Perspectives

Shankara

"Advaita Vedanta" (788-820)

Corollary

If something is real it must be identical to Brahman. To be identical to Brahman, it must have the properties, of All-Good, Unborn and Undying, and All-Knowing. ......The objects and persons we are familiar with do not have traits like these. Hence, they are not real! .....The real self (Atman) must have the traits of being All-Good, Unborn and Undying, and All-Knowing.

Reincarnation:

Is an illusion..

Ordinary Reality

It consists of the things we think exist in common sense and science. It would include dogs, trees, rocks, stars, cars, computers, people, thoughts, feelings, the solar system, galaxies, sand, oceans, and on and on.

What should you remember about Samkhya for the purposes of the test?

It is important to remember that the ordinary mind is regarded as part of the material nature of a person. It is very common to hear people discuss 'mind/body dualism'. This is very misleading. In Samkhya the dualism is between Purusa and Prakriti—and the ordinary mind is on the side of Prakriti (matter), not Purusa. In other words, much of the mind, in Samkhya, is just matter in very complex form. Terms you should be familiar with are: Samkhya, Darsana, Prakriti, Gunas, Tamas, Rajas, Satva, Purusa, along with very broad features of Samkhya—e.g. that it is a dualism, that it speaks of an evolutionary process, that Samkhya is meant to be helpful in the quest for Moksa.

Deism: (The God of Jefferson, Franklin, Sir Isaac Newton)

Like "Old Testament Monotheism in many respects. Significant differences: eg--b and c above: God is not a proximate cause of specific events in the world ('disenchantment of the natural world') A common Conception of God to reconcile Science and Religion. God is the Creator, but not a Proximate Cause: "God created a universe that is governed by laws through and through; and after creation, God does not interfere with the operations of the world. Implications for Scientific Explanation, and the possibility of humans gaining control over nature to further human well-being.

Samadhi

Moksa (Enlightenment)

Standard Traits of God:

Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnibenevolent (3-O). Among other things, these traits explain why the Universe is perfectly just

Ultimate Reality

Brahman (Sometimes: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva)

Advaita Vedanta:

Ordinary Reality versus Fundamental (Ultimate) Reality. Some views about Ultimate Reality

Shankara, a major advocate of Advaita Vedanta, thinks that the doctrines of Advaita Vedanta are supported by the evidence of ordinary sense experience—what we see, touch, hear, and so on.

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Suppose that God creates the initial state of the world, which in turn causes a long series of events that leads to the current state of the world, In that case, God would be a proximate cause of the current state of the world.

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The word "Vedas" is a Sanskrit term which means 'Yoga'.

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Nirguna Brahman

God as Surpassing all Understanding! Without Characteristics, Indescribable,... (Sankara)

Pantheism:

God is Identical to the Natural World—Vrs. God as Independent of the World. Implication: If God is identical to the World, then whatever is true of God is true of the world. (Eternal, Unborn and Undying, the 3-O's, .... "Identity" versus "Exact Similarity" (Ben Franklin and the Inventor of Bifocals versus Two cars on an assembly line) At least two options: "Deify the world" or "Naturalize God"

"Old Testament" Monotheism

God is distinct from, and the creator of the world. God as the Guarantee that the Universe is Just, and God punishes and rewards as in b. above. Standard Traits of God: Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnibenevolent (3-O). Among other things, these traits explain why the Universe is perfectly just There is a Covenant between humans and God—that if humans live according to God's commandments, that God will ensure human welfare in this world and/or the next. God is a proximate cause of particular events in the world—eg. Answers prayers, performs miracles, punishes humans when they fail to live according to God's commandments. Implications for Scientific Explanation.

Tamas

Passivity, Negativity and Ignorance.

Asana

Physical Postures

Materialism

a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.

Samkhya philosophy

asserts that the universe is part of an eternally repeating process of Evolution and Dissolution--ie. creation and destruction.

sukham

comfortable; ease filled; happy; light; relaxed

Summum Bonum (The Highest Good):

To Realize this Identity!:

Old Testament Monotheism believes that there is just one God, and that God creates the the world but does not act as a proximate cause of events in the world.

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Samkhya interprets the deepest spiritual realization (Moksha) as a realization of the identity of the true self (Purusha) with Brahman (God).

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Prakriti has 3 Gunas or fundamental characteristics,

Tamas, Rajas, Sattva.

According to the Dualist Metaphysics called "Vitalism", the immaterial aspects of the universe are the aspects of the human mind that distinguish humans from the rest of the animal kingdom.

