PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF VEDANTA

The three primary schools of Vedanta are Dvaita (dualism), Vishishtadvaita (qualified nondualism), and Advaita (nondualism).

Dvaita, as taught by Madhva (1199-1276), holds that matter, human souls, and Brahman are absolutely different from one another.  Here salvation is not thought of as union with Brahman, but as drawing close to him and dwelling forever with him in the contemplation of his glory.  Brahman saves souls entirely by his grace, without which even the intensest devotion and strictest morality are of no avail.  Dvaita is the only branch of older Vedanta in which Christian influence is almost certain.

Vishishtadvaita was taught by Ramanuja in the 11th and 12th centuries A.D. and states that all living creatures and non-living matter are parts of Brahman, who is their sole and controlling power.  Vishishtadvaita is "the way of devotion," as opposed to "the way of works" and "the way of knowledge."  It believes that liberation is only to be gained by intense devotion to Brahman, until the worshipper realizes fully that he is but a fragment of Brahman and wholly dependent on Brahman.  Only by completely abandoning oneself into the hands of Brahman, and humbly awaiting his grace, can one's salvation be realized.  The emancipated soul is one with Brahman, yet separate. 

Advaita is the premier and oldest extant philosophy among the Vedanta schools.  As taught by Shankara (circa 750 A.D.) it maintains that there is a complete and essential identity between Brahman and Atman, and between God and the individual soul.  When this identity is fully realized, not merely as a logical proposition but as a fact of one's inmost consciousness, the soul is raised above the illusions of this transitory world and is lost forever in the one final Truth that is Brahman.