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Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction
Advaita Vedānta is the most important philosophical system in India. It involves a discipline of spiritual experience as well as a technical philosophy, and since the time of Samkara in the ninth century some of the greatest intellects in India have contributed to its development.
In his reconstruction of Advaita Vedānta, Eliot Deutsch has lifted the system out of its historical/cultural context and has concentrated attention on those ideas which have enduring philosophical value. He has sought to formulate systematically one's understanding of what is of universal philosophical interest in Vedantic thought. Professor Deutsch's work covers the basic metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical ideas of Vedānta.
Students and scholars of Western as well as of Indian philosophy will be interested in the lucid, organized manner in which the material is presented and in the fresh interpretations given. The book is written in a critical rather than simply "pious" spirit and should thus also be of interest to anyone interested in deepening his or her appreciation and understanding of the richness of Indian thought.
In his reconstruction of Advaita Vedānta, Eliot Deutsch has lifted the system out of its historical/cultural context and has concentrated attention on those ideas which have enduring philosophical value. He has sought to formulate systematically one's understanding of what is of universal philosophical interest in Vedantic thought. Professor Deutsch's work covers the basic metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical ideas of Vedānta.
Students and scholars of Western as well as of Indian philosophy will be interested in the lucid, organized manner in which the material is presented and in the fresh interpretations given. The book is written in a critical rather than simply "pious" spirit and should thus also be of interest to anyone interested in deepening his or her appreciation and understanding of the richness of Indian thought.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
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September 7, 2017
The wisdom of Hindu Philosophy: School of Advaita Vedanta
Advaita (no twoness) is a non-dualistic system of Vedanta expounded largely by Adi Shankara, although this concept was first proposed by sages like Yajñavalkya, Uddalaka, and Bādarāyaņa. The substance of this system of thought is that the physical reality that describes the universe with living entities, matter and energy, and cosmic structures is due to One Supreme Consciousness pervading the universe. It is referred to as Brahman. Brahman has no attributes, but it is an entity that encompasses omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), Omni benevolence (perfect goodness), immutable, divine simplicity, and eternal existence. Brahman exists in spaceless and timeless dimension in an unchanging reality amidst and beyond the realm of the universe. These qualities are personal and impersonal; variously referred to as God or the Supreme Lord in Hinduism. (One God is worshipped in various forms such as Krishna, Vishnu, Rama, Hari, Shiva, Brahma, Shakti, Kali, etc.) The Pure Consciousness, the Brahman transcend all possible laws of physics, all dimensions and all physical realities in an infinite space that may have multiverse. That is the True Reality. There is no room for dualistic thought, such as God and living-beings having separate existence; or God and material world are two different things. There is no separate subject and object; there is no me and Almighty God; there is no you and Almighty God. There is Oneness. Brahman as a transcendental entity in a spiritual domain that defies all humanly description or characterization. As sage Yajnavalkya observed that “there is no other or better description (of Brahman) than “not this, not this” (neti neti).
Eliot Deutsch is an eminent scholar of Vedanta and spent his lifetime teaching and researching in the field of Hindu Philosophy. Advaita is widely regarded as the pinnacle of wisdom among Hindu philosophers in post-Vedic India. It is a metaphysical system that explains physical reality in the most profound form. It is an unflinching theory and a focused system of thought that has intellectual depth and great insight that comes close to the reality reasoned within the laws of quantum physics. Erwin Schrodinger, the father of wave mechanics was a life-long Vedantin (Advaitin) according to his biographer, Walter J. Moore. Schrodinger showed the wave-particle duality of matter at its most fundamental existence. All quantum states theoretically calculated for a particle exist in spacetime until an experimental observation collapses them into one particular state. Before measurements, the particle (wave) can exists at virtually anywhere in the universe; it could be at two places at the same time. This wholesomeness of quantum reality and existence is inherent in nature.
