Vedanta is a doubled edged inquiry which asks, and comes up with an answer, to the age-old human question of what entails a soul and what is this "soul’s" relationship to God. Double-edged by means that it is both spiritual and religious, while also adhering to philosophical instigation. All epistemological answers found within the Vedanta are in concordance to the divine revelations within Hindu’s highest revered doctrine, the Veda. To understand Vedanta, we must understand what the basic essence of the Veda is.
Within the Veda there are three books. The first is called the Samhitas, which is a collection of metrical prayers and hymnals of praise. The second is the Brahmanas, a collection of treatises on sacrifice done in prose. The third is a book called the Aranyka, called the forest-dwellers, intended for those in life ready to focus purely on spiritual knowledge . In Indian culture there is a chronological prescription on to live one's life in which all disciples of Hinduism are supposed to live accordingly. This chronology is divided into three evolutionary stages of a man’s life. The first stage consists of childhood, after which he is sent to a Guru or teacher, to which he is supposed to obey and believe everything told to him absolutely with no questioning of the Guru’s legitimacy. Once he has supposedly been taught all that is necessary to living a life by the Guru, the second stage of life arrives, and he is to marry, rear a family and do all so in concordance with the duties of raising a house within the Veda. Finally comes the point where the Hindu religion becomes of much value. At the time when the man has reached the age “when his hair has turned white”, and has grandchildren, he is supposed to go on a sort of self-spiritual journey and retire to the forest. Traditionally he is pardoned from having to partake in any sacrifices to the Gods, and is expected to “meditate with freedom on the great problems of life and death”.
Within the Veda there are three books. The first is called the Samhitas, which is a collection of metrical prayers and hymnals of praise. The second is the Brahmanas, a collection of treatises on sacrifice done in prose. The third is a book called the Aranyka, called the forest-dwellers, intended for those in life ready to focus purely on spiritual knowledge . In Indian culture there is a chronological prescription on to live one's life in which all disciples of Hinduism are supposed to live accordingly. This chronology is divided into three evolutionary stages of a man’s life. The first stage consists of childhood, after which he is sent to a Guru or teacher, to which he is supposed to obey and believe everything told to him absolutely with no questioning of the Guru’s legitimacy. Once he has supposedly been taught all that is necessary to living a life by the Guru, the second stage of life arrives, and he is to marry, rear a family and do all so in concordance with the duties of raising a house within the Veda. Finally comes the point where the Hindu religion becomes of much value. At the time when the man has reached the age “when his hair has turned white”, and has grandchildren, he is supposed to go on a sort of self-spiritual journey and retire to the forest. Traditionally he is pardoned from having to partake in any sacrifices to the Gods, and is expected to “meditate with freedom on the great problems of life and death”.
While contemplating the problems behind life and death in this third stage, he is supposed to study the Upanishads that is contained within the Aranyaka’s or Forest-books. Within the Upanishads, the duty to maintain sacrificial rite is rejected, and adhering to the pantheistic multitude of Gods from Hindu mythology in the previous books of the Veda are rejected as well. All Gods are put aside for the supreme being of Brahman. Through these contemplations concerning existence the Vedantic philosophy rose. This philosophy consist of epistemological descriptions of what man is in relation to his soul, the earth, and the infinite, as well as the relationship between the divine or infinite as “seen objectively in nature, and the Divine or Infinite as perceived subjectively in the soul of man”. The most prominent commentary relating to Vedanta is by a man named Sankara in what is called the Vedanta-Sutras. His work is done in the form of poetic similes and philosophical metaphors, which leads to open interpretation of the context.
