We frequently talk about Atma (soul) in our yoga class and try to understand what it means to us.   We were blessed to have a very detailed explanation of Atma by our teacher.

Atma is a Sanskrit word that means “inner self” or “soul”. It describes one’s true self. Atma is immortal. Unlike your physical body, it lives on beyond our death. Atma is what we actually are, rather than what we think we are. We are not the body or the mind, we are the Atma.

Moksha: Moksha means freedom. We take birth and fall into the trap that is the cycle of birth due to the law of karma. The meaning of human birth is to achieve freedom from the cycle of life, death and reincarnation (samsara) and obviously the sufferings which are part of this cycle.To achieve complete freedom, we need to know the ultimate reality beyond death. This is Atma. 

The best, simplest example that enables us to understand the meaning of Atma is explained in the Bhagwad Gita by Lord  Shri Krishna to Arjun.

Arjun’s Dilemma

 On the battle-filed, Arjun found it very hard to fight against his own family, guru and many other relatives. Arjun said to Shri Krishna, “I don’t want to fight. How can I be happy after killing our loved ones?”

The teaching of the Gita begins with the true knowledge of Atma.

Lord Krishna said, “Arjuna, there was never a time when these people, you or I didn’t exist. We were  here ever since the world was created.  The only difference is that I am aware of it and you are not.”

Arjun was quite puzzled. Arjun thought that we take birth many times and continue to do so in the future as well. Lord Krishna said, “We take birth and die. When we die, it’s  the physical body that dies and no one has power to destroy the indestructible self, which is our soul.  If life has to come to an end then there is no point of existence or importance of  religion or doing good or bad. People  will act and do things carelessly.

 Lord Krishna explained, “This is not the truth. Use all your senses and try to understand carefully.”  

Our body departs with our mind. The physical body is called ‘Sthool Sharir’ and the one who is suffering inside is called ‘Sukashm Sharir’. The one which is never born and never dies  is “I” which  is Atma. I am the Atma who is immortal or ajaramar. Atma resides in Karan sharir which is Brahm. These two are Atma’s coverings.

Arjun got even more confused now. Keshav was talking about body and mind but now what is this Atma?

Krishna gave a Simple explanation to Arjun. We all know that there is a God but what we have not realised is him. The things which are around us now and won’t be there in future are Nashwar and are a mere perception.

Krishna patiently explained to Arjun, “My friend, you are Atma.” You are a pure soul in the physical form. As you are in the middle of Kurukshetra, you will have to perform your duties. Your body and mind will have to perform the karmas. Mind will have to be purified and with pure mind you will have to do the action.  Your body and mind is killing the enemies but that doesn’t mean you are killing or you are the doer.

He got confused again. Arjun said,”If I kill my loved ones, it will make me papi or sinner. Therefore I don’t want to kill them”. The supreme Lord said, “You don’t need to grieve for the people on Kurukshetra who have taken birth before and will continue to do so. You will not become bhogi as karma is performed by Atma.

“Oh Arjun, if you will not fight righteous war, then you will fail in your duty and incur sin. There is nothing more welcome for a warrior than a righteous war.

You are not the body or mind so you are not the karta or the doer. You will have to focus on Atma and fulfil your duties.”

To make it more clear to Arjun, Krishna added Bhakti (Devotion). He asked Arjun to surrender himself to me. He asked him to take it as an order from me to kill people on the battlefield. Arjun thought, why does Krishna have to suffer for my actions which he has not performed.

The supreme lord showed Arjun the Divine Form or Vishwarup . Arjun saw the entire creation in the body of God of gods. The radiance was as similar to a thousand suns blazing together in the sky. Everything in the universe is endless and formless and Atma is the truth.

Arjun finally realised that he is not the physical form but Atma.  Arjun is only the name of the physical form and I am the endless Atma.

Then Arjun realised that the body or the sthool sharir won’t be the sufferer. My mind is also not real. Sthool sharir has surrendered to a Karak Sharir and so won’t be a sufferer. Arjun surrendered himself to the divine power and perform his duties.

