Advaita Vedanta

Query: If we all are essentially one with god and if we see ourselves as 'many' due to the effect that maya has, why did God who created maya, fooling or rather mis-leading his own self to appear as many? Does this imply philosophy of advaita is essentially flawed?

Vijay Kumar:
Everything in the cosmic system is not easy to understand. If it were so... the need for a soul atman to undergo a cycle of 8.4 million manifestations would not exist! Everything in the cosmic system has a valid cause! Nothing... however trivial can occur without a cause! If we suffer... we must have enacted bad karma in the past! All is the result of a system that cannot err... everything moves with clockwork precision!

Human beings are limited by the power of their senses. As is our mental prowess... so do we invoke and understand! Enlightened souls... who reached the stage of enlightenment... Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed... all understood the gist of wisdom and enlightenment like ABCD. It happened only after they gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)... Never before!

To understand the system created by God Almighty we have to understand two analogies that exist in the cosmic system. The existence of our soul atman cannot be belied. Similarly... the existence of the body... the human being can also not be denied! If we exist... there is sum substance behind our existence. And what is that?

To understand the first analogy we need to understand... it is our soul atman within our body that is the master and controller of the body and not otherwise. It is not within the capability of the body to manifest a soul atman! The purified soul atman in its prime pristine pure form is of the same essence as Almighty God. If a grain of sand is an individual soul atman... the whole mound God Almighty!

To confuse the body with our soul atman and think that our body is of the same essence as God Almighty is a misnomer! Every soul atman ever since the big bang occurred is on its cosmic journey of 8.4 million manifestations before it liberates itself from the cycle of birth and death forever. To remove the impurities within, every soul atman manifests a series of bodies to work out its karma... eradicate the dross within!

No soul atman can purify itself on its own. Similar as the metal within an ore cannot purify itself without the help of required mining machinery! To enable the body to work on behalf of the soul atman... the doctrine of Maya was created by God Almighty! Mounted with the power of ego... human beings think all belongs to them not realizing that fruits of all karma performed by them belong to our soul atman and not the body!

Now discussing the second analogy... the existence of the Cosmos itself is negated! How? If we seriously think we would conclude that the present Cosmos does not seem to have a boundary. If we presume that the present Cosmos does have a boundary... then what beyond! If the Cosmos itself does not exist then what of the physical manifested world we human beings perceive!

This is where the role of Maya (the veil of ignorance) comes into play. Everything in the cosmic system is built up of the basic building block of the Cosmos... clusters of atoms and molecules! Seen from the senses point a few... the whole Cosmos appears solid in nature. Truthfully everything in the cosmic system is gaseous in nature... clusters of atoms and molecules only!

Does it mean... perceived from the senses of human beings... the world appears solid and when perceived from the angle of God Almighty or enlightened beings... the whole Cosmos is nothing but the creation of Maya (veil of ignorance) created by God Almighty so that all bodily forms continue performing their karma as per the dictates of the soul atman within! The moment human beings gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)... they cut across the veil of Maya forever!

All enlightened souls having liberated themselves forever from the cycle of birth and death gain entry into the abode of God... the kingdom of God (aka Baikuntha in Hinduism). These enlightened souls... in absence of the veil of Maya... the veil of ignorance perceive the truthfulness of the cosmic system and finally regain their lost original pure pristine form. Freed from the clutches of Maya... they reach the kingdom of God... a point of no return!

The Advaita Vedanta philosophy put forward by Adi Shankaracharya does not have a flaw in it. The Advaita Vedanta philosophy as enumerated in the Sacred Bhagavad Gita is absolutely flawless. It is only in Hinduism one finds such an analogy. The whole truth of the Cosmos percolates from Hinduism... one and only religion... the Sanatana Dharma which holds well even in the absence of a religion.

Hinduism religion has no parallel in mankind. As per the Advaita Vedanta philosophy the only truth of the entire Cosmos is God Almighty. Nothing beyond God Almighty exists in the whole of Cosmos. Why? It is for the simple reason that beyond the cluster of all purified souls atmans in the Cosmos... nothing else exists! The moment all souls' atmans reach the 8.4 millionth manifestation... all is over for the present Cosmos!

Having regained their original pure pristine form... all purified souls' atmans collect together to form the volume of half a thumb! And what is this half a thumb? As per Bhagavad Gita this half a thumb... the cluster of all purified souls atmans in the Cosmos is what we know as God Almighty... the Creator of the whole Cosmos!

And when do all the souls' atmans reach the 8.4 millionth manifestation... the last leg in the cosmic life cycle? When the dissolution of the Cosmos occurs... in whatever stage of manifestation a soul atman is... all reach the 8.4 millionth manifestation... the last leg of the cosmic life cycle! Having regained their original pure pristine form... the entire Cosmos reduces to the size of half a thumb. Devoid of all impurities... this becomes a reality!

The moment the entire Cosmos reduces to the size of half a thumb... the mass of all purified souls atmans in the Cosmos... unable to retain itself for long in its prime pure state... this combined mass of all purified souls atmans we know as God Almighty again explodes with a big bang resulting in a new cosmos... a new journey of life! This confirms the statement that God Almighty is the Creator of the whole Cosmos.

More Advaita Vedanta related links...

Advaita Vedanta philosophy - Advaita Philosophy - Advaita Vedanta

May God bless all!

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Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani" Vijay Kumar... The Man who Realized God in 1993 on Advaita Vedanta. For more details on advaita and veil of maya visit - advaita vedanta. Send your query - click here

Full text of query: If we all are essentially one with god and if we see ourselves as 'many' due to the effect that maya has, (as sri ramkrishna said- like a stick lying across a lake of water gives the appearance of two bodies of water, when essentially there is just one) the why did God, who created maya, throw this network upon himself and end up confusing, fooling or rather mis-leading his own self to appear as many? Get it?

It doesn't seem to have logic….does this then possibly imply that our philosophy of advaita is essentially flawed?