Everything Is Brahman
The headline, the words “That thou art” and “Tvattamasi '' are the very foundations of the Vedanta philosophy. Today, as I was listening to Swamiji’s lectures on the Aparokshanubhuti, there was a mention of how the body is entirely different from the real self, and that it’s not different from an object just like this chair or table in front of me.
Sounds strange? I know the exact feeling, even though this isn’t a novelty to me, and this was one of the most profound concepts that I learnt while stepping into spirituality, but even now, this seems tad difficult to understand. Now, while beginning with the Aparokshanubhuti, Swamiji had mentioned that reading this text wouldn’t exactly be a cakewalk, that various technical terms are being introduced here, and I wouldn’t differ. The text indeed is a lot profound, and one needs to focused enough to understand that.
Today, we had completed Verses 16-18, and till Verse 33 there’d be a mention of how the body has been seen as nothing other than an object. As always, I decide to focus on the takeaways, and today when I was recapitulating on the text, I found that some portions of it were pretty difficult to retain. So, I turned towards Volume 2 of “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda” and discovered that Swamiji had laid down very simple definitions of the Practical Vedanta, and this was all that I needed to see and hear at that point in time.
Here, Swamiji makes a mention of the Upanishads and refers to some anecdotes that mention the sun, earth, fire, birds and all to be Brahman. Later, he shares the concept of the Personal and the Impersonal God. The personal God is one where we are worshipping gods outside in the forms of temples, mosques and churches. The Impersonal God is one where we see ourselves and everything else as the form of the Almighty.
All the concepts as put forward by Swamiji might be difficult to mention in words here, but all I can say is I am striving every day to be able to reach that goal. Towards realising the self, towards divinity and peace.
How far am I succesful? Not sure. Don’t know. But if there is one goal in my life right now, it’s realising my true self, understanding the divinity, and proceeding towards that direction. Presently, that’s all that matters to me...
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