General principles and differences between the
philosophy of the East and West
General principles of the
philosophy East and West
Philosophy of East and West are
turned to the universal
values( good and evil, justice
and injustice, happiness and
suffering, etc.)
Understanding the cosmological
problems and personal
existence
The methodological significance:
typical desire for scientific
search of true knowledge
Differences between the
philosophy of the East and
West
Eastern philosophy focused
on addressing the problem of
human from the point of view
of practice. Western
philosophy is multi
problematical. It offers the
general principles of being
and knowledge.
Eastern Philosophy is
developed in close
cooperation with religion.
Western philosophy is more
committed to the scientific
method, sometimes we can
see strong atheistic tendency
(Democritus, Epicurus,
Main Concepts
The origin of philosophical thought

Atman
Brahman
Veda
Upanishads
Buddha
Jainism
Ancient Indian Philosophy

Vedas
First scriptures Vedas (Sanskrit: Knowledge):
(Rigveda,Samaveda) have been set up by the tribes of
Aryans, who came from Central Asia in XVI centuries BC

Upanishads
Philosophical commentary of the Vedas Upanishads,
under which Brahma is the supreme objective reality.
Brahman is the unity of a holistic spiritual substance. Atman
is an individual soul. Karma is a rebirth of the soul in
accordance with the principle of retribution.
 Ancient Indian Philosophy

Vedic literature contains knowledge of the

field of agriculture, medicine, astronomy,
crafts, military equipment.
Vedic religion is
polytheistic/Monotheistic/Hedonist.
Brahmanism originated at the beginning
of the millennium, sanctifying social
inequality (suffering is insignificant
because the phenomenal world is an
illusion, the only reality is the spirit of the
world
Jainism (VI c. BC), also questioned the
Vedic values.
4
Buddhism

Buddhism began to spread in a V c. BC in India, China, South-

East Asia
Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) (560-483 years BC)
Main ideas
People need to try to overcome suffering and Varna-caste
system.
The Four Noble Truths
The theory of causality (no acts which would not have
consequences, as all the world for a reason)
Impermanence elements (nothing is permanent, nothing is a
guarantee of well-being).
The Middle Way (moderation in all things)
Eightfold Path
Philosophical Schools
Carvaka
Jain Philosophy
Sankhya
Oldest school of Hindu philosophy
First attempt to harmonize the Vedic philosophy
through reason
First systemic account of process of cosmic
evolution
Not purely metaphysical but logical account
based on principle of conservation,
transformation and dissipation of energy
Sankhya - meaning
Sankhya means number
Sankhya enumerates the principle of
cosmic evolution by rational analysis
It teaches the discriminative knowledge
which enables to distinguish between sprit
and matter
Purpose Gyan Yoga
Provide knowledge which remove the
cause of misery and release of soul
Misery is
Adhyatmika intrinsic cause disorder of body
and mind
Adhibhutika Extrinsic cause, men, beast,
birds, or inanimate objects
Adhidevika Supernatural cause ,
atmosphere or planets
Cause of Misery
Soul is free from suffering
Body is the seat of suffering
Soul suffer due to intimate association of
soul and body
Bondage is illusion due to lack of true
nature of soul Ignorance
Knowledge of true nature of soul removes
bondage and suffering
 Epistemology of Sankhya
Prataykshya
 Nature of Duality
Purush
 Theory of Existence
Satkaryavada
Gunas - Properties
Sttava
 Five Elements
Akaskh
 Concept of God
Athestic
Yoga
Nyaya
 THE MIMANSA PHILOSOPHY

The Mimansa is called the Purva-Mimansa while

Vedanta is called the Uttra-Mimansa.

The former is earlier than the latter, in the sense

that it deals with rituals, while the latter is
concerned with knowledge.
 Mimansa
Jaiminis sutra in twelve elaborate chapters,
laid the foundation of Purva Mimansa.
Sabarswami wrote the major commentary or
Bhashya on this work. The two most
important are Kumarila Bhatta and
Prabhakara, who founded the two schools of
Mimansa.
 Mimansa (contd..)
The mimansa believes in the reality of the
world with all its diverse objects. It rejects,
therefore the Buddhist theory of voidness
and momentariness as well as the Advaita
theory of the unreality of the phenomenal
world.
The souls are permanent eternal substances
and so also are the material elements by the
combination of which the world is made.
Mimansa metaphysics is pluralistic and
realistic.
 The Mimansas conception of soul

The soul is an eternal, infinite

substance, which is related to a real
body in a real world and it survives
death to be able to reap the
consequences of its action performed
here.
Consciousness is not the essence of the
soul, but an adventitious quality which
arises when some conditions are
present.
There are as many souls as there are
individuals.
 Mimansa:Liberation and its Means
Kumarila and Prabhakara consider the nature
of liberation, and the means of its attainment.
Kumarila regards liberation as negative in
character, and consequently, eternal.
Liberation is due to absolute extinction of
merits and demerits. When they are completely
destroyed, the body, which is the vehicle of
experience, is destroyed.
Kumarila regards action and knowledge
necessary for the attainment of release. An
aspirant for release should refrain from
forbidden acts which produce suffering and
prescribed acts which generate happiness.
 The Vedanta Philosophy

Vedanta literally means the

conclusion of the Vedas.

