Aham Brahmasmi

This is the thought that I try to wake up with every day, the literal translation of which would be “I am Brahman.” To break it further down, this would mean that I am that divine force within. Swami Vivekananda says that all the powers of the universe lie within us and that we can do anything and everything.

I would like to take this opportunity to reflect upon one of his most powerful verses that says that each one of us is potentially divine and the goal is to manifest the divinity within. He explains various ways to do that either by worship, psychic control or philosophy. And he tells us continuously to look upon all people, no matter how evil they are as our fellow beings and help them realise their true nature - they must be self-dependent to such a point that they can proudly say “Aham Brahmasmi.”

Now, what is the origin of this phrase? This refers back to the Upanishads - the philosophical portion of the Hindu scriptures called Vedas and they consist of all the knowledge about our real selves and our divine nature. Just think about it normally, if you do contemplate in real life, you would sometimes perhaps wonder about the purpose of life. 

Is it merely to earn money, start a family and be materialistically sound? If all of that could give happiness then why is it that most of the billionaires are unhappy? Why do we hear so much about divorces and mental turmoil then if the purpose of this life is just to be immersed in sense pleasures? Where is all the happiness? Does that lie somewhere else?

Actually, our ancient Hindu scriptures say that they lie inside us, and our very essence is that. Well, how do we believe so? The sages say that we have to read the knowledge that is given in the Vedas, contemplate it and then establish it in our lives. This might be a lengthy process, and might take lots of time, but we must hold on to it. 

Why? Because it’s our real nature, our divine nature. Just this Monday when I started the week, I was lucky to be introduced to a form of meditation which reflected this very thought. The mentor asked us to sit in a calm place in a comfortable position, with our eyes open. He then asked us to take a look at our surroundings, and identify that as our waking world. 

After that, we were asked to close our eyes and focus on our thoughts and nerve currents, and this was followed by a blankness where none of these existed. The blank state is classified as our “deep sleep” state, the state where we go into a deep sleep, and then we were asked to let go of that state too, and establish ourselves in that situation by just being a witness of everything. 

 It is quite natural at this point to be surrounded by thoughts in the mind, and the mentor asked us not to fight them, but to just drop them aside gently. When we have been successful in being calm, the mentor gently asked us to chant “Aham Brahmasmi, I am Brahman,” “Aham Brahmasmi, I am Brahman,” “Aham Brahmasmi, I am Brahman.” 

This was followed by chanting “Om” gently thrice, and post that he asked us to open our eyes if we felt comfortable. Most of us chose not to, we were all too immersed in Brahman perhaps. When we gained consciousness and got back into our waking state, we wondered whether that state was true or this is true. Our mentor smiled and said, “Neither that nor this, but you are the truth, say Aham Brahmasmi.”

Image via Pexels by RF Studios