Hi everyone,
'Tat Tvam Asi' is a famous statement taken from one of the earliest Hindu scriptures...Chandogya Upanishad (earlier to 600 BCE).
This means....'You are that'.
Now, what does that mean?
Well...as I have pointed out in the thread on 'Spirituality'...our spiritual quest normally begins with a search for God. But as we progress...the thought of an external God is replaced with an inner quest for the 'God within'.
After some progress, we realize that the 'God within' is some form of a common consciousness. This is called 'Brahman' in the Upanishads.
Subsequently, from 'what is God?' we start asking...'what am I?'
At this point, the statement 'Tat Tvam Asi' starts becoming relevant. After this, we realize that 'we' are part of the Brahman. In other words, we realize that our true nature is that of a common consciousness that encompasses all existence. We also realize that our individual self is a projection from this common consciousness....and is essentially an illusion.
This realization is what we call liberation.
For information of those who may be interested.
Cheers.
Sriram
PS: This is a general philosophical matter, hence I have posted it here instead of in the eastern section.
