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'''Paramārtha''' (devanāgarī: परमार्थ) is a [[Sanskrit]] term that can be translated as "the highest or whole truth, spiritual knowledge".<ref>[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/mwquery/index.html# Paramārtha] at Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary</ref> When used along with the word "satya" it is used to refer to the absolute truth (paramārtha-satya) as opposed to the relative or empirical one (saṃvṛti-satya).
#redirect [[Paramartha]]
 
== Blavatsky on Paramārtha ==
 
In [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']], [[H. P. Blavatsky]] writes:
 
<blockquote>“Paramârtha” is self-consciousness in Sanskrit.  Svasamvedana, or the “self-analysing reflection”—from two words, parama (above everything) and artha (comprehension).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 48, fn.</ref></blockquote>
 
This "self-consciousness" is not the normal awareness of the self that the common person has. In another passage, Blavatsky talks of paramārtha as being "true Self-Consciousness".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 44, fn.</ref> This true self-consciousness is not associated to any sense of egotism, as can be inferred from the following definition: "Absolute Being and Consciousness which are Absolute Non-Being and Unconsciousness".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 47.</ref>
 
== Paramārtha-satya ==
 
In [[Mahāyāna Buddhism]] the term paramārtha is frequently used together with the word "satya" (truth) to mean the absolute or ultimate truth (paramārtha-satya) as opposed to the relative or empirical truth (saṃvṛti-satya). This doctrine is known as the "Two Truths". They are defined as follows:
 
* Relative or commonsense truth (Sanskrit samvṛtisatya, Pāli sammuti sacca, Tibetan kun-rdzob bden-pa), describes our daily experience of a concrete world. This "truth" is dualistic and regarded to be based on appearances and mistaken perceptions.
 
* Ultimate truth (Sanskrit, paramārthasatya, Pāli paramattha sacca, Tibetan: don-dam bden-pa) is non-dual, and describes the ultimate reality as [[śūnyatā]] or the emptiness of concrete and inherent characteristics of objects.
 
=== Saṁvṛiti-satya ===
 
Connected to the concept of ''paramārtha-satya'' is that of ''saṁvṛiti-satya'', refers to the conventional, as opposed to the absolute, truth or reality. It refers to the empirical truth based on the common understanding of ordinary people, which is usually accepted in everyday life and can be admitted for practical purposes of communication.
 
=== Mme. Blavatsky on the "Two Truths" ===
 
Mme. Blavatsky explains this subject as follows:
 
<blockquote>Satya mean[s] absolute true being, or Esse. In Tibetan Paramârthasatya is Dondampaidenpa. The opposite of this absolute reality, or actuality, is Samvritisatya—the relative truth only—“Samvriti” meaning “false conception” and being the origin of illusion, Maya; in Tibetan Kundzabchi-denpa, “illusion-creating appearance”.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 48, fn.</ref></blockquote>
 
This word has been used both by the [[Yogācāra]] and the [[Madhyamaka]] schools. H. P. Blavatsky says:
 
<blockquote>There is a difference in the interpretation of the meaning of “Paramârtha” between the Yogâchâryas and the Madhyamikas, neither of whom, however, explain the real and true esoteric sense of the expression.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 44, fn.</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>The Yogâchâryas interpret the term as that which is also dependent upon other things (paratantral); and the Madhyamikas say that Paramârtha is limited to Paranishpanna or absolute perfection; i.e., in the exposition of these “two truths” (out of four), the former believe and maintain that (on this plane, at any rate) there exists only Samvritisatya or relative truth; and the latter teach the existence of Paramârthasatya, the “absolute truth.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 48.</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>This is shown by the very wording of the Sloka, which speaks of Alaya being in Paramartha—i.e., in Absolute Non-Being and Unconsciousness, being at the same time absolute perfection or Absoluteness itself. This word, however, is the bone of contention between the Yogâchârya and the Madhyamika schools of Northern Buddhism. The scholasticism of the latter makes of Paramartha (Satya) something dependent on, and, therefore, relative to other things, thereby vitiating the whole metaphysical philosophy of the word Absoluteness. The other school very rightly denies this interpretation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 347.</ref></blockquote>
 
=== The "Two Truths" in Advaita Vedanta ===
 
Advaita Vedanta, together with other spiritual traditions, makes a distinction between relative truth and absolute truth. The former referring to the relative knowledge of the normal, dualistic world and the latter to the knowledge that comes with the experience of non-duality.<ref>B. Gupta, ''Perceiving in Advaita Vedanta: Epistemological Analysis and interpretation'' (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1995), 15.</ref>
 
== Paramārtha-tattva ==
 
==Further reading==
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Param%C4%81rtha# Paramārtha] at Theosopedia
 
== Notes ==
<references/>
 
 
[[Category:Sanskrit terms|Paramartha]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine|Paramartha]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts|Paramartha]]

Latest revision as of 23:23, 20 July 2017

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