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Deism is the theory that the gods (or God) directly cause specific events in the natural world—such as a flood, an epidemic, or a good harvest.

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In India, yoga has traditionally been understood to be a system of physical exercises that are intended to help athletes gain the strength and flexibility needed to excel in their sports.

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Tanmatras(senses)

--Color, Sound, Taste, Touch, Smell

Purusa(spirit)

. It is the real self, an immaterial part of Humans. It is beyond the body, and beyond the ordinary mind in the sense of that part of humans that reasons, calculates, desires, feels emotions, and wills (makes decisions). It is said to be pure consciousness, and eternal. It is the essence of a person.

What are Some Views about Ultimate Reality in the History of Thought?

An ancient Greek philosopher/scientist (Thales) thinks that there is just one Ultimate Reality, and that is water. (I guess he knew that water can take the form of a solid (ice), a liquid, and a gas (water vapor), and speculated that everything is a form of water. In ancient India, one view is that Ultimate Reality includes five Ultimate Elements—Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Ether (Space)—and everything in Ordinary Reality is some combination of these elements. (This is not Advaita Vedanta or Samkhya.) In ancient Greece, there is also an early version of Atomic Theory: the view is that at the ultimate level, there are imperceptible material atoms of different kinds and shapes, and all of reality is made up of these atoms in more or less complex arrangements. (Atoms for the Greeks were not made up of simpler parts.) One other theory—let's call it 'God Theory' is that there is one and only one ultimate reality.

Descartes' Dualism

Everything in the ordinary world, except humans, are just more or less complex material things. Thus, to build quartz, mountains, plants, dogs, donkeys, and apes, matter is all that is required. However, more than matter is required to build a human.

Dharana, Dyana

Concentration and Meditation

Samkhya is an example of

Dualism

Ashtanga Yoga

Eightfold Path

According to both Samkhya and Epiphenomenalism, all aspects of the human mind are immaterial, and they influence the behavior of the body in many ways.

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YOGA:

Practical disciplines whose aim is to achieve the highest knowledge. (Fundamental Text: Yoga Sutras, Patanjali. (400 C.E.) Patanjali: (Grammar, Ayurveda, Yoga) How one understands this "highest knowledge" depends on philosophical religious tradition. Samkhya defines it in terms of the recognition of Purusa as one's true nature. Advaita Vedanta interprets it in terms of the realization of Atman=Brahman. Other traditions define it in terms of mystical vision of a "Transcendent" God (Not identical to the World or the Self). Ashtanga Yoga: Eightfold Path.

Upanisadic Hinduism

Quest for Ultimate Knowledge

Pranayama

Regulation of Breath and Vital Energies

Chitta Vritti Nirodhah

Roughly, "Calming the Fluctuations of the Mind

Chatterjee and Datta: Introduction to Indian Philosophy, Chapter VII: Samkhya.

Samkha dualism says that there are two ultimate substances—very roughly matter (Prakriti), and Immaterial Spirit or Mind) (Purusa). Samkhya is atheistic. It regards both Prakriti and Purusa as eternal and uncreated. Prakriti has 3 Gunas or fundamental characteristics, Tamas, Rajas, Sattva.

WHAT IS DUALISM? WHAT DOES IT CONTRAST WITH?

Samkhya Dualism (SD) is an example of a view about Fundamental or Ultimate Reality—the most basic building-blocks of the universe. It disagrees with both Materialism and Idealism—views we discussed in connection with Advaita Vedanta. Samkhya says that the most fundamental constituents of the universe include both matter and spirit. In the history of thought, there are different versions of Dualisms which include eg. God-Only Dualism, Pre-Modern Polythesim, Vitalism, Cartesian Dualism, Epiphenomenalism, Samkhya.

Samkhya

Samkhya is very close to Epiphenomenalism. It has the belief that ultimate/fundamental reality has immaterial minds spirit ('Purusa') and matter ('Prakriti'). As explained earlier, Samkhya believes that our ordinary minds can be built up from matter, but there is an immaterial aspect of our minds that cannot be built up from Matter (Purusa, sometimes expressed as 'pure consciousness'). Samkhya also has beliefs that need not be part of epiphenomenalism, namely that Matter and immaterial minds are eternal, and that there is no God.)

