Atman. Definition
The first civilizations appeared approximately 5 thousand years ago in the Ancient East, which refers to a huge region of the Earth: from Egypt to India. The worldview of these civilizations was a fusion of religion and philosophy. Moreover, the latter has not yet emerged as an independent form of human consciousness. And therefore, ancient Eastern teachings are often called religious-philosophical. The most famous of them were created in India and China.
Indian philosophy grew out of Vedic literature. Veda, which translated from Sanskrit (an ancient Indian language) means “ conducting" or " knowledge” are the sacred books of the ancient Indians, which contain their religious understanding of the world. Vedic literature took a long time to develop; its oldest and main monuments date back to approximately the middle of the second millennium BC. Subsequently, numerous commentaries appeared on the main books (Vedas). The most important of these comments are “ Upanishads”, in which for the first time an attempt is made to philosophically comprehend the religious content of the Vedas. IN " Upanishads" we find a plot on which all Indian philosophy was subsequently built. It is as follows.
So the Indian Brahman is that same impersonal principle, a pantheistic deity. Brahman is the whole world. The individual human soul is atman, which is a particle of Brahman and therefore must be in unity with it. But the soul is not in unity with Brahman, because it constantly falls away from it and exists in some body in the physical, material world. More precisely, atman falls away from Brahman once, that is, a particle of the whole falls away from it and becomes something concrete, individual, becomes atman and at the same time appears in the form of some material object: a plant or an animal, or a person. While this physical body lives, the soul - atman - also lives in it; when the body dies, atman should return to Brahman and dissolve in it, become it and cease to be atman, but this does not happen, and the soul (atman) inhabits another body when it dies, the atman begins to live in the new and so on constantly. This eternal birth is again called samsara (the wheel of rebirth). What body to be born into next is decided by the law of karma (retribution): if one life was bad, the next one will be better and vice versa, although any physical, bodily life is bad. After all, the body is born and dies, and during life it is subject to various sufferings, be it the body of a plant, animal or human. Therefore, it is best to unite with Brahman after another death and no longer be born again in the physical world, not appear on earth, and henceforth not undergo birth, death, or bodily suffering. If the atman unites with Brahman, it will cease to be an individual particle, but will become Brahman, that is, everything, because it will dissolve in it. Here we can give a rough but striking example: if a grain of sugar is dissolved in a glass of water, the grain will disappear, but it, combining with all this water, will become this entire mass of water, that is, having disappeared, it will turn into something much larger than it was at first. Likewise, the atman, having lost its individuality, will become immeasurably large, will be equal to Brahman, dying forever and ceasing to be born on earth, uniting with Brahman, the atman will thereby be born forever and will live forever, for Brahman is eternal. But our soul is firmly tied to the wheel of samsara, and after another death we are born again in order to die again. The cherished dream is not to be born again, to die completely in order to be born forever, and having ceased to be oneself, to become everything. This return to Brahman is called Nirvana. But how to achieve it?
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We are born again because we perceive ourselves as a certain concrete unit, a certain individuality, a certain “I”. We isolate ourselves, individualize ourselves, and therefore constantly live in some specific, individual body; perceiving ourselves as “I”, we are some specific “I”. We must abandon this individuality, concreteness and realize, understand, feel ourselves not as an isolated unit, but as a particle of the whole - Brahman, that is, the whole world, we must perceive ourselves not as “I”, but as an element of the whole, or, in other words, we must understand that there is no me as such, but only the entire universe, and I am a grain of it dissolved in it. And as soon as we understand and realize this quite sincerely and completely, we will break away from the wheel of samsara, free ourselves from the shackles of karma and plunge into nirvana, that is, having died once again, we will no longer be born on earth, but now we will appear in the form of the entire vast and eternal world . It is difficult to give up individual consciousness, it is difficult to stop being yourself, it is almost impossible to fully believe that I really do not exist, that there is no “I” of mine, but only in this way can one defeat the evil fate of constant rebirths and gain an endless and perfect life, not subject to the vicissitudes of birth, death and suffering.
Questions and tasks
1. Why are the worldview teachings of the Ancient East called religious and philosophical?
2. What are the Vedas and Upanishads? What is the role of the Upanishads in the formation of Indian philosophy?
3. What are theism and pantheism?
4. Reveal the content and relationship of the basic concepts of Indian philosophy: Brahman, atman, karma, samsara.
5. What does the concept of nirvana mean in Indian philosophy? What is the difficulty of achieving nirvana according to the ideas of the ancient Indians?
6. Comment on the following fragment from the Upanishads: “As flowing rivers disappear into the sea, losing name and form, so the knower (sage), detached from name and form, comes to the divine Purusha, which is higher than the high.”
Atman –
a word used in Advaita teaching to designate the higher “I.” Atman is not some kind of mystical chimera, but a completely accessible and even obvious experience of one’s own presence at the present moment in time. This is psychic reality, a feeling of being, which in its pure form is experienced as boundless freedom. The Atman is what we are experiencing right now. This is psychological time - the very moment in which life happens - our true essence. The clearer the connection with the higher “I”, the stronger the feeling of the reality that is happening, the feeling that all this is really happening right now. It may seem strange to some why this is even discussed, since the fact that reality exists is something understandable and taken for granted by default. In order to better clarify the paramount importance that I attach to this “psychic aspect” of life, let us try to consider it in a comparative analysis.
