Question:
When and where does the journey of atman start, i.e., when was it first born?
Answer: The
Atman is birth-less and deathless and according to Vedanta, it is present
everywhere and is not limited by time and place. It appears to pass
though a journey because of ignorance. When the ignorance is destroyed, the
journey comes to an end as it were; rather, you come to know that there was no
journey at all.
Question:
Where do we stand after death? Where exactly do we live?
Answer: As
has been said already, there is no birth or death. So, the question of living
after death does not arise. However, as long as we are in ignorance, we take
birth in newer bodies depending on our good and bad karmas.
Question:
Does it mean that life is a deep slumber and the actual wakefulness is
identification of ‘Thou’ with ‘That’?
Answer:
Yes. When we awake from ignorance we realize that we are one with Brahman. Thou
Art That means I am That. Realisation is, in reality, discovering an
ever-existing fact.
Question:
What prompted the attribute-less infinite Parabrahman to manifest itself under
this cycle of life & death?
Answer: According to Swami Vivekananda
this question cannot be answered as long as we are in Maya, because the
whole issue pertains to a state beyond Maya.
Question:
What is meant by Aham Brahmasmi?
Answer:
Aham Brahmasmi means that I am Brahma or I am God in the ultimate sense. This
is possible only when Aham or ‘I’ is considered as pure consciousness
separate from its attributes like body and mind, and Brahman is also as pure
consciousness bereft of its attributes like cosmic body and cosmic mind. (For
more details of this concept, you may please refer to standard treaties on
Vedanta like Vedanta-sara and Tattva Boddha.)
Question: Are
Atman and Brahman different or same?
Answer:
According to Advaita Vedanta they are same. But according to Vishishta Advaita,
or qualified monism, Atman is a part of Brahma, whereas, according to
Dwaita, or dualistic Vedanta, they are different and separate.
Question: Is
there any specific picture of God or Creator? If so, which one is the real
picture of God?
Answer: Man
creates God in his own image. Every religion has its own picture of God, nay, everyone
has his own picture of God and each one is real for that person. Shri
Ramakrishna used to say God is with form, without form and even beyond both.
