[Advaita-l] naiShkarmya

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Tue, 27 Jun 2006, Ed Akehurst wrote:

>
>> (Ed) ... with the major emphasis having been within the tenets of Taoism.
>> Advaita Vedanta seems the natural progression to me ...
>>
>>                                   *
>> 
>> Does the taoist expression « wu-wei » (non action) has an equivalent in
>> sanskrit ?  naiShkarmya maybe ?
>> 
>> Sylvain
>
> I am sure others are much more qualified than I to respond to this, but, yes, 
> it is my understanding that the terms are very similar, although I think from 
> what I have seen naiShkarmya would be closer to the full term wei-wu-wei 
> (action non action) which is more accurate as to its meaningful application.
>

Correct me if I am wrong but Taoism is dualistic is it not? (yin and yang 
are both eternal cosmic principles)  If this is so, it would be more like 
classical Samkhya/Yoga than Vedanta.  Samadhi in Samkhya/Yoga is also a 
state of balance between action and non-action.  However Vedanta goes 
further and says it is not enough there must also be knowledge (jnana) for 
liberation.

An interesting little fact.  One of the oldest Samkhya texts called 
Suvarna Saptati has been lost in Sanskrit but exists in a Chinese 
translation.  In some Indian Tantric and alchemical works there are 
references to Mahachina as being an area where esoteric traditions come 
from.  (This could refer to Indochina or Tibet rather than China proper 
though.)  So it was possible there was some influence or exchange between 
the two traditions.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>