Upanishads

Singapore time 10.00 am 9th September 2007

The Upanishads

There are many Upanishads and the Penguin Classics does not have complete translation but selected verses and passage. So I can only quote verse from it.

Isa Upanishad - The Spirit, without moving, is swifter than the mind; the senses cannot reach him : He is ever beyond them. Standing still, he overtakes those who run. To the ocean of his being, the spirit of life leads the streams of action.

He moves, and he moves not. He is far, and he is near. He is within all, and he is outside all.
Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.
When a sage sees this great Unity and his Self has become all beings, what delusion and what sorrow can ever be near him?
The Spirit filled all with his radiance. He is incorporeal and invulnerable, pure and untouched by evil. He is the supreme seer and thinker, immanent and transcendent. He placed all things in the path of Eternity.

Kena Upanishad - I - What cannot be spoken with words, but that whereby words are spoken: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore. What cannot be thought with the mind, but that whereby the mind can think: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore. What cannot be seen with the eye, but what whereby the eye can see: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore. What cannot be heard with the ear, but that whereby the ear can hear: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore. What cannot be indrawn with breath, but that whereby breath is indrawn: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore.

II - He comes to the thought of those who know him beyond thought, not to those who imagine he can be attained by thought. He is unknown to the learned (U graduates and Ph D holders) and known to the simple. (contented souls) He is known in the ecstasy of an awakening which opens the door of life eternal. By the Self we obtain power, and by vision we obtain Eternity. For a man who had known him, the light of truth shines; for one who has not known, there is darkness. The wise who have seen him in every being, on leaving this life, attain life immortal.

Katha Upanishad - When the wise rests his mind in contemplation on our God beyond time, who invisibly dwells in the mystery of things and in the heart of man, then he rises above pleasures and sorrow.
Atman, the Spirit of vision, is never born and never dies. Before him there was nothing, and he is ONE for evermore. Never-born and eternal, beyond times gone or to come, he does not die when the body dies.
If the slayer thinks that he kills, and if the slain thinks that he dies, neither knows the ways of truth. The Eternal in man cannot kill: the Eternal in man cannot die.
Concealed in the heart of all beings is the Atman, (or Brahman, Krsna) the Spirit, the Self; smaller than the smallest atom, greater than the vast spaces. The man who surrenders his human will leaves sorrow behind, and beholds the glory of the Atman by the grace of the Creator.
Resting, he wanders afar; sleeping, he goes everywhere. Who else but my Self can know that God of joy and of sorrows?
When the wise realize the omnipresent Spirit, who rests invisible in the visible and permanent in the impermanent, then they go beyond sorrow.
Not through much learning is the Atman reached, not through the intellect and sacred teaching. It is reached by the chosen of him - because they choose him. To his chosen the Atman reveals his glory.
Not even through deep knowledge can the Atman be reached, unless evil ways are abandoned, and there is rest in the senses, concentration in the mind and peace in one's heart.

III - Know the Atman as Lord of a chariot; and the body as the chariot itself. Know that reason is the charioteer; and the mind indeed is the reins. (Compare Bhagavad Gita)
The light of the Atman, the Spirit, is invisible, concealed in all beings. It is seen by the seers of the subtle, when their vision is keen and is clear.
The Atman is beyond sound and form, without touch and taste and perfume. It is eternal, unchangeable, and without beginning or end: indeed above reasoning. When consciousness of the Atman manifests itself, man becomes free from the jaws of death.

IV - The Creator made the senses outward-going: they go to the world of matter outside, not to the Spirit within. But a sage who sought immortality looked within himself and found his own soul.

V - The pure eternal Spirit dwells in the castle of eleven gates of the body. By ruling this castle, man is free from sorrows and, free from all bondage, attains liberation.

