You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny. - Brihadaranyaka IV 4.5
The Classics of Indian Spirituality
As Mallory said of Everest, “Because it’s there”
Our destiny as human beings is to make this journey ourselves.
We are not cabin-dwellers, norm to a life cramped and confined; we are meant to explore, to seek, to push the limits of our potential as human beings.
Introduction
The Upanishads
As a great fish swims between the banks of a river as it likes, so does the shining Self move between the states of dreaming and waking.
There is no joy in the finite; there is joy only in the infinite.
They tell us that there is a Reality underlying life which rituals cannot reach, next to which the things we see and touch in everyday life are shadows. They teach that this Reality is the essence of every created thing, and the same Reality is our real Self, so that each of us is one with the power that created and sustains the universe, And, finally, they testify that this oneness can be realized directly, without the mediation of priests or rituals or any of the structures of organized religion, not after death but in this life, and that this is the purpose for which each of us has been born and the goal toward which evolution moves.
Meditation is pure concentration: training the mind to dwell on an interior focus without wandering, until it becomes absorbed in the object of its contemplation. But absorption does not mean unconsciousness. The outside world may be forgotten, but meditation is a state of intense inner wakefulness.
'The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention over and over again is the very root of judgment, character and will. An education which should include this faculty would be the education par excellence.' - William James
Brahmavidya and conventional science both begin when a person finds that the world of sense impressions, so transient and superficial, is not enough in itself to satisfy the desire for meaning. Then one begins to stand back a little from the senses and look below the surface show of life in search of underlying connections.
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad there is a long, haunting exposition of the states of mind the sages explored. They called them waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep, but somehow they had made the brilliant observation that these are not merely alternate states which a person slips in and out of every day. They also represent layers of awareness, concurrent strata lying at different depths in the conscious and unconscious mind.
In dreaming, the Upanishad observes, we leave one world and enter another. 'In that dream world there are no chariots, no animals to draw them, no roads to ride on, but one makes chariots and animals and roads oneself from the impressions of past experience.' And then the leap of insight: 'Everyone experiences this, but no one knows the experiencer.'
You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny. - Brihadaranyaka IV.4.5
All achievement is powered by desire. Each of us has millions of desires, from big to trivial, packed with a certain measure of will to get that desire fulfilled.
Sex is the most powerful desire most people have, and therefore the richest source of personal energy.
In meditation, as the mind settles down to dwell on a single focus, attention begins to flow in a smooth, unbroken stream, like oil poured from one container to another. As this happens, attention naturally retreats from other channels. The ears, for example, still function, but you do not hear; attention is no longer connected with the organs of hearing. When concentration is profound, there are moments when you forget the body entirely. This experience quietly dissolves physical identification. The body becomes like a comfortable jacket: you wear it easily, and in meditation you can unbutton and loosen it until it scarcely weighs on you at all.
You lose your fear of death. You know with certitude that death is not the end, and that you will not die when the body dies.
These are, roughly, components of what we call 'mind': the senses, emo-tions, intellect, will.
All that divides us from the sea of infinite consciousness at this point is a thin envelope of personal identity. That envelope cannot be removed by any amount of will; the 'I' cannot erase itself. Yet, abruptly, it does vanish. In the climax of meditation the barrier of individuality disappears, dissolving in a sea of pure, undifferentiated aware-ness.
What remains when every trace of individuality is removed? We can call it pure being, for it is in differentiating this unity that created things acquire their name and form.
Whatever we are, whatever we may have done, there is in each of us an inalienable Self that is divine.
As the sun, who is the eye of the world, Cannot be tainted by the defects in our eyes Nor by the objects it looks on, So the one Self, dwelling in all, cannot Be tainted by the evils of the world. For this Self transcends all! - Katha II.2.11
Treat the universe with reverence, for there is nothing in the world but God.
The everyday world is not an illusion. The illusion is simply that we appear separate; the underlying reality is that all of life is one.
The ideal of the Upanishads is to live in the world in full awareness of life's unity, giving and enjoying, participating in others' sorrows and joys, but never unaware even for a moment that the world comes from God and returns to God.
The Upanishads tell us that our native state is a realm where death cannot reach, which can be attained here in this life by those willing to devote their lives to the necessary purification of consciousness.
When all desires that surge in the heart Are renounced, the mortal becomes immortal. When all the knots that strangle the heart Are loosened, the mortal becomes immortal. This sums up the teaching of the scriptures. - Katha II.3.14-15
Isha The Inner Ruler
The Self is everywhere. Bright is the Self, Indivisible, untouched by sin, wise, Immanent and transcendent. He it is Who holds the cosmos together. - Isha 8
Materialism leads us to lose awareness of our inner life, which is bad enough; but to be hypnotized by our own feelings and sensations and forget about others and the world around us is worse. By living in awareness of both these worlds, we can rise above them toward the one Reality.
Materialism reinforces a 'paradigm of scarcity': there is not enough to go around, so we are doomed to fight one another for ever-diminishing resources. Spiritual economics begins not from the assumed scarcity of matter but from the verifiable infinitude of consciousness.
'There is enough in the world for everyone's need; there is not enough for everyone's greed.' - Mahatma Gandhi
There is no scarcity of love, respect, meaning – the resources of consciousness.
The Isha Upanishad
All this is full. All that is full. From fullness, fullness comes. When fullness is taken from fullness, Fullness still remains.
1 The Lord is enshrined in the hearts of all. The Lord is the supreme Reality. Rejoice in him through renunciation. Covet nothing. All belongs to the Lord.
5 The Self seems to move, but is ever still. He seems far away, but is ever near. He is within all, and he transcends all.
6 Those who see all creatures in themselves And themselves in all creatures know no fear.
8 The Self is everywhere. Bright is the Self, Indivisible, untouched by sin, wise, Immanent and transcendent. He it is Who holds the cosmos together.
