Upanishads: a summation, by S.K. Balasubramanian
The Upanishads present an entirely refreshing manner of discussing supra-human reality. They affirm that such an entity is a Reality, known as Brahman and that humans are a part of it. The Gods, not merely the Hindu ones, are no more than imaginary cult heads. Evolution, not vested interests, political compulsions or delusions, controls and guides human development.
The Hindu paradigm is set by the axiom given in the Mundaka Upanishad, Satyameva jayate naanrtam, which means,“ Reality prevails over delusions.” Only the ones without delusions may ‘see’ the reality. The abhyaaroha mantra of the Brihadaarnayaka Upanishad is based on this conviction. It says,
“Lead thou me
From the unreal to the Real
From ignorance to Enlightenment
From the ephemeral to the Eternal.”
The same Upanishad looks upon Brahman as infinity, completely self-contained. It cannot be added to or subtracted from.
Delusions are of several types. The most common ones relate to God. Kena Upanishad denies any comfort to those who assert that God is in their pocket. It says that it (God) is unknown to the ‘knower’. The ones who claim to know god do not know it. Tejabindhu Upanishad says that Brahman is beyond ideation. That God is unknowable by the human mind is affirmed by the Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad. It defines the Reality as indefinable. It asserts “Neti, Neti’ ‘not this, not this’. Brahman is not to be limited by definitions.
Brahman is not to be confined to books. Amrita Bindu Upanishad says, “Master all the texts but (in the search for Brahman) give up all of them completely like the one gleaning for grains rejects the chaff.” I take it to mean that information is not ‘knowledge’. What is contained in books is information. Knowledge has a certain ageless pristine quality that is more to be comprehended than learnt.
But information, looked upon as ‘lower knowledge’, has its value. Isha Upanishad accepts its importance in worldly life. It says, “Live according to the ‘lower’ knowledge and transcend it to acquire higher knowledge that alone gives insight into the Eternal.”
Worldly knowledge is an essential stepping-stone to the higher one. It is implied that the worldly knowledge should not be ignored. Spirituality does not stand alone. It has relevance only in the context of worldly life. One should be a whole or complete human being in the world before he aspires for the next world. Moksha is an evolutionary end product not the first or any other stage in life.
The Gita goes further. It recommends that ‘attachment’ should be given up as the fist step. Attachment is an emotional or ideological locus. The spiritual aspirant should renounce intuitively the limiting loci and the concurrent existential constraints by remaining objective. One could say, “Objectivity is the operative word of Vedanta.” Even this statement is a simplification.
Evolution is the heart of the Hindu approach. Taittiriya Upanishad details primordial evolution and postulates another stage not known so far. The Upanishad calls that stage, “Bliss”. That is perhaps for individuals like Bhrigu, the son of Varuna, to attain. There is no collective salvation. Sophistry does not lead there. Emphatically the Upanishad says, “Words are echoed back without any impact. So also is intelligence ineffective.” Bliss is an intuitive level.
Brahman is seamless continuity. It is intuitive Reality. It is pristine. It is pure.
Taittiriya Upanishad asserts Brahman is Satyam Gnyaanam Anantam, “Reality, Consciousness and Infinity.” This aspect of Brahman is attested to in other Upanishads.
The same Upanishad gives the logo of Hinduism, OM. “OM is Brahman,” it declares. “OM is everything.” OM has five limbs.
Cosmic consciousness is postulated, in Maandookya Upanishad, as a fourth state of consciousness extending beyond the wakeful and the two dream states. It is known as Turiya.
Cosmic consciousness is again the subject of the Aitareya Upanishad that says, “Brahman is cosmic consciousness”.
Energy is another constituent of Brahman. It is called Vaayu. Prasna Upanishad and the Shanti Patha of Taittiriya Upanishad assert this fact. The latter addresses Vaayu, “You are the Real Brahman. I accept this (as fact).” Brahmopanishad acknowledges this. It equates praana, energy in the context of the human body, as Brahman.
Light or Jyoti is another form of energy. It is the universal vector that determines Time. Both are irreversible.
Taittiriya Upanishad speaks of yet another component of Brahman: the Aakaasha or Space. It is on Space that everything rests.
Brahman is a five-component (Paanktam) composite of three-dimensional Space, Energy and Light or Time.
Kathopanishad is more mundane. It presents death not as a terminus but as another transit point on the road to Brahman. It takes us for a ride in a chariot that is the human body. The charioteer is the mind. The horses are the sense organs. If the horses are under control one reaches the destination. Otherwise it is a disastrous journey. “The path to Realization is like the razor’s edge.”
All this is not empty rhetoric. Taittiriya Upanishad gives the advice, “When in doubt consult qualified Brahmins of great learning and a high degree of objectivity. They should not be corrupt. They should be practical and interested in social consolidation and advance. They should have a stake in dharma with no personal agenda.” Hindu society had produced many such individuals. I mention two: Vidhyaaranya who inspired the Vijayanagar empire and Samarth Ramdas, the Guru of Shivaji.