The properties of the Gunas are:

Sattva: pleasure, harmony, balance, intelligence. Rajas: hyperactivit, change, and stimulation. Tamas: Passivity, Negativity and Ignorance. 5. Purusa. It is the real self, an immaterial part of Humans. It is beyond the body, and beyond the ordinary mind in the sense of that part of humans that reasons, calculates, desires, feels emotions, and wills (makes decisions). It is said to be pure consciousness, and eternal. It is the essence of a person. 6. Samkhya philosophy asserts that the universe is part of an eternally repeating process of Evolution and Dissolution--ie. creation and destruction. 7. The evolution is triggered by a 'disequilibrium' in the relation between Purusa and Prakriti. The result is that Prakriti and its three aspects (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas) undergo evolution: Prakriti transforms in various stages which Samkhya explains. First, there are stages in the development of mind and intelligence which include: Mahat or Buddhi. A Cosmic aspect of mind; and Ahankara which evolves from Mahat or Buddhi, it is the feeling of 'I' or 'mine': the sense of being the agent of actions, striver for ends, a sense of ownership of objects, of appropriating objects for personal ends. And then from Ahankara, there arises: Manas (another aspect of mind), and then Karmendriyas (organs of action—speech, limbs, etc.), Jyanendriyas (organs of perception—eyes, nose, ears.....), 5 Tanmatras--Color, Sound, Taste, Touch, Smell, and 5 Mahabhutas—Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Ether. 8. It is important to remember, that like other major systems of Indian philosophy, Samkhya philosophy is meant to serve the purpose of helping humans gain liberation or Moksha, and regards ignorance as the root cause of bondage and suffering. According to Samkhya, the real self (Purusa) is eternal, pure consciousness. Due to ignorance, the self identifies itself with the physical body and its constituents - Manas, ahamkara and Mahat, which are products of Prakriti. Once the self becomes free of this false identification and the material bonds, salvation is possible. What's the point of the Samkhya enumeration of the stages of evolution of Prakriti: it is to help people to distinguish their real essence (Purusa from what is not their real spiritual essence, but is just a form of matter (Prakriti).

Pratyahara

Sense Withdrawal

"Samsara" is the name of the wheel of birth and rebirth governed by a principle of justice that governs the universe called "Karma.

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According Advaita Vedanta, the highest good (Summum Bonum) for humans, and the aim of human life, is to come to the realization that the real self is identical to God (Brahman).

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According to Advaita Vedanta, physical things in space and time which seem to come into being and pass away—e.g., dogs, trees, and stars and mountains—are not real, but part of an illusion, called 'Maya'.

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According to the Bhagavad Gita, a person is identical to their body, and the body takes on many immaterial souls as it is reincarnated from one life to another

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Old Testament Monotheism (OTM) disagrees with Pre-Modern Polytheism (PMP): OTM, unlike PMP, believes that the way God acts in the world is not whimsical but determined by w

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Patanjali is the name of the person credited with composing the Yoga Sutras, which is a fundamental text of Yoga.

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Pre-Modern Polytheism is the theory that different gods control different areas of human life (such as war, love, and the harvest), the behavior of the gods in these areas is whimsical, and humans can try to influence gods by means of prayers, rituals, and sacrifices

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Samkhya holds that the material aspect of the universe (Prakriti) undergoes a process of evolution and transforms into, among other things, various stages of mentality.

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The Hindu Religion explains what appears to be a gross injustice in the universe--that some people are born in very favorable circumstances, and others in very unfavorable circumstances. Hinduism explains that there is no injustice in this: the law of Karma determines that people are born into the circumstances they deserve given their past lives.

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The Sama Veda puts the words of the Rig Veda as melodies and chants to be sung rather than to just be read or recited.

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The phrase, "Ashtanga Yoga" refers to the eight limbs of yoga—which include ethical principles, exercises for the body and breath, and mental disciplines whose aim is to help a person achieve the highest spiritual realization.

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We find in the Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad the story of an ardent metaphysical search for the absolute ground of all being and the first mention of the Law of Karma.

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Vitalism

This is a form of dualism that says that in order cross from non-living matter (dust, rocks, etc.) to living matter, or matter that is alive, something immaterial has to be present. Immaterial spirit is needed for non-living matter to become a living thing. Humans animals, and plants wouldn't be alive with being animated by an immaterial spirit. A universe without immaterial spirit would not contain any living things. (Vitalism may, but need not, believe that there is a God).

