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 writes:
“Paramârtha” is self-consciousness in Sanskrit. Svasamvedana, or the “self-analysing reflection”—from two words, parama (above everything) and artha (comprehension), Satya meaning absolute true being, or Esse.[2]
In another passage, Blavatsky talks of paramārtha as being "true Self-Consciousness".[3] 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".[4]
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".
Mme. Blavatsky explains this as follows:
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”.[5]
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.[6]
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.”[7]
Notes
- ↑ Paramārtha at Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 48, fn.
- ↑ 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), 48, fn.
- ↑ 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), 48.
Further reading
- Paramārtha at Theosopedia