<p>hey guys, i have a midterm in about 12 hours and im pretty much screwed. this is asian philosophy: hinduism, jainism, and all that crap.</p>
<p>anyways, my teacher hinted that there would be a question about atman and brahman. in class, all she told us that atman was the ultimate self and brahman was the ultimate reality. nothing else. can anyone explain these to me? i read wikipedia and all that but i need to know how atman relates to brahman...thnx and please help!!</p>
<p>i wouldnt call jainism retarted, its really cool. imagine you are the universe you are your own god. respect life in all its forms and vegetarianism.plus the jains have cool catacomb temples. thats what im talking about, a cool religion.</p>
<p>but for ur project id go for brahman, there is more info out there cuz the concept is a hindu one and there are a lot more hindus than jains</p>
<p>what? i was asking how atman is the same thing as brahman… there is nothing about that on the web…</p>
<p>well than if atman is the ultimate self and brahman is the ultimate reality i would look at jainisim for your research.
and make an original conclusion on why they are the same. jainisim in short, is like saying the universe is you and you are the universe.</p>
<p>And, adding to janethedoe, I wouldn’t call Hinduism “■■■■■■■■ stuff.” Hinduism is one of the world’s most followed religion and it is so closely tied to Indian culture that calling it “■■■■■■■■” is so, so, so close to calling all Indian culture ■■■■■■■■.</p>
<p>But, moving on, atman is the soul or the spirit/essence of all living things. Brahman is the spirit/essence of all universe-things. You, me, dogs, cats, cows, pigs, spiders, etc are believed to have atman. Air, rocks, light, time (thus, also infinity), space are believed to have brahman. If I remember correctly, I think Hindus believe that atman “dissolves” into brahman when one is enlightened. Man… I might be getting this confused with Buddhism but I don’t think so. So, if they’re connected I think they’re connected in the sense that when one reaches enlightenment, one becomes a part of brahman. So, like, one’s atman becomes one with brahman. But I can’t remember if atman and brahman are both infinite or if brahman is infinite and atman ends when it merges with brahman.</p>
<p>Brahman is the totality of the universe as it is present outside of you; Atman is the totality of the universe as it is present within you. Brahman is the totality of the world known objectively, Atman is the totality of the world known subjectively.</p>
<p>Just think of Atman as the self and Brahman as everything outside of the self.</p>
<p>It’s psycho babel, but it makes sense in the abstract at least.</p>
<p>thnx guys! i understand it now…</p>
<p>Are you sure you understand it? It gets so confusing… If I were you I’d look up to see if enlightenment merges atman with brahman… Because if it does then there is your literal connection between the two. :)</p>
<p>i think empathy explained it correctly… and if he’s wrong, i really dgaf at this point haha</p>
<p>There is no correct way to explain things that don’t exist. The best possible answer will come from a source your prof trusts, like your texts.</p>
<p>I actually had to write a essay on this last year for my history of india course. I still have my course notes typed on my computer so if you have trouble with the idea, here are some notes from a story in the Upanishads.</p>
<p>When the son asks the real teachings he has missed out on, the father asks his son to take a fruit from a banyan tree. He then asks the boy to take a seed out of the fruit and then split the seed in half. He then asks his son what he sees in between those two halves and his son replies he sees nothing. “From the very essence in the seed which you cannot see comes in truth this vast banyan tree…an invisible and subtle essence is the Spirit of the whole universe. That is Reality. That is Atman.”</p>
<p>wow that was deep. thanx for sharing that midnightgolfer :)</p>
<p>iambeawolf
are you at moorpark? If so, I know which class you’re taking.
And the professor.
lol I took that class
but
if not
:(</p>