Talk:Advaita Vedanta

This page needs so much more. --LordSuryaofShropshire 16:20, Mar 26, 2004 (UTC)

You are welcome to add it. -- Arvindn 17:04, 26 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Can't do everything! I'm working on the Hinduism page a lot. Also, like with your addition to Adi Shankara's songs, I didn't know those, so we need a variety of people. As Locke said, the more factions that exist, the more likely they will average out to the right movement. Onward. --LordSuryaofShropshire 18:01, Mar 26, 2004 (UTC)

I tried to add to the subject of Advaita with "Supreme Science" http://unifiedfieldtheory.blogspot.com/ The response was not unexpected. I cannot understand how anyone can understand what Advaita "not-two" is about without knowing where it came from: MEDITATION and the study of thoughts in meditation-- ie the Supreme Science. From meditation we get to Samadhi, the Reality of dreamless-sleep. ONLY from this REALITY, Atman, Brahman, can someone hope to connect language with the Reality that is beyond name and form, language. Advaita tries to do the impossible and explain the Reality that is beyond language with language. This Study of thoughts, probably the oldest (and only?) science has been called by some the Supreme Science. Because it is the oldest science it seems to be too "esoteric" to be included in Wikipedia, even though Physics calls it its Unified Field Theory that has been around for over 5000 years. --geepee 17:33, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)Geza Pal

Question: Do we need two complete sections linking Advaita philosophy with current physics concepts? I personally feel that both these sections need references to appropriate sources, and the paragraph dealing with Unified Field Theory needs NPOV work. For instance the sentence "Advaita has been handed down to us thanks to the Supreme Science" seems like a strong assertion to me. I would like to rephrase this to something like "Some people believe that Advaita has been handed..." with a reference explaining who these people are, or even better, something like "(Insert names of such schools of thought here) believe that Advaita..." again followed by a reference. Also, the link [1] (http://unifiedfieldtheory.blogspot.com/) doesn't seem to exist, nor does [2] (http://realizeadvaita.blogspot.com/). I would prefer avoiding links to blogspot.com and other similar sites - they don't add any credence to this article, and they have this feel of "A believes X and has written about it on his blog. News at 11." to them. I would prefer links to the official websites of such schools of thought (if such websites exist), or links to neutral descriptions of the beliefs (some University Department of Philosophy for instance). If we can't quote such references, we should probably delete the relevant section. I would like your comments. Thanks. --Brhaspati 10:05, 2005 Jan 2 (UTC)

We have a section here "Advaita and Science" but there is nothing in Wikipedia about "Advaita." only Advaita Vedanta. I do not know the languages of Advaita but maybe Wikipedia should clarify these words for its readers. --geepee 17:55, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Proposed list of guidelines to improve this article

I feel that this article currently has the following problems:

• Uses ad hoc mix of spellings (Sankara, Shankara, Shankaracharya etc).
• Refers to terms without complete explanation of what they mean, such as "Adi (meaning First)". Yes, but in what language?
• Mixes historical fact with religious beliefs.
• Over-reliance on Adi Shankara.

I propose the following guidelines for this article.

• Use consistent names and spellings. Remember that the person reading this article may not be familiar with Sanskrit transliterated to English. We may add a section noting that "Shankara" may also be referred to as "Shankaracharya" and explaining what "Acharya" means in Sanskrit. The rest of the article should be consistent, ideally using the same spelling as those in other articles referred to from here.
• If you use a non-English word, please add a parenthetical note saying what it means and what language it is from. We may possibly over-explain some terms, but it's easier to delete unnecessary text later than to write new text. Please do not assume that "If someone is reading about Advaita, he/she probably knows Sanskrit roots" - they may have come here through a Google search for "Advaita" or some such term.
• We need to consciously maintain NPOV on this article. When describing someone's life for instance, please don't change modes from "A said X" to "The great master A said X". There may be readers who are critical of A, and changes like these are quite jarring to them. Also, when describing the philosophy itself, qualify the statements as much as possible with "A said", "B believed" etc. Otherwise it sounds like a blunt assertion about the nature of the universe :)
• The article in its current state describes Adi Shankara's contributions in detail, but subsequent thinkers are not described in enough detail. Specifically, we need things like "Adi Shankara believed X. The next major contribution to Advaita came from B, who modified X to X', on the grounds that (explanation). Subsequently, C added the concept of P to Advaita, so that (metaphysical paradox) could be resolved" and so on. This readily encapsulates Advaita's history and its various influences.

Please add your own guidelines to the list above. I would like your comments on how to improve this article. Thanks --Brhaspati 11:23, 2005 Jan 2 (UTC)

The Supreme Science

I removed the following section as it is simply the assertion of religious dogma and is thus inappropriate to a public, shared, communal encyclopedia. I will try to incorporate the relevant data in an appropriate way. I am (of course) open to argument or debate. --Goethean 17:07, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Advaita has been handed down to us thanks to the Supreme Science. This Supreme Science was practiced by some sages around the Indus River, in India, maybe even 5000 years ago. The Supreme Science is nothing more than the study of thoughts in meditation. From meditation the subject of thoughts goes to a subject that is beyond thoughts, words, language: dreamless-sleep or samadhi. Samadhi is the Reality without which there can be no thoughts. This dreamless-sleep or samadhi is the beginning and end of Advaita that can be also translated as: “not-two.” This Advaita is more or less physics’ Unified Field Theory that has thus been around for over 5000 years.