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'''Ātman''' (devanāgarī: आत्मन्) is a [[Sanskrit]] word that means "self". In [[Hinduism|Hindu philosophy]], especially in the [[Vedanta]] school, it refers to one's ''true'' self beyond phenomena. In the Theosophical literature it refers to the [[Seventh Principle|seventh principle]] in man and the cosmos.
#REDIRECT [[Atman]]
 
== General description ==
 
[[H. P. Blavatsky]] regarded ātman as a universal principle, rather than a human one:
 
<blockquote>Spirit (in the sense of the Absolute, and therefore, indivisible ALL), or Atma. As this can neither be located nor limited in philosophy, being simply that which IS in Eternity, and which cannot be absent from even the tiniest geometrical or mathematical point of the universe of matter or substance, it ought not to be called, in truth, a “human” principle at all.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 119.</ref></blockquote>
 
Ātman is frequently called the "higher self" in human beings. However, this does not mean that each person has his or her own higher self. In reality, there is only One self:
 
<blockquote>Atma, the "Higher Self," is neither your Spirit nor mine, but like sunlight shines on all. It is the universally diffused "divine principle," and is inseparable from its one and absolute Meta-Spirit, as the sunbeam is inseparable from sunlight.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'', (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 135. </ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>We say that the Spirit (the "Father in secret" of Jesus), or Atman, is no individual property of any man, but is the Divine essence which has no body, no form, which is imponderable, invisible and indivisible, that which does not exist and yet is, as the Buddhists say of Nirvana. It only overshadows the mortal; that which enters into him and pervades the whole body being only its omnipresent rays, or light, radiated through [[Buddhi]], its vehicle and direct emanation.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Key to Theosophy'' (London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987]), ???.</ref></blockquote>
 
Being a universal and absolute principle, ātman cannot said to have consciousness, which is a relative attribute:
 
<blockquote>He [man] starts downward as a simply spiritual entity—an unconscious seventh principle . . . with the germs of the other six principles lying latent and dormant in him.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 44 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 118.</ref></blockquote>
 
==Online resources==
===articles===
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=%C4%80tman# Ātman] at Theosopedia
*[http://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1367# The Becoming Self] by Joy Mills
 
== Notes ==
<references/>
 
[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts|Atman]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine|Atman]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]

Latest revision as of 22:59, 30 June 2017

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