Early Upanishads - Ministry - http://maxpages.com/globalnetwork/Early

The term Upanishad means literally "those who sit near" and implies listening closely to the secret
doctrines of a spiritual teacher. Although there are over two hundred Upanishads, only fifteen are
mentioned by the philosophic commentator Shankara (788-820 CE). These fifteen and the Maitri
are considered Vedic and the principal Upanishads; the rest were written later and are related to
the Puranic worship of Shiva, Shakti, and Vishnu. The oldest and longest of the Upanishads are
the Brihad-Aranyaka and the Chandogya from about the seventh century BC.

The Brihad-Aranyaka has three Aranyaka chapters followed by six Upanishad chapters. The
first chapter of the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad describes the world as represented by the
horse-sacrifice. The primordial battle between the gods and the devils accounts for the evil found
in the senses, mind, and speech, but by striking off the evil the divinities were carried beyond
death. The priest chants for profound aspiration, one of the most famous verses from the
Upanishads:

From the unreal lead me to the real!
From darkness lead me to light!
From death lead me to immortality!12

The primary message of the Upanishads is that this can be done by meditating with the awareness
that one's soul (atman) is one with all things. Thus whoever knows that one is Brahman (God)
becomes this all; even the gods cannot prevent this, since that one becomes their soul (atman).
Therefore whoever worships another divinity thinking it is other than oneself does not know.

Out of God (Brahman) came the Brahman caste of priests and teachers and the Kshatriyas to
rule, development through the Vaisyas and the Sudras. However, a principle was created as
justice (dharma), than which nothing is higher, so that a weak person may control one stronger, as
if by a king. They say that those who speak the truth speak justice and vice versa, because they
are the same. By meditating on the soul (atman) alone, one does not perish and can create
whatever one wants. Whatever suffering occurs remains with the creatures; only the good goes to
the soul, because evil does not go to the gods.

The soul is identified with the real, the immortal, and the life-breath (prana), which is veiled by
name and form (individuality). By restraining the senses and the mind, one may rest in the space
within the heart and become a great Brahman and like a king may move around within one's body
as one pleases. The world of name and form is real, but the soul is the truth or reality of the real.
Immortality cannot be obtained through wealth, and all persons and things in the world are dear
not for love of them (husband, wife, sons, wealth, gods, etc.); but for the love of the soul, all these
are dear. The soul is the overlord of all things, as the spokes of the wheel are held together by the
hub.

The principle of action (karma) is explained as "one becomes good by good action, bad by bad
action."13 How can one get beyond the duality of seeing, smelling, hearing, speaking to, thinking
of, and understanding another? Can one see the seer, smell the smeller, hear the hearer, think the
thinker, and understand the understander? It is the soul which is in all things; everything else is
wretched. By passing beyond hunger and thirst, sorrow and delusion, old age and death, by
overcoming desire for sons, wealth, and worlds, let a Brahman become disgusted with learning
and live as a child; disgusted with that let one become an ascetic until one transcends both the
non-ascetic and the ascetic states. Thus is indicated a spiritual path of learning and discipline that
ultimately transcends even learning and discipline in the soul, the inner controller, the immortal, the
one dwelling in the mind whom the mind does not know, who controls the mind from within.

The one departing this world without knowing the imperishable is pitiable, but the one knowing it
is a Brahman. The following refrain is repeated often:

That soul is not this, not that.
It is incomprehensible, for it is not comprehended.
It is indestructible, for it is never destroyed.
It is unattached, for it does not attach itself.
It is unfettered; it does not suffer; it is not injured.14

The soul is considered intelligent, dear, true, endless, blissful, and stable. As a king prepares a
chariot or ship when going on a journey, one should prepare one's soul with the mystic doctrines
of the Upanishads. The knowledge that is the light in the heart enables one to transcend this
world and death while appearing asleep. The evils that are obtained with a body at birth are left
behind upon departing at death. One dreams by projecting from oneself, not by sensing actual
objects. In sleep the immortal may leave one's nest and go wherever one pleases. In addition to
being free from desire the ethical admonition of being without crookedness or sin is also indicated.
At death the soul goes out first, then the life, and finally the breaths go out.

