Wisdom of the Ancients

The mantra So Ham has two sounds – “so” and “ham” which correspond to the Sanskrit words “sah” (that) and “aham” (I). Joining these together creates the Mantra “So Ham” which means I AM THAT. As per the Vedic texts (specifically in the Upanishads), here “I” means “individual soul” or atma and “that” refers to Paramatma or “High Consciousness”. So in short, the So Ham mantra means that I am the same as Universal Consciousness or in other words the individual soul or atma is a

Awakening is the union of the Atma (individual soul) with Paramatma (Higher Consciousness/Divine) in the Vedic concept. Specifically, in the Advaita philosophy, the soul (I AM) is in the body which is run by thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. The goal is to liberate the Soul from these different aspects so it can transcend and can return to the Paramatma/Brahman (Higher Consciousness). This process of liberation is known as awakening. A way to do this is to focus on the questio