section_path: Beliefs/Purusharthas/Mokṣa (liberation, freedom from suffering)/Differing views on the nature of moksha
section_name: Differing views on the nature of moksha
paragraph_text: Differing views on the nature of moksha
  
  The meaning of moksha differs among the various Hindu schools of thought.
  
  Advaita Vedanta holds that upon attaining moksha a person knows their essence, or self, to be pure consciousness or the witness-consciousness and identifies it as identical to Brahman.
  
  The followers of Dvaita (dualistic) schools believe that in the afterlife moksha state, individual essences are distinct from Brahman but infinitesimally close, and after attaining moksha they expect to spend eternity in a loka (heaven).
  
  More generally, in the theistic schools of Hinduism moksha is usually seen as liberation from saṃsāra, while for other schools, such as the monistic school, moksha happens during a person's lifetime and is a psychological concept.
  
  According to Deutsch, moksha is a transcendental consciousness of the perfect state of being, of self-realization, of freedom, and of "realizing the whole universe as the Self". Moksha when viewed as a psychological concept, suggests Klaus Klostermaier, implies a setting free of hitherto fettered faculties, a removing of obstacles to an unrestricted life, permitting a person to be more truly a person in the fullest sense. This concept presumes an unused human potential of creativity, compassion and understanding which had been previously blocked and shut out.
  
  Due to these different views on the nature of moksha, the Vedantic school separates this into two views – Jivanmukti (liberation in this life) and Videhamukti (liberation after death).