Payton Tontz Diss Final Draft

255 Pages·2013·1.03 MB·English

by  Payton Tontz

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SPIRITUAL AWAKENING IN ADVAITA
VEDANTA: FROM BONDAGE TO LIBERATION

by
Payton Tontz

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the
California Institute of Integral Studies
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in
East-West Psychology

California Institute of Integral Studies
San Francisco, California
2013
© 2013 Payton Tontz
Payton Tontz
California Institute of Integral Studies, 2013
Janis Phelps, PhD, Committee Chair

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SPIRITUAL AWAKENING IN ADVAITA
VEDANTA:
FROM BONDAGE TO LIBERATION

Abstract

Advaita Vedanta, based on the Hindu Upaniṣads of India, is a spiritual
teaching tradition that has gained attention in the West over the past century. The
teachings address the fundamental spiritual question of the nature of reality by
expounding on the nature of the individual, and the relationship between the
individual, the creation, and God. This dissertation focuses on the psychology of
the individual in Advaita Vedanta, aiming to identify and amplify the implicit
psychology embedded in the traditional texts. The research contributes to
developing scholarship between the East and West in the related fields of east-
west psychology, contemplative psychology, and Western academic psychology
by presenting the essential teachings of Advaita Vedanta in a language oriented
toward a Western contemporary audience.
Advaita Vedanta claims that the true nature of the human individual is a
non-dual Self, defined as limitless existent consciousness. This non-dual Self is
shown to be one with Brahman, the Self of the entire cosmic creation. Thus, the
teachings ultimately affirm a non-dual relationship between the individual and the
creation as a whole as they are both seen as manifestations of one undivided Self.
According to Vedanta, bondage (saṃsāra) is the human condition caused by
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inborn ignorance (avidyā) of this fact, and liberation (mokṣa) is what takes place
when a person gains knowledge of this truth. This research utilizes a theoretical
methodology to study the teachings on bondage and liberation presented in the
primary and secondary texts of the Advaita Vedanta teachings. The dissertation
presents an organized system of human psychology that is centered on answering
two psychological questions: What is human identity? and What is the root cause
for human suffering? In answering these questions, this study presents a
theoretical model of human psychology based on the teachings of Advaita
Vedanta.

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This work is dedicated to my teacher
with love and gratitude.
Om

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract..................................................................................................................iv
Chapter 1: Introduction...........................................................................................1
Field of Study......................................................................................................4
Scope of Study/Limitations................................................................................7
Western psychology........................................................................................7
Advaita Vedanta teachings.............................................................................8
Language.........................................................................................................9
Methodology/Theoretical Tools.........................................................................9
Literature Review.............................................................................................13
Background...................................................................................................13
Organization of literature..............................................................................16
Primary sources for Advaita Vedanta.......................................................17
General scholarship on Advaita Vedanta tradition...................................20
Sources for Western depth psychology....................................................22
Significance......................................................................................................25
East-West scholarship...................................................................................25
Personal.........................................................................................................26
Social-cultural...............................................................................................27
Spiritual.........................................................................................................28
Chapter 2: Background on Advaita Vedanta Tradition........................................29
Introduction.......................................................................................................29
Epistemology of Advaita Vedanta....................................................................31
Six Valid Means of Knowledge (pramāṇas)....................................................33
The Vedas as a means of knowledge............................................................38
Absolute and relative knowledge..................................................................41
Validity of the Vedas as a source of knowledge...........................................42
Use of Verbal Testimony (śabda-pramāṇa) in the Teacher-Student
Relationship......................................................................................................44
Self-knowledge and self-ignorance..............................................................45
Teaching methodology of Advaita Vedanta.................................................46
Ontological Vision of the Cosmic Universal Whole- Īśvara............................53
Brahman and Mithyā: Two orders of reality................................................54
The non-duality of Brahman and the creation..............................................57
Brahman as the material and intelligent cause of the creation.....................59
The intelligent order of the creation: Universal laws of karma and dharma.62
Conclusion........................................................................................................66
Chapter 3: Structure and Function of the Human Psyche in Advaita Vedanta.....67
Introduction.......................................................................................................67
The Vedantic Self and the Jīva.........................................................................68
Defining the Self...............................................................................................69
Use of words as a means of gaining Self-knowledge (śabda-pramāṇa)......71
Self as satyam...............................................................................................76
Self as jñānam...............................................................................................77
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Self as anantam.............................................................................................81
Self as satyam, jñānam, anantam.................................................................82
The Vedantic Self in Comparison.....................................................................84
Defining the Jīva...............................................................................................87
The Fourfold Mind (antaḥkaraṇa) and the Sense Organs (jñānendrya)..........89
Manas............................................................................................................92
Citta..............................................................................................................93
Buddhi...........................................................................................................96
Ahaṅkāra.......................................................................................................99
The Vedantic Ego in Comparison...................................................................104
Projection........................................................................................................106
Conclusion......................................................................................................108
Chapter 4: The Psychological Condition of Bondage........................................110
Introduction to Bondage and Liberation.........................................................110
Introduction and Defining Condition of Bondage..........................................111
Living in the state of saṃsāra.....................................................................113
The limited person and cycles of desire......................................................115
Self-Ignorance in the Human Psyche..............................................................120
Mutual superimposition..............................................................................125
Self-identity and ego-function in the state of bondage...............................128
Identity and psychological state of bondage...............................................133
Defining core-beliefs..................................................................................134
Emotional Suffering in the State of Bondage.................................................137
Primary and Secondary Core-Beliefs.............................................................139
Conclusion......................................................................................................142
Chapter 5: The Psychology of Liberation in Advaita Vedanta...........................144
Introduction.....................................................................................................144
Knowledge of the Self as the Nature of the Jīva............................................146
Vedantic teaching methodologies: discrimination, negation, and positive
assertion......................................................................................................149
Moment of realization: A close up look.....................................................152
The process of psychological transformation: A basic shift in identity.....155
The nature of the Self as limitless...............................................................157
Healing the wounds of bondage: A new paradigm of reality.....................162
Knowledge of Identity With the Creation as Īśvara.......................................165
Vision of the whole: Self, creation, and the individual..............................169
The creation as Īśvara: A universal cosmic being......................................172
Impact on the psyche: Psychological healing.............................................176
Transformative Process in the Psyche From Bondage to Liberation..............185
Conclusion......................................................................................................191
Chapter 6: Developing Emotional Maturity in Advaita Vedanta.......................192
Introduction.....................................................................................................192
Defining Emotional Maturity..........................................................................193
Defining a mature Buddhi...........................................................................195
Following dharma and emotional maturity................................................199
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The Qualified Student and Fourfold Qualification (sādhanacatuṣṭaya)........201
Discrimination between time-bound and timeless (viveka)........................201
Dispassion for worldly things (vairāgya)...................................................203
Desire for liberation (mumukṣutvam).........................................................204
Wealth of the six disciplines (śamādiṣatkasampatti).................................206
The Dharmic Order.........................................................................................209
Dharma and binding desires (kama)...........................................................212
Following dharma as a means of developing emotional maturity..............215
Impact of Gaining Self-Knowledge on Developing Emotional Maturity.......219
Objectivity as an inner resource..................................................................221
Relaxation and healing of the mind............................................................223
Cultivating compassion toward the mind...................................................224
Releasing the knot of the heart (hṛdayagranthi).........................................227
Conclusion......................................................................................................228
Chapter 7: Conclusion........................................................................................229
Introduction.....................................................................................................229
“The Psychology of Advaita Vedanta”: A System of Psychology.................229
Structural model of the human psyche.......................................................229
Human problem of psychological suffering: Self-ignorance......................231
Solution to the problem: Gaining Self-knowledge.....................................233
Therapeutic means prescribed for healing..................................................236
Suggested Topics for Further Research..........................................................238
Conclusion......................................................................................................240
References...........................................................................................................242

