VEDANTA, IN ESSENCE

Vedanta teaches that the purpose of man's life is to realize the ultimate Reality, or Godhead, here and now, through spiritual practice.  The word Vedanta may refer solely to the nondualistic aspect of the philosophy, Advaita Vedanta.  Advaita, literally non-dualism, is the premier and oldest extant among the Vedanta schools and has as its principal exponent Shankara, or Shankaracharya (circa 750 A.D.) 

Advaita declares that the manifold universe of name and form is a misreading of the one ultimate Reality.  This Reality is called Brahman when regarded as transcendent, and Atman when regarded as immanent.  Since it is omnipresent, this Reality must be within every creature and object.  Therefore, man, along with everything else, is essentially divine.  Direct intuitive experience of his identity with Atman-Brahman releases man from all worldly bondages he has superimposed on his true nature, granting him spiritual perfection and eternal peace. 

Vedanta is often, but less correctly, called Hinduism, a word first used by the Persians for the inhabitants of India, because they lived on the far side of the river Sindhu, or Indus.  Vedanta accepts all the great spiritual teachers and personal or impersonal aspects of the Godhead worshiped by different religions, considering them as manifestations of the one Reality.  By demonstrating the essential unity at the source of all religions, Vedanta serves as a framework within which all spiritual truth may be expressed.