Enlightenment (spiritual)Enlightenment is the "full comprehension of a situation".[web 1] The term is commonly used to denote the Age ofEnlightenment,[note 1] but is also used in Western cultures in a religious context. It translates several Buddhist terms and concepts,most notably bodhi,[note 2] kensho and satori. Related terms from Asian religions are moksha (liberation) in Hinduism, KevalaJnana in Jainism, and ushta in Zoroastrianism.

In Christianity, the word "enlightenment" is rarely used, except to refer to the Age of Enlightenment and its influence onChristianity. Roughly equivalent terms in Christianity may be illumination, kenosis, metanoia, revelation, salvation andconversion.

Perennialists and Universalists view enlightenment and mysticism as equivalent terms for religious or spiritual insight.

Asian cultures and religionsBuddhismHinduism

Advaita VedantaPhilosophical systemNeo-VedantaNeo-Advaita

YogaJnana yogaBhakti yogaKarma yoga

Jainism

Western understandingAs 'Aufklärung'Awakening: Historical period of renewed interest in religionIlluminationRomanticism and transcendentalismExperience

Western cultureChristianityWestern esotericism and mysticismNondualism

Cognitive aspectsReligious experience as cognitive constructVarious religious experiencesCognitive scienceEntheogens

See also

Notes

References

Sources

Mahavira attaining enlightenment.

Contents

Published sourcesWeb-sources

External links

The English term enlightenment is the western translation of the abstract noun bodhi, the knowledge or wisdom, or awakenedintellect, of a Buddha.[2] The verbal root budh- means "to awaken," and its literal meaning is closer to "awakening." Although itsmost common usage is in the context of Buddhism, the term buddhi is also used in other Indian philosophies and traditions. Theterm "enlightenment" was popularised in the Western world through the 19th century translations of Max Müller. It has thewestern connotation of a sudden insight into a transcendental truth or reality.

The term is also being used to translate several other Buddhist terms and concepts, which are used to denote insight (prajna,kensho and satori);[3] knowledge (vidhya); the "blowing out" (Nirvana) of disturbing emotions and desires and the subsequentfreedom or release (vimutti); and the attainment of Buddhahood, as exemplified by Gautama Buddha.

What exactly constituted the Buddha's awakening is unknown. It may probably have involved the knowledge that liberation wasattained by the combination of mindfulness and dhyāna, applied to the understanding of the arising and ceasing of craving. Therelation between dhyana and insight is a core problem in the study of Buddhism, and is one of the fundamentals of Buddhistpractice.

In the western world the concept of spiritual enlightenment has become synonymous with self-realization and the true self andfalse self, being regarded as a substantial essence being covered over by social conditioning.[4], [5], [6], [7]

In Indian religions moksha (Sanskrit: मो� mokṣa; liberation) or mukti (Sanskrit: मुि�; release —both from the root muc "to letloose, let go") is the final extrication of the soul or consciousness (purusha) from samsara and the bringing to an end of all thesuffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and rebirth (reincarnation).

Advaita Vedanta (IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit: अ�ैत वेदा�त [ɐdʋaitɐ ʋeːdaːntɐ]) is a philosophical concept where

followers seek liberation/release by recognizing identity of the Self (Atman) and the Whole (Brahman) through long preparationand training, usually under the guidance of a guru, that involves efforts such as knowledge of scriptures, renunciation of worldlyactivities, and inducement of direct identity experiences. Originating in India before 788 AD, Advaita Vedanta is widelyconsidered the most influential[8] and most dominant[web 2][9] sub-school of the Vedānta (literally, end or the goal of the Vedas,Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy.[10] Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Viśishṭādvaita and Dvaita; while the minorones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda.

Advaita (literally, non-duality) is a system of thought where "Advaita" refers to the identity of the Self (Atman) and the Whole(Brahman).[note 3] Recognition of this identity leads to liberation. Attaining this liberation supposedly takes a long preparationand training under the guidance of a guru, however Ramana Maharshi called his death experience akrama mukti, "suddenliberation", as opposed to the krama mukti, "gradual liberation" as in the Vedanta path of Jnana yoga.

