Adhyasa

(“superimposition”) In Advaita Vedanta,
one of the six schools of classical Indian
philosophy, this is a key concept used to
explain the ultimate unreality of the
world around us, despite its apparent
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Adhyasa
The Shri Channakeshara temple in Somnathpur, India. A traditional feature of Hindu temple
architecture is the adhishthana, a raised base upon which the temple is built.
reality. For the Advaita Vedanta school,
there is ultimately only one real idea in
the universe, namely Brahman. All
things are in fact that one thing, and this
never changes. Since Brahman is the
all in all, it can never actually be an
object of perception (pratyaksha). What
the Advaitins then have to explain
is how things in the world apparently
change, or seem diverse and different.
This is explained as stemming from
our mistaken perception and understanding. They call this notion
adhyasa, which is rooted in the human
tendency to “construct” a picture of
world. According to this explanation,
human beings superimpose a false
understanding (that reality is diverse
and differentiated) on top of the correct
understanding (that all reality is nothing
but undifferentiated Brahman).
According to the Advaitins, the world is
real because Brahman is real. What is
not real is the world as most unenlightened people perceive it.
Advaitins illustrate this concept by
two well-known errors in judgment: the
case of a rope that one briefly mistakes
for a snake, or a post that one imagines
is a man. Although these judgments are
erroneous—as one quickly discovers—
they are not made up out of nothing. In
each case, one is perceiving something
real—the rope and post both actually
exist—but “superimposing” a different
and mistaken identity on these things,
and thus “transforming” them into
something they are not. In the same
way, it is argued, human consciousness
begins with the Supreme Reality
(Brahman), which is actually there, but
superimposes onto it something which
is not (the judgment of a diverse world).
According to the Advaitins, the real
problem is epistemological, that is, how
human beings come to know things,
rather than in the nature of the things
themselves. One comes to a true
understanding not when the things
themselves change—to refer back to the
example, the rope always was and
always will be a rope—but with the
destruction of the mistaken notions that
led to the initial error, and their
replacement by true understanding.
For the Advaitins, adhyasa is a
manifestation of avidya (lack of true
knowledge); this avidya is reinforced
and upheld by the karmic power of
one’s mistaken thoughts and actions.
Adhyasa immediately disappears at the
moment true understanding is gained,
when one comprehends that the world
(and oneself ) are both nothing but
Brahman. This moment of realization
brings ultimate wisdom that can never
be lost, just as that once one has
recognized the piece of rope, it can
never again become a snake. For further
information see Karl H. Potter (ed.),
Advaita Vedanta up to Samkara and
His Pupils, 1981; and Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore
(eds.), A Sourcebook in Indian
Philosophy, 1957.