ADVAITA VEDANTA

The word Vedanta is a positional term, which means the end of the Vedas. The final portion of the Vedas is where the Upanisads are held. The Upanisads house the crown jewel of Vedic wealth in the form of self- knowledge and Vedanta is esteemed as a means of knowledge for knowing this self. When the Veda says ãtat tvam asi,ä you are that, it is pointing to a direct experience of yourself, not as something remote to you but as that which is most intimate to you, your own immediate self experience.

Vedanta leads the student through a process of inquiry to differentiate the self-experience from the object-related experiences that have been superimposed upon the self. Vedanta is not seeking another self but rather seeks to differentiate the self you already are with the objects you take yourself to be; these objects include the body/mind/sense complex. In the vision of Vedanta you are full and therefore complete as you are right now. Not recognizing this is not a matter for self- improvement, but for knowledge. Ignorance is not opposed to becoming -- it is opposed to knowledge.

Advaita Vedanta is completely committed to the ontological reality of non-dualism. Non-dualism means that you cannot be outside of the all that is here. If there is only one vastu, thing, then that thing must already include you. A classical Vedantic example is the wave/ocean. There are multitudes of waveforms within the ocean. Each form takes itself as an independent form and thus has a self-image of limitation. Limited in the sense that all objects belong to the modifications of time and space. They come into being and will go out of being. This irrepressible movement is the root of all existential angst.

However, if we look into the reality of the wave, we can conclude that on a substrate level the wave is no different than the ocean. Thus, one could say to the wave, ãtat tvam asi.ä Tat tvam asi, as an equation, is not comparing forms; it is addressing the unifying content of form. Differentiation of the form from the content of form will require a thorough teaching. Once the wave is able to see the truth of itself, it will recognize itself as water. It will also recognize the ocean as nothing but water. It will realize that it shares the same substrate as all the other waves, thereby seeing no inherent division among them. This vision of unity is the vision of the Vedas and Vedanta is a means of knowledge for understanding this non-dual reality as yourself.