Human Consciouness, Psychology,Philosophy

1. Advaita
Vedanta
Way to self-realization
PAVITHRA NARASIMHAN

2. ADVAITA VEDANTA – Adi Sankara
Key Postulates:
The classical Advaita philosophy of Śaṅkara recognizes a unity in multiplicity.
Identity between individual and pure consciousness, and the experienced world as
having no existence apart from Brahman.
The major metaphysical concepts in Advaita Vedānta tradition, are
māyā, mithya (error in judgment),vivarta (illusion/whirlpool.

3. World View of Advaita
The Real (Brahman) is one and is of the nature of consciousness and bliss
Due to its maya (illusory nature) the Real appears as the world of plurality.
 There is absolutely no difference between Brahman and the individual soul (jiva)
The Ultimate is experienced in the soul, or Centre of its consciousness, as its very being or Self
(Atman).
This experience of God is summed up in the word saccidananda God or Ultimate Reality is
experienced as absolute being (sat), known in pure consciousness (cit), communicating absolute
bliss (ananda).
This was the experience of self-transcendence, which gives an intuitive insight in Reality

4. Consciousness and Vedanta
The nature of consciousness is central to Upanishadic thought.
The Mandukya Upanishad lays out the four states of consciousness – jagrat, svapna,
susupti and turiya – in terms of our waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep state, and pure
consciousness. The Aitereya Upanishad outlines how Brahmn itself may be defined as
Consciousness.
The Mandukya defines Pure Consciousness as Turiya, the immeasurable, something
akin to samadhi in yogic terms.
The Aitereya Upanishad defines it in its concluding line, the Mahavakya, as Prajanam
Brahmn, Pure Consciousness.

5. Koshas
In Taittiriya Upanishad, the existence of the human being is connected to the pancha koshas. The five koshas are:
Annamaya kosha – physical sheath- ‘Anna’ refers to food that nourishes the physical body. What is this body? It is
skin, flesh blood, bone, muscles, tissues, and organs. Annamaya Kosha connect ourselves to the outer world.
Pranamaya kosha – physiological or energy sheath - Prana is the energy behind the breath. It’s the life force within
us and everything around us. This force holds together our body and our mind.
Manomaya kosha – psychological or the mind sheath - Mano refers to the mind, but it includes not only the mind,
but also thoughts, emotions, the senses, and the subconscious.
Vijnanamaya kosha – wisdom sheath - When the mind is further transcended, it reaches the wisdom sheath. Jnana
refers to knowledge, awareness and inner perception
Anandamaya kosha – bliss sheath - Ananda refers to bliss. Whether in good times or bad, in good health or facing
death, we remain steady.

6. Consciousness in Advaita
In Advaita philosophy, there is one reality, it may be accessed at two different levels:
either as
(1) the transcendental reality (para satta), which is formless (nirakara) and quality-less
(nirguna)
 (2) the phenomenal world (jagat) or practical reality (vyavaharika satta) comprehensible
at the transactional level by means of the ordinary or sensory experience and reason.
The Mundaka Upanisad distinguishes between two types of knowledge: the higher form
of knowledge (para vidya) concerning the transcendental or ultimate reality, and the
lower form (apara vidya) pertaining to the phenomenal world.

7. Advaita and Psychology
 sthula sarira refers to the thinking and decision making are not observable from the outside
as is the gross body
 suksma sarira is what lies inside the body and not accessible to the naked eye is conceived
of as the subtle.
 The subtle body involves the five sense organs, five motor organs, five types of energy
(pancaprana) that are said to activate the body, plus the mind and the intellect.
 Advaita postulates a state of consciousness devoid of thought processes. Consciousness
devoid of thought is sometimes called "pure" consciousness

8. Advaita and Psychology
Sensation - In Advaita, the process of sensation is understood in terms of the mind (antahkarana) flowing out to
the object, pervade it, and take the shape of the object which is very similar to the concept of isomorphism,
which implies that, for an object to be perceived, some processes in the brain must take a shape simlar to that of
the object.
Perception - Perception {pratyaksa) is viewed as the main one of the six sources of validation of knowledge claims.
From an Advaita point of view, intelligence and human reason, which constitute the entire cognitive apparatus of
finite beings, have inherent limitations (upadhi)
Manas - Manas is an aspect of the totality of the mind referred to as antahkarana (inner instrument). Manas is
something like the central processor. The other aspects of the mind are ahamkara (ego-function) and buddhi
(psychic function).
Ego /Ahamkara - means the sense of self or individuality, which manifests in experience as the "I" and the "me“.
The ego involves an identification of the self with the body and its ways of relating to the world through the
senses and the intellect. More specifically, it involves identification of one's self as a doer (karta) or agent of one's
actions, and as enjoyer (bhokta) of the fruits of one's action

9. Antahakarana – Totality of the mind
Manas
Mental process
Ahamkara –
Ego
Psyche - buddhi

10. Advaita and Psychology
Cognition - ,In Advaita thinking progresses happens with the aid of the twin processes of integration (sathkalpa) and
differentiation (vikalpa), which is similar to paiget’s theory of assimilation and accommodation. according to the Vedanta
perspective, there is an element of imagination (kalpana) added by the mind to what is given in experience, which is called
“Cognitive costructivism” in modern psychology.
Emotions – It involves a view of the human condition shared widely in the Indian culture for millennia. It basically views
life as on the whole dominated by suffering, although it believes in overcoming suffering through self-realization. s in the
Advaita literature a distinctive perspective on emotional aspect of person as an enjoyer and sufferer (bhokta) in life. This
perspective is clearly holistic; the emphasis is on the emotional experience in life as a whole rather than particular
emotions
Personality - characteristics of persons are usually designated by two terms, svabhava and prakrti, and these roughly
correspond to what is called personality in modern psychology. There is a popular expression in Sanskrit called svabhavo
duratikramah, which means that one's natural constitution is not easy to overcome or change.
There are three strands that weave the web of prakrti, roughly meaning nature. The three strands, called the gunas, are:
(1) tamas, which approximately means mass or inertia, (2) rajas implying energy, and (3) sattva, which is an
untranslatable technical term implying enlightenment and information.

11. Way to Inner Journey (self-realization)
Making a wise discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent (nitya-anitya viveka)
with regard to the self.
Detachment with regard to gains in this or the other-worldly life (ihamutra-phala-viraga)
The acquisition of the following six virtues:
 controlling the mind so as to rest it firmly on a single objective (sama)
 withdrawing senses from the objects of pleasure (dama)
preventing the mind from being controlled by external objects (uparati)
 forbearance, or enduring hardships without lamenting or becoming anxious (titiksa)
faith (§raddha) in the validity of the teachings of the scriptures and the advice of a capable teacher
(guru)

12. Conclusion
Advaita Vedantic method for self-realization is called the "knowledge path" (jiana marga)
as distinguished from other major pathways:
the paths of concentrating the mind (dhyana), devotion (bhakti), action without
attachment to rewards (niskama karma), and so on.
The emphasis on knowledge implies the focus on knowledge as both an end and as a
means.
As an end, knowledge in this context is the knowledge through direct experience of the
self, which involves knowing by being.
it implies that when one directly experiences existence, consciousness and bliss of the
"fourth" state, which is the true nature of the "I" as it is, was, and would always remain
the same.

13. References
Mr Chandrasekaran Veeraiah , The pursuit of happiness: An Advaita Vedanta
perspective ,SEGi University, Kota Damansara, Malaysia
Rao, K. Ramakrishna; Paranjpe, Anand C.; Dalal, Ajit K. (2008). Handbook of Indian
Psychology || Psychology in the Advaita Vedānta.