We Are The Imagination of Ourselves - Hampedia

177 Pages·2008·0.68 MB·English

We Are The Imagination of Ourselves
The Principle of Lila in Advaita Vedanta
Metaphysics:
A Playful, Creative, and Storytelling Reality

Shane T. Foster

Division III Senior Thesis Project

Expected Graduation Date: May 17, 2008

Advising Committee:
Phil Kelleher, Chair
Ryan Bong Seok Joo, Member
Nalini Bhushan, Member

Hampshire College
Amherst, Massachusetts
United States of America
Acknowledgements

I would like to sincerely thank all of my parents and siblings, all of whom helped shape
me into the person I am today in one way or another; all of my friends, who have provided me
with myriad lilas and constant laughter throughout my life; my lovely Sarah, who helped me
along in the construction and execution of this thesis more than anyone else; and to all of my
teachers and professors, both layman and professional, who have over the years taught me
everything that I know about the world around me and whose patience, knowledge, and wisdom
I benefit from infinitely. Of course, since everyone I know has been a teacher at one time or
another in my life, in some form, ultimately I want to thank Everyone: Thank You.
Contents

Acknowledgements
———————————————————————————————————————
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Principle of Lila in Advaita Vedanta Metaphysics: A Playful,
Creative, and Storytelling Reality.

Advaita Vedanta Metaphysics 1
What is Lila? 5
Summary of the Chapters 8
Description of Thesis Structure 10
———————————————————————————————————————
Chapter 2: The Players: Who’s going to play and how?

Introduction 13
What is one’s Identity and Ātman in Advaita Vedanta? 14
The Traditional States of Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta 18
The Ātman-Brahman Relationship 22
Discussion on Identity and Consciousness 25
A. Intersecting Thought within Western Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science:
A Dynamic, Embodied, & Embedded Consciousness Suitable for Cosmic Play?
B. Intersecting Thought with Western Philosophy of Mind and Metaphysics: 31
Panpsychism and the Interplay of Ātman and Matter
Conclusion: “And All the Men and Women Merely Players…” 36
———————————————————————————————————————
Chapter 3: The Play: What’s the Story?

Introduction 40
What is the Nature of Reality & Brahman in Advaita Vedanta? 42
The Positive and Negative Approaches to Describing Brahman 43
Understanding Brahman Through Metaphor 48
Reality as We Know ‘it’ & Reality as ‘It’ Truly Is: The Function and Form of Maya 53
The Great Debates—In-Depth Analysis and Discussion of Brahman and Maya 58
A. Does Brahman have attributes or not (Saguna-Brahman vs. Nirguna-Brahman)?
Is Brahman immanent (Saprapanca) or transcendent (Nisprapanca)?
B. What is the nature of the connection between Brahman and Maya? 62
C. Possible Reconciliation through two kinds of knowledge—Paramarthika (Higher) 66
and Vyavaharika (Lower) Jnanas (Knowledge or Wisdom)
What Happens When the ‘Game is Up’?—Liberation from the Game 69
Discussion on Reality and Constitution 71
A. Intersecting Thought within Western Philosophy:
The Perennial Philosophy and Layered Reality; The ‘real’ and ‘really Real’
B. Intersecting Thoughts with Western Philosophy of Mind and Metaphysics: 75
Monism, Pantheism, Panentheism, or Something ‘Wholly’ Different?
Conclusion: “And All The World’s A Stage…” 80
——————————————————————————————————————
Chapter 4: The Motivation: What’s the point of the Game?

