SOME THOUGHTS ON ATMA-----117

[Guest guest]

Loving SAI RAMs,

In the previous posting we saw that according to the scriptures nothing other than Brahman exists. In the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavan Srikrishna declares , " All the universe is pervaded/ permeated by Me in unmanifested form;all beings abide in Me, but I stand apart from them "

(Maya Tatam idam sarvam jagat avyakta moortina mathani sarvabhootani na chaham teshu avasthitah). Just as the air, fire, water and earth are permeated by ether, just as an ornament of gold is permeated by gold and a pot is permeated by earth(mud), so is the entire universe permeated by the unmanifest aspect of God with attributes ,who is its creator. The

Isavasya Upanishad says, " Whatever sentient creation there is in this universe, all that is permeated by God " (Isavasyam idam sarvam yatkincha Jagatyam jagat). It is He who holds the entire creation in an infinitesimal part of His being

(Aham idam krisnam jagat ekamsena vishtabya stithaha)--declares the Bhagavad Gita. Moreover, as earlier stated, He alone is the goal, sustainer,abode,support,resting place,origin,end and repository of all , as the Gita puts it.

(Gatir Bharta Prabhuh Sakshi Nivasah Saranam Suhrud. Prabhavah Pralayah Sthanam nidhanam bijamavyayam). Being the substratum of the Universe and wholly beyond it and the universe being His very Self, God is not in the universe alone. He alone is and He alone exists. Nothing else exists. Just as the dream world rests on the thoughts of the dreamer even so, the entire universe hangs on God`s thoughts alone. Really speaking there is no existence apart from God

. In the Bhagavad Gita again the Lord declares, " that is a miracle of My wonderful power of Yoga(Yogamaya Samavritah). The Universe does appear in me and in reality nothing exists apart from me

(Mattah param nanyat kinchitdasti Dhananjaya) " . To sum up God alone is everything, nothing exists but God. On realizing God, the sadhak directly perceives this Truth. In the eyes of a God-realized soul nothing exists other than God.

 

 

Whatever is seen or heard can not be anything other than Brahman and on realization of Truth, one recognises that Brahman as Existence-Knowledge-Bliss(Satchidananda)

and non-dual(Advayam), declares the Sruti. Earlier we have seen that the universe is something other than Brahman while now we are highlighting the scriptural declaration that whatever is seen or heard is nothing but

Brahman. One is bound to ask, " why is Vedanta contradicting itself? " There is in reality no contradiction. It is because of the two different angles from which the universe is viewed. To one who has not realized

Brahman, the universe appears real. He gets involved in the transitory objects and beings of the universe that he perceives. Reality is infinite and imperishable and different from the finite,perishable universe. On the other hand, a self-realised person,in the homogeneous experience of of Pure Consciousness sees the universe as nothing other than Brahman.

(to be continued)

G.Balasubramanian