Katha Death as Teacher
The Katha teaches us that a spiritual teacher is es-sential; that in all human experience it is really only the Self, pure consciousness, that is the enjoyer, so that when one realizes the Self 'there is nothing else to be known' and 'all the knots that strangle the heart are loosened'; and of course that death occurs only to that part of us which was born and launched into separate existence.
The Katha Upanishad
May the Lord of Love protect us. May the Lord of Love nourish us. May the Lord of Love strengthen us. May we realize the Lord of Love. May we live with love for all; May we live in peace with all. OM shanti shanti shanti
12 There is no fear at all in heaven; for you Are not there, neither old age nor death. Passing beyond hunger and thirst and pain, All rejoice in the kingdom of heaven.
2 Perennial joy or passing pleasure? This is the choice one is to make always. Those who are wise recognize this, but not The ignorant. The first welcome what leads To abiding joy, though painful at the time. The latter run, goaded by their senses, After what seems immediate pleasure. 3 Well have you renounced these passing pleasures So dear to the senses, Nachiketa, And turned your back on the way of the world That makes mankind forget the goal of life.
4 Far apart are wisdom and ignorance. The first leads one to Self-realization; The second makes one more and more Estranged from one's real Self.
5 Ignorant of their ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, those deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind. 6 Far beyond Their eyes, hypnotized by the world of sense, Opens the way to immortality. 'I am my body; when my body dies, I die.' Living in this superstition, They fall life after life under my sway.
7 It is but few who hear about the Self. Fewer still dedicate their lives to its Realization. Wonderful is the one Who speaks about the Self. Rare are they Who make it the supreme goal of their lives. Blessed are they who, through an illumined Teacher, attain to Self-realization.
Those who see themselves in all And all in them help others through spiritual Osmosis to realize the Self themselves. This awakening you have known comes not Through logic and scholarship, but from Close association with a realized teacher.
10 I know that earthly treasures are transient, And never can I reach the eternal through them. Hence have I renounced all my desires for earthly treasures.
12 The wise, realizing through meditation The timeless Self, beyond all perception, Hidden in the cave of the heart, Leave pain and pleasure far behind. 13 Those who know they are neither body nor mind But the immemorial Self, the divine Principle of existence, find the source Of all joy and live in joy abiding.
15 I will give you the Word all the scriptures Glorify, all spiritual disciplines Express, to attain which aspirants lead A life of sense-restraint and self-naughting. 16 It is OM. This symbol of the Godhead Is the highest. Realizing it one finds Complete fulfillment of all one's longings. 17 It is of the greatest support to all seekers. When om reverberates unceasingly Within the heart, that one is indeed blessed And deeply loved as one who is the Self.
18 The all-knowing Self was never born, Nor will it die. Beyond cause and effect, This Self is eternal and immutable. When the body dies, the Self does not die. 19 If the slayer believes that he can kill Or the slain believes that he can be killed, Neither knows the truth. The eternal Self slays not, nor is ever slain.
20 Hidden in the heart of every creature Exists the Self, subtler than the subtlest, Greater than the greatest. They go beyond All sorrow who extinguish their self-will And behold the glory of the Self Through the grace of the Lord of Love.
21 Though one sits in meditation in a Particular place, the Self within Can exercise his influence far away. Though still, he moves everything everywhere.
22 When the wise realize the Self, Formless in the midst of forms, changeless In the midst of change, omnipresent And supreme, they go beyond sorrow.
23 The Self cannot be known through study Of the scrip-tures, nor through the intellect, Nor through hearing discourses about it. The Self can be attained only by those Whom the Self chooses. Verily unto them Does the Self reveal himself. 24 The Self cannot be known by anyone Who desists not from unrighteous ways, Controls not the senses, stills not the mind, And practices not meditation. 25 None else can know the omnipresent Self, Whose glory sweeps away the rituals of the priest and the prowess of the warrior And puts death itself to death.
Pass from fearful fragmentation To fearless fullness in the changeless whole. Know the Self as lord of the chariot, The body as the chariot itself, The discriminating intellect as The charioteer, and the mind as reins. 4 The senses, say the wise, are the horses; Selfish desires are the roads they travel. When the Self is confused with the body, Mind, and senses, they point out, he seems To enjoy pleasure and suffer sorrow.
5 When a person lacks discrimination And his mind is undisciplined, the senses Run hither and thither like wild horses. 6 But they obey the rein like trained horses When one has discrimination and Has made the mind one-pointed. 7 Those who lack Discrimination, with little control Over their thoughts and far from pure, Reach not the pure state of immortality But wander from death to death; a but those Who have discrimination, with a still mind And a pure heart, reach journey's end, Never again to fall into the jaws of death. 9 With a discriminating intellect As charioteer and a trained mind as reins, They attain the supreme goal of life, To be united with the Lord of Love.
10 The senses derive from objects of sense-perception, Sense objects from mind, mind from intellect, And intellect from ego; 11 ego from undifferentiated Conscious-ness, and consciousness from Brahman. Brahman is the First Cause and last refuge. 12 Brahman, the hidden Self in everyone, Does not shine forth. He is revealed only To those who keep their minds one-pointed On the Lord of Love and thus develop A superconscious manner of knowing. 13 Meditation enables them to go Deeper and deeper into consciousness, From the world of words to the world of thoughts, Then beyond thoughts to wisdom in the Self.
2 The immature run after sense pleasures And fall into the widespread net of death. But the wise, knowing the Self as deathless, Seek not the changeless in the world of change. з That through which one enjoys form, taste, smell, sound, Touch, and sexual union is the Self. Can there be anything not known to That Who is the One in all? Know One, know all. 4 That through which one enjoys the waking And sleeping states is the Self. To know That As consciousness is to go beyond sorrow. 5 Those who know the Self as enjoyer Of the honey from the flowers of the senses, Ever present within, ruler of time, Go beyond fear. For this Self is supreme!