Asian cultures and religions

Buddhism

Hinduism

Advaita Vedanta

The key source texts for all schools of Vedānta are the Prasthanatrayi—the canonical texts consisting of the Upanishads, theBhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras. The first person to explicitly consolidate the principles of Advaita Vedanta was ShankaraBhagavadpada,[11] while the first historical proponent was Gaudapada, the guru of Shankara's guru Govinda Bhagavatpada.

Shankara systematized the works of preceding philosophers.[12] His system of Vedanta introduced the method of scholarlyexegesis on the accepted metaphysics of the Upanishads. This style was adopted by all the later Vedanta schools.

Shankara's synthesis of Advaita Vedanta is summarized in this quote from the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, one of his Prakaraṇa graṃthas(philosophical treatises):[note 4]

In half a couplet I state, what has been stated by crores of texts;

that is Brahman alone is real, the world is mithyā (not independently existent),

and the individual self is nondifferent from Brahman.[13][note 5]

In the 19th century, Vivekananda played a major role in the revival of Hinduism,[14] and the spread of Advaita Vedanta to theWest via the Ramakrishna Mission. His interpretation of Advaita Vedanta has been called "Neo-Vedanta".[15]

In a talk on "The absolute and manifestation" given in at London in 1896 Swami Vivekananda said,

I may make bold to say that the only religion which agrees with, and even goes a little further than modernresearchers, both on physical and moral lines is the Advaita, and that is why it appeals to modern scientists somuch. They find that the old dualistic theories are not enough for them, do not satisfy their necessities. A manmust have not only faith, but intellectual faith too".[web 3]

Vivekananda emphasized samadhi as a means to attain liberation.[16] Yet this emphasis is not to be found in the Upanishads norin Shankara.[17] For Shankara, meditation and Nirvikalpa Samadhi are means to gain knowledge of the already existing unity ofBrahman and Atman,[16] not the highest goal itself:

[Y]oga is a meditative exercise of withdrawal from the particular and identification with the universal, leading tocontemplation of oneself as the most universal, namely, Consciousness. This approach is different from theclassical yoga of complete thought suppression.[16]

Vivekenanda's modernisation has been criticized:[15][18]

Without calling into question the right of any philosopher to interpret Advaita according to his own understandingof it, [...] the process of Westernization has obscured the core of this school of thought. The basic correlation ofrenunciation and Bliss has been lost sight of in the attempts to underscore the cognitive structure and the realisticstructure which according to Samkaracarya should both belong to, and indeed constitute the realm of māyā.[15]

Philosophical system

Neo-Vedanta

Neo-Advaita

Neo-Advaita is a new religious movement based on a modern, Western interpretation of Advaita Vedanta, especially the teachingsof Ramana Maharshi.[19] Neo-Advaita is being criticized[20][note 6][22][note 7][note 8] for discarding the traditional prerequisites ofknowledge of the scriptures[23] and "renunciation as necessary preparation for the path of jnana-yoga".[23][24] Notable neo-advaita teachers are H. W. L. Poonja,[25][19] his students Gangaji[26] Andrew Cohen,[note 9], Madhukar[28] and Eckhart Tolle.[19]

The prime means to reach moksha is through the practice of yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योग, / j̍əʊɡə/, yoga) which is a commonlyknown generic term for physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines which originated in ancient India.[29][30] Specifically, yoga isone of the six āstika ("orthodox") schools of Hindu philosophy. It is based on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. Various traditions ofyoga are found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.[31][32][note 10]

Pre–philosophical speculations and diverse ascetic practices of first millennium BCE were systematized into a formal philosophyin early centuries CE by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.[34] By the turn of the first millennium, Hatha yoga emerged as a prominenttradition of yoga distinct from the Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. While the Yoga Sutras focus on discipline of the mind, Hatha yogaconcentrates on health and purity of the body.[35]