During the day we are awake, performing routine activities, being in a relatively conscious state. However, more often than not, if we are asked to retell what happened to us during the day, including all mental activity, feelings, movements, everything that was felt by our five organs of perception, we will not be able to remember even a fraction of a percent. A person remembers only the key moments that are important for his future activities, related to the projections of the small “I” -. All other memory is repressed into the unconscious.
That is, our everyday is very relative. And when a person goes to sleep, the level of awareness drops several times more, and after sleep, he can remember very little - only the most vivid dreams, and often nothing at all. During sleep, the “sense” of reality is reduced so much that it is almost not recorded at all.
And so, as if in contrast to night sleep, there is another - a superconscious state, in comparison with which even daytime wakefulness will seem like sleep and the absence of life.
The average person is practically unaware of his “beingness,” and perceives these aspects through some indirect experiences - he fixes objects with his mind and concludes that he exists, because otherwise there would be no one to perceive this world of forms. If you accept this simply as a logical fact, thoughts may arise: “well, there is me, and then what? This doesn’t put any extra money in your pocket... What is the practical value of realizing your own existence?”
Such questions, rightly arising from the superficial mind, only indicate that a person is tightly hooked to this mind, and his attention at the moment is not able to tear himself away from the surface and go into the depths, into the cause and essence of the processes taking place - at the present moment.
When we ask such questions, we should pay attention to the fundamental paradox that while the question arises, the questioner himself is absent. What is the point of being interested in consequences if there is no understanding of the original cause of what is happening? What is the point in secondary manifestations of the “I” if a person is completely unaware of this “I”.
We are not aware of our own presence. Some vague sensations of hard, soft, tasty, bitter, important, boring arise, some pictures, feelings, hundreds of superficial thoughts... But where is “I” among all this? What is "I"? If we try to reassure ourselves with this kind of concept like “I am the totality of everything,” then what is our self missing? Where is the line that divides reality into “I” and its absence? Is the hair on our head our self? Our body? Mind? If you feel your “I”, it turns out that there are two “I”s, one of which is watching the other? Or are they observing each other at the same time? Then a certain third “I” appears, capable of being a third-party witness for the previous two, etc. These are mind games, concepts. Our fragmented ego is woven from these mental clots.
Any object that we sense in any way, including all our false selves, is external to us, observed along with other aspects of the world of forms. At a deep level, all forms, as one whole, are also Atman - the highest “I”.
All forms exist because you exist, the light of your consciousness gives them life. The existence of life itself is the radiance of your consciousness.
For a person, Atman is God and the highest transcendental reality. Even a fleeting awareness of the fact of this connection gives joy, a glimpse of an amazing, independent of anything. After all, no one can ever take this away. Atman is life itself, in its absolute aspect, existence itself, the invisible background for everything - the true essence of man. This is a simple, pure and boundless, always fresh, life-filling principle - the source, meaning and essence of reality itself.
Esoteric teachings call awareness of one's higher self enlightenment. Advaita speaks of the Supreme Self as the Atman, the One who truly is. Yoga speaks of the higher “I” as the Purusha, who is endowed with the following properties: beginningless, subtle, omnipresent, conscious, transcendental, eternal, contemplating, cognizing, tasting, inactive, spotless, generating nothing. contribute to the manifestation of these qualities, promote self-knowledge, bring us closer to the truth, to relaxation in the present and reveal the Atman - the higher “I”.
In order for the Atman to open, you do not need to do anything, strain in any way, or strive for something. At first it comes as if everything is falling into sleep and letting go, but wakefulness, as a certain end point, always remains. Then individual reality opens up to what is, has always been, and will be. And then you realize that nothing else has ever existed and could not exist. This is naturalness itself, life, which nothing can interfere with. She simply exists, she contains moments, and at the same time nothing can touch her.
At the level of consciousness, something in us understands that energy has no beginning or limitation, reality can neither increase nor decrease. There can be no attachment to anything, or rejection of anything, because everything that happens is a spontaneous river of life, in the contemplation of which we accept everything as it is, without interference, without any distortion of the Truth, or even its interpretation. We just enjoy the voice of this river, listen to its song, give ourselves to it. Her movement picks up and penetrates every action, every moment. The only thing that is required of us is trust in life. Everything happens by itself in the only possible way.
If everything is existence, what doubt can there be? God, the Absolute, the Supreme, the Higher Self - the words have no meaning, because the life within us does not depend on these symbols.
Doubt is an illusion, concepts are always illusory. Doubts chain one to mental activity, to private limited knowledge. Doubts make you worry, fear, give rise to instability and dissatisfaction. Trust in life makes consciousness insightful, receptive, and bestows intuitive, illuminating thinking. This is a manifestation of the connection between the relative world and the paradoxical, timeless, a manifestation of the connection between man and a higher authority, personality and higher “I”.
Individuality - what you considered yourself all this time - happens in you, but it is not you. For you, your name and personality is a character, a hero of the game, who occurs in this reality along with myriads of other forms. Sometimes this character talks about something, acts, imagines something, reads texts, does practice. All reality is only what happens against the background of the higher “I”, pure being. All the people around you are different parts of your consciousness. Reality simply is. This is your original essence - your home, your true abode. This is amazing, blissful peace, the eternal background of everything.