A brief summary of this book is as follows: The world has no separate existence apart from Brahman. The experiencing self (jīva) and the transcendental self of the Universe (ātman) are in reality identical (Oneness in Brahman). Although the individual self seems different from Brahman, like space inside a milk bottle that looks different from space outside if it. The space inside the bottle takes the shape of the bottle, but it is still part of the larger space. Plurality is experienced because of error in judgments (mithya) and ignorance (avidya). Advaita Vedanta interpret the relationship between Brahman and the world in terms of satkaryavada, the theory that effect pre-exists in the cause. The vivartavada theory observes that effect is only an apparent manifestation of its cause. Both lead to same conclusion and are rooted in the same action, the cause which is a concept of Maya, avidya (ignorance) and adhyasa. When we transform the impersonal (Brahman) being into personal being. We bring an association of the impersonal with Maya. Maya is the ontic-noetic state where limitations (upadhis) are imposed upon reality. Attachments, aversions, fears, dreams, and semi-dreams are all smeared with illusory power of Maya. All memories, cognitions, percepts, and logics are grounded in mirage, apparition and deceptive appearance. Maya appears whenever we fail to realize the oneness of the Brahman.
Advaita establishes the Oneness of Reality and this self-knowledge enables the knower to overcome all pain, misery, ignorance, and bondage. The self and the knowledge of the whole leads to freedom and wisdom. Self is described in four states of consciousness and there is no discontinuity of consciousness. The states of waking (jāgrat), dreaming (svapna) and deep sleep (susupti) and the fourth nameless state turiya. The four states misidentifies the self but they are changes in the power of awareness. The waking and dream states which can be brought together into a single category corresponding to gross and subtle bodies (Virat and Hiranyagarbha). The state of deep sleep corresponds to saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes) or the divine (Isvara) and transcendental consciousness. Hence in the waking – dream state, the self is caught with objects, internal and external and loses sights of its own true nature as pure subject. In deep sleep, consciousness and the self is free from objects but not yet transcended to the fourth state of turiya. In the fourth state the self-transcendence that brings about the awareness of one-self as not different from Reality.
To explain the material reality, Advaita advocates that Isvara, the Brahman with attributes become personalized as deity. He is the creative Lord who calls forth worlds, maintains them, and re-absorbs them as lila, as sport or play. There is no purpose in creation. He is free with unlimited power. Creation is only apparent change and not a change in Brahman in reality. Brahman is unchangeable and immutable. The actual experience of attaining the moksha (salvation) is through self-knowledge and wisdom. Constant meditation that will help identify with self. Neti Neti, the self is not this, not this; “my,” “me,” “mine,” becomes sounds signifying nothing, Tat tvam asi – the Self is Reality. Hence “You,” and ‘me,” are not different. Cause and effects are mutually involved; the material elements (gross and subtle) that constitute physical nature are ontologically the effects of (ahmankara) (I-consciousness) and buddhi (intelligence); but their cause is saguna Brahman or consciousness associated with maya. Saguna Brahman has its own ultimate ground in pure consciousness or nirguna Brahman. De-superimposition (apavada), reconnecting the effects back into their causes, the discriminating away of all lower levels of experience (sadness, unhappiness, and sufferings) is the sword that cuts away false identifications.
Knowledge of Brahman alone is the route to liberation for Śaṅkara. The role of action (karma) and life experiences and tribulations is to purify the mind (antaḥkaranasuddhi) and make it free from likes and dislikes (raga dveṣavimuktaḥ). Such a mind will be instrumental to knowledge of Brahman.
Professor Deutsch has explained Advaita in a very lucid, luminous and intelligible language. Highly recommended to readers interested in Hinduism, Hindu Philosophy, and Advaita Vedanta.
