Non-Duality


न निरोधो न चोत्पत्तिर्न बद्धो न च साधकः ।
न मुमुक्षुर्न वै मुक्त इत्येषा परमर्थता ॥

Na Nirodho Na Cotpattirna Baddho Na Ca Sādhakaḥ,
Na Mumukṣurna Vai Mukta Ityeṣā Paramārthatā.

There is no dissolution, no creation, none who is bound, none who strives for liberation, none who seeks liberation, and none who is liberated — this is The Absolute Truth.*


अद्वैत
Non-Dual
A term used to indicate a position of non-duality adopted by various Indian schools of thought. Advaita Vedānta adopts a position of absolute non-duality while all other uses of the term accept internal distinctions within their various types of monism. Thus, in its latter usages, it signifies the interconnectedness of everything which is dependent upon the non-dual One, Transcendent Reality.**


अयमात्मा ब्रह्म
This Self is The Absolute
A Great Saying (Mahāvākya) which occurs in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad of the Atharva Veda.


प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म
Consciousness is The Absolute
A Great Saying (Mahāvākya) which occurs in the Aitareya Upaniṣad of the Ṛg Veda.


तत्त्वमसि
That Thou Art
A Great Saying (Mahāvākya) which occurs in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad of the Sāma Veda.


अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि
I Am The Absolute
A Great Saying (Mahāvākya) which occurs in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad of the Yajur Veda.


Methods and Practices

Ātma-Vicāra – inquiry into the nature of the Self
Avasthā-Traya-Vicāra – inquiry into the three states of experience
Jñāna Yoga – the Yoga of knowledge
Mantra Yoga – meditation on sacred words / hymns
Mukhya-Antaraṇga-Sādhana – the principal proximate aid to liberation
Pañca-Bhūta-Viveka – inquiry into the five elements
Pañca-Kośa-Viveka – inquiry into the five sheaths
Sādhana-Catuṣṭaya – the fourfold aid to the study of Vedānta


*Gauḍapāda, Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad Kārika, Chapter 2, Verse 32
  Śrī Śaṅkarācārya, Vivekacuddāmani, Verse 575
  Śrī Viddhāranya Svāmi, Pañcadaśī, Chapter 8, Verse 71
**Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press