Moksha
Moksha (Sanskrit: विमोक्ष, liberation) or Mukti (Sanskrit: विमुक्ति, release) refers, in general, to liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. In higher Hindu philosophy, it is seen as a transcendence of phenomenal being, of any sense of consciousness of time, space, and causation (karma). It is not seen as a soteriological goal in the same sense as in, say, a Christian context, but signifies dissolution of the sense of self, or ego, and the overall breakdown of nama-roopa (name-form). It is, in Hinduism, viewed as analogous to Nirvana, though Buddhist thought tends to differ with even the Advaita Vedantist reading of liberation. Jainism and Surat Shabda Yoga traditions also believe in Moksha.
Hinduism, in support of the idea of Moksha, posits the idea of atman and Brahman. A common mistake is to view them, both spoken of as Self, as a monist being of sorts, something possessing substances. In actuality, Hindu scripture like the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, and especially the non-dual Hindu school of Advaita Vedanta, say that the Self or Super-Soul is beyond being and non-being, beyond any sense of tangibility and comprehension. Moksha is seen as a final release from one's worldly conception of self, the loosening of the shackle of experiential duality and a re-establishment in one's own fundamental nature, though the nature is seen as ineffable and beyond sensation.
- In Advaita, the concepts of Moksha and Buddhist Nirvana are not so disunited as to be incomparable. Indeed, there is much overlap in their views of consciousness and attainment of enlightenment. For Advaitists, the ultimate truth is not a singular Godhead, per se, but rather is oneness without form or being, something that essentially is without manifestation, and this, by many liberal Advaitists, is seen as complementing, rather than denying, the 'voidness' of Buddhism.
- In dualist Hinduism, on the other hand, Moksha is not quite analogous to Nirvana in Buddhism. For Vaishnavites and Shaivites, Moksha means union with God. Buddhism, being a non-theistic religion, does not focus on God
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