Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 6

CHAITANYA Philosophy-Theology

Achintya-Bheda-Abheda (अचचनतयभभददभभद, acintyabhedābheda in IAST) is a school of Vedanta


representing the philosophy of inconceivable one-ness and difference.[1] In Sanskrit achintya
means 'inconceivable',[1] bheda translates as 'difference', and abheda translates as 'non-difference'.
The Gaudiya Vaishnava
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu[5] (1486 - 1534) and differentiates the Gaudiya tradition from the other
Vaishnava Sampradayas. It can be understood as an integration of the strict dualist (dvaita) theology
of Madhvacharya and the qualified monism (vishishtadvaita) of Ramanuja.[6]
It is clearly distinguished from the concept of anirvacaniya (inexpressible) of Advaita Vedanta.
There is a clear difference between the two concepts as the two ideas arise for different reasons.
Advaita concept is related to the ontological status of the world, whereas both Svayam bhagavan
and his shaktis (in Lord himself and his powers) are empirically real, and they are different from
each other, but at the same time they are the same. But that does not negate the reality of both.
Learned men understand the Divine to manifest in three aspects, which are known as His all-
pervading formless aspect, His aspect as the Lord of the heart, and his aspect as the Supreme
Person.

(1) Brahman (the All-pervading Spirit): The non-differentiated aspect of the Divine is known as
Brahman. This all-pervading spiritual substance is known to be the support of all the worlds, and
whatever exists is known to be of Brahman only in its various manifestations. Brahman is
understood to be the halo of the Supreme Person.

(2) Paramatma (the Supreme Soul): The localized aspect of the Divine is known as Paramatma.
Known as the Lord of the heart, this aspect of the Supreme has expanded within the hearts of all
living entities, invoking inspiration, knowledge and forgetfulness in them. He is the silent witness in
our hearts, the impartial overseer and permitter of everyone's activities, and the one who keeps the
world turning in accordance with the deeds of all living entities. He is an expansion of the Supreme
Person for the maintenance of the cosmic manifestation.

(3) Bhagavan (the Supreme Person): The ultimate aspect of the Divine is known as Bhagavan. He is
simultaneously transcendent and immanent, being situated in His own divine realm and
simultaneously pervading everything through His infinite manifestations. This Supreme Person is
the ultimate master, friend, father, son and beloved of all living entities. In His kindness, He
manifests to everyone in accordance with their desires to serve Him, while remaining at the same
time in His supremely attractive form of Sri Krishna, in whom all beauty and love find its pinnacle.

Kashmiri Saivism
According to Kashmiri Saivism, Siva is the one, indivisible, eternal, ultimate, absolute self, the
highest reality, infinite consciousness and a state of unfettered freedom. He is the self of all animate
and inanimate beings, who is both immanent and transcendent. He is also the changeless, subjective
reality underlying the universe from which everything ensues and into which everything dissolves.
He is the absolute, supreme lord, beyond which there is nothing else. Kashmiri Saivism does not
emphasize the need for devotional worship of Siva as a personal god for self-realization. The
relationship between Siva and the individual soul is not that of a servant and master but of equality
and essential identity. Devotional worship may be suitable for certain types of personalities but is
comparatively inferior to the devotional approach of surrender and trust prescribed for the most
promising and advanced seekers.
Shakti

Shakti is the dynamic aspect or energy of Siva. She has an infinity of aspects such as chit-Shakti
(the power of intelligence), ananda-Shakti (the power of freedom), iccha-Shakti (the power of will),
gnana-Shakti (the power of knowledge) and Kriya-Shakti (the power of creative action). The
objective world or universe that we perceive as ours, with all its constituent and disparate objects, is
an expansion of Shakti. Since Siva is the ultimate reality, Shakti should not be mistaken as
something different from him. There is no difference between Siva and Shakti. Shakti is an
indistinguishable aspect of Siva performing a specific set of tasks with no distinction of her own.
Whatever distinction we perceive exists, because we cannot understand Siva otherwise. The duality
is an illusion created by our ignorance and limitations. In the highest absolute self all is one without
a second and without any movement.
The Objective World

