A conversational reflection on a very real doubt in Advaita Vedānta
When Matter Looks Polluted but Brahman Stays Pure A conversational reflection on a very real doubt in Advaita Vedānta Recently my friend sent me a beautiful, honest question over WhatsApp: “If the entire universe is just nāma–rūpa (name and form) of Brahman, then matter is also Brahman. Everything is Brahman. Then why does it still appear dual when we say, ‘Existence is not a part or property of matter and is not affected by whatever happens to the material world’? It sounds as if matter and Brahman are separate when we say, ‘Brahman pervades matter but is untouched by it,’ while at the same time we also say matter is only name and form of Brahman alone. And further – if matter is not a second thing, how is it that we seem to pollute matter while Brahman remains untainted?” If you’ve spent time with Upaniṣads, Gītā, Taittirīya, Drg-Drśya Viveka, different teachers and commentaries… this kind of “back and forth confusion” is totally natural. Let’s unpack the doubt in si...