Brahman, Iswara, Maya...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Ramses	26 Jan 2003
Hello folks... How are you?...Hope you´re all fine!!! According to hinduism, Brahman is the absolute, the everlasting, the real, he is God... Maya is the appearence of the universe, the illusion we see, the unreal, etc. Iswara is the union of the concepts of Brahman and Maya...he´s the God as we see him...the God personified... Brahman would be the absolute, that which simply is, with no beginning and no end, and that´s it...Iswara would be the God we know, that creates, that rules the universe, but he´s not the real (in the true sense of the word) God... Well, my question is : Do you agree with the hinduist view of God? Do you believe there is this differenciation between the absolute and the God that acts in the Universe? Personally, I don´t know whether there is a God, or not...but I think that, in the phylosofical point of view, the idea of Brahman and Iswara makes sense... What do you think of that ???

Ramses	26 Jan 2003
oh...and I apologize to those who believe in hinduism, for such a simplified explanation of the Brahman, Iswara and Maya...maybe even a bad explanation...

warabi	26 Jan 2003
Excuse my question, but do you mean differenciation between the aspects of god? Or does differenciation by showing that their are many gods? (I am sorry if this sounds like a stupid question. I am not the most skilled in the english language) I was never hindu before, and I believe personally that everything was of god and everything will return to god again, but I tend to agree with showing the difference between the aspects of god. Trying to see god as absolute can be rather difficult for many people, including myself. I think that showing the different aspects of god helps people to understand god more because we can see it in a more human sense. This is what I think anyway. And by the way, even though I have only studied hinduism and not actually practiced, I thought your explaination was very nice ^_^.

Ramses	26 Jan 2003
well...what I meant (from what I´ve read) was....there isn´t Gods, and those aren´t aspects of God...it´s complicated... according to hinduism, there is only one true absolute real God, Brahman...Iswara would be just God the way we see it...through our human eyes which are controlled by Maya (illusion, appearance of the world, not the real essence).... but, this view of many aspects of God which you´ve mentioned is my favorite...it was present in the Ancient Egyptian religion...differently of what people usually think, some authors now say Egypt was monotheist, and all of their different Gods were simply the many aspects of that one God...

Demonesse	26 Jan 2003
I do not think your perception of the Hindu concept of God is COMPLETELY correct (although your explanations of Maya "illusion", literally, was quite adequate). In Hinduism "God" is composed of Brahma (not Brahman), Vishnu and Shiva, also sometimes incarnated as the Lord of the Dance. Brahma is the Creator; Vishnu the Presever and Shiva the Destroyer.

zorya	26 Jan 2003
as i understand it, brahman and brahma are both correct. brahma(n) is the ultimate reality. that which unites all. the 'soul' so to speak, of all things. it is infinite and above all it is beyond comprehension. one of my favorite concepts is that of the atmanbrahman. the atman, is the manifestation of brahma(n) in the human soul. the atman (the individual) and the brahma(n) (the ultimate reality) are in essence one. maya does not literally mean illusion, but as ramses correctly stated "it is the appearence of the universe, the illusion we see". the illusion comes from us and how we view 'reality'.

Ramses	27 Jan 2003
oh...I understand what you mean Demonesse....my knowledge of the hindu religion is still very basic... but, I believe that what you've described was not exactly the idea of God, but the Triple concept: Brahman(or Brahma), Vishnu and Shiva.... yep....the hindu religion is very complex...it depends a lot on what exactly you want to talk about, and then, the concepts may vary a little bit...I'm trying to read Shankara(an ancient hindu monk), and he differs a bit from the ancient writings as well.... more complex than that , only the Egyptian religion(ancient)....that's why I like it, and read so much about it ...hehe Oh, and, Zorya...I didn't know you knew so much about hinduism...if I have any questions, now I know I have one more person to ask....if you allow me, of course... thanks a lot everyone....

The Brahman, Iswara, Maya... thread was originally posted on 26 Jan 2003 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.