All Is Brahman
The underlying monism of the Upanishads says that all of the living beings that inhabit the world are manifestations of Brahman. These living things bear souls (atman) that, when taken together, make up Brahman. The world of senses (tenth stanza) tells us of the separateness of the world. But to see the phenomenal world as separate is to see the world in an illusory fashion. To see Brahman is to see one, not many; to see changeless being, not superficial differences; to see unity, not separation.
The ultimate knowledge for all individuals is the knowledge of Brahman, the principle of the universe. The world is not dual, and this realization is the beginning of wisdom.
Whoever sees all beings in the soul
And the soul in all beings
Does not shrink away from this.
In whom all beings have become one with the knowing soul
what delusion or sorrow is there for the one who sees unity?
It has filled all.
It is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable,
Without tendons, pure, untouched by evil.
Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
It organizes objects throughout eternity.
Brahman is a state of pure transcendence that cannot be grasped by thought or speech; hence Sri Ramskrishna's statement, “No tongue has ever defiled Brahman.” The Vedic utterance “Kham Brahm” (“All is Brahman”) means that Brahman alone exits, while we project upon it an imaginary world of motions, like superimposing a snake on a rope; a person who sees a snake while looking at the rope is being deceived by his senses.