An example given by our teacher for the complex meaning of Atma.

If we are holding a hot potato in our hand, the original quality of potato is being cold. If you put the potato in the boiling water, it becomes hot for a while then cools down again. Water is equally cold, but when we boil it becomes hot. The heat was given to the pan, water and potato and they will get cold later. The fire’s quality is heat which will always stay hot or warm. Imagine fire as a Atma which is permanent whereas heated pot, water and potato are temporary.

If we think of ourselves, take all the things around us as  temporary which we see and won’t be there forever. When we take birth, we physically change from baby to adulthood, height  and all these changes are not the truth and temporary. The real truth is Atma which is immortal.

Karma theory comes in here. When you think of good and bad which is your mind. This body does actions using the  mind . When the mind will realise it’s not me but the Atma who is doing things,also completely surrender every action to God, you will not be the sufferer. The body will die and the mind will not go to heaven  or hell, it will become one with Atma.

It is  hard to understand and observe 24/7 that the  God is the doer.  To make this easy for you, surrender to someone who you have seen in the form like Guru or God or formless way. When you repeat his naam, the energy from that naam will manifest in you gradually. You will realise Bhakt , Bhagwan and Naam are the same.

2^nd example:-Take an example of a screen.  So many shows, news and programmes keep coming on the screen. But the screen doesn’t get affected and stays the same. When you switch off the screen, nothing changes where the programmes do finish. Same way ,the soul doesn’t get attached to good or bad. Whereas the physical form is temporary and will come to an end. Soul is permanent and endless.

When the  mind in this physical body will  know  that Atma is the one and only truth, you will become one with divine power. Mun will become one with Atma tatva.

When Sadhak becomes selfless, does his karma with no expectations (Nishkarm), surrender every action to God and stays with his naam every breathe, definitely becomes One with God.

Aham Brahmasmi means I am Atma!

We frequently talk about Atma (soul) in our yoga class and try to understand what it means to us.   We were blessed to have a very detailed explanation of Atma by our teacher.

Atma is a Sanskrit word that means “inner self” or “soul”. It describes one’s true self. Atma is immortal. Unlike your physical body, it lives on beyond our death. Atma is what we actually are, rather than what we think we are. We are not the body or the mind, we are the Atma.

Moksha: Moksha means freedom. We take birth and fall into the trap that is the cycle of birth due to the law of karma. The meaning of human birth is to achieve freedom from the cycle of life, death and reincarnation (samsara) and obviously the sufferings which are part of this cycle.To achieve complete freedom, we need to know the ultimate reality beyond death. This is Atma. 

The best, simplest example that enables us to understand the meaning of Atma is explained in the Bhagwad Gita by Lord  Shri Krishna to Arjun.

Arjun’s Dilemma

 On the battle-filed, Arjun found it very hard to fight against his own family, guru and many other relatives. Arjun said to Shri Krishna, “I don’t want to fight. How can I be happy after killing our loved ones?”

The teaching of the Gita begins with the true knowledge of Atma.

Lord Krishna said, “Arjuna, there was never a time when these people, you or I didn’t exist. We were  here ever since the world was created.  The only difference is that I am aware of it and you are not.”

Arjun was quite puzzled. Arjun thought that we take birth many times and continue to do so in the future as well. Lord Krishna said, “We take birth and die. When we die, it’s  the physical body that dies and no one has power to destroy the indestructible self, which is our soul.  If life has to come to an end then there is no point of existence or importance of  religion or doing good or bad. People  will act and do things carelessly.

 Lord Krishna explained, “This is not the truth. Use all your senses and try to understand carefully.”  

Our body departs with our mind. The physical body is called ‘Sthool Sharir’ and the one who is suffering inside is called ‘Sukashm Sharir’. The one which is never born and never dies  is “I” which  is Atma. I am the Atma who is immortal or ajaramar. Atma resides in Karan sharir which is Brahm. These two are Atma’s coverings.