Introduction 84
Lila In-Depth 86
Metaphor of Play 88
Metaphor of a Game 92
Metaphor of a Story 94
The Name of the Game is ‘Difference’ 97
Diversity is the Spice of Life 98
The More the Merrier 99
Seriousness of Conflict equals Entertainment of the Unity 100
Why Lila: Why a Cosmic Play At All? 102
Critique of the concept of Lila 106
Discussion on the Storytelling, Creative, and Playful nature of Reality: Lila 108
A. Intersecting Thought within Western Philosophy, Psychology, and Modern Physics
Existence entails Experience; to Be is to be Conscious
B. Intersecting Thoughts within Western Philosophy of Mind, Cognitive Science, and
Metaphysics: 117
To Live is to Learn and to Learn is to Liberate Oneself: The Drive for Moksha
Conclusion: “The Play, Game, Story Goes On…” 125
———————————————————————————————————————
Chapter 5: No Final Act—Only Intermissions: Meanings and Morals

Introduction 128
Aesthetics in Lila 129
The Theory of Rasa and the Transcendental Creative Experience
Creative Expression: A Brahman-eye view 132
Lila and Ethics 134
Treatment of Others: An Issue of Identity—Going Beyond Us vs. Them
A Metaphysics Which Entails an Ethics 141
Metaphysical Value of Lila 145
A Place for Suffering and Conflict—Fear is Dispelled; Enjoyment is Enhanced
Free Will & Determinism?—Chance and Natural Processes in Lila 147
A Vast Cosmology: Many Myriad Worlds—More Cosmic Fun? 148
Conclusion: “Onwards and Upwards” 152
———————————————————————————————————————
Chapter 6: Conclusion: Playing the Game of Life, Telling the Story of the Self, and
Creatively Dreaming the World into Being

A Summation of Sorts 155
Just How Far Out Does The Game Go? 156
A Final Query: Why seek Moksha—Why Not Simply Keep Enjoying the Game? 159
Relativism Reigns: All Paths Lead to One 162
———————————————————————————————————————
Glossary 167
Bibliography 169
Chapter 1: Introduction
The Principle of Lila in Advaita Vedanta Metaphysics:
A Playful, Creative, and Storytelling Reality.

The most beautiful and most profound emotion or thing we can experience is the
sensation of the mystical, the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. So to
whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in
awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. — Albert Einstein