Advaita (no twoness) is a non-dualistic system of Vedanta expounded largely by Adi Shankara, although this concept was first proposed by sages like Yajñavalkya, Uddalaka, and Bādarāyaņa. The substance of this system of thought is that the physical reality that describes the universe with living entities, matter and energy, and cosmic structures is due to One Supreme Consciousness pervading the universe. It is referred to as Brahman. Brahman has no attributes, but it is an entity that encompasses omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), Omni benevolence (perfect goodness), immutable, divine simplicity, and eternal existence. Brahman exists in spaceless and timeless dimension in an unchanging reality amidst and beyond the realm of the universe. These qualities are personal and impersonal; variously referred to as God or the Supreme Lord in Hinduism. (One God is worshipped in various forms such as Krishna, Vishnu, Rama, Hari, Shiva, Brahma, Shakti, Kali, etc.) The Pure Consciousness, the Brahman transcend all possible laws of physics, all dimensions and all physical realities in an infinite space that may have multiverse. That is the True Reality. There is no room for dualistic thought, such as God and living-beings having separate existence; or God and material world are two different things. There is no separate subject and object; there is no me and Almighty God; there is no you and Almighty God. There is Oneness. Brahman as a transcendental entity in a spiritual domain that defies all humanly description or characterization. As sage Yajnavalkya observed that “there is no other or better description (of Brahman) than “not this, not this” (neti neti).
Eliot Deutsch is an eminent scholar of Vedanta and spent his lifetime teaching and researching in the field of Hindu Philosophy. Advaita is widely regarded as the pinnacle of wisdom among Hindu philosophers in post-Vedic India. It is a metaphysical system that explains physical reality in the most profound form. It is an unflinching theory and a focused system of thought that has intellectual depth and great insight that comes close to the reality reasoned within the laws of quantum physics. Erwin Schrodinger, the father of wave mechanics was a life-long Vedantin (Advaitin) according to his biographer, Walter J. Moore. Schrodinger showed the wave-particle duality of matter at its most fundamental existence. All quantum states theoretically calculated for a particle exist in spacetime until an experimental observation collapses them into one particular state. Before measurements, the particle (wave) can exists at virtually anywhere in the universe; it could be at two places at the same time. This wholesomeness of quantum reality and existence is inherent in nature.
A brief summary of this book is as follows: The world has no separate existence apart from Brahman. The experiencing self (jīva) and the transcendental self of the Universe (ātman) are in reality identical (Oneness in Brahman). Although the individual self seems different from Brahman, like space inside a milk bottle that looks different from space outside if it. The space inside the bottle takes the shape of the bottle, but it is still part of the larger space. Plurality is experienced because of error in judgments (mithya) and ignorance (avidya). Advaita Vedanta interpret the relationship between Brahman and the world in terms of satkaryavada, the theory that effect pre-exists in the cause. The vivartavada theory observes that effect is only an apparent manifestation of its cause. Both lead to same conclusion and are rooted in the same action, the cause which is a concept of Maya, avidya (ignorance) and adhyasa. When we transform the impersonal (Brahman) being into personal being. We bring an association of the impersonal with Maya. Maya is the ontic-noetic state where limitations (upadhis) are imposed upon reality. Attachments, aversions, fears, dreams, and semi-dreams are all smeared with illusory power of Maya. All memories, cognitions, percepts, and logics are grounded in mirage, apparition and deceptive appearance. Maya appears whenever we fail to realize the oneness of the Brahman.
Advaita establishes the Oneness of Reality and this self-knowledge enables the knower to overcome all pain, misery, ignorance, and bondage. The self and the knowledge of the whole leads to freedom and wisdom. Self is described in four states of consciousness and there is no discontinuity of consciousness. The states of waking (jāgrat), dreaming (svapna) and deep sleep (susupti) and the fourth nameless state turiya. The four states misidentifies the self but they are changes in the power of awareness. The waking and dream states which can be brought together into a single category corresponding to gross and subtle bodies (Virat and Hiranyagarbha). The state of deep sleep corresponds to saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes) or the divine (Isvara) and transcendental consciousness. Hence in the waking – dream state, the self is caught with objects, internal and external and loses sights of its own true nature as pure subject. In deep sleep, consciousness and the self is free from objects but not yet transcended to the fourth state of turiya. In the fourth state the self-transcendence that brings about the awareness of one-self as not different from Reality.