Hindu monks, beginning with Swami Vivekananda, brought yoga to the West in the late 19th century. In the 1980s, yoga becamepopular as a physical system of health exercises across the Western world. Many studies have tried to determine the effectivenessof yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma and heart patients. In a national survey, long-termyoga practitioners in the United States reported musculo–skeletal and mental health improvements.[36]

Classical Advaita Vedanta emphasises the path of jnana yoga, a progression of study and training to attain moksha. It consists offour stages:[37][web 9]

Samanyasa or Sampattis,[38] the "fourfold discipline" (sādhana-catustaya), cultivating the following fourqualities:[37][web 10]

Nityānitya vastu viveka (िन�यािन�य व�तु िववेकम)् – The ability to correctly discriminate (viveka) between theeternal (nitya) substance (Brahman) and the substance that is transitory existence (anitya).Ihāmutrārtha phala bhoga virāga (इहाऽमु�ाथ� फल भोगिवरागम)् – The renunciation (virāga) of enjoyments ofobjects (artha phala bhoga) in this world (iha) and the other worlds (amutra) like heaven etc.Śamādi ṣatka sampatti (शमािद ष�क स�पि�) – the sixfold qualities,

Śama (control of the antahkaraṇa).[web 11]

Dama (the control of external sense organs).Uparati (the cessation of these external organs so restrained, from the pursuit of objects other than that,or it may mean the abandonment of the prescribed works according to scriptural injunctions).[note 11]

Titikṣa (the tolerating of tāpatraya).Śraddha (the faith in Guru and Vedas).Samādhāna (the concentrating of the mind on God and Guru).

Mumukṣutva (मुमु�ु�वम्) – The firm conviction that the nature of the world is misery and the intense longing for

moksha (release from the cycle of births and deaths).

Sravana, listening to the teachings of the sages on the Upanishads and Advaita Vedanta, and studying theVedantic texts, such as the Brahma Sutras. In this stage the student learns about the reality of Brahman and theidentity of atman;Manana, the stage of reflection on the teachings;Dhyana, the stage of meditation on the truth "that art Thou".

Yoga

Jnana yoga

Bhakti yoga

The paths of bhakti yoga and karma yoga are subsidiary.

In bhakti yoga, practice centers on the worship God in any way and in any form, like Krishna or Ayyappa. Adi Shankara himselfwas a proponent of devotional worship or Bhakti. But Adi Shankara taught that while Vedic sacrifices, puja and devotionalworship can lead one in the direction of jnana (true knowledge), they cannot lead one directly to moksha. At best, they can serveas means to obtain moksha via shukla gati.

Karma yoga is the way of doing our duties, in disregard of personal gains or losses. According to Sri Swami Sivananda,

Karma Yoga is consecration of all actions and their fruits unto the Lord. Karma Yoga is performance of actionsdwelling in union with the Divine, removing attachment and remaining balanced ever in success and failure.

Karma Yoga is selfless service unto humanity. Karma Yoga is the Yoga of action which purifies the heart andprepares the Antahkarana (the heart and the mind) for the reception of Divine Light or attainment of Knowledgeof the Self. The important point is that you will have to serve humanity without any attachment or egoism.[web 12]

Jainism (/ˈdʒeɪnɪzəm/; Sanskrit: जनैधम� Jainadharma, Tamil: சமண� Samaṇam, Bengali: �জনধম� Jainadharma, Telugu: �ౖనమతంJainamataṁ, Malayalam: ൈജനമതം Jainmat, Kannada: �ೖನ ಧಮ� Jaina dharma), is an Indian religion that prescribes a path ofnon-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towarddivine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state of supreme beingis called a jina ("conqueror" or "victor"). The ultimate status of these perfect souls is called siddha. Ancient texts also refer toJainism as shramana dharma (self-reliant) or the "path of the nirganthas" (those without attachments or aversions).

