The “king of the Upanishads,” the Mandukya negates the waking state entity as our primary identity. It is accompanied by Gaudapada’s famous karika, better known as commentaries on the non-origination of the universe. Vedanta generally presents the creation as an effect of a prior cause, which is suitable for beginning inquirers. The non-origination teaching is suitable for inquirers who are not satisfied with the cause and effect teaching. It is often touted as the ‘final’ teaching because the idea of causality tends to obscure the fact that our suffering is due to ignorance, not the result of uncontrollable forces i.e. the law of karma. One’s destiny is difficult to change but ignorance is less difficult to remove, once you know what it is.

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