[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Sankara proposed that while the phenomenal universe, our consciousness and bodily being, are certainly experienced, they are not true reality. He did not seek to negate them, but considered that the ultimate truth was Brahman, the unborn essence of the Universe that is beyond time, space and causation. Brahman is immanent and transcendent, but not merely a pantheistic concept. This contrasts with Buddhism: Advaita talks of the nature of the Universe as a reality "lesser" than Brahman, which is the absolute reality. Buddhism on the other hand, describes the Universe as a mere illusion caused due to ignorance that leads to a false concept of the "self". About any concept of Brahman, Buddhism chiefly remains silent, since "the absolute truth is incomprehensible and unutterable".
The philosophy that Shankara proposed was powerful and capitalized on years of dormant monist and mystic understandings of existence. He proposed that while the phenomenal universe, our consciousness and bodily being, are certainly experienced, they are not true reality. He did not mean to negate it, but considered that the ultimate truth was Brahman, the one divine ground that is beyond time, space and causation. Brahman is immanent and transcendent, but not merely a pantheistic concept. Indeed, while Brahman is the efficient and material cause for the cosmos, Brahman itself is not limited by its self-projection and indeed transcends all binary opposites/dualities, especially such individuated aspects as form and being, since it is incomprehensible by the human mind. We must pierce through a hazy perspectival lens to understand our true being and nature that is not perennial change and mortality but unmitigated bliss for eternity. If we are to understand the true motive force behind our actions and thoughts, we must become aware of the fundamental unity of being. How, he asks, can a limited mind comprehend the limitless Self? It cannot, he argues, and therefore we must transcend even the mind and become one with Soul-consciousness.
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