THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SPIRITUAL AWAKENING IN ADVAITA VEDANTA: FROM BONDAGE TO LIBERATION by Payton Tontz A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in East-West Psychology California Institute of Integral Studies San Francisco, California 2013 © 2013 Payton Tontz Payton Tontz California Institute of Integral Studies, 2013 Janis Phelps, PhD, Committee Chair THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SPIRITUAL AWAKENING IN ADVAITA VEDANTA: FROM BONDAGE TO LIBERATION Abstract Advaita Vedanta, based on the Hindu Upaniṣads of India, is a spiritual teaching tradition that has gained attention in the West over the past century. The teachings address the fundamental spiritual question of the nature of reality by expounding on the nature of the individual, and the relationship between the individual, the creation, and God. This dissertation focuses on the psychology of the individual in Advaita Vedanta, aiming to identify and amplify the implicit psychology embedded in the traditional texts. The research contributes to developing scholarship between the East and West in the related fields of east- west psychology, contemplative psychology, and Western academic psychology by presenting the essential teachings of Advaita Vedanta in a language oriented toward a Western contemporary audience. Advaita Vedanta claims that the true nature of the human individual is a non-dual Self, defined as limitless existent consciousness. This non-dual Self is shown to be one with Brahman, the Self of the entire cosmic creation. Thus, the teachings ultimately affirm a non-dual relationship between the individual and the creation as a whole as they are both seen as manifestations of one undivided Self. According to Vedanta, bondage (saṃsāra) is the human condition caused by iv inborn ignorance (avidyā) of this fact, and liberation (mokṣa) is what takes place when a person gains knowledge of this truth. This research utilizes a theoretical methodology to study the teachings on bondage and liberation presented in the primary and secondary texts of the Advaita Vedanta teachings. The dissertation presents an organized system of human psychology that is centered on answering two psychological questions: What is human identity? and What is the root cause for human suffering? In answering these questions, this study presents a theoretical model of human psychology based on the teachings of Advaita Vedanta. v This work is dedicated to my teacher with love and gratitude. Om v i TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract..................................................................................................................iv Chapter 1: Introduction...........................................................................................1 Field of Study......................................................................................................4 Scope of Study/Limitations................................................................................7 Western psychology........................................................................................7 Advaita Vedanta teachings.............................................................................8 Language.........................................................................................................9 Methodology/Theoretical Tools.........................................................................9 Literature Review.............................................................................................13 Background...................................................................................................13 Organization of literature..............................................................................16 Primary sources for Advaita Vedanta.......................................................17 General scholarship on Advaita Vedanta tradition...................................20 Sources for Western depth psychology....................................................22 Significance......................................................................................................25 East-West scholarship...................................................................................25 Personal.........................................................................................................26 Social-cultural...............................................................................................27 Spiritual.........................................................................................................28 Chapter 2: Background on Advaita Vedanta Tradition........................................29 Introduction.......................................................................................................29 Epistemology of Advaita Vedanta....................................................................31 Six Valid Means of Knowledge (pramāṇas)....................................................33 The Vedas as a means of knowledge............................................................38 Absolute and relative knowledge..................................................................41 Validity of the Vedas as a source of knowledge...........................................42 Use of Verbal Testimony (śabda-pramāṇa) in the Teacher-Student Relationship......................................................................................................44 Self-knowledge and self-ignorance..............................................................45 Teaching methodology of Advaita Vedanta.................................................46 Ontological Vision of the Cosmic Universal Whole- Īśvara............................53 Brahman and Mithyā: Two orders of reality................................................54 The non-duality of Brahman and the creation..............................................57 Brahman as the material and intelligent cause of the creation.....................59 The intelligent order of the creation: Universal laws of karma and dharma.62 Conclusion........................................................................................................66 Chapter 3: Structure and Function of the Human Psyche in Advaita Vedanta.....67 Introduction.......................................................................................................67 The Vedantic Self and the Jīva.........................................................................68 Defining the Self...............................................................................................69 Use of words as a means of gaining Self-knowledge (śabda-pramāṇa)......71 Self as satyam...............................................................................................76 Self as jñānam...............................................................................................77 vi i Self as anantam.............................................................................................81 Self as satyam, jñānam, anantam.................................................................82 The Vedantic Self in Comparison.....................................................................84 Defining the Jīva...............................................................................................87 The Fourfold Mind (antaḥkaraṇa) and the Sense Organs (jñānendrya)..........89 Manas............................................................................................................92 Citta..............................................................................................................93 Buddhi...........................................................................................................96 Ahaṅkāra.......................................................................................................99 The Vedantic Ego in Comparison...................................................................104 Projection........................................................................................................106 Conclusion......................................................................................................108 Chapter 4: The Psychological Condition of Bondage........................................110 Introduction to Bondage and Liberation.........................................................110 Introduction and Defining Condition of Bondage..........................................111 Living in the