6 The god of creation, Brahma, Born of the Godhead through meditation Before the waters of life were created, Who stands in the heart of every creature, Is the Self indeed. For this Self is supreme!
7 The goddess of energy, Aditi, Born of the Godhead through vitality, Mother of all the cosmic forces, Who stands in the heart of every creature, Is the Self in-deed. For this Self is supreme!
8 The god of fire, Agni, hidden between Two firesticks like a child well protected In the mother's womb, whom we adore Every day in the depths of meditation, Is the Self in-deed. For this Self is supreme!
10 What is here is also there; what is there, Also here. Who sees multiplicity But not the one indivisible Self Must wander on and on from death to death.
11 Only the one-pointed mind attains This state of unity. There is no one But the Self. Who sees multiplicity But not the one indivisible Self Must wander on and on from death to death.
10 As the same air assumes different shapes When it enters objects differing in shape, So does the one Self take the shape Of every creature in whom he is present.
13 Changeless amidst the things that pass away, Pure consciousness in all who are conscious, The One answers the prayers of many. Eternal peace is theirs who see the Self In their own hearts. To none else does it come!
15 There shines not the sun, neither moon nor star, Nor flash of lightning, nor fire lit on earth. The Self is the light reflected by all. He shining, everything shines after him.
6 Knowing the senses to be separate From the Self, and the sense experience To be fleeting, the wise grieve no more. 7 Above the senses is the mind, above The mind is the intellect, above that Is the ego, and above the ego Is the unmanifested Cause. 8 And beyond is Brahman, omnipresent, Attributeless. Realizing him one is released From the cycle of birth and death.
9 He is formless, and can never be seen With these two eyes. But he reveals himself In the heart made pure through meditation And sense-restraint. Realizing him, one is Released from the cycle of birth and death. 10 When the five senses are stilled, when the mind Is stilled, when the intellect is stilled, That is called the highest state by the wise. 11 They say yoga is this complete stillness In which one enters the unitive state, Never to become separate again. If one is not established in this state, The sense of unity will come and go.
12 The unitive state cannot be attained Through words or thoughts or through the eye. How can it be attained except through one Who is established in this state oneself?
13 There are two selves, the separate ego And the indivisible Atman. When One rises above I and me and mine, The Atman is revealed as one's real Self.
14 When all desires that surge in the heart Are renounced, the mortal becomes immortal. 15 When all the knots that strangle the heart Are loosened, the mortal becomes immortal. This sums up the teaching of the scriptures.
Know thyself to be pure and immortal!
Freeing himself from all separateness, He won immortality in Brahman. So blessed is everyone who knows the Self!
Brihadaranyaka The Forest of Wisdom
As a caterpillar, having come to the end of one blade of grass, draws itself together and reaches out for the next, so the Self, having come to the end of one life and dispelled all ignorance, gathers in his faculties and reaches out from the old body to a new. [IV.4.3 ]
The Self, which is identical in all of us, the Life of all that lives. Whenever we love, he tells his wife, we are really responding to the Self within that person. Therefore - and this is the underlying theme of all mysticism - if we discover this Self in our own consciousness, there will be no more parting, no more sorrow ever.
'Meditate on the Self,' that is, become one with - realize - this underlying Reality.
We find our true home in the eternal Self, the source of all awareness. Or, boldly, 'as one in the arms of his beloved is not aware of what is without or what is within, so one in union with the Self is not aware of what is without or what is within,' for all desires are fulfilled.
Be self-controlled, give, be compassionate.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
All this is full. All that is full. From fullness, fullness comes. When fullness is taken from fullness, Fullness still remains.
4.5 A wife loves her husband not for his own sake, dear, but because the Self lives in him. A husband loves his wife not for her own sake, dear, but because the Self lives in her. Children are loved not for their own sake, but because the Self lives in them. Wealth is loved not for its own sake, but because the Self lives in it. Brahmins are loved not for their own sake, but because the Self lives in them. Kshatriyas are loved not for their own sake, but because the Self lives in them. The universe is loved not for its own sake, but because the Self lives in it. The gods are loved not for their own sake, but because the Self lives in them. Creatures are loved not for their own sake, but because the Self lives in them. Everything is loved not for its own sake, but because the Self lives in it. This Self has to be realized. Hear about this Self and meditate upon him, Maitreyi. When you hear about the Self, meditate upon the Self, and finally realize the Self, you come to understand everything in life.
The universe confuses those who regard it as separate from the Self. Gods and creatures confuse those who regard them as separate from the Self. Everything confuses those who regard things as separate from the Self.
4.11 As there can be no water without the sea, no touch without the skin, no smell without the nose, no taste without the tongue, no form without the eye, no sound without the ear, no thought without the mind, no wisdom without the heart, no work without hands, no walking without feet, no scriptures without the word, so there can be nothing without the Self.
When a person dies, it is only the physical body that dies; that person lives on in a nonphysical body, which carries the impressions of his past life. It is these impressions that determine his next life. In this intermediate state he makes and dissolves impressions by the light of the Self.
21 The Self is free from desire, free from evil, free from fear. As a man in the arms of his beloved is not aware of what is without and what is within, so a person in union with the Self is not aware of what is without and what is within, for in that unitive state all desires find their perfect fulfillment. There is no other desire that needs to be fulfilled, and one goes beyond sorrow.
The Self is beyond good and evil, beyond all the suffering of the human heart.
