The Upanishads (Easwaran's Classics of Indian Spirituality Book 2)

by Eknath Easwaran

And although we speak of them together as a body, the Upanishads are not parts of a whole like chapters in a book. Each is complete in itself, an ecstatic snapshot of transcendent Reality.

It is important to understand that brahmavidya is not intellectual study. The intellect was given full training in these forest academies, but brahmavidya is not psychology or philosophy. It is, in a sense, a lab science: the mind is both object and laboratory. Attention is trained inward, on itself, through a discipline the Upanishads call nididhyasana: meditation. The word meditation is used in so many different ways that I want to be clear before going further. Meditation here is not reflection or any other kind of discursive thinking. It 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.

Dream and waking are made of the same stuff, and as far as the nervous system is concerned, both kinds of experience are real. When we wake up from a dream, then, we do not pass from unreality to reality; we pass from a lower level of reality to a higher one.

The message of the Katha, which echoes throughout the Upanishads, is to dare like a teenager: to reach for the highest you can conceive with everything you have, and never count the cost.

The Upanishads would say this urge is part of our evolutionary heritage, given to us for the ultimate adventure: to discover for certain who we are, what the universe is, and what is the significance of the brief drama of life and death we play out against the backdrop of eternity. In haunting words, the Brihadaranyaka declares: 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 Taittiriya Upanishad says that the body is the first of many layers that surround the human personality, each less physical than the one before. These are, roughly, components of what we call “mind”: the senses, emotions, intellect, will. As awareness is withdrawn from these layers of consciousness one by one, the sages gradually made another astonishing discovery: the powers of the mind have no life of their own. The mind is not conscious; it is only an instrument of consciousness – or, in different metaphors, a process, a complex field of forces. Yet when awareness is withdrawn from the mind, you remain aware. When this happens you realize you are not the mind, any more than you are the physical body.

Brahman is the irreducible ground of existence, the essence of every thing – of the earth and sun and all creatures, of gods and human beings, of every power of life. Simultaneous with this discovery comes another: this unitary awareness is also the ground of one’s own being, the core of personality. This divine ground the Upanishads call simply Atman, “the Self” – spelled with a capital to distinguish it from the individual personality.

Finite things can never appease an infinite hunger. Nothing can satisfy us but reunion with our real Self, which the Upanishads say is sat-chit-ananda: absolute reality, pure awareness, unconditioned joy.

The Upanishads view the world in grades of significance: as waking is a higher reality than dreaming, so there is a level of reality higher than that. All experience is real. Confusion arises only when a dream experience is treated as reality after one awakes – or when life is viewed as nothing but sensation, without wholeness, meaning, or goal.

The world is the wheel of God, turning round And round with all living creatures upon its rim. The world is the river of God, Flowing from him and flowing back to him. On this ever-revolving wheel of being The individual self goes round and round Through life after life, believing itself To be a separate creature, until It sees its identity with the Lord of Love And attains immortality in the indivisible whole. [ Shvetashvatara I.4–6 ] Thus Self-realization is immortality in an entirely new sense: not “everlasting life” but beyond death and life alike.

No one has explained this better than Sri Ramakrishna, the towering mystic of nineteenth-century Bengal who followed each path to the same goal: these are simply views from different vantage points, not higher or lower and not in conflict. From one point of view the world is God; from another, there will always be a veil of difference between an embodied human person and the Godhead. Both are true, and neither is the whole truth. Reality is beyond all limitations, and there are paths to it to accommodate every heart.

The Isha Upanishad All this is full. All that is full. From fullness, fullness comes. When fullness is taken from fullness, Fullness still remains. OM shanti shanti shanti 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. 2 Thus working may you live a hundred years. Thus alone will you work in real freedom. 3 Those who deny the Self are born again Blind to the Self, enveloped in darkness, Utterly devoid of love for the Lord. 4 The Self is one. Ever still, the Self is Swifter than thought, swifter than the senses. Though motionless, he outruns all pursuit. Without the Self, never could life exist. 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.

9–11 In dark night live those for whom The world without alone is real; in night Darker still, for whom the world within Alone is real. The first leads to a life Of action, the second to a life of meditation. But those who combine action with meditation Cross the sea of death through action And enter into immortality Through the practice of meditation. So have we heard from the wise.

In the Katha we have the right question in highly dramatic form; in fact we have a highly imaginative confrontation of the ideal teacher (I.1.22) and the ideal student (II.1.4), and their identity is surprising: the latter is a teenager, and his teacher is death.

In other Upanishads and throughout Indian literature allegory is a favorite device, but rarely is it more dynamic and successful than in the Katha. The opening narrative is an extended allegory which keeps spiritual depth and dramatic vividness in high suspense: the story never becomes unreal and its archetypal significance never becomes invisible; neither is mere vehicle or signifier for the other. Every detail has both immediate and transcendent reality (in some cases making translation unusually inadequate). Nachiketa, who has more personality than most Upanishadic figures, asks, as an abstraction could not, “What is death going to do with me, today?”

Then follows the encounter of Nachiketa with Death, and its dramatic reversal when he passes Death’s severe test and changes him from gruff and off-putting deity to delighted teacher.

6 See how it was with those who came before, How it will be with those who are living. Like corn mortals ripen and fall; like corn They come up again.”

NACHIKETA 20 When a person dies, there arises this doubt: “He still exists,” say some; “he does not,” Say others. I want you to teach me the truth. This is my third boon.

[2] YAMA 1 The joy of the spirit ever abides, But not what seems pleasant to the senses. Both these, differing in their purpose, prompt Us to action. All is well for those who choose The joy of the spirit, but they miss The goal of life who prefer the pleasant. 2 Perennial joy or passing pleasure? This is the choice one is to make always.