As an allegory, we can cite the example of a seeker who spent years searching for a magical talisman that had been hanging around his neck all this time. A man, torn by desires, is engaged in a paradoxical activity - in search of happiness, integrity and satisfaction, he turned the whole world upside down and even rushed to the stars, while the greatest secret, containing the full scope of the realization of life itself, was all this time in his own heart.
Selecting certain objects, giving them your full attention, is the same as choosing a separate point in infinity for yourself, and devoting yourself entirely to this point, which has no meaning against the background of absolute existence. Reality will tear us away from it at infinite distances, and again, in fear of losing a non-existent support, we will rush towards it. This is exactly how a person acts when he gives himself over to identification with transitory forms - he misses something immeasurably more majestic, important, all-encompassing than myriads of vain transitory phenomena - he misses life itself.
The existence of any form, or even existence itself, is an inexplicable miracle. Why should there be reality at all? Not human, social, but reality as such, all-encompassing, containing infinity and extending into eternity. Life itself... why does it exist? Could she not exist? This is a very important question! Think about it with your whole being, try to feel this question, because it itself, at its core, already contains the answer. Why does reality exist? At first, the answer will flicker like something impossible, elusive, and only after awakening will this answer reveal its deep essence.
In Advaita teachings Atman is called higher self. And this is not some kind of mystical fantasy, but a real and fully accessible experience of one’s own existence at a given moment in time. This is a mental reality, marked by the feeling of being in this world as unclouded and limitless freedom. The Atman is what a person is going through right now. Psychologically, this is the moment of the present, in which our life is realized, i.e. our true essence. The more clearly the connection with the higher “I” is manifested, the more we immerse ourselves in the reality around us, realizing that everything that is happening to us is happening right now. Of course, it may seem strange that special attention is paid to this fact, because the fact that reality is present in the life of each of us is a priori beyond doubt and goes without saying. However, the significance of this psychic aspect for existence in this world is so important that it should be described in more detail.
During the daytime, we are awake and go about our daily activities in what appears to be a fully conscious state. However, if you are asked to talk about all your thoughts, emotions, soul movements, mental projections that visited you during this time, remember all the sensations that you experienced through the five senses, you will find yourself at a dead end. It will not be possible to remember even a hundredth part, since a person remembers only the main points that can bear fruit in practical activities. All other memories are stored in the unconscious.
Therefore, speaking about human, it is worth remembering that it is relative. When we go to bed, the level of awareness decreases even more rapidly, and when we get up in the morning, a person remembers only the most colorful dreams, and often nothing comes to mind at all. During sleep, the sense of reality is pushed so deeply that it is not fixed at all. But the number of mental states is not exhausted by sleep and daytime wakefulness: there is also a superconscious state, in comparison with which all others seem to be a dream, little connected with real life.
Alas, the average representative of human society is very far from realizing his existence and all the above aspects are perceived by him only indirectly, through emotions. In his mind, he records the objects of the material world around him and draws conclusions that they exist, because then there would simply be no one to perceive the numerous forms present around us. But if this is perceived only as a logical conclusion, thoughts appear like: “Yes, I am. But what does this mean? This does not bring additional material benefits. What then is the meaning of my being on this earth?
For the superficial mind, such questions are extremely painful and only indicate that it is frozen at a certain point of development, therefore its attention is unable to distract itself from the surface with its bright wrapper and begin to comprehend the cause and deep essence of the processes occurring in the huge number of processes in the world - the present moments.
When asking such questions, you need to think about a strange paradox: the question exists, but the questioner himself is simply absent. What can mental “unearthing” of consequences give if the true reason for what is happening is hidden in the darkness for a person? Why is it necessary to study the secondary manifestations of one’s own ego if one’s own “I” is shrouded in the darkness of mystery?
Many of us do not have access to awareness of our personal presence in life as it happens. We are guided by vague sensations of bitter, sweet, hard, soft, sad, joyful, all this is accompanied by thousands of pictures in the brain, superficial thoughts and emotions. But where is it hidden among all this? And what does it represent? If we put the concept “I am the generalization of all this” at the forefront, then the question arises: where is our personal ego missing? Where is the red line dividing the world into a part in which our Self is present, and a part that has nothing to do with it? Is our body, mind, hairstyle our Self? If we feel our Self, it turns out that there are two Selves, one of which notes everything that happens to the other? Then it turns out that there must also be a third Self, which remains an impartial observer for the other two. These theories and mental games as components make up our heterogeneity. If you want to know how to get to know your true self, read on.
Any object that we feel in any way, not excluding our false selves, is perceived by us as something alien, extraneous, and we can observe it from the outside, like other manifestations of the world of material forms. At a deep level, all forms are one and unite into the higher Self - Atman.
The existence of all forms is due to the existence of man himself, and life is given to them only by the radiance of our consciousness. The reality of life itself is the radiation of human consciousness.
Man realizes the Atman as God and the supreme boundless reality. Even a fleeting glimpse of understanding this gives amazing happiness and a feeling of amazing freedom, unfettered by any restrictions. After all, not a single creature in the world can ever take this feeling away from you. Atman is existence itself in its absolute aspect, life, the invisible background for everything that happens to us - this is the true essence of man. This is the simple, purest and limitless source of life, giving it unimaginable freshness. It contains the meaning and true essence of our reality.
