namaste everyone.
We use the following terms very often in our discussions, so here is a compilation of their right meanings and definitions, obtained from the Advaita introductory books such as in the list that follows the definitions:
1.
sat in Advaita means 'absolute reality', the equivalent Sanskrit term being
pAramArthika satyaM (supreme/whole/essential truth).
2.
asat is the other extreme, the 'absolute unreality' that neither exists ever nor has any scope for existence at any point of time, space or other reference, such as 'a hare's horn' or 'the son of a barren woman'.
3. That which is neither
sat nor
asat has two kinds of impermanent existence:
vyAvahArika satyaM, the operational reality and
prAtibhAsika satyaM, the subjective reality.
4. The term
mithyA includes all that comes in between
sat and
asat, that is, both the operational and subjective reality.
5. Thus
mAyA is neither
sat nor
asat but only
mithyA, since it belongs to the order of the
mithyA type of reality.
6.
sat as the absolute reality never changes but serves as a substratum of all that is
mithyA. The question of
sat serving as the substratum of the
asat never arises because
asat as absolute unreality is a non-entity.
7.
sat as the absolute reality remains the same at all levels of existence (
jAgrat, svapna, suShupti--waking, dreaming, deep sleep,
turiya and behond), unaffected by any other kinds of reality (
mithyA) experienced in the different levels.
7. Since
sat is the only (absolute) reality, any other kind of (impermanent) reality can only be an appearance,
mAyA in other words. The world that appears uniformly real to the entire mankind disappears in sleep. The dream world that appears as the subjective reality to the dreamer disappears when he/she wakes up. Any 'reality' experienced in deep sleep also is not
sat because of the fourth level (
turiya) of existence.
8. Creation also belongs to the
mithyA category of reality: everything is 'made up' from something else and has a lesser permanence than what it is made of (e.g. the pot and the clay). Relentless pursuit of this idea of permanence not only reveals the underlying
sat or absolute reality but brings up the knowledge that it is the
sat that appears as the universe and its beings at all levels of existence.
9. The wrong and empirical perception is due to
avidyA (nescience), which is the imposition of name and form (or in other words an abuse of speech) to the temporal reality of the illusory
mAyA. In realizing the Self as Atman or Brahman, the
avidyA is not removed but only cleared and dispelled; it vanishes like darkness on which the light is shone.
10. Thus
mAyA and
avidyA are synonyms. They exist since creation started, but in the Hindu philosophy creation and dissolution are cyclic and eternal, so both
mAyA and
avidyA are
anAdi (beginningless).
Here is a quote that has some bearing on our discussions in this thread:
The Gaudiyas have concluded that Brahman is both one and different simultaneously, and that this is possible because the Absolute possesses inconceivable power (achintya-shakti). Others have developed terms such as anirvacanIya (Sankara), apRuthaka-siddhi (Ramanuja), svabhAvika (Nimbarka), visheSha (Madhva), and samavaya (Vallabha) to bring logic to bear on the oneness and difference of Brahman, when in reality the simultaneous oneness and difference of the absolute is achintya (inconceivable). Indeed, careful study of these other doctrines of Vedanta reveals that they implicitly acknowledge the ahcintya-shakti of the Absolute but are unable to identify it as such.
(http://www.gaudiyadiscussions.com/in...ic=2973&st=150)
*****
Some Advaita books
Practical Introduction
Advaita: step by step: V.kriShNamUrti
http://www.advaitin.net/Articles/advaitadialogue.pdf
Advaita for Beginners: D.kRShNa aiyar
http://www.sankaracharya.org/library/AyyarAdvaitaVedanta.pdf
Advaita: A Bird's Eye View: D kRShNa aiyar
http://www.telugubhakti.com/telugupages/Adwaitam/Advaita.pdf
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Sadhana: kAnchi mahA svAmigaL
http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/downloads/sadhana.pdf
I am That: Nisargadatta Maharaj
http://home.earthlink.net/~grharmon/I_Am_That.pdf
Advanced
Advaita Bodha Deepika: ramaNAsramam
http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/downloads/advaita_bodha_deepika.zip
drg-drshya vivekaH
http://www.archive.org/download/drgdrsyaviveka030903mbp/drgdrsyaviveka030903mbp.pdf
Lights on Advaita: V.subrahmaNya aiyar
http://wisdomsgoldenrod.org/publications/iyer/iyerbook.pdf
History and development
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