Hinduism

Our True Selves in the Form of a Spiritual Reality
Those unfamiliar with Hinduism may believe that it is a polytheistic religion, this; however, is untrue. Despite the existence of around 330 million Hindu gods, the mediated sacred for Hindus is Brahman. Hinduism is considered to be a monist religion, meaning it takes a variety of existing things and explains them in a single substance. Brahman may also be thought of as monistic because It is considered to be the hub from which all deities manifest. A common belief among Hindus is that Brahman is present in every person as the eternal soul, called Atman. Both Atman and Brahman are central concepts in Hinduism. This paper will focus on defining Brahman and Atman, comparing the two to Christian
and Western concepts, as well as describing the relationship of Brahman and Atman in various ways. By the end of this paper one should understand the importance of Brahman and Atman and the relation between the two.
Brahman, often confused with the creator of the world, Brahma, is the universal substrate. Brahman is the life source of all that is and ever will be in the cosmos; the essential building material of all reality. The concept of Brahman is not to be confused with the anthropomorphic concept of God in Abrahamic religions. Brahman does not create from nothing, but from the reality of Its own being. One way to think of Brahman is by imagining It as the inside of a fig seed. One cannot see Brahman just as one cannot see into the inside of a seed, but Brahman is indeed there and gives life to all, just as the seed produces the fig tree.1 Brahman, underlining the whole universe, is the life force, which is the subtle essence of everything.
While Brahman is the underlining of the whole universe, Atman underlies all activities of a person. “Atman is what makes the organs and faculties function for which indeed they function”.2 Atman refers to the essence of each individual living thing; the unchanging and indistinguishable individual soul and is deemed to be the foundation of one’s spiritual nature and identity. Atman is a silent partner and dweller whose presence while always in us, can only be felt when no other sensory activities impact the mind, as attained through yoga.
Atman, while somewhat similar to the Western concept of the soul, differs in the sense that each Atman is not entirely unique to each individual. In Hinduism, Atman are sent to different bodies via reincarnation, much like the same driver can get out of a vehicle and into another. In Christianity, the official religion of the United States, one’s soul is unique to oneself and does not inhabit other bodies. Humans are thought of to be the unity of the spirit of God, the body, and the soul. One’s soul, created at birth, is irrelevant to who we are as people.
Though Atman is comparable to the Western concept of a soul, Brahma cannot be compared to the Western concept of God.
In the biblical story of the book of Genesis, God created the world and everything in it in six days and rested the seventh and continues to play a significant role in human life and the maintenance of the universe. Hindus believe the relationship between Brahman and the creation of the universe is asymmetrical. Brahman is only the creative source of the universe and does not partake in our lives in any way, as the universe exists only as a byproduct of Brahman.
There are two main ways that Hindus view the relationship between Brahman and Atman; the dualistic view and the non-dual view. The dualistic view is that all individual Atman are joined to Brahman. This is most similar to the Western concept of God. The non-dual view states that each individual Atman is Brahman itself. Both viewpoints are similar in they share the common belief that the individual is not entirely individual, but is “infused with the same Absolute Reality of Brahman as every other
atman”.3
Atman is essentially what divides different branches of Hinduism. By splitting non-dualistic Hindus, who equate Atman with Brahman and believe we are all one of the same, from dualistic Hindus who believe there is some separation between Atman and the Absolute Reality of Brahman. Atman not only separates the branches of Hinduism, but it is also what theologically differentiates Hinduism from Buddhism, as Buddhism believes the self is an illusion and there is no Atman.
One way of describing the relationship between Brahman and Atman is by imagining Atman as some form of water (raindrop, lake, exc.) and Brahman as the ocean or main body of water. Eventually the smaller forms of water will return to the main source and the two will become one, just as the Atman will join Brahman, the ultimate divine.
The joining of Atman and Brahman can be described with the statement “Atman is Brahman”, which simply put, means our eternal selves are divine.
“A divine reality enfolds human reality, interpenetrating the material world and human experience, primarily the soul (atman) that animates an embryo in the womb and whose presence energizes human life.”.4 This divinity that lies within everyone may be covered by negative emotions such as hatred, envy, or fear. Each Atman comes from and is made of the same reality as the world soul. The main focus of Hinduism is to release Atman back into Brahman in the process called
Moksha.
Hinduism is a religion centralized around the ideas of Brahman, who underlies the universe in its entirety, and Atman, who underlies all activities of a person. While seemingly similar to the Western concept of the Soul, Atman differs in the fact that the it is not unique to an individual. Brahman does not share any similarities to God other than them both being the creators. The relationship between Atman and Brahman can be described as being non-dualistic, where the two are one or dualistically, meaning they are connected but not the same. Understanding how Brahman and Atman are related helps one recognize their true self in the form of a spiritual reality.