Dualism in Indian philosophy is a belief, or large spectrum of beliefs, held by certain schools of

Indian philosophy Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The philosophies are often called darśana meaning, "to see" or "looking at." Ānvīkṣikī means “critical inquiry” or “investigation." Unlike darśan ...

that reality is fundamentally composed of two parts or two types of existence. This mainly takes the form of either mind-matter dualism, as in some strands of

Buddhist philosophy Buddhist philosophy is the ancient Indian Indian philosophy, philosophical system that developed within the religio-philosophical tradition of Buddhism. It comprises all the Philosophy, philosophical investigations and Buddhist logico-episte ...

, or consciousness-nonconsciousness dualism in the

Samkhya Samkhya or Sankhya (; ) is a dualistic orthodox school of Hindu philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, '' Puruṣa'' ('consciousness' or spirit) and '' Prakṛti'' (nature or matter, including the human mind a ...

and

Yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

schools of

Hindu philosophy Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the first Hinduism, Hindu religious traditions during the Iron Age in India, iron and Classical India, classical ages of India. In Indian ...

. These can be compared and contrasted with mind-body dualism in Western

philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of the mind and its relation to the Body (biology), body and the Reality, external world. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a ...

and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

. Another form of dualism in Hindu philosophy is found in the

Dvaita Dvaita Vedanta (); (originally known as Tattvavada; IAST: ''Tattvavāda''), is a sub-school in the Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; , ), also known as ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six orthodox (Āstika and nāstika, ''āstika'') trad ...

("dualism")

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; , ), also known as ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six orthodox (Āstika and nāstika, ''āstika'') traditions of Hindu philosophy and textual exegesis. The word ''Vedanta'' means 'conclusion of the Vedas', and encompa ...

school, which regards God and the world as two realities with distinct essences; this is a form of

theistic dualism Dualism or dualistic cosmology is the moral or belief that two fundamental concepts exist, which often oppose each other. It is an umbrella term that covers a diversity of views from various religions, including both traditional religions and scri ...

. By contrast, schools such as Advaita ("nondualism") Vedanta embrace

nondualism Nondualism includes a number of philosophical and spiritual traditions that emphasize the absence of fundamental duality or separation in existence. This viewpoint questions the boundaries conventionally imposed between self and other, min ...

or absolute

monism Monism attributes oneness or singleness () to a concept, such as to existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., in Neoplatonis ...

, regarding dualism as an illusion (''

maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

'').

Buddhist philosophy

During the classical era of

in India, philosophers such as

Dharmakirti Dharmakīrti (fl. ;), was an influential Indian Buddhist philosopher who worked at Nālandā.Tom Tillemans (2011)Dharmakirti Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy He was one of the key scholars of epistemology ( pramāṇa) in Buddhist philo ...

argued for a dualism between states of consciousness and Buddhist atoms (the basic building blocks that make up reality), according to the "standard interpretation" of Dharmakirti's Buddhist

Samkhya and Yogic philosophy

While Western philosophical traditions, as exemplified by Descartes, equate mind with the conscious self and theorize on consciousness on the basis of mind/body dualism, some Eastern philosophies provide an alternate viewpoint, intimately related to substance dualism, by drawing a metaphysical line between consciousness and matter — where matter includes both body and mind. In

and

, two of the six orthodox ( āstika) schools of

, "there are two irreducible, innate and independent realities: 1)

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

itself (

Purusha ''Purusha'' (, ʊɾʊʂᵊ ) is a complex concept whose meaning evolved in Vedic and Upanishadic times. Depending on source and historical timeline, it means the cosmic being or self, awareness, and universal principle.Karl Potter, Presupposit ...

), and 2) primordial materiality (

Prakriti Prakriti ( ) is "the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". It is a key concept in Hinduism, formulated by the ''Samkhya'' school, where it does not refer merely to matter or nature, but includes all cog ...

)". The unconscious primordial materiality, Prakriti, contains 23 components including intellect (

buddhi ''Buddhi'' (Sanskrit: बुद्धि) refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand". Etymology ''Buddhi'' () is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit root ''Budh'' ...

, mahat), ego ( ahamkara) and mind ( manas). Therefore, the intellect, mind and ego are all seen as forms of unconscious matter. Thought processes and mental events are conscious only to the extent they receive illumination from Purusha. Consciousness is compared to light which illuminates the material configurations or 'shapes' assumed by the mind. So intellect after receiving cognitive structures form the mind and illumination from pure consciousness creates thought structures that appear to be conscious.Isaac, p. 342. Ahamkara, the ego or the phenomenal self, appropriates all mental experiences to itself and thus, personalizes the objective activities of mind and intellect by assuming possession of them. But consciousness is itself independent of the thought structures it illuminates. By including mind in the realm of matter, Samkhya Yoga avoids one of the most serious pitfalls of Cartesian dualism, the violation of physical conservation laws by involving something non-material (Cartesian mind) in human actions. Because in Samkhya Yoga mind is an evolute of matter, mental events are granted causal efficacy and are therefore able to initiate bodily motions.

Dvaita philosophy

The

Dvaita Vedanta Dvaita Vedanta (); (originally known as Tattvavada; IAST: ''Tattvavāda''), is a sub-school in the Vedanta tradition of Hindu philosophy. The term Tattvavada literally means "arguments from a realist viewpoint". The Tattvavada (Dvaita) Vedant ...

school of

espouses a dualism between God and the universe by theorizing the existence of two separate realities. The first and the most important reality is that

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...

is the supreme

Self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

, God, the absolute truth of the universe, the independent reality. The second reality is that of dependent but equally real "universe" that exists with its own separate essence. Everything that is composed of the second reality, such as individual soul (

Jiva ''Jiva'' (, IAST: ), also referred as ''Jivātman,'' is a living being or any entity imbued with a life force in Hinduism and Jīva (Jainism), Jainism. The word itself originates from the Sanskrit verb-root ''jīv'', which translates as 'to br ...

), matter, etc. exist with their own separate reality. The distinguishing factor of this philosophy as opposed to Advaita Vedanta ( monistic conclusion of Vedas) is that God takes on a personal role and is seen as a real eternal entity that observes itself as the universe. Because the existence of individuals is grounded in the divine, they are depicted as aspects of the divine, but never in any way identical with the divine.

Salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

therefore is described as the realization that all finite reality is the Supreme.

Notes

References

* Haney, William S
Culture and Consciousness: Literature Regained
Bucknell University Press (August 1, 2002). . * Isaac, J. R.; Dangwal, Ritu; Chakraborty, C
Proceedings. International conference on cognitive systems (1997)
Allied Publishers Ltd. . * Leaman, Oliver
Eastern Philosophy: Key Readings
Routledge, 2000. . {{Mind–body dualism Consciousness–matter dualism Buddhist philosophical concepts Hindu philosophical concepts Samkhya Yoga concepts Dvaita Vedanta

Buddhist philosophy

Samkhya and Yogic philosophy

Dvaita philosophy

See also

Notes

References