Advaita Sankara

Question 1

what is the goal of Advaita Sankara

Answer 1

to interpret and defend the position of the Upanishads

Question 2

what does Advaita Sankara claim ?

Answer 2

Atman and Brahman are one, not distinct

Question 3

what philosophical stance is Advaita Sankara?

Answer 3

Non-dual monism

Question 4

what is Brhman?

Answer 4

universal essence, non-dual

Question 5

what is a key point for dualism?

Answer 5

all distinctions made are illusions

Question 6

How can the world be an illusion and not real?

Answer 6

conventional reality exists but is less real than brahman:

we superimpose that world is dual as we experience plurality but fail to see it as one. Thus we can mistakenly see a snake when it is just a rope

Question 7

What is the root cause of bondage (saṃsāra) in Advaita?

Answer 7

Avidyā (ignorance) — not knowing that one’s real nature is Brahman, leading to misidentification with the body-mind complex

Question 8

What is jñāna in Advaita Vedānta?

Answer 8

Knowledge or self-realization — direct, intuitive insight into the identity of ātman and Brahman, leading to liberation

Question 9

how is the world relatively real?

Answer 9

not absolutely real, nor absolutely false; relatively real due to Māyā, and ultimately sublated in Brahman

Question 10

what is the method to attain self realisation ?

Answer 10

Śravaṇa (hearing), Manana (reflection), Nididhyāsana (deep meditation) on the mahāvākyas and Vedānta texts

Question 11

What are the three levels of reality in Advaita?

Answer 11

Pāramārthika — ultimate reality (Brahman)

Vyāvahārika — empirical reality (world, action)

Prātibhāsika — illusory reality (dreams, mirages