[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: Atmaa : Do I have one ?
Roy Raja (rajaroy@ecf.toronto.edu) wrote:
: I have been pondering over this question for many years, and still
: I don't have any answer.
: To start with, Islam , christianity, and judaism say that only
: humans have souls ( and therefore atmaa ), and other animals and
: plants don't have one. Hinduism says that all living beings including
: plants have atmaa. Looking from a biological point of view, Hinduism makes
: more sense, because there is not much biologocally different among
: animals and humans, human brain is more advanced, but animals do have
: brains, and they do feel happiness and sorrow, and they struggle to
: survive too.
:
: Now comes the doubt. There is physical body, mind, and atmaa (let's
: assume). According to hindu philosophy, it is not the atmaa, but the
: jiva that is bound in the cycle of rebirth. Jiva is atmaa + inner body
: or mind. Since atmaa can not be bound, it is due to the inner body
: that I am bound. Example normally given is that of a pot in ocean. Ocean
: is god, pot is body and mind, and water inside the pot is atmaa. The
: pot is not letting the water inside merge with water outside. Now I think
: that pot can not really be closed, because then one can divide god, which
: is not possible. Since God is same all the time, its like an open pot
: moving in the ocean. So when I move, whatever part of God I occupy is
: essentially my atmaa. Then ofcourse I don't have the same atmaa all
: the time. So basically, it is quite meaningless to have an atmaa.
:
Let me see whether I can explain your doubt. First we must remember
that Brahman is nirguna, means the absolute does not possess any
quality. So, the atma is nirguna, but the mind is the subtle body
of athma and thro' this subtle body that the athma interacts with
the gross body. Having said this much, there is a difference
between your analogy and the actual existence.In the case of your
example, the pot is merged in the sea, that means the body is
subdued, in that case what you said is right, but in our case
body is not subdued as we are very much body conscious. The
case which you mentioned is a highly elevated state, the body filled
inside and outside with God's love, in which case it is merged in
the absolute from the pull of the body.
An example often I find it easy to compare with is that of the
manifestation of water as sea, cloud, rain, river and then back to
sea. Here you will see that though the cloud as a separate
entity exists in our perception, the cloud is a manifestation
of water, and goes back to the source it came from, but its
properties are quite distinct from that of the sea. Then, we know
that water is quantifiable in the usual terms, like buckets of
water, but when it merges in the sea, it goes beyond quantification.
Also, take the case of a bucket filled with water ( not salty ) being
put into sea. We know that before putting into the sea, the water
in the bucket had very distinct properties as compared with that
of sea water, but when you put in the sea its properties becomes
that of the sea water, and the bucket of water previously defined
ceases to exist there.
The case of Athman is also like that. As long as you define it be
distinct, like the bucket of water, it is distinct, but no more
when you are free like the water in the sea.
Regards,
Santhosh
