The Advaitha Doctrine
Sri Ãdi
?ankar? was the main advocator of
the Advaitha doctrine. The main philosophical principle of the
philosophy is concentrated upon the idea that there is only one
force and whatever else we see in this world or in the visible
universe is only illusion and so without any power or as such is not
real. The principle fails to give any importance to the visible
manifestation of this world and the illusory part of one force is
said to be seen to us like a reflection upon water. The philosophy
is in itself very powerful as, the theory is the main theme of the
Upanishads; but the later proponents of the doctrine were themselves
confused or were unable to explain all the manifestations of this
illusory power called M?ya; which
seems to us very very real!!!
Advaitha philosophy is not a newly added spiritual path to the
Indian spiritual heritage as, the root of all the Vedic teachings is
based upon the origin of this universe from the cosmic mind called
`Brahma’ (Creator), which is just movement of consciousness without
cause and is a manifestation of a much much greater unmanifest power
which is indescribable by words and from which countless Brahma’s
have originated previously and countless would originate afterwards
also in the present arrow of time.
It is interesting to note that
Ãdi ?ankara who was intelligent and conscious enough to understand
this by direct realization, was somewhat unable to explain this in
theory to his immediate disciples or the finer parts of the original
principle may have been profound enough to be grasped by the less
expanded minds of the later disciples. Whatever be the situation,
the Advaitha theory was questioned and put aside by the future
inquisitive generations of spiritual seekers and the other theories
of spiritual realization gained in popularity, just because of the
inability of succeeding disciples to explain his S?nskrit
doctrines well in the background of Upanishads.
But The Advaitha Sidhanta gained popularity in the modern ages and the
order that he established surpassed the tests of time and now the
establishment is the most respected with devotees world over.
Shankara’s doctrine’s shouldn’t
be new to a mind which has gone through the
Upanishads and understood
the meaning, but his words are stronger and the examples are extra
ordinary, for a not so ancient denouncer. His works are a must read for
every spiritual aspirant and some of the most important works are given
here.
