Neo Advta v Advta

cnda 
Excellent question 🙏 — this distinction often causes confusion. Let’s unpack it clearly.

Advaita Vedānta vs Neo-Advaita

1. Classical Advaita Vedānta (Śaṅkara’s lineage & tradition)

• Foundation: Based on the Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gītā, and Brahma Sūtras, systematized by Ādi Śaṅkarācārya (8th c.).
• Core view: Only Brahman is real (satya). The world is Māyā (appearance). The self (Ātman) is identical with Brahman.
• Method:
  
• Śravaṇa (listening) → study of scriptures.
• Manana (reflection) → rational inquiry to remove doubts.
• Nididhyāsana (deep meditation/assimilation) → direct realization.
• Role of Guru: Essential. A qualified teacher transmits knowledge with lineage authority (sampradāya).
• Soteriology: Emphasizes preparation (ethical living, self-discipline, purification of mind). Liberation (mokṣa) comes only after maturity of adhikāra (eligibility).

2. Neo-Advaita (20th c. modern, often Western teachers)

• Foundation: Inspired by Ramana Maharshi & Nisargadatta Maharaj, but often without traditional scriptural context.
• Core view: “You are already That.” Liberation is immediate recognition of one’s true nature — no path, no practice.
• Method:
  
• Direct pointing (“Who are you?” “There is only awareness.”).
• Often bypasses traditional practices and scriptural study.
• Role of Guru: More informal. Anyone with “realization” may teach; not necessarily tied to lineage.
• Soteriology: Instant, radical non-duality. No stages, no need for purification or preparation.

Key Differences

Aspect	Advaita Vedānta	Neo-Advaita
Authority	Rooted in scripture (śruti), reason, lineage	Direct insight, often outside tradition
Method	Gradual: śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana	Instant recognition: “You are That now”
Role of Practice	Essential (ethics, meditation, devotion)	Often dismissed as unnecessary
Guru	Traditional teacher, lineage-based	Direct-pointing teacher, less formal
View of Ignorance	Ignorance (avidyā) must be removed through knowledge	Illusion of seeking is itself ignorance; just stop seeking
Soteriology	Liberation after preparation & realization	Liberation is immediate & already the case

Metaphor

• Advaita Vedānta: Like climbing a mountain with a guide (guru), maps (scriptures), and preparation (discipline). The summit = realization.
• Neo-Advaita: Like being told, “You’re already on the summit; there’s nowhere to climb.”

👉 Critique:

• Traditional Advaitins often criticize Neo-Advaita as “spiritual bypassing” — skipping the purification & discipline needed for realization to genuinely transform life.
• Neo-Advaita teachers counter that all practices imply duality and reinforce the seeker’s illusion.

Would you like me to also map Neo-Advaita vs Zen Buddhism’s sudden enlightenment (satori)? They’re often compared because of this “directness.”

A

WEISS

Catherine describes intense physical pain: difficulty breathing, chest pain, rapid heartbeat, coldness, and shivering.

People in the scene give her herbal tea and apply liniment to her chest, trying to help.

She dies quietly, observing her body from above (out-of-body experience).

She notices a light pulling her toward it, becoming brighter and more luminous.

After some silence, she transitions into another lifetime, set thousands of years before her life connected to Abby.

A

Scientists have long shown — and recent work has increasingly confirmed — that mathematical and computational models of visual cortex dynamics can reproduce many psychedelic visual motifs, explaining how simple changes in brain dynamics can create complex hallucination-like imagery. But those models explain how certain visuals arise, not the entire psychedelic state.

a