‘AHAM BRAHMASMI’ (I am God)

The study of philosophy is sheer mental gymnasium. Confusion rules our mind. If the seeker manages to cross all these hurdles, philosophy takes us to another world.

Read on….

This world is unreal. The world we see as an object before us is unreal. But we, the empirical persons who are seeing the world, are real for we feel our reality as persons. From the transcendental point of view, the world, including the empirical persons who are seeing it are unreal (illusion, Maya). Briefly this is the sum total of Advaita(monism).

Advaita philosophy is one of the classical Hindu thoughts that seeks spiritual liberation through acquiring Vidya (knowledge). Advaita is a profound and comprehensive philosophy based on Vedic authority. Jagadguru (world teacher) AdiSankara propounded Advaita philosophy. Advaita philosophy emphasises ‘Jeevanmukti’ (liberation available in this life). This is in contrast to the other Hindu schools of thoughts that emphasises liberation after death.

Advaita rejects dual doctrine of the other school of Hindu thoughts. Non-dual Brahman (absolute reality) is beyond words, thought, time, space and causation. But these facts remain that at present we find ourselves in a universe of experience and are conscious of ourselves as living within it and bondage and freedom too are facts of empirical experience from the empirical point of view. Indefinable power of Brahman designated as Maya (illusion) is posited as the casual actor to explain the whole process of projection of the universe without infringing the absoluteness of Brahman.

Adi Sankara who propounded Advaita was a great towering personality who within a course of short life of thirty two years, brought about a thorough revolution in the social, religious, spiritual and philosophical life and thought of India. He laid the foundation of modern Hinduism as a composite, comprehensive universal basis.

This world is Maya (illusion), but Maya is not Maya to Brahman just as fire is not hot to itself. It is its nature. Does Maya exist as an independent entity? This is its relativity- it exists from phenomenal point of view but is not cognised from the noumenal (thing in itself) point of view. All this confusion arises because we are a part of the game within time, space and causation.

Aham Brahmasmi (I am god) is one of the four famous statements of Advaita.  For our ordinary mind it is difficult to grasp this phenomenal knowledge. Yet, just nodding acquaintance of the subject brings us a sort of fulfilment in life.

How strange feeling is this, that I who writes this piece and you who reads this is just an illusion (Maya)!