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Brahman: The Ultimate
Reality
“Various schools have contributed to Hindu thought, each school with a
different emphasis. The school known as Vedānta has been the standard
form of intellectual Hinduism. According to Vedānta, the highest aim of
existence is the realization of the identity or union of the
individual’s innermost self (ātman) with the ultimate reality.
Although Vedānta states that this ultimate reality is beyond name, the
word Brahman is used to refer to it.
Whether this ultimate
reality is itself ultimately without distinguishing attributes (nirguna)
or with personal attributes (saguna) has been a subject of
extensive debate among Hindu scholars. To be ultimate Brahman must
transcend (exist above and beyond) all limiting attributes, such as
name, gender, form, and features. But how can the human mind, with its
limitations, conceive of this transcendent reality? Human comprehension
requires a more personal reality, with attributes.
Saguna Bhraman is
also called Ishvara, a name best translated as “Lord.” A quotation
attributed to 8th-century Hindu scholar Shankara illustrates the
subtlety of these ideas: “Ishvara, forgive these three sins of mine:
that although you are everywhere I have gone on a pilgrimage, although
you are beyond the mind I have tried to think of you; and although you
are ineffable [indescribable] I offer this hymn in praise of you.”
Brahmā, Vishnu,
and Shiva: Aspects of Brahman
Saguna Brahman—that is, Brahman with attributes—generally takes the form
of one of three main Hindu deities: Brahmā, Vishnu, or Shiva. These
personified forms of Brahman correspond to three stages in the cycle of
the universe. Brahmā corresponds to the creative spirit from which the
universe arises. Vishnu corresponds to the force of order that sustains
the universe. Shiva corresponds to the force that brings a cycle to an
end—destruction acting as a prelude to transformation, leaving pure
consciousness from which the universe is reborn after destruction. Other
forms of Ishvara widely worshiped by Hindus are Shakti, the female
aspect of divinity, and Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity associated
with the removal of obstacles.
Brahman also may
choose to take birth in a knowable form, or avatar (incarnation),
to uphold dharma and restore balance to the world. Krishna, a well-known
avatar of Vishnu, appears at times to save the world. Rāma, another
well-known avatar of Vishnu, is the subject of the Hindu epic Rāmāyana
(Way of Rāma). Whether nirguna or saguna, Brahman represents the
ultimate reality (sat), ultimate consciousness (sit), and
ultimate bliss (ānanda).
Vishnu has ten major
avatars, which are described in Hindu texts called the Purānas. These
incarnations and their Hindu names are: fish (matsya), tortoise (kūrma),
boar (varāha), man lion (narasimha), dwarf (vāmana),
axe-wielding human (Parashurāma), ideal person (Rāma of the Rāmāyana),
all-attractive perfect person (Krishna), the enlightened (Buddha), and a
future incarnation (Kalkī).
The majority of
Hindus choose a personal deity, a saguna form of Brahman with whom they
can feel a direct personal connection. Devotion to this deity can take a
number of forms, including prayer, ceremonial worship, chanting of the
deity’s name, and pilgrimage to sites sacred to the deity. . . .
Ātman: The Innermost Self
We as individuals are
also a part of this changing universe. Our bodies are constantly
undergoing change, while our minds, formed of thoughts and feelings, are
also in a state of flux. According to Vedānta, however, our self
consists of more than mind and body. At its core lies the unchanging
ātman, our innermost, transcendental self, as opposed to the
material self (our body, thoughts, and feelings) that is part of the
universe. The ātman is our true self. But we lose sight of it because of
our passionate involvement with our material self and its search for
happiness in this universe. The universe can never provide perfect and
permanent happiness, however, because it, like our material self, is in
a state of constant flux. We attain true happiness only through an
awareness of our ātman and the discovery of its true relationship with
Brahman.
By achieving
awareness of our ātman and its unity with Brahman, we attain not only
happiness, but also moksha, or liberation. But liberation from
what? At one level, the liberation is from unhappiness, but the answer
provided by Vedānta Hinduism goes deeper: Moksha is liberation from a
chain of lives.”
Arvind Sharma, M.A., M.T.S., Ph.D.
Birks
Professor of Comparative Religion, McGill University; author of
Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction, Hinduism for Our Times, and
other works.
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