solipsism and advaita

Sankar Jayanarayanan kartik at ENG.AUBURN.EDU
Tue Dec 16 14:31:04 CST 1997


> YOU ARE REAL..........REST IS UNREAL
>
>
>
>                                                     NAGESWAR

This is a point of view in Western philosophy called "solipsism" which
states that (in my version) the only thing that can be verified is oneself.

>From the Websters dictionary:

solipsism n : the philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to
              exist.

Everything is experienced only "within oneself," bringing us once again to
expect nothing more than just the experience of oneself. There is no past,
future, or time itself.

Then my question would be: is this all there is to advaita? Is the experience
of Rishis simply the same awareness that we feel and the fact that there is
nothing else? Was Krishna merely preaching solipsism to Arjuna -- which is
nothing but some cheap argumentation of some second-rate philosophers?

Thanks,

Kartik



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