In the following Video, Swami Sarvapriyananda, who is a well-known monk from the Ramakrishna order is explaining the “logical compulsion” of identifying oneself with God or Brahman!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QYrPLlshNWQ
Here the
Swamy is saying - that Supreme reality – Call it Brahman, God or whatever, which
is beyond death or immortal, is myself!! Otherwise, how do I go beyond
death?
It is true that in Advaita, the self that abides in all is Brahman. But this fervor to preach identification of the self with God is dangerous because it leads to the “I am God” mentality which is demonic and false. Advaitic Brahman is nirguna or attributeless but God or Ishwara is Saguna Brahman (which is complete with auspicious attributes). The embodied jiva/Atman/self cannot be identified with Saguna Brahman. Sri Acharya Shankara outrightly refutes this "I am God" mentality while commenting on the Bhagavadgita (16th Ch, verses 14, 15 and 16). First of all - Brahman is a Vedic word, and it is identified as the cause of the world. Is the embodied self or atman or jiva, the cause/creator of the world? The Brahma sutra – JagadvyApAra varjyam – outrightly refutes this view!
If the embodied self is Brahman or God, then it can be easily attained by eliminating the body or committing suicide. Is anyone ready for it? Obviously not and that proves that the identity teaching is not literal! It is only indicative, in the sense that atman is a linga or indicator for Brahman that pervades and indwells in all. This also proves that the body / universe, which is a product of prakriti / maya / energy of Ishwara or God, that has a purpose (to engage in dharma) is a dependent reality on the indwelling paramAtman / Brahman and therefore not an illusion!
That non-dual Brahman/Ishwara or God is identified as the cosmic person having the sun and moon as his eyes and the entire universe as his body. He is verily the kAla/time or mruthyu / death that has covered or "swallowed" the soul / atman in the form of the body and also manifesting as this very universe. So there is no question of "going beyond" death as the all pervading and indwelling God is verily identified as kAla / death. Instead, the atman has to BE (in tune) with Him. Birth and death is not a hindrance / limitation for a knowledgeable sanAtani Hindu who is constantly serving / contemplating on Brahman or Ishwara, manifesting as the universe, through his swadharma. The same Brahman / God who has covered all ignorants in the form of death, will be a liberating ambrosia for a jnAni who is in tune with Him, through his selfless / dhArmic actions.
That non-dual, all pervading and indwelling Brahman / Ishwara, can be "attained" or experienced only through the path of Dharma and Bhakti / devotion which is rooted in duality. This "attainment" is of the nature of realization only, which is an endless contemplation. That non-dual Brahman or God mysteriously divides himself through his own inexplicable power of mAya to bring out the greatness of Dharma! Infact, that non-dual Brahman in the form of cosmic person is verily Dharma and He is the law. No being can escape this eternal Law or sanAtana dharma.
Brahman which is the cause of the world is indwelling in the Atman, supporting the atman as the body and the Atman can never know it – Atmano antaro yam Atma na veda, yasya atma shareeram – says Veda. So, all identity statements in the Veda are teaching or denoting the simultaneous identity or inseparable oneness of the ultimate indwelling self (paramatma) with the all pervading Brahman which is in everything. There is no oneness in the attributes of the sentient self / jiva, insentient non-self (body / prakriti / matter) and the Ishwara/Brahman who indwells in both and controls them. The embodied sentient self being a reflection of Brahman, is only indicative of Brahman, just like the body indicates the soul/self.
AchArya Shankara explicitly states in one of the prakarana grantha that this identification of the self with Brahman is not literal (vAchyArtha). It is only indicative! (LakshyArtha) . While essentially the oneness of atman and Brahman is accepted, the entire world is accepted as Brahma shareera – or body of God in traditional Advaita also and only then the avatAra of God and that of Acharya Shankara and all the many teachers in the unbroken chain of guru-shishya parampara can be explained.
