Exploring the Notion of Self in Sufism and Advaita Vedanta: Unity, Divine Love, and Spiritual Realization

Abstract

The spiritual landscapes of the Islamic and Hindu traditions, respectively, have been significantly affected by sufism and advaita vedanta, two mystic traditions. The nature of the individual and its connection to the divine are profoundly illuminated by both faiths. The similar themes of unity, divine love, and spiritual realization between Sufism and Advaita Vedanta are highlighted as this issue examines the idea of self in both religions. In this essay, I try to look into the unmistakable similarities between the ontologies of many different global religions, which form their fundamental tenets. In fact, it seems absurd to ignore pointing out the parallels between these religions and a sizable number of psychological theories. Since there are so many different world religions, I have chosen to focus on two in particular: Islam and Hinduism. Because of the complexity and diversity of each of these religions, I have chosen to only look at one school of thought from each, Advaita Vedanta in Hinduism and Sufism in Islam. Their ontologies have such striking commonalities that I believe more research is essential.