Monday, August 14, 2006

Who am I?.......Similar names of God!

I am that I am

I am that I am (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה, pronounced Ehyeh asher ehyeh) is one English translation of the response God used in the Bible when Moses asked for his name (Exodus 3:14). It is one of the most famous verses in the Old Testament. Hayah means "existed" or "was" in Hebrew; "ehyeh" is the first person singular present/future form. Ehyeh asher ehyeh is generally interpreted to mean I am that I am (King James Bible and others), yet, as indicated, is most literally translated as "I-shall-be who I-shall-be."

The word Ehyeh is used a total of 43 places in the Old Testament, where it is usually translated as "I will be" -- as is the case for its first occurrence, in Exodus 3:12 -- or "I shall be," as is the case for its final occurrence in Zechariah 8:8. Some scholars state the Tetragrammaton itself derives from the same verbal root, but others counter that it may simply sound similar as intended by God, such as Psalm 119 and the Hebrew words "shoqed" (almond branch) and "shaqed" (watching) found in Jeremiah 1:11-12.

Soham (Sanskrit)


Soham is a Sanskrit word which means I am Him (Him refers to the omniscient Almighty). All the living beings on this earth are said to be producing this sound of So and Ham while inhalation and the exhalation. The word thus claims that all living beings re-proclaim the fact every moment that they are God. It is said by the Hindu saints and gurus, that one can attain moksha, or mukti or Liberation, from the cycle of life and death by concentrating on the breath and mentally saying the word "so" when you inhale and the word "ham" (pronounced hum) when you exhale. By doing so, all evil is destroyed and one is believed to reach the position of ultimate power and a position equivalent to Gurus and Gods as per Hinduism.

Soham is the combination of two words viz. SAH +AHAM. According to the rules of the Sanskrit grammar Sah + Aham becomes Soham. It is the principle of joining of consonant with vowel to form a VARNA/an alphabet. Sandhi means the joining of two words, under the grammatical rules of the 'Sandhi' in the Sanskrit language. The joining of Sah + Aham is governed by the principle of Visarga Sandhi. What is Visarga in Sanskrit language? It is Nirvana or final liberation/ beatitude. It is represented by two dots, written as ":" to represent Jivatman/ individual soul and Paramatman/ Absolute. The word Sah means some person different from the first person and second person. The word First person is Aham, which in Sanskrit means "I am", or "I exist". When this "I" merges with "That", the ego of the "I" identity merges with THAT, who is Ishwara of the Vedas, Brahman of the Upanishads, Bhagawana of the Puranas.

SA in Sanskrit is the combination of the lifeless consonant S with vowel A – with the meaning of Prana/vital force. Also SA is VISHNU and SHIVA according to the Vedic Nirukta. The Sandhi or + sign means Yoga or self realization.

The meaning of the phrase might be explaied as follows: "I" am obviously not this body because the physical constituents of the body are changing every moment. Ultimately, the body dies. Atman/soul/self never dies. It is "That". "That" is Absolute Reality. It is the witness of all, what the mind does through the body. This self is always on the path of progression, which according to the Shaivistic thought is Chaitanya or consciousness. The Shiva Sutra speaks of ‘Chaitanyam – Atma’. We need to realize that Aham/ myself, which is Sah/ That self. This is called the spiritual awareness.



Tat Tvam Asi
sentence, translating variously to "Thou art that", "That thou art", or "You are that", is one of the four Mahāvākyas (Grand Pronouncements) in Hinduism. It originally occurs in the Chandogya Upanishad. It first occurs in Chandogya 6.8.7, in the dialogue between Uddālaka and his son Śvetaketu; it appears at the end of a section, and is repeated at the end of the subsequent sections as a refrain. It is generally taken to mean that your soul or consciousness is wholly or partially the Ultimate Reality. That is to say, even before the creation of the universe, a unitary, divine consciousness existed, and that this consciousness is identical to your deepest self.

Cogito ergo sum
"Cogito, ergo sum" (Latin: "I am thinking, therefore I exist", or traditionally "I think, therefore I am") is a statement by René Descartes, which became a foundational element of Western rationalism. "Cogito ergo sum" is a translation of Descartes' original French statement: "Je pense, donc je suis", which occurs in his Discourse on Method (1637). Although the idea expressed in "cogito ergo sum" is widely attributed to Descartes, many predecessors offer similar arguments —particularly Augustine of Hippo in De Civitate Dei (books XI, 26), who also anticipates modern refutations of the concept.

1 comment:

Isha Natha Yoga said...

ham sah purusha so'ham
so'ham purusha ham sah
purusha so'ham ham sah

Amen, Aum Shanti!

Thank you.