Aatman And Brahman In Advaita Vedanta And Their Role In Kundalini Yoga

Advaita Vedanta explains Aatman and Brahman in detail and describe the true nature of reality of existence. The word "Advaita" it self projects the idea that reality is non dual and only oneness is there in the existence.  Advaita vedanta Emphasis on the notion that ,everything we see and feel and think being  different and separated is just  Empirical projection of mind and  is just a mere illusion which our own senses projects which is called Maya  and  the underlying cause behind this is the veil of ignorance. Ignorance is the fundamental cause which creates this illusion that everything is different and separated from each other and there is a God who is separated from you who lives somewhere else, in the existence and you have to attend him by doing penance or by following some " Religious Dogma", are some  belief systems which have been propagated by people since eons. 

So , Advaita vedanta came in to picture with the  help of  Adi-guru Shankaracharya and he preached this truth everywhere in India and worked hard to establish this idea in to  the masses of India.

                               Advaita says.                     "Aaham Brahmasmi Tvam Cha    "                                                                                                                which translates as " I am that Brahman" .  

So  , We are the brahman , but we don't know this truth or do not believe this and shows a sense of indifference while talking about this reality simply because we functions on empirical level and only rely upon our senses .  

Advaita says " Brahma satyam  jagata mithya " which translates that "Only Brahman is real , and everything else apart from that is Illusion or Maya". So Brahman is the reality alone and all this material realm including the senses we hold just witnesses of falsity appearing to be true.

So , if Brahman is very near to me and in fact I am that Brahman then why we think that we are separated from Brahman  and we strive to attain this truth ?

That's because we believe in subject -object division  , but its neither false also to us because we believe in our senses more than anything and hence the illusion or Maya becomes  also a complicated topic to discuss. As  Swami Vivekananda explains this subject object division in this quote  , which says: 

"Aatman is knowledge , ataman is intelligence  , aatman is satchidananda  .It is through the inscrutable power of Maya which existence indicated as neither being existent or non- existent ,the relative consciousness has came upon the   jiva ,who is none other than the Brahman"  

So  , the relative   consciousness is the culprit in this case , but what does this indicate ?see, we are bound by limitations of our mind and the mind can only draw conclusions and can only comprehend things or aspects  when it can have  a relative frame of reference and which is the fundamental reason behind this subject-object division. So , Maya projects this relative sense of self and true nature of reality and this brings down Jiva in terms of knowledge of absolute. but also there is an another reason behind this duality of reality is that the Mind can not think of absolute because mind can only think of things which can be a matter of imagination . Mind thinks about  words, taste,  touch and sensations which are already inside our System of perception , but can rarely go beyond and sense subtle aspects. So, the Mind rely upon the Ego- self which just thrives upon the land of illusion that is empirical sense of reality. 

The whole aim of kundalini yoga is to realize this truth that we are not this body and mind but that one -unchanging consciousness which is Brahman. Aatman and Brahman are not separated but it is one and complementary to each other. So , the knowledge of Brahman is very important while practicing Kundalini yoga .