DOCTRINE OF ATMAN IN UPANISHAD by Cijo C. Joseph B09004

DOCTRINE OF ATMAN IN UPANISHAD

 

Brahman is not a relality that is to be sought outside one's own being. Brahman is present in man as Atman. To know Brahman does not mean to make object of knowing proces s.Knowledge here means to transcend the subject object duality. There must be a point where distinctions cease to exist. This point is Atman (Is. 1.6.) Atman is the transcendence that is present in the human conditionality. It is the divine in man, God's image of presence. It is the Brahman present in the conditionality of human existence. It is variously called prana, atma, purusha,jiva etc.

 

The word 'atman is derived from the root'an'which means to breath, to be alive etc. it is the breath of life. Gradually the word atman was used to denote life, soul, self or essential being of the individual. Hence concept of Atman is as fundamental as the concept Brahman in the Upanishads. Whereas Brahman is the ultimate, unifying essence of the universe, Atman is the inmost essence and unifying principle in man. Both are in the last analysis to be identified in the equation Atman Brahinan (cf.Taitt. 1.5).

 

In the Hindu religion, the concept of Atman refers to the doctrine of an eternal self that is said to be the life-force found within all beings including the cosmos itself. Comparable to the Western notion of the soul, the concept of atman occupies a major place in Hindu philosophical and theological reflection. The atman is deemed to be the very foundation of one's spiritual nature and identity. In some schools of Hinduism, such as Advaita Vedanta, it is held that the atman is fully identical with Brahman, the supreme monistic principle of the universe. Other Hindu philosophical schools, such as Visistadvaita, however, disagree with this claim. Moreover, Buddhism repudiated the concept of an eternal soul with its doctrine of anatman, claiming that the Hindu concept of atman is an illusion (maya).

 

The atman doctrine of Hinduism, nevertheless, has had a tremendous impact on Hindu philosophical and ethical thinking. Since many Hindus claim the atman is found in all living things, this doctrine helped make Hinduism more amenable to embracing ahimsa (non-violence) as an ethical precept, as well as cultivating an awareness of the interrelatedness of all life, in which the "Self is seen as other" and "Other is seen as the self." Soteriologically (the study of salvation from suffering), Hinduism in some forms teaches that moksha (spiritual liberation) is attained through knowledge of the atman. This view of salvation is known as Atmavidya (self-knowledge/realization) by which it is meant introspective knowledge of humanity's innate divinity.