In Jainism highest form of pure knowledge a soul can attain is called Kevala Jnana ( Sanskrit : केवल�ान )or Kevala Ṇāṇa(Prakrit : केवल णाण). which means "absolute or perfect" and Jñāna, which means "knowledge". Kevala is the state of isolation ofthe jīva from the ajīva attained through ascetic practices which burn off one's karmic residues, releasing one from bondage to thecycle of death and rebirth. Kevala Jñāna thus means infinite knowledge of self and non-self, attained by a soul after annihilationof the all ghātiyā karmas. The soul which has reached this stage achieves moksa or liberation at the end of its life span.

Mahavira, 24th thirthankara of Jainism, is said to have practised rigorous austerities for 12 years before he attainedenlightenment,

During the thirteenth year, in the second month of summer, in the fourth fortnight, the light (fortnight) ofVaisakha, on its tenth day, when the shadow had turned towards the east and the first wake was over, on the daycalled Suvrata, in the Muhurta called Vigaya, outside of the town Grimbhikagrama on the bank of the riverRjupalika, not far from an old temple, in the field of the householder Samaga, under a Sal tree, when the moonwas in conjunction with the asterism Uttara Phalguni, (the Venerable One) in a squatting position with joinedheels, exposing himself to the heat of the sun, after fasting two and a half days without drinking water, beingengaged in deep meditation, reached the highest knowledge and intuition, called Kevala, which is infinite,supreme, unobstructed, unimpeded, complete, and full.

Kevala Jñāna is one of the five major events in the life of a Tirthankara and is known as Jñāna Kalyanaka and supposedlycelebrated by all gods. Mahavira's Kaivalya was said to have been celebrated by the demi-gods, who constructed the Samosaranaor a grand preaching assembly for him.

Karma yoga

Jainism

In the Western world the concept of enlightenment in a religious context acquired a romantic meaning. It has becomesynonymous with self-realization and the true self, which is being regarded as a substantial essence which is covered over bysocial conditioning.[note 12]

The use of the Western word enlightenment is based on the supposed resemblance of bodhi with Aufklärung, the independent useof reason to gain insight into the true nature of our world. As a matter of fact there are more resemblances with Romanticism thanwith the Enlightenment: the emphasis on feeling, on intuitive insight, on a true essence beyond the world of appearances.[39]

The equivalent term "awakening" has also been used in a Christian context,[40] namely the Great Awakenings, several periods ofreligious revival in American religious history. Historians and theologians identify three or four waves of increased religiousenthusiasm occurring between the early 18th century and the late 19th century. Each of these "Great Awakenings" wascharacterized by widespread revivals led by evangelical Protestant ministers, a sharp increase of interest in religion, a profoundsense of conviction and redemption on the part of those affected, an increase in evangelical church membership, and theformation of new religious movements and denominations.

Another equivalent term is Illuminationism, which was also used by Paul Demieville in his work The Mirror of the Mind, inwhich he made a distinction between "illumination subie" and "illumination graduelle".[41][web 13] Illuminationism is a doctrineaccording to which the process of human thought needs to be aided by divine grace. It is the oldest and most influentialalternative to naturalism in the theory of mind and epistemology.[42] It was an important feature of ancient Greek philosophy,Neoplatonism, medieval philosophy, and in particular, the Illuminationist school of Islamic philosophy.

Augustine was an important proponent of Illuminationism, stating that everything we know is taught to us by God as He casts Hislight over the world,[web 14] saying that "The mind needs to be enlightened by light from outside itself, so that it can participate intruth, because it is not itself the nature of truth. You will light my lamp, Lord," [43] and "You hear nothing true from me whichyou have not first told me."[44] Augustine's version of illuminationism is not that God gives us certain information, but rathergives us insight into the truth of the information we received for ourselves.