To explain the material reality, Advaita advocates that Isvara, the Brahman with attributes become personalized as deity. He is the creative Lord who calls forth worlds, maintains them, and re-absorbs them as lila, as sport or play. There is no purpose in creation. He is free with unlimited power. Creation is only apparent change and not a change in Brahman in reality. Brahman is unchangeable and immutable. The actual experience of attaining the moksha (salvation) is through self-knowledge and wisdom. Constant meditation that will help identify with self. Neti Neti, the self is not this, not this; “my,” “me,” “mine,” becomes sounds signifying nothing, Tat tvam asi – the Self is Reality. Hence “You,” and ‘me,” are not different. Cause and effects are mutually involved; the material elements (gross and subtle) that constitute physical nature are ontologically the effects of (ahmankara) (I-consciousness) and buddhi (intelligence); but their cause is saguna Brahman or consciousness associated with maya. Saguna Brahman has its own ultimate ground in pure consciousness or nirguna Brahman. De-superimposition (apavada), reconnecting the effects back into their causes, the discriminating away of all lower levels of experience (sadness, unhappiness, and sufferings) is the sword that cuts away false identifications.
Knowledge of Brahman alone is the route to liberation for Śaṅkara. The role of action (karma) and life experiences and tribulations is to purify the mind (antaḥkaranasuddhi) and make it free from likes and dislikes (raga dveṣavimuktaḥ). Such a mind will be instrumental to knowledge of Brahman.
Professor Deutsch has explained Advaita in a very lucid, luminous and intelligible language. Highly recommended to readers interested in Hinduism, Hindu Philosophy, and Advaita Vedanta.
June 10, 2012
Probably a good introduction of Advaita Vedanta (Indian religious "monist" non-dualist idealist philosophy), but I have nothing to compare against, and I still have to read the last two chapters.. The book requires a more critical attitude - it does critique some ideas, some (such as karma and samsara) more than others, but somewhat half-heartedly. One of the problems I had was that there seem to be multiple explanations for the same things - for example, the world is understood as nirguna Brahman (attribute-less Godhead, the Ultimate Reality) experienced through avidya (ignorance), but then it is also claimed that saguna Brahman (the personal creator God) is the efficient cause of the world. Similarly, jiva (the personality or ego shell) is understood as a "mirror reflection" or a limitation on the Atman (the real Self, which is at basis not different from Brahman), so that you can understand that the human is born without a jiva, and that it is formed as the human starts to experience the world and to divide it into compartments, you, me, yours, mine, now, then, etc... in the way Freud describes, but then it is claimed that the jiva is reborn in body after body, and is susceptible to karma throughout all these lives. The problem might be that in this religious philosophy, there might be different explanations at different levels: the philosophical explanations as against popular theo-mythology, which foreigners like ourselves might be incorporating into one system. The same problem of multiple explanations would occur if we were to try to incorporate popular Christian thinking with philosophical Christian theology.
Another thought that was rattling in my head was about how far one can argue for a worldview without first accepting a number of initial assertions that the worldview takes for granted. One thing the book could have done better is to argue, or rather give reasons, theological, philosophical or even cultural, for the fundamental claims of this non-dualist idealist worldview - as the author consistently claims that, the interest of Advaita philosophers was not to prove the truth of this worldview as that was taken to be obvious, but rather their interest was in formulating arguments and metaphors that would lead one to grasp this Ultimately Reality, to break free of avidya. That might also be a reason for those multiple explanations...
