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Thread: What's the difference between Shuddhadvaita and Acintya-bheda-abheda?

  1. #1
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    What's the difference between Shuddhadvaita and Acintya-bheda-abheda?

    Hello spiritual inquirers of HDF.

    Today I found information on a philosophical school I wasn't even aware of the existence. It is called Shuddhadvaita.

    Shuddadvaita (Sanskrit: śuddhādvaita; pure non-dualism ) is the "purely non-dual" philosophy propounded by Shri Vallabhacharya (1479-1531 CE), the founding philosopher and guru of the Vallabhā sampradāya (tradition of Vallabh) or Puśtimārg (The path of grace), a Hindu Vaishnava tradition focused on the worship of Krishna. Vallabhacharya's pure form (nondualist) philosophy is different from Advaita.
    Here's a part of the article's take on its philosophy:

    The school of in-essence monism or purified non-dualism of Vallabha sees equality in "essence" of the individual self with God. There is no real difference between the two (like the analogy of sparks to fire). However, unlike Shankara's Advaita, Vallabha does not deny God as the whole and the individual as the part. The individual soul is not the Supreme (Satcitananda) clouded by the force of avidya, but is itself Brahman, with one attribute (ananda) rendered imperceptible.
    And here's the full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuddhadvaita

    Due to my limited knowledge, I can't really identify the difference from Acintya-bheda-abheda.

    Another doubt is why it is said that this school is monistic if it the concepts sound so dualistic.

    Om Tat Sat

  2. #2

    Re: What's the difference between Shuddhadvaita and Acintya-bheda-abheda?

    Namaste Pietro

    Jai Shri KRushNa

    Vallabhacharya's shuddha advaita says everything is KRushNa
    Shri KRushNa is Brahman
    Brahman is Shri KRushNa
    there is nothing else. Not much emphasis is on MAyA, rather, he says there is no mAyA. The world is real, it changes, but it is all KRushNa. Jad (insentient) and jIv (sentient) all is Shri KRushNa. Hence shuddha (pure) advaita, since the mAyA concept does not create shades and aspects. We are jIvas in constant service of Him, but really bits of Him. The goal is union with Him. Each pushti jIv gets to unite with BhagavAn. The constant influx of the AtmA towards ParamAtmA is the union, but the jIv does not go into inactive nirvikalpa , rather, keeps serving the Supreme Whole = Shri KrushNa the Supreme Person in her relationship (Brahman'-sambandh).

    So, an immediate difference is - that Gaudiya path - achintya bheda-abheda says there is simultaneous inconceivable oneness and difference between jIv and KRushNa, but jIv is covered in mAyA when not with the Lord. Hence, worship the internal potency, hlAdini shakti, of Shri KRushNa i.e. Shri RAdhA. Achintya-bheda-abheda says that jIv is tathasta shakti i.e. marginal potency, on the shoreline between external material energy and internal spiritual energy of BhagavAn. Hence, she (jIv) has to take shelter of RAdhA and RAdhA brings the jIv to KRushNa. The external potency is mAyA (durgA) and internal potency is spiritual Anand (rAdhA). So the mAyA factor is there.

    Suddha Advaita says See Shri KRushNa as and in all - jad, jIv and Jagat, and as the mechanism to do so , VallabhAcharya introduced the Pushti MArg, path of grace. It says - complete surrender to Shri KRushNa (Shri KRushNa sharaNa mama), complete dependence on KRushNa alone , NOT on His shaktis either!
    Pushti MArgiya devotees worship (bhajante) the swaroop of Shri KRushNa alone, no RAdhA / RukmiNi / Lakhmi / Sita vigraha is part of the worship. Neither do they worship any other form - archa Vigraha - like ShrimAn NArAyaN / other VishNu avatArs, RAm etc. Only and Only Shri KRushNa.

    You may have seen the swaroop of Shri NAthJi - Who manifested, Whom VallabhAchArya found on the Govardhan. He told Him several things (what to do) and Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharya established Havelis (palaces) for Him in various locations in Gujrath, Rajasthan, Vrundavan etc.

    In Pushti mArg, the focus is one-pointed on the Supreme Person (in different swaroops like BAl KRushNa, Murlidhar, Shri NAthJi, DwArkAdheesh etc.) , yet the devotee prays to Shri YamunA MahArANi - fourth consort of Shri KRushNa for Her grace. It is said that MahAprabhu VallabhAchArya was YamunaJi (in swaroop).

    You will find links in the VaishNav Basics thread. A year ago i had half a mind of asking Satayji to create a seperate folder for Shuddha Advaita under philosophies.

    http://www.pushtimarg.net, com, org
    pushtikul.org
    pushtikul.net - many of these are under construction.
    They are scattered in personal blogs, on facebook etc.