The soul is made of everything; as one acts, one becomes. The doer of good becomes good; the
doer of evil becomes evil. As is one's desire, such is one's resolve; as is the resolve, such is the
action, which one attains for oneself. When one's mind is attached, the inner self goes into the
action. Obtaining the consequences of one's actions, whatever one does in this world comes again
from the other world to this world of action (karma).

By releasing the desires in one's heart, one may be liberated in immortality, reaching Brahman
(God). One is the creator of all, one with the world. Whoever knows this becomes immortal, but
others go only to sorrow. The knowing is sought through the spiritual practices of repeating the
Vedas, sacrifices, offerings, penance, and fasting. Eventually one sees everything, as the soul
overcomes both the thoughts of having done wrong and having done right. The evil does not burn
one; rather one burns the evil. In the soul's being the world-all is known. The student should
practice self-restraint, giving, and compassion.

The Chandogya Upanishad belongs to the Sama Veda and is the last eight chapters of the
ten-chapter Chandogya Brahmana. The first two chapters of the Brahmana discuss sacrifices
and other forms of worship. As part of the Sama Veda, which is the chants, the Chandogya
Upanishad emphasizes the importance of chanting the sacred Aum. The chanting of Aum is
associated with the life breath (prana), which is so powerful that when the devils struck it they fell
to pieces.

The religious life recommended in the Chandogya Upanishad has three parts. The first is
sacrifice, study of the Vedas, and giving alms; the second is austerity; and the third is studying the
sacred knowledge while living in the house of a teacher. One liberal giver, who had many
rest-houses built and provided with food, said, "Everywhere people will be eating of my food."15

The soul in the heart is identified with Brahman (God), and it is the same as the light which shines
higher than in heaven. Knowing and reverencing the sacrificial fire is believed to repel evil-doing
from oneself. To the one who knows the soul evil action does not adhere, just as water does not
adhere to the leaf of the lotus flower. To know the soul as divine is called the "Loveliness-uniter"
because all lovely things come to such.

The doctrine of reincarnation is clearly implied in the Chandogya Upanishad as it declares that
those whose conduct is pleasant here will enter a pleasant womb of a Brahman, Kshatriya, or
Vaisya; but those of stinking conduct will enter a stinking womb of a dog, swine, or outcast. Thus
reincarnation is explained as an ethical consequence of one's actions (karma).

At death the voice goes into the mind, the mind into the breath, the breath into heat, and heat into
the highest divinity, the finest essence of truth and soul. Speaking to Svetaketu, the teacher
explains that a tree may be struck at the root, the middle, or the top, but it will continue to live if
pervaded by the living soul. Yet if the life leaves one branch of it, it dries up; and if it leaves the
whole of it, the whole dries up. Then the teacher explains how the soul is the essence of life and
does not die, concluding with the repeated refrain that his student thus ought to identify with the
soul.

Truly, indeed, when the living soul leaves it,
this body dies; the living soul does not die.
That which is the subtle essence
this whole world has for its soul.
That is reality (truth). That is the soul.
That you are, Svetaketu.16

Then the teacher placed salt in water and asked his student to taste different parts of the water.
Just so is Being hidden in all of reality, but it is not always perceived. Just as the thief burns his
hand on the hot ax when tested, the one who did not steal and is true does not burn his hand, so
the whole world has that truth in its soul.

Speech is to be valued because it makes known right and wrong, true and false, good and bad,
pleasant and unpleasant. Mind is revered, because it enables one to do sacred works. Will is
valued, because heaven and earth and all things were formed by being willed. Thought is
important, because it is better not to be thoughtless. Meditation is revered, because one attains
greatness by meditating. Understanding is valued, because by it we can understand everything.
Strength maintains everything. Food, water, heat, and space each have their values. Finally also
memory, hope, and life (prana) are to be revered.

Those who take delight in the soul have intercourse with it, and find pleasure and bliss in it and
freedom; but those who do not, have perishable worlds and no freedom. The seer does not find
death nor sickness nor any distress but sees the all and obtains the all entirely. The soul is free of
evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, hungerless, and thirstless. For those who go from here having
found the soul here there is freedom in all worlds. No evil can go into the Brahma-world.

