ALSphere Foundation
Hinduism has its roots well settled in the ancient scriptures given by the Rishis; these scriptures are not mere words; they are the mantras received by them during deep meditative states. One such scripture is Yajurveda, which contains the Brihadaranyaka Upnishad. This Upnishad has this Mahavakya, “Aham Brahmasmi”.
The literal meaning of this Mahavakya is “I am Divine”.
In this article, I am going to share my understanding and experience of this Mahavakya. It was during the pandemic that I attended a ten-day session online to overcome the negativity in and around me, and little did I know at that time, that what I was going to learn would change my life forever. The teachers lovingly and passionately introduced me to a whole new spectrum of life and all that I learned shifted my perspective from “Me” to “Aham Bramhasmi”. I broke the cocoon of my limited self to be all and everyone.
From the time of our birth, we are taught about our identity. And with that identity, we fall into the trap of ego. I am a man, or a woman, my name is this, and my profession is this, and so on. We start believing that I am this body only, and separate from the people and things around us. And this feeling of individuality forces us to do better than others, look better, earn better, and score better; it becomes the measure of our success. If you see others achieving and thriving, you feel envious. You believe that there is “the Me and the Others”, and this belief makes you feel like the happiness and sorrow experienced by others are not yours. You confine yourself within a box of narrow identity; the range of your existence is limited to your identification with this body only.
But the truth is you are an unlimited being, currently having experience of this human body. I was taught by my teachers about our journey from “Somebody to Nobody” and from “Nobody to everybody”.
This means first we drop our identity and start living as nobody; nobodiness allows us to see ourselves beyond our name, profession, wealth, this body, and even mind; we experience our eternal self. When you are in this state nothing hurts you; you successfully shatter the thick wall of ego. This brings a lot of peace.
The next step is the step of everybodiness. This is the most blissful and ecstatic experience. You come to know that there is no “Other”, the so-called other is a mere reflection of you. Their joy becomes yours and their tears fill your eyes. You brim with compassion for every living being. You start seeing yourself in everybody. Therefore there is no question of hurting, or getting hurt by anyone. You realize your true self that is the “Brahm” itself.
Our mind is designed is see things based on our beliefs and memories. But meditation helps us to pause and break the non-stop chain of thoughts at least for a while and allows us to see who we really are. We are not a tiny part of this universe but the universe itself. To live life fearlessly we need to surrender our “I” and know the truth.
As Ramana Maharshi in his book “40 Verses of Reality” says, “You yourself are all.” He says that there is only one reality known as “Sat Chit”. He further insists on asking this question to self, “Who am I?” And when you are able to detach yourself from this body, you can see that the one who is asking the question, the answer, and the inspiration, who is leading you to the answer, is only one; it is “Brahm”.
To know that nothing ever belonged to you, not even your own body, mind, and soul is the real devotion and this devotion paves the way to the eternal truth that is “Aham Brahamasmi”.
Neha Gupta