23-30 In that unitive state one sees without seeing, for there is nothing separate from him; smells without smelling, for there is nothing separate from him; tastes without tasting, for there is nothing separate from him; speaks without speaking, for there is nothing separate from him; hears without hearing, for there is nothing separate from him; touches without touching, for there is nothing separate from him; thinks without thinking, for there is nothing separate from him; knows without knowing, for there is nothing separate from him. 31 Where there is separateness, one sees another, smells another, tastes another, speaks to another, hears another, touches another, thinks of another, knows another. 32 But where there is unity, one without a second, that is the world of Brahman. This is the supreme goal of life, the supreme treasure, the supreme joy. Those who do not seek this supreme goal live on but a fraction of this joy.
3 As a caterpillar, having come to the end of one blade of grass, draws itself together and reaches out for the next, so the Self, having come to the end of one life and dispelled all ignorance, gathers in his faculties and reaches out from the old body to a new.
5 The Self is indeed Brahman, but through ignorance people identify it with intellect, mind, senses, passions, and the elements of earth, water, air, space, and fire. This is why the Self is said to consist of this and that, and appears to be everything.
As a person acts, so he becomes in life. Those who do good become good; those who do harm become bad. Good deeds make one pure; bad deeds make one impure. You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.
6 We live in accordance with our deep, driving desire. It is this desire at the time of death that determines what our next life will be. We will come back to earth to work out the satisfaction of that desire.
As the skin of a snake is sloughed onto an anthill, so does the mortal body fall; but the Self, freed from the body, merges in Brahman, infinite life, eternal light.
23 Those who realize the Self enter into the peace that brings complete self-control and perfect patience. They see themselves in everyone and everyone in themselves. Evil cannot overcome them because they overcome all evil. Sin cannot consume them because they consume all sin. Free from evil, free from sin and doubt, they live in the kingdom of Brahman. Your majesty, this kingdom is yours!
Sacred Song
Those who depart from this world without knowing who they are or what they truly desire have no freedom here or hereafter. But those who leave here knowing who they are and what they truly desire have freedom everywhere, both in this world and in the next.
The universe is founded on two principles, they dis-covered. One is rita, law, order, or regularity. Without it no scientific discovery would be possible; more importantly, no moral discovery would be possible. Human experience would have no meaning, for we would have no way to learn from our experiences. The second principle is yajna, sacrifice. The universe, they tell us, runs on renunciation. The most significant human action is the sacrifice of personal gain for the sake of something higher and holier.
If rita is the moral law, yajna is the human response to live in accordance with that law, taking nothing from life for oneself but everywhere seeking to give of oneself to life.
Jesus was essentially describing rita when he said, 'By the same measure you mete out to others, by that measure shall it be meted out to you,' and yajna when he said, 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.... But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.' We can use things, but to be in harmony with the underlying laws of life we should never feel that they are really ours: as the Isha Upanishad so simply puts it, 'Everything belongs to the Lord.'
The Chandogya Upanishad
Lead me from the unreal to the Real. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality.
7 For those who, knowing this, meditate on the imperishable om, all desires are fulfilled. & With the word om we say, 'I agree,' and fulfill desires.9 With o we recite, we give direction, we sing aloud the honor of that Word, the key to the three kinds of knowledge.
A person is what his deep desire is. It is our deepest desire in this life that shapes the life to come. Solet us direct our deepest desires to realize the Self. 14.2 The Self, who can be realized by the pure in heart, who is life, light, truth, space, who gives rise to all works, all desires, all odors, all tastes, who is beyond words, who is joy abiding - 14.3 this is the Self dwelling in my heart. Smaller than a grain of rice, smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than a grain of millet, smaller even than the kernel of a grain of millet is the Self. This is the Self dwelling in my heart, greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than all the worlds. 14.4 This Self who gives rise to all works, all desires, all odors, all tastes, who pervades the universe, who is beyond words, who is joy abiding, who is ever present in my heart, is Brahman indeed. To him I shall attain when my ego dies.
11.2 If the Self leaves one branch, that branch withers. If it leaves a second, that too withers. If it leaves a third, that again withers. Let it leave the whole tree, the whole tree dies. 11.3 Just so, dear one, when death comes and the Self Departs from the body, the body dies. But the Self dies not.'
25.2 One who meditates upon the Self and realizes the Self sees the Self everywhere, and rejoices in the Self. Such a one lives in freedom and is at home wherever he goes. But those who pursue the finite are blind to the Self and live in bondage.
26.2 'The Self is one, though it appears to be many. Those who meditate upon the Self and realize the Self go beyond decay and death, beyond separateness and sorrow. They see the Self in everyone and obtain all things.
'Control the senses and purify the mind. In a pure mind there is constant awareness of the Self. Where there is constant awareness of the Self, freedom ends bondage and joy ends sorrow.'
The Self desires only what is real, thinks nothing but what is true. Here people do what they are told, becoming dependent on their country, or their piece of land, or the desires of another, 1.6 so their desires are not fulfilled and their works come to nothing, both in this world and in the next. Those who depart from this world without knowing who they are or what they truly desire have no freedom here or hereafter. But those who leave here knowing who they are and what they truly desire have freedom everywhere, both in this world and in the next.
1.10 Whatever they desire, the object of that desire arises from the power of their own thoughts; they have it and are happy.
3.3 The Self is hidden in the lotus of the heart. Those who see themselves in all creatures go day by day into the world of Brahman hidden in the heart. 4 Established in peace, they rise above bodyconsciousness to the supreme light of the Self. Immortal, free from fear, this Self is Brahman, called the True. s Beyond the mortal and the immortal, he binds both worlds together. Those who know this live day after day in heaven in this very life.
7.1 The great teacher Prajapati said: 'The Self is pure, free from decay and death, free from hunger and thirst, and free from sorrow. The Self desires nothing that is not good, wills nothing that is not good. Seek and realize the Self! Those who seek and realize the Self fulfill all their desires and attain the goal supreme.'
'They have seen the Self, but they have not recognized the Self. They mistake the Self to be the body. Those who think the Self is the body will lose their way in life.'
