Aham Brahmasmi.

Whenever, probably the most discussed, pulverized, abused, misdubbed, exploited, contentious, duped and ragged to death question is set in front of me to negotiate, my favourite and perhaps now regular reply is - Aham Brahmasmi. Oh and the question, for those who are still groping for it, is - "Do you believe in God?" OR "What do you think about God?"

Eons have passed and many more will also not suffice, perhaps, to satiate our quest. Maybe, forever also might not be enough. I, and my take on it, will probably figure as a sand of grain in the vast ocean of things thought, spoken and done on this. It's like a mirage perhaps, with no end, no tangibility and no knowing which is an illusion and which not (if at all that should be important to us). Which further reminds of something that Morpheus said in the movie Matrix -“What is Real? How do you define Real? If you are talking about your Senses, what you feel, taste, smell or see, then all you are talking about are electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”

So, Aham Brahmasmi. To put it in an equation:

Aham (I) + Brahmasmi (am Brahman i.e. Universe) = Aham Brahmasmi (I am Universe/God)

(note: Brahman not to be confused with a type of Hindu Caste)

Its origin is traced to the fourth Veda, the Yajur Veda, and is hailed as its Mahakavya ("the great saying" or basically the foundational essense of the particular Veda. All 4 have one of their own). The Aham, of course, refers to the Self, the Being. While the Brahman refers to this singular reality which is omnipotent, impersonal, transcendent, omnipresent. All that is, is contained within this Brahman. You, me, them, water, stone, anger, love, cookies and iPads. It is the Supreme Being which contains us all and is formed by us all. I'd quote here a line from Sankara's Brahmasutra Bhashya which goes like this:

"Jivo brahmaiva na parah."

Brahman (Whole) is the only truth, the world is an illusion, and there is ultimately no difference between the Brahman and individual self (Atman).

The Brahman is the primordial and the ultimate reality. To move forward and beyond the literal meaning (which btw, is in itself all too powerful and if you read it and speak it with your Being, you needn't be given further explanations), this nuclear Mantra is a Nova which forgets to reduce back to its brightness. 

For me, this has been the most powerful and resonating thought. Not with my mind, but with my conscious, my Being, my spirit. All of us, all that we are right now through our actions, inactions, thoughts, expressions constitute God. We are God and God is. What stunning simplicity! It gives all the Power in the world back in my hands. All the love. All the choices. All that Is. Nothing else remains, outside of us, it's all within us.

It is an experience of 'I am-ness' - something which i shall delve upon in later blogs. For now i close it here.

For those really in the mood to continue with this post, you can listen to the only song which i know in mainstream film making, which mentions and talks about Aham Brahmasmi - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVynNDtvR9Q
For the rest, a song which has really not stopped playing in my head since i heard it, hope you enjoy the serenading and the littleness of music it plays with. "Rolling in the Deep", the cover by Linkin Park..(sing along, it feels even better!) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHtwZ07N1ic