Atman & Brahman

[prasad1]

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[FONT=&quot][h=1][/h]The phrase "atman is Brahman" captures the Vedanta school's primary view about ultimate reality and our human relationship to it. The Vedanta school of Hindu thought is one of the largest and most dominant perspectives in Hindu philosophy.

What does "atman is Brahman" mean?

Let's break the phrase down into its two basic concepts.

First is "atman" - loosely translated, this means "soul" or "individual soul." Atman refers to the essence of each individual living thing - its soul or primary living energy. Each living thing - people, animals, plants - have an atman that forms each thing's eternal essence. The atman is not the body; the body is not eternal. The body houses the atman until the body dies. Atman is immortal and eternal.

Brahman is "world soul" or "cosmic soul." It is the eternal essence of the universe and the ultimate divine reality. It is the life source of all that has been, is and will be throughout the entire cosmos. It is not an individual being - it is more like the primal ground or reality of all being and existence.
So, the phrase "atman is Brahman" is saying, quite simply, that the individual soul is the world soul.

In other words, each individual soul - say, yours or mine - comes from and is made of the same reality as the world soul. There is no distinction between us, on the one hand, and the ultimate divine reality, on the other.

This is an amazing concept!
It basically means that in our deepest selves, we are divine. All living things are divine in their deepest selves. Now, that divine self may be hidden or covered over by hatred, envy, fear or other negative things. But, it is there nonetheless and it is our "true" and "eternal" selves.




Maybe you've heard people say hello, goodbye or greet people with the word "namaste" accompanied by clasped hands and a bow. What this greeting means is something like "the divine in me honors the divine in you." This statement makes sense because of the belief that "atman is Brahman" - all living things are ultimately divine.

This concept is at the heart of much of the non-violent tradition in Hinduism, and is has spread throughout the world into other systems of thought.



Indeed, the concept of "atman is Brahman" has had a powerful impact in the world - even in communities that don't practice Hinduism.

Atman & Brahman
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[TD][h=2]Atman & Brahman[/h]Atman and brahman are central concepts in the Hindu understanding of human being and their relationship to ultim...
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[prasad1]

[h=1]Mahavakyas[/h][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]by Swami Sivananda[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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THAT TVAM ASI - (That Thou Art)
Introduction

'THAT THOU ART! - 'Thus the Sruti emphatically and boldly voices forth the highest and most sublime truth that is the essence of all scriptures, nay, that is the goal of all scriptural teachings and assertions.

It is the greatest declaration ever made on the face of the earth. It is the profoundest teaching ever given since the dawn of creation. It is the only way of expressing and indicating the Truth that is beyond the reach of the mind and the senses. It is the one unique teaching that comforts the distressed humanity and infuses inner spiritual strength and courage into them to pooh-pooh the miseries and pains of mundane existence and soar high into the realm of non-dual, all-blissful eternal Existence.

If it be simple in the words that it employs, it requires the well-polished sharp intellect of the advanced aspirant to understand the subtlest Truth that it wishes to convey. If it be unostentatious in its expression, it is at once majestic and imperative in its utterance. If it be brief and blunt, aphoristic in its exposition of the highest Truth, it readily gets instilled deep in our hearts and minds, and from within us, it mysteriously raises our consciousness to that non-dual eternal plane of existence.

Such is the greatness of this Mahavakya, Tat-Tvam-Asi, which the Upanishadic Rishi, Uddalaka, employed to impart Brahma-Vidya to his son and disciple, Svetaketu.

The Means to Realisation

Man is essentially Divine. He is not different from that eternal, non-dual substratum, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. He is neither born into this Samsara, nor is he ever in a state of bondage. He is ever free, Nityamukta.
His present miseries and sufferings, his pains and limited pleasures, births and deaths, are all due to his erroneous identification with the five sheaths and the three bodies. And, in turn, this erroneous identification is the result of not-knowing of the truth, or the forgetfulness pertaining to it. This ignorance, Causal Ignorance, is at the root of all actions and reactions. Only the annihilation of this ignorance can lead us to our original state of non-dual blissful immortal existence.