In esotericism, awareness of the essence of one’s higher “I” is considered. Advaita calls the Supreme Self Atman, that which is really present. Yoga considers the highest “I” to be Purush, in which the following aspects are present: absence of beginning, subtlety, consciousness, transcendence, presence in everything, eternity, contemplation, knowledge, ability to taste, purity, inaction, non-generation of anything. The practice of mindfulness and self-contemplation helps these properties to manifest themselves, promotes self-knowledge, makes truth and complete relaxation in the present more accessible to us, and therefore allows us to penetrate into the depths of the higher “I” - Atman.
To join the awareness of the Atman, you should not make unnecessary movements, strenuously strive for something and be in a state of tension. First, we are introduced to this experience through natural relaxation, which consists in the fact that it seems to us that everything around is immersed in sleepy dreams, all experiences are released, but at the same time the feeling of wakefulness as the main core remains. Then the reality of our individual soul opens wide to accept what was, is and always will be. And at this moment the understanding comes that nothing else really existed and could not have the right to exist. This is life itself, natural in its manifestations, which nothing can interfere with. It simply exists, including all moments, and nothing can affect it.
At the level of consciousness, a certain part of us understands that energy has no beginning and end, it is not limited, and reality cannot become either more or less. We cannot experience attachment or aversion to something, since everything that happens is a spontaneous flow of life, contemplating the streams of which, we accept everything in its givenness, without any interference, deviations from the Truth or its interpretations. We only receive deep pleasure from the splash and shine of the streams of this river and completely surrender to its will. Her measured movements pick up and permeate our every action and moment of our being, giving us the opportunity to relax. All we have to do is trust life and everything will work out for the best.
In this case, there is no room for any doubts, because everything around is being. Supreme, God, Absolute- these terms are meaningless because these symbols cannot fully describe the life that resides within us, like a chick in a shell.
Doubt, like any other concept, is illusory. They bind us hand and foot with mental activity, scattered limited knowledge. Doubts lead to unnecessary worries, fears, emotional instability, and dissatisfaction. If you trust life, your consciousness becomes especially insightful, meditative, anticipatory, and your thinking becomes more intuitive due to sudden insights. In this way our relative world realizes its connection with the infinite, timeless and embodying all paradoxes, and it is in this way that man and true reality, personality and the higher self are united.
Individuality - what we believe to be our essence - occurs in us, but it is not us. Advanced adepts perceive their personality and name as a hero of a film or game who says something, performs some actions, reads, listens, and engages in spiritual practices. Reality- this is only what is associated with the higher “I”, pure being. The people around a person are perceived only as projections of various parts of consciousness. Reality never disappears; it is always present. This is our cradle, our home, our essence. This is an amazing, all-pervading peace.
As an example, we can cite a man who for many years was looking for the key to happiness that hung around his neck. A person is overwhelmed by many strong desires, and in search of a way to satisfy them, happiness, merging with a single whole, he turns the whole world upside down and even strives into space. And the innermost secret, which contains harmony, peace, happiness, the most complete realization of one’s potential all this time, like a treasure, lies in the depths of his soul.
To single out certain objects and completely focus your attention on them means choosing for yourself a certain point in infinity and not taking your eyes off it, while it does not play any role against the background of absolute existence. Reality will lead us away from it and, in fear of losing support in life, we will strive with all our might to return to it. This is exactly what a person does when he completely identifies himself with finite, transitory forms, missing something more important, all-pervasive, powerful than billions of events of worldly vanity - he misses life itself.
Being itself and the existence of even the simplest form is amazing miracle. For what reason does reality exist at all? Not the reality of a person or society, but a real, comprehensive one, including the infinity of the spatial and temporal continuum, stretched into eternity. Why is there life and could it not exist at all? You need to think about this, delve into it with your whole being, because this question already contains the germs of an answer. At first, the answer will seem elusive and it will seem impossible to fix it, and only after spiritual awakening everything will fall into place and the very essence will be comprehended.
– reflexive pronoun “himself”, “oneself”; "body"; "essence"; “soul”, “spirit”, “world spirit”), in Indian philosophy, the beginningless and enduring, “substantial” spiritual principle of the individual, in many texts identified with the beginning of being.
Pre-Buddhist period.
We meet the first evidence of the Atman as the spiritual-essential beginning of man in Atharva Veda and in another hymn of the same assembly, where he who has achieved perfection in abstinence knows that Atman who is wise, immortal, “eternally young.” Indian thought is beginning to master the idea of the unity of the essence of the micro- and macrocosm: in Shatapatha-brahmana it is directly stated that Atman is the ruler and king of all beings. The same text contains the inspired instruction of the sage Shandilya, which anticipates the teaching of the Upanishads: Brahman, which is this whole world, is at the same time Atman in the “inner heart”, smaller than a grain of rice, mustard or millet or even the core of a grain of rice and at the same time greater than the earth, atmosphere, sky and all worlds; and this all-acting, all-desiring, all-smelling, all-sensing, all-encompassing, “silent” and unconditioned principle is “my Atman,” the hidden one, and it is also Brahman, into which the knower will “enter” after death. Another noteworthy appeal to the Atman before the Upanishads is its characterization in Taittiriya Aranyake: he lives in people and “rules” them and at the same time appears in many forms, in which one hundred heavenly lights, the Vedas and priests are united; it is also called the “thinking Atman” (manasina atman) in man.