'If the Self is the same as the body, well dressed when the body is well dressed, well adorned when the body is well adorned, then the Self will be blind when the body is blind, lame when the body is lame, paralyzed when the body is paralyzed. And when the body dies, the Self too will die. In such knowledge I see no value.'
12.1 'It is true the body is perishable, but within it dwells the imperishable Self. This body is subject to pleasure and pain; no one who identifies with the body can escape from pleasure and pain. But those who know they are not the body pass beyond pleasure and pain to live in abiding joy.
'In that state, free from attachment, they move at will, laughing, playing, and rejoicing. They know the Self is not this body, but only tied to it for a time as an ox is tied to its cart. Whenever one sees, smells, speaks, hears, or thinks, they know it is the Self that sees, smells, speaks, hears, and thinks; the senses are but his instruments.
The Faces of God
10 All is change in the world of the senses, But changeless is the supreme Lord of Love. Meditate on him, be absorbed in him, Wake up from this dream of separateness. 11 Know God and all fetters will fall away. No longer identifying yourself With the body, go beyond birth and death. All your desires will be fulfilled in him Whois One without a second.
15 Like oil in sesame seeds, like butter In cream, like water in springs, like fire In firesticks, so dwells the Lord of Love, The Self, in the very depths of consciousness. Realize him through truth and meditation.
16 The Self is hidden in the hearts of all, As butter lies hidden in cream. Realize The Self in the depths of meditation, The Lord of Love, supreme reality, Who is the goal of all knowledge. This is the highest mystical teaching; This is the highest mystical teaching.
1 May we harness body and mind to see The Lord of Life, who dwells in everyone.
2 May we ever with a one-pointed mind Strive for blissful union with the Lord. 3 May we train our senses to serve the Lord Through the practice of meditation. 4 Great is the glory of the Lord of Life, Infinite, omnipresent, all-knowing. He is known by the wise who meditate And conserve their vital energy.
Bring your mind and breath Under control. Drink deep of divine love, And you will attain the unitive state.
9 Train your senses to be obedient. Regulate your activities to lead you To the goal. Hold the reins of your mind As you hold the reins of restive horses. 10 Choose a place for meditation that is Clean, quiet, and cool, a cave with a smooth floor Without stones and dust, protected against Wind and rain and pleasing to the eye.
12-13 Health, a light body, freedom from cravings, A glowing skin, sonorous voice, fragrance Of body: these signs indicate progress In the practice of meditation.
20 The Lord of Love is hidden in the heart Of every creature, subtler than the subtlest, Greater than the greatest. Through his grace One sheds all selfish desires and sorrow And becomes united with the Self.
7 Under the hypnotic spell of pleasure And pain, we live for ourselves and are bound. Though master of ourselves, we roam about from birth to birth, driven by our own deeds.
23 If you have deep love for the Lord of Love And for your teacher, the light of this teaching Will shine in your heart. It will shine indeed!
Modes of Knowing
'Truth alone prevails, not unreality' (III.1.6).
Only by turning away from unreality - from negativity and separateness - will we begin to see and build a world that's not only sustainable but nourishes and helps us realize our deepest longings for peace.
The Mundaka Upanishad
11 But those who are pure in heart, who practice Meditation and conquer their senses And passions, shall attain the immortal Self, Source of all light and source of all life.
12 Action prompted by pleasure or profit Cannot help anyone to cross this sea. Seek a teacher who has realized the Self. 13 To a student whose heart is full of love, Who has conquered his senses and passions, The teacher will reveal the Lord of Love.
1 Bright but hidden, the Self dwells in the heart. Everything that moves, breathes, opens, and closes Lives in the Self. He is the source of love And may be known through love but not through thought. He is the goal of life. Attain this goal! 2 The shining Self dwells hidden in the heart. Everything in the cosmos, great and small, Lives in the Self. He is the source of life, Truth beyond the transience of this world. He is the goal of life. Attain this goal!
2 As long as we think we are the ego, We feel attached and fall into sorrow. But realize that you are the Self, the Lord Of life, and you will be freed from sorrow. s When you realize that you are the Self, Supreme source of light, supreme source of love, You transcend the duality of life And enter into the unitive state. 4 The Lord of Love shines in the hearts of all. Seeing him in all creatures, the wise Forget themselves in the service of all. The Lord is their joy, the Lord is their rest; Such as they are the lovers of the Lord.
May we hear only what is good for all. May we see only what is good for all. May we serve you, Lord of Love, all our life. May we be used to spread your peace on earth.
Consciousness & Its Phases
The Mandukya Upanishad
May we hear only what is good for all. May we see only what is good for all. May we serve you, Lord of Love, all our life. May we be used to spread your peace on earth.
Who Moves the World?
The Kena Upanishad
7 That which makes the eye see but cannot be Seen by the eye, that is the Self indeed. This Self is not someone other than you.
4 The Self is realized in a higher state Of consciousness when you have broken through The wrong identification that you are The body, subject to birth and death. To be the Self is to go beyond death.
The Breath of Life
The Prashna Upanishad
May we hear only what is good for all. May we see only what is good for all. May we serve you, Lord of Love, all our life. May we be used to spread your peace in earth.
9'The wise see the Lord of Love in the sun, Rising in all its golden radiance To give its warmth and light and life to all. , 'The wise see the Lord of Love in the year, Which has two paths, the northern and the southern. Those who observe outward forms of worship And are content with personal pleasures Travel after death by the southern path, The path of the ancestors and of rayi, To the lunar world, and are born again. 10 'But those who seek the Self through meditation, Self-discipline, wisdom, and faith in God Travel after death by the northern path, The path of prana, to the solar world, Supreme refuge, beyond the reach of fear And free from the cycle of birth and death.