This ignorance is not born of anything so that it can be destroyed through some action or other. It is simply a negative aspect. Just as absence of lights brings in darkness, absence of the sun brings in the night, so too, absence of Real Knowledge has brought in this Causal Ignorance.

No amount of fighting with darkness or night will destroy them. But, when the lamp or the sun is there, they disappear into nothingness, without leaving a trace. Similarly, where there is True Knowledge, there exists not even a trace of this Causal Ignorance. That True Knowledge is the Knowledge pertaining to our real, eternal, immortal Self which is not touched either by the causal ignorance or the effects of causal ignorance, just like the sun is not touched by the darkness of the night.

So, knowledge alone is the means for the Realisation of the Self; Self-Knowledge alone can liberate man from the meshes of Samsara.

http://www.sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection&section_id=766



I understand that this knowledge is difficult to achieve. We have to expand this understanding.

Is prayers and bribes the answer to acquiring salvation? It seems to be futile exercise.
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[renuka]

I was thinking a few days ago that humans,animals, plants etc..all have continuation of species wired in their system..everything finally ensures species continues either directly or indirectly.

Now if the microcosm mimics the macrocosm that means at the Cosmic level there must be a " continuation of species" system too..that is continuation of nature and everything created.

So the Eko' ham Bahushyam...I am one and I became many is the " continuation of species" system of "God/ Brahman".

Now getting back to Samsara...if getting out of Samsara is the ultimate goal of life that would spell end of " continuation of species" mode for " God/ Brahman"..becos there would not be any Atman left in Samsara.

So can " God/ Brahman" actually log off from His continuation of species mode and be Ekam Evadvitiyam Brahma?

 

[agopal]

From:
Office of the Department of Continuation Decisions,
Para Brahman

To :
All entities under simulation

Sub: Continuation evaluation directives

1) Come up with a metric and a system to evaluate continuation of species for each species.
2) See which species achieved their set goals and compare the metric to preset targets.
3) Decide on the species continuation based on 2.

Apply the same steps to every living/ non-living entity. Replace species with living, dead, undead, death, countries, earth, planets, Sun, solar system, stars, star systems, galaxies, black holes, Universe, Multi-verse, Asat and sat in the above steps.

After applying *all* to all entities, see if the results point to all entities need not continue. If so erase them, else continue system.

Exercise :
1) Can consciousness be an entity in the above step?if so, what else is left? if not, why not?
2) What should be the metric and system and targets for Human Species?
3) Should entities decide their continuation or other super entities that contain the entities decide?

Responses appreciated.

 

[nram]

To All Members
I give below a compressed version of an article under heading in FAITH column in Hindu dated June 5 2018 on the subject Atma
Atman is imperishable - Prajapathi instruct to Indra on the nature of Atma. Body is perishable but Atma is imperishable. Atma take body to experience its karma. Body and atma are different and not the same. Before attaining the state of liberation atma is like a horse yoked to a chariot due to bondage of karma.
N RAMAKRISHNAN

 

[a-TB]

Lots of threads in these kinds of topics. It is all about blind leading the blind, and confused mutually confusing everyone. Just an observation on all such threads not just about this one

 

[renuka]

Lots of threads in these kinds of topics. It is all about blind leading the blind, and confused mutually confusing everyone. Just an observation on all such threads not just about this one

Then kindly remove the cataract that is obscuring our vision.

 

[a-TB]

Then kindly remove the cataract that is obscuring our vision.

I do not know .. but I know confusion when I sense it even while using big words

The truth is that no one knows that I have come to engage with so far. One can use some new words like Brahman etc and then if you go deep down to understand, the answer is that there is no real answer.

Best is to be happy and not worry

 

[renuka]

I do not know .. but I know confusion when I sense it even while using big words

The truth is that no one knows that I have come to engage with so far. One can use some new words like Brahman etc and then if you go deep down to understand, the answer is that there is no real answer.

Best is to be happy and not worry

So equally blind!LOL

But agreed...finally we know Nothing and I dont intend to know anything either.