The Upanishads can be called, without exaggeration, esoteric instructions about the Atman.
IN Brihadaranyake the idea of the unity of Atman and Brahman finds expression in several contexts. In the triad “name – image – deeds” Brahman corresponds to the essence of each of these components, but the entire triad as such is Atman. The winner of the competition of experts in sacred wisdom, Yajnavalkya, calls “Atman inside everything” that which is present in all human life, but cannot itself be known. The unknowability of the Atman as the source of all knowledge and the possibility of giving it only negative characteristics (convincing that we are talking about the absolute beginning of being) is expressed by Yajnavalkya in his famous recommendation to cognize the Atman as “Not this, and not that, and not that...” : it is incomprehensible, because it is not comprehended, indestructible, because it is not destroyed, “unattached”, because it is not “attached”, is not bound, does not waver and does not suffer evil. In a conversation with his intelligent wife, Yajnavalkya asserts that all worldly goods are dear not for their own sake, but only for the sake of the Atman, which is the source of everything; therefore, after death, a person loses consciousness, because he “merges” into his source, and in this merger any semblance of duality disappears. Any duality in knowledge can only exist when there is “one” and “the other”, but when everything has become Atman, no one can smell, see, hear, talk to anyone, think about anyone, for it is impossible to “know” knower." IN Brihadaranyake two famous “great sayings” (mahavakya) have been preserved: “I am Brahman” and “That Atman is, verily, Brahman,” expressing the “great identity.”
IN Chandogya Upanishad the above teaching of Shandilya is reproduced. King Ashwapati instructs the six Brahmins about the Atman Vaisvanara (“all-human”), which cannot be identified with any natural phenomenon, but is a whole, manifested in parts and identical with itself. In the dialogue between Narada and Sanatkumara, the Atman is declared “infinite” (bhuman), the source of natural as well as psychic phenomena, the knowledge of which frees one from the bonds of death. In the legend about how the god Indra and the demon Virochana come for instruction about the Atman to the ruler of the world Prajapati, the demon is satisfied with the false interpretation of the Atman as a reflection of the body in water, while Indra achieves the correct interpretation of the Atman - as an immortal, incorporeal and cognizing principle. IN Chandogye the “great saying” is repeatedly reproduced, which has always been considered as a normative expression of the identity of Atman and Brahman: “That is you” or “Thou art that”. In addition to Brahman, Atman is identified with another spiritual principle - Purusha.
IN Aitareya Upanishad Atman is the personified divine principle that creates the worlds, Purusha, vital organs, etc. IN Kaushitaki Atman is the cognizing principle and vital breath associated with the vital organs and their objects, “bliss, devoid of old age” and immortal. IN Taittiriye The Atman acts as the source of the world (space arises from it, wind from that, fire from that, etc.), and at the same time its stratification is proposed: Atmans of food (body), breath (prana), mind, recognition and bliss.
Age of Buddha.
Texts of the Pali Canon, primarily a collection Digha Nikaya, indicate the emergence of many groups of "shramans and brahmans", most of whom discussed the properties of the Atman. Among these thinkers, who were among the first real philosophers of India, Buddhists distinguish between those who based their doctrines on personal spiritual experience, the practice of asceticism and contemplation, but justified them by discursive means, and “pure discursists” who relied only on reason. Some of them defended the thesis of eternity, or more precisely, the beginninglessness of the Atman and the world. At the same time, ascetics relied on their supposedly inherent ability to cognize their innumerable previous births, while other philosophers, expressing judgments “polished by [their] discourse, based on research and [seemingly having signs of] self-evidence,” came to the conclusion that the Atman , like the world, is beginningless, “barren”, like the top of a mountain (it does not give birth to anything), and strong (unchangeable) like a column. Others distinguished two Atmans, the transitory and the eternal, identifying the first with the five senses and the body, the second with the beginning of thought, mind and “discrimination.” The question that the sage Yajnavalkya posed - about the existence and consciousness of the individual after death - was received, judging by Brahmajala Sutte, at least 30 answers, and even if their presentation contains elements of later schematization, the evidence of disagreement itself seems realistic. Here the "sramanas and brahmanas" are divided into four groups. The first defended the posthumous “painless” existence of the Atman and its consciousness, but they differ on particulars: whether it is then endowed with form or not, and also whether it is then “finite” or “infinite”, whether it is conscious of the unity of things or their multiplicity and what is the emotional side of it "painlessness". The latter, on the contrary, like Yajnavalkya, believed that the Atman exists unconsciously after the death of the body - again with discrepancies regarding its “form” and “finitude”. Still others sought a compromise solution: the Atman after death is neither conscious nor unconscious - again with the indicated discrepancies in particulars. Finally, the fourth generally denied the existence of the Atman after death, defending the doctrine of the death of a living being after the disintegration of the body.
Some philosophers have addressed the problem identified in Taittiriya Upanishad, developed a stratification of Atman levels. One of the pilgrims (parivrajakas) of the Brahmanical orientation, Potthapada, asked the Buddha a question: is consciousness identical to the Atman? When the Buddha asked him what he, in turn, understood by Atman, he explained to him the doctrine of the three levels of Atman. The first is a subtle material formation (olarika), composed of four elements (earth, water, wind, fire) and feeding on food, i.e. body. The second is mental formation (manomaya), also endowed with certain “organs” and abilities. The third is formless and “consisting of consciousness alone” (sannamaya).