    The reason is , they do not go out preaching, unlike Lord Chaitanya's mission. The idea is - do it only if you actually love it. That in itself is the test - if you simply love the worship modes, there is grace. Their entire life is devoted to dressing, decorating, cooking for and depending on the remnants of what ThAkurJi gives. Focus is on spontaneity, and love in one of the four rasas (servent, friend, parent, lover/husband) and highest bhakti is mAnasi (internal in the mind/soul) (of course) - at the advanced stage.

    However, out of compassion, he started the maryAdA mArg which implies sAdhanA bhakti - practice even if it is not naturally coming to you - but not to the extent of Gaudiya philosophy - which says keep chanting even if the taste (ruchi) has not developed. The chanting they(Gaudiyas) say feeds back into purification of the jIv, getting rid of 'anartha' (negative qualities) to bring out the taste (ruchi). The input is chanting and output is more chanting. This is the process of 'anartha nivrutti' (getting rid of negative qualities).

    I shall try to give links to their philosophy darshans when i find some more time - not much is available online, it is in e-book or book form. There is a publisher in Mumbai.

    Jai Shri KRushNa ...sharaNa mama
    Last edited by smaranam; 09 March 2011 at 12:07 PM.
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

  3. #3

    Re: What's the difference between Shuddhadvaita and Acintya-bheda-abheda?

    Quote Originally Posted by Pietro Impagliazzo View Post
    Hello spiritual inquirers of HDF.

    Today I found information on a philosophical school I wasn't even aware of the existence. It is called Shuddhadvaita.



    Here's a part of the article's take on its philosophy:



    And here's the full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuddhadvaita

    Due to my limited knowledge, I can't really identify the difference from Acintya-bheda-abheda.

    Another doubt is why it is said that this school is monistic if it the concepts sound so dualistic.

    Om Tat Sat
    This sounds close to what I believe, but I cannot be sure.

  4. #4
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    Re: What's the difference between Shuddhadvaita and Acintya-bheda-abheda?

    Namaste.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pietro Impagliazzo View Post
    Due to my limited knowledge, I can't really identify the difference from Acintya-bheda-abheda.
    There are only subtle differences, in my limited reading and understanding, between Acintya BhedAbheda, VishistAdvaita, and ShuddhAdvaita. All three are qualified non-dualist, as opposed to the strict non-dualist Advaita.

    As a Vaishnava, though not of the Gaudiya tradition, I subscribe to Acintya BhedAbheda in most respects, but I subscribe to some aspects of VishistAdvaita and ShuddAdvaita. I haven't found much conflict or contradiction in them on the whole in their non-dualism.

    When I was a deist, I could be considered to have been Advaitin. That is, my consciousness would return to the Whole, being Brahman. I no longer subscribe to that.

    Here's a quick synopsis of the whole thing, though it doesn't mention Acintya BhedAbheda:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monism#Hinduism

    Hinduism
    Hinduism is a primary proponent of Monism. In the Hindu religion, Brahman (Devanāgarī: ब्रह्मन् brhman) is the eternal, unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different philosophical schools and the Brahman religious belief is just seen as different paths to the one God.[1] This concept of Brahman explains the prevalence of Monism in Hinduism, because Brahman is considered to be all that exists and thus everything in the universe including the universe itself is considered a manifestation of Brahman.

    Monism is found in the Nasadiya Sukta of the Rigveda, which speaks of the One being-non-being that 'breathed without breath'. The first system in Hinduism that unequivocally explicated absolute monism was the non-dualist philosophy of Advaita Vedanta as expounded by Shankara. In short, Advaita declares - All is Brahman. It is part of the six Hindu systems of philosophy, based on the Upanishads, and posits that the ultimate monad is a formless, ineffable divine ground of all being.

    Vishishtadvaita, qualified monism, is from the school of Ramanuja. Shuddhadvaita, in-essence monism, is the school of Vallabha. Dvaitadvaita, differential monism, is a school founded by Nimbarka. Dvaita, dualism, is a school founded by Madhvacharya is probably the only Vedantic System which is opposed to all types of monism. It believes that God is eternally different from souls and matter in both form and essence. All Vaishnava schools are panentheistic and view the universe as part of Krishna or Narayana, but see a plurality of souls and substances within Brahman. Monistic theism, which includes the concept of a personal God as a universal, omnipotent Supreme Being who is both immanent and transcendent, is prevalent within many other schools of Hinduism as well.
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

  5. #5

    Re: What's the difference between Shuddhadvaita and Acintya-bheda-abheda?

    shrinAth ji sharaNam mama
    yamunAji sharaNam mama
    ThAkurji sharaNam mama
    jay mahAprabhuji sharaNam mama

    PushTimarg.net

    Compositions by Mahaprabhu VallabhAchArya

    1. yamunAshTak with GujrAthi subtitles

    2. madhurAshTak

    All about Seva in PushTiKul

    ~*~*~ Jai Shri KrushNa ~*~*~
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

  6. #6

    Re: What's the difference between Shuddhadvaita and Acintya-bheda-abheda?

    In case you are wondering, this thread has been specially revived for our newest friend YajurJi.
    Last edited by smaranam; 10 March 2015 at 11:33 PM.
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

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