What is Parabrahman?

What is Parabrahman?

In a recent correspondence, a question came up about Parabrahman, something I briefly mentioned at the bottom of The Stages chart.

The term Brahman is used to mean several things. Some refer to the experience of presence or inner silence as Brahman. But actually, this is more Atman, pure consciousness or pure being, the cosmic Self aka self-aware consciousness. Brahman is beyond being and consciousness. Atman can be said to be Brahman but arises out of it (in a late Unity perspective). Thus, Brahman “is” prior to or “beyond” Atman. With the Brahman shift in stages, we transcend Atman much as we went beyond the small me in a prior shift.

At first, Brahman is recognized primarily by what it’s not. Not Consciousness, not being, not Atman, and very distinct from Unity Consciousness. This is somewhat akin to the neti neti or no-self experience that can arise with the first awakening but on a broader scale.

Over time, the actuality of Brahman becomes clear. That which is beyond the subtle duality of being and non-being.

With further time, there is a process we could call Refined Brahman. This leads to a much greater wholeness of Brahman being recognized. This becomes Parabrahman where Para means beyond or prior to. But in this case, the reference is not to something before Brahman but rather before anything.

This is beyond God in any form but can be said to be the essence of God. In a way, we could say Brahman is transcending God, then Parabrahman is when we discover the essence of the divine in and as Brahman. As Lorne Hoff describes it, pure holiness even in non-self nothingness. The swelling that arises as the first impulse of awareness. We could say this is what gives Brahman its quality as The Knower.

Brahman is beyond consciousness so there are no longer “states of consciousness” or higher values of awareness. It is beyond that. Supreme reality is a better phrasing.

Few talk about it because few live it yet. And those that do say little because there is little to be said that we can relate to. I also don’t write about it much because this aspect is still unfolding here. It has been recognized but there is more to come.
Davidya

 

Last Updated on February 19, 2018 by Davidya

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10 Comments

  1. Michael Jaksch

    Hi David!

    Thanks for sharing…..
    Brahman only makes sense if it has been experienced at least once. If one has never “left” consciousness it is “hard to imagine”.
    …..though i think it is good that there is at least a little talk about it so we have heard that there is more.

    much love
    Michael

  2. Hi Michael
    Yes, if one has never been beyond existence or consciousness it makes little sense. And on that level, it’s not so much about experience as recognition. Being beyond consciousness, it’s beyond the dynamics of experience.

    And yet paradoxically, it can be known.

    Thanks for the comment.

  3. Christopher

    By ascending to sahaja samadhi parabrahman is eternally realized. All that can be said about it is that it exists and it is what it is. Upon perceiving it with the pure mind, or pure atman a man transcends death and gains his innate immortality, which is only satchidananda, the unending bliss of God.

    1. Hi Christopher
      Sorry but you’re using the term in a much more base way than I am and do not appear to have read the article.

      It is well beyond Self Realization and it’s embodied value, sat chit ananda.

      Samadhi is in consciousness. Consciousness is beyond mind. Brahman is beyond consciousness and Atman and existence. It is beyond perceiving so it’s nonsense to suggest Parabrahman can be perceived with a pure mind.

      Parabrahman, by it’s very name is beyond Brahman. It is pure divinity, well beyond any such notions. It cannot by known even by Brahman. But it is fully known by itself.

  4. Bojan

    Hi David

    I was reading few of your articles about Brahman and Parabrahman(Divinity). But i am not sure if i understand correctly what you mean. If Brahman is the final stage,then i guess there is nothing higher then that. On the other hand it seams that Parabrahman is the source of the source. Then it seams it is an aspect of refinement of Brahman. 3 b in your clasification of the stages of refinement. You’ve said that in Brahman stage there is still the quality of being conscious and after that that is supplanted entirely… Can you please explain what exactly is the “difference” between Brahman and Parabrahman? Thank you

    1. Hi Bojan
      The purpose of articles like this is to support people going through the process and to make it clear there’s more so we don’t get stuck in some idea of being “done” or having the highest truth. Trying to figure it out with the mind is a somewhat useless exercise, even for Self Realization. The mind can never meet what it has no reference points for.

      Brahman is the end of stages in consciousness because it goes beyond it. But it is not the highest stage. In many ways it’s just a platform from which further stages can develop. The lettering like 3b doesn’t mean a sub-stage but refers to the distinct process.

      We could say Brahman is equivalent to flat, empty consciousness and ParaBrahman is full, alive, rich consciousness. But again, that implies the second is a subset of the first. But it’s the other way around.

      Keep in mind, the stages are our subjective experience of the process. Reality itself doesn’t change – just our appreciation of it.

  5. Null

    I was told and read about the manwatar, manuwatar, manuavatar, a group of people /consciousness or beyond that, showed up only at golden age once every yugas, so i guess this parabrahman are them. Although i m not getting there yet myself ( .. smile)
    Namaste – jay satya narayan

    1. Hi Null
      Sounds like a few things mushed together. A Manvantra is a vast measure of time composed of 71 cycles of yugas.
      .
      Manu is known as the law-giver and some consider the first human, somewhat like the Western Adam although bringing laws like Moses. He is sometimes equated with being an avatar, hence manuavatar. (“ua” is not correct Sanskrit grammar)
      .
      Narayana is known as the “first born” but arises more on the cosmic level. Manu is more the first manifest human. But these examples come from different times.
      .
      ParaBrahman, the way I use it on this site, is a name for a stage of development and of pure Divinity, beyond Brahman. This is well outside space, time, or a person.
      .
      There are various “people” who reside in more subtle levels, helping administer things. The saptarishi or 7 seers, for example, reside outside our universe and help administer it. They are always there.
      .
      When consciousness is very high in a golden age, it does allow very high beings to take a body among us.
      .
      I’m not aware of anyone fully enlightened yet. With group consciousness still so burdened, it would be very difficult.
      Namaste!

  6. This is a wonderful post, David! Short and to the point. I have been sharing it with lots of my friends and clients because your summation is so accessible! Thank you sincerely for sharing.

    “Beyond and above the universe like the sky.”
    With gratitude and devotion,
    Dorothy

    1. Thanks, Dorothy. I appreciate the sharing. Much has unfolded since this article. A few I can point to.

      This article is on the 7 stages of unfolding ParaBrahman.
      https://davidya.ca/2017/04/03/the-structure-of-divinity/

      This articles explores how this is embodied and the effect this is having on devas.
      https://davidya.ca/2018/11/12/waking-the-body/

      And this on Krishna Consciousness, one of those stages.
      https://davidya.ca/2020/08/27/krishna-consciousness/

      I remember writing a poem many years ago called Beyond the Sky. 🙂

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