# 026 Atman - it would make sense only if ..............

Do we have to accept on faith that Atman is real and that it lives on after our death?

As have discussed earlier, Atman is different from the gross, subtle, and causal bodies. The Self, is identified with these three because of ignorance and is called jéevätman, the ego, and sometimes also called the soul. The Self or Atman, by itself, is ever free and unconnected, and sustains and illumines everything. However, because of ignorance, the self identifies with the body, mind complex and comes to be called the jéeva, the ego or the individual self. Upon death, what transmigrates from one body to the other is the individual self that is identified with the subtle body.

Rather than accepting different embodiments in blind faith, we can understand that the continuity of life is a reasonable and logical proposition. In nature, nothing new is created or destroyed. Matter, for example, does not get created or destroyed; it just changes forms. Science has taught us that there is no creation or destruction; there is merely a change of form. Science does not accept life as separate from matter; life is viewed as a property of matter. However, we say that matter is the medium for the manifestation of life. Just as a bulb is the medium for the manifestation of electricity, so also, the subtle and gross bodies are the locus for manifestation of Consciousness. Just as there is continuity in matter, there is also continuity in life. And in the same manner as matter is not born and never dies, there is neither death, the destruction of life, nor birth. It is simply a change of form; a change of embodiment from one to the other. Even as we say that the body is dead, we know that it disintegrates into its components. So, if there is no birth or death of matter, it is reasonable to accept that there is no birth or death of life. Therefore, there is continuity in matter in as much as there is continuity in life also. This continuity is what we call rebirth or reincarnation from one embodiment to another.

To say that I did not have a previous birth, I am born from nowhere, and I disappear into nothing, makes no sense. That is to say that I came into existence from non- existence. No non-existent thing can give rise to an existent thing. Something cannot come out of nothing. If there is no reason why I am what I am, and you are what you are, there seems to be a lot of disparity and injustice. It would seem wrong if I were not accountable for my past actions and, again, if I do not bear the consequences of my present actions. If I do not accept the continuity of life, this life and its diversity are inexplicable. It would make sense only if I accept that I have had past embodiments when I performed a variety of actions that have given rise to my present. Again, I have to accept that I perform actions today, which will give rise to the future. Thus, there is a chain of cause and effect. If I were to be born without a history, I would be born without a cause and if I die without a living residue, a cause is destroyed without creating an effect. If birth were an effect without a cause, death would become a cause without an effect. That does not make sense. which will give rise to the future. Thus, there is a chain of cause and effect. If I were to be born without a history, I would be born without a cause and if I die without a living residue, a cause is destroyed without creating an effect. If birth were an effect without a cause, death would become a cause without an effect. That does not make sense.

By Sri Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam

# 025 It is not that everything has Atman. Rather, Atman is everything.

Do all living beings have an Atman? Are all living things interconnected because of Atman?

Yes, all living beings have an Atman. Atman is the essence, the core, the very truth, and the very being of all living beings. Atman is saccidänanda and is present everywhere. It is not that everything has Atman. Rather, Atman is everything. Do not separate Atman from things. It is not that I have a self; rather, I am the Self. All that exists is but the manifestation of Atman and, therefore, everything is interconnected; everything is one. The many things that we see are the manifestation of the One. The one Atman manifests as all beings, sentient and insentient, and living and non-living. All are manifestations of this one Self just as all ornaments are manifestations of gold, or all waves are manifestations of water. Everything in creation is the manifestation of the one Self, Atman. Atman is present everywhere and is the connecting link. All beings spring from the Self, and that is why we have order or harmony that connects or sustains everything. This very order or harmony is Atman, which sustains everything.

By Sri Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam