Ontology of Ramanuja

[Dan Lusthaus]

Martin,

>>In short, the world as acit has reality apart from consciousnesses because
>>the  ultimate cause of materiality is Brahman, which is also the ultimate
>>cause of consciousness (cit). Both cit and acit are produced from the same
>>ultimate cause, while each operates within the causal dynamics of its own
>>sphere. The material world functions through its own causal operations.
>
>Is this a summary of Gupta's position, or your own understanding of Ramanuja?

It is a drastically reduced version of Gupta's reading, but my own is not
that far off. Ramanuja's God:world::self:body, i.e., the world is God's
body, with individual jivas or atmans knowing the world through their
pramanas, suggests something similar. The key category, of course, is acit.
Gupta provides numerous citations, including transcribed passages, so it is
definitely worth a look. Chitamattam is more critical of Ramanuja, but his
critiques sometimes seem off the mark (e.g. accusing Ramanuja of flirting
with pantheism, etc.).

Happy reading,


Dan Lusthaus
Florida State University