This romantic idea of enlightenment as insight into a timeless, transcendent reality has been popularized especially by D.T.Suzuki.[web 15][web 16] Further popularization was due to the writings of Heinrich Dumoulin.[45][46][web 17] Dumoulin viewedmetaphysics as the expression of a transcendent truth, which according to him was expressed by Mahayana Buddhism, but not bythe pragmatic analysis of the oldest Buddhism, which emphasizes anatta.[47] This romantic vision is also recognizable in theworks of Ken Wilber.[48]

In the oldest Buddhism this essentialism is not recognizable.[49][web 18] According to critics it doesn't really contribute to a realinsight into Buddhism:[web 19]

Western understanding

As 'Aufklärung'

Awakening: Historical period of renewed interest in religion

Illumination

Romanticism and transcendentalism

...most of them labour under the old cliché that the goal of Buddhist psychological analysis is to reveal the hiddenmysteries in the human mind and thereby facilitate the development of a transcendental state of consciousnessbeyond the reach of linguistic expression.[50]

A common reference in Western culture is the notion of "enlightenment experience". This notion can be traced back to WilliamJames, who used the term "religious experience" in his book, The Varieties of Religious Experience.[51] Wayne Proudfoot tracesthe roots of the notion of "religious experience" further back to the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834),who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of "religious experience" was used by Schleiermacher todefend religion against the growing scientific and secular critique.[6]

It was popularised by the Transcendentalists, and exported to Asia via missionaries.[52] Transcendentalism developed as areaction against 18th-century rationalism, John Locke's philosophy of Sensualism, and the predestinationism of New EnglandCalvinism. It is fundamentally a variety of diverse sources such as Hindu texts like the Vedas, the Upanishads and the BhagavadGita,[53] various religions, and German idealism.[54]

It was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential.[55][note 13]

The notion of "experience" has been criticised.[59][60][61] Robert Sharf points out that "experience" is a typical Western term,which has found its way into Asian religiosity via western influences.[59][note 14] The notion of "experience" introduces a falsenotion of duality between "experiencer" and "experienced", whereas the essence of kensho is the realisation of the "non-duality"of observer and observed.[63][64] "Pure experience" does not exist; all experience is mediated by intellectual and cognitiveactivity.[65][66] The specific teachings and practices of a specific tradition may even determine what "experience" someone has,which means that this "experience" is not the proof of the teaching, but a result of the teaching.[67] A pure consciousness withoutconcepts, reached by "cleansing the doors of perception",[note 15] would be an overwhelming chaos of sensory input withoutcoherence.[68]

Nevertheless, the notion of religious experience has gained widespread use in the study of religion,[69] and is extensivelyresearched.[69]

The word "enlightenment" is not generally used in Christian contexts for religious understanding or insight. More commonlyused terms in the Christian tradition are religious conversion and revelation.

Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952), one of the founders of Dispensationalism, uses the word "illuminism". Christians who are"illuminated" are of two groups, those who have experienced true illuminism (biblical) and those who experienced falseilluminism (not from the Holy Spirit).[70]

Christian interest in eastern spirituality has grown throughout the 20th century. Notable Christians, such as Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle and AMA Samy, have participated in Buddhist training and even become Buddhist teachers themselves. In a few placesEastern contemplative techniques have been integrated in Christian practices, such as centering prayer.[web 21] But thisintegration has also raised questions about the borders between these traditions.[web 22]

Experience

Western culture

Christianity

Western esotericism and mysticism

Western and Mediterranean culture has a rich tradition of esotericism and mysticism.[71] The Perennial philosophy, basic to theNew Age understanding of the world, regards those traditions as akin to Eastern religions which aim at awakening/ enlightenmentand developing wisdom. The hypothesis that all mystical traditions share a "common core",[72] is central to New Age, butcontested by a diversity of scientists like Katz and Proudfoot.[72]

Judaism includes the mystical tradition of Kabbalah. Islam includes the mystical tradition of Sufism. In the Fourth Way teaching,enlightenment is the highest state of Man (humanity).[73]

A popular western understanding sees "enlightenment" as "nondual consciousness", "a primordial, natural awareness withoutsubject or object".[web 23] It is used interchangeably with Neo-Advaita.

