The Upanishads

by Anonymous

Following this in each Veda is another portion called the Upanishad, which deals wholly with the essentials of philosophic discrimination and ultimate spiritual vision. For this reason the Upanishads are known as the Vedanta, that is, the end or final goal of wisdom (Veda, wisdom; anta, end).

Upanishads=Vedanta

Professor Max M ller after a lifetime of arduous labor in this field frankly confesses: “Modern words are round, ancient words are square, and we may as well hope to solve the quadrature of the circle, as to express adequately the ancient thought of the Vedas in modern English.”

The indefinite term “That” is used in the Upanishads to designate the Invisible-Absolute, because no word or name can fully define It.

In the light of true wisdom the phenomenal and the Absolute are inseparable. All existence is in the Absolute; and whatever exists, must exist in It; hence all manifestation is merely a modification of the One Supreme Whole, and neither increases nor diminishes It. The Whole therefore remains unaltered.

Nothing is created nor it's destroyed

As we gain the light of wisdom, we cease to cling to the unrealities of this world and we find all our joy in the realm of Reality.

He who is rich in the knowledge of the Self does not covet external power or possession.

When a man performs actions clinging blindly to his lower desires, then his actions bind him to the plane of ignorance or the plane of birth and death; but when the same actions are performed with surrender to God, they purify and liberate him.

because he who clings to the perishable body and regards it as his true Self must experience death many times.

The Atman, however, is present everywhere; hence, though one may run with the greatest swiftness to overtake It, already It is there before him.

He who sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings, he never turns away from It (the Self).

He who perceives all beings as the Self’ for him how can there be delusion or grief, when he sees this oneness (everywhere) ?

Oneness

Grief and delusion rest upon a belief in diversity, which leads to competition and all forms of selfishness.

Those who follow or “worship” the path of selfishness and pleasure (Avidya), without knowing anything higher, necessarily fall into darkness; but those who worship or cherish Vidya (knowledge) for mere intellectual pride and satisfaction, fall into greater darkness, because the opportunity which they misuse is greater.

Vidhya /Avidhya

They fall into blind darkness who worship the Unmanifested and they fall into greater darkness who worship the manifested.

“Now I see that that Effulgent Being and I are one and the same, and my delusion is destroyed.”

Non duaistic Nature

We must not divide our conception of the universe; for in dividing it, we have only fragmentary knowledge and we thus limit ourselves.

Oneness

He who sees all beings in his Self and his Self in all beings, he never suffers; because when he sees all creatures within his true Self, then jealousy, grief and hatred vanish.

So long as the drop remains separate from the ocean, it is small and weak; but when it is one with the ocean, then it has all the strength of the ocean.

In India the idea of sacrifice has always been to give freely for the joy of giving, without asking anything in return; and the whole purpose and merit of the sacrifice is lost, if the giver entertains the least thought of name, fame or individual benefit.

Giving without expecting anything

Look back to those who lived before and look to those who live now. Like grain the mortal decays and like grain again springs up (is reborn).

All things perish, Truth alone remains.

Indestructible TRUTH

Fools dwelling in ignorance, yet imagining themselves wise and learned, go round and round in crooked ways, like the blind led by the blind.

Freedom from life and death

There are many in the world, who, puffed up with intellectual conceit, believe that they are capable of guiding others. But although they may possess a certain amount of worldly wisdom, they are devoid of deeper understanding; therefore all that they say merely increases doubt and confusion in the minds of those who hear them. Hence they are likened to blind men leading the blind.

Self proclaimed Mystic and Guru using double salutation for himself

Only he who has been able to perceive the Self directly, through the unfoldment of his higher nature, can proclaim what It actually is; and his words alone carry weight and bring illumination. It is too subtle to be reached by argument. This secret regarding the Hereafter cannot be known through reasoning or mere intellectual gymnastics. It is to be attained only in a state of consciousness which transcends the boundary line of reason.

This Self cannot be attained by study of the Scriptures, nor by intellectual perception, nor by frequent hearing (of It); He whom the Self chooses, by him alone is It attained. To him the Self reveals Its true nature.

He who has not turned away from evil conduct, whose senses are uncontrolled, who is not tranquil, whose mind is not at rest, he can never attain this Atman even by knowledge.

Know the Atman (Self) as the lord of the chariot, and the body as the chariot. Know also the intellect to be the driver and mind the reins.

Fire is called all-seeing because its light makes everything visible. In Vedic sacrifices the altar fire was always kindled by rubbing together two sticks of a special kind of wood called Arani. Because fire was regarded as one of the most perfect symbols of Divine wisdom, it was to be worshipped by all seekers after Truth, whether they followed the path of meditation or the path of rituals.

That which speech does not illumine, but which illumines speech: know that alone to be the Brahman (the Supreme Being), not this which people worship here.

That which cannot be thought by mind, but by which, they say, mind is able to think: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here.

Knowledge means union between subject and object. To gain this union one must practice, theory cannot help us.