"Everywhere, the well-known Entity is the one that is taught."
In all statements contained in the Vedantic Texts, the Upanishads,
the familiar and easily recognisable expression, Brahman, is the
one that is mentioned and elaborated. In the direction, "One
should meditate by becoming calm", the object of meditation is
therefore the entity indicated by "All this is verily Brahman" and
not the individualised Self. Commentators too upheld this
interpretation.
"All this is verily Brahman" (Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma) is the
axiom with which the Upanishadic exhortation to meditate starts.
The Sruthi or Vedic revelation is that the Cosmos or Creation is
Brahman; for it originates in, is sustained by and merges into
Brahman. It is not distinct or separable from Brahman.
When viewed without the twin distortions of like and dislike,
love and hate, all forms, all effects, all causes are experienced
as Brahman only. But, when the vision is affected by love or hate,
each form, each effect and cause, appears different from the rest.
Hence the advice to meditate after attaining calm. When feelings
are calm and balanced, the many are experienced as the one. An
agitated mind can never have a single vision. It runs along
contrary lines. So, it experiences the world, nature and the
Cosmos as separate from Brahman. Such vision creates division.
Calm vision reveals unity. As the vision, so the impression, the
view of the world.
The head of the family is one person only. But he is viewed by
each member of the family from a different point of view. So he is
addressed differently, as 'father' by the son, 'husband' by the
wife, 'father-in-law' by the daughter-in-law, 'grandfather' by the
grandson, 'elder brother' by his younger; the One is thought of in
many forms, because of the variety of relationships assumed.
So, too seekers and thinkers who are in various levels of
awareness and attainment express and experience the One in
different forms and ways. Besides, the attitudes of approach and
adoration also cause differences in the experience of the One.
Some identify and posit the individualised Atma or the Jivi; some
adore the active all-knowing Almighty Isvara, God; some concretise
the All-pervasive Energy, Sakthi, and others have as the goal they
see, the Cosmic Person, the Purusha. But, the Jivi cannot claim
omniscience and omnipotence. So long as it is bound by its
self-imposed ignorance and egoism, the Jivi cannot know and
experience the all-pervasive, all-comprehensive Brahman.