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Chapter 1: Introduction

This dissertation focuses on the spiritual teachings of Advaita Vedanta
and aims to identify and amplify the implicit psychology that is embedded in the
texts of the tradition. Though the teachings of Advaita Vedanta approach the
nature of reality from many different standpoints, my interest lies primarily in
what they have to say about the psychology of the individual. This research aims
to present a psychological model based on the teachings, which will be given the
name “Psychology of Advaita Vedanta.”
The general goal is to make the teachings of Vedanta more available to a
Western audience. Specifically, it is to introduce the Psychology of Advaita
Vedanta into the academic discourse in the fields of East-West Psychology and
Western Psychology. This dissertation adds an original contribution to these fields
because the topic has not been developed in the research. Over the past three
decades Western Psychology has exhibited a growing interest in the spiritual
dimension of psychological work, particularly in the related fields of East-West,
and Transpersonal Psychology. Therefore this research carries with it the
possibility of bearing fruit at a time when the related fields of study are ripe with
interest for what it has to contribute.
The theoretical method of research is used in this dissertation to study the
primary and secondary texts of Advaita Vedanta. The subject matter is human
psychology, which is being approached through the lens of Advaita Vedanta. The
standpoint that I take in engaging with the texts of the tradition is from within it as
opposed to viewing it through a particular Western psychological lens. This
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approach has been chosen because it best serves the purpose of presenting the
essential teachings of Advaita Vedanta on the nature of individual psychology.
Two related concepts form the basis for psychological inquiry in Advaita
Vedanta; the question of individual identity and the root cause for human
suffering. Exploring these key concepts and their association to the psychology
of bondage (saṃsāra) and liberation (mokṣa) in Advaita Vedanta is at the heart of
this study. In addressing this central theme the following four objectives are
covered: to identify the structural landscape and function of the human psyche, to
define bondage (saṃsāra) and liberation (mokṣa) as two different psychological
states rooted in different core-beliefs about the identity of the individual, to
identify the goal of gaining Self-knowledge as the means by which the psyche is
liberated from the state of bondage, and finally to define emotional maturity
according to Vedanta, and discuss the relationship between developing emotional
maturity and gaining Self-knowledge.
Advaita Vedanta understands the fundamental cause for human suffering
to be rooted in the fact of our mistaken identity as individuals. The teaching
asserts that due to inborn Self-ignorance, we are falsely identified with the limited
mind-body-sense-complex. This identification leads us to believe that we are
separate and lacking a basic sense of wholeness. According to Vedanta, the core-
beliefs, rooted in Self-ignorance, propel us naturally on a lifetime journey of
seeking experiences, objects, and situations that we believe will give us the sense
of wholeness, completeness, or the lasting happiness that we want. The following
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