Upanishads : "The cream of Vedas"

16/05/2019. Mandukya Upanishad : Chapter-1. Agama Prakarana ( The Scriptural Treatise ) Sri Gaudapada's glossary begins : Karika Slokam-s 1 to 9. Mantram : 8. "Iccha-matram prabhoh srstir-iti srstau viniscitah, kalat-prasutim bhutanam manyante kala-cintakah." Iccha-matram = merely a will; prabhoh = of the Lord; srstih = the creation; iti = that; srstau = regarding creation viniscitah  = convinced; kalat = because of time; prasutim bhutanam = creation of beings; manyante = consider; kala cintakah = astrologers. "The Creationists attribute this manifestation to be caused by the mere Will of God, while there are others who, looking upon Time as real, declare that Time is the Cause for the manifestations of all things." Discussion : "Enumerating, in haste, the other theories which existed then, regarding the Creation of the world, here the glosser says that some of them believe that the creation of the world is caused

15/05/2019 2. The authors of the Upanishads are  unknown. Is it then of Divine origin? This is a view based on sheer faith, and it cannot come to command universal acceptance. We find Patanjali Maharishi in his Bhashyam pointing out how Panini has made the fine distinction between 'spoken by him' (tena proktam) and 'made by him' (tena krtam).The Veda-s are proktam and not krtam, the later is used only with reference to books dealing with material topics and phenomenal themes. In the Brahdaranyaka Upanishad we find that the Veda-s are described as breathed out ( nihsvasitam ) by the Supreme Lord. By this term, it is suggested that to the Divine Author it was as easy, natural and effortless as breathing is to us, and also that the Veda is the very 'breath of God' ... in the sense that if there is no Vda then the concept of God will end; no breathing, no existence is the inexorable law of life. Veda-s are the eternal scriptures of knowledge of the Sana

14/05/2019 (Spoken on January 14th, 1973) 2. In the Aitareya Upanishad particularly, we have what may be called the objective approach to Truth, which means to say the Upanishad here considers the universe as created out of the Supreme Being in a manifold process. The description of the process of creation in the Upanishad is given to us not so much to enlighten us about the actual process that might have taken place at the time of creation as to tell us how we stand in relation to it. The purpose of the Upanishad is to cause liberation of the soul, not to give a metaphysical system. All creation theories in the Upanishads have this purport before them, the liberation of the soul, and this can be achieved only by a proper appreciation and understanding of the relationship of the individual soul to the Supreme Soul. The understanding that the individual has of its relation with the Supreme Being is its status. The individual generally regards itself as standing outside creatio

13/05/2019 3. This 'else' that we bring into the picture of our consciousness is the urge of the philosophical impetus. There is a necessity felt within each person to search for and recognise something which is not clear to the mind as yet; still, it is something which summons with a force that is irresistible. The irresistibility of this call seems to be so very compulsive and compelling that it keeps us restless always. We will find that every one of us, all people anywhere, have a little restlessness in the mind. Neither we eat with satisfaction, nor we sleep with satisfaction, nor are we secure when we speak to people. There is always a difficulty in our adjustment with the conditions prevailing in society and with people, and even with nature itself. This kind of adventure of the Spirit, we may say, was at the back of the ancients in India who are supposed to be the promulgators of the great Scriptures called the Vedas, especially what are known as the Veda Samhi

11/05/2019 3. NAIVE REALISM : There is a theory which is generally termed naive realism. According to it, what is perceived through the senses is the true nature of the object thus perceived. The datum of experience is identical with the reality that is presented to the perceiving consciousness in the form of the external object. There is no difference between object as perceived and object as it is in itself. The universe of objective perception is really in the very form in which it is experienced through the senses. The universe is material in nature, diverse in form and even mind which is the perceiver is a kind of modification of cosmic matter. This is, in other words, the materialistic view of reality. The great defect of this view is that it cannot account for the fact of error in perception. What is meant by erroneous knowledge? What is wrong perception? Why is it that sometimes we are unable to know things as they are, but are made to take a phantom as the given in

10/05/2019 3. Difficult is this to understand. The Self cannot be placed in the tree, or the sun or moon, or stars, because if the Self is in the sun, then there is no sun, there is only Self there. But then, the idea of distance may be there, persisting again and again, as an inveterate habit. Never should this meditation be attempted by an impure mind. We are happily conversant with the proclamations of all the religions and philosophies that God is everywhere, Brahman is everywhere, but nobody says that the Self is everywhere. This is a new thing that we hear in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. We feel that the Self cannot be everywhere, It cannot be anywhere except in one's own self. This 'one's own self' is the crucial matter. That is to say, all the worlds are your own Self. Bhu-Loka, Bhuvar-Loka, Swar-Loka, Mahar-Loka, Jana-Loka, Tapo-Loka, Satya-Loka; – these widespread universal expanses of being are our Self! If you can imagine how your Self could be – t

09/05/2019 3. The most unpleasant thing in the world is to say anything about one's own self. We can go on saying anything about people, but when it is a matter concerning us, we would like that not much is said. Om Shanti. This is because we are the most secret aspect of creation and we are very touchy; we would not like to be touched, even unconsciously, by anybody. "Don't say anything about me; say anything about other people." Now, what is the matter? There is some peculiarity about this so-called 'me', 'I', or the self. This is the peculiarity of the Upanishadic teaching, and also its difficulty. The knowledge of the gods in the heavens, the knowledge of historical personages – kings, saints and sages – and the way of worshipping them and adoring them is something we can comprehend. "Yes, we understand what it means." This is exactly what we commonly understand by the word 'religion'. "He is a religious person.&

08/05/2019 Chapter 1: Introduction -4. Stretching this argument a little further, we are very fond of speaking in terms of ‘mankind’ these days—humanity. We would be happy if there were no wars, no battles, would be happy if there were no quarrels, and if there was a single government for the whole world. This is a great aspiration, no doubt; but how does this aspiration arise, unless the whole of mankind has a single purpose or aim before it? If every individual is differentiated from every other, there cannot be such an aspiration at all. That we seek such a possibility, whether it is immediately practicable or not, is itself an indication of what humanity is basically made of. It is substantially one. But for the fact of this substantial unity of the building blocks of mankind, there would be no such thing as talk of universal government, etc. Even this idea will not arise in one’s mind. We know that the effect cannot contain what is not in the cause. The idea of universal

07/05/2019 6. There are three aspects of this issue. Why is it that we are pulled towards something? 1.One is what has been already told in the Bhagavadgita – gunas propel themselves toward gunas. Prakriti, as the subject, working through the sense organs, is pulled towards itself, as it were, outside, in the form of an object, which also is constituted of the very same prakriti. That is one answer to the question of why one feels pulled or drawn towards another object. 2.The other one that I mentioned is that the consciousness that is infinite in nature is ‘infinitudinously’ – to take one’s understanding beyond ‘multitudinously’ – pulling the subject consciousness, and there is a vice versa action; subject and object pull each other. 3.The third aspect that I am mentioning is that the attractions are conditioned by certain features of the object. The Atman, the Soul, the Self, the consciousness in us is a perfect symmetry in perfection. It is the most beautiful of thi