My question is this: Having been hearing about the concept of God from my little age, is there a singular consciousness that controls us? Or is it ourselves (by the concept of Aham Brahmasmi) that have formed this purification system of life death and rebirth?
According to texts in Hinduism, even the thrimoorthis are bound by certain laws. So can they be considered gods? Aren’t they just beings at the pinnacle of spiritual knowledge?
—Ananthakrishnan, India
Dear Ananthakrishnan,
Everything and everyone in creation have been manifested by Spirit; nothing else exists. Thus we are inextricably one with that consciousness, although few us of live in the awareness of that oneness. It is our destiny (and our task!) to experience and live in that oneness. That is the essence of Aham Brahmasmi: a part of Brahman has become us; we have no other reality.
Spirit could control us if it wished, but according to the great masters, it has given us a measure of free will. It is the same with Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva—the creating, preserving, and dissolving aspects of AUM: they are specific aspects of Brahman. Compared to us, they seem unlimited in both power and the scope of their free will, but Brahman alone is without limitation.
And remember: all the deities of Hinduism are particular aspects of Brahman. They do not have a separate existence, any more than we do.
Blessings,
Gyandev
