Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t15.8

v1.c7.s7.t15.8

The core issue of Upanishad is the relationship between “Brahman” and “Atman”. Many philosophers have proposed “The unity of god and man”. However, the obvious problem exists when discussing this theory, ie on one hand, Brahman and Atman are the same thing; on the other hand, distinction has been made between them, such as Brahman is unique, while Atman is motley. Brahman is free and pure, but Atman is constrained and unpurified. In this way, there are various understandings in Brahman and Atman to the same degree and the differential degree, or even with the completely opposite explanation. When Vedanta was rising, the philosopher was carrying on the theory of “the unity of god and man” in Upanishad. The problem that also occurred was - how to deal with the relationship between Brahman and Atman, which are absolutely the same without any difference, or they are basically the same, with a little difference; perhaps the identity is true and the difference is visional. Consequently, numerous branches have been taken shape by different answers to the problem of relationship between Brahman and Atman (phenomenal world).