16 'The bright world of Brahman can be attained Only by those who are pure and true, Only by those who are pure and true.'
9 'It is the Self who sees, hears, smells, touches, And tastes, who thinks, acts, and is pure consciousness. The Self is Brahman, changeless and supreme.'
10 'Those who know the supreme Self as formless, Without shadow, without impurity, Know all, gentle friend, and live in all.
Ascent to Joy
The Self is the source of abidingjoy. Our hearts are filled with joy in seeing him Enshrined in the depths of our consciousness. If he were not there, who would breathe, who live? He it is who fills every heart with joy.
The Upanishads make a careful distinction between the terms pleasure and joy. Pleasure, which mainly comes from sense experience, is transitory and actually quite limited. Joy comes from being in harmony with the creative forces of the universe, with one's own destiny, and is permanent - one of the main reasons we can tell it apart from pleasure - and has no limits at all.
'Respect food... Waste not food ... The earth can yield much more.... Refuse not food to those who are hungry.' (1I.8-10).
Food, for example, is life-energy, or prana, condensed into matter. When we respect that energy on the physical level, we gain easier passage to the level beyond. Of course, this is even more true of our fellow creatures; alienation from them blocks spiritual growth. By realizing the unity from which each created thing has come and in which it is sustained, we can live rightly in the world of change in order to ascend through it to the eternal.
The Taittiriya Upanishad
May the Lord of sight grant us peace. May the Lord of might grant us peace. May the Lord of speech grant us peace. May the Lord of space grant us peace. I bow down to Brahman, source of all power. I will speak the truth and follow the law. Guard me and my teacher against all harm. Guard me and my teacher against all harm.
1 The Lord of Love dwells in the hearts of all. To realize him is to go beyond death. Between the parietal bones of the skull Swings the sagittal door, as the lobe swings Behind the palate. Through that one goes out Chanting bhur, to become one with fire; Chanting bhuvas, to become one with air; Chanting suvar, to be one with the sun; Chanting maha, to be one with the Lord. Thus one becomes king of his own life, ruler Of his passions, senses, and intellect. He is united with the Lord of Love, Who is truth, peace, and immortality, The source of joy, the supreme goal of life. Meditate always on the Lord of Love.
1 OM is the supreme symbol of the Lord. om is the whole. ом affirms; o signals The chanting of the hymns from the Vedas. The priest begins with om; spiritual teachers And their students commence with om. The student who is established in om Becomes united with the Lord of Love.
1 Practice right conduct, learning and teaching; Be truthful always, learning and teaching; Master the passions, learning and teaching; Control the senses, learning and teaching; Strive for peace always, learning and teaching; Rouse kundalini, learning and teaching; Serve humanity, learning and teaching; Beget progeny, learning and teaching. Satyavacha says: 'Be truthful always.' Taponitya says: 'Master the passions.' Naka declares: 'Learning and teaching are Necessary for spiritual progress.'
'Speak the truth. Do your duty. Neglect not The scriptures. Give your best to your teacher. Do not cut off the line of progeny. Swerve not From the truth. Swerve not from the good. Protect your spiritual progress always. Give your best in learning and teaching. Never fail in respect to the sages. 2 See the divine in your mother, father, Teacher, and guest. Never do what is wrong. 3 Honor those who are worthy of honor. Give with faith. Give with love. Give with joy. 45 If you are in doubt about right conduct, Follow the example of the sages, Who know what is best for spiritual growth. & This is the instruction of the Vedas; This is the secret; this is the message.'
2.1 From food are made all bodies, which become Food again for others after their death. Food is the most important of all things For the body; therefore it is the best Medicine for all the body's ailments. They who look upon food as the Lord's gift Shall never lack life's physical comforts. From food are made all bodies. All bodies Feed on food, and it feeds on all bodies.
5.1 Wisdom means a life of selfless service. Even the gods seek spiritual wisdom. Those who attain wisdom are freed from sin, And find all their selfless desires granted.
When one realizes the Self, in whom All life is one, changeless, nameless, formless, Then one fears no more. Until we realize The unity of life, we live in fear.
8.1 Waste not food, waste not water, waste not fire; Fire and water exist to serve the Self. Those who realize the Self within the heart Stand firm, grow rich, gather a family Around them, and receive the love of all.
9.1 Increase food. The earth can yield much more. Earth and space exist to serve the Self.
10.1 Refuse not food to those who are hungry. When you feed the hungry, you serve the Lord, From whom is born every living creature. Those who realize the Self within the heart Stand firm, grow rich, gather a family Around them, and receive the love of all.
Those who realize that all life is one Are at home everywhere and see themselves In all beings.
The Unity of Life
The Self is in all. Earth, air, fire, water, and space; all creatures, Great or small, born of eggs, of wombs, of heat, Of shoots, horses, cows, elephants, men, and women; And all that neither walk nor fly.
Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self. -M.N.
The Aitareya Upanishad
Beads of Wisdom
The supreme Self is neither born nor dies. He cannot be burned, moved, pierced, cut, nor dried. Beyond all attributes, the supreme Self Is the eternal witness, ever pure, Indivisible, and uncompounded, Far beyond the senses and the ego. In him conflicts and expectations cease.
'All that we are is the result of what we have thought'
If we neglect mind, the senses and lower forces in our inherited consciousness take control of it; if we train it carefully, we can utilize its power to liberation - to immortality.
The Tejobindu Upanishad
Lead me from the unreal to the Real. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality.
