Vedanta is one of the world’s most ancient religious philosophies and one of its broadest. Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions. Vedanta is the philosophical foundation of Hinduism; but while Hinduism includes aspects of Indian culture, Vedanta is universal in its application and is equally relevant to all countries, all cultures, and all religious backgrounds.

Vedanta literally means the end portion of the Vedas, the ancient scriptures in India which serve as comprehensive guides to life and living. “Vedanta” is a combination of two words: “Veda” which means “knowledge” and “anta” which means “the end of” or “the goal of.” In this context the goal of knowledge isn’t intellectual—the limited knowledge we acquire by reading books. “Knowledge” here means the knowledge of God as well as the knowledge of our own divine nature. Vedanta, then, is the search for Self-knowledge as well as the search for God.

According to Vedanta, God is infinite existence, infinite consciousness, and infinite bliss. The term for this impersonal, transcendent reality is Brahman, the divine ground of being. Yet Vedanta also maintains that God can be personal as well, assuming human form in every age.Vedanta further asserts that the goal of human life is to realize and manifest our divinity. Our real nature is divine; God-realization is our birthright. Finally, Vedanta affirms that all religions teach the same basic truths about God, the world, and our relationship to one another.