#ātman

[rrrauschen]

Toshio Matsumoto, {1975} アートマン (Ātman)

[awarenessisnondual]

Ātman is the true, eternal self or spirit within each individual, which is distinct from the changing physical body and mind.

[father-of-the-void]

Creation and destruction are one to the eyes who can see beauty.

— Savitri Devi

[abybweisse]

Khansama Kitty?

@shinigami-mistress and I had been discussing all the religious overtones in ch127, how Agni is treated as a Christ figure. Then we got to joking about Agni coming back three chapters later, perhaps as a Bizarre Doll. (NO, we don’t think it’ll happen. It’s only a joke.)

About the same time, @eglentyne-mcqueen was typing up quite a post on the same topic (Christian symbolism). I reblogged to add my two cents and mentioned my discussions (including the jokes) with shinigami-mistress. One thing I didn’t mention is her concern about whether Agni’s soul has been collected yet. In the Kuroverse, the soul is collected at the time of death, so I assumed his soul had already been taken away.

But then I looked into Hindu funeral customs. Hindu beliefs vary from sect to sect, of course, but they tend to hold an open-casket wake then cremate the body and scatter the ashes (usually over a body of water). White is traditionally worn by funeral attendees and other mourners, and black is considered inappropriate. Ten days after the death (or is it ten days after the funeral?), friends gather to release the soul for its ascent to Heaven. Visitors are expected to bring fruit. Hindus believe in karmic reincarnation, so a person’s soul can return in another form. The form taken depends on the karma of the soul, and a truly enlightened soul can reach Nirvāna (being “blown out”, LIKE A LAMP), which for a Hindu means finding liberation (moksha) in the realization that the true self (Ātman, soul) is identical to the transcendent self (Brahman, the physical world and ultimate blissful reality). Once Nirvāna is attained, THEN the cycle of birth, life, and death ends for that soul.

Do reapers in Kuroshitsuji treat the souls differently, based on the religion or spiritual faith of the deceased?

So, has Agni reached Nirvāna? Or could he yet be reborn? Considering his faith in Soma and his worldview, I think he has become truly enlightened, so I believe he’s attained moksha….

That’s good for Agni, surely, but I would have been tickled pink to see Sebastian come across a kitten with white fur and a little blaze mark on its forehead. He’d adore its unusual markings and soft coat, and he’d name it Khansama… or simply refer to it as “Him”.

(I’m atheist, but damn. Now I’m getting all teary-eyed anyway… over the crack idea of the demon finding a reincarnated Agni in kitten form. Wtf?)

Let the fanfics of an AU where Sebastian has Khansama Kitty be written….

[father-of-the-void]

The tomb of Ātman Dzyan

[philippequeau]

Métaphysique de l’Oie sauvage (Haṃsa हंस)

“Haṃsa” ©Philippe Quéau (Art Κέω) 2024 L’oie sauvage, en sanskrit haṃsa हंस, est une métaphore du Soi (ātman). En Inde, depuis des âges reculés, le Soi est figuré symboliquement par cet oiseau migrateur, cet éternel voyageur, qui habite à la fois la Lumière, le Vent, l’Air, mais demeure aussi dans le Feu et le Soma. Il vit au milieu des hommes, et parmi les Dieux. Il naît de l’Eau, de la Terre,…

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[philippequeau]

Le souci du 'ceci' et l'insouciance de 'ce qui' n'est pas ceci

Le souci du ‘ceci’ et l’insouciance de ‘ce qui’ n’est pas ceci

“G.W.F. Hegel” Dans le premier chapitre de la première partie de la Phénoménologie de l’esprit, intitulée ‘Conscience’, Hegel commence d’emblée par affirmer la certitude subjective du sensible, l’intuition ineffable du ‘ceci’. Par contraste, les Upaniṣad se concluent par l’affirmation que l’ātman n’est ‘ni ceci ni cela’.i Ce sont là deux points de vue radicalement opposés sur l’essence de la…

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[philippequeau]

Bráhman's Salt and Thirst

Bráhman’s Salt and Thirst

–A Salt Mountain– Why should we seek to become the bráhman, since the Veda states that we already are? The revealed words, which later, after many centuries of oral tradition, became Scripture, seem to carry within them profound contradictions. For example, the Veda affirms that, in brâhman, being and thinking are one, absolutely one. How can there be then, on the one hand, very real and well…

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