Kaivalya — Absolute Aloneness of the Self
Kaivalya (absolute aloneness, independence, isolation) is the Yoga Sutras' term for the highest liberation — the Self recognized in its absolute independence from all phenomena, resting in its own nature.
Kaivalya (from Kevala — alone, only, absolute) is the Yoga Sutras' term for the highest liberation — the state where Purusha (consciousness) recognizes itself as eternally distinct from Prakriti (nature) and rests in its own absolute independence. In Advaita terms, Kaivalya corresponds to the recognition that the Atman is always and only itself — it was never actually mixed with the body-mind, never actually limited by Maya, never actually bound. The 'aloneness' is not loneliness but absolute self-sufficiency — the recognition that the Self does not need anything outside itself, because it IS everything. The Yoga Sutras (4.34) describe Kaivalya as 'the re-absorption of the Gunas into their primal state, devoid of any purpose for the Self, or the establishment of the power of consciousness in its own nature.' This 'own nature' (Svarupa) of consciousness — pure, self-luminous, without modification — is what Advaita calls Brahman.
Kaivalya — the re-absorption into consciousness's own nature — is the goal of all yoga and the highest state of the Self.
Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre's concept of 'radical freedom' — the awareness that consciousness is not determined by any prior essence or external condition — approaches but does not reach the Advaita concept of Kaivalya: Sartre's freedom is the freedom of an isolated individual, while Kaivalya is the recognition of the infinite Self that underlies all apparent individuals.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Written about in
- What Advaita Vedanta says about loneliness
Advaita's name for the goal comes from kevala, alone. It insists the aloneness is self-sufficiency and not loneliness — the Self needs nothing outside itself because it is everything — but the tradition chose that word and has never softened it.