This nondual consciousness is seen as a common stratum to different religions. Several definitions or meanings are combined inthis approach, which makes it possible to recognize various traditions as having the same essence.[74] According to Renard, manyforms of religion are based on an experiential or intuitive understanding of "the Real"[75]

This idea of nonduality as "the central essence"[76] is part of a modern mutual exchange and synthesis of ideas between westernspiritual and esoteric traditions and Asian religious revival and reform movements.[note 16] Western predecessors are, amongothers, New Age,[77] Wilber's synthesis of western psychology and Asian spirituality, the idea of a Perennial Philosophy, andTheosophy. Eastern influences are the Hindu reform movements such as Aurobindo's Integral Yoga and Vivekananda's Neo-Vedanta, the Vipassana movement, and Buddhist modernism. A truly syncretistic influence is Osho[78] and the Rajneeshmovement, a hybrid of eastern and western ideas and teachings, and a mainly western group of followers.[79]

"Religious experiences" have "evidential value",[80] since they confirm the specific worldview of the experiencer:[81][59][18]

These experiences are cognitive in that, allegedly at least, the subject of the experience receives a reliable andaccurate view of what, religiously considered, are the most important features of things. This, so far as theirreligious tradition is concerned, is what is most important about them. This is what makes them "salvific" orpowerful to save.[82]

Yet, just like the very notion of "religious experience" is shaped by a specific discourse and habitus, the "uniformity ofinterpretation"[83] may be due to the influence of religious traditions which shape the interpretation of suchexperiences.[83][59][84][81]

Yandell discerns various "religious experiences" and their corresponding doctrinal settings, which differ in structure andphenomenological content, and in the "evidential value" they present.[85] Yandell discerns five sorts:[86]

1. Numinous experiences – Monotheism (Jewish, Christian, Vedantic, Sufi Islam)[87]

2. Nirvanic experiences – Buddhism,[88] "according to which one sees that the self is but a bundle of fleetingstates"[89]

Nondualism

Cognitive aspects

Religious experience as cognitive construct

Various religious experiences

3. Kevala experiences[90] – Jainism,[80] "according to which one sees the self as an indestructible subject ofexperience"[80]

4. Moksha experiences[91] – Hinduism,[80] Brahman "either as a cosmic person, or, quite differently, asqualityless"[80]

5. Nature mystical experience[90]

Various philosophers and cognitive scientists state that there is no "true self" or a "little person" (homunculus) in the brain that"watches the show," and that consciousness is an emergent property that arise from the various modules of the brain in ways thatare yet far from understood.[92][93][94] According to Susan Greenfield, the "self" may be seen as a composite,[95] whereasDouglas R. Hofstadter describes the sense of "I" as a result of cognitive process.[96]

This is in line with the Buddhist teachings, which state that

[...] what we call 'I' or 'being,' is only a combination of physical and mental aggregates which are workingtogether interdependently in a flux of momentary change within the law of cause and effect, and that there isnothing, permanent, everlasting, unchanging, and eternal in the whole of existence.[97]

To this end, Parfit called Buddha the "first bundle theorist".[98]

The idea that the mind is the result of the activities of neurons in the brain was most notably popularized by Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of DNA, in his book The Astonishing Hypothesis.[99][note 17] The basic idea can be traced back to at least ÉtienneBonnot de Condillac. According to Crick, the idea was not a novel one:

[...] an exceptionally clear statement of it can be found in a well known paper by Horace Barlow.[99]

Several users of entheogens throughout the ages have claimed experiences of spiritual enlightenment with the use of thesesubstances, their use and prevalence through history is well recorded, and continues today. In modern times we have seenincreased interest in these practices, for example the rise of interest in Ayahuasca. The psychological effects of these substanceshave been subject to scientific research focused on understanding their physiological basis. While entheogens do produceglimpses of higher spiritual states, these are always temporary, fading with the effects of the substance. Permanent enlightenmentrequires making permanent changes in your consciousness.

