Brahman

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Brahman - the Unmanifest Almighty. Brahman er den egentlige Gud i hinduismen. Han har ingen form, og alle de andre guder i hinduismen såsom Brahma, Visnhu og Shiva er kun denne krafts egenskaber i manifesterede former. Brahma er derfor Brahmans skabende kraft, Vishnu er den opretholdende kraft, Shiva er den ødelæggende kraft, Saraswati er symbolet på Brahmans viden etc.

Brahman er fundamentet for al eksistens. Han er den Absolutte, den ene, udelelig, uforanderlig, hinsides det gode og det onde, hinsides handling og uvirksomhed etc. Han bliver kaldt for Purushottoma (den Højeste Ånd), Parameshvara (den højeste Herre), Bhagvan (Gud) og mange andre navne.    

Men skjult i Brahman findes livets kraft. Når denne kraft manifesterer sig ved universets skabelse, tager den form som maya - den materielle verden. 

Her er der nogle uddrag fra bl.a. de hellige tekster om Brahman og hans egenskaber;

"Vedic Invocations, which are deemed animistic and crudely pagan by many scholars, merely invoke God through his attributes and functions. He is the Force behind all of nature's mighty forces, the Light behind the light; the Terror behind the terror; the Delight behind delights; the Ultimate Activity behind all activities. Similarly, God's various names in the Vedas are the one God viewed in terms of his attributes, functions, and nature. There is no real suggestion of anything besides the One."

"Hardly polytheism. Long before the burgeoning Hindu pantheon; long before Siva, Vishnu, Rama, Ganesh, Parvati, Saraswati, Laxmi, and the 35,999,993 others, this is the God of the Vedas, and religion in its most pristine form."

Uddrag fra: "Empire of the Soul: Some journeys in India" 
by Paul William Roberts.

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He is without any form, yet dwells inside and outside all things
With form and shape,
Yet He is entirely free of error, faultless and pure.
He is far beyond anything a human body can comprehend.
And being the Divine Poet. He is inspiration itself.
He maintains peace and harmony because He is both peace and
Harmony made manifest.

-- Yajur Veda
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The Supreme Lord is not two. To me belongs the glory of meditating that I, His devoted servant, am He. As one imagines, so one becomes. Therefore, practice the meditation of "I am He." Then all your actions will become His action.  

-- Natchintanai
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He is present in all places and rules everywhere.
His power controls utterly all the three regions:
Earth, the Middle-Air, and the highest heavens.
One foot is rooted in things we understand:
But the other rests in a realm of deep, dark mystery,
A place far beyond the knowledge of mankind.

-- Artharva Veda
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He is substance of every great eternal law,
And He can be perceived in the universal forces of life.
His presence is there in the vast seas,
Across the teeming earth,
And in the soaring mountain peaks.

-- Rig Veda
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He is the Supreme Brahman, the Self of all, the chief foundation of this world, subtler than the subtle, eternal. That thou art; thou art That. 

 -- Atharva Veda
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Lead me from unreality to reality. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality.

-- Yajur Veda
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Whatever exists and wherever it exists is permeated by the same divine power and force. 

-- Yajur Veda
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Him who is without beginning and without end, in the midst of confusion, the Creator of all, of manifold form, the One embracer of the universe--by knowing God, one is released from all fetters. 

-- Yajur Veda
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He is the never-created creator of all: He knows all. He is pure consciousness, the creator of time, all-powerful, all knowing. He is the Lord of the soul and of nature and of the three conditions of nature. From Him comes the transmigration of life and liberation, bondage in time and freedom in eternity.

-- Yajur Veda
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God is, in truth, the whole universe: what was, what is and what beyond shall ever be. He is the God of life immortal and of all life that lives by food. His hands and feet are everywhere. He has heads and mouths everywhere. He sees all, He hears all. He is in all, and He is.

 -- Yajur Veda

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He is the God of forms infinite, in whose glory all things are, smaller than the smallest atom, and yet the creator of all, ever living in the mystery of his creation. In the vision of this God of love there is everlasting peace. 

-- Yajur Veda
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Fire is His head, the sun and moon His eyes, space His ears, the Vedas His speech, the wind His breath, the universe His heart. From His feet the earth has originated. Verily, He is the inner Self of all beings.

-- Yajur Veda
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He the Self, is not this, not that. He is ungraspable, for He is not grasped. He is indestructible, for He cannot be destroyed, He is unattached, for He does not cling to anything. He is unbound, He does not suffer, nor is He injured. 

-- Yajur Veda
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Brahman er uskabt, evig, uendelig lille og altomfattende. Det er den ultimative grund og mål for al eksisterende. Det er den Ene og det er Alt. Alt levende udtsråler fra Brahman, og alt levende vil vende tilbage til det igen. Brahman er i alt, og det er den sande "Selv" (atman) hos alt levende.  
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Now, the name of this Brahman is 'Real' (satyam). This word has three syllables: sa, ti, and yam. Of these, sat is the immortal, and ti is the mortal, while the syllable yam is what joins those two together. Because the two are joined together (yam) by it, it is called yam. Anyone who knows this goes to the heavenly world every single day.

- Chandogya Upanishad

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He is the Supreme Brahman, the Self of all, the chief foundation of this world, subtler than the subtle, eternal. That thou art; thou art That. 

- Atharva Veda

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He is the eternal Reality, sing the scriptures,
And the ground of existence.
Those who perceive him in every creature
Merge in him and are released from 
The wheel of birth and death.

- Shvetashvatara Upanishad

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Sjælen er identisk med den udødelige Brahman, som består af hele universet. Bhagavad Gita siger at "dem der kender sjælen, er udødelige";
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I shall tell you of the soul. The soul is God who is immortal and infinite, who has no beginning and will have no end, and who both exists and does not exist. Those who know the soul, are immortal.

The soul dwells in every living being, and in every part of every living being; it dwells in the hand and the foot, the skull and the mouth, the eye and the ear. Although it does not itself have senses, it shines through every sense. It is completely independent, yet all beings depend on it.

The soul is both near every living being, and far from every being. The soul is both inside and outside every living being. The soul is the cause of movement, but does not itself move. The soul is one, yet has innumerable forms. The soul creates, preserves, and destroys.

The soul is the light of every light; and its light transcends the duality of brightness and darkness. The soul is the light of knowledge; and its light is also the goal of knowledge. In the soul the subject and object of knowledge are one.

- Bhagavad Gita 13.12-17
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En person som indser identiteten og enigheden af atman og Brahman vil opnå frihed af Moksha (genfødslernes kredsløb). Når dette sker, vil han eller hun blive fri for sindets og kroppens tvang, og derved overskride alle forskelle. Både Upanishaderne og de senere filosofiske tekster understreger vigtigheden af jnana (viden) hvis man skal opnå moksha. 
Det kan være svært at forstå at Brahman og atman (sjælen) er den samme. En person skal meditere på "Selvets natur" for at erkende Brahman. Brahman kan ikke defineres i følge hinduerne, da det dette vil betyde at man skal indskrænke hvad Brahman er, og det kan man ikke, da Brahman er alt. 
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If brahman is indeed infinite and limitless, encompassing the variety of the whole world, then it must be the source of the universe, as the Chandogya Upanishad teaches. However, as the one true absolute, this same brahman is spoken of as remaining transcendent, beyond all differences. How, then, can such a single reality account for the diversity of the world? How can a single consciousness constitute the atman within different individuals without itself being divided?

- C. Scott Littleton in Hinduism: The Sacred East described it this way

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© Pirapakaran Navaratnam