Kashmiri Saivism differs from Sankara's Advaiata in that it does not consider the manifest world as
unreal. The world in which we live and with which we interact is a projection of Siva's dynamism
and as real as Siva himself. If God is real, everything that emanates from him must be as real. By
his free will Siva manifests the objective reality within himself using himself as the qualities of
nature, the source (tattvas) and substratum. Siva and his creation are as inseparable as the reflection
of objects in a mirror and the mirror itself. The reflection of the objects and the mirror which reflect
them exist within the mirror and they are inseparable. Similarly the manifested worlds of Siva and
their constituent parts do not exist outside of Siva but only as reflections within him without any
independent existence of their own. Thus according to Kashmiri Saivism, Siva and his creation are
both real and inseparable.
The Purpose of Creation

Siva creates the worlds through his dynamic Shakti for the pure joy (ananda) of rediscovering
himself through his individual selves. He creates this game of creation and plays it within himself,
repeatedly from one creative cycle to another, using himself as the resource and playground, the
subject as well as the object, the goal as well as the means for his own joy. Using his free will, he
hides himself or conceals his God consciousness in his limited selves, in order to rediscover himself
or find himself and realize through his limited selves that what he was looking for was already there
and never lost.
The Individual Soul

According to Kashmiri Saivism, there is no difference between Siva and the jivas. They are one and
the same. The soul is of the nature of Siva. It is pure Siva consciousness. However because of the
concealing power of Siva, the individual jivas become ignorant of their original nature and fail to
experience their true consciousness which remains hidden with in them. Through his dynamic
shakti he creates temporary ignorance in the jivas and subjects them to the three impurities of
anava, karma and maya, because of which they believe themselves to be finite and separate and
subject themselves to the laws of karma. The purpose of each Jiva is therefore to recognize its true
nature and experiences its original Siva consciousness.
The Means of Liberation

Recognition (pratyabighna) of ones true consciousness is the door to freedom. This is achieved
either by the direct intervention of an enlightened Guru or by self effort or by a combination of
both. Available scriptures of this sect suggest three principal means of rediscovering Siva
Consciousness, namely a superior sambavopaya, a not so superior saktopaya and an inferior
anavopaya. These practices are not sequential because an aspirant is not expected to proceed
sequentially from the first to the third. The reason why the help and guidance of a guru is
emphasized in all sects of Saivism is because he alone will have the knowledge and experience to
decide which method will be appropriate for each aspirant depending upon the latter's propensity
and previous effort.
Sambavopaya
According to the Tantraloka of Abhinavagupta, sambavopaya is the best and most effective means
of gaining liberation. Sambavopaya means liberation through the grace of Siva or Sambasiva. In
this method an aspirant has to give up all manners of personal and egoistic effort and place himself
or herself at the feet of Lord Siva with complete faith and trust. It means one should give up all
manner of mental and physical effort including the practice of any discipline or technique such as
meditation, yoga, japa or devotional singing. Instead one should surrender oneself completely to
Lord Siva or to the guru who embodies him consciously and wait for his grace to awaken the latent
purifying energies and make possible the experience of Sambhu (Siva) or supreme consciousness.
Saktopaya

Saktopaya means liberation through the means of shakti or energy. Most of the methods used to
awaken the latent energies or sublimate them to achieve higher states of consciousness are usually
kept secret from the general public. The practice of Kundalini yoga may be part of this method. In
saktopaya one well known technique is called madhyam dhatva or centering. It is practiced by
focusing ones attention on the space or junction or the silence between the end of one thought and
beginning of another or the end of one mental activity such as perception and the beginning of
another. When an aspirant learns to focus constantly on such intermittent spots, at some point
during the practice, he would transcend his impurities and experience his true consciousness that
has been hiding from him all along. The experience would be similar in some respects to the
experience of sudden awakening achieved by the practitioners of Zen Buddhism using some cryptic
expressions. No recitation of mantras or prayers or yogic practices are prescribed in this method
either. What is important is to become aware of the gap in our mental activity and stay with it as
often as possible so that someday the door will open and Siva consciousness will dawn with full
brilliance.
Anavopaya