The chaste life of the student of sacred knowledge is the essence of austerity, fasting, and the
hermit life, for in that way one finds the reality of the soul. The soul must be searched out and
understood. The Chandogya Upanishad concludes with the advice that one should learn the
Veda from the family of a teacher while working for the teacher, then study in one's own home
producing sons and pupils, concentrate one's senses upon the soul, be harmless toward all living
things except in the sacrifices (The religion has not yet purified itself of animal sacrifices.), so that
one may attain the Brahma-world and not return here again. The implication is that one may
become free of the cycle of reincarnation.

The Taittiriya and Aitareya Upanishads were associated with Aranyakas of the same name. In
the Taittiriya Upanishad once again Aum is emphasized, as is peace of soul. Prayers often end
with Aum and the chanting of peace (shanti) three times. This may be preceded by the noble
sentiment, "May we never hate."17 One teacher says truth is first, another austerity, and a third
claims that study and teaching of the Veda is first, because it includes austerity and discipline.

The highest goal is to know Brahman, for that is truth, knowledge, infinite and found hidden in the
heart of being and in the highest heaven, where one may abide with the eternal and intelligent Spirit
(Brahman). Words turn away from it, and the mind is baffled by the delight of the eternal; the one
who knows this shall not fear anything now or hereafter. Creation becomes a thing of bliss, for
who could labor to draw in breath or have the strength to breathe it out if there were not this bliss
in the heaven of one's heart?

The Aitareya Upanishad begins with the one Spirit creating the universe out of its being. As
guardians for the worlds, Spirit made the Purusha (person). Out of the cosmic egg came speech,
breath, eyes and sight, ears and hearing, skin, hair, and herbs; from the navel and outbreath came
death, and from the organ of pleasure seed and waters were born.

In the concluding chapter of this short Upanishad the author asked who is this Spirit by whom
one sees and hears and smells and speaks and knows? The answer is the following:

That which is heart, this mind---that is,
consciousness, perception, discernment, intelligence,
wisdom, insight, persistence, thought, thoughtfulness,
impulse, memory, conception, purpose, life, desire, will
are all names of intelligence.18

All things are guided by and based on this intelligence of Spirit (Brahman). Ascending from this
world with the intelligent soul one obtains all desires in the heavenly world even immortality.

The Kaushitaki Upanishad begins by asking if there is an end to the cycle of reincarnation. The
teacher answers that one is born again according to one's actions (karma). Ultimately the one
who knows Spirit (Brahman) transcends even good and evil deeds and all pairs of opposites as a
chariot-driver looks down upon two chariot wheels.

A ceremony is described whereby a dying father bequeaths all he has to his son. If he recovers, it
is recommended that he live under the lordship of his son or wander as a religious mendicant. This
practice of spiritual seeking as a beggar became one of the distinctive characteristics of Indian
culture.

A story is told of Pratardana, who by fighting and virility arrives at the beloved home of Indra,
who grants him a gift. Pratardana asks Indra to choose for him what would be most beneficial to
humanity, but Indra replies that a superior does not choose for an inferior. Pratardana responds
that then it is not a gift. After bragging of many violent deeds and saying that anyone who
understands him is not injured even after committing the worst crimes such as murdering a parent,
Indra identifies himself with the breathing spirit (prana) of the intelligent soul (prajnatman). This
breathing spirit is the essence of life and thus immortal. It is by intelligence (prajna) that one is
able to master all of the senses and faculties of the soul. All these faculties are fixed in the
intelligence, which is fixed in the breathing spirit, which is in truth the blissful, ageless, immortal
soul.

One does not become greater by good action nor less by bad action. One's own self (atman)
causes one to lead up from these worlds by good action or is led downward by bad action. The
soul itself (atman) is the world-protector and the sovereign of the world. Thus ultimately the soul
is responsible for everything it experiences.

It is mentioned in the Kaushitaki Upanishad that it is contrary to nature for a Kshatriya to receive
a Brahman as a student. However, the Upanishads represent a time when the Kshatriya caste
began to compete with Brahmans in spiritual endeavors. Though the Brahmans had control of the
formal religion in the villages where the Kshatriyas controlled the government, by tutoring their
sons and others in the forest the Kshatriyas developed a less ritualistic and traditional spirituality
that is recorded in the mystical Upanishads.

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Page Updated Wed Jan 24, 2001 8:25pm EST