Achariya Ajay Jeff Bauer
Speaks on "Shivoham"
Sunday, November 8, 2015 at 11:00am
"Shivoham” is Sanskrit for “I am God.” It is also the name of a beautiful devotional hymn composed by Swami Shankaracharya in the 8th century AD. In this complex world we live in each of us has multiple identities: I am “father”; I am “mother”; I am “child;” I am “American,” and so forth. Identity is an important concept in psychology. Psychologist Erik Erikson says “an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself.” Researcher James Marcia asserts “identity achievement occurs when an individual has gone through an exploration of different identities and made a commitment to one.” What is that “one” identity committing to which we live the fullest, happiest, most productive life of all? I am God — Shivoham!
—Acharya Ajay
From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM
"I am neither the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego, nor the mind-stuff;
I am neither the body, nor the changes of the body;
I am neither the senses of hearing, taste, smell, or sight,
Nor am I the ether, the earth, the fire, the air;
I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute -
I am He! I am He! (Shivoham, Shivoham)
—Swami Shankaracharya
"I am an absolute monist." My religion is God, truth, or the pursuit of what is ultimately real called by any name, yet ever ineffable."
—Swami Kamalananda, “I am an Absolute Monist”
I am God, naught else but God.
Verily, I am Brahman, the cosmic Reality.
Imperfection is not a quality of my consciousness.
I am Consciousness-Existence-Bliss Absolute.
I am eternal. I am free.
I am that I Am.
There is no change in me.
-- Swami Premananda, “Prayers of Self-Realization”
Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)
"Guided by whom does the mind think, feel, and form its desire? .... And who is the divine Reality that enables the eyes to see and the ears to hear?
"It is Brahman, the Supreme Self, dwelling in man as his soul. It is the consciousness of cognition, "Mind of the mind;" the substance of self-manifestation, "Word of the word; " the power of perception, "Ear of the ear;" the vision of revelation, "Eye of the eye;" and the existence that gives life to all beings, "Life of the life." The wise do not confuse the self with the senses. Liberating the self-consciousness from its attachment to sensory concepts and identification with physical objects, the wise attain to the realization of immortality."
—"Kena Upanishad, Realization of the Absolute," Translated into English from the original Sanskrit by Swami Premananda
"Never the Self was born nor will it ever die. Nor having existence, will it ever cease to exist. Birthless, deathless, changeless, eternal, ever itself is the Soul. It is not destroyed with the destruction of the body."
—"Srimad-Bhavad-Gita," Translated from the Sanskrit by Swami Premananda
"Let us meditate on the glory of that effulgent Reality from whom the whole universe is projected. May He enlighten our minds."
—"The Gayatri Prayer," Translated by Swami Premananda