vivarta (apparent transformation) is contrasted with parinama (real transformation). Madhyamaka and Yogacara use advaya with different metaphysics, and scholars debate the degree of mutual influence between Gaudapada and Buddhist thought. Kashmir Shaivism explicitly criticises Advaita's treatment of the world as illusory. Dvaita and Nyaya reject non-dualism outright.How its meaning differs
Brahman alone is real; the individual self is Brahman, and multiplicity is an appearance due to ignorance (avidya) and maya.
Ramanuja holds a qualified non-dualism: Brahman is one, but it is internally differentiated, with souls and matter as its real body and modes.
Madhva rejects non-duality, holding that God, souls and matter are eternally and really distinct.
Everything is one consciousness, Shiva, whose power really manifests the world; non-duality includes rather than denies the world.
Madhyamaka speaks of non-duality as the absence of inherent existence in all things, so that dichotomies such as samsara and nirvana do not hold ultimately, without affirming a single substance.
Yogacara emphasises the non-duality of perceiver and perceived, since both arise within consciousness.
Sikh thought affirms one all-pervading Creator present in creation, while retaining a devotional relation between the soul and the One.
Where it appears in the Gita
सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि।
सब जगह अपने स्वरूपको देखनेवाला और ध्यानयोगसे युक्त अन्त:करणवाला (सांख्ययोगी) अपने स्वरूपको सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंमें स्थित देखता है (और) सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंको अपने स्वरूपमें (देखता है)।
6.30यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मयि पश्यति।
जो (भक्त) सबमें मुझे देखता है और मुझमें सबको देखता है, उसके लिये मैं अदृश्य नहीं होता और वह मेरे लिये अदृश्य नहीं होता।
7.19'Vasudeva is all' — such a great soul is very rare
'वासुदेव: सर्वम्'—ऐसा महात्मा अत्यन्त दुर्लभ है
बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते।
In this human birth, one who takes refuge in God knowing 'all is God' is a great soul, and very rare.
मनुष्यजन्ममें 'सब कुछ परमात्मा ही हैं'—ऐसा जानकर जो भगवान्के शरण होता है, वह महात्मा अत्यन्त दुर्लभ है।
13.27One who sees the imperishable Lord in all that perishes truly sees
नष्ट होनेवालोंमें अविनाशी परमेश्वरको देखनेवाला ही देखता है
समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम्।
Among beings that are always perishing, one who sees the Supreme Lord present in all of them, equally and imperishably, alone sees rightly.
नष्ट होते हुए सब प्राणियोंमें परमेश्वरको नाशरहित और समरूपसे स्थित देखनेवाला ही सही देखता है।
18.20सर्वभूतेषु
जिस ज्ञानके द्वारा (साधक) सम्पूर्ण विभक्त प्राणियोंमें विभागरहित एक अविनाशी भाव (सत्ता) को देखता है, उस ज्ञानको (तुम) सात्त्विक समझो।
Where else it appears
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Trace the idea from one source to the next.
- 1Textछान्दोग्योपनिषद्Chandogya UpanishadUddalaka's teaching to Shvetaketu of the one underlying reality.
- 2Gita verseBhagavad Gita 6.29The yogi sees the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self.
- 3Gita verseBhagavad Gita 7.19The rare great soul who sees that all is Vasudeva.
- 4Textमाण्डूक्यकारिकाMandukya KarikaGaudapada's early systematic non-dualism.
- 5Thinkerआदि शङ्कराचार्यAdi ShankaracharyaShankara's Advaita Vedanta.
- 6Traditionप्रत्यभिज्ञा / त्रिकKashmir Shaivism (Pratyabhijna / Trika)A non-dualism that affirms the world as real.
- 7Traditionमध्यमकMadhyamakaBuddhist non-duality without a single underlying substance.
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