Arjun got even more confused now. Keshav was talking about body and mind but now what is this Atma?

Krishna gave a Simple explanation to Arjun. We all know that there is a God but what we have not realised is him. The things which are around us now and won’t be there in future are Nashwar and are a mere perception.

Krishna patiently explained to Arjun, “My friend, you are Atma.” You are a pure soul in the physical form. As you are in the middle of Kurukshetra, you will have to perform your duties. Your body and mind will have to perform the karmas. Mind will have to be purified and with pure mind you will have to do the action.  Your body and mind is killing the enemies but that doesn’t mean you are killing or you are the doer.

He got confused again. Arjun said,”If I kill my loved ones, it will make me papi or sinner. Therefore I don’t want to kill them”. The supreme Lord said, “You don’t need to grieve for the people on Kurukshetra who have taken birth before and will continue to do so. You will not become bhogi as karma is performed by Atma.

“Oh Arjun, if you will not fight righteous war, then you will fail in your duty and incur sin. There is nothing more welcome for a warrior than a righteous war.

You are not the body or mind so you are not the karta or the doer. You will have to focus on Atma and fulfil your duties.”

To make it more clear to Arjun, Krishna added Bhakti (Devotion). He asked Arjun to surrender himself to me. He asked him to take it as an order from me to kill people on the battlefield. Arjun thought, why does Krishna have to suffer for my actions which he has not performed.

The supreme lord showed Arjun the Divine Form or Vishwarup . Arjun saw the entire creation in the body of God of gods. The radiance was as similar to a thousand suns blazing together in the sky. Everything in the universe is endless and formless and Atma is the truth.

Arjun finally realised that he is not the physical form but Atma.  Arjun is only the name of the physical form and I am the endless Atma.

Then Arjun realised that the body or the sthool sharir won’t be the sufferer. My mind is also not real. Sthool sharir has surrendered to a Karak Sharir and so won’t be a sufferer. Arjun surrendered himself to the divine power and perform his duties.

An example given by our teacher for the complex meaning of Atma.

If we are holding a hot potato in our hand, the original quality of potato is being cold. If you put the potato in the boiling water, it becomes hot for a while then cools down again. Water is equally cold, but when we boil it becomes hot. The heat was given to the pan, water and potato and they will get cold later. The fire’s quality is heat which will always stay hot or warm. Imagine fire as a Atma which is permanent whereas heated pot, water and potato are temporary.

If we think of ourselves, take all the things around us as  temporary which we see and won’t be there forever. When we take birth, we physically change from baby to adulthood, height  and all these changes are not the truth and temporary. The real truth is Atma which is immortal.

Karma theory comes in here. When you think of good and bad which is your mind. This body does actions using the  mind . When the mind will realise it’s not me but the Atma who is doing things,also completely surrender every action to God, you will not be the sufferer. The body will die and the mind will not go to heaven  or hell, it will become one with Atma.

It is  hard to understand and observe 24/7 that the  God is the doer.  To make this easy for you, surrender to someone who you have seen in the form like Guru or God or formless way. When you repeat his naam, the energy from that naam will manifest in you gradually. You will realise Bhakt , Bhagwan and Naam are the same.

2^nd example:-Take an example of a screen.  So many shows, news and programmes keep coming on the screen. But the screen doesn’t get affected and stays the same. When you switch off the screen, nothing changes where the programmes do finish. Same way ,the soul doesn’t get attached to good or bad. Whereas the physical form is temporary and will come to an end. Soul is permanent and endless.

When the  mind in this physical body will  know  that Atma is the one and only truth, you will become one with divine power. Mun will become one with Atma tatva.

When Sadhak becomes selfless, does his karma with no expectations (Nishkarm), surrender every action to God and stays with his naam every breathe, definitely becomes One with God.

Aham Brahmasmi means I am Atma!