“Advaita,” in philosophical terms, is non-dualism, often also seen as monism. The essence here is that Brahman is the ultimate reality and everything else is transient. Thus, all phenomena around us, as per Advaita Vedanta, is nothing but an illusion, or maya, of Brahman.
Now, Vedanta is the root and Advaita is one version of it. Vedanta, in essence, is an interpretation of The Upanishads and the philosophies contained in them. It could also be seen as a summary of Upanishads, or, Bādarāyaņa’s Brahma Sūtra.
Adi Śhaṅkaracharya is widely mentioned as one who promoted Advaita Vedānta as an eminent Indian philosophical school. However, as per scholars, Advaita Vedanta originated prior to the appearance of Adi Shankaracharya, and the same is mentioned by him in his various commentaries.
Early Advaita is mostly credited to Upanishadic philosophers and teachers like Yajñavalkya, Uddalaka, and Bādarāyaņa, the author of the Brahma Sūtra. Advaita is widely seen as idealist monism, proposed first in Upaniṣhads; over time, it was consolidated in the Brahma Sūtra by this tradition.
Advaita metaphysics says that Brahman is the ultimate, transcendent and immanent God of the latter Vedas; brahman is seen as the world due to maya or its creative energy.
As per Advaita Vedanta, our world does not exist apart from Brahman. It considers Jiva and Atman or The experiencing self and transcendental self of the Universe as identical. In other words, it sees both as Brahman. This, even as the individual self seems different just as space within a container appears different from space.
To quote a verse whose origin remains unknown:
“brahma satyam jagan mithya; jīvo brahmaiva na aparah”
Meaning: Brahman is alone True, and this world of plurality is an error; the individual self is not different from Brahman.
So, if we experience plurality its due to our own errors of judgment or mithya and ignorance or avidya. Knowledge of Brahman removes mithya and avidya, help us gain liberation from seemingly endless cycle of transmigration and worldly bondage.
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