Samkara

Samkara: Spiritual - Theosophy Dictionary on Samkara

Samkara.

See SANKARA

(See also: Samkara, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Samkara: Spiritual - Theosophy Dictionary on Sankara, Samkara

Sankara, Samkara (Sanskrit) Blessed; one of three hypostases, destroyer of cosmic triad. Name of Siva. {SD, 1:18,286, 2:498; BCW 14:186}

(See also: Sankara, Samkara, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Samkara: Vedic Hindu Scriptures Dictionary on Upanisads

Upanisads

These are writings at the end of the Vedas, regarded as the source of the Vedanta philosophy. Sri Aurobindo has translated and/or commented on the Isa, Kena, Katha, Mundaka, Prasna, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Svetasvatara, Chandogya, Brhadaranyaka, Kaivalya, and Nilaruda Upanisads. Most of his writings related to the Upanisads have been collected in Volume 12 of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library (SABCL), The Upanisads.

"How many Upanisads once existed is unknown. One hundred and eight have been preserved, these ranging in length from a few hundred to many thousands of words, some in prose, some in verse, some part one, part the other. In style and manner they vary widely, often within the same Upanisad, being now simply and concretely narrative, now subtly and abstractly expository, often assuming, in either case, a dialogue form. ... Who wrote them, no one knows, nor, with any accuracy, when they were written.

Of the one hundred and eight extant Upanisads sixteen were recognized by Samkara as authentic and authoritative. In his commentary on the Vedanta Aphorisms he included quotations from six. On the other ten he wrote elaborate commentaries. It is these ten which...have come to be regarded as the principal Upanisads: Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Chandogya, Brhadaranyaka, Aitareya, and Taittiriya."

-- Swami Prabhavananda, The Spiritual Heritage of India

"The rooted and fundamental conception of Vedanta is that there exists somewhere, could we but find it, available to experience or self-revelation, if denied to intellectual research, a single truth comprehensive and univ ersal in the light of which the whole of existence would stand revealed and explained both in its nature and its end. This universal existence, for all its multitude of objects and its diversity of forces, is one in subs tance and origin; and there is an unknown quantity, X or Brahman to which it can be reduced, for from that it started and by that it still exists. This unknown quantity is called Brahman."

-- Sri Aurobindo, The Upanishads

Aitreya Upanishad

It belongs to the Rg Veda. It is considered as one of the principal Upanisads and concerns with imparting the knowledge of the Self (atman) as the unequalled substance of the universe, that He is pure consciousness, that he also has become everything from Indra and Prajapati down to the lowest and last in creation.

Brhadaranyaka Upanisad

"Teachings from the forest." The Brhad is the longest and the oldest of the Upanisads. It contains dialogues between Gargya and King Ajatasatru, between Vajnavalkya and Maitreyi, and between Vajnavalkya and King Janaka. It belongs to the Sukla Yajur Veda and primarily deals with the exoteric and esoteric aspects of the horse sacrifice.

Chandogya Upanisad

The Chandogya Upanisad contains the story of Svetaketu, a boy who was sent away by his father to be educated. When he returns, Svetaketu and his father engage in a dialogue regarding his knowledge. It is classified under Sama Veda.

"The Chhandogya, we see from its first and introductory sentences, is to be a work on the right and perfect way of devoting oneself to the Brahman; the spirit, the methods, the formulae are to be given to us."

-- Sri Aurobindo, The Upanishads, SABCL 12 p. 393

Katha Upanisad

The Katha contains the story of Natchiketas, who is granted three wishes by Yama, the lord of death. The last wish Natchiketas asks for is the knowledge of that which is beyond death, the Absolute, Brahman.

Kena Upanisad

"The Kena Upanishad ...concerns itself only with the relation of mind-consciousness to Brahman-consciousness and does not stray outside the strict boundaries of its subject. The material world and the physical life are taken for granted, they are hardly mentioned. But the material world and the physical life exist for us only by virtue of our internal self and our internal life. According as our mental instruments represent to us the external world, according as our vital force in obedience to the mind deals with its impacts and objects, so will be our outward life and existence. The world is for us what our mind and senses declare it to be; life is what our mentality determines that it shall become. The question is asked by the Upanishad, what then are these mental instruments? what is this mental life which uses the external? Are they the last witnesses, the supreme and final power? Is mind all or is this human existence only a veil of something greater, mightier, more remote and profound than itself?"

-- Sri Aurobindo, The Upanishads, SABCL 12 pp. 155-56

Sandilya Upanisad

This is one of the minor Upanisads and contains dialogues between the sages Atharvan and Sandilya. It concerns with the eight stages of yoga and points to the attainment of the state of Brahman as the final resort.

(See also: Upanisads, Hinduism, Vedic Scriptures, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

Samkara: Encyclopedia - Ontological argument

In theology and the philosophy of religion, an ontological argument for the existence of God is an argument that God's existence can be proved a priori, that is, by intuition and reason alone. In the context of the Abrahamic religions, it was first proposed by the medieval philosopher Anselm of Canterbury in his Proslogion, and important variations have been developed by philosophers such as René Descartes, Gottfried Leibniz, Norman Malcolm, Charles Hartshorne, and Alvin Plantinga. A modal logic versi ...

Including:

Samkara: Encyclopedia II - Ontological argument - Criticisms and Objections

Ontological argument - Gaunilo's island. One of the earliest recorded objections to Anselm's argument was raised by one of Anselm's contemporaries, Gaunilo. Gaunilo invited his readers to think of the greatest, or most perfect, conceivable island. As a matter of fact, it is likely that no such island actually exists. However, his argument would then say that we aren't thinking of the greatest conceivable island, because the greatest conceivable island would exist, as well as having all ...