Philosopher · Medieval
Adi Shankara
c. 788–820 · Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism)
The chief teacher of non-dual Vedanta. Nostra Aetate 2 says that in Hinduism men “contemplate the divine mystery” through “searching philosophical inquiry” and seek release through asceticism and meditation.
In his commentaries on the Upanishads, the Gita and the Brahma Sutras he taught that Brahman alone is real, without qualities (nirguna), and that the self (atman) is identical with it; the world of multiplicity is maya, appearance superimposed on the One by ignorance, and liberation is the knowledge that dispels it. He founded monasteries at the four corners of India and died, by tradition, at thirty-two.
Why he matters: The most rigorous non-dualist metaphysics ever written and the great challenge to any theology of creation; Catholic thinkers from Monchanin to Clooney have met him on the doctrine of God's simplicity, where he and Aquinas are closest.
Where to be careful
If the world and the self are appearance, there is no creation, no sin, no grace and no love between two; the Church holds that the One freely made the many and that union with Him is communion, not identity. Reincarnation contradicts the single life and the resurrection.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.