Vedanta   VEDANTA is an ancient Hindu philosophy of non-dualism. Hinduism is the oldest recorded religion known -10,000+ years. To understand this philosophy one needs to understand other concepts that are incorporated into this belief system , such as the term MAYA ---Maya--a term of Vedanta denoting ignorance obscuring the vision of God; the cosmic illusion on account of which the one appears as the many , the absolute as the relative; it is also used to denote attachment .---That was from the glossary from the gospel of SRI RAMAKRISHNA .- Maya in and of itself is a lot to digest . in Vedanta the highest truth or ultimate reality is Brahman --- the absolute , which is also described as existence-knowledge -bliss absolute. Brahman is beyond the laws of cause and effect, beyond time and space it is from whence we come it is pure spirit, singular .---through Maya the one appears to break into many . we descend into the cycle of birth and death . the goal of Vedanta is to break through the veil of ignorance , to realize our spiritual heritage, to break the cycle of birth and death, to reclaim the highest spiritual realm of existence - knowledge- bliss absolute.   Thank you acorn for giving me this introduction to Vedanta.