vijay kumar
 

Hinduism Self Inner Self Atman God

Query: I have difficulty understanding "Hinduism". How does Hinduism define self in relation to God/reality? In realtion to society? How does all of this tie together?

Vijay Kumar:

continued from... Understanding Hinduism Atman Self Inner Self God

Now I shall define self as explained in Hinduism nay "Bhagavad Gita"...

Self in Hinduism is understood for the inner self... the real self within every human being... the core of us... our atman the soul within. In Hinduism the physical manifested life which a human being lives, the life of 70 to 80 years spent on Mother Earth within a life span carries no more meaning other than passing through a phase of life. Why so?

As explained in Bhagavad Gita- every human being is the result of the evolutionary process through which every Jiva (living being) is required to pass through. None can escape the cycle of evolution. Every Jiva (living being) passes through total phases of 8.4 million manifestations and a total cosmic life cycle of 96.4 million years before one can gain enlightenment and subsequently Moksha... Salvation!

Initially, the first manifestation is that of an amoeba... the single cell formation. The next stage is that of an insect. Subsequently we manifest the shape of a plant and than an animal and finally emerge as a human being. In the human form itself we have 11 million types of manifestations. Does it mean that in the evolutionary process we reached the stage of a human being after passing through 7.3 million manifestations? Yes, it is true! Human being is the last stage of manifestation as destined by God. only as a Human Being can one achieve Salvation Moksha. Gaining emancipation directly from the stages of single cell formation, multi-cell formation, insect life, plant life and animal life is not permitted.

Yes, one is permitted to crossover rather jump over various stages of manifestation. If I am passing through in this life the stage of 7.5 millionth manifestation then it is possible that within this life span of 70 to 80 years I can jump over to 8.4 millionth manifestation (the last in the stage of cosmic life... when life itself ends (the physical part of manifested life).

The stages of manifestations as defined in Hinduism are the means to reach the goal of cosmic life... Liberation from the cycle of birth and death. It can be explained thus... anyone desirous of becoming the best artist in a field of his choosing passes through various stages of life. We may even have to work as a janitor, laundrymen or any other profession... if we have the knack we shall one day reach the goal of life and become a wonderful actor. Passing through various manifestations as a human being... is it not equivalent of passing the phases of life as a janitor, laundrymen only to finally reach the cosmic goal of life... gaining emancipation and finally Salvation?

As per Hinduism the physical manifest form of life we are passing through in a single life span is but a passing phase in the total cosmic life cycle of 8.4 million manifestations and 96.4 million years of cosmic life cycle. We are not supposed to be attached materialistically to the short span of 70 to 80 years of life... clinging to the materialistic assets like money and different forms of wealth... something we can not call our own is mere wishful thinking. Today it may be ours in this physical manifest form... Tomorrow it shall belong to someone else!

The moment we leave this form and our atman the soul within takes a next life all is lost. Whatever little we carry from the present life to the next is only the balance of Punya Karma. In the short life span of 70 to 80 years we may have committed many sins knowingly or unknowingly and also carried out many austerity measures which earned us positive merits. The balance of these merits (the difference between the positive and the negative) is whatever that gets carried forward to the next life. Nothing else!


In the next life or the present life we only reap the benefits of our Karma. We reap what we sow... nothing more or less! Everything in the cosmic system is governed by our Karma. The balance merit from one life to another gets carried through the chromosomes that are passed on from the parents to the child. The cosmic system is foolproof and without demerits. It is only the ignorance by the high and mighty in society like the famous physicist Stephen Hawking who has advocated in his book "a brief history of time" that the system of God is disordered at some stage.

If it had been so... the moon would have crashed with Earth long ago. The whole Cosmos would have dissolved in no time. It would have been an everyday scene observing in the sky one star system striking the other and collapsing.

Scientists and physicists are by profession debarred from venturing into the realm of Spirituality. They want to observe God through the telescopes they have built. They want to feel the presence of God through their physical manifested eyes. They want to see the smell of a flower before they can believe in it. Such a phenomenon shall never be... the ignorant fools they are! As stated in the doctrines of Hinduism and in the Bhagavad Gita, Spirituality starts where science ends.


It is only when acting as a human being does a scientist who treads into the domain of Spirituality shall come across truth only if one has hundred percent faith in the system of God. Faith that does not ask for physical proofs... but lends a logical support to every query. Every Spiritual truth carries with it the seeds of a logical answer. Nothing is without explanation! We need to see and feel with our inner eyes to understand the underlying cosmic truth.

