Atman
In the Hindu religion, Atman is the concept of the soul eternal. It refers to the immortal part of every mortal form of creation. According to this concept, every mortal creation including man contains an immortal aspect that is hidden within it. In other words, this is the microcosm that represents the macrocosm within each creation and which imparts on us “the divine qualities and possibilities” from which we derive the reason for existence and earthly life’s experiencing pains and pleasures. This is the principle of sensation and life. It is the soul and the breath we take. Atman is the soul of the body. It is the self and the inner person.
According to this basic Hindu tenet, the human body and its physical appearance are not the real self. The real person is the atman which is the silent self within who calmly shares with the experiences that we go through. Atman cannot be described by words or thoughts. It is something that can only be experienced when the senses of the body are eliminated and when sense objects, thought movements, and tormenting desires, the fundamental causes of human suffering, are stilled (Jayaram).
On its part, (Harvey, p 97) defines Nirvana in the Theravada Buddhism faith as the third member of the Ennobling Truths. It is the quenching of the “fires of attachment, hatred and delusion.” These form the basis of dukha which is equitable to the kandhas that constitute a person and which lead to suffering and unsatisfactory. These are material forms, constructing activities, cognition, discriminative consciousness, and feelings. In life, attaining nirvana is the same as being able to live without the influence of attachments, hatred, and delusions. It is also deathless and goes beyond time and change and cannot be explained with human words or thoughts.
Nirvana and Atman, therefore, are two concepts that have similarities in that they are not definable within human words or thoughts. They are the real aspect of human existence that is free from the pressures and desires of the physical body. In addition, these two are timeless and beyond death and they are immortal. The only difference is that while nirvana is an aspect of the human body, Atman exists in all forms of mortal creation, not just the human being.
Upanishads
The Vedas are the scriptures of the Hindu religion. The Mantras which is the text of the Vedas are the personification of the Brahman and are divided into two forms which are the karma-Kanda and the Jnana-Kanda. The portion of the Vedas which is disseminates knowledge is called the Upanishad.
Originally there existed a hundred and fifty Upanishads but several of them got lost with time leaving only sixteen which were further studied and grouped by Shankaracharya to come up with 10 Upanishads’ principles. They include the Isha Upanishad, Prashna, Kath Upanishad, Kena, Chandogya, Mundaka, Mandukya, Aitareya, Brihadaranyaka, Aitareya, and Taittriya Upanishad. Most of these Upanishads are written in prose with some aspects of poetry (Shah).
The Upanishad teachings stress mostly the relationship between Brahman, which is the Universal Soul, and the Jeevatman which is the individual soul. The latter is also referred to as Atman. According to the teachings, the two are identical only that Jeevatman is blocked by ignorance or avidya from comprehending the universal nature of Brahman. Other teachings within the Upanishad include the purpose and nature of existence, various methods of worship and meditation, a liberation which is also referred to as Moksha, and the soul transmigration. The Upanishads also concentrate on the highest truth revelation. This truth is separated from the body and mind.
They refer to the absolute consciousness as God, consciousness, Brahma, Atman, or self. We are this True Reality because we are divine in our true nature. We, therefore, fail to separate the absolute reality with the body-mind complex because of Maya or ignorance. Although the teachings purport that our essential nature is divine, it does not say that we are God only that we have a very close relationship. We are like the sparks from a hot rod, God being the rod while we are the sparks, therefore; we are Part of God (Shah).
These teachings carry a very great challenge on theism because it fails to take God as an independent omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent being. In the teachings, God ceases to be the creator of the Universe and becomes part of the Human body that is silent and who can be accessed only after suppressing all the bodily feelings like attachment, hatred, and delusion. This is challenging because all other religions because God is reduced into a small part of the human body. This fails to merge with other teachings which want to believe that God was there from the beginning and he created man. If God created man then he could not be taken to be part of man. He has to be a different entity.
Bhagavat-Gita
The Bhagavat Gita is regarded as one of the greatest Yoga literature. Made up of 700 stanzas, the Bhagavat Gita contains the philosophical views concerning ethical values within the Indian traditions. In its teachings, it advocates that for one to attain liberation, there are three spiritual paths. That he/she has to follow. The three are Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga. While Karma and Jnana are concerned with spiritual growth, Bhakti Yoga involves the path of devotion.
The path that is characterized by contemplation, knowledge, introspection, and wisdom is referred to as the Jnana Yoga. On its part, Karma involves being mindful and ready to do service to others. It involves putting into consideration the levels of our being in our efforts to fulfill the Karma in the world. Finally, Bhakti Yoga is the path concerned with emotion, compassion, love, and devotion to God. All actions in this Yoga are based on the remembering of the Divine (India Divine).
Gita posits that all these paths are important for the final destination but Bhakti Yoga is considered the most important of all the Yogas (India Divine). This is “the rendering of ultimate worship to God.” This, therefore, means that all other yogas end up in Bhakti yoga. Karma yoga is the beginning of the path. An increase in knowledge and renunciation by karma leads to Jnana yoga also referred to as the yoga of knowledge. One then reaches Astanga yoga when he advances on the meditation on the super soul.
This is when the body undergoes some physical processes and focuses on God. By surpassing Astanga yoga, one is now in a position to worship the supreme Godhead who is Krishna. This is the ultimate objective, Bhakti yoga. But to attain this process, one must understand the other stages comfortably. This point is brought out in the Chaitanya-caritamrita which states that: krishna-bhakti haya abhidheya-pradhana bhakti-mukha-niriksaka karma-yoga-jnana. This translates as:
Devotional service to Krishna is the chief function of the living entity. There are different methods for the liberation of the conditioned soul – karma, jnana, yoga and bhakti – but they are all dependent on bhakti (India Divine).
Works Cited
Harvey, B. Buddhism. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001.
India Divine. “Karma, Jnana and Bhakti: The Three Paths of the Vedas.” Web.
Jayaram, V. “Atman-The Soul Eternal.” Hindu Website. 2008. Web.
Shah, C. “Upanishads: An Introduction.” International Forum for Neovedantins. Web.