solipsism and advaita

[Gummuluru Murthy]

On Tue, 16 Dec 1997, Sankar Jayanarayanan wrote:

> > 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
>

In the absence of response from learned members of the list, I would like
to put in my two cents worth:

In my  view, advaita deals with what is meant by "you" in "you are real"
                                                  ^^^
statement by Shri Nageswar. It says what "you" are, or to put it more
correctly, what "you" are not. I do not know much about solipsism, hence
cannot comment on it, but advaita, in my understanding, is much more than
"You are real".

Regards
Gummuluru Murthy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
... aham bhAvodayAbhAvo bodhasya paramAvadhih ...
                        Shri Shankara in Viveka ChuDAmaNi (verse 424)

The end of the rise of the sense of "I" of the ego is the culmination
of knowledge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------