Principal schools of Vedanta Advaita Dvaita Vishishtadvaita

Important ideas. Maya; Illusion. Everything that traps you within the illusion that you are not a spiritual being is illusory; Maya must be overcome in order to achieve realisation of the way that things really are. Moksha; Liberation. This is the state that vedantins aim towards; liberation from Maya, and unity with the ultimate reality.

Advaita Vedanta. “Non-Dual” Vedanta. Also called “Monist”. Principal idea is that only Brahman is real, everything else is maya. Everything that makes you think that you are an individual, with distinct existence, in a world of things, is illusory.

Advaita Vedanta Moksha is achieved by realising (jñana) that your atman is Brahman; i.e. that you are really Brahman. While there is no doubt that you do not perceive the Existent here, it is not to be doubted that it is here just the same. What the subtle essence is, a state of having That as it’s nature is this universe; That is the real, That is the self, That art thou Shvetaketu! Chandogya Upanishad, 6:13

Shankara Advaita’s principal proponent was Shankara, a priest of Shiva, who realised that actually, behind all ideas of the divine lurked an awesome ultimate reality.

3 levels of reality. Shankara taught that there are three levels of reality, through which one must progress in order to realise Brahman. 1) The Illusory 2) The “merely real”. 3) The “really real”.

This is the first level of “reality” that Shankara identifies. The mundane. We all accept that there are things that are illusory – dreams, daydreams, hallucinations, mirages, tricks of the light, tricks of the eye, etc. This is the first level of “reality” that Shankara identifies.

The mundane. Most people live in the “mundane reality”, where they accept as real only those things which appear real to the senses. This is also for those who realise that there is a spiritual component to existence. They have an individual soul (Jiva) and worship a personal divinity (istadevata).

The “really real”. Ultimately only Brahman exists, and this realisation is what will bring moksha, which is liberation from the illusion of Maya, and an end to the effects of Karma. The second stage, of worshipping God is good, but the true seeker should move beyond it, and discover ultimate truth.

Shankara illustrated this three level theory with a story; a man, going to bed sees a snake beneath his bed, and cries for help. His servants run in with lights, and the snake is revealed to be a coil of rope. None can in fact see that all of this is Maya! The Snake Story.

Dvaita Vedanta “Dual” Vedanta. Teaches that two things are real, and that everything else is Maya. Taught by Madhva

Dvaita Vedanta Brahman and atman alone are real, and, while they are “made of the same sort of stuff”, they are distinct and different.

Moksha in Dvaita Vedanta After working hard at realising your own atman, moksha is thought of as the raindrop falling into the ocean; two things of the “same stuff” meeting.

Vishishtadvaita Vedanta Taught by Ramanuja. “Qualified non-dualism”. Here atman is thought of as a small part of Brahman that is split off for the duration of it’s many life times, moksha sees the return of the atman to Brahman.

Moksha in Vishishtadvaita Vedanta Think of a bucket of water taken from the sea, kept apart for some time, and then returned; something of the same stuff, originating in the same place, and eventually returning there.