Knowing well that every being is on its cosmic journey, Hinduism asserts on every human being to act as a true Karma yogi all the time... and who is a true Karma Yogi? One who is never attached to any materialistic possession and works always like a true trustee... one who believes in the fact that everything belongs to God and we are but the housekeeper of the belongings given to us by God. andrew Carnegie the famous philanthropist believed in this phenomenon... when he left his mortal frame he bequeathed everything for creating libraries for the benefit of mankind all over the United States of America. What a truly wonderful person he was!

Napoleon hill, the author of books like think and grow rich, masters key to riches and the famous doctrine Law of Success believed and practiced as a true Karma Yogi. He always worked for the benefit of mankind. He made true heroes out of a common man only that one had to have a will to succeed and reach the goal of ones life. The book Law of Success is more precious than the Bible itself... it far outweighs all similar doctrines contained on Mother Earth.


It is because it gives a moral boost in the physical manifested life to a common man. When one reaches the goal of ones life... one shall find ample time to dive deep into the Morals contained in the Bible. To pass the physical manifested life successfully one initially needs to follow the rules contained in the book by Napoleon hill the Law of Success ... the bible of the physical manifested world. Thereafter one is free to follow the sacred bible... the teachings of Jesus Christ. I quote this incidence here because whatever is contained in the teachings of Napoleon Hill is not contrary to what is contained in Hinduism. Both the documents work for the benefit of mankind.

What is an atman the soul within, the inner self... which forms the core of every living being! What is it made of... how come we know that it really exists? Hinduism nay Bhagavad Gita defines inner self as the true essence of life. It says that our real self is the only truth and everything else is Maya (ignorance)... as per the basic philosophy of Hinduism... the physical manifested world does not carry much meaning. It is our atman the soul within that has taken the body and not vice versa. It is like changing of the guard's at Birmingham Palace.

Our atman the soul within remaining the pivotal point... Hinduism dictates that every step in our life must be pointed towards gaining Punya Karma for it is only the Punya Karma that shall be carried forward to next life. In Hinduism reincarnation is not something to be discussed upon... it is a fact of life that our soul the atman within manifests one life after another until it reaches the 8.4 millionth manifestation.


Reincarnation is something that exists where as the physical manifest form as per Hinduism carries no entity for it is all the work of Maya (ignorance) that makes a human being to believe that one can live forever and become immortal. Knowing well that the maximum life of a human being In present times is but about hundred years... to expect to become immortal (amar in Hinduism) is to befool our very existence.

Immortality is not the least related to the physical manifest form... it is only when one gains emancipation that... atman the soul within regains its pristine pure form and that is the stage of immortality for atman the soul within is not for the required to manifest a body.

Hinduism does not believe in the existence of a beginning less Cosmos only. Bhagavad Gita clearly states that the total creation is the work of God Almighty... a formless source of energy comprising of the power of all purified Atmans souls at a given point of time. One can never see the real self with the physical manifested eyes but everyone knows that our atman, the soul within lives within our heart. The moment this atman the soul within leaves the body... the body dies and decays!

We can feel the presence of atman the soul within for the small sweet inner voice that always prompts us whenever we tend to go on a wrong path is the voice of our atman the soul within that is trying to guide us all the time. We can never see the smell of a flower yet we can always feel the presence of a flower by its fragrance felt by us.

I hope part of your query gets dissolved. If you still have some questions send them for clarifications? Questions related to any Religion or any topics are welcome. Having reached the source of all cosmic wisdom... all sacred Scriptures of all Religions of the world have become like ABCD to me... not difficult to understand and also explain the wisdom contained therein.

May God bless you!

Always there to clarify your queries ( send your query),

Essay by: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani" ... The Man who Realized God in 1993!

A to Z of Hinduism Self explained in words one can easily understand and fathom. For more on inner self visit : http://www.vijaykumar.com/Hinduism-Beliefs/  ... Vijay Kumar

Vijay Kumar explains concept of Atman in brief Audio (Eng) (3.1 MB) Audio Hindi (3 MB)
(all clippings take few seconds to load initially - suitable for broadband internet connection preferably above 256 kbps)

Full text of query: Hi. I was wondering if you could answer a question for me. I am studying World Religions, for my first exposure, and I am having difficulty understanding "Hinduism," if I may call it that. Could you possibly answer some questions? If so, first, I was wondering how does Hinduism define self? In relation to God/reality? In realtion to society? How does all of this tie together?


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