Editing Upanishads (section)

===Atman and Brahman ===
{{main|Ātman (Hinduism)|Brahman}}

The Upanishads postulate [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]] and [[Brahman]] as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe."{{sfn|Olivelle|1996|p=lv}}{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=59}}{{sfnp|Raju|1985|p=35-36}} Both have multiple meanings,{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=lvi}} and various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found.{{sfnp|Raju|1985|p=35-36}}{{refn|group=note|name=Olivelle_plurality}}

Atman has "a wide range of lexical meanings, including ‘breath’, ‘spirit’, and ‘body’."{{sfn|Black|}} In the Upanishads it refers to the body, but also to the essence of the concrete physical human body,{{sfn|Olivelle|1996|p=lv}} "an essence, a life-force, consciousness, or ultimate reality."{{sfn|Black|}} The Chāndogya Upaniṣhad (6.1-16) "offers an organic understanding of ātman, characterizing the self in terms of the life force that animates all living beings," while the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad "characterizes ātman more in terms of consciousness than as a life-giving essence."{{sfn|Black|}}

Brahman may refer to a "formulation of truth," but also to "the ultimate and basic essence of the cosmos," standing at the "summit of the hierarchical scheme, or at the bottom as the ultimate foundation of all things."{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=lvi}} Brahman is "beyond the reach of human perception and thought."{{sfnp|Brodd|2009|p=43-47}} Atman likewise has multiple meanings, one of them being 'self', the inner essence of a human body/person.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=lv}}{{sfn|Lochtefeld|2002|p=122}}{{refn|group=note|name=scholarsatman3}}

Various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found.{{sfnp|Raju|1985|p=35-36}}{{refn|group=note|name=Olivelle_plurality}} Two distinct, somewhat divergent themes stand out. Older upanishads state that ''Atman'' is part of Brahman but not identical, while younger Upanishads state that Brahman (Highest Reality, Universal Principle, Being-Consciousness-Bliss) is identical with ''Atman''.<ref name=johnkoller/><ref>[[Paul Deussen]], {{Google books|B0QzAQAAMAAJ|The Philosophy of the Upanishads}}, Dover Publications, pages 86-111, 182-212</ref> The [[Brahmasutra]] by Badarayana ({{circa}} 100 BCE) synthesized and unified these somewhat conflicting theories. According to Nakamura, the Brahmasutras see Atman and Brahman as both different and not-different, a point of view which came to be called ''[[bhedabheda]]'' in later times.<ref>Nakamura (1990), ''A History of Early Vedanta Philosophy'', p.500. Motilall Banarsidas</ref> According to Koller, the Brahmasutras state that Atman and Brahman are different in some respects particularly during the state of ignorance, but at the deepest level and in the state of self-realization, Atman and Brahman are identical, non-different.<ref name=johnkoller>John Koller (2012), Shankara, in Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion, (Editors: Chad Meister, Paul Copan), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415782944}}, pages 99-102</ref> This ancient debate flowered into various dual, non-dual theories in Hinduism.