Buddha's criticism of the doctrine of the Atman took into account the degree of preparedness of the interlocutor to deny the Atman. Thus, he showed Potthapada that at none of the levels he outlined, Atman cannot coincide with consciousness (since the fact of consciousness is self-evident to everyone, it follows that the idea of Atman can be abandoned). In a dialogue with another wanderer, Sachchaka, the Buddha forces him to admit that not one of the five logically possible levels of the Atman, corresponding to the sections of physicality, sensations, ideas, volitional attitudes and consciousness (what the individual is already divided into in early Buddhism without a remainder according to the simplest classification of dharmas - instantaneous, point elements of existence), cannot correspond to the concept of Atman, since, firstly, the individual does not have the opportunity to influence them (hence, they do not belong to his Self , for which, therefore, there is no place left) and, secondly, each of them can be characterized as that which is impermanent and unhappy, and all such is not the Atman. According to legend, the first teacher of the Buddha was the Samkhyaik and yogi Arada Kalama, who taught about the meditative “separation” of the Atman from all elements of the physical-mental composition of the individual and the dispositions of his consciousness, to which he is “external.” According to Ashvaghosha (1st–2nd centuries), the Buddha left him, justifying his decision by the fact that the Atman, “purified” of sensations, will and consciousness, is a fiction, and also because faith in the Atman determines a person’s attachment to everything “ “to one’s own,” does not allow one to get rid of egocentrism and is, therefore, the main obstacle to “liberation.”
After Buddha.
Attempts to defend the idea of Atman were reflected in the epic Mokshadharma. In response to Buddhist arguments that it is unnecessary to introduce it to explain reincarnation in the presence of established empirical factors such as ignorance, action and the "lust" of objects and becoming (trishna), the Sankhyaik Panchasikha objects that without the assumption of the Atman the labors of one being will have to be used another, who will be forced to pay for the misdeeds of others. But there was another answer to the denial of Atman: according to Katha Upanishad, The Atman is not comprehended by rational means or even by study, and is revealed to the one whom it chooses.
In the same Katha Upanishad, where Atman is compared with the owner of the chariot (body), the concept of “great atman” (atma mahan) is introduced, meaning a mysterious, but in its “status” very high principle, located between the intellect-buddhi and the “unmanifested”. IN Maitri Upanishad the “atman of a living being” (bhutatman) appears, which, on the one hand, is practically identified with the body, on the other, is subject to the results of good and evil deeds, acquires a good or bad womb in reincarnation and, being dependent on the primary matter Prakriti, falls into “conceit " Obviously, we are talking about understanding that intermediate, “spiritual” Atman, which Parivrajak Potthapada talked about. IN Mokshadharma a distinction is made between the embodied Atman (dehin) and the “subtle” Atman: the second wanders where it pleases while the first is in deep sleep. “Atman of life” (jivatman) is another derivative of Atman, not possessing its dignity, but closest to the animating principle. The status of the “inner Atman” (antaratman) is significantly higher, which is almost indistinguishable from the “ordinary” Atman, but is sometimes contrasted with it as universal - individual. Sometimes he is directly identified with the highest principle. Finally, the epic texts testify to the “Highest Atman” (paramatman): followers of the path of knowledge, liberated from the bonds of samsara and ascending to the heavenly worlds, reach the abode of Narayana (Vishnu), who “determines” them to this Atman, with which they merge, gaining immortality and never returning to this world. The Other Supreme Atman receives a special place in some lists of Samkhya principles, where it is designated as the 26th and opposed to the “ordinary” Atman as the 25th (opposed to the primordial matter Prakriti and its 23 emanations). The contexts of the corresponding passages allow us to see in it simultaneously both the Atman that has achieved the “awakening” of true self-knowledge (buddha) - the “ordinary” Atman is the same, but still only “awakening” (budhyamana), - and the Universal Atman, or Brahman, which is alone knows both spiritual principles and primary matter.
One of the later esoteric texts dedicated to the Atman, identifying Atman and Purusha, distinguishes three Atmans - external, internal and higher. The third should be revered as the most sacred syllable “Om”, which is realized through special meditation and yoga; its distinctive features are immutability, perfect “simplicity” and indescribability, as well as the absence of connection with past existences. Of course, these new derivations of the Atman must be distinguished from its identifications with the highest Hindu deities, which are also attested in many places in the middle and late Upanishads and in the epic texts. An example is the statement that the Supreme Atman has the nature of Narayana - autocratic, rising above primary matter and free from good and evil.
Philosophical systems.
Although all Indian philosophical systems-darshans, except materialists and Buddhists, recognized an ontologically independent spiritual principle (among the Samkhyaiks, Atman is replaced by the “pure subject” of Purusha, among the Jains, to a large extent, jiva), the decisive contribution to the theoretical analysis of the concept of Atman was made by Nyaya and Advaita Vedanta .
In a comment to Nyaya-sutra(“Desire, aversion, effort, pleasure, suffering and knowledge are the signs [from which] the [existence of] the Atman is inferred.”) Vatsyayana (4th–5th centuries) substantiates the thesis that all these indisputable phenomena of consciousness would be inexplicable if we accept then the replacement of the permanent spiritual principle with point “fractions” of consciousness, which Buddhists insist on, because they are all based on various aspects of memory, the correlation of present experience with the past and planning on its basis for the future, which cannot be provided by these, by definition, instantaneous phenomena. Atman as the subject of cognition (jnatri) is both the subject and the “substrate” of feeling, volition and action because it is he who knows joy and suffering, the means of achieving the first and avoiding the second, and it is he who makes appropriate efforts in this regard.
