MOKSHA - liberation, deliverance

MOKSHA (Sanskrit moksa, from the verb root “yew” - to leave, leave, be freed, through the desideratative “moksha” - to desire liberation) - in the Indian religious and philosophical tradition - the final liberation from samsara, that is, the evil infinity of all new and new births. Moksha, as one of the four goals of human life (see Purushartha), surpasses the other three (arthu, or material well-being, kama, that is, sensual joys, and dharma, or moral-religious law) and thereby cancels them; it implies a way out of the power of karma. The idea of ​​Moksha developed already in the Upanishads, and then it was finally framed in philosophical darsans.
    From the point of view of nyaya-vsheshiki, moksha, also called “apavarga”, is a rejection of any properties or characteristics of experience; the soul is freed from all bonds that connect it with the body, that is, from any sensations and experiences. Moksha can be reached through understanding the essence of categories and following ethical standards, however, moksha here does not mean the complete destruction of the individual “I”. Day purva-mimyasa moksha is the “highest good” (nihshreya), usually identified with the achievement of “heaven” (svarga); gaining such a benefit depends on steadfast adherence to the instructions of the Vedas (vidhi), moreover, the movement to Moksha is already predetermined by the internal energy of formation (bhavana), which is manifested in the imperative commands of the Vedic revelation. In the teaching of Sankhya, Moksha is understood as the separation of consciousness (see Purusha) and primary matter (see Prakrita); this is the return of the Atman, or Purusha, to its original pure (kaivalya) state, when it ceases to falsely identify itself with the formations of Prakriti, Tue. hours and with the emotional and psychological characteristics of personality.
    Moksha is most consistently interpreted in the spirit of the teachings of the Upanishads of Advaita Vedanta Shankara. Moksha here is the realization of the true essence of the Atman, in other words, the sudden realization by the adherent of the absolute identity of the Atman and the highest Brahman. Like purva-mimance, advaita also considers reliance on the Vedas to be fundamentally important for liberation, but in Shankara’s teachings the emphasis shifts from immutable commands and ritualistic instructions to the so-called. “Great utterances” (maha-vakya): “You are That” (Brihadaranyaka-up. III.9; Chandogya-up. VI.8.7), “This Atman is Brahman” (Brihadaranyaka-up., 2.5.19) idr .; these sayings are devoid of pragmatic value, they do not lead anywhere and bring up nobody, they only help to change the angle of view, leading the adherent to the moment when it will be possible for him to suddenly overturn and break through to true reality. From the advaita point of view, the accumulation of “good merit” (punya) is just a prerequisite necessary, but by no means sufficient, to achieve moksha. One who pays asceticism, piety or love, receives only a “good share” (bhaga) in the new birth, this is nothing more than a way of orientation in the world of karma, which does not go beyond it. According to Shankara, “all these rituals and means, the wearing of the sacred cord and the like, are completely separate from comprehending unity with the higher Atman” (Upadesa Sahasri, 1.30). If in the vishita-advaita of Ramanuja, the soul gradually moves towards liberation, accumulating knowledge, relying on its own good deeds and thoughts, as well as on the love and help of the personified Creator God Ishvara, then in advaita any auxiliary means are insufficient and flawed, without helping the adherent in reaching moksha. That is why, from the point of view of Ramanuja, even after leaving the samsaric circle of rebirths, the soul transforms, but retains its individuality - a kind of condensed history of its previous births, while for Shankara the moksha, identical with the higher Brahman, is absolutely opposed to the empirical world, and the realization Liberation involves the removal of individual personality traits. Moksha in Advaita is determined only apophatically, by removing all properties and characteristics; she is “non-dual” (advaita) and “devoid of qualities” (nirguna). At the same time, unlike Buddhist nirvana, gaining moksha in Advaita is “attaining what has already been achieved” (praptasya prapti), in other words, liberation is not just set as “the goal of a person” (purusartha), which one should strive for; moksha, identical with the highest Brahman and the pure Atman, “precedes” the empirical world and assumes it. Unlike the relative reality of the universe, liberation is really absolute, and therefore it exists before and in addition to the entire illusory play of creation (see Leela, Maya).
    Despite the extreme radicalism of Sankhya and especially Advaita Vedanta in their approach to Moksha, it is these two teachings that share the idea of ​​the practical realization of liberation. Unlike other orthodox schools of Indian philosophy, they allow the possibility of so-called. liberation during life (jivanmukti). According to this view, moksha cancels the effect of all karma that binds this individual, with the exception of that which has already begun to “bear fruit” (prarabdha-karma), otherwise stealing, that karma whose inertia is already acting. In this case, the adept who has attained liberation retains his body until his natural death, while at the same time no longer feeling bound by this body. At this stage, the atman is already aware of itself as a sakshin, i.e., an internal witness of acts of perception and action, distinguishing itself from the corresponding mental functions. He no longer has to worry about aligning his behavior with moral and religious norms: they have no power over him, but now they are accompanying him with cleanliness and goodness without any special efforts. Other orthodox schools believed that complete liberation is possible only by “dropping the body” after death (the concept of videha-mukti - liberation without the body).