Advaita Vedanta: Reality, Illusion, and Karma Explained

Brahman alone is reality, while the world and karma exist only as illusions in a dreamlike state.

### Understanding Reality: The Dual Nature of Existence in Advaita Vedanta
* 🌌 The body and mind are illusions, and our waking state is akin to a dream, with the only true essence being **pure awareness**.
* 🔍 Questions arise about karma and the entity that transitions from life to life, challenging the perception of reality when **everything is deemed an illusion**.
* 🎭 Advaita Vedanta posits two levels of truth: the **ultimate reality (paramarthika)** and the **transactional level (vyavaharika)**, akin to the distinction between a movie's **light and screen** versus its **plot and characters**.
* 📽 At the ultimate level, Brahman is the **only reality**—existence, consciousness, and bliss—while the world is merely an **appearance or fiction**.
* ⚖ Karma, like the narrative in a movie, exists within the realm of **appearance**; thus, from the ultimate standpoint, there is **no actual karma or lifetimes**, only the **illusion of them**.
* 🌪 The subtle body carries past karmas, influencing future experiences, but this too is part of the **illusory nature of existence**.
* 🙏 Ultimately, Advaita Vedanta teaches that while multiple lifetimes may seem real at a relative level, the truth is that "**when there is not even one birth, what is the question of rebirth?**"
* ✨ The profound insight is that you, as an individual (jiva), are **not separate from Brahman**, reinforcing the **non-dual nature of reality**.

Who Keeps Track of Karma? | Swami Sarvapriyananda

Vedanta Society of New York

The Illusion of Reality and the Nature of Being

The body and mind are illusions; true reality is pure being or awareness.

Karma is recorded against reflected consciousness within the illusion.

Questions arise about the nature of karma and reincarnation within an illusory world.

The paradox of accepting Advaita Vedanta's illusory world while questioning reincarnation.

Advaita Vedanta proposes two levels of reality: ultimate and transactional.

Using the movie analogy: ultimate reality is the screen and light; relative reality is the story.

The relative level encompasses the plot, characters, and consequences within the movie's narrative.

This two-level approach applies to fiction, movies, and our understanding of reality.

Brahman is the ultimate reality (existence, consciousness, bliss), while the world is an appearance.

Karma and Reincarnation within the Two-Level Framework

Karma and reincarnation exist within the relative level (the 'movie'), not the ultimate level (Brahman).

From the ultimate standpoint, there's no lifetime, karma, or need for recording it.

At the relative level, however, experiences of karma and reincarnation are part of the illusory world.

The subtle body carries karmic tendencies, which influence future experiences.

God is responsible for the karmic system within the transactional reality.

Addressing Conflicting Religious Views on Reincarnation

Advaita Vedanta acknowledges the transactional reality of multiple lifetimes or a single lifetime.

A story illustrates the Advaita perspective on the question of single vs. multiple lifetimes.

A non-dualist monk dismisses the question of rebirth, stating that the concept of birth itself is an illusion.

The monk's response highlights the Advaita view that even one lifetime is an illusion.

From the ultimate perspective, there are no multiple lifetimes, only Brahman.

At the relative level, the story of life unfolds with its truths and falsehoods.

The most important truth is the non-dual nature of reality: Jiva (individual self) is Brahman.