Swami explains Brahman,
BRAHMAN
"The
word Brahman is derived from the root, Brh, meaning to expand, to
increase, to enlarge etc. Brhath means big, enlarged, gross, high etc.
Purusha
has its root, Pri meaning to fill, to complete. Pur means a
town 'full' of inhabitants, that is to say the body, in a
figurative manner of speaking. He who completes or is immanent in or who fills
it, the Purusha.
When
the Jnani declares, 'I am Brahman', he is uttering the truth from the
reality of his experience. When the gross and the subtle are transcended, when
the Manas, the Buddhi and the Prana are sublimated, that is to say, when the
Self is no longer bound by feelings, thoughts, impulses and instincts, what
remains is SAT only.
(Author's note - Never should one confuse oneself with
the physical identity of such a jnani who declares - Aham Brahmasmi.
It is not the Ahamkara that speaks, it is the Aham, the pure SELF that roars
and gives its pure identity when a jnani says - I AM BRAHMAN)
PARA BRAHMAN
Existence
- pure and unalloyed, Parabrahman.
'Paras'
or 'Param' means super, beyond, above, more glorious than all.
Parabrahman
indicates the One beyond and behind everything, grander than anything in the
three worlds.
ATMAN IS ANANDA
The
Taittiriya Upanishad has declared, "Through Ananda, all this is born;
through Ananda all this is living; in Ananda alone, all this is merged; in
Ananda all this rests".
Like
the category Brahman, the category Antaratma also is possessed of the same
attributes. It is also Ananda-born, Ananda-full and Ananda-merged.
Bhoomaa
means 'limitless'. The Chandhogya Upanishad declares that Ananda inheres only
in the Bhoomaa, the Eternal, the Brahman. Again, another word used by Jnanis to
describe their experience of Brahman is Jyotiswarupa, meaning, 'whose nature is
splendour, glory or effulgence, who is Illumination itself'.
Ten
million suns cannot equal the Splendour of the Param-Atma. The word
Santhiswarupa indicates that It is Santhi Itself. In Sruthi texts like Ayam
Ayma Saantho... etc., it is proclaimed that Paramatman is Prasanthi itself.
(Author's note - Swami Krishnananda speaks in a
lecture, thus: -
"The bliss of God
manifested itself as this world, by the bliss of God the world is sustained,
and into the bliss of God the world will return one day. As we are not outside
creation, we have also come from the bliss of God, and are sustained by the
bliss of God. That is why we love everything. Everything is pleasurable for us because the essence of the
bliss of God is present in the very ability in us to sustain ourselves. And in
the end, we return to the bliss of God.
God has not created the world from sorrow; He
has created it out of His bliss. The world does not proceed from sorrow to
sorrow, but from bliss to bliss, if only we are agreeable to cooperate
with this inclusiveness of God’s creation and set aside the egoistic
exclusiveness of keeping ourselves apart from the things of the world. If
you are a friend of the world, the world will be your friend, and God also is
your friend."
Oh, what an expression from this sage from Hrishikesh.
Love.