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August 4th, 2008 20:13
From Jyotikar Pattni @ http://www.hanss.co.uk
Namaskaram Prannamm: Hari Aum Tat Sat
Aum Shree MahaGanadhiPattayeh Namoh Namah
Upanishads - A Summation [FEEDBACK]:
Upanishads and Aranyakas are found towards the penultimate cantos of the Vedas as portraying last part of the Vedic wisdom. Vedanta’s’ are philosophical contemplation of the tapasya sadhana. Of the 120, there are 108 relatively implicit and explicit Upanishads {in total more than 200 but exclusion of ancient texts are imperative}. Relatively and broadly, conclusively and concisely, one needs to “sit in peaceful contemplation” and listen in utmost divine silence, the ‘knowledge and the wisdom’ of the “ATMA-PARAM_ATMAN” BRAHMAN. There are core teachings of the centrifugal theme of Upanishads contained across in core upanishads. They are the Chandogya, Kena, Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Katha, Mundaka, Taittriyaka, Brihadaranyaka, Svetasvatara, Isa, Prasna, Mandukya and the Maitri Upanishads. One of the oldest and longest of the Upanishads, the Brihadaranyaka says:
“From the unreal lead us to the real!
From darkness lead us to light!
From death lead us to immortality!”
One ‘illuminated-spiritually enlightened spirit of life’ who has merged with “PARAM-ATMAN-PARAMA-PURUSHA-JAGADA-HARI-BRAHMA-PARAMAEISHVARA” in million delights, transcends and elucidates the knowledge the SUPREME DIVINE GOD to the disciple in utmost highest possible divine intention. The seeker [divine spirit of life] may accomplish divinity and enlightenment here on earth by recognising that one’s own ATMA or soul is INFINITELY “God” and realising one’s soul divine in contemplation of divine observation, watchful experiences, silence, and reflections upon the sacred knowledge attained from the enlightened.
Centrifugal theme of Upanishads is “SOUL-REALISATION”. It is here that we find all the fundamental teachings that are central to Hinduism — the concepts of “karma” (action), “punarjanma” (reincarnation), “moksha” (nirvana), the “atman” (soul), and the “Brahman” (Absolute).
Reality is GOD. To realise the soul our own atma our own soul is reality. The physical world is an illusion or a transient unreality. Non-real material world verily brings sorrow, pain, diseases, and decay. Only death brings end to the suffering of the physical by dissolution and renaissance. Human life is our sole opportunity to become DIVINE. Our opportunity to conquer GOD, our own soul divine, in divine contemplation therefore is the purpose of our life as humankind. Only when our Soul Divine is emancipated at the death, we break the vicious cycles of karma, re-birth, and affiliations.
Thus: Our Bharati Upanishads have answered many questions and clarified many issues in respect of the spiritual world, the unknown, the divinity, the love for the INFINITE DIVINITY, the divine glimpses of the VEDIC cosmology, the insight of divine contemplation, meditation, yoga; and samadhi-sadhana [transcendental meditation based on divine contemplation]. Satiated curiosity of a seeker, with authentic knowledge of the ancient Rishis and Seers; the upanishads are the KNOWLEDGE OF GODLINESS.
The human consciousness is enhanced to inter-act with the mind and intellect, to experience DIVINE spiritual sacredness by introspection, reaching to the subtle most depths of the spirituality realising through divine CONSCIOUSNESS directed beyond the limitations and perspectives of the senses, mind and intellect. Beyond the metamorphosis of the physical and metaphysical one transpires into a divinity beyond comprehension. The divine human consciousness thence becomes one with the Great DIVINE PARAMA-ATMAN. The self-consciousness becomes BRAHMA, omnipresent, omniscient, subtle, free, and is merged in parama-ananda jyott of million delights just as “JAYA- SATT-CHITT- ANANDAM-PARAMA-ANANDA-DIVYA-PARAMA-SUKHAM-SATTYA-PUSHTEEMARGHA” [BLISSFULNESS, TRANSCENDENTALLY PEACEFUL STATE OF HAPPINESS UNPERTURBED BY NO INTRUDERS].
The truth that unfolds itself due to the supreme consciousness DISCOVERING in divine contemplation forms the basis of the whole world and all the life present in it. This consciousness forms a common playground for both the physical and the biological world. After realisation of this “Super-consciousness state”, a human attains to true joy, knowledge, and freedom. One then becomes free of false boundaries of countries and time , and rises above base feelings like enmity, jealousy, fear and hatred. It is then that one has the realisation of one’s true powers and capabilities. When the great Rishis try to describe their experiences the people are left dumbstruck on hearing the strange facts as their senses tend to distort their inner vision. They are not able to fully assimilate this knowledge but accept it as ideal knowledge coming out of the mouths of enlightened ones. The Upanishads contain collected divine words of the great human beings who were able to achieve total realisation and gain true knowledge and to whom the supreme element had exposed all its hidden secrets. “DIVINE CONTEMPLATION” is the key to spiritual liberation beyond the finite persepectives.
It is important to note that this realisation is possible only when one has become free of all limitations of the mind and the senses. Upanishads contemplate upon the Vedic prayer: to reach the infinite blissful state of SATT-CHITT-ANANDA-PARAMA-ANANDA-CHIDA-ANANDA-DIVYA-MOKSHA [BLISSFUL EMANCIPATION].
Asato Maa Sadgamay,
Tamaso Maa Jyotirgamay,
Mrityormaa Amritam Gamay.
meaning
Take me from Falsehood to ultimate Truth,
take me from darkness to light,
take me from mortality to immortality.
AUM TAT SAT
AUM SHANTIH SHANTIH SHANTIH
August 18th, 2008 23:23
Summary of Upanishads…
A summary of the gyaan of all Upanishads by S.K. Balasubramanian…
May 11th, 2009 14:23
thanks you very mach comment your.