1 THE ATMAN The Atman has no origin. It has no ancestry. It has no past, and no future. It has no destiny. Its only destiny is to be as It has always; to remain forever as It is. The Atman exists without having been created. It has no preceding cause. There is no reason for Its existence. It exists because Existence is Its nature. It does not serve a function. The Atman is not sustained by anything. There is nowhere from which It derives Its power. It sustains Itself. The Atman is not composed of anything. There is nothing from which It derives Its substance. It is composed of Itself. The Atman is immutable. It does not undergo transformation. It neither evolves nor degenerates, waxes nor wanes, increases nor decreases, flourishes nor fades. The Atman is the True Self—the real purport of the term, ‘I’. It has no identity; It has no name. It cannot be classified. The Atman is not a field of energy; neither is It min d . It cannot be conceived of, yet It is plainly apparent. It is obvious to the extent that It goes unnoticed. The Atman is brilliantly resplendent, though It cannot be seen with the eye. It is positively tangible, though It cannot be touched with the finger. The Atman cannot be measured. Its profundity has no calculable depth; Its breadth no boundary; Its effulgence no magnitude. The Atman has no status. It is not great nor small, prestigious nor lowly, learned nor ignorant, virtuous nor sinful. The Atman has no aspiration. There is nothing It endeavours to achieve or to attain. It neither sows nor reaps; It has no karma . The Atman has no situation. It cannot be referenced in relation to something else. There is nothing with which It can be compared. It has no parallel and no opposite. The Atman has no abode, yet It is not vagrant. It resides in Itself. It resides in the awareness of Its Existence, in the location of ‘I AM’. It dwells in the boundless estate of Its own Bliss. The Atman is Brahman —as a drop of water is water; as a particle of light is light.