Advaita Vedanta and Platonic

metaphysics
by Paul Scroccaro

(translated by Charles Salvo)

Advaita Vedanta is the Vedanta (end of the Vedas) of

Non-Duality, usually considered the apex of Hindu
spirituality, since through its universality it does not
stand in opposition to the other orthodox currents
(darshana, that is, points of view), but intends to
“include” and reinterpret them from a wider visual
angle.

Platonism is the most complete expression of

Metaphysics in the traditional West, and as such, it has
permeated the Greek-Latin civilization for many
centuries, later influencing also the less fideistic and
more sympathetic sectors of Christianity to effective
realizations. Its influence on Sufism has been still more
considerable; not by chance is Plato honoured as the
"imam of wisdom" in those circles.

Advaita Vedanta and Platonism are most associated

with the names of Shankara and Plato, almost as if they
were the devisers of such doctrines; in truth, such
doctrines are rooted in pre-existent traditions, and they
were simply important interpreters or codifiers of
them, just like the Sages of the Upanishad, Gaudapada,
the followers of Shankara, Lycurgus, Pythagoras,
Plutarch, Porphyry, Emperor Julian, etc.

As the greatest expressions of the Sophia Perennis,

Advaita Vedanta and Platonism show extraordinary
convergences on fundamental notions, at times
expressed through different formulations, which, in any
case, illuminate each other in turn. We will dwell on
some important convergences, among those which are
indicated below, that mark the ABCs of Metaphysics as
such.

The function of myths and symbols: the “esoteric"

approach to them is indispensable in order to go
beyond the narrowness of literalism, typical of an arid
religiosity, since not enlivened by appeals to the
intellectual and metaphysical order. Plato, Shankara
and their respective disciples have openly denounced
the ignorant attachment to the simple letter of the
sacred texts and ancient myths, as well as
misunderstood ritualism. It is well-known that Plato has
made a skilful use of myths in order to support the
intuition of doctrine, while Shankara has commented
on the Vedic symbolism in an equally skilful way. The
denunciation is still important today, considering the
state of obtuse solidification into which current
religious forms are poured.

Non-duality: such an expression means that

metaphysics, as an opening to the Infinite, is free from
Duality, rigid contrasts, and any unilateral reductionism
(that is, from any attempt to reduce the richness of the
real to a single term).

Infinity: that is the Real par excellence, which, as

such, leaves nothing outside of itself and therefore
subsumes any other reality, necessarily partial and
finite; it is also called Brahman nirguna (that is without
limiting qualities), Atman, Self, the Good (Plato), the
One above forms (Plotinus and Porphry)... How to open
1

oneself to the infinite? Such an opening is the ultimate

sense of any sadhana (discipline, realized path).
Ordinary existence is "imprisonment", because it is
chained to the Finite, that is, to the limitative forms
(ego, wealth, objects of consumption etc.); the
discipline of non-attachment is the indispensable
premise to overcome attachment, which tends to give
absolute value to what is relative, which becomes,
therefore, the veiling superimposition (Maya, Upadhi,
the Shadows of Plato’s cave).

Aspects of the discipline of relization: the various

schools can utilize very diverse methods; nevertheless
some general lines persist, epitomizing the notion of
Purification (from the ego, from the contingent). In this
context, substantial similarities emerge between the
cardinal Virtues of Platonism and ascetic Vedic rules,
indispensable indications of one salvific and pacifying
inner transformation (metanoia).

Buddhi-nous: in the process of expansion of

consciousness to the Infinite, various cognitive abilities
come into play, among which a non-arbitrary hierarchy
exists: in the last analysis, it rests on the various
degrees of conscious opening connected to the various
faculties. Buddhi for the Vedanta, Nous for Platonism,
occupies the apex of such a hierarchy because they are
capable, at least in potency, of a total opening (the
myth of Plato’s cave exemplifies this in an
unsurpassable way).

Supra-individual Knowing: obviously, any spiritual

transformation has the individual as the point of
departure, considered in its corporeal and
psychological totality. In such an initial stage, it is
unavoidable that the “I” tends to favour the merely
individual faculties (senses, manas, reason...), capable
of the most egocentric or, in any case, anthropocentric
knowledge, since it operates on the calculations of the
“I” or certain human groups. Nevertheless, in the
course of the path of realisation, that which initially
prevailed is gradually reorganized in favor of a supra-
individual universal application (Self, Atman, Universal
Intellect, Buddhi...).

Contemplation and realization: only the stopping of

the mind, that is, persisting in the interior silence, in
the free mental suspension from desire-attachment-
passions-turbulations..., allows the contemplative
experience, which is disinterested and detached
observation of being, not conditioned by the
manipulative attempts that characterize ordinary
experiences and those of techno-science (which belong
in the dominion of manas-reason). The contemplative
experience can expand and be turned toward the
Absolute, not in the sense that the Absolute becomes an
object of consciousness: being Infinite, it cannot
become the "object" of anything else -- otherwise it
would not be such. Only the Infinite can know the
Infinite. The buddhic-noetic consciousness, in so far as
capable of total expansion, can experience the Infinite
as far as it realizes it interiorly.

Yoga, that is, Union or Supreme Identity with the

universal Infinite, is the ultimate aim of Vedantic and
Platonic metaphysics (and of any such metaphysics).

Cosmic-universal consciousness: the realized sage

puts himself firmly in the state of pure observing
consciousness, of pure witness (Âtman, Intellect always
in act) of what the mortals consider the events of the
world. The cosmic gaze of the sage is impassable-
immobile; the gaze of mortals is always fluctuating,
hyperagitated, and selective: they focus on certain
contents to the detriment of others, indulging in the
instability of the preferences of the moment; they
scrutinize with restlessness the appearing and
disappearing of beings, based on their particular
requirements, that necessarily require the polarity
attraction-repulsione, pleasure-pain (from this arises
the lack of universality and the presence of Duality-
Dvaita on many levels).

Equanimity: the pure consciousness of cit- intellect,

always in act, as the eternal universal opening, is the
Pleasant in regard to any Being, without preclusion; in
such a conscious position, or even only in proximity to
it, in place of attraction-repulsion, or of other similar
polarities, appears Equanimity, united with a
proportionate degree of bliss (ananda), in the measure
in which no event can alter the imperturbability of the
detached observer; that is so since it transcends any
form of dualistic opposition (the perfect fulfilment of
such transcendence coincides with Nirvana, as the
extinction of troubled breath) . 2

Notes

1- In high school and university workbooks, we almost

always find incredible interpretative distortions that impede a
correct understanding of the doctrine.

2- Certainly, it can be objected that such a horizon of

realization appears unreachable, not being in the range of
ordinary existence stuck in the cave-maya, and therefore in the
flux of the polarity of opposites; nevertheless, since there are
various degrees of conditioning and deconditioning, everyone
should ask himself: What is the cosmic character of my opening
of consciousness? What is the character of my attachments?
How much equanimity is possible in regard to human and not
human beings?

The simple answer to these questions procures a consciousness

that can guarantee further developments and favour the
ascending dialectic of that "winged thought" that leads to the
Hyperuranic, there where our roots (v. Timeus 90 a-b ) and those
of the entire cosmic life (v. Katha Upanishad , II, 1) are planted.