[Advaita-l] Is morality necessary for liberation?

[Nithin Sridhar]

Hinduism speaks in terms of Dharma and Adharma and not moral or immoral.
And Dharma is very important. With Dharma Anushtana, there is no
Chitta-Shuddhi and without Chitta Shuddhi, no Moksha.

-Nithin


On Sun, Jan 26, 2014 at 11:50 AM, Suresh <mayavaadi at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Friends,
>
> First of all, this isn't a justification for immoral behavior.
>
> In most religions, especially creator-centered religions, morality is most
> important. Even if faith in god is stressed, it still requires the believer
> to be moral, or else god won't be pleased. This is the logic, basically.
> Suffice it to say that for theistic religions, morality is perhaps as
> important as faith.
>
> But advaita is unique in that God is all there is - everything else is a
> mere appearance. So morality cannot get you out of this samsara any more
> than morality can get you out of a dream. Only knowledge between real and
> unreal can. So morality, as far as I can see, has utilitarian value - the
> same value that 'dream water' has for a dreamer. But does it have any
> salvific value at all?
>
> Again, I am not attacking morality or moral people - but isn't it silly in
> the context of advaita to see morality as something mighty important?
> Knowledge alone is salvific - morality is simply useful for us to carry on
> at the worldly, vyavaharika level. But to obsess over moral codes, to
> constantly think in terms of dos and don'ts, rights and wrongs - isn't that
> unnecessary for an advaitin?
>
> Thanks,
> Suresh
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