Ahamkara
Ahamkara ( Sanskrit : अहंकार, ahaṃkāra , more rarely also ahaṅkāra) is a Sanskrit term that refers to the ego consciousness or the ego function in Hindu philosophy. The term consists of the components ahaṃ ("I") and kāra ("making", from the root kṛ , "to do"). It is translated as "I doer" or " Ego ". What is meant is the self-awareness or identity awareness of a person purely as such, i.e. without reference to their specific personal characteristics or to particular content of their life experience. Ahamkara is an individuation principle , the cause of an (albeit illusory) independent, separate existence or, more precisely: the erroneous idea of such an existence. The distinction between subject and object is based on Ahamkara.
The term Ahamkara appears in three places in the Upanishads ; something produced by the soul is meant there. Later, in the Samkhya philosophy, the meaning changes. In Samkhya, ahamkara is the second unfolding product of the primordial matter Prakriti ; the first is buddhi (the judging intellect), the third manas , the authority that processes impressions and experiences and transmits them to the judging intellect. Thus, as a material product, Ahamkara is in itself part of unconscious nature. But it connects with Purusha , the eternal primordial soul, and thereby creates the impression of awareness. Ahamkara creates the mistaken belief that we are acting or suffering; in reality, Purusha, the true essence of the soul, according to the Samkhya doctrine, is immutable and therefore free from such changing states. Ahamkara is the first cause of deception ( abhimāna ), namely the erroneous opinion that the objects and actions with which the consciousness has to do are related to a subject, an "I", who accomplishes or experiences something. Ahamkara is related to the predominance of the Rajas - Guna , the tendency to passionate action.
In Advaita Vedanta , Ahamkara is the illusory identification of the unlimited self with particular, limited conditions, the erroneous assumption of a separate self.
In the Bhagavad Gita says Krishna to Arjuna that Ahankara is one of the manifestations of his (Krishna) material energy, and that one is created from the illusion that Ahamkara, is intended to exempt. What is meant here is identification with an illusory self-image that opposes the knowledge of the person's true individual identity.
In medieval tantra , Ahamkara is assigned to the Ājnā chakra (frontal chakra, "third eye").
literature
- Peter M. Scharf: Article Ahaṃkāra , in: Denise Cush u. a. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Hinduism , Routledge, London 2008, p. 18. ISBN 978-0-7007-1267-0
Web links
- Article in Encyclopedia Britannica
- Definition of terms in the Sphinx search ( Memento from September 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )