What does the Shankara school teach?

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Shankara attempted to show that the teaching of the Upanishads was a self-consistent whole. According to Shankara, the ultimate reality is Brahman or the Self, which is pure reality, pure consciousness, and pure bliss. The world has come into being from Brahman and is wholly dependent on it. The criteria of reality are immutability and permanence. Since the world is constantly changing, and since its existence is not absolute but dependent on Brahman, the world is called illusion or maya . Brahman exists as the Absolute, without qualities ( nirguna ), and also exists with qualities ( saguna ) as a personal god, Ishvara, who presides over the world of appearance.