ABSTRACT
The chapter revisits the relationship between the one (Brahman) and the world of the many in the tradition of Advaita (non-dual) Vedānta. The most popular explanation is the one that likens the world to a sense-illusion, which we conjure, and experience because of our ignorance. The most famous of these analogies equates the world with a snake that is mistakenly perceived in place of a rope. The many as illusion interpretation justifies world-renunciation and has been most strongly and clearly articulated in the monastic and ascetic strands of Hinduism. Liberation (mokṣa) is equated with freedom from the illusory many and ultimately from the cycles of birth, death and rebirth (saṁsāra). The many do not have any intrinsic worth. Arguing against illusionism and dualism, this essay makes the case for the understanding of non-dualism that calls us to see a world of unimaginable diversity, beauty, and individual uniqueness, formed from the One, expressing its abundance and creativity and existing in ontological non-duality with It.