Another thought that was rattling in my head was about how far one can argue for a worldview without first accepting a number of initial assertions that the worldview takes for granted. One thing the book could have done better is to argue, or rather give reasons, theological, philosophical or even cultural, for the fundamental claims of this non-dualist idealist worldview - as the author consistently claims that, the interest of Advaita philosophers was not to prove the truth of this worldview as that was taken to be obvious, but rather their interest was in formulating arguments and metaphors that would lead one to grasp this Ultimately Reality, to break free of avidya. That might also be a reason for those multiple explanations...
January 3, 2022
My introduction into spiritual literature and into the Hinduistic school of thought, absolutely riveting and endlessly fascinating. Very inspiring as well, particularly the dialogue the aspirant has with himself to close out the book, and outlining the path that an Advaitin has to undergo in order to attain moksha.
“The self that I ordinarily see," says the aspirant, "this is not Me; the world as it presents itself to me with its divisions and contradictions, this cannot be Real. With intellect alone, I remain outside of everything. I ask something in Nature what it is and receive as an answer only my own categories and classifications. Led from one thing to another, I do not grasp what is. "Who are you?'I might silently ask another, and as soon as I make noise within myself, I fail to find the answer. Desires, needs, attachments well up within me and bind me to what I should not be. What is the body? What is the mind? Am I only a collection of the accidents of birth, of language, of country? I am awake, I dream, and sometimes I seem to rest peacefully in my very being. The body changes and deteriorates. It cannot be the Self.”
“The self that I ordinarily see," says the aspirant, "this is not Me; the world as it presents itself to me with its divisions and contradictions, this cannot be Real. With intellect alone, I remain outside of everything. I ask something in Nature what it is and receive as an answer only my own categories and classifications. Led from one thing to another, I do not grasp what is. "Who are you?'I might silently ask another, and as soon as I make noise within myself, I fail to find the answer. Desires, needs, attachments well up within me and bind me to what I should not be. What is the body? What is the mind? Am I only a collection of the accidents of birth, of language, of country? I am awake, I dream, and sometimes I seem to rest peacefully in my very being. The body changes and deteriorates. It cannot be the Self.”
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October 13, 2025This short book has admirable aims:
(1) To articulate the key philosophical aspects of Advaita Vedānta in language that will resonate with students of Western philosophy.
(2) To critically scrutinize Advaita's philosophical stances.
The brevity and clarity with which Deutsch pursues these goals must be commended. Specific highlights include Deutsch's careful definition of the process of subration (Chapter 2), his argument that karma is best thought of as a "convenient fiction" (Chapter 5), and his treatment of Advaita's epistemology (Chapter 6).
That said, I have a major concern with how Deutsch writes about the goal of the Advaitic inquiry. He repeatedly uses language that suggests that the goal is a particular type of spiritual experience. For example, in Chaper 1, he writes that: "Brahman, for Advaita Vedānta, is a name for that fullness of being which is the 'content' of non-dualistic spiritual experience: an experience in which all distinctions between subject and object are shattered and in which remains only a pure unqualified 'oneness'" (p. 13). From my (admittedly limited) understanding, the content of any experience (from the most mundane everyday experience to the most exalted samādhi) needs to be carefully logically distinguished from the subjectivity to which content appears. Recognizing this mere fact of subjectivity, which can never be objectified, points the way to what Advaita denotes as Ātman or Brahman. I worry that Deutsch's language ignores this key step in Advaitic inquiry.
Given this shortcoming, I would recommend that newcomers to this topic read the following paper first: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf.... This is a recent article makes Advaita's case for why subjectivity (as distinguished from any and all contents that appear to subjectivity) can never be objectified. Importantly, the article translates this point into the language of contemporary philosophy of mind, which repeatedly conflates subjectivity with particular kinds of content and thus goes astray from the perspective of Advaita Vedānta. Another option would be to watch any of Swami Sarvapriyananda's videos on the hard problem of consciousness. My go-to recommendations are always his two discussions with neuroscientist Andrés Canales-Johnson:
- Consciousness in Advaita Vedānta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAUFR...
