Paramārtha
Paramārtha (devanāgarī: परमार्थ) is a Sanskrit term that can be translated as "the highest or whole truth , spiritual knowledge"[1]
In The Secret Doctrine H. P. Blavatsky translates the word as "true Self-Consciousness" and says that "Paramârtha is the synonym of the Sanskrit term Svasam-vedana, or 'the reflection which analyses itself'".[2]
This true self-consciousness, however, should not be 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".[3]
the Theosophical Glossary as “absolute existence.”
Mahāyāna Buddhism
In Mahāyāna Buddhism paramārtha is frequently used paired with the word "satya" (truth) to mean the absolute or ultimate truth (paramārtha-satya) as opposed to the relative or empirical truth (saṃvṛti-satya), in what is normally known as the doctrine of the "Two Truths".
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.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Paramārtha at Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 44, fn.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 47.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 44, fn.
Further reading
- Paramārtha at Theosopedia