Paramārtha

Paramārtha (devanāgarī: परमार्थ) is a Sanskrit term that can be translated as "the highest or whole truth , spiritual knowledge".

In Theosophy

In The Secret Doctrine, H. P. Blavatsky writes:

“Paramârtha” is self-consciousness in Sanskrit. Svasamvedana, or the “self-analysing reflection”—from two words, parama (above everything) and artha (comprehension).

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". 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".

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 is regarded to be based on appearances and mistaken perceptions.

• Ultimate truth (Sanskrit, paramārthasatya, Pāli paramattha sacca, Tibetan: don-dam bden-pa), describes the ultimate reality as śūnyatā or the emptiness of concrete and inherent characteristics of objects.

Mme. Blavatsky on the "Two Truths"

Mme. Blavatsky explains this subject as follows:

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”.

This word has been used both by the Yogācāra and the Madhyamaka schools. H. P. Blavatsky says:

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.

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.”

Further reading

• Paramārtha at Theosopedia