Ego deathFalun GongFana (Sufism)HenosisLight (theology)Light of ChristMerit (Buddhism)NousOshoSalvationSelf-realization

Cognitive science

Entheogens

See also

Siddhartha (novel) by Hermann HesseTree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

1. "Mankind's final coming of age, the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state ofignorance and error."[1]

2. When referring to the Enlightenment of the Buddha (samma-sambodhi) and thus to the goal of the Buddhist path,the word enlightenment is normally translating the Pali and Sanskrit word bodhi

3. "Brahman" is not to be confused with Brahma, the Creator and one third of the Trimurti along with Shiva, theDestroyer and Vishnu, the Preserver.

4. The authorship of this work is disputed. Most 20th-century academic scholars feel it was not authored bySankara, and Swami Sacchidanandendra Saraswathi of Holenarsipur concurs.

5. slokārdhena pravaksāmi yaduktaṃ granthakotibhih, brahma satyaṃ jagat mithyā, jīvo brahmaiva nāparah

6. Marek: "Wobei der Begriff Neo-Advaita darauf hinweist, dass sich die traditionelle Advaita von dieser Strömungzunehmend distanziert, da sie die Bedeutung der übenden Vorbereitung nach wie vor als unumgänglich ansieht.(The term Neo-Advaita indicating that the traditional Advaita increasingly distances itself from this movement, asthey regard preparational practicing still as inevitable)[21]

7. Alan Jacobs: Many firm devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi now rightly term this western phenomenon as 'Neo-Advaita'. The term is carefully selected because 'neo' means 'a new or revived form'. And this new form is not theClassical Advaita which we understand to have been taught by both of the Great Self Realised Sages, AdiShankara and Ramana Maharshi. It can even be termed 'pseudo' because, by presenting the teaching in a highlyattenuated form, it might be described as purporting to be Advaita, but not in effect actually being so, in the fullestsense of the word. In this watering down of the essential truths in a palatable style made acceptable andattractive to the contemporary western mind, their teaching is misleading.[22]

8. See for other examples Conway [web 4] and Swartz [web 5]

9. Presently Cohen has distanced himself from Poonja, and calls his teachings "Evolutionary Enlightenment".[27]

What Is Enlightenment, the magazine published by Cohen's organisation, has been critical of neo-Advaitaseveral times, as early as 2001. See.[web 6][web 7][web 8]

10. Tattvarthasutra [6.1][33]

11. nivartitānāmeteṣāṁ tadvyatiriktaviṣayebhya uparamaṇamuparatirathavā vihitānāṁ karmaṇāṁ vidhināparityāgaḥ[Vedāntasāra, 21]

12. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an important influence on the development of this idea. See for example Osho'steachings for a popularisation of this idea.

13. James also gives descriptions of conversion experiences. The Christian model of dramatic conversions, basedon the role-model of Paul's conversion, may also have served as a model for Western interpretations andexpectations regarding "enlightenment", similar to Protestant influences on Theravada Buddhism, as describedby Carrithers: "It rests upon the notion of the primacy of religious experiences, preferably spectacular ones, asthe origin and legitimation of religious action. But this presupposition has a natural home, not in Buddhism, but inChristian and especially Protestant Christian movements which prescribe a radical conversion."[56] See Sekidafor an example of this influence of William James and Christian conversion stories, mentioning Luther[57] and St.Paul.[58] See also McMahan for the influence of Christian thought on Buddhism.[7]

14. Robert Sharf: "[T]he role of experience in the history of Buddhism has been greatly exaggerated in contemporaryscholarship. Both historical and ethnographic evidence suggests that the privileging of experience may well betraced to certain twentieth-century reform movements, notably those that urge a return to zazen or vipassanameditation, and these reforms were profoundly influenced by religious developments in the west [...] While someadepts may indeed experience "altered states" in the course of their training, critical analysis shows that suchstates do not constitute the reference point for the elaborate Buddhist discourse pertaining to the "path".[62]

15. William Blake: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. Forman has closed himself up, till he sees all things thru' narrow chinks of his cavern."[web 20]

Notes

16. See McMahan, "The making of Buddhist modernity"[7] and Rambachan, "The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda'sReinterpretation of the Vedas"[18] for descriptions of this mutual exchange.