- Your True Self in Advaita Vedānta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoNo7...
I think that Deutsch's treatments of various details of Advaita philosophy are less likely to be misleading with this preparatory material in hand.
(1) To articulate the key philosophical aspects of Advaita Vedānta in language that will resonate with students of Western philosophy.
(2) To critically scrutinize Advaita's philosophical stances.
The brevity and clarity with which Deutsch pursues these goals must be commended. Specific highlights include Deutsch's careful definition of the process of subration (Chapter 2), his argument that karma is best thought of as a "convenient fiction" (Chapter 5), and his treatment of Advaita's epistemology (Chapter 6).
That said, I have a major concern with how Deutsch writes about the goal of the Advaitic inquiry. He repeatedly uses language that suggests that the goal is a particular type of spiritual experience. For example, in Chaper 1, he writes that: "Brahman, for Advaita Vedānta, is a name for that fullness of being which is the 'content' of non-dualistic spiritual experience: an experience in which all distinctions between subject and object are shattered and in which remains only a pure unqualified 'oneness'" (p. 13). From my (admittedly limited) understanding, the content of any experience (from the most mundane everyday experience to the most exalted samādhi) needs to be carefully logically distinguished from the subjectivity to which content appears. Recognizing this mere fact of subjectivity, which can never be objectified, points the way to what Advaita denotes as Ātman or Brahman. I worry that Deutsch's language ignores this key step in Advaitic inquiry.
Given this shortcoming, I would recommend that newcomers to this topic read the following paper first: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf.... This is a recent article makes Advaita's case for why subjectivity (as distinguished from any and all contents that appear to subjectivity) can never be objectified. Importantly, the article translates this point into the language of contemporary philosophy of mind, which repeatedly conflates subjectivity with particular kinds of content and thus goes astray from the perspective of Advaita Vedānta. Another option would be to watch any of Swami Sarvapriyananda's videos on the hard problem of consciousness. My go-to recommendations are always his two discussions with neuroscientist Andrés Canales-Johnson:
- Consciousness in Advaita Vedānta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAUFR...
- Your True Self in Advaita Vedānta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoNo7...
I think that Deutsch's treatments of various details of Advaita philosophy are less likely to be misleading with this preparatory material in hand.
May 26, 2023
For what he was trying to do I'm impressed. However, it's hard to make a viewpoint speak out of its context and I'm not sure he did this. Maybe he started the discussion. Helpful read nonetheless.
June 11, 2023
A good book about the basics of Advaita Vedanta, written in an academic style ment for Westerners.
I'm not a fan of Western academic approach and philosophy, so the book felt like a chore at times, but nevertheless it was an useful read.
I will focus more on the traditional texts in the future.
I'm not a fan of Western academic approach and philosophy, so the book felt like a chore at times, but nevertheless it was an useful read.
I will focus more on the traditional texts in the future.
April 13, 2020
Re-read Professor Eliot Deutsch's book "Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction" during the Easter weekend. Thin book, but so initiated and condensed written. Classic book about Advaita Vedanta that contains everything.
April 25, 2020
An amazing reconstruction. It's the kind of book you wish was permanently in your brain. Where's the much-needed audio version to listen to on repeat while I drive and sleep and cook and do dishes and garden and go walking?
September 24, 2021
You know I love to learn so glad I finished it but this was so fuckin dry and honestly gave me arrogant/conceited vibes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
also sidebar it irks me to read books when they refer to humans in general as he/him/man
also sidebar it irks me to read books when they refer to humans in general as he/him/man
January 19, 2022
Deutsch undoubtedly has his biases, and there is something that feels a tad dated in his insistence on explicating this Indian system through a Western lens, but on the whole, this is a remarkable ELI’m a Graduate Student breakdown of Advaita Vedānta. One beautiful quote sums up the philosophical process of an adept (pp. 108-9):
“The self that I ordinarily see – this is not Me; the world as it presents itself to me with its divisions and contradictions, this cannot be Real. With intellect alone, I remain outside of everything. I ask something in Nature what it is and receive as an answer only my own categories and classifications. Led from one thing to another, I do not grasp what is. ‘Who are you?’ – I might silently ask another, and as soon as I make noise within myself, I fail to find the answer. Desires, needs, attachments well up within me and bind me to what I should not be.
