Jivatma & Paramatma By Pujyaswami Atmanandaji of Vedanta Mission.

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

 

Poojya Swami Atmanandaji, the founder of Vedanta Mission studied under

the guidance of Swami Chinmayanandaji and he is a great Vedantin. Let

me take this opportunity to thank Swamiji for granting permission to

post this excellent article on Jivatma and Paramathma which describes

the basic aspects of Advaita Philosophy in very clear terms.

(Source: http://www.vmission.org/vedanta/articles/index.htm)

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

Jivatma & Paramatma By Pujyaswami Atmanandaji of Vedanta Mission.

 

Asti - God is there :

Jivatma means the individual self and Paramatma means

God. Vedas in their earlier sections reveal the existence of God

to man. Man is told of the ways of God, his nature and

teachings. God is someone to be loved, because he is himself

an embodiment of infinite love. He is revealed as the very

creator, sustainer and also the destroyer of the world. Just as

all musicians in an orchestra have to tune themselves to a

basic note being played by one, so also every person has to

tune him or herself to that basic harmony and order of the

world called God. This facilitates bringing about a holistic vision.

Such a person is never alone, on the other hand such person

always has company of the highest embodiment of knowledge,

love & power. It is a well known fact that it is our thinking

which carves out our personality, thus with a single stroke the

Vedic masters saw to it that all their followers not only retain

the thought of the best and highest but also ultimately be an

embodiment of all what God represents.

Asmi - I am that :

The Vedic masters do not merely stop at revealing the

existence of God. All religions and religious masters have been

talking about these things. The unique aspect of Vedas is to

reveal that there is a state in this very life & this very body

where this Jivatma discovers its total identity with Paramatma.

It was the summum bonum of human life. It was an experience

beyond imagination. The contentment was total. It was

something which he or she always was seeking. It was total

liberation from all limitations of time, space and objectivity.

They called it Moksha - the total freedom, the ultimate goal of

human life. They discovered that Jivatma is & always was

Paramatma alone. The duality was born out of ignorance. The

seeker is the sought. Like in a dream a person erroneously

takes oneself to be something which one is not and suffers

unnecessarily, so also are the suffering of man. The final leap

to total freedom & fulfillment is merely by some knowledge, the

knowledge of Self.

Vedanta - the science of revealing the identity :

It is interesting to note the two words Jiv-atma and

Param-atma. Both have the word 'atma' in common. Atma

means the Self, that which reveals as the 'I' in the hearts of

all. When this 'I' is seen to have a sense of limitation, along

with a sense of enjoyership & doership, then such 'I' is referred

to as the Jiva-atma. A Jiva is someone who sees himself to be

limited by space & time - he is at one place alone and not

everywhere, and his existence is at a particular time alone and

not at all times. When these sense of limitations are inquired

upon and are realized to be an error then this sense of

limitation drops and the same 'I' is seen to be free from these

limitations of time & space then this very 'I' is referred to as

the Paramatma. Param means that which is free from all

limitations of time, space & objectivity i.e. that which is there

at all times, all places and in all objects. Thus the word atma

which is the common denominator in both these words shows

that God is always realized as the very subjective essence of a

person and not as some objective reality. The science which

facilitates us to conduct this inquiry into the Self is Vedanta,

the culmination of which is in the discovery of oneself to be

free from all limitations. That person alone is said to have

attained proper spiritual health, that person alone makes the

best of his or her life, rest are comparable to a sick man,

always seeking and seeking, and at the end of it all dying also

with all the sense of limitations. They know not the joy &

potential of human life. They have missed the boat.