1 Let us meditate on the shining Self, Changeless, underlying the world of change, And realized in the heart in samadhi. Hard to reach is the supreme goal of life, Hard to describe and hard to abide in. 3 They alone attain samadhi who have Mastered their senses and are free from anger, Free from self-will and from likes and dislikes, Without selfish bonds to people and things. 4 They alone attain samadhi who are Prepared to face challenge after challenge In the three stages of meditation. Under an illumined teacher's guidance They become united with the Lord of Love,
Brahman cannot be realized by those Who are subject to greed, fear, and anger. Brahman cannot be realized by those Who are subject to the pride of name and fame Or to the vanity of scholarship. Brahman cannot be realized by those Who are enmeshed in life's duality. But to all those who pierce this duality, Whose hearts are given to the Lord of Love, He gives himself through his infinite grace; He gives himself through his infinite grace.
The Atma Upanishad
Purusha manifests itself three ways: As outer, inner, and the supreme Self. Skin, flesh, vertebral column, hair, fingers, Toes, nails, ankles, stomach, navel, hips, thighs, Cheeks, eyebrows, forehead, head, eyes, ears, arms, sides, Blood vessels, nerves: these make up the outer self, The body, subject to birth and death. 2 The inner self perceives the outside world, Made up of earth, water, fire, air, and space. It is the victim of likes and dislikes, Pleasure and pain, and delusion and doubt. It knows all the subtleties of language, Enjoys dance, music, and all the fine arts; Delights in the senses, recalls the past, Reads the scriptures, and is able to act. This is the mind, the inner person. 3 The supreme Self, adored in the scriptures, Can be realized through the path of yoga. Subtler than the banyan seed, subtler Than the tiniest grain, even subtler Than the hundred-thousandth part of a hair, This Self cannot be grasped, cannot be seen. The supreme Self is neither born nor dies. He cannot be burned, moved, pierced, cut, nor dried. Beyond all attributes, the supreme Self Is the eternal witness, ever pure, Indivisible, and uncompounded, Far beyond the senses and the ego. In him conflicts and expectations cease. He is omnipresent, beyond all thought, Without action in the external world, Without action in the internal world. Detached from the outer and the inner, This supreme Self purifies the impure.
The Amritabindu Upanishad
1 The mind may be said to be of two kinds, Pure and impure. Driven by the senses It becomes impure; but with the senses Under control, the mind becomes pure. 2 It is the mind that frees us or enslaves. Driven by the senses we become bound; Master of the senses we become free. 3 Those who seek freedom must master their senses. 4 When the mind is detached from the senses One reaches the summit of consciousness. 5 Mastery of the mind leads to wisdom. Practice meditation. Stop all vain talk. 6 The highest state is beyond reach of thought, For it lies beyond all duality. 7 Keep repeating the ancient mantram o Until it reverberates in your heart.
The Paramahamsa Upanishad
He has renounced all selfish attachments And observes no rites and ceremonies. He has only minimum posses-sions, And lives his life for the welfare of all. 2 He has nostaff nor tuft nor sacred thread. He faces heat and cold, pleasure and pain, Honor and dishonor with equal calm. He is not affected by calumny, Pride, jealousy, status, joy, or sorrow, Greed, anger, or infatuation, Excitement, egoism, or other goads; For he knows he is neither body nor mind. Free from the sway of doubt and false knowledge He lives united with the Lord of Love, Who is ever serene, immutable, Indivisible, the source of all joy And wisdom. The Lord is his true home, His pilgrim's tuft of hair, his sacred thread; For he has entered the unitive state. 3 Having renounced every selfish desire, He has found his rest in the Lord of Love. Wisdom is the staff that supports him now. Those who take a mendicant's staff while they Are still at the mercy of their senses Cannot escape enormous suffering. The illumined man knows this truth of life. 4 For him the universe is his garment And the Lord not separate from himself. He offers no ancestral oblations; He praises nobody, blames nobody, Is never dependent on anyone. He has no need to repeat the mantram, No more need to practice meditation. The world of change and changeless Reality Are one to him, for he sees all in God. The aspirant who is seeking the Lord Must free himself from selfish attachments To people, money, and possessions. When his mind sheds every selfish desire, He becomes free from the duality Of pleasure and pain and rules his senses. No more is he capable of ill will; No more is he subject to elation, For his senses come to rest in the Self. Entering into the unitive state, He attains the goal of evolution. Truly he attains the goal of evolution.
A Religion for Modern Times
Two birds of beautiful plumage, comrades Inseparable, live on the selfsame tree. One bird eats the fruit of pleasure and pain; The other looks on without eating. When this image occurs in the Vedic context it's pretty clear that the bird that does partake - that is, the person who enjoys the fruits of life - is being held up for praise. In the Upanishadic contexts it is just the other way around: he or she who is not hypnotized by the ever-changing stream of phenomena but observes it in detachment is heading for the supreme human destiny.
It was Gandhi who really brought this abstruse doctrine back to vibrant life: act, by all means, but make your act, in the modern sense of the word, a sacrifice. That is, he explained, choose a selfless goal, use right means (non-violence), and never be pushed into action for your own benefit - a tall order.
Ordinary knowledge is either subjective or objective; transcendent knowing is neither. When a student in the Upanishads says, for example, 'I did not know that such-and-such is Brahman,' he means he has not yet realized the identity of that thing with its source, precisely because he has been seeing it as a separate object. But according to mysticism - and to modern physics - we cannot know anything objectively; it does not really exist independently of an observer, where both observer and observed are participating in consciousness.
On the other hand, neither can we know things subjectively as yet, because that would only be superimposing our own preconceived ideas on things. The only way we can truly know something is to become identified with it. We can become what we would know. 'If [one] loves a stone, he becomes a stone; if he loves a man, he is a man; if he loves God - I dare not say more, for if I said that he would then be God, you might stone me.'[13] This, minus the final hesitation, is precisely the position of the sages.