Through the stories told, a metaphysical system is developed which is a highly detailed account of what entails the self. God is present in all things but also transcends them. A highly detailed account is given to illustrate the differences between what is real, and what is not. This is described through what subjective (real) is and what is objective (unreal), and emphasizes that the two are completely exclusive of one another. What is subjective is defined as what is true and real and is the self, while the objective is what is phenomenal, unreal, and including all that is visible to our existence, such as the world and our body. In fully understanding the “real” immortality can be reached, represented as the result of the true knowledge of Brahman. All that is a part of this objective world is not of true science or the divine, but is Avidya or Nescience. The mistake of believing that the objective world is “what is real” is what the Vedanta aims to first weaken and then destroy by replacing Avidya with Vidya, or true knowledge. The philosophical method in which objective consciousness and subjective consciousness are separated is through defining that it is impossible for a subject ever to become an object, and vice versa. There is no “you and we” or “we and you”. The subjective soul can never be known as objective, but only as itself, and only conscious of itself. Thus a distinction is made between the objective self or phenomenal self, ego, and the subjective self, which is the divine self, infinite, devoid of ego, only capable of being known by the subject. The only way in which this subjective self can be known is through being it or consciously existing as it. The phenomenal subjective world is not discredited as being nonexistent, but is an effect of Brahman. There are no differences between a cause and effect in Vedanta because all stem from Brahman. The ego or character is not the self either, but is the Giva-Atman, or the embodied self.
The reason for this separation between real and unreal, subjective and objective is Uphadis or obstructions. The reasons for Uphadis are because of Nescience/Avidya. Nescience is defined as: an inevitable unawareness of all that transcends personal necscience, a universal nescience which eclipses the true human-self, and for the time being the supreme self, Brahman, as well. To beautifully sum up the contradictories of what knowing exactly what nescience is can be found in the the Vedantan quote “he who would know Avidya is like a man who should wish to see darkness by means of far-shining torch”. Little is known about the mysterious cosmic force behind the illusions that create the objective world, but it is given this force is given the name Maya. To transcend Avedya/Nescience created by Maya is done by acquiring true knowledge. Vidya is the aimed achievement through studying Vedanta philosophy, and this is the only way to escape the trans-migration of the soul. Vidya is accomplished by truly knowing your inner self, which is the eternal self within you and everything, the Brahman, thus the Vedanta concludes with remarks always equivalent to “though art it”, or “ I am Brahman”.
Why Vedanta is Countercurrent to the Veda
Philosophy and religion are often viewed as dualistic aspects of human thought. Religion, in one way, is defined as an institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine. Philosophy on the other hand is defined as the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, etc. The mainstream point of view is that two modes of ideology are different from one another and are thus considered mutually exclusive. In Hinduism, however, the two are thought to be natural outcomes of one another. Many religions, especially western, do not consider philosophy and religion as natural outcomes of one another and would indeed have to give up many of their most cherished beliefs and rituals if so. In particular, the beliefs that wouldn’t hold up against the scrutiny of philosophical inquiry would have to be reconsidered. Many religions remain true to their established doctrines, which are believed to be of divine revelation, through faith alone, and through faith there is not as much of a necessity for philosophical thinking.
The Veda is structured in a way that expects for your spirituality and hunger for truth to evolve as you grow older. The Veda and its principles are guidelines to follow while aging in life and by the time one is to retire to the forest, he is expected to define his own existence in accordance with the Veda and through the guidelines of the Upanishads. Vedanta is the point within the Upanishads of the Veda where a concrete philosophical view of man, existence, the soul, the self, and all of it relation to God is extrapolated by determining which questions, answers and definitions concerning these conflicts of man with the world are sought to be truly defined. Any question that would raise a contradiction within the Vedanta philosophy would be welcomed in order to help create a more solid metaphysical system. Vedanta moves beyond the rituals and mythologizing of deities accepted within the Veda, and thus is a statement that these divinely revealed doctrines, though good guidelines are not the absolute truth. The only absolute truth that can be derived from the Veda is what is done through philosophical examination. At its heart, Vedanta was originally meant to contradict what had previously been taught in order to seek out truth, and concludes itself with a far more calculated system of thought. Thus, the Vedanta is countercurrent to the Veda, though it is also embraced as divinity stripped to the most truthful representation.
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