Anavopaya means liberation through anava (ego) or individual or personal effort. It is considered to
be the inferior and most tedious of the three and involves the refinement and advancement of
individual soul (anu) through many mental and physical practices. Some of the most commonly
used practices are breathing exercises, concentration, meditation and the recitation of mantras and
prayers. Breathing exercises may help an aspirant to cleanse the body and mind of impure energies.
The practice of concentration may help the aspirant to discipline the mind and quieten the thoughts.
The practice of meditation, contemplation and recitation of mantras and prayers may help an
aspirant to stay on the path and remain in a particular spiritual state of mind for longer periods of
time so that one can sow the seeds for a better and spiritually conducive future life.
Anupaya and Moksha

Anupaya means a state where no further effort or technique is needed. It is the state of highest
freedom in which there is no scope for further advancement or no need for any gain or no desire for
any fulfillment. It is a state of complete fulfillment, complete liberation and situated within itself
and by itself. It is also the state of the Jiva that has been lost sight of. When we realize that a Jiva
has always been free and what appears as bondage for so long has only been an illusion, one
realizes the difficulties in expression the process and path of liberation.

According to Kashmiri Saivism Siva and the individual soul are one and the same reality. So when a
Jiva is created or liberated, we cannot say that it has lost or gained its true consciousness, for it has
never lost or gained its true consciousness, even for a second. The Siva consciousness has always
been there in each Jiva and was never lost or transformed. Therefore the use of any of the words
that imply gain or loss of Siva consciousness is an anathema in Kashmir Saivism. It denotes duality
between Siva and jiva which is not acceptable in Kashmiri Saivism. Even such expressions as
process or journey or path to denote the progress of the jiva on the spiritual path would imply the
movement of the soul from one point to another in space and time which means duality and
separation in space and time between Siva and the individual soul. From this philosophical
perspective the state of liberation is best described as becoming filled with wonder to know
suddenly what one has always been and all along. In liberation nothing has been truly gained or
nothing has been truly lost but simply one realizes what one has always been. As in the words of
Abhinavagupta it is only a change in the point of view or in the words of Gaudapada, "a change in
vision"
Being and Becoming

What happens when an individual soul realizes this state while still upon earth? Is there anything for
it to do? Will it be able to maintain its absolute state of consciousness all the time or only during the
meditative and contemplative states? Will it alternative between the two realities or remain always
in the highest state? And what happens when it leaves the body? We have accounts of the lives of
people like Utpala who experienced ecstatic states after regaining the state of Siva and continued to
live in the awakened state. From such examples we understand that once an individual is in the
highest state of Siva, his or her mind and the body may continue to perform their natural functions
but the consciousness remains firmly fixed in Siva. This is the state of anupaya or no other means.
The soul has regained its true consciousness and complete independence. There is nothing else to be
done or nothing else to be realized. Finally when it leaves the human body, it becomes the mirror,
Siva Himself.

Dvaidavada
According to Madhva there are two orders of reality: 1. svatantra, independent reality, which
consists of Brahman alone and 2. paratantra, dependent reality, which consists of jivas (souls) and
jada (lifeless objects). Although dependent reality would not exist apart from brahman's will, this
very dependence creates a fundamental distinction between brahman and all else, implying a dualist
view. By interpreting the Vedanta materials (especially the Upanisads, the Bhagavadgita and the
Brahmasutras) along these lines, Madhva deliberately challenged the non-dualist reading in which
the atman was identified with brahman. Madhva argued that the scriptures could not teach the
identity of all beings because this would contradict ordinary perception, which tells us that we are
different both from one another and from God. Madhva and his followers call their system
tattvavada, "the realist viewpoint".

Like Ramanuja, Madhva identifies brahman with Visnu. However, he argues that any system that
allows for any identification of the atman with brahman undermines Visnu's supremacy,
compromises His status, and strips devotional acts of their meaning. Madhva's insistence on the
modal distinction between the atman and brahman, wherein the former is inalterably dependent
upon--and therefore, fundamentally different from--the latter, insures Visnu-as-brahman's complete
and utter transcendence of the human soul. For Madhva, this view alone makes devotion [bhakti] an
essential component of religious belief and practice. Attaining Visnu's grace is the soul's only hope
of achieving liberation [moksa] from the cycle of rebirth (samsara).