Advaita Vedanta Metaphysics

What is the fundamental nature of reality? This question has been the focus of the branch
of philosophy known as metaphysics for centuries. It has perhaps occupied the minds of
mankind for arguably as long as we have had the capacity to ask questions at all. In India there
has been a rich tradition of philosophical inquiry into all aspects of existence that has been going
on for thousands of years, one that is as diverse, complex, and comprehensive as that of any
other country’s tradition. From this long, wide-ranging philosophical tradition stems the
darshana (philosophy) of Advaita Vedanta and with it a metaphysics that is perhaps as complex
as it is possibly profound. And from Advaita Vedanta comes the philosophical principle of Lila,
the core subject of this thesis which shall be addressed directly in the next group of passages to
follow. To get to the subject of Lila though, it is necessary to first understand Advaita Vedanta
and its origins.
What is Advaita Vedanta exactly? “Advaita” Vedanta is itself a sub sect of the
overarching darshana (philosophy) of Vedanta, which is itself one of the six orthodox schools of
philosophical thought in India.1 “Vedanta” is a Sanskrit word whose translation means “the
culmination of knowledge”—“veda” means knowledge and “anta” means conclusion; the word
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also means “the end essence of the Vedas,” which refers to the Upanishads, ancient sacred texts
that appear at the end of the Vedas.2
This focus upon and clarification of the nature of the Upanishads is important because it
is from these texts that Vedanta philosophy derives most of its contemplative source material. In
conjunction with the Upanishads, which consist of thirteen principle major texts (although there
are a number of minor texts), there is the Brahma Sutras, also known as the Vedanta Sutras, and
the Bhagavad Gita. These three sources make up the tripartite canon of Vedanta philosophy and
are collectively referred to as Prasthanatrayi or “Three points of departure.”3
The three main Vedanta sub-sects and their corresponding founder philosophers are:
Dvaita, which is associated with the philosopher Madhva; Vishishtadvaita, which is associated
with the philosopher Ramanuja; and of course, Advaita, which is associated with the philosopher
Shankara.
Coming from a line of equally revered and astute philosophers,4 Shankara, a truly
brilliant philosopher who is said to have lived approximately from 780 CE to 820 CE, was the
first Indian philosopher to take all of the various concepts from the ancient texts and their various
commentaries from the entire Prasthanatrayi and synthesize them all into a single composite
philosophical system. Shankara wrote bhashyas on the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and the
Brahma Sutras, and all of his works became the school of thought that is collectively known as
Advaita Vedanta. Since the time of Shankara, many other philosophers have developed and
continued on the tradition’s lineage, including the revered likes of Swami Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa, his disciple Swami Vivekananda, and the more contemporary philosopher-scholar
Sri Aurobindo Ghose.5
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According to the Indian philosophical tradition, Shankara and other Advaita Vedantists
also derive their philosophical expositions from the Mahavakyas, a selection of short profound
sayings or “Great Philosophical Utterances” that are described as concise interpretations of the
nature of Truth and ultimate Reality (Brahman). There are anywhere from four ‘classic’ to six
general Mahavakyas, depending on the opinion of the philosopher in question. These are used to
illustrate profound insights into the advaita character of reality which is the obvious focus of
Advaita Vedanta metaphysics; throughout this thesis there will be reference to and analysis of
specific Mahavakya phrases in our elucidation of various Advaita concepts.
The word “advaita” itself means “non-dual” and refers to the concept of an ultimately
monistic and unified theory of reality. The concept of a monistic, non-dual reality will be
analyzed and explicated in-depth throughout this thesis in the following chapters; suffice it to say
for now though that it is the concept which lies at the heart of Advaita Vedanta philosophy.
Before continuing any further, a note on intention is advisable: to avoid confusion, let me
clarify by stating again that Advaita Vedanta is a school of philosophical thought, a darshana,
not a religious belief system. Therefore, the kinds of discussions and intellectual exploration that
will be undertaken here will be of a philosophical character, and not one of a theological nature.
For the purposes of this philosophical discussion it is necessary to understand—and will
become readily apparent—that the nature of ultimate, Absolute reality as described in Advaita
Vedanta metaphysics as ‘Brahman’ is not a generic god or the personal anthropomorphic God of
a religion. Such a description is erroneous and would do a disservice to the complexity and
validity of Advaita Vedanta philosophy. Although there is some mention of an aspect of
Absolute Reality, Brahman, being described in an anthropomorphic manner, that specific issue is
quite complex and will be dealt with in Chapter Two in detail. It needs to be stressed though that
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in the Advaita Vedanta tradition Brahman as a concept is not ultimately identical with the
concept of a god/God and should therefore not be considered as such, save for in specific
instances in which an aspect of Brahman is described as such as a concession to what is
considered to be ‘lower’ knowledge. In this case, what is described exists on a lesser level of
reality and is therefore allowed only as an expression of a lesser ultimate Truth, and is therefore
necessarily and fundamentally unreal and thus not identical to Brahman at all, rendering the
entire discussion moot. But, as stated, this will be covered more in-depth later.
Another note must also be made on the subject of scientific research and philosophy.
Although throughout this thesis there is the use of various concepts, studies, research, and
theories from scientific investigation and the philosophy of science proper, it must be stressed
that Advaita Vedanta metaphysics acknowledges the truth and utility of science in conjunction
with the contemplative and ontologically ultimate Truth of Reality that is beyond the ken of
science.
The idea that needs to be stressed is that the empirical sciences are relative and restricted
to the empirical world; the metaphysics of Advaita goes beyond our everyday world of names
and forms (nama-roopa) and details an overall cosmos that is fundamentally, categorically
beyond the realm of science and physics. That is why Advaita Vedanta is a philosophy and thus
considered metaphysics as such. Fundamental levels of Reality like the Absolute and other such
concepts that are transcendental in nature in comparison to our normal level of ‘reality’ require
different modes of analysis and contemplation than those that are strictly characterized by an
empirical nature.
This theory of different levels of knowledge that correspond to the two levels of Reality
is recognized in Advaita philosophy and described as a relationship between Paramarthika
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(“higher”) and Vyavaharika (“lower”) Jnanas (“wisdom or knowledge”) . Puligandla details the
nature of this relationship:
This distinction was most clearly formulated in the Mundaka Upanishad (I.1.4–6).
Lower truths are the product of the activity of the senses and mind, whereas the
higher truth transcends the senses and mind, all perceptions and conceptions.
Thus all rational-scientific truths are lower truths…‘Lower truth’ does not mean
falsehood; rather, it means truth certifiable by all inquirers who are constituted
alike and conduct their inquiry according to a certain categorical framework.6

Even the Vedas themselves, including the very Upanishad which proclaims this theory of
two levels of Truth, are considered to be Vyavaharika in nature, regardless of their sacredness,
being ultimately “couched in language (percepts and concepts).”7 More on Vyavaharika and
Paramarthika will be discussed in Chapter Three.

What is Lila?

Now that we are more acquainted with the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, we may now
begin to address the concept of Lila proper. What is Lila? What does it say about the nature of
identity and consciousness? What is its form and function in the cosmos? And what does it
mean for humanity, to each of us as individuals? These are the questions that shall be looked at
and attempted to be answered in the course of this thesis.
The principle of Lila can be defined in brief as a process of cosmic play, game play, or
sport, exhibited by Brahman through its adjunct of Maya. The overarching principle can be
summarized in an exemplary quote by Warren B. Sharpe, baring the use of the term “God”:
To the Hindu, for example, God didn't create the universe, but God became the
universe. Then he forgot that he became the universe. Why would God do this?
Basically, for entertainment. You create a universe, and that in itself is very
exciting. But then what? Should you sit back and watch this universe of yours
having all the fun? No, you should have all the fun yourself. To accomplish this,
God transformed into the whole universe. God is the Universe, and everything in
it. But the universe doesn't know that because that would ruin the suspense. The
universe is God's great drama, and God is the stage, the actors, and the audience
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all at once. The title of this epic drama is "The Great Unknown Outcome." Throw
in potent elements like passion, love, hate, good, evil, free will; and who knows
what will happen? No one knows, and that is what keeps the universe interesting.
But everyone will have a good time. And there is never really any danger, because
everyone is really God, and God is really just playing around.8

This description is still obviously incomplete and inept though: for the above quotation to
really make sense in our discussion and be of philosophical value, it is of course necessary to
replace every use of the word “God” with the proper term “Brahman.” As has already been
mentioned (and will be discussed further in later chapters), the concept of Absolute Reality as
Brahman is not to be confused with or even remotely considered with the concept of a personal
God or any other form of deity; Brahman is as abstract a concept as you can get. It is the goal of
this thesis to come as close as possible to an understanding of Brahman’s nature, specifically as
expressed in the principle of Lila.
In spite of the slight inaccuracies of the above statement and the aforementioned caveat,
the overall character and detail of Sharpe’s analysis remains true to the form and function of Lila
as expressed in Advaita Vedanta metaphysics. The philosophical discussion that shall take place
in the exploration and analysis of the principle of Lila throughout this thesis will focus on this
playful nature of Absolute Reality or Brahman as described and expressed through three
different metaphorical processes: that of general play itself and a dramatic play in particular; a
game and game play in general; and a story and storytelling in general. These three descriptive
metaphorical processes will serve as the themes that will elucidate the nature of the Lila principle
as one that fundamentally possesses playful, creative, and storytelling aspects, and thus the
whole of the cosmos Itself.
In order to achieve our goal of understanding Advaita Vedanta philosophy and explore
the principle of Lila, it is necessary to first cover in brief the basic central concepts that are used
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