This Self cannot possibly be subject to any change, not even death. This is perhaps why belief in reincarnation died hard even in the West. It was a cherished belief not only in pagan but in various Jewish and Christian groups in the early centuries of our era, but was brusquely rejected by the emerging orthodoxy and seems an unsettling and unverifiable hypothesis to most of us today. Yet it differs only slightly, almost by a question of semantics, from the modern concept of evolution, which holds that the individual dies with the death of the physical body. Indian religious systems hold as a core belief that the individual is not that which dies: it is more accurate to think of ourselves as the forces which brought our body and personality into existence - forces that will continue shaping our destiny beyond what we call death, 'as the wind takes on the fragrance from the flower' (Gita 15.8).
The ultimate Self, however, never entered into any of these processes but somehow governs them all. It is neither that which dies nor those shaping forces, but the Witness of all this evolution. The Self is untouched by the turmoil of the world, 'observing without partaking' (the two birds' image), a bulwark that sorrow cannot broach (Chandogya VIII.4.1-2). Only because we think the Self is yoked to its temporary instruments, the body, mind, and senses, do we think it enjoys or dislikes anything in one little corner of the cosmic process (Katha I.3.4). But it is present everywhere. The Self has 'entered into everything like a razor fitted into its case' or (Augustine and St. Teresa use the same image) into every creature 'up to the nails' (Brihadaranyaka I.4.7). The Self alone has no essence, no cause, being the cause and essence of everything and everyone.
One of the critical 'secrets' of the Upanishads is that renunciation is the opposite of deprivation. When the senses (indriyas) are untrained they run wild, leading to a state of conditioning that is the opposite of freedom (Katha 1.2.5-6). Joy comes from putting these faculties back on track under the guidance of the Self. This is precisely why the Upanishads teach renunciation. Not only are joy and renunciation not contradictory; they positively require each other. Taken together they form the key value of Hinduism, as Mahatma Gandhi taught when he took for his own mahavakya those three opening words of the Isha Upanishad: tena tyaktena bhunjitah, 'Renounce and enjoy.'
In the Gita, desire is referred to once as the rasa of objects, i.e., the objects of sense experience (II.59, a verse which meant a very great deal to Gandhi). Since a thing's essence is more permanent than its material embodiment, it stands to reason that if we could somehow enjoy that essence directly, our enjoyment would be more permanent than sensory contact with the thing itself. A sense of joy and happiness within is longerlasting than the sensation of pleasure, which is notoriously short-lived. One of the boldest treatments of this theory of satisfaction occurs in the Katha: That through which one enjoys form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and sexual union is the Self. Can there be anything not known to one who is the One in all?.. That which enjoys the honey [rasal from the flowers of the senses is the Self. (Katha II.1.3)
If we could trace where a desire arises from - and the Upanishads do, repeatedly - we would find that in most cases something - a thought, an external event - has stirred up some wisp of the vague sense of incompleteness we harbor beneath the floor of surface consciousness as long as we are not identified with our Self. We immediately misinterpret this stirring as a desire for something outside us. This is maya: misinterpreting the longing for union within as a call from something outside the Self.
When we have the sensation 'I want such-and-such,' what we really mean is that we want the relative tranquility that follows when that desire subsides.
As a great sage of modern India, Sri Ramana Maharshi, who was very close to the Upanishads in spirit, once declared, 'There is no happiness in any object of the world.' The Self is pure happiness, which we mistake as coming from outside; so the closer we come to the Self within, the more we are aware of - the more we feel already - what we were looking for outside us. This is what the Upanishads mean by joy. 'Renunciation' refers simply to dropping the outside reflection for the reality which is within.
Of course, what the Upanishads meant by swaraj was inner, personal freedom; but that is exactly what Gandhi meant by it too. 'The word swaraj is a sacred word,' he said, 'a Vedic word, meaning self-rule and self-restraint, and not freedom from all restraint which 'independence' often means.'
It is typical of the Upanishads' approach to life not to check or negate passions but to channel them, reconnecting them with their original source in deeper consciousness. In Upanishadic psychology, the inner demand all human beings feel for freedom is ultimately a drive to free ourselves from the inherited and acquired compulsions in our own psychic makeup. The Upanishads do not deny the need for political freedom; they simply claim that inner freedom comes first, and is really the only reliable guarantee of all other forms. The more freedom one wins within, through control over one's own thoughts and passions, the less one will be manipulable by others, and the more one will be able to seek political freedom - without going on to manipulate others oneself.
Here [in this world] people do what they are told, becoming dependent on their country, or their piece of land, or the desires of another, so their desires are not fulfilled and their works come to nothing, both in this world and in the next ...but those who leave here knowing who they are and what they truly desire have freedom everywhere, both in this world and in the next. (Chandogya VIII.1.5-6)
The truly free man or woman is svamin, literally 'in full possession of self.' He or she exercises a spontaneous authority over others: not the authority that debases others but that ennobles them, not the authority that distances but that draws to intimacy, not the authority of birth or social advantage but of the ability to forget oneself in the welfare of others, which anyone can learn.
We want a new principle of political order which does not depend upon or induce uniformity among peoples, but which, tolerant of complexity, promotes the fullest unfolding of their individual potential - which happens to be a definition of nonviolence.[22]
It is as necessary to foster diversity there at the outside as it is to hold unity on the inside. Gandhi made this notion of inside and outside concrete for us: there must be 'heart unity' among all, meaning spontaneous concern for the welfare of others, and that Very concern must lead to complete toleration of natural differences and even differences of wealth and station (which did not please his Marxist critics) as long as they are not abused. Class, family, and regional groupings are a sort of bridge between the unity toward which all must be allowed to work and the individuality from which we start. The more the heart can be opened in spontaneous concern for the other, the less of an obstacle and more of a vehicle for social coherence - and in the end spiritual unity - intermediate unities become. [24]
'One becomes like that which is in one's mind - this is the everlasting secret';[28] and most of all to the courage to discover in ourselves a higher image of the human being. These are the gifts and the challenge of the Upanishads.
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