When an Advaita Vedantist says ‘aham brahmasmi’ (I am Brahman), it is either taken as solipsism or as a show of some 'specialness'.
Solipsism is the philosophical idea that only one's mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind.
Solipsism - Wikipedia
It is essential to contrast the 'ego' mind versus the universal mind or consciousness in order to understand why "I am Brahman" does not mean that this body-mind self is Brahman or is God.
As per Advaita Vedanta, all of us experience three existential states: waking, dreaming, deep sleep and three corresponding bodies. There is a physical flesh-bone-blood body (that we experience during waking when mind-senses operate). There is a mental body (that we experience during dreams when only the mind operates). There is the causal body (that we experience AS IF as non-existence in deep sleep when mind-senses do not operate). Connecting these three states is the Self-Brahman -- that is beyond time-place-objects and that constitutes the self of all of us. The Self is of the nature of existence-consciousness-bliss.
In advaita, the consciousness that illumines and is common essence in the three states: waking, dreaming, and sleeping, has been named, for instruction purposes, as ‘shivam advaitam atman’. The mahavakya ‘aham brahmasmi’ pertains to the shivam advaitam atman and not to the I associated with waking, dreaming, or sleep states.
The concept of the Self in Advaita could be mistakenly interpreted as solipsism. However, the transhuman, theological implications of the Self in Advaita protect it from true solipsism as found in the west. Similarly, text escapes charge of solipsism because the real "I" is thought to be nothing but the absolute whole looked at through a particular unique point of interest.
Advaita is also thought to strongly diverge from solipsism in that, the former is a system of exploration of one's mind in order to finally understand the nature of the self and attain complete knowledge. The unity of existence is said to be directly experienced and understood at the end as a part of complete knowledge. On the other hand, solipsism posits the non-existence of the external world right at the beginning, and says that no further inquiry is possible.
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Solipsism is the philosophical idea that only one's mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind.
Solipsism - Wikipedia
It is essential to contrast the 'ego' mind versus the universal mind or consciousness in order to understand why "I am Brahman" does not mean that this body-mind self is Brahman or is God.
As per Advaita Vedanta, all of us experience three existential states: waking, dreaming, deep sleep and three corresponding bodies. There is a physical flesh-bone-blood body (that we experience during waking when mind-senses operate). There is a mental body (that we experience during dreams when only the mind operates). There is the causal body (that we experience AS IF as non-existence in deep sleep when mind-senses do not operate). Connecting these three states is the Self-Brahman -- that is beyond time-place-objects and that constitutes the self of all of us. The Self is of the nature of existence-consciousness-bliss.
In advaita, the consciousness that illumines and is common essence in the three states: waking, dreaming, and sleeping, has been named, for instruction purposes, as ‘shivam advaitam atman’. The mahavakya ‘aham brahmasmi’ pertains to the shivam advaitam atman and not to the I associated with waking, dreaming, or sleep states.
The concept of the Self in Advaita could be mistakenly interpreted as solipsism. However, the transhuman, theological implications of the Self in Advaita protect it from true solipsism as found in the west. Similarly, text escapes charge of solipsism because the real "I" is thought to be nothing but the absolute whole looked at through a particular unique point of interest.
Advaita is also thought to strongly diverge from solipsism in that, the former is a system of exploration of one's mind in order to finally understand the nature of the self and attain complete knowledge. The unity of existence is said to be directly experienced and understood at the end as a part of complete knowledge. On the other hand, solipsism posits the non-existence of the external world right at the beginning, and says that no further inquiry is possible.
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