Location: east aurora, new york
Dear Francis, It has been stated that Brahman and Atman are one. I wonder though, does this mean they are the same? I know the Atman that is myself and I sense that it is the same Atman that is every other one. But the knower (Atman) “in me” does not know the experience of all beings and hence seems not to be equivalent to the universal Brahman which I presume includes the experience of the entire universe. As a wave might be said to be one with the ocean, being made of the same water the ocean is made of, it would not be true to say that the wave is equivalent to the ocean because a wave is not as vast as an ocean. In This Love, Murray
Dear Murray,
Yes, they are the same. This is precisely the point. If it is clear to you that the Atman that is you is the same Atman that is every other one human being, it shouldn’t be difficult to understand that it is the same Atman that encompasses all things. Your difficulty arises from the belief that Atman can be subdivided just like the ocean can be subdivided into waves. But only an object can be subdivided, and consciousness is not an object. We are not entitled to superimpose upon it the limitations of an object. If we do so, it becomes a mind, which exists only as a concept, as an assumption, but is not found in our direct experience. The problem is that we can visualize only objects, and that any attempt to visualize consciousness is doomed to failure. We have to understand this fully: unfortunately, we cannot visualize consciousness, because it is not a specific object; thank’s God we don’t have to, for we are it. Don’t try to think the Unthinkable. Just be it.
Love,
Francis
Traduit de l’anglais par Stéphane Badach
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