All the Kosha are mere imagined theory based on the ego, which is
the false self, within the false experience. Because everyone thinks the mind is
within the body, whereas the body is within the mind, which is in the form of
the universe.
If mind is there then
only the universe is there. If the universe
is there then only the all its contents are there. Absence of mind is absent of
the universe and its contents. Absent of the universe is absent of individual experience
of birth, life and death. The universe
appears as waking or dream and disappears as deep sleep. The formless witness
of the appearance of waking and dream is consciousness, which is the true self.
On the base of
consciousness as self, the universe or mind is mere mirage. The formless witness itself is the substance
of the mind. Thus the mind or the universe and the soul, the innermost self, which is present in the form of consciousness, are
one in essence because the mind, which is in the form of the universe, is erupted
out of the formless soul or consciousness. Thus
everything within the mind or the universe is created out of consciousness. Thus everything is
consciousness. Therefore, there is no scope for second thing other than
consciousness because the body and the universe are also the consciousness.
Therefore the universe, which is in the form of mind, is a mere mirage created
out of consciousness.
Therefore, Kosha are mere
divisions imagined and assumed because, when the self is not the body (form)
but self is consciousness (formless) there
is no scope for division. Only when one
thinks the physical body as self then only there is scope for division within
the consciousness.
One has to stay totally in the
awareness of the soul, which is in the form of consciousness within the waking
experience. The world, the body, relationships – all are external to the true
self /soul, which is consciousness.
Thus all these scriptural theories hold no water when one
becomes aware of the fact that the body is not the self. Thus all the theories
based on the body as self-hold no water.
When the Vedas
and Upanishad declare that Consciousness or Atman is actually nothing but
Brahman, then why go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind
led by the blind. One has to realize the fact that, the mind is in the form of the universe. Trace the source of mind and
realize that source is consciousness. The mind arises from consciousness as
waking or dream and subsides as deep sleep.
In Mandukya Upanishad Brahman and Atman are defined as
same:-
सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोयमात्मा चतुष्पात् / sarvam hyetad brahmaayamaatmaa
brahm soyamaatmaa chatushpaat –
Mandukya Upanishad, verse-2
Translation:
sarvam(सर्वम्)- Whole/All/Everything; hi(हि)- Really/Just/Surely/Indeed; etad(एतद्)- This here/This; brahm(ब्रह्म)- Brahm/Brahman; ayam(अयम्)- This/Here; aatmaa(आत्मा)- Atma/Atman; sah(सः)- He; ayam(अयम्)- This/Here; chatus(चतुस्)- Four/Quadruple; paat(पात्)- Step/Foot/Quarter
Fragmented Verse:-
सर्वम् हि एतद् ब्रह्म अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म सः अयम् आत्मा चतुस पात् / sarvam
hi etad brahm ayama aatmaa brahm sah ayam aatmaa chatus paat
Simple Meaning:-
All indeed is
this Brahman; This Atman is Brahman; He, this Atman has four steps/quarters.
While Brahman
lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, some human minds boggle at
any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. 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 can never be
known in the same material sense as one traditionally 'understands' a given
concept or object.
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 colour red. Is any amount of thinking or
reasoning on his part ever going to make him understand the sensation of the
colour red? In a similar fashion the idea of Brahman cannot be explained or
understood through material reasoning or any form of human communication.
Brahman is like the colour red; those who can sense it cannot explain or argue
with those who have never sensed it.
Brahman is
considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the
animate and inanimate entities and material. (brahmano hi pratisthaham, Bhagavad
Gita 14.27)
In Advaita Vedanta: - Brahman is without attributes and strictly impersonal. It can be
best described as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness and infinite Bliss. It
is pure knowledge itself, similar to a source of infinite radiance. Since the
Advaitins regard Brahman to be the Ultimate Truth, so in comparison to Brahman,
every other thing, including the material world, its distinctness, the
individuality of the living creatures and even Ishvara (the Supreme Lord)
itself are all untrue. Brahman is the effulgent cause of everything that exists
and can possibly exist. Since it is beyond human comprehension, it is without
any attributes, for assigning attributes to it would be distorting the true
nature of Brahman. Orthodox Advaitins believe in the existence of both Saguna Brahman
and Nirguna Brahman; however they consider Nirguna Brahman to be the absolute
supreme truth.
Chandogya Upanishad:- One who
meditates upon and realizes the self discovers that everything in the cosmos--
energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and
will, word and deed, mantram and meditation--all come from the Self.
So, it clearly
says the one who meditate upon the self [consciousness] discovers that
everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form,
birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation--all come
from the Self. Therefore , there is a need to know the fact that ,the true self
is not physical but the soul in order to realize the fact that : the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and
water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram
and meditation--all come from the Self, which is in the form of consciousness.
Ataman is
Brahman. Brahman /Christ/the Absolute is alone real; this waking is unreal; and
the three states are non-different from Brahman/Christ.
Whatever is, is
Brahman/Christ. Brahman/Christ itself is absolutely homogeneous. All difference
and plurality are illusory."
Brahman/Christ is not a person, as the Absolute is not this. But if one
wants to call it God/Paramataman, then fine. But it is not a person.
Personifying it can make it easier to understand.
