India Studies Webinar | Abhinavagupta and ‘non-duality’ (advaita)

When Abhinavagupta (!. c. 975-1025 CE) argues for ‘absolute non-duality’ (paramādvaita) as a fundamental principle of everything, what does he mean? This fundamental meta-category subsumes within itself both ‘duality’ (dvaita or bheda) and ‘non-duality’ (advaita or abheda) in a resolution that, on the surface, appears to be nothing more than an oxymoron. How can two mutually opposing categories be one? However, for Abhinavagupta, both ‘duality’ and ‘non-duality’ are the basic building blocks of an all-encompassing singular meta-category called ‘absolute non-duality’ (paramādvaita). This version of non-duality argues for inclusivism, i.e., for any idea of binary to manifest, someone fundamentally recognises the distinction between, for instance, a ‘pot’ (ghaṭa) and a ‘non-pot’ (aghaṭa) and it is this distinction (dvaita or bheda) that unitarily brings a pot and a non-pot together (advaita or abheda). By saying this, Abhinavagupta is not suggesting that a pot is a non-pot and a non-pot is a pot. But they are singular manifestations in a plural form of and in a singular principle, i.e., non-dual consciousness (advaitasamvit). Using a more contemporary terminology, this form of non-duality may be called ‘pluralistic non-dualism’ or ‘subjective pluralism’, understood in the sense that even two mutually opposing labels, such as ‘pluralistic idealism’ or ‘idealistic realism’, can be used.