Test 1 Hinduism

8/8/2019 Test 1 Hinduism

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/test-1-hinduism 1/5

1. Metaphysical assumptions

Due to the manner in which The Upanishads and From Many to One are written, their

metaphysical commitments appear to be almost completely assumptive. Rather than attempting

to prove those assumptions, Hindu theorists present them as truth, and command that a devoted

individual personally reflect on the commitments’ veridical nature. One e ample of a particular

metaphysical assumption is the process of reincarnation as dictated by one’s dharma and karma .

!he most important metaphysical assumption presented by the Advaita Vedanta school of

Hinduism, however, is a robust monism that entails pantheism.

"roponents of Advaita Vedanta argue that ultimately there is only one substance, with that

substance being Brahman. Brahman is undifferentiated Reality that is progenitor of the apparent

world, serving as the substratum on which all other things depend. !he world of pluralities that

each of us is apparently situated is simply a manifold of illusory perceptions that are rooted in

ignorance. Brahman is also eternal and infinite, e istent in transcendence of time, space, and

causality. However, even applying the predicate #infinite$ or #eternal$ is prescribing a limitation

on Brahman through discursive signification. %s Brahman can admit no limitations, its true

essence is beyond concepts or rational identification, and so enlightenment necessarily resists

intellectual cognition. &ince all of Reality is solely comprised of Brahman , so too is every

apparent ob'ect as well as every individual.

(hile (estern philosophic tradition affirms the empirical ego as a primitive, Advaita

Vedanta Hinduism re'ects the pervasive notion that each individual is her own detached self.

Rather, the particular #)$ is a perversion of Reality that is imposed by each individual’s limited

perspective. &o while nearly everyone pragmatically operates as if they are different self’s, their



true &elf *called Atman + is identical to overarching Brahman . !his monistic characteri ation of

personal identity regards everyone and everything as a harmonious whole that does not

ultimately admit any division.

)f all of Reality is undifferentiated one-ness, then why is it that nearly everyone

apprehends the world as if it were many !hrough the power of Maya , Brahman creates the

illusory world with all of its apparent pluralities. Maya is sometimes e plained as ignorance and

other times a power. &wami %bhedananda writes in his essay #/ood and 0vil$ that the word

#create$ does not denote a creation out of nothing, but rather a #pro'ection.$ !he apparent world

is not ultimately Real but is a type of illusion generated from one’s fallible perception of Reality.

!his is why Advaita Vedanta asserts that the apparent world has not been created in the strictest

sense. )t is not the case that the phenomenal world was actually brought into e istence by

Saguna Brahman , but that its inhabitants are in a sort of hypnotic trance. Brahman, being

factually without uality *as uality is limitation through predication+, does not act because an

action presupposes both a change as well as more than one entity. )n the monistic Hindu

universe, neither of those two conditions can admit absolute Reality. % metaphor for the

ontological status of the apparent world would be a movie screen. Brahman is the screen, the

actors, the audience, as well as the entire production team. !he e perience of the apparent world

is Brahman reflected upon itself but mista2en as fragmented. One who becomes enlightened

achieves bliss in the reali ation that the events in the allegorical movie are completely

inconse uential. 0ven dangerous or frightening events can be viewed as the delusion that they

are.

Advaita Vedanta Hinduism presupposes many metaphysical commitments that (estern

audiences would consider alien to the point of nonsense. "rocesses li2e superconscious



meditation and reincarnation are certainly integral components to Hindu theology, but are all

derivative of the overarching monism. !he reali ation of %bsolute Reality through enlightenment

is a type of praxis that allows the enlightened to see reality as it actually is. Monism through an

advocacy that Atman is Brahman results in an attunement with a necessary universal.

3. 4nowledge of the Real

Hinduism establishes several pramânas , or #sources of valid 2nowledge$ *5ourney pg.+. !he

pramâna that yields 2nowledge of the Real is sha da pramâna , which is translated as reliable

testimony. !ransmission of the ultimate truth via the Vedas or by a legitimate guru is a necessary

precondition for the proper apprehension of Reality. Once the intellectual content of absolute

!ruth has been received by a proper student, the student must then meditate on the !ruth of that

transmission. 6pon reaching enlightenment, a student will have discovered for herself the

legitimacy of Advaita Vedanta . !his means that one component of enlightenment pertains to

being taught with the rest of the process pertaining to individually driven spiritual wor2.

!he idea that one must rely on e pert testimony is one that many (estern thin2ers would

re'ect. "hilosophical tradition rooted in &ocratic uestioning generally encourages sub'ects to

ultimately determine matters independently. %fter all, contemporary society is so saturated with

half-truths and outright falsities that is seems irresponsible to simply trust an e pert at their word.

However, this line of reasoning ignores the inescapable fact that nearly all that modern peoples

ta2e as 2nowledge is irreducible to the transmission of testimony. 7irst, everyone must

uncritically receive testimony from authorities during their intellectual developmental phase. %

child is simply not in a position to determine for herself the accuracy of what she has been



taught. 6pon moving past the developmental phase, that sub'ect will determine if new findings

are consistent with what she already considers herself to 2now. However, even in this phase the

sub'ect is still relying on her naturali ed testimonial 2nowledge as the criterion for truth. !he

attempt to reduce testimonial 2nowledge to other sources will always ultimately fail. &econd,

most of what is ta2en to be 2nown presently is always contingent upon testimony. %nything

about one’s family history, or about events that are spatially isolated from one’s self will re uire

testimonial 2nowledge. )f one were to hear reports of a troop build-up in 8hina, not only is that

actual event dependent on e pert testimony, but the notions of #8hina,$ #troops,$ and what

constitutes aggression are as well. !hird, there are many matters that one is barred fromapprehending either from the difficulty or speciali ation of the tas2. Most contemporary

individuals believe that beyond the terrestrial atmosphere lies the void of space, but very few

people have directly perceived it. !he average individual simply does not have the e uipment or

training to achieve this 2nowledge on their own.

"erhaps a more sustainable ob'ection is that the nature of Reality is not something that can be

#2nown.$ 9ecause Brahman is without limit, e haustive 2nowledge of its nature is impossible as

long as it is approached from a finite mind. Brahman also transcends concepts because concepts

serve as a limitation on its Reality. 4nowledge in the conventional sense presupposes that the

ob'ect of 2nowledge is separate from the sub'ect. &ince Atman is Brahman , one’s particular

consciousness and ultimate Reality are identical, and so one cannot have 2nowledge of it. !his is

why personal meditation and reflection are necessary, because the path to enlightenment cannot

be communicated through human language. !he guru illuminates the terrain that contains the

path to enlightenment, but only the student can traverse it. %nyone who claims to have

intellectual or propositional 2nowledge of ultimate Reality is misunderstanding the



transcendence of Brahman . &ince cognition of Reality is impossible, it is not clear that anyone

will every #come to 2now the Real.$

However, this ob'ection is not so much in response to Hinduism, but to the way that

2nowledge is generally treated. 7or the enlightened, rationality places fundamental universality

under erasure and treats the sub'ect as separate from the e ternal world. )f the rest of the

conclusions in Hinduism are true, then the mundane 2nowledge that is ordinarily pri ed is

ultimately of no importance. )n other words, if Brahman is ultimately reality, then the fact that it

cannot be intellectually understood is not problematic.

3. !arma , dharma : and the caste system

Test 1 Hinduism

Documents

Transcript of Test 1 Hinduism