Test 1 Hinduism
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Transcript of 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
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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
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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
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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
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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