Guest guest Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 SAI RAM Dear Brothers and Sisters, We will now see some more terms by which the Atma is referred to in scriptures:- Nityam= eternal. That which ever is--- is called Eternal. A perennial river flows all the time. The river always is; only the water keeps changing all the time. Similarly, the world too can be said to be eternal in one sense. It is always there, either in its manifest or unmanifest form. In manifest form, it changes from moment to moment. It is therefore eternal but ever changing. Vedanta calls this type of eternity as Pravaha nityatvam. A piece of thin iron rod or wire pounded on an anvil(Kootah) changes its form. It gets thinner and longer. The anvil is the base for many such changes ,while it itself remains as unchanging. Similarly, the names and forms of the world keep on changing, but the substratum , the Atma , which is the true nature of each one of us ,remains unchanged. Atma was, Atma is and Atma will ever remain the same. It is therefore eternal and unchanging (Kootastha Nityatvam). Niranjanam=taintless. Inherent tendencies(vasanas) in us manifest as likes and dislikes, which create desires, which in turn, prompt us into action. These inherent tendencies are different in all of us and therefore the objects of our likes and dislikes and desires vary. Consequently, our actions also differ. One goes for mountaineering , the other for deep sea diving. One divorces a woman and another desires her. One is creative; another has destructive tendencies. We can go on elaborating this. The root cause of actions, desires,likes and dislikes and the inherent tendencies is ignorance of Atma. That ignorance (avidya) expresses as the notion, " I am the body " . This is common to all. Ignorance is the impurity that taints our life with likes and dislikes, desires and desire prompted actions. Atma, which is of the nature of Pure Consciouness, is totally free from any trace of ignorance. It is therefore vasanaless and desireless. It is taintless. Ignorance has no beginning. It has been with us from beginningless time. Yet the Atma is ever taintless and pure. Ekah, Ekham=One. As already seen, Truth is only one without a second ( Ekameva Advitheeyam). It is the one that pervades the many. It is the common essence in all. Numeral one is present in all the numbers. For e.g. one multiplied by ten is called ten. Numerically one is followed by two, three etc. and preceded by zero, minus one etc. The number One can be added, divided into fractions or subtracted and multiplied. But the Truth is one which has no other precedent or any other following it. Being infinite, nothing can be added on to or subtracted from it. Being indivisible and partless, it can not be divided or multiplied. (to be continued) With Loving Sai Rams, G.Balasubramanian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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