Yamas, Niyamas

personal and social morals

Ramanuja: "Vishishta Advaita Vedanta": (1017-1037)

Theologian in the Vaishnava Tradition (followers of God in the form of Vishnu). God is the One and Only Reality. (God is real, the supreme object that contains all positive traits in an unlimited way.) Yet the Ordinary World of distinct objects is also real: They are parts or attributes of God. (Like a tree or a table or a car has parts or attributes, so God has parts or attributes. God is the one thing that exists, but that allows that the properties/parts of God also exist. Again, we are assuming that God is the only and only reality. Still, ordinary objects are real: they are parts or attributes of the single ultimate reality (Brahman)—like being red is an attribute of a firetruck, or an atom is part a body of water, or cells are part of a human body. The difference in views about the relationship between the Self and God between Sankara and Ramanuja makes a difference to the way the way that the highest realization (Moksha) is conceived. In one case, it is a recognition of Identity (What I truly am): Atman = Brahman. In the other case, it is a recognition of an Unlimited Being (Brahman) not identical to myself— a being of which I am a part!

" Pre-Modern Polytheism" (Greek, Roman, Indian, African)

There are multiple gods. The gods are proximate causes of events in the world: usually different gods control different domains ... love, war, harvest, oceans, and so on. The actions of the gods in their respective domains is whimsical and unpredictable: Role of rituals, prayers, and other practices in influencing the gods. Implications for Science, and Scientific Explanation in terms of Laws and Physical Causes.... And the implications for human control over the natural world.....

Illustration of Saguna Brahman:

There is one and only one Reality (God) with the properties of being All Good, Unborn and Undying, All-Knowing.

What is the Relationship between the one ultimate reality Brahman (God) and the familiar world of, eg., rocks, trees, stars, animals, humans?

There is one and only one reality, and that is God (Brahman). The Ordinary World of distinct objects (humans, animals, rocks, trees, stars, etc. ...) is an illusion, like a dream. That includes both: The Ordinary Self—a person with distinctive mental and physical traits existing in a network of social relations. (Ahamkara). Reincarnation: Is an illusion.... The senses, common sense, the methods of science are not trust-worthy instruments of knowledge. d. The only self that exists (The Real Self) is Identical to Brahman: "Atman is Brahman." Summum Bonum (The Highest Good): To Realize this Identity!: The Way to Realize this is a Path of World-Renunciation. Two Interpretations of World-Denying Views like Sankara's View: Brahman. Nirguna Brahman: God as Surpassing all Understanding! Without Characteristics, Indescribable,... (Sankara) Saguna Brahman; (Guna: Fundamental Characteristics: God (Brahman) is understood as having characteristics (gunas) intelligible to human understanding. Eg. (Satvic, Rajasic, Tamasic); Alternative: Sat, Chit, Ananda; or Unborn and Undying, All-Good, .....)

What about "Yoga" as taught in the modern western world?

There is vast diversity. It has been transformed by the demands of the market place. Many Indians involved in Yoga regard yoga in the West as a Travesty, a distortion of the traditions in India from which they originated.

God-only Dualism

This dualist thinks that the materialist is right about everything in ordinary reality, but something had to create the ordinary universe; and that is God, an immaterial force or spirit. God is the one and only immaterial thing in the universe. The rest including ordinary reality is built up from matter

Epiphenomenalism

his is a form of dualism that says that there is an aspect of our minds that is immaterial, and this immaterial aspect of our minds has no influence on our physical behavior. All aspects of our physical behavior, the behavior of our bodies, is explained by purely physical causes. On this view, any aspect of our mind that causally influences our behavior—like our thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and emotions, are just physical states of us, very complex ones.

Rajas:

hyperactivit, change, and stimulation.

Ineffable

is concerned with ideas that cannot or should not be expressed in spoken words (or language in general), often being in the form of a taboo or incomprehensible term.

Samkhya philosophy (pt 2)

is meant to serve the purpose of helping humans gain liberation or Moksha, and regards ignorance as the root cause of bondage and suffering. (pt)2

What's the point of the Samkhya enumeration of the stages of evolution of Prakriti(Matter):

it is to help people to distinguish their real essence (Purusa from what is not their real spiritual essence, but is just a form of matter (Prakriti).

Sattva

pleasure, harmony, balance, intelligence.

āsanam

posture; seated position; physical practice

sthira

strong; steady; stable; motionless.

Dualism

the division of something conceptually into two opposed or contrasted aspects, or the state of being so divided.

Idealism

the practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically.

Atomic Theory

the view is that at the ultimate level, there are imperceptible material atoms of different kinds and shapes, and all of reality is made up of these atoms in more or less complex arrangements.

Mahabhutas(elements)

—Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Ether.

Ordinary Objects

—objects that come into being and pass away—are not real, but an illusion. ("Maya") That is to say