Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
Source: Vaishvanara, The Universal Self - Chandogya Upanishad
Ignorance is the cause of suffering because it breeds erroneous action towards motives which are wrongly directed. This is the cause for the transmigratory cycle of the soul, which can be put an end to only by proper meditation on the inward structure of the Universe in its essential nature, and not as it appears to the senses in ordinary life. The birth and death of an individual, the process of reincarnation, the impulsion to action propelled by desires and the compulsion to restrain the consciousness within the four walls of one’s own body - all these are aspects of the bondage of the individual. Life is an essence of bondage, a prison-house, as it were, because of a very complicated type of nescience, or ignorance, which has enmeshed the phenomenal existence of the jiva, the individual. There must be some remedy for this state of affairs. Is there not a way of freedom? Continue reading this post…
Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
Source: The Course of the Soul After Death - Chandogya Upanishad
In this connection, the Upanishad commences with a story. There was a student named Svetaketu who was the son of sage Uddalaka. This student was well-read and finely educated. He was so confident about his knowledge that he used to parade his learning and calibre in the midst of all learned people, have discussions in courts of kings etc., and was very reputed for his great educational gift. This boy went, by chance, to the court of the king called Pravahana Jaivali, a noble emperor. The moment the boy arrived at the court, the king received him with respect, and after offering him the requisite hospitality becoming of a Brahmin boy well-versed in the Vedas and all the branches of learning, the king put a question to the boy.
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Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
Source: The Panchagni-Vidya from Chadogya Upanishad
The sections of the Chandogya Upanishad, which we are going to study, are a gradational ascent of knowledge for the purpose of meditations which lift us above the phenomena of ordinary experience, such as birth and death and bondage of every kind, and point to the methods of transcending all sorrow, whatever be its nature, and regaining the originality of being. The various sections that follow are a systematic teaching on what we may call Adhyatma-Vidya, or Atma-Vidya, a knowledge of the ultimate Self, which is the only remedy for the malady of empirical existence. Continue reading this post…
Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
Source: Significance of Chandogya Upanishad
Among the ten major Upanishads, the Chandogya and the Brihadaranyaka stand above others in their grand stature and majesty, these two texts being viewed by scholars as representing the cosmic and the acosmic aspect of Reality. In the Brihadaranyaka there is a preponderating emphasis on the ultra-spiritual nature of every plane of existence and stage of evolution, a rather super-idealistic sweep of all the phenomena of experience. The Chhandogya, however, tries to be Continue reading this post…
Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
Source: Atman as the Pranava - Mandukya Upanishad
The Atman is the content of the meaning of Omkara, with which the Upanishad commenced. This Om, which is All, the all-comprehensive. Name designates this All, which is the Atman. The Atman is the designated; Om, Pranava, is the designator. Continue reading this post…
Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
Source: The Transcendent Presence - Mandukya Upanishad
We have made an analysis of the three relativistic phases of the Atman, both in its individual and cosmic aspects. But, Reality, as such, is neither individual nor cosmic. To say that it is cosmic is also to limit it to a certain extent, to bring it to the level of what we call creation. The Supreme Brahman, the Absolute, is not a cause, and not also an effect. It has no effects, and, therefore, it is no cause. We cannot call The Supreme Being as even a cause of things, especially when we consider that everything is identical with It. The Mandukya Upanishad describes not merely the gross, subtle and causal conditions of the manifested consciousness, but also Consciousness, as such. There is something called Reality in itself, independent of relation. Even Isvaratva is a description by means of a relation to the universe. Continue reading this post…
Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
The third quarter of the Atman, called Prajna, is identified with the third quarter of the Universal Consciousness called Isvara. Isvara is omnipotent and, therefore, He is regarded as the source and the end of all creation. This Prajna is the causal state of the universe, both outwardly and inwardly. Macrocosmically, we regard this consciousness as the Creator of the whole universe, while microcosmically, the very same consciousness is the creator of this internal world of the Jiva.
This Consciousness as the cause of all things is also the Lord over everything - Esha sarvesvarah. Now, this epithet ‘Sarvesvara’ as also the other qualification, ‘Sarvajna’, omniscient, cannot be attributed to the Jiva, because the Jiva is not Sarvesvara, and so not also Sarvajna. The Mandukya Upanishad seems to make no palpable distinction between the individual and the cosmic, and it harmonises the relation between Jiva and Isvara. The causal condition of the Jiva, namely Prajna, is regarded only as a part of the Cosmic Causal State of Isvara. To this Upanishad, there is only one Reality, and the distinctions that we usually make between the Cosmic and the individual, between Isvara and Jiva, are overcome in the higher analysis of the Upanishad.
Continue Reading >> Who is Ishvara, the God of the Universe? - Mandukya Upanishad
Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
Source: Consciousness and Sleep - Mandukya Upanishad
The waking world and the dream world, from the point of view of the Jiva, are two aspects of the function of the mind. The mind projects itself in perception, both in waking and dream. The mind is active, and it gets tired of activity. It ceases from activity when it is too much fatigued. The complete cessation of the activity of the mind, due to exhaustion, is sleep, known as Sushupti. Continue reading this post…
Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
Source: Mystery of Dream and Sleep - Mandukya Upanishad
The first phase of the Atman, as the waking consciousness, has been explained. Internal to the waking consciousness, and pervading the waking consciousness, there is a subtler function of this very same consciousness, which is subjectively known as the dream-consciousness, or Taijasa, and universally known as Hiranyagarbha, or the Cosmic Subtle Consciousness. This is the theme of the description in the next Mantra of the Mandukya Upanishad, beginning with ‘Svapnasthanah’, etc. Continue reading this post…
Posted by admin on February 16th, 2010 in Upanishads
Source: The Universal Vaisvanara - Mandukya Upanishad
This Atman, which is Brahman, is fourfold, and can be approached and attained by a fourfold process of self-transcendence. We now propose to take up these stages, one by one, by way of analysis and synthesis. The first stage of approach, naturally, is that which pertains to the degree of reality presented before our senses. All successful effort commences with immediate reality. We, generally, say, ‘you must be realistic in your life and not too much idealistic’, which means that our life should correspond to facts, as they are, and we should not merely idealise or live in a world of dream.
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