Brahman of Hinduism is beyond the God concept. God in Christianity has attributes, e.g. God is good, God is the heavenly Father, etc. But Brahman is attributeless. Brahman is defined by three words in the Upanisads. Sat, Chit, and Anand are the three words that define Brahman. Combinedly, Brahman is referred to as Satchidananda (Sat+Chit+Anand). The objective of this blog is to clarify when Hindus say God in English, what they mean by that. They actually often refer to the Brahman. Brahman is defined as Satchidananda.
Sat - Existence: Brahman only exists. Nothing else exists. The world is merely a projection like the idea of a snake projected upon a piece of rope. The idea of a world is similarly projected upon the Brahman by its own supreme potency Maha Maya. Therefore, the worldly phenomena do not have a true existence without Brahman just like the waves do not have a true existence without the ocean. The only substance that truly exists is Brahman. It is the only Truth. Everything else is nonTruth. The idea of I, you, trees, space, time, etc. are mere ideas made of Brahman alone.
Maha Maya is the creative potency of the Brahman. Maha Maya is the projective power of consciousness similar to subconscious thoughts projected as dream stuff. Because the entire creation is contained within Maha Maya, the entire universe is referred to as the womb of Maha Maya in which all things are conceived by the Supreme Consciousness or Brahman. They are one and the same. Maha Maya is integral to Brahman. The Maha Maya aspect of the Brahman is worshipped as the Divine Mother.
Cit - Consciousness or Awareness: Now that we just said Brahman is the only thing that exists. The natural question comes to mind is if it exists, then what is it? The Upanisads declare that it is Consciousness or Awareness. What is awareness? Well if you close your eyes, you still feel that you are aware of yourself, that you exist. That is awareness. It is of very subtle nature. Brahman is nothing but that Supreme Awareness. So far we have said, Brahman is the only Substance that exists and that Substance is Awareness. Everything is made up of consciousness or awareness. Awareness is modified to take various forms under the influence of Mula Prakriti or Maha Maya, which causes things to exist when in essence they do not.
Ananda - Absolute Bliss/ Beyond Duality: Absolute bliss is said to be neither sorrow nor happiness. It is the ecstacy generated from cessation of all thoughts. It is the quietude experienced when modifications in the mind are quietened. This is the joy experienced when there is nothing remains to be gained or nothing is lost. Brahman is beyond all forms of dualities. It is neither pleasure nor pain. It is neither joy nor sorrow. It is neither light nor darkness. It is beyond all names and forms. It has no attributes. It is formless. It is timeless. It is Bliss Absolute beyond all these modifications. It is supreme oneness. It has nothing else but Itself. Ananda (attributelessness) is the attribute of the attributeless Brahman. It is because of the Ananda aspect of the Brahman, all creations are incessantly seeking love and happiness. Ananda is the source of all happiness, source of all worldly joy.
In summary, Brahman is and nothing else is. It is of the form awareness. It is pure bliss and beyond duality. The three words Sat, Cit, and Ananda completely define the supreme reality which Hindus call Brahman.
1 comment:
This explanation does not mention Shakthi, AadiParaShakthi, which can neither be created nor destroyed. It exists forever without a beginning or end. The whole universe has come into existence from Shakthi. Even string theory explains it thus. There is no duality. It can have pure consciousness/ chit and and is in bliss. That is 'ARDHA NAAREESWAR'/ SIVA-SHAKTHI.
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