Like Ramanuja, Madhva opposes Sankara's conception of Brahman as nirguna or without qualities
and as a pure self- consciousness. Madhva views Visnu as preeminent above all other deities on the
basis of His unique characteristics. This emphasis on Visnu's particular collocation of attributes that
renders Him distinct from all other gods, human souls, and the material world reveals another
critical component of Madhva's philosophy which is his acceptance of an ontological plurality as a
fundamental facet of being. Indeed, Madhva rejects the notion that brahman is the only truly
existent entity (tattva) and he maintains that, even though living beings and inert matter are
dependent upon Brahman, such dependence differentiates them from Him and makes them discrete
entities (tattvas). Thus, reality in Madhva's system consists of three basic elements: God, the souls
(jivasi), and insentient matter (jada).
Madhva's pluralistic ontology is founded on his realist epistemology, which in turn affects his Vedic
hermeneutics. He argues that God and the human soul are separate because our daily experience of
separateness from God and of plurality in general is presented to us as an undeniable fact,
fundamental to our knowledge of all things. Madhva's emphasis on the validity of experience as a
means of knowledge is intended to refute the nondualist position that the differences we experience
in daily life are ultimately a shared illusion with the ambiguous ontological status of being neither
real nor unreal. In Madhva's view, Advaita's denial of the innate validity of knowledge acquired
through sense perception completely undermines our ability to know anything since we must
always question the content of our knowledge. This questioning would encompass our knowledge
of the sacred canon, which is accessible to us only through our ability to perceive it and to draw
inferences from it. Madhva argues that perception and inference must be innately valid and the
reality they present us with must be actually and ultimately real since such a position is the only one
that allows us to know the content of the Vedas. The Vedas alone are responsible for teaching us
about the nature of the self and brahman.
This aspect of Madhva's realist epistemology is important not only because it bolsters Madhva's
claim that the atman and brahman are permanently distinct as revealed to us by experience, but
because it means that the sacred texts must be read in consonance with the data we receive from our
everyday experience, even though the Vedas present us with knowledge of a supra-sensible realm.
Madhva argues that the Vedas cannot teach non-difference between the atman and brahman or a
lack of true plurality since this would directly contradict our experience. In Madhva's view the
sacred texts teach pancabheda, the five-fold difference between 1. Visnu and jivas 2. Visnu and jada
3. jiva and jada 4. one jiva and another and 5. one form of jada and another.
Madhva's belief in the innate difference of one soul from another led to some interesting doctrines
in his system. He believed in a hierarchy of jivas, based upon their innate configurations of virtues
(gunas) and faults (dosas). For example, Visnu is supreme because He possesses all qualities in
their most fulfilled and perfect form. Furthermore, because Madhva believed that souls possess
innate characteristics and capacities, he also maintained that they were predestined to achieve
certain ends. This perspective put Madhva at odds with traditional Hindu views of the karma theory
wherein differences in social and religious status are explained via past moral or immoral acts. For
Madhva, each individual being possesses an innate moral propensity and karma is merely the
mechanism by which a given soul is propelled towards his or her destiny.

4. Canonical Sources
Madhva's attempts to locate his controversial views in the canonical Vedanta texts often proved
difficult. He is perhaps most famous for his idiosyncratic rendering of the Chandogya Upanisad's
statement tat tvam asi or "you (the atman) are that (brahman)." By carrying over the 'a' from the
preceding word, Madhva rendered the phrase atat tvam asi or "you are not that." Some scholars
have speculated on "foreign," particularly Christian, influences on Madhva's thought but current
scholarly consensus maintains that political and social changes in Madhva's region prompted a new
approach to old religious convictions.
Madhva's Dvaita Vedanta is recognized as one of the three major schools of Vedanta (besides
Sankara's Advaita and Ramanuja's Visistadvaita Vedanta). It has been further developed by such
major figures as Jayatirtha (1356-1388) and Vyasaraya (1478-1589) and is kept alive by a still
flourishing community [Madhva sampradaya] in India with its main center at Udipi (Karnataka).

Вам также может понравиться