According to Shankara (7th–8th centuries), who interpreted the “great sayings” of the Upanishads, differences between objects, between subjects, and also between subjects and objects are consequences of Ignorance, because they are based on the basic delusion - the idea of the difference between the individual subject and the Absolute. The body is a product of Maya, the idea of one’s own individual desires and dislikes, likes and dislikes, interests and means of their realization - the action of deep ignorance. According to the definitions of Atman by Shankara's student Suresvara in Brihadaranyakopanishadbhashya-varttike, the word “atman” means “penetration”, “piercing”, for he “penetrates” everything that is not the Atman, just as a rope penetrates a snake, and also because he contemplates all the transformations of consciousness in which he is reflected thanks to its luminosity. The example of Sureshvara is very significant: according to the Vedantin allegory, the world is like a snake, which a person in the dark mistakenly sees in a coiled rope, and is a temporary illusion (although not a phantom, like the son of a barren woman), which is believed until “insight”.
Vladimir Shokhin
In Indian philosophy, it denotes the deepest level of human self-awareness. According to the Upanishads, “Atman is Brahman,” i.e. at the center of human self-awareness there is the Self-awareness of the entire universe.
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ATMAN
Sanksr. atman - breath, spirit, I, self - one of the basic concepts of the Indian religious and philosophical tradition. In the most general sense, Atman is understood as the all-encompassing spiritual principle, pure consciousness, self-awareness; usually, as absolute consciousness, correlates with Brahman as absolute being. The origins of the idea of Atman go back to the Rig Veda, where it means breath as the life force embodied in all beings (cf. the idea of prana-life forces), as well as the spirit that animates the entire universe (in this respect, Atman comes close to the concept of the “supreme husband" or Purusha). In the philosophical hymns of the Atharva Veda, Atman is understood as the personal “I”, which is a reflection of Brahman in man. The doctrine of Atman received conceptual design in the Upanishads, where Atman is posited as the spiritual core rooted in all conscious beings. On the one hand, Atman acts as the inner “I,” i.e., an individual, subjective principle; on the other hand, it coincides with being as such, i.e., with the highest Brahman. The identification of Atman and Brahman, which in the most general terms appears as the coincidence of subject and object, the perceiving consciousness and the entire created world, is usually carried out through a series of intermediate stages. The unity of microcosm and macrocosm is achieved through the simultaneous combination of opposite attributes, that is, ultimately due to their mutual sublation (“Here is my atman in the heart, smaller than a grain of rice or barley... Here is my atman in the heart, larger than the whole earth... - “Chhandogya Upanishad”, III. 14.3). The mutual tension of opposing characteristics creates the prerequisites for the apophatic definition of the absolute, which is considered the most adequate approximation to the nature of the highest reality (“He, this atman, [is designated as follows:] not [that], not [that], he is incomprehensible, for he is not comprehended, not we will destroy, for it is not destroyed..." - "Brihadaranyaka Upanishad", III. 9.26). Atman, in principle, cannot be adequately captured by verbal knowledge, since it lies outside the sphere of worldly connections and relationships. The unity of the Atman as an eternal and unchangeable reality is contrasted not only with the heterogeneity of the manifest world, but also with the diversity of mental properties of the individual (since in the Indian orthodox tradition, the psyche is also an integral part of the natural world). Four successive levels of correspondence of the ontological picture of the world to certain layers, or states, of the human psyche express a gradual rise from diversity to unity, associated with overcoming avidcha (ignorance) (see. "Mandukya Upanishad"). At the first stage, the Atman, called Vaishvanara, resides in the bodily shell and through the senses (“mouths”) perceives (“tastes”) physical elements. Cosmologically, this is Virat, or the “body” of God, formed by the material universe; psychologically, it corresponds to the waking state. At the second stage, the Atman, called Taijasa, personifies the entire diversity of mental life, acting as a subject that perceives “subtle” elements - various impressions, ideas, etc.; at the level of cosmology it is Hiranyagarbha (“golden embryo”), i.e., the totality of all souls; in the individual consciousness it corresponds to sleep with dreams. In the third stage, the Atman, called Prajna, experiences only the state of bliss (ananda), cosmologically it is Ishvara, the omnipotent and omniscient Lord, and psychologically it is associated with the state of deep dreamless sleep. Finally, the fourth state (turiya) restores the original homogeneity of the Atman, in which its universal and psychological aspects coincide, and it itself is completely freed from the limitations of avidya. The distinction between Atman as pure being and consciousness from the transitory and changeable states of the body and psyche was also reflected in the doctrine of the “five atmanas”, as if nested within each other (see “Taittiriya Upanishad”), the first of which is the annamaya atman (consisting from food), i.e. the physical body. The second is pranamaya (composed of vital forces), formed by the five pranas and the five organs of action; it enters the body after conception and provides life to the individual being. The third atman - manomaya (consisting of the mind) - is formed by manas, the “faculty of doubt” (vimarsha) and the five senses (indriyas); it generates desires directed towards external objects and thereby creates a samsaric connection between various incarnations of the soul. The fourth - vijnanamaya (consisting of knowledge) is formed by the combination of buddhi, the ability to make decisions and the same five indriyas. Finally, the fifth Atman - anandamaya (consisting of bliss) - is a set of mental states that occur in deep, dreamless sleep and are characterized by deep calm. The later Vedantic tradition (Vidyaranya and others) more consistently interpreted this concept as the idea of “five covers” (panca-kosha), which only cover the real Atman, just as five scabbards can consistently hide the dagger placed in them.
