What is advaita vedAnta?
Literally, “non-dualism,” advaita is the name of the oldest extant school of vedAnta. advaita bases itself upon the upanishads, the brahma-sUtras and the bhagavad-gItA. advaita asserts that the real, essential identity of the jIva, the individual self, is nothing other than brahman Itself. The teaching follows from upanishadic statements (mahAvAkyas) like tat tvam asi and aham brahmAsmi. It is in this cardinal doctrine that advaita differs from all other schools of vedAnta. The main tenets of advaita are detailed in commentaries written by SankarAcArya, the famous philosopher who lived in the 7th – 8th centuries A.D. Read http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp for a website dedicated to advaita vedAnta.
