Nondualism and Related Topics

Adi Shankara, the most prominent exponent of Advaita Vedānta tradition.

Advaita Vedanta

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Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta.

A drop merging in the Ocean, an analogy for the Jivatman merging into Brahman

The swan is an important motif in Advaita. The swan symbolises the ability to discern Satya (Real, Eternal) from Mithya (Unreal, Changing), just like the mythical swan Paramahamsa discerns milk from water.

Ramana Maharshi, the Indian sage who was widely regarded as a Jivanmukta

(Vidyashankara temple) at Sringeri Sharada Peetham, Shringeri

Gaudapada, one of the most important pre-Śaṅkara philosophers in Advaita tradition

Mahatma Gandhi stated "I am an advaitist".

The term Advaita (literally "non-secondness", but usually rendered as "nondualism", and often equated with monism) refers to the idea that Brahman alone is ultimately real, while the transient phenomenal world is an illusory appearance (maya) of Brahman.

Nāgārjuna (right) and Āryadeva (middle).

Madhyamaka

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Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ ; dbu ma pa), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no svabhāva doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhist philosophy and practice founded by the Indian Buddhist monk and philosopher Nāgārjuna (c.

Thangkha with Jonang lama Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361)

Gorampa Sonam Senge, the most important madhyamaka philosopher in Sakya

Jamgön Ju Mipham Gyatso (1846–1912), a key exponent of madhyamaka thought in the Nyingma school, known for harmonizing madhyamaka with the dzogchen view.

A painting of Kumārajīva at White Horse Pagoda, Dunhuang

Madhyamaka forms an alternative to the perennialist and essentialist understanding of nondualism and modern spiritual metaphysics (influenced by idealistic monism views like Neo-Advaita).

Brahman

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In Hinduism, Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.

A drop in the ocean: an analogy for Ātman merging into Brahman.

Swan (Hansa, हंस) is the symbol for Brahman-Atman in Hindu iconography.

In non-dual schools such as the Advaita Vedanta, the substance of Brahman is identical to the substance of Atman, is everywhere and inside each living being, and there is connected spiritual oneness in all existence.

Hindu philosophy

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Hindu philosophy encompasses the philosophies, world views and teachings of Hinduism that emerged in Ancient India which include six systems (shad-darśana) – Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.

Hindu philosophy also includes several sub-schools of theistic philosophies that integrate ideas from two or more of the six orthodox philosophies, such as the realism of the Nyāya, the naturalism of the Vaiśeṣika, the dualism of the Sāṅkhya, the non-dualism and knowledge of Self as essential to liberation of Advaita, the self-discipline of Yoga and the asceticism and elements of theistic ideas.

An illustration in a manuscript of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra from Nalanda, depicting the bodhisattva Maitreya, an important figure in Mahāyāna.

Mahayana

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Term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices.

The Five Tathāgatas in Shishoin Temple (Tokyo). A unique feature of Mahāyāna is the belief that there are multiple Buddhas which are currently teaching the Dharma.

Mahāyāna Buddhist triad, including Bodhisattva Maitreya, the Buddha, and Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. 2nd–3rd century CE, Gandhāra

Seated Avalokiteshvara bodhisattva. Gandharan, from Loriyan Tangai. Kushan period, 1st – 3rd century CE. Indian Museum, Calcutta.

Cave complex associated with the Mahāsāṃghika sect. Karla Caves, Mahārāṣtra, India

Ruins of the Nalanda Mahavihara (Great Monastery) in Bihar, a major center for the study of Mahāyāna Buddhism from the fifth century CE to c. 1200 CE.

Buddhist expansion in Asia, from Buddhist heartland in northern India (dark orange) starting 5th century BCE, to Buddhist majority realm (orange), and historical extent of Buddhism influences (yellow). Mahāyāna (red arrow), Theravāda (green arrow), and Tantric-Vajrayāna (blue arrow). The overland and maritime "Silk Roads" were interlinked and complementary, forming what scholars have called the "great circle of Buddhism".

The use of mandalas was one new feature of Tantric Buddhism, which also adopted new deities such as Chakrasamvara (pictured).

A Ming bronze of the Buddha Mahāvairocana which depicts his body as being composed of numerous other Buddhas.

Tibetan depiction of Buddha Amitāyus in his Pure Land of Sukhavati.

Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Ajaṇṭā Caves, Maharashtra, India.

Illustrated Korean manuscript of the Lotus Sutra, Goryeo Dynasty, c. 1340. The three carts at the top which are symbolic of the three vehicles.

Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) with multiple arms symbolizing upaya and great compassion, Leshan, China.

The Lotus, especially the puṇḍarīka (white lotus), is used in Mahāyāna to symbolize the nature of bodhisattvas. The lotus is rooted in the earthly mud and yet flowers above the water in the open air. Similarly, the bodhisattva lives in the world but remains unstained by it.

A statue of the Mahāyāna philosopher Nagarjuna, founder of the Madhyamaka school. Considered by some to be an Arya (noble) bodhisattva or even the "second Buddha".

A Kamakura period reliquary topped with a cintamani (wish fulfilling jewel). Buddha nature texts often use the metaphor of a jewel (i.e. buddha-nature) which all beings have but are unaware of.

The Japanese monk Kūya reciting the nembutsu, depicted as six small Amida Buddha figures.

Zen master Bodhidharma meditating, Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1887.

An 18th century Mongolian miniature which depicts a monk generating a tantric visualization.

Astasahasrika Prajñaparamita Manuscript. Prajñaparamita and Scenes from the Buddha's Life (top), Maitreya and Scenes from the Buddha's Life (bottom), c. 1075

Frontispiece of the Chinese Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, the oldest known dated printed book in the world.

Map showing the three major Buddhist divisions.

The 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso with Desmond Tutu in 2004. Due to his charisma, the Dalai Lama has become the international face of contemporary Tibetan Buddhism.

It is a transcendent, non-conceptual and non-dual kind of knowledge into the true nature of things.

Hindu philosophy has a diversity of traditions and numerous saints and scholars, such as Adi Shankara of Advaita Vedanta school.

Indian philosophy

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Indian philosophy refers to philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent.

Rishabhanatha, believed to have lived over a million years ago, is considered the founder of Jain religion in the present time cycle.

The Buddhist philosophy is based on the teachings of the Buddha.

A Japanese depiction of Nagarjuna, one of the greatest Buddhist philosophers and founder of Madhyamaka

Monastic life has been a part of all Indian philosophy traditions. Mendicant caves of extinct Ājīvikas in Bihar.

Each tradition included different currents and sub-schools, for example, Vedānta was divided among the sub-schools of Advaita (non-dualism), Visishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism), Dvaita (dualism), Dvaitadvaita (dualistic non-dualism), Suddhadvaita, and Achintya Bheda Abheda (inconceivable oneness and difference).

A simile from the Pali scriptures (SN 22.95) compares form and feelings with foam and bubbles.

Śūnyatā

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Indian philosophical and mathematical construct.

In the Prajñaparamita sutras, the emptiness of phenomena is often illustrated by metaphors like drops of dew.

Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva, two classic Indian philosophers of the Buddhist emptiness doctrine.

In Tibetan Buddhism, emptiness is often symbolized by and compared to the open sky which is associated with openness and freedom.

In this sense, our experiences are empty and false, they do not reveal the true nature of things as an enlightened person would see them, which would be non-dual, without the imputed subject object distinction.

Vedanta

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One of the six (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy.

Nimbarkacharya's icon at Ukhra, West Bengal

Ramanujacharya depicted with Vaishnava Tilaka and Vishnu statue.

The main traditions of Vedanta are: Bhedabheda (difference and non-difference), Advaita (non-dualism), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism), Tattvavada (Dvaita) (realistic point of view or dualism) and Suddhadvaita (pure non-dualism).

The bodhisattva Maitreya and disciples, a central figure in Yogacara origin myth. Gandhara, 3rd century CE.

Yogachara

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Influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices.

Statue of a traveling Xuanzang at Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361), founder of the Jonang school and popularizer of Yogācāra-Tathāgatagarbha thought

Tibetan depiction of Asaṅga and Maitreya

The aim of the bodhisattva's practice in the Bodhisattvabhūmi is the wisdom (prajñā) which realizes of the inexpressible Ultimate Reality (tathata) or the 'thing-in-itself (vastumatra), which is essenceless and beyond the duality (advaya) of existence (bhāva) and non-existence (abhāva).

Vishishtadvaita