Aham Brahmasmi is a mantra from the Advaita tradition. The mantra is one of the four Mahavakyas, or “Great Sayings” from the Hindu text The Upanishads.
The phrase represents a central theme of Advaita philosophy, which unites the macrocosmic ideas of God and All That Is with the individual expression you experience through your life.
In this post we’ll explore the meaning of aham brahmasmi, and provide a simple guide for how you can use this mantra in your meditation practice.
What Is Aham Brahmasmi? Definition and Meaning
Aham Brahmasmi is often translated as “I am God.”
Taken directly, the phrase is closer to the statement “I am wholeness,” or “I am fullness,” since you can break it down into the three components:
- Aham – “I”
- Brahma – “Wholeness,” or “Fullness”
- Asmi – “am”
However, since Brahman, in the Hindu tradition, refers to God, universal energy, or All That Is, the slightly looser translation of “I am God,” or “I am universal energy,” is perhaps the most accurate definition.
The meaning behind Aham Brahmasmi is far more complex, and many gurus would say that you can only understand its full meaning through individual meditation and inner insight.
The fundamental idea is that every person is a microcosm of the universe. This means that you and everything you experience in the world around you are, in essence, the same field of energy.
You are intimately connected to this energy, and cannot be separated from it. You, quite literally, contain everything in the universe.
Aham Brahmasmi Sutra Statements
Sutras are statements that can help you to understand and internalize the meaning of a mantra.
In his book, Synchrodestiny, Deepak Chopra outlines several excellent sutra statements for Aham Brahmasmi. To work with these statements, take a moment to relax and center your mind, then read slowly through each of the following sentences. Between each sentence, give yourself a moment to pause and internalize the energy of the statement. You may find that you come to develop a sense of inner-knowing about the mantra, which will deepen its impact both in your meditation practice and as you set an intention throughout your daily life.
Read each of the following slowly:
- Imagine that the whole universe is being played out inside you.
- Imagine that you are connected to everything that exists.
- Imagine that you are like a crystal bead. You reflect the light of all other sentient beings. You also reflect the light of the whole universe.
- Imagine that you’re a strand in the cosmic thread connected to all the other strands.
- Imagine that you are eternal.
Guided Aham Brahmasmi Meditation – 15 Minutes with Music
For a simple but very powerful meditation using the aham brahmasmi mantra, check out the video below. The meditation repeats the mantra using a simple chant, and is set to a hauntingly beautiful piece of music.
Hi dear admin..i just read this article.it was nice and i have a question..i have been doing soh ham together with breathing for the last 4 years.so soh ham and aham brahmashmi is about the same thing right and one can do either soh ham or aham brahmashmi or is there a difference between the two.a reply or an answer or guidance from admin would be deeply appreciated.thank you.Ravi,malaysia
The meanings of the two are slightly different, but yes, you can use them interchangeably. The main point of any mantra is to give you a constant point of focus, so it’s much more about training your mind to relax and concentrate inward, (rather than run away with your thoughts) than it is about feeling like any one phrase is the perfect phrase to think.
In either case it is great…. after all meditation = silence…. that ies to train our mind to perceive the richness that is round us… get us to become aware… of everything around us.. which can eliminate the feeling of want, emptiness, longingness … etc… providing us with the peace, tranquillity … which they call the presence of God in us… “Aham Brahmasthu..”
How much time it requires to get the knowledge of the past life by doing meditation.
I have done soham for a while and I reach zero state with this mantra. After while soham is there all the time. I wake up at night and hear so ham so ham 😁it is heavenly when and when thoughts stop for long periods of time it is so peaceful, everything stands still time has stopped. And I have won at the lottery 2 times now 🙂