“What is the body? What is the mind? Am I only a collection of the accidents of birth, of language, of country? I am awake, I dream, and sometimes I seem to rest peacefully in my very being. The body changes and deteriorates. It cannot be the Self. The mind is fickle, intemperate, and yet powerful. It enables me to master my environment – but what does this mastery mean? Today I am a success, tomorrow, a failure. Should I be only the praise and blame of others? Civilizations come and go; what meaning, then, can my petty mastery have? Awake, I am the world: it and me are so mutually involved that I can only partially discriminate between them. Asleep, I remain its victim. And even when awake, am I not still half-asleep? I cannot completely control the stream of images, of desires, of memories – of nonsense – that is so much a part of my waking consciousness. The mind cannot be the Self. Still there are moments of intense well-being; of self-satisfaction and aesthetic delight. I find myself to be a part of something else; I give myself over to it and find a wonderful harmony there. Everything finds its place here. Without fear, without anxiety, without restlessness and ambition, and without the need to possess, I realize the immense potentiality of being, the power that sustains life. But this state of being too is transitory. The feeling and knowing self, this state of delightful harmony cannot be the Self.
“Events appear and disappear. I accept some and reject others. What is important to me today, I discover to be unimportant to me tomorrow. Truths are turned into illusions: what I value most before attaining it, I disvalue when I attain it. The things of the world – power, prestige, money, even family and home – turn out to be empty: instead of liberating they bind me. Everything gets rejected by something else. No thing, then, can be truly real.
“The more I learn, the less I know what is of real value to me. The more I strive, the less I know where I am going. Around and around I am turned. What do I really know? I see the world in terms of my knowledge and desire, and therefore I do not really see the world at all. This world of mine cannot be Real.”
“The self that I ordinarily see – this is not Me; the world as it presents itself to me with its divisions and contradictions, this cannot be Real. With intellect alone, I remain outside of everything. I ask something in Nature what it is and receive as an answer only my own categories and classifications. Led from one thing to another, I do not grasp what is. ‘Who are you?’ – I might silently ask another, and as soon as I make noise within myself, I fail to find the answer. Desires, needs, attachments well up within me and bind me to what I should not be.
“What is the body? What is the mind? Am I only a collection of the accidents of birth, of language, of country? I am awake, I dream, and sometimes I seem to rest peacefully in my very being. The body changes and deteriorates. It cannot be the Self. The mind is fickle, intemperate, and yet powerful. It enables me to master my environment – but what does this mastery mean? Today I am a success, tomorrow, a failure. Should I be only the praise and blame of others? Civilizations come and go; what meaning, then, can my petty mastery have? Awake, I am the world: it and me are so mutually involved that I can only partially discriminate between them. Asleep, I remain its victim. And even when awake, am I not still half-asleep? I cannot completely control the stream of images, of desires, of memories – of nonsense – that is so much a part of my waking consciousness. The mind cannot be the Self. Still there are moments of intense well-being; of self-satisfaction and aesthetic delight. I find myself to be a part of something else; I give myself over to it and find a wonderful harmony there. Everything finds its place here. Without fear, without anxiety, without restlessness and ambition, and without the need to possess, I realize the immense potentiality of being, the power that sustains life. But this state of being too is transitory. The feeling and knowing self, this state of delightful harmony cannot be the Self.
“Events appear and disappear. I accept some and reject others. What is important to me today, I discover to be unimportant to me tomorrow. Truths are turned into illusions: what I value most before attaining it, I disvalue when I attain it. The things of the world – power, prestige, money, even family and home – turn out to be empty: instead of liberating they bind me. Everything gets rejected by something else. No thing, then, can be truly real.