The Upanishads' idea of the Atman was further developed by orthodox religious and philosophical schools, primarily Vedanta. It was in it that the epistemological foundations for distinguishing the Atman as pure consciousness and the psychological characteristics of the individual were clearly formulated. The necessary procedure here is “denial,” which amounts to removing the “imposition” on the Atman of everything that is not it; it leads to the cessation of the illusion, just as the trick with the rope, which in the hands of the fakir seemed like a snake, ends, and the shell, which from a distance could be considered a piece of silver, reveals its true nature upon closer examination. In the extreme case - in the Advaita Vedanta system - the goal is to stop the illusory appearance of the universe, which is believed to have never unfolded from the Atman, but arose as an appearance superimposed on it (vivarta). Atman in Advaita is pure consciousness (chaitanya, jnana), which is devoid of parts or any attributes. This consciousness is real, it forms the basis of the idea of one’s own “I,” for no one who is conscious can deny the very fact of his consciousness. Present in every form of human experience, this consciousness does not depend on the presence of objects of experience, nor on modes of reasoning or perception. Whenever it is necessary to form some concept or idea about this basis of consciousness, the subject has to use the same one; that's why with t.zr. of Advaita, the Atman cannot turn on itself, become its own object: “Even a hot fire does not burn itself, and a skilled actor cannot climb onto his own shoulder” (Shankara, Commentary on the Brahma Sutras III. 3.54). The Atman, distinct from its “shells,” acts as a “witness” of all acts of cognition shining through them, about which nothing can be said except that it exists. In Prabhakar Mishra's mimansa, atman is also associated with the idea of “I,” but it manifests itself rather as a result of an act of cognition, just as the light of a lamp manifests both the illuminated object and itself; in this case we have to assume that consciousness can be grasped by another consciousness, then, in turn, by a third, and so on ad infinitum. An alternative view, according to which the very presence of consciousness does not need to be verified by any other knowledge, is borrowed by Shankara from the mimansaka Kumarin Bhatta; however, in the teaching of the latter, the emphasis is placed on the fact that each act of comprehension gives its own knowledge, which does not need to be confirmed by data from other promai, which have their own specific objects and functions.
Advaita emphasizes that there is no need to resort to a new act of cognition to grasp the well-known perception of “I am”: the endless regress of perception and reflection is stopped due to the fact that it is based on the only true reality—the self-evident and “self-luminous” Atman. Advaita seeks an unchanging ontological basis behind psychic phenomena; in this sense, Atman is “indirect” knowledge. Such an Atman is one and only, and the multitude of individual souls (jivas), as well as the existence of the personified creator God Ishvara, are explained by the illusory reflection of the Atman in avidya or the false imposition of temporary characteristics on it. Other orthodox systems did not share the extreme views of Advaita; although the distinction between the highest spiritual principle and transitory mental characteristics remained important for them, the Atman itself acquired a number of features that brought it closer to the idea of an embodied living soul. Already in Ramanuja’s vishishta-advaita, which largely gravitated towards the ideas of sashshya, individual atmans have the properties of consciousness and action, they are atomic in size and different from each other. According to Madhva's Dvaita Vedanta, manifold souls are initially predestined for salvation, destruction, or eternal bondage by satire. The recognition of the differences between embodied atmans leads in these systems to the need to postulate the existence of a higher Atman standing above individual souls; such an Atman, endowed with many good qualities, becomes an object of worship as a personified God (Vishnu or Krishna). In Nyaya Vaisheshka, the Atman or individual soul is but one of the nine substances (dravya) along with the material elements, space, time and akasa. Consciousness is considered here to be one of the transitory properties of atman, which appears when it is united with manas (mind). Such an Atman, the existence of which is not directly perceived, but is inferred from sensory signs thanks to a system of special evidence, can act as an object for another consciousness. In epic Samkhya, Atman is considered as pure and inactive consciousness; nevertheless, he is considered a subject of taste who perceives objects of the external world. In classical Samkhya, the concept of Atman is gradually replaced by the concept of “Purusha”.
Contrasting Atman as the highest spiritual reality, in the extreme case coinciding with the absolute principle of existence. Brahman, everything that is not Atman, completely loses its meaning in Buddhism. The human "I", taken in its phenomenal aspect as a flow (santana) of certain mental states, is considered here as one of the elements of existence. From view Buddhism, the idea of the Atman only helps to consolidate false attachments and identifications that hinder liberation; getting rid of these false concepts found expression in the Buddhist doctrine of “anatta” (absence of Atman). At the same time, the later Mahayana Buddhist schools (in particular, Vijnana-vada) essentially made a number of concessions to the orthodox idea of the Atman (the concept of “pure consciousness” - “chitga-matra”, a single “container of consciousness” - “alayavijnana”, etc. .).
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