THE NOTION OF BRAHMAN

In world religions, we find two dominant visions of God: immanence and transcendence.

They are both found in Hinduism in the notions of SAGUNA BRAHMAN and NIRGUNA BRAHMAN

The Divine Paradox: Immanence and Transcendence

GOD ad extra, ad nos GOD in se DEUS DEITAS

SAGUNA Brahman NIRGUNA Brahman

IMMANENCE TRANSCENDENCE God of Abraham GOD of the Philosophers

Isaac and Jacob, The Husband of the Widow The Father of the Orphan God as a friend, a companion

“It is not appropriate to call Hinduism a form of Idolatry. A verse in the Yogavasistha says of Brahman: “Thou art formless; thy only form is our knowledge of Thee.” In fact the Hindu reveres the cow that he sees, not the cow that we see. No one has ever worshipped an idol. Some have worshipped God in the form of an idol; that is what idols are for.”

Cantwell Smith, “Idolatry in Comparative Perspective.”

““Images of the Hindu gods are not intended Images of the Hindu gods are not intended to be understood literally…In studying to be understood literally…In studying Hinduism, traditional labels of polytheism, Hinduism, traditional labels of polytheism, monotheism, or atheism are inappropriate. monotheism, or atheism are inappropriate. They are not helpful in understanding They are not helpful in understanding Hindu attitudes toward the divine. Perhaps Hindu attitudes toward the divine. Perhaps the term HENOTHEISM is better, for it the term HENOTHEISM is better, for it emphasizes one superior god in the presence emphasizes one superior god in the presence of lesser gods.of lesser gods.””

(Warren Matthews, World Religions. 4th edition, Thomson/Wadsworth,2004), pp.108-109.

BRAHMAN, YOGA, AND “VEDANTA SCHOOL” VEDANTA = “VEDA END” A school of Philosophy within Hinduism The term “Vedanta” refers to the Upanishads (which are at

the end of the Vedas) Vedanta school used the Upanishads as its primary

inspiration SHANKARA (c.788-820): the greatest teacher of Vedanta

school “Jnana Yoga” (“Knowledge Yoga”) was highly refined by the

Vedanta school “Jnana Yoga” is particularly appropriate for priests and

intellectuals Hinduism maintains that different people need different

spiritual paths Yoga = a road to perfection, a way used by people to perfect

their union with the divine

SHANKARA and ADVAITA VEDANTA Shankara thought that spiritual liberation was achieved when the

individual personally came to understand the unity of all things. Shankara emphasized so strongly this unity that his branch of the

Vedanta school is called “Advaita” or Monism. This view made ordinary worship impossible. As a result it was

rejected by other thinkers of the Vedanta school, such as RAMANUJA (d. 1137) who emphasized passages in the Upanishads that seem to speak of Brahman as being separate in some ways from the world.

ADVAITA VEDANTA (Shankara’s type of Vedanta is called ADVAITA) ADVAITA = Monism (But not a good translation) ADVAITA = “not-two-ness” (a-dvai-ta); there is no other reality ADVAITA = “All is Brahman” Strong emphasis on the Oneness of everything Like the person who at dusk is frightened by a coil of rope that he

mistakenly perceives as a snake, so many people mistakenly see things as being separate and different.

A person who perceives things as being separate from one another and from Brahman is mistaken

Any devotion to a god or goddess who is thought to be different from the worshiper is also mistaken.

BRAHMANIn his “Crest-Jewel of Discrimination” Shankara wrote the following: “Brahman is that one Reality which appears to our

ignorance as a manifold universe of names and forms and changes.

Like the gold of which many ornaments are made, it remains in itself unchanged.

Similarly, the waves of the ocean and the drops of water in the waves may be considered separate entities; but the larger truth is that they are all just the same ocean in varied, changing forms.

Such is Brahman, and ‘That art Thou.’ Meditate upon this truth.”SHANKARA (c.788-820): the greatest teacher of Vedanta school

Poet Shivavakkiyar (XVII's century BC?, Tamil literature) described Shiva as the One God in the following way:

"Not Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva,In the Beyond is He,Not black, nor white, nor ruddy,This source of things that be;Not great is he, not little,Not female and not maleBut stands for, far, and far beyondAll being's utmost pale."

What is the basic Hindu view of God ?

The name the Hindu give to the supreme reality is BRAHMAN.

Brahman has a dual etymology, it derives from two roots: "Br" (meaning "to breathe") "Brih" ("to be great")

BRAHMAN THE SUPREME

SAGUNA BRAHMAN

BRAHMAN =<NIRGUNA

BRAHMAN

NIRGUNA SAGUNABRAHMAN BRAHMAN

! !

V V

Impersonal Personified as

Shiva

Vishnu

Kali

Ganesha

NIRGUNA BRAHMAN- This is the impersonal Brahman,- Brahman as he is in himself, beyond attributes,

beyond human comprehension, beyond the categories of human thinkingbeyond the categories of human language.

SAGUNA BRAHMAN- This is God in a “personal form,”

- a Brahman with personlike qualities- This is Brahman as he is known with his attributes.

Popular devotion worships Saguna Brahman personified as either Shiva, Vishnu, Kali, or Ganesha, and their multiple avatars.

The chief attributes linked with the name Brahman are:- sat (being)- chit (awareness)- ananda (bliss)

God is being, awareness, and bliss. God is Utter reality, utter consciousness, and utterly beyond all

possibility of frustration. This is the basic Hindu view of God. Popular devotion worships Saguna Brahman personified as either

Shiva, Vishnu, Kali, or Ganesha, and their multiple avatars.

Brahman is also the fundamental key to understanding the whole Hindu conception of spirituality, the nature of human beings, the code of ethical behavior, the notion of “true worship.”

All this is based on the notion of “interconnectedness of everything” and the presence of Brahman in every creature

(=Atman-Brahman)

"What is a human being ?" A man is an Atman-Brahman We are infinite beings, eternal beings; but

because of our ignorance we reduce ourselves to the finite dimension of being, and divide ourselves.

In Hinduism, Atman is the ultimate essence of a person,

conceived of as an immaterial reality that provides consciousness.

Atman is the hidden self within every human being, the infinite center of every life.

A man has three basic components: 1°) a body 2°) a personality or individual apparent self 3°) Atman-Brahman.

Brahman is within every being

Being truly human can happen only - unity with ourselves - by detachment from the finite self - and by attachment to the whole of things.

That is to move from the will-to-get to the will-to-givefrom the will-to-get to the will-to-give from the will-to-win to the will-to-serve.from the will-to-win to the will-to-serve. from faith in the finite to faith in the infinitefrom faith in the finite to faith in the infinite to be free from self-centeredness, and self-worship.