The Final Truth: Beyond the Physical
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
✨ Ultimate Reality in Western Philosophy
Western philosophy does not agree on one single ultimate truth. Thinkers offer different explanations ranging from pure Being, Forms, God, substance, absolute spirit, to unknowable reality.
🟦 Parmenides – Being as the Only Reality
Parmenides taught that ultimate reality is One, eternal, unchanging Being. Change and plurality are illusions.
Example: “What is, is.” Reality is like a perfect, motionless sphere.
🟦 Plato – The World of Forms
Plato believed true reality exists in the non-physical world of Forms, which are eternal and perfect. The physical world is only a shadow.
Example:- In the Allegory of the Cave, prisoners see shadows (the sensory world), while the sun outside represents the Form of the Good, the highest reality.
🟦 Aristotle – Substance and the Unmoved Mover
Aristotle said ultimate truth lies in substances, formed by matter + form. Above all is the Unmoved Mover, pure actuality and the final cause of everything.
Example: Like a beloved who moves the lover without moving, God moves the universe by being its ultimate goal.
🟦 Plotinus – The One
Plotinus described ultimate reality as The One, beyond being and intellect. Everything emanates from The One like light from the sun.
Example: All things flow from The One and return to it in mystical union.
🟦 Thomas Aquinas – God as Pure Being
Aquinas identified ultimate reality as God: ipsum esse subsistens, meaning “Being itself.” Everything else merely participates in Being.
Example: God is like the ocean; individual beings are like waves that rise and fall.
🟦 Spinoza – One Substance (God or Nature)
Spinoza said only one infinite substance exists, which is God or Nature. Everything else is just a “mode” of this substance.
Example: Mind and body are two expressions of the same underlying substance; like two sides of one coin.
🟦 Immanuel Kant – Noumenon (Thing-in-Itself)
Kant believed the ultimate truth is the noumenon, the real object behind appearances. Humans can never fully know it.
Example: We see colored shapes (phenomena), but the true object (noumenon) lies beyond perception.
🟦 G.W.F. Hegel – The Absolute Spirit
Hegel saw ultimate reality as the Absolute Spirit, which unfolds through dialectical progress (thesis–antithesis–synthesis).
Example: History is Spirit gradually coming to understand itself.
🟦 Martin Heidegger – Being (Sein)
Heidegger said Western philosophy forgot the true meaning of Being. He distinguished Being from mere beings.
Example: A hammer’s “being” becomes clear only when it breaks; revealing its deeper meaning
🌟 Ultimate Reality in Indian Philosophy
Indian philosophy focuses on liberation (moksha) and sees ultimate reality as spiritual. The six orthodox (Āstika) schools accept the Vedas; the heterodox schools reject them.
✨ Orthodox Schools (Āstika)
🟧 Samkhya – Purusha and Prakriti
Samkhya proposes two eternal realities: Purusha (pure consciousness) and Prakriti (matter/energy). Liberation is Purusha’s separation from Prakriti.
Example: Prakriti “dances” for Purusha; when Purusha stops identifying with it, the dance ends.
🟧 Yoga – Realisation of Purusha
Yoga accepts Samkhya but adds Ishvara (God) as a helper. Ultimate reality is experienced when the mind becomes still.
Example: When mental fluctuations stop (citta-vritti-nirodha), Purusha reveals itself.
🟧 Nyaya – Realistic Pluralism
Nyaya holds that reality includes God, souls, atoms, and other categories. Liberation comes through correct knowledge.
Example: God arranges eternal atoms like an architect arranging materials.
🟧 Vaisheshika – Atomic Realism
Vaisheshika teaches that the universe is made of indivisible atoms and is governed by Ishvara.
Example: The world is like a pot made by combining clay atoms, guided by God.
🟧 Mimamsa – Eternal Vedic Dharma
Mimamsa initially saw ultimate reality as dharma preserved in eternal Vedic rituals. Later thinkers moved toward Brahman.
Example: Vedic mantras are eternal sounds that uphold cosmic order.
🟧 Vedanta – Brahman as Ultimate Reality
Advaita (Shankaracharya) – Non-Dual Brahman
Only Nirguna Brahman (without qualities) is real; the world is maya. Atman = Brahman. Example: Mistaking a rope for a snake; only the rope truly exists.
Visishtadvaita (Ramanuja) – Qualified Non-Dualism
Brahman (Vishnu) has qualities; souls and world are real but dependent parts of God. Example: The soul is to God what a body is to a person.
Dvaita (Madhva) – Dualism
God (Vishnu), souls, and matter are eternally distinct. Example: Master and servant remain separate even in liberation.
✨ Heterodox Traditions (Nāstika)
🟥 Buddhism – Emptiness (Śūnyatā)
Ultimate reality is emptiness, meaning no permanent essence exists. Everything is dependent and impermanent.
Example: A chariot is only a collection of parts; there is no fixed “chariot.”
🟥 Jainism – Eternal Souls and Many-Sided Truth
Jainism teaches eternal jīvas (souls) and karma. Reality is multi-sided (anekantavada).
Example: The soul is like gold covered in dust; cleansing karma reveals its true nature.
🟥 Charvaka – Materialism
Charvaka accepts only matter and perception. No soul, afterlife, or invisible reality exists.
Example: Consciousness arises from the body just as intoxication arises from fermented materials.
Conclusion
Ultimate reality in Western philosophy has many interpretations; from Parmenides’ unchanging Being and Plato’s eternal Forms to Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover, Spinoza’s one Substance, Kant’s unknowable noumenon, and Hegel’s Absolute Spirit. Indian philosophy focuses on liberation and sees ultimate reality as spiritual, ranging from Samkhya’s Purusha–Prakriti dualism to Advaita’s non-dual Brahman. Other traditions like Buddhism emphasize emptiness, Jainism teaches many-sided truth, and Charvaka promotes materialism. Overall, different traditions offer diverse views of what is truly real and foundational in the universe.
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