The Essence of the Aitareya and Taittiriya Upanishads - 5.10 - Swami Krishnananda.

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Tuesday,  02  Jan 2024. 06:30.

Chapter 5: Ananda Mimamsa-10.

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#Chinmaya Mission : Devotees with Swami Chinmayananda

Likewise, there is one substance continuously permeating throughout the cosmos—not merely permeating, but existing as everything in the cosmos; that is the substance of things. That substance is itself aware of its own being. That is called chit or Consciousness. In Sanskrit we call the continuum of existence as sat or satta. Sat is Pure Being that is universally existent as a continuum, undifferentiated, as the substance of all things. It is aware that it exists in this fashion. So it is sat and chit, and its experience is ananda. The consciousness of our being the universal continuum of substance in the universe is called happiness.

So, what is happiness? It is experience of Godhood. When God reveals Himself within us, we are happy, not otherwise. And even when we take a cup of tea, if we feel a little exhilaration and joy, it is because God has revealed Himself there. Such a simple thing as taking a cup of tea, or cold water in hot summer, makes us feel happy! It is God coming. It is not the water or tea that has given us the happiness. They have acted as instruments outside, to rouse the universality within us for a fraction of a second; and this universality is Godhood. So God is revealing Himself every moment of time in our daily life. But we miss His presence on account of attachment and the misconception that arises on account of sense activities that objects are outside.

So the Taittiriya Upanishad reveals to us a very great truth that bliss is the nature of Reality. It is not merely an adjective; it is the substance of Reality, and we are non-differentiated from that. It is the Self and, therefore, we cannot be outside it; and because we are also the Self, it cannot be outside us. Neither we are outside it, nor is it outside us. There is one totality of Being which is characterised by Selfhood. That is Atman, that is ananda, that is Bliss—not a quality, but a substance. So what is within is also without. “Sa yaschayam purushe yaschasavaditye, sa ekah”: What is shining there as a lustrous sun in the distant skies, and what is within us twinkling as the Atman, they are identical. The macrocosmic and microcosmic are one.

The universe is not bifurcated into the object and the subject, as we imagine. It is one total Being, and one who knows this in direct realisation is the liberated being. Such a person crosses the bondage of the five sheaths. “Sa ya evam vid”: He knows, who knows this in actual experience and realisation by deep meditation. “Etam annamayam atmanam upasankramya, etam pranamayam atmanam upasankramya, etam manomayam atmanam upasankramya, etam vijnanamayam atmanam upasankramya, etam anandamayam atmanam upasankramya, etat sama gayannaste.” He is in the universal bliss and ecstasy of exclamation and cannot find words to explain what he feels at that time. It is as if the whole ocean has entered him and is inundating him from all sides, and he has become one with the ocean—not the ocean of waters, but the ocean of happiness. This is the great conclusion, to the immense glorification and satisfaction of all of us.

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To be continued

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