THE ATMAN (SELF) AND THE UDGITHA (HIGHEST SELF)
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The Atman (Sanskrit. "self", "breath"): The Soul, the Real Self - A grasp on the principal idea of 'Atman' is essential in order to understand Hindu concepts. The never changing non-material self is called the Atman. It is aside from both the mind the external body. This real self is beyond the impermanent identifications to which we are attributed specifically, as in; race, gender, species and nationality.
Ideas of reincarnation are natural extensions of this preliminary concept. Consciousness, wherever situated, is regarded a symptom of the soul, and the body has no awareness without it. Spirit (Brahman), the life-giving soul, is differentiated from inert matter. Belief in the soul is not just a theory, but is a worldview expressed by all Hindu's. eg. A useful analogy: the driver in the vehicle.
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The Udgitha (Highest Self) - In Verse: Chandogya Upanishad 1:1-3 -
1 Let us meditate on OM the imperishable, the beginning of prayer
2 For as the earth comes from the waters, plants from earth, and man from plants, so man is speech and speech is OM. Of all speech the essence is the Rig Veda; but Sama is the essence of Rig, and of Sama the essence is OM, the Udgitha.
3 This is the essense of essences, the highest and eighth rung, venerated above all that human beings hold holy. OM is the self of all.
Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3:21 - I know this undecaying, primeval One, the Self of all things, which exists everywhere, being all-pervading and which the wise declare to be free from birth. The teachers of Brahman, indeed, speak of It as eternal.
Isha Upanishad - Verse 1 - The Lord is enshrined in the hearts of all. The Lord is the supreme reality. Rejoice in Him through renunciation. Covet nothing. All belongs to The Lord.
1 Corinthians 6:19 - What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
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The LORD is within us, with four advancements from water to man, giver of speech, then four essences from speech to OM: Transcending eternally, one must become aligned and in-tuned with the Holy of Holies. Biblically this is paralleled by the four letters in the name of God (YHWH) and the vision of Ezekiel's chariot concerning four heavenly realms. Please note: Veda (Knowledge), Rig (Verse), Sama (Song) & OM.
Add - Psalm 40:2 - "He brought me up also 4/ out of an horrible pit, 3/ out of the miry clay, 2/ and set my feet upon a rock, 1/ and established my goings."
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The Udgitha (Highest Self) - Shvetashvatara Upanishad -
Note This is the Great Lord. The Lord of creation, preservation and destruction; ruler and refuge of all. He is The Creator, the giver of conscious awareness. Known by the mind. Perceived in the heart. Brahman the highest, the subtlest and the greatest, concealed in all beings, one that encompasses all of the universe, formless, without sorrow, changeless, all pervading, kind, one who applies the power of knowledge, the Purusha, one with the whole world as it is, one with the whole world as it has been, one with the whole world as it will be. It is the Self of All, the Highest Self, The Udgitha.
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