Tag Archives: Advaita Vedanta

Māṇḍukya Kārikā

One of the premier texts in Advaitic literature is the  Māṇḍukya Kārikā, attributed to the 6th century CE philosopher and scholar of the Advaita (not two) *Vedanta (end of the Vedas) school of Hindu philosophy—Gauḍapāda, also referred to as Gauḍapādācārya. It consists of four chapters, the first of which focuses on the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. A small work, utilizing just 12 short stanzas, it actually consists of the absolute essence of the Upanishadic teachings. In itself, the work has never been surpassed and remains to this day the peak of awareness-expansion. read more

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The Ashtavakra Gita in Light of the Unborn

The Ashtavakra Gita, (likely composed after the Bhagavad Gita but before the start of the common era) or The Ashtavakra Samhita as it’s sometimes called, is a short treatise on Advaita Vedanta, ascribed to the great sage Ashtavakra. A text most Monistic in temperament. It is written in dialogue form between King Janaka, the father of Sita, and his guru, Ashtavakra. Some scholars assert that this dialogue format is just a literary device; be that as it may, most works of this genre utilize such an approach as it’s clearly a meeting between master and disciple, with the emphasis here on the singular device of Ashtavakra’s wonderful mystical expressions. read more

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Advaita Vedanta & the Self

We are now entering into more familiar ground with less emphasis on soul extensions as Advaita Vedanta places them as secondary to the all-encompassing and Cosmic notion of the Self. The Self is synonymous with Ātman or the Absolute Parabrahman. Firstly, let’s break down its etymology: read more

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