The Doctrine of the Upanishads - 11. Swami Krishnananda.

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Saturday, August 7, 2021. 9:08. PM.
GOD, THE UNIVERSE AND THE INDIVIDUAL - 11.
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8. THE DECLARATION OF REALITY :

The philosophy of the Upanishads is not a philosophy in the ordinary sense of the term. It is an expression in words of the consummation of experience which the ancient sages had through direct meditation and realisation. They dived deep into Truth; they became one with Truth. They proclaimed the Truth: “Ekameva Advitiyam Brahma; Ekana Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti”. “The Absolute is One alone without a second; the One Being the sages diversely speak of”. This is what the Veda and the Upanishads declare. “Sarvam Khalvidim Brahma”—All this that we perceive is in essence thee Para-Brahman, the Absolute. When we say, “The Absolute,” everything is said. It is not in need of any adjective.

The Philosophy of the Upanishads is a representation of direct realisation of Reality. This is different from the rationalistic philosophies of the East and the West. It is true intuition given to us by the seers, the Maharshis. Sanatkumara, a great sage referred to in the Chhandogya Upanishad, describes the state of Ultimate Truth. Truth is not object, not subject, not mate­rial, not mental, not anything that. we can think of. The Infinite Reality is called Bhuma. “That is the Immortal,” says Sanatkumara, “where one sees nothing else, hears nothing else, understands nothing else. That is the Unconditioned, the Infinite.” Here in the world we see, hear, smell, taste, and understand something else that is not the Reality. The individual is not the Reality. There is something more than all these. Sage Yajnavalkya says that Truth can be compared to an ocean, unbounded, without duality, the sole Experiencer of everything. This is the Supreme Bliss, the Supreme Treasure, the Supreme Basis of all experience. Uddalaka says that all that is perceived here is only words or play of speech; there is no reality in it.

The value of things lies in how we look at them. The universe, as we have noticed, is a value and not an existence. It appears to be an existence because it is experienced by consciousness which le existence. The universe is coloured by the colours of our minds. It is perishable because it is constantly changing. But Truth is that which never changes. Truth is never contradicted by anything else. If something is transcended by another thing, then that something is not Truth. Ultimate Truth is uncontradicted. It stands by itself. Sanatkumara says that the basis of the Bhuma, the Infinae, is itself. And then he adds that it is not based on anything, lest one should wrongly feel that the Infinite has any other support. The idea of basis or support is only human. There is no question of basis in Brahman. The conception of Reality in the Upanishads is quite different from man's conception of it. To man even the Absolute appears as involved in a relation. The non-relational Absolute man cannot think, for man himself is involved in relations. The universe is a bundle of processes, relations, and man is only an eddy in this ocean of relative forces. All things are inter-dependent and subserve the Whole which is a non-relative system of Consciousness. It ceases to  be a mass of relative oategoeies and reveals its absolute character when it is viewed as the Self. The universe shines as the Absolute in non-individual experience.

To be continued ...

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