AYAM ATMA BRAHMA

Readings from the Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad
 translated by Patrick Olivelle

‘Clearly, this self is brahman—this self that is made of perception, made of mind,
made of sight, made of breath, made of hearing, made of earth, made of water,
made of wind, made of space, made of light and the lightless, made of desire
and the desireless, made of anger and the angerless, made of the righteous and
the unrighteous; this self is made of everything. Hence there is this saying: “He’s
made of this. He’s made of that.” What a man turns out to be depends on how
he acts and on how he conducts himself. If his actions are good, he will turn
into something good. If his actions are bad, he will turn into something bad.
A man turns into something good by good action and into something bad by
bad action. And so people say: “A person here consists simply of desire.” A man
resolves in accordance with his desire, acts in accordance with his resolve, and
turns out to be in accordance with his action.’ (4.4.3-5)

Commentary by Nick Sutton

The Sanskrit phrase ayam atma brahma succinctly expresses this notion of the unity of the self with the absolute principle and is frequently cited by Hindu theologians who adhere to the Advaita Vada. Because the atman is embodied it becomes identified with the senses, mind and intellect that is currently employs. So now we conceive of ourselves in terms of the mental faculties we employ day by day, moment by moment. When anger penetrates the consciousness, we say, “I am angry” because the atman has become identified with the intellect that undergoes the transformation into a state of anger.