Finding the Brahman

Over the last several posts, my intent has been twofold. First, based on scriptures I have attempted to establish a rationale as to why it makes sense to inquire within, and that too right now. Second, again based on scriptures I have also indicated possible path(s) toward this journey, through the vehicle of meditation.

A natural follow-up question arises: What do we expect to find at the end of the pathway? By meditating on the Self (Atman) in a steadfast manner, if the end result happens to be that we discover the Universal/Absolute Reality (Brahman), how will we know when we reach that place?

For that, we need to know what the Brahman looks like! In this post, I will indicate – based on two sources – what spiritual masters have indicated about the Brahman’s visage and appearance.

In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, in answering Maitreyi’s question about the Brahman, Sage Yagnavalkya responds:

“As a lump of salt thrown in water becomes dissolved in water and there would not be any of it to seize forth as it were, but wherever one may take it is salty indeed, so verily, this great being, infinite, limitless, consists of nothing but knowledge.” (12)… This self is (like) honey for all beings and all beings are (like) honey for this self. This shining, immortal person who is in this self and the shining, immortal person who is in this (individual) self, he is just this Self, this is immortal, this is Brahman, this is all (14). This self, verily, is the lord of all beings, the king of all beings. As all the spokes are held together in the hub, and felly of a wheel, just so, in this self, all beings, all gods, all worlds, all breathing creatures, all these selves are held together” (15) (Radhakrishnan, 2010, p. 205).

From the passage above, it is clear we do not have to go anywhere to find the Brahman. We find it within us, when self-realization happens. That is reassuring!

All we need to do is to inquire within and meditate on the path, following any one of the many paths indicated ways by spiritual masters, and across all great religions. For example, we could adopt the path of Sage Patanjali, and we would, in due time, reach the exalted stage when our Atman unites with the Brahman.

Are these ideas of self-realization specific to the Vedic religion (Hinduism), and even more specifically, the system of philosophy termed Advaita Vedanta?

Not at all! Across time, across ages spiritual masters have come to the same truth, the same conclusion!

Let’s hear what Jalal-ad-din Muhammad Rumi (known the world over as mystic Rumi – the Sunni Muslim poet who lived in Persia (Iran) in the 13th century – had to say about his personal tryst with Universal Reality:

“Today I beheld the beloved, that ornament of every affair; he went off departing to heaven like the spirit of Mustafa… The sun is put to shame by his countenance, heaven’s sphere is as confused as the heart; through his glow, water and clay are more resplendent than fire. I said, ‘Show me the ladder, that I may mount up to heaven.’ He said, ‘Your head is the ladder; bring your head down under your feet.’ When you place your feet on your head, you will place your feet on the head of stars; when you cleave through the air, set your foot on the air, so, and come! A hundred ways to heaven’s air become manifest to you; you go flying up to heaven every dawning like a prayer.” (Arberry, 1979, p. 40).

Place your feet on your head! How does one do that? One could attempt to do this through a yogic posture.

But Rumi is actually saying something different: He is recommending a complete dissolution of the ego, in presence of which receiving the Brahman is simply not possible. But when dissolution of the ego happens, we go “flying up to heaven every dawning like a prayer.” How incredible, and self empowering, is that!

… between myself and my Master stood my ego… breaking through… I found in the light of a million suns the outstretched hands of my Master…