Eastern Philosophy Donna Chapman
April 13, 2000
Explain the Atman theory of Hinduism. How does Hinduism distinguish the mind
from the soul? What is the relation of the Atman to Brahman?
How does the concept of the Atman compare to the idea of the soul in Western
religions?
All philosophers postulate about the importance of, existence or nonexistence
of, God. They also postulate about the answer to the ultimate question of “life,
the universe and everything.”1 Is there
God or is this all just a big fluke, a colossal coincidence? If there is “God”,
what is it’s nature? Can I touch it? Why? Why not? What does it look like?
Where do I fit in? What is out there besides me? How do I contact it, talk to
it, relate to it? This is an external quest driven by wonder and curiosity.
It is driven by the absolute knowledge within us that we are indeed different
from a can or a fish or a tree, but are crippled by the equally absolute knowledge
within us that we are unable to apprehend exactly how this can be.
“The quest after Brahman as the all pervasive spirit springs from the
desire to discover a supreme controller of man and nature.”2
The question of the existence of the Soul or Spirit is the internal reflection
of the external quest. The soul (Atman) is man’s single point of participation
in and conjoining with the “answer”, the ultimate God, Nature, the
Power of the Universe.
“The soul is the immutable unqualified image of God”3
In discussing the soul from any philosophical viewpoint, I have observed a microcosm
of the arguments offered toward finding the ultimate answer to the “ultimate
question”. Any definition of the soul actually ends up being an attempt
to frame in understandable terms our intimate connection with the Ultimate.
“Underlying the human self and animating it is a resevior of
being that never
dies, is never exhausted and is unrestricted in consciousness and bliss...
Atman is no less than Brahman.4
Eastern Thought
Eastern philosophy has done a particularly nice job of studying the nature of
the soul/Atman, however even within the various flavors of Hinduism, there are
profound differences in the perception of who and what the soul/Atman is.
“Underlying it’s whirl pool of transient feelings emotions and delusions
is the
self luminous abiding point of the trans personal God. Though it is buried too
deep in the soul to be normally noticed, it is the sole ground of human
existence and awareness.It is never heard, but is the Hearer, is never thought
but is the Thinker, is never known but is the Knower.”5
“... God the Creator, expressed in the individual man is termed “Atma”
soul...6
According to Hindu thought the “Atman” (soul) is the life breath,
the Self.
“Man is a soul that has a body”7
Not to be confused with the personality, ego-self, or “I”. There are
two very distinct and very different approaches to the identity or definition
of the soul. Religious Hinduism says that we are layered beings. The outer personality
is called “conditional awareness” Conditional awareness is caused
by all of the incidents of my current life and past lives (samskaras). This
layer is the ego-self, the “I” and includes the element of us known
as the “mind”. The inner layer is pure awareness, atman, and is the
central core of us.
“The Atman is intelligence itself, is pure consciousness.
The mind merely reflects that consciousness and so appears to be conscious.
The Atman, the real seer remains unknown.
Every perception arouses the ego-sense, which says: “I know this”
But this is the ego speaking, not the Atman, the real Self. The ego-sense
is caused by the identification of the Atman with the mind, senses, etc.”8
The Hindu term “enlightenment” pertains to the release of conditional
awareness, of this “ego sense”, and the union of pure awareness and
the conscious mind.
“The real Self, the Atman, remains forever outside the power of thought
waves, it is eternally pure, enlightened and free the only true, unchanging
happiness...In order to become enlightened we must bring the thought-waves
under control.”9
The purpose of life (lives) is to neutralize karma (merits and demerits of actions
from previous lives) and so render the atman fit to achieve union with God.
The word “achieve” is not the best word for the attainment of the
enlightened state, for, truth be told, if you are trying to “get enlightened”
you have already lost. Enlightenment is a process of becoming aware of Awareness.
Awareness here meaning God. The religious view holds that atman is separate
from God but can apprehend the presence of God.
“When Brahman (God) is thought of as dwelling within a creature of object,
it is Atman. When we speak of Brahman in association with his power we
call it Ishwara. Atman dwells within man and man can become one with
atman by recognizing it’s nature. But man can never become Ishwara.”10
Yogas facilitate the union of Atman and God. Because we are individual souls
and God is external to us, it is a power to be worshipped. Simply put, the essence
of me is my atman. At the end of my lives, the essence of me will enter into
God.
Vedanta Hinduism holds the distinctly different view that the Atman is
God. The real nature of the human being is the Atman, which is eternal, infinite
and identical with Brahman (God). The soul inside is relational to the God outside
– therefore we are part of the universe and the universe is part of us.
The separateness that we feel is an illusion. Atman is an awareness of Awareness.
The state of enlightenment occurs when one identifies with God so completely
that one becomes aware that one is Awareness (God). Since in this
view the Atman is the Awareness within, over ridden by the mind, we can describe
the Atman as: the Watcher/Observer rather than the thinker. The Atman is the
universal “I” or Witness. Vedanta Hindu’s say: “Thou art
that”, Jews and Christians say: “I am Who AM”. If we look at
separation from God as sin, then man is sin because man’s ego keeps thinking
that we are individual, apart from God. Therefore: “I am” is ego,
I am Who AM is God. God is not an idol to be worshipped because God is
us. God is not an exterior reality apart from us. If you search for God
outside we find Brahman, if we search for God inside we find Atman.
“God, the underlying Reality, is by definition omnipresent.....
God-within-the-creature is known....as the Atman or Purusha, the
real Self.11 ‘
There is no entering into God, we already are there. The conscious must be quieted
and awareness allowed to function for true enlightenment to exist.
“Though the ego in most barbaric ways conspires to enslave him,
man is not a body confined to a point in space, but is essentially
the omnipresent soul”12
Vedanta Hindu’s also use Yoga’s to help quiet the ego and achieve
enlightenment.
Modern Views of Atman
There are many flavors of “atman” expressed in modern religion/philosophy.
The Judeo Christian group has three major positions, and in typical form, well,
they don’t exactly fight about it, but they certainly spend a lot of research
time and book space attempting to prove “my way” is right and all
the others are “wrong”. There are three important words and two deciding
factors which influence the Judeo Christian (from now on known as “Christian”)
view. The words are body, soul and spirit. The deciding
factors are: the support and belief in an afterlife, and God and it’s relationship
with/to us. The words body, soul and spirit are important because the question
of each element having individuality is the line of demarcation for each position.
The deciding factors are the basis for the answer to the ultimate question..the
meaning of..“life, the universe and everything.”13
The first position: Monism, is the view commonly held by modern Jewish tradition.
Man cannot exist at all apart from his physical body – therefore there
can be no separate existence for any “soul” after the body dies. There
is only one element, the body, and the unified body is the person. According
to monism, the terms “soul” and “spirit” are merely expressions
synonymous with the person, herself, or her life.
The second position, Dichotomy, suggests that soul and spirit are synonymous
terms. man is a unified person with body and soul living and acting together.
The soul is the mind, the will, and the ego. There is no acknowledgement or
awareness of a special “essence” of God within. The soul lives on
after the body dies, but goes to “be with God” There is no elaborate
discussion of exactly what “heaven” is or means. Christians do not
support any “enlightenment” or “rebirth” arguments, however
the dichotomist view seems to relate closely to the view of religious Hinduism.
One of the most notable Christian Dichotomists is philosopher theologian St.
Augustine. He reveals his position in the following statements:
“Each soul is a unique spiritual entity.”14
“The soul does not find truth through the perception of matter, but by
an interior
and upward glance towards God...it is a spiritual substance which is only at
home in a spiritual world...care is always taken to ensure it’s independence
from matter”15
The third position is Trichotomy.
“The soul is the intermediate between God and Spirit. The body is the
instrument through which the soul relates to the world, the spirit gives the
soul it’s consciousness of God. The soul is the seat of will, personality,
ego”16
....sound familiar?
Akin to religious Hinduism, Trichotomists hold a layered view, but the real
concept tends more toward Vedantic Hinduism. Man is body, soul, and spirit.
