Mahat, ahamkara and manas..

Tirisilex · November 12, 2005

Here I am once again trying to make sense of this book I'm reading. I'm having a hard time understanding the differences of these words. I have found their definitions online but they.. here is what I have:

Mahat = Universal cosmic mind

Ahamkara = personal ego sense.. sense of I

Manas = Sense of self.. mind (the 7th of the 8 consciosnesses in buddhism (which is a sense of "I"))

I'm not sure I have these correctly defined so I'm hoping someone can help me make sense of them.

Yesu_Bhaktan · November 12, 2005

One should be cautious about books on yoga. They sound similar on the surface but in reality may lead to very different destinations.

Some say ahankara refers to the basic sense of the individual "I am".

Other say ahankara covers the real I am and causes it to misidentify with something that the real I am is not. For instance I am now thinking I am a material body with a certain name, date and place of birth, family, nation, species and so forth.

The goal is to separate the reality from the illusion. The reality is I am. The illusion is thinking I am what I am actually not (as listed above).

Just because the I am is wrong about what it thinks it is does not mean the I am itself IS an illusion. It just means the I am is IN illusion.

Krishna consciousness will not dissolve the self or I am but rather it will dissolve the false sense of self that has encapsulated the I am.

So Instead of thinking I am a being of material origin one comes to know I am a part of Krsna and I am the eternal servant of the Supreme I am or Krishna.

Did you check out the link JNdas gave you concerning the gunas?

Tirisilex · November 12, 2005

I didnt need the link.. I have a copy of the "Bhagavad-gita As it is"

I have read it thru.. But I think I need to read it again.

November 13, 2005

AHAMKARA - False Ego .........

[sB 3.5.32p] The chief function of the false ego is godlessness. When a person forgets his constitutional position as an eternally subordinate part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and wants to be happy independently, he functions mainly in two ways. He first attempts to act fruitively for personal gain or sense gratification, and after attempting such fruitive activities for a considerable time, when he is frustrated he becomes a philosophical speculator and thinks himself to be on the same level as God. This false idea of becoming one with the Lord is the last snare of the illusory energy, which traps a living entity into the bondage of forgetfulness under the spell of false ego.

The best means of liberation from the clutches of false ego is to give up the habit of philosophical speculation regarding the Absolute Truth. One should know definitely that the Absolute Truth is never realized by the philosophical speculations of the imperfect egoistic person. The Absolute Truth, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is realized by hearing about Him in all submission and love from a bona fide authority who is a representative of the twelve great authorities mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. By such an attempt only can one conquer the illusory energy of the Lord, although for others she is unsurpassable, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (7.14).

http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/20/276/en

MAHAT ......... click on word 'mahat' under synonyms to find all mahat manifestations:

http://vedabase.net/sb/3/5/27/en

http://vedabase.net/sb/1/3/1/en

http://vedabase.net/sb/3/32/29/en

http://vedabase.net/sb/5/5/2/en --- mahat-sevam

MANAS ......... again, click on word 'manas' or 'manah' under synonyms to find all:

http://vedabase.net/bg/6/26/en

http://vedabase.net/sb/3/26/27/en