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.

Blessed are they who, through an illumined Teacher, attain to Self-realization. 8 The truth of the Self cannot come through one Who has not realized that he is the Self. The intellect cannot reveal the Self, Beyond its duality of subject And object. Those who see themselves in all And all in them help others through spiritual Osmosis to realize the Self themselves. 9 This awakening you have known comes not Through logic and scholarship, but from Close association with a realized teacher.

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.

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.

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.

2 May we light the fire of Nachiketa That burns out the ego and enables us To pass from fearful fragmentation To fearless fullness in the changeless whole.

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 indeed. 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 indeed. For this Self is supreme!

15 As pure water poured into pure water Becomes the very same, so does the Self Of the illumined man or woman, Nachiketa, Verily become one with the Godhead.

2 The Self is the sun shining in the sky, The wind blowing in space; he is the fire At the altar and in the home the guest; He dwells in human beings, in gods, in truth, And in the vast firmament; he is the fish Born in water, the plant growing in the earth, The river flowing down from the mountain. For this Self is supreme!

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.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad All this is full. All that is full. From fullness, fullness comes. When fullness is taken from fullness, Fullness still remains. OM shanti shanti shanti CHAPTER II The Path to Immortality 4.1 “Maitreyi,” Yajnavalkya said to his wife one day, “the time has come for me to go forth from the worldly life. Come, my dear, let me divide my property between you and Katyayani.”

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.

4.12 As a lump of salt thrown in water dissolves and cannot be taken out again, though wherever we taste the water it is salty, even so, beloved, the separate self dissolves in the sea of pure consciousness, infinite and immortal. Separateness arises from identifying the Self with the body, which is made up of the elements; when this physical identification dissolves, there can be no more separate self. This is what I want to tell you, beloved.

GARGI 6 In what is space itself woven, warp and woof? Tell me, Yajnavalkya. YAJNAVALKYA 7–8 The sages call it Akshara, the Imperishable. It is neither big nor small, neither long nor short, neither hot nor cold, neither bright nor dark, neither air nor space. It is without attachment, without taste, smell, or touch, without eyes, ears, tongue, mouth, breath, or mind, without movement, without limitation, without inside or outside. It consumes nothing, and nothing consumes it.

11 The Imperishable is the seer, Gargi, though unseen; the hearer, though unheard; the thinker, though unthought; the knower, though unknown. Nothing other than the Imperishable can see, hear, think, or know. It is in the Imperishable that space is woven, warp and woof.

18 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.

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. 22 In that unitive state there is neither father nor mother, neither worlds nor gods nor even scriptures. In that state there is neither thief nor slayer, neither low caste nor high, neither monk nor ascetic.

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.

The heavenly voice of the thunder repeats this teaching. Da-da-da! Be self-controlled! Give! Be compassionate! All this is full. All that is full. From fullness, fullness comes. When fullness is taken from fullness, Fullness still remains. OM shanti shanti shanti

In the wisdom of ancient India, the universe came forth from the invisible and unchanging Reality like the uttering of a meaningful sound: mystical speech (which is why the Vedas are thought of as existing long before human beings or anything else). It was not a Big Bang but a big Om;

CHAPTER VI The Story of Shvetaketu 1.1 Shvetaketu was Uddalaka’s son. When he was twelve, his father said to him: “It is time for you to find a teacher, Dear one, for no one in our family Is a stranger to the spiritual life.” 1.2 So Shvetaketu went to a teacher And studied all the Vedas for twelve years. At the end of this time he returned home, Proud of his intellectual knowledge. “You seem to be proud of all this learning,” Said Uddalaka. “But did you ask Your teacher for that spiritual wisdom 1.3 Which enables you to hear the unheard, Think the unthought, and know the unknown?” “What is that wisdom, Father?” asked the son. Uddalaka said to Shvetaketu: 1.4 “As by knowing one lump of clay, dear one, We come to know all things made out of clay That they differ only in name and form, While the stuff of which all are made is clay;

2.2 “In the beginning was only Being, One without a second. 2.3 Out of himself he brought forth the cosmos And entered into everything in it. There is nothing that does not come from him. Of everything he is the inmost Self. He is the truth; he is the Self supreme. You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”

12.1 “Bring me a fruit from the nyagrodha tree.” “Here it is, sir.” “Break it. What do you see?” “These seeds, Father, all exceedingly small.” “Break one. What do you see?” “Nothing at all.” 12.2 “That hidden essence you do not see, dear one, From that a whole nyagrodha tree will grow. 12.3 There is nothing that does not come from him. Of everything he is the inmost Self. He is the truth; he is the Self supreme. You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”

“Whatever you know is just words,” said Sanatkumara, “names of finite phenomena. 23.1 It is the Infinite that is the source of abiding joy because it is not subject to change. Therefore seek to know the Infinite.”

“On what does the Infinite depend, Venerable One?” “On its own glory – no, not even on that.

1.3 As great as the infinite space beyond is the space within the lotus of the heart. Both heaven and earth are contained in that inner space, both fire and air, sun and moon, lightning and stars. Whether we know it in this world or know it not, everything is contained in that inner space.

3.1 Here our selfless desires are hidden by selfish ones. They are real, but they are covered by what is false.

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 body-consciousness to the supreme light of the Self. Immortal, free from fear, this Self is Brahman, called the True. 5 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. 4.1 The Self is a bulwark against the confounding of these worlds and a bridge between them. Day and night cannot cross that bridge, nor old age, nor death, nor grief, nor evil nor good deeds.

7.4 Prajapati said to them: “When you look into another’s eyes, what you see is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme.”

4 The world is the wheel of God, turning round And round with all living creatures upon its rim. 5 The world is the river of God, Flowing from him and flowing back to him.

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.