“The more I learn, the less I know what is of real value to me. The more I strive, the less I know where I am going. Around and around I am turned. What do I really know? I see the world in terms of my knowledge and desire, and therefore I do not really see the world at all. This world of mine cannot be Real.”
February 13, 2025
I liked this book. Initially it felt very abstract. I had to give a 2nd reading to understand better, some places also come back for a 3rd. Of course there is a use of lot of terminologies and jargons an assumption reader would know. There are many Sanskrit words used where appropriate with English meaning in brackets. Overall, sums up Advaita Vedanta in a very good manner to a novice or lay person like me just starting to read as my first book on this topic, and who hasn’t read Upanishads or any religious texts. Interesting concept, kindled my interest to question more and read / listen more. The theory of evil and Karma remains out of purview of Advaita Vedanta- which is why it won’t have many takes / followers both the east and the west. I have many unanswered questions too. It’s hard to fathom, I haven’t become a believer yet, but it’s interesting enough to not negate it completely at the first go, and prompts me to delve further.
June 22, 2022
At first I found it a bit dry and hard to get into but it quickly picked up and I really enjoyed this so so much, I do wish it was longer. Learned a lot of things and loved the manner in which Deutsch organised and set out Advaita, 10/10
August 29, 2021
great reconstruction of this spiritual current. even greater guide on spirituality for western people
October 24, 2021
Not the easiest read.
January 6, 2025
Un desorden total. Los temas están desarrollados torpemente y el libro es un caos.
October 13, 2008
For me this was a wonderful refresher, and I imagine it is a great introduction for anyone. Being an ACIM student, I find the more modern statement of the Course more helpful, moreover the way it deals with the making of the World definitely seems more helpful to me. In retrospect, small wonder however, that I felt attracted to Advaita Vedanta very early on in life.
I could imagine that for many Course students this little book would be of interest as it provides an immediate insight in the position of the Course in the context of the world's major spiritual traditions, including why it is so unique and different, in the way it proposes the ontological cause of the experience of this world and this life.
Equally it is humbling for any Westerner to even begin to realize the profound nature of this thought sytem, including its psychological sophistication, thousands of years before the west even began having an inkling of modern psychology, which seems shallow and superficial by comparison, even if a lot of its research can be quite valuable in complementing the picture.
I could imagine that for many Course students this little book would be of interest as it provides an immediate insight in the position of the Course in the context of the world's major spiritual traditions, including why it is so unique and different, in the way it proposes the ontological cause of the experience of this world and this life.
Equally it is humbling for any Westerner to even begin to realize the profound nature of this thought sytem, including its psychological sophistication, thousands of years before the west even began having an inkling of modern psychology, which seems shallow and superficial by comparison, even if a lot of its research can be quite valuable in complementing the picture.
September 2, 2014
Some unbelievable work here. This is a lifelong guide to accessing the real. As far as self-realization goes I don't think that any system of symbols has ever completely and accurately defined the path for everyone, but this is damn close. "Who are you?--I might silently ask another, and as soon as I make a noise within myself I fail to find the answer. Desires, needs, attachments well up within me and bind me to what I should not be."
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June 2, 2013A good starting point for anyone who wants to dive into the Eastern Mysticism and understand one of the main school of Vedic philosophy. There are 6 school of philosophy in Vedic and Advaita is one of the main proponents. In the most popular 80s science book Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, he connects the quantum physics concepts with Advaita vedanta.
August 29, 2012
Excellent scholarly (yet highly readable) exposition of Advaita Vedanta. I checked this out through the library but I'll be purchasing my own copy - it's that good.
October 4, 2012
Short, but serious... Serious, but still accessible. Thought-provoking and clear.
September 6, 2014
I spent a lot of time ...
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