Primarily the word stood for the

Upanishads though afterwards
its denotation widened to include
all thoughts, developed out of the
Upanishads.
 The central theme is that enunciated in the
Upanishads - the doctrine of Brahman and the
embodiment of the unconditioned self.
The great aim of all vedanta teaching is to prove
the reality of Atman and Brahman and to establish
their complete identity.
It teaches the essential oneness of all things.
Badrayamas Brahma-sutra is the chief text of
Vedanta philosophy
 Schools of Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta (Shankaracharya)

Visistadvaita Vedanta (Ramanujacharya)

Dvait Vedanta
(Madhvacharya)

Dvaitadvita Vedanta (Nimbarkacharya)

Shudhadvaita
(Nimbarkacharya)

Achintaya
(Chaitanya Maha- Bhedabheda
prabhu)
The most common question on
which the schools of the
Vedanta are divided is;

What is the nature of the

relation between the self (JIVA)
and God (Brahman)?
Shankara-Vedanta (Advaita Vedanta)
Shankaracharya was the greatest
philosopher among the Indian thinkers.
He emphasizes the monoistic tendency in
the Upanishads and develop it into a
systematic Advaitavada.
He emphasizes the reality of unconditioned
and unqualified (Nirguna) Bhahman, and
regards God, the individual souls and the
world as appearances due to indefinable
principle called cosmic nescience (Maya)
which is neither real nor unreal, but
indefinable.
 The Atman
According to Shankaracharya the Atman is
the universal self.
It is Brahman, the absolute, the supreme
reality.
Jiva is the individual or empirical self. It is
the Atman limited by the body, the sense
organs , manas, buddhi and the likes, which
are its limiting adjuncts.
Atman is the transaendental, metaphysical
self.
Jiva is the empirical phenomenonal self.
 The Atman is of the nature of pure consciousness.
It is eternally pure, conscious, and liberated.
It is the eternal, unchangeable, absolute, formless,
one supreme reality.
It is different from the empirical self. But the
empirical self is not different from it.
The Atman is its reality.
 The Empirical self (Jiva)
The empirical self is the knower, enjoyer and active
agent.
It acquires merits and demerits and experiences there
fruits.
It is subject to transmigration, lives an embodied life in
the empirical world, and is capable of bondage and
liberation.
Though it is non-different from the Atman, the supreme
self and immortal in its essential nature, mortality is
attributed to it owing to its actions due to nescience.
 The Concept of Brahman

Brahman is the only ontological reality in Shankara-

Vedanta.
Brahman is existence, knowledge and bliss.
Brahman is limitless and infinite.
Brahman is the eternally accomplished being. It
does not change, increase and decrease, grow and
develop.
 Ishvara (God)
God is the determinate Brahman-in Shankara-
vedanta.
He is not the unconditioned, indeterminate,
attributeless Brahman.
He is Brahman conditioned by cosmic nescience
(maya).
Though Brahman is attribute- less it is said to be
endowed with empirical attributes for the sake of
prayer.
 Maya: (Avidya)
Shankaracharya uses Maya and avidya, the two
words synonymously.
Brahman conditioned by Maya is Ishvara (God).
Maya is his power or energy, the source of the names
and forms, which are modified into the phenomena
of the world, and which are neither real nor unreal,
but indefinable.
 Maya is cosmic nescience.
It is an indefinable principle.
It is ontologically unreal, since
Brahman is the only ontological
reality.
But it is not absolutely unreal
like a hairs horn, it is real
enough to project the multiple
world of appearances.
 Ramanuja-Vedanta (Visistadvaitavad)
Ramanujacharya was the chief propounder of the
doctrine of qualified monoism (Visistadvaitavada).
He criticized Shankaracharyas monoism and
established the ontological reality of God, the
individual souls and the world and regarded the
souls and the world as attributes or modes of God.
 The concept of Brahman: God
Brahman is the Supreme person
endowed with innumerable supreme
and auspicious qualities and devoid
of all impure qualities.
He is the infinite reality by nature
and qualities; there is no other
supreme reality.
He is possessed of truth or reality,
knowledge and bliss.
 The Self (Jiva) and consciousness
The Jiva is the individual self.
It is different from the body, life, the sense-organs, mind
and intellect, it is different from the psychophysical
organism.
It is the knower, enjoyer and active agent.
It is self luminous and manifests itself without the aid of
knowledge.
It is the abode of knowledge and has attributive
consciousness.