Identifying
the self alone as real and outrightly rejecting the body / dualistic world and consequently dharma, as illusion goes
against Veda and experience also. It leads to many misconceptions like
– All religions are the same, there is no God or I am God, Hindu scriptures
like Vedas, PuruAnas, Ramayana and MahabhArata are myths/unreal, Spirituality
and religion are different and so on.
These modern-day non-traditional "teachers" (neo-advaitins) are simply teaching Buddhism only in the guise of Advaita VedAnta. They
cannot protect Sanatana dharma as they also accept all religions as true! This goes
against the spirit of the teaching of Sri Adi ShankarAchAra who vehemently argued
in favor of Vedas and VarnAshrama dharma.
Also, in the
following video, the “Swamy” is trying to pathetically reconcile Bhakti or
devotion to God, which is based on duality, with the non-traditional Advaita that identifies the self with God:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNoBZx_DKyA&t=401s
Here, Sri Hanuman is quoted as saying – Identifying myself with the body - I am Rama’s servant, identifying as a jiva I am part of Rama and identifying with the soul I am verily Rama!
Nothing can be as absurd as this because identification with the body is considered as ignorance in vedAnta. So, Hanuman, as a servant of Rama if he is identifying himself with his body, he would end up as an ignorant person!
The climax here is that, from the point of view of the soul, Hanuman is identifying himself with Rama! Now, anybody can imagine the plight of Sita! This would be even worse than what Ravana did to Sita. Actually, pure devotion for God / Ishwara is from the point of view of the soul only irrespective of whatever body it takes. Advaitic Self is non-dual and so cannot be identified with any name/form/relation including God. So Hanuman identifying himself as Rama or God is totally wrong!
It should be
noted that Hanuman who incarnated as MadhvAchArya, established the Dvaita
philosophy which fundamentally refutes this misconception in Advaita – especially the non-traditional
Advaita that simply teaches literal identification of the self with Brahman or
God.
There is no problem with traditional Advaita – as duality/bhakti/varnashrama dharma is accepted as vyAvahArika satya! Even with this acceptance of the non-duality of Atman / Self, the world of duality continues to remain as Brahman's body / dependent reality.
The attempts
of these non-traditional Advaita gurus to reconcile bhakti and neo-Advaita (teachng oneness of the self with God) is pathetically
incorrect as they are based on half-truths and very much misleading for
sanAtani Hindus. They are confusing the masses by mixing Advaitic paramArtha with
vyavahAra. It is totally incompatible with the traditional Advaita as
established by Sri Adi Shankaracharya.
One should not forget the fact that the same Veda is also teaching Sarvam khalvidam Brahma – Everything is Brahman! The identification is not literal here also. It is the identification of the oneness of Ishwara or Brahman established as the SarvAntaryAmi - the indwelling controlling spirit of all, supporting the entire universe as His body. This identification is called sAmAnAdhikaraNya where the identity of one thing culminates in the other, just like identification of the body culminates in the soul. In the Advaitic / non-dualistic identification all qualities (of the body / jiva and the Ishwara / universe) are dropped and only the essential concsiousness is identified. So in both cases the identification is indicative only and not literal.
Hanuman exists in Rama and vice versa. Identification of one culminates in the other. This is how the Hanuman's statement of identity with Rama should be understood! In the Advaitic or non-dual identity, Atman or the Self alone is. There is no Hanuman or Rama or any relationship between them. So, the only way to reconcile is to accept the dualistic world as the body of Brahman!
Identifying the entire universe as the body of Brahman is a total game changer. It makes every embodied being a dependent and servant of God manifesting as the universe and helps to identify and serve the Vedic Brahman/God manifesting through all names and forms, through one's own swa-dharma. Service to the God manifesting as this universe is service to the self. Dvaita and Advaita or Bhakti and jnAna can be reconciled only when we start realizing the entire universe as that Supreme being or Ishwara or Brahman!
This is true
VedAnta and everything else is false!
Namaste
Suresh