Advaita Vedanta holds that all of us have the same self. Then what is the concept of Moksha in Advaita Vedant ? Do people still take birth after getting Moksha?
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Mokṣa by definition means freedom from the cycle of death and rebirth. Also, please don't use stack exchange like google/quora/reddit. This is a dedicated question-answer site, where you ask a question only when you have done some decent amount of work and deliberation in it, and still face a doubt. You are a not a new member and also have 1000+ reputation, we would expect you to know the purpose of this site. This question is basically, if you have studied Advaita vedānta is too generic, and that only requires basic study.– BingmingJan 7 at 2:01
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@Bingming I Know Moksha means freedom from cycle and rebirth. But in Hinduism , there are too many philosophies. And many are contradictory. Dvaita Philosphy also exists , which is opposite to Advaita Vedant. In Advait vedant if all of us have the same self , how can a person get free from cycle of birth and death. Also Vishnu himself keeps taking birth , so even he is not free from birth and death cycle. So, It is not as easy as you think it to be.– riverJan 7 at 3:33
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I know mokṣa is different in various Ind phls. But in all traditions, mokṣa specificially means freedom from rebirth including Advaita. Probably you should include some part of this comment in the question, that would make a better question because it still lacks specificity. Also in Dvaita, Viṣṇu is supreme btw, and is not in saṁsāra, so that is incorrect what you said. In Advaita, on the other hand, Viṣṇu is just in the category of Īśvara, so subject to Māyā and not ultimate reality, such as Brahman. I never said it's easy or difficult.– BingmingJan 7 at 4:33
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1well, it's not illogical in Advaita tradition to come out of the cycle of life and death. Because this notion of cyclicity is itself is due to avidyā and isn't the true reality.– BingmingJan 7 at 4:44
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1Again , this is your personal view, you didn't support this by śruti, nor is it so in Advaita. In Advaita, the notion of life and death, creation and destruction are part of saṁsāra. The only ultimate and permanent reality is Brahman. And Brahman doesn't die nor is it created.– BingmingJan 7 at 4:47
1 Answer
Moksha is freedom from the endless transmigration cycle. Here are some passages explaining moksha as understood in Advaita Vedanta school.
Perfect Yoga
When men of knowledge, conversant with the rules of Yoga, become as fixed as a stake of wood, and as immovable as a mountain, then are they said to be in Yoga. When one does not hear, and smell, and taste, and see; when one is not conscious of any touch; when one’s mind becomes perfectly free from every purpose; when one is not conscious of anything, when one cherishes no thought; when one becomes like a piece of wood, then is one called by the wise to be in perfect Yoga. At such a time one shines like a lamp that burns in a place where there is no wind; at such a time one becomes freed even from one’s subtle form, and perfectly united with Brahma. When one attains to such progress, one has no longer to ascend or to fall among intermediate beings. When persons like ourselves say that there has been a complete identification of the Knower, the Known, and Knowledge, then is the Yogin said to behold the Supreme Soul.
Mahabharata Santi Parva Section CCCVII
Yudhisthira on Emancipation
There are two well-known paths (for us), viz, the path of the Pitris and the path of the gods. They that perform sacrifices go by the Pitri-path, while they that are for salvation, go by the god-path. By penances, by Brahmacharya, by study (of the Vedas), the great Rishis, casting off their bodies, proceed to regions that are above the power of death. Worldly enjoyments have been styled as bonds. They have also been called action. Liberated from these two sins (viz, bonds and action) one attains to the highest end. ….As a person on the hill-top looketh down upon men on the plain below, so he that has got up on the top of the mansion of knowledge, seeth people grieving for things that do not call for grief. He, however, that is of foolish understanding, does not see this. He who, casting his eyes on visible things, really seeth them, is said to have eyes and understanding. The faculty called understanding is so called because of the knowledge and comprehension it gives of unknown and incomprehensible things. He who is acquainted with the words of persons that are learned, that are of cleansed souls, and that have attained to a state of Brahma, succeeds in obtaining great honours. When one seeth creatures of infinite diversity to be all one and the same to be but diversified emanations from the same essence, one is then said to have attained Brahma. Those who reach this high state of culture attain to that supreme and blissful end, and not they who are without knowledge, or they who are of little and narrow souls, or they who are bereft of understanding, or they who are without penances. Indeed, everything rests on the (cultivated) understanding!’
Mahabharata Santi Parva Section XVII
Bhisma/Suka on emancipation
Bhishma continued [Suka said],’..By knowledge, one attains to that whither there is no occasion for grief; whither one becomes freed from birth and death; whither one is not subject to decrepitude; whither one transcends the state of conscious existence; whither is Brahma which is Supreme, Unmanifest, immutable, ever-existent, imperceptible, above the reach of pain, immortal, and transcending destruction; whither all become freed from the influence of all pairs of opposites (like pleasure and pain, etc), as also wish or purpose. Reaching that stage, they cast equal eyes on everything, becoming universal friends and devoted to the good of all the creatures.’
Mahabharata Santi Parva Section CCXLI