state of saṃsāra.....................................................................113 The limited person and cycles of desire......................................................115 Self-Ignorance in the Human Psyche..............................................................120 Mutual superimposition..............................................................................125 Self-identity and ego-function in the state of bondage...............................128 Identity and psychological state of bondage...............................................133 Defining core-beliefs..................................................................................134 Emotional Suffering in the State of Bondage.................................................137 Primary and Secondary Core-Beliefs.............................................................139 Conclusion......................................................................................................142 Chapter 5: The Psychology of Liberation in Advaita Vedanta...........................144 Introduction.....................................................................................................144 Knowledge of the Self as the Nature of the Jīva............................................146 Vedantic teaching methodologies: discrimination, negation, and positive assertion......................................................................................................149 Moment of realization: A close up look.....................................................152 The process of psychological transformation: A basic shift in identity.....155 The nature of the Self as limitless...............................................................157 Healing the wounds of bondage: A new paradigm of reality.....................162 Knowledge of Identity With the Creation as Īśvara.......................................165 Vision of the whole: Self, creation, and the individual..............................169 The creation as Īśvara: A universal cosmic being......................................172 Impact on the psyche: Psychological healing.............................................176 Transformative Process in the Psyche From Bondage to Liberation..............185 Conclusion......................................................................................................191 Chapter 6: Developing Emotional Maturity in Advaita Vedanta.......................192 Introduction.....................................................................................................192 Defining Emotional Maturity..........................................................................193 Defining a mature Buddhi...........................................................................195 Following dharma and emotional maturity................................................199 vi ii The Qualified Student and Fourfold Qualification (sādhanacatuṣṭaya)........201 Discrimination between time-bound and timeless (viveka)........................201 Dispassion for worldly things (vairāgya)...................................................203 Desire for liberation (mumukṣutvam).........................................................204 Wealth of the six disciplines (śamādiṣatkasampatti).................................206 The Dharmic Order.........................................................................................209 Dharma and binding desires (kama)...........................................................212 Following dharma as a means of developing emotional maturity..............215 Impact of Gaining Self-Knowledge on Developing Emotional Maturity.......219 Objectivity as an inner resource..................................................................221 Relaxation and healing of the mind............................................................223 Cultivating compassion toward the mind...................................................224 Releasing the knot of the heart (hṛdayagranthi).........................................227 Conclusion......................................................................................................228 Chapter 7: Conclusion........................................................................................229 Introduction.....................................................................................................229 “The Psychology of Advaita Vedanta”: A System of Psychology.................229 Structural model of the human psyche.......................................................229 Human problem of psychological suffering: Self-ignorance......................231 Solution to the problem: Gaining Self-knowledge.....................................233 Therapeutic means prescribed for healing..................................................236 Suggested Topics for Further Research..........................................................238 Conclusion......................................................................................................240 References...........................................................................................................242 ix Chapter 1: Introduction This dissertation focuses on the spiritual teachings of Advaita Vedanta and aims to identify and amplify the implicit psychology that is embedded in the texts of the tradition. Though the teachings of Advaita Vedanta approach the nature of reality from many different standpoints, my interest lies primarily in what they have to say about the psychology of the individual. This research aims to present a psychological model based on the teachings, which will be given the name “Psychology of Advaita Vedanta.” The general goal is to make the teachings of Vedanta more available to a Western audience. Specifically, it is to introduce the Psychology of Advaita Vedanta into the academic discourse in the fields of East-West Psychology and Western Psychology. This dissertation adds an original contribution to these fields because the topic has not been developed in the research. Over the past three decades Western Psychology has exhibited a growing interest in the spiritual dimension of psychological work, particularly in the related fields of East-West, and Transpersonal Psychology. Therefore this research carries with it the possibility of bearing fruit at a time when the related fields of study are ripe with interest for what it has to contribute. The theoretical method of research is used in this dissertation to study the primary and secondary texts of Advaita Vedanta. The subject matter is human psychology, which is being approached through the lens of Advaita Vedanta. The standpoint that I take in engaging with the texts of the tradition is from within it as opposed to viewing it through a particular Western psychological lens. This 1 approach has been chosen because it best serves the purpose of presenting the essential teachings of Advaita Vedanta on the nature of individual psychology. Two related concepts form the basis for psychological inquiry in Advaita Vedanta; the question of individual identity and the root cause for human suffering. Exploring these key concepts and their association to the psychology of bondage (saṃsāra) and liberation (mokṣa) in Advaita Vedanta is at the heart of this study. In addressing this central theme the following four objectives are covered: to identify the structural landscape and function of the human psyche, to define bondage (saṃsāra) and liberation (mokṣa) as two different psychological states rooted in different core-beliefs about the identity of the individual, to identify the goal of gaining Self-knowledge as the means by which the psyche is liberated from the state of bondage, and finally to define emotional maturity according to Vedanta, and discuss the relationship between developing emotional maturity and gaining Self-knowledge. Advaita Vedanta understands the fundamental cause for human suffering to be rooted in the fact of our mistaken identity as individuals. The teaching asserts that due to inborn Self-ignorance, we are falsely identified with the limited mind-body-sense-complex. This identification leads us to believe that we are separate and lacking a basic sense of wholeness. According to Vedanta, the core- beliefs, rooted in Self-ignorance, propel us naturally on a lifetime journey of seeking experiences, objects, and situations that we believe will give us the sense of wholeness, completeness, or the lasting happiness that we want. The following 2