My dad usually got those cds that spoke about personality development, yoga, art of living, career guidance. I never had the patience to listen through them wholly.
On a rainy day there was power shut down for longer than the generator worked..so..I picked up one of those philosophical cds, it started with a guy talking in Sanskrit and reciting slokas; I was about to hit stop only before he started to explain what he recited, in plain English. I liked the explanation..the idea of deciphering those exotic books was thrilling. I was always curious to know what was in those big books like the Vedas, Bhagawadgeeta and other epics... (This was far before I read the Gita..and wrote my old post) The talk was about the concept of "Aham Brahmasmi" derived from Yajur Veda. I instantly fell in love with it. I don't really remember what exactly that guy spoke although I read about the concept a lot later on and made my own theories about it.
This is what it means:
"Aham Brahmasmi" Aham = I, Brahman = the enlightened sage.
I am omnipotent. I can control self and am responsible for everything that is happening around me.
But almost everyone is oblivious to this.
One of my theories:
A human could exist in these states: prajna, swapna, jagrat, turiya.
Prajna is a state where one does not know who he is and what he wants. Everything about him is dormant. He neither knows about him inwardly nor outwardly. He doesn't know his power or presence, like a new born baby.
Swapna is a dreamy state. (Dream is a state where the senses are at rest and the subconscious mind takes over.) The human is aware of his presence but does not know what he has or what he wants. He gives in to his inner most desires and sees things what can not happen in real. He is in a dazed mind set. Hes preconceived with an imaginary personality of his own, like a kid who thinks he's a superman and can fly.
Jagrat is an awaking state where the human is aware of his senses and knows that he wants something, and pursues it. He outwardly portrays control but his insides are in a chaos.
Six inner enemies of human are kaama, krodha, lobha, moha mada matsarya, all of them are related to each other. Referring history, one can strongly say Kama (lust) and Krodha (anger) were the cause of many battles. Many kingdoms were ruined just for the sake of them. If lust is mistaken for love then it leads to moha, meaning illusion- madness or obsession about object. Mada is the pride that comes with riches or acquisitions; it is a very dangerous enemy and plays a key role in devastating a successful person. Ego is a diseased version of Self esteem, which would lead to self destruction. Lobha is the greed for anything. Although he fights with all the six inner enemies they affect him. Most of us are in this state.
Turiya is the ideal state. Of course, this may not exist for humans. But a few wise men pursue it seriously. This is a state where human recognizes the God in himself, that he could do anything if he wants to do. He knows what he is and what he wants discretely. He pursues his aspirations with determination. He is untouched by the inner enemies. He know what is right at every instance and performs his every task with deliberation and does not regret his decisions.
These states are not sequential. A human could be in one or more of the first 3 states at a time..But the final state is amazing, its the state of perfection, even its pursuit is a mark of excellence for a human.
I think the notion of "Aham Brahmasmi" can be related to people of the contemporary times. It could be challenging to be pursued.
On a rainy day there was power shut down for longer than the generator worked..so..I picked up one of those philosophical cds, it started with a guy talking in Sanskrit and reciting slokas; I was about to hit stop only before he started to explain what he recited, in plain English. I liked the explanation..the idea of deciphering those exotic books was thrilling. I was always curious to know what was in those big books like the Vedas, Bhagawadgeeta and other epics... (This was far before I read the Gita..and wrote my old post) The talk was about the concept of "Aham Brahmasmi" derived from Yajur Veda. I instantly fell in love with it. I don't really remember what exactly that guy spoke although I read about the concept a lot later on and made my own theories about it.
This is what it means:
"Aham Brahmasmi" Aham = I, Brahman = the enlightened sage.
I am omnipotent. I can control self and am responsible for everything that is happening around me.
But almost everyone is oblivious to this.
One of my theories:
A human could exist in these states: prajna, swapna, jagrat, turiya.
Prajna is a state where one does not know who he is and what he wants. Everything about him is dormant. He neither knows about him inwardly nor outwardly. He doesn't know his power or presence, like a new born baby.
Swapna is a dreamy state. (Dream is a state where the senses are at rest and the subconscious mind takes over.) The human is aware of his presence but does not know what he has or what he wants. He gives in to his inner most desires and sees things what can not happen in real. He is in a dazed mind set. Hes preconceived with an imaginary personality of his own, like a kid who thinks he's a superman and can fly.
Jagrat is an awaking state where the human is aware of his senses and knows that he wants something, and pursues it. He outwardly portrays control but his insides are in a chaos.
Six inner enemies of human are kaama, krodha, lobha, moha mada matsarya, all of them are related to each other. Referring history, one can strongly say Kama (lust) and Krodha (anger) were the cause of many battles. Many kingdoms were ruined just for the sake of them. If lust is mistaken for love then it leads to moha, meaning illusion- madness or obsession about object. Mada is the pride that comes with riches or acquisitions; it is a very dangerous enemy and plays a key role in devastating a successful person. Ego is a diseased version of Self esteem, which would lead to self destruction. Lobha is the greed for anything. Although he fights with all the six inner enemies they affect him. Most of us are in this state.
Turiya is the ideal state. Of course, this may not exist for humans. But a few wise men pursue it seriously. This is a state where human recognizes the God in himself, that he could do anything if he wants to do. He knows what he is and what he wants discretely. He pursues his aspirations with determination. He is untouched by the inner enemies. He know what is right at every instance and performs his every task with deliberation and does not regret his decisions.
These states are not sequential. A human could be in one or more of the first 3 states at a time..But the final state is amazing, its the state of perfection, even its pursuit is a mark of excellence for a human.
I think the notion of "Aham Brahmasmi" can be related to people of the contemporary times. It could be challenging to be pursued.
5 comments:
Good post..but my opinion is different on 'Turiya'. This is a state of complete and absolute consciousness. I don't believe it is a state where he pursues his aspirations with determination. It is a state where he desires nothing and he realizes his true-self. A place where he is a 'samadhi' which means he wants nothing but he is still alive. A conscious 'samadhi', one can say. For most humans this state is not possible during their normal life. It is sometimes perceived to be a state before and after life. However, a person (yogi) meditating is said to be in a state of Turiya, when his mind is pure and thoughts divine.
what you said is right according to Yajur veda chaitanya, thats why I said this was my theory which I tweaked to make it contemporary.. :)
Good to know that there are many who still keep this process of learning from the ancestors alive. There were times I felt, we are simply reinventing the wheel.
Another important thing is most of the translations grossly misinterpret! For instance when you spoke of Swpana awastha, the definition of dream, senses and subconscious mind are completely abstract...Not because they were not defined well in vedas but because our dimension of understanding is different from what was written...
And in general there is a stage, beyond which our human mind simply blames it on 'perception of the individual' and dunks the concept! I feel one has to be extra careful when interpreting what some one else said, ages ago in vedas!
yea..it is as important to understand the true meanings of vedas as it is to keep them alive. thank you for pointing out the misinterpretations! :)
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