ATMA and AHAM

Atma the soul is indestructible. Atma defies all laws of nature- it has no form, it cannot be measured, it cannot be experienced using any of the five senses. It is a self assured entity that does not seek acknowledgement or evidence. One has to believe in it. There is no other way to access it. Atma is the essence and objective reality of all forms of life.

Brahma (the creator) has no faith. He refuses to look beyond the flesh. He ignores Atma, and so catalysed the creation of Aham, the Ego. The ego is a product of imagination. It is how a human being sees himself or herself. It makes humans demand special status in nature and culture.

Brahma is every human being. He is described as emerging from a lotus, a metaphor for a child emerging out of the mothers womb. This is also a metaphor for the gradual unfolding of the imagination.

Every human being is subject to his own imagination of his self and the world around him, thus imagines himself to be special. Every human being is thus Brahma, creator of his own Brahmanda(subjective reality).

Prakriti(Nature) is the objective reality and Brahmanda ( A man’s imagination of himself and the world around him) is the subjective reality. 

Atma witnesses Prakriti whereas Aham constructs Brahmanda.

Human self image is expanded beyond the body and includes possessions. His world is spilt into three parts Me ( mind and body) , Mine ( property, knowledge,family and nature) Not Mine (things that exist in the world over which he has no authority).

The concept of Me and Mine is humankind’s greatest delusion through which humanity seeks to generate meaning and Identity. Tranquility is lost when human yearns for that which does not belong to him, leading to anxiety and restlessness.

Realisation of the true nature of existence helps in destroying the Aham( ego). To attain this one must look inward,work towards a better understanding of Atma the Soul. When human becomes aware of his mortality, he does not seek materialistic gratification. His fears cease to exist and he learns to live in harmony with Nature.


References: Devdutt Patnaik- 7 secrets of Shiva