HINDUISM

BRAHMAN AND ATMAN

HINDUISM

 Hinduism's roots date back as far as 2000 BC, making it one of the oldest surviving
religions
 Modern Hinduism grew out of the Vedas (large body of sacred texts), the oldest of
which is the Rig-Veda, dated to 1700–1100 BCE
 Most prevalent in India, Bangladesh and Nepal

“A basic tenet of Hinduism is that we each have a spark of Brahman in us, and that only
when we fully understand this can our atman (soul) be united with Brahman, thereby
attaining Moksha (liberation) from the endless cycle of Samsara (rebirth)”

TEACHINGS IN HINDUISM

 Karma

 fate or right action

 relates to the law of cause and effect. It states that everything people do (karma)
leaves impressions in their mind, which determines what kind of people they will be
in the future, and hence their fate
 explains causality through a system where beneficial effects are derived from past
beneficial actions and harmful effects from past harmful actions, creating a system
of actions and reactions throughout a soul's reincarnated lives

 Samsara

 rebirth or reincarnation
 According to the doctrine of reincarnation (Samsāra), the soul is immortal, while
the body is subject to birth and death.
 Many Hindus believe in reincarnation and they believe the action in one’s life can
determine one’s fate in a subsequent reincarnation.
 Virtuous actions take the soul closer to the supreme divine and lead to a birth with
higher consciousness. Evil actions hinder this recognition of the supreme divine,
and the soul takes lower forms of worldly life.

 Caste system (social classes)

o Brahmins or priests
o Kshatriyas or warriors and rulers
 o Vaisyas or merchants and farmers
o Shudras or laboring class

o Moksha (Salvation) is possible only for the top three castes, who are called
the "TWICE BORN.“
o Untouchables or outcastes – those outside the caste system
 Dharma

 individual ethics, duties and obligations

 Dharma is the path of righteousness and living one's life according to the codes of
conduct as described by the Hindu scriptures.

 Moksha

 deliverance from the cycle of birth and death

 Chief aim of the Hindu
 When the cycle of rebirth comes to an end, a person is said to have attained
moksha. All schools of thought agree that moksha implies the cessation of worldly
desires and freedom from the cycle of birth and death, the exact definition depends
on individual beliefs.
 liberation achieved during the person's realization of the identity and unity of
atman and brahman

 Brahman

The word "Brahman" is derived from the verb brh (Sanskrit:to swell, grow, enlarge),
and connotes greatness.

 Who is without a beginning, without an end

 Who is hidden in all
 Who is the cause, source, material and effect of all creation known, unknown
and yet to happen in the entire universe.

Is the signifying name given to the concept of the unchanging, infinite, immanent
and transcendent reality that is the Divine Ground of all being. It is regarded as the
source and sum of the cosmos, that constricted by time, space, and causation, as
pure being, the "world soul."

 The ultimate reality which is the source of all living things in this universe.
 Divine soul of all existence whose breath penetrates everything, both living and non-
living
 It is the ultimate cause and goal of all that exists.
 All beings emanate from Brahman; all beings will return back to the same source.
 Brahman is in all things and it is the true Self (atman) of all beings.
  Considered as the single god, and is "the One without a second"; this Brahman is
not only the principle and creator of all there is, but is also fully present within each
individual.
 It manifests itself through the Trimurti, much like the Christian concept of God being
manifested in the Trinity.
 The best explanation of Brahman is that it is "neti-neti" ("not this, not that")

Brahman is:
 beyond the senses
 beyond the mind
 beyond intelligence
 beyond imagination.

Indeed, the highest idea is that Brahman is beyond both existence and non-
existence, transcending and including time, causation and space, and thus cannot
ever be known in the same sense as one traditionally 'understands' a given concept
or object.

Example:
Imagine a person who is blind from birth and has not seen anything. Is it possible for us to explain to him
the meaning of the color red. Is any amount of thinking or reasoning on his part ever going to make him
understand the sensation of the color red ? In a similar fashion the idea of Brahman cannot be explained
or understood through reasoning or any form of human communication. Brahman is like the color red.
Those who can sense it cannot explain or argue with those who have never sensed it.

Ideas of reincarnation are natural extensions of this preliminary concept.

Consciousness, wherever it is found, is considered a symptom of the soul, and without
it the body has no awareness. This life-giving soul is considered spirit (brahman),
differentiating it from inert matter.

 ATMAN

 soul of all living creatures

Atman, a word that originally meant "breath" or "soul" or "vital principle". As a

cosmological principle or deity, Atman seems to be something like "universal soul" or "universal
spirit."

Our soul atman is the master and governor of the body and not vice versa. It is not
within the capability of the body to manifest a soul atman. Every soul atman manifests bodies
to work out its karma... remove the impurities.
 Every human being has an undying soul (atman) which, because of samsara, lasts
through eternity from life to life; this undying atman is a microcosm of Atman, the universal
spirit. By understanding yourself, by coming to know one's own soul, one then arrives at the
knowledge of Atman itself; the key to understanding the nature of the one unitary principle of
the universe is to see one's (undying) self as identical with that principle: "tat svam asi": That
(Atman) is what you are, Svetaketu

 Once we die, it continues in a new body until Moksha

 Some believe that atman will return to Brahman as a drop of water to the ocean,
while others believe that the atman will retain its individuality but will live in the
presence of Brahman.

 “A” – negative particle

 “Tma” – darkness
 “tamas” – spiritual darkness
 ATMAN – opposite to darkness; shining

 BRAHMAN AND ATMAN

 Brahman is the totality of the universe as it is present OUTSIDE of you

 Atman is the totality of the universe as it is present WITHIN you
 Brahman is the totality of the world known OBJECTIVELY
 Atman is the totality of the world known SUBJECTIVELY

 Brahman is the collective power of all purified atmans souls

 If a grain of sand is an independent atman soul... the whole mound is Brahman.
 The essence of an atman is not distinct from Brahman.

Example:

The man then asks his son to bring him the fruit of a banyan tree. Having cut the fruit in half, the
son finds the seed, but having cut the seed in half he does not find anything. His father reassures
him that, although unseen, there remains an essence from which the seed becomes the tree
and sequentially the fruit. In the same manner, this essence is found in all things. To
recapitulate, he invites his son to stir salt into a cup of water. The son can taste the salt in any
portion of the water, but cannot detect it with his eyes. He throws out the water and later finds
that the salt was there all along. Much like the salt, the atman is found in all beings as the
fundamental self.

 This confirms the atman as the brahman through the principle of the emergence and
resolution of all things from the one to the one.

 BRAHMAN AND ATMAN IS UNITED AND ONE.

 University of Santo Tomas
College of Nursing

Hinduism:
Brahman and Atman
Submitted to:
Mr. John Vincent Ignacio

Submitted by:
III-3
RLE 4
Bitangcol, Carlo
David, Yvanna
De Asis, Dyan
De Guzman, Andrea
De Guzman, Arnold
De Guzman, Lea
De Juras, Shirley
De Lara, Chrisella
De Leon, Erika
De los Santos, Fatima
De Vera, Denise
Deala, Abigail