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Non-theism and Advaita philosophy

As a critical philosopher I was eventually inspired to study Indian philosophy, and subsequently Indian religion - especially various forms of advaita philosophy/''spirituality'. This is an extremely sophisticated system of thought, though I have discovered it ultimately to be a form of labyrinthine and extended circular reasoning, being unattached to any form of empiricism and based entirely on subjective and uncontrollable experiences. Some of the many themes which are becoming far too popular in the West in so-called 'new spiritual philosophies' are examined in considerable detail on my several websites. I would appreciate constructive comments on my deconstructive article "The ultimate fallacy: God is inside, God is all and everything"

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Permalink Reply by Robert Crichton Priddy on July 10, 2010 at 6:16pm

It may interest any visitors to see the following new articles I wrote:-
How your brain creates God (i.e. subjective 'realities')
What comes first: matter or mind?
Freedom and fate, cause and choice
The human ego - & the confused doctrine of egolessness

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Permalink Reply by Robert Crichton Priddy on December 4, 2010 at 5:03am

Sorry for delay in replying. Yes, solipsism is the very basis of religious 'theologies' like Advaita. Solipsism is also a position which philosophers have rejected since Socrates, Plato and Aristotle took up the issue and dismissed it. Advaita, as the most ideologically sophisticated and labyrinthine Indian theology has the same purpose as do most Eastern religions, to realize ones full identity with God - such that nothing and no one else exists as a separate entity. This is expressed in the formula 'I am God', 'There is Only One' Hence it is solipsism: 'Solus ipse' (oneself alone), and trying to apply this in 'spiritual discipline' etc. means regarding all one perceives as oneself, not other. Hence, in fact, reality is reduced to 'only what is perceived by me'. The world of the senses is Maya (illusion), The senses (i.e. which produce all outer perceptions) are the root of the problem of illusion... for Advaita.

The disciplines for trying to realize unity with all being most often involve meditation, search for inner balance, detachment... but social cohesion is foreign to this in practice because society is simply an illusion of the distracting mind... there is only 'this one awareness'. (Om Tat Sat). concentration,