The body is the communication interface. The soul includes intellect, mind,
emotions, will, personality, and ego. The spirit is the vitalizing principle,
the unique and immortal personal essence rooted in God. The spirit most directly
relates to God in worship and prayer,(willful intent to supplication and intercession,
soul, body and spirit have coordinated intent) but, the spirit is capable of
communicating with God directly, independent of soul and body. No Christian
view ever states or implies that spirit (or any part of man for that matter)
is God. Discussions seem to dance around the subject a bit, and probably avoid
stating anything close to “God is Man” or Man is God” because
such a thought would be deemed heretical, even today. Trichotomists believe
that it is “spirit” which separates us from animals. Animals have
souls, but they don’t have what we have.
Interestingly enough, with a little bit of snooping, I see threads of Hindu
philosophy emerge in surprising places and vice-versa. Patanjali (Sankhya philosophy)
in the Trichotomist tradition believed that each individual creature and object
has it’s separate, but identical Purusha. The Essnes, ascetic Jews, 2nd
century BC believed that bodies are corruptible, the matter that they are made
of is not permanent, and that souls are immortal and continue forever. Souls
within bodies are in bondage. (view of Religious Hinduism) Death is the liberation
of the soul. The Druids believe in the eternal nature of the soul and saw a
living spirit in all forms of creation (Trichotomist/Vedantic view).
“Spirit sleeps in the mineral,
breathes in the vegetable,
dreams in the animal,
and wakes in man”17
The twentieth century Church of Religious Science statement of faith illustrates
a Dichotomist view with a strong Vedantic influence:
“We believe in the eternality, the immortality and the continuity of the
individual soul forever and ever expanding. We believe that the
Kingdom of Heaven is within man and that we experience this
Kingdom to the degree that we become conscious of it. We believe
the ultimate goal of life to be complete emancipation from all discord of
every nature, and that this goal is sure to be attained by all”18
Conclusion
If we let semantics get in the way, we could be fooled into thinking
that there are many diverse views of the nature of God, and the nature of man’s
connection to God (Atman/Soul). It is my opinion that there are really only
a few views. God either is or is not. We either have a soul connected intimately
to God, or we do not. Once the leap is made into commitment to any of the possibilities,
for a leap it indeed is because none of the views can be proved, the differences
fade and the commonalities become vivid. The commonalities of view are ancient
and modern at the same time. They are timeless. Which one do I believe? I am
a Vedantic/Trichotomist. For me, the puzzle pieces fit. For me, the “answer”
is found in piecing the puzzle together.
“In the end it is God’s radiating warmth that melts the souls icecap,
turning it into a pure capacity for God.”19
Bibliography
How to Know God; The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali by Swami Prabhavananda &
Chistopher Isherwood, (c.1968)
The Spiritual Heritage of India, Swami Prabhavananda
The Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda
A History of Philosophical Systems, Virgilius Verm
The World’s Religions, Houston
The Spiritual Seekers Guide, Steven S. Sadlier
The Story of Thought, Bryan Magee
Introduction to World Philosophies, Eliot Deutsch
The World’s Religions, Houston Smith
A History of God, Karen Armstrong
Systematic Theology, ch. 23: The Essential Nature of Man, Wayne Grudem
(with special thanks to Bill Dwyer, Pastor Valley Vineyard Christian Fellowship)
Nave’s Topical Bible, Orville J. Nave
Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, Lawrence O. Richards
The New International Dictionary of the Bible, J.D. Douglas & Merrill C.
Tenney
1 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
2 A History of Philosophical Systems, p5
3 Autobiography of a Yogi, p48
4 The Worlds Religions, p21
5 The Worlds Religions, p66
6 Autobiography of a Yogi, p86
7 Autobiography of a Yogi, p189
8 How to Know God, p17
9 How to Know God, p18
10 Rama Krishna & His Disciples, p49
11 How to Know God, p16
12 Autobiography of a Yogi, p178
13 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
14 Early Christian Philosophy, p154
15 Early Christian Philosophy, p1201
16 Nave’s Topical Bible, p1201
17 The Spiritual Seekers Guide, p90
18 The Spiritual Seekers Guide, p152
19 The World’s Religions, p67