17. Crick, after his work on DNA focused his remaining research activities on the brain basis of consciousness.

1. Porter 2001, p. 1.

2. Cite error: The named reference MN_bodhi wasinvoked but never defined (see the help page).

3. Fischer-Schreiber 2008, p. 5051, lemma "bodhi".

4. Carrette & King 2005.

5. Sharf 1995b.

6. Sharf 2000.

7. McMahan 2008.

8. Indich 1995.

9. Zelliot 1980.

10. Deutsch 1988.

11. Collinson 1994.

12. Nakamura 2004, p. 680.

13. Shankara, Vivekacūḍāmaṇi

14. Dense 1999, p. 191.

15. Mukerji 1983.

16. Comans 1993.

17. Comans 2000, p. 307.

18. Rambachan 1994.

19. Lucas 2011.

20. Marek 2008, p. 10, note 6.

21. Marek 2008, p. 10 note 6.

22. Jacobs 2004, p. 82.

23. Davis 2010, p. 48.

24. Yogani 2011, p. 805.

25. Caplan 2009, p. 16-17.

26. Lucas 2011, p. 102-105.

27. Gleig 2011, p. 10.

28. Madhukar: "The Simplest Way", Editions India, 2ndedition, USA & India 2006 p.1-16. (Interview with SriH.W.L. Poonja by Madhukar)

29. Baptiste 2011.

30. Yogani 2011.

31. Lardner Carmody 1996, p. 68.

32. Sarbacker 2005, p. 1–2.

33. Doshi 2007.

34. Whicher 1998, p. 38–39.

35. Larson 2008, p. 139–140.

36. Birdee 2008.

37. puligandla 1997, p. 251-254.

38. Adi Shankara, Tattva bodha (1.2)

39. Wright 2000, p. 181-183.

40. J. Rixey Ruffin, A Paradise of Reason: WilliamBentley and Enlightenment Christianity in the EarlyRepublic, 0195326512, 9780195326512,9781435620407 Oxford University Press 2007.

41. Demieville 1991.

42. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/illumination/)

43. Confessions IV.xv.25

44. ibid X.ii.2

45. Dumoulin & 2005-A.

46. Dumoulin & 2005-B.

47. Dumonlin 2000.

48. Wilber 1996.

49. Warder 2000, p. 116-124.

50. Kalupahana & 1992-A, p. xi.

51. Hori 1999, p. 47.

52. King 2002.

53. Versluis 2001, p. 3.

54. Hart 1995.

55. Sharf 2000, p. 271.

56. Carrithers 1983, p. 18.

57. Sekida 1985, p. 196-197.

58. Sekida 1985, p. 251.

59. Sharf & 1995-B.

60. Mohr 2000, p. 282-286.

61. Low 2006, p. 12.

62. Sharf & 1995-C, p. 1.

63. Hori 1994, p. 30.

64. Samy 1998, p. 82.

65. Mohr 2000, p. 282.

66. Samy 1998, p. 80-82.

67. Samy 1998, p. 80.

68. Mohr 2000, p. 284.

69. Spilka 2003, p. 246-289.

70. Chafer 1993, p. 12–14.

71. Hanegraaff 1996.

72. Hood 2001, p. 32.

73. Ouspensky & year unknown.

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81. Yandell 1994.

82. Yandell 1994, p. 18.

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84. Berger 1990.

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87. Yandell 1994, p. 24-26.

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91. Yandell 1994, p. 29.

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