The Importance of Consciousness

Brahman is not to be confused with the individual self, what Shankara calls the jiva. But Brahman is still recognizably a kind of self that is aware of nothing in particular. This emerges from a remarkable critique of Buddhist thought found in his commentary on the Vedanta-sutra. The Advaita rejection of everyday reality looks very Buddhist, as do its faith that liberation will ensue upon a proper understanding of the self.