VI - When the five senses and the mind are still, (during meditation) and reason itself rests in silence, then begins the Path supreme.
This calm steadiness of the senses is called Yoga. Then one should become watchful, because Yoga comes and goes.
Words and thoughts cannot reach him and he cannot be seen by the eye. How can he then be perceived except by him who says 'He is'? In the faith of 'He is' his existence must be perceived, and he must be perceived in his essence. When he is perceived as 'He is', then shines forth the revelation of his essence.
When all desires that cling to the heart are surrendered, then a mortal becomes immortal, and even in this world he is one with Brahman. When all the ties that bind the heart are unloosened, then a mortal becomes immortal. this is the sacred teaching.
Always dwelling within all beings is the Atman, the Purusha, the Self, a little flame in the heart. Let one with steadiness withdraw him from the body even as an inner stem is withdrawn from its sheath. Know this pure immortal light; know in truth this pure immortal light.

Mundaka Upanishad - I - The head of his body is fire, and his eyes the sun and the moon; (as Taoism) his ears, the regions of heaven, and the sacred Vedas his word. His breath is the wind that blows, and this whole universe is his heart. This earth is his footstool. (like in the Bible) He is the Spirit that is in all things. (Right eye is sun, left eye is moon, so the earth is in the middle, the Mark on the forehead, where God rests his feet. When moving the sun and moon inwards, like squinting the eye balls, in Chinese words sun and moon become bright. So by moving your eye balls inwards in nasal gaze, you will see brightness in enlightenment.)

II - Radiant in his light, yet invisible in the secret place of the heart, the Spirit is the supreme abode wherein dwells all that moves and breathes and sees. Know him as all that is, and all that is not, the end of love-longing beyond understanding, the highest in all beings.
He is self-luminous and more subtle than the smallest; but in him rest all the worlds and their beings. He is the everlasting Brahman, and he is life and word and mind. He is truth and life immortal. He is the goal to be aimed at: attain that goal, O my son!
Take the great bow of the Upanishads and place in it an arrow sharp with devotion. Draw the bow with concentration on him and hit the center of the mark, the same everlasting Spirit. (Here it is very clear the bow represents our eye-brows and the the arrow striking the mark on the forehead ie. between the eyes.)
The bow is the sacred OM, and the arrow is our own soul. Brahman is the mark of the arrow, the aim of the soul. Even as an arrow becomes one with its mark, let the watchful soul be one in him.

III - There are two birds, two sweet friends, who dwell on the self-same tree. The one eats the fruits thereof, and the other looks on in silence.
The first is the human soul who, resting on that tree, though active, feels sad in his un-wisdom. But on beholding the power and glory of the higher Spirit, he becomes free from sorrow.
When the wise seer beholds in golden glory the Lord, the Spirit, the Creator of the god of creation, then he leaves good and evil behind and in purity he goes to the unity supreme.
In silent wonder the wise see him as the life flaming in all creation. This is the greatest seer of Brahman, who, doing all his work as holy work, in God, in Atman, in the Self, finds all his peace and joy.
This Atman is attained by truth and tapas whence come true wisdom and chastity. The wise who strive and who are pure see him within the body in his pure glory and light.
Truth obtains victory, not un-truth. Truth is the way that leads to the regions of light. Sages travel therein free from desires and reach the supreme abode of Truth.
He is immeasurable in his light and beyond all thought, and yet he shines smaller than the smallest. Far, far away is he, and yet he is very near, resting in the inmost chamber of the heart.
He cannot be seen by the eye, and words cannot reveal him. He cannot be reached by the senses, or by austerity or sacred actions. By the grace of wisdom and purity of mind, he can be seen indivisible in the silence of contemplation.
This invisible Atman can be seen by the mind, wherein the five senses are resting. All mind is woven with the senses; but in a pure mind shines the light of the Self.
Not through much learning is the Atman reached, not through the intellect or sacred teaching. He is reached by the chosen of him. To his chosen the Atman reveals his glory.
The Atman is not reached by the weak, or the careless, or those who practice wrong austerity; but the wise who strive in the right way lead their soul into the dwelling of Brahman. (or Atman)
In truth who knows God becomes God.

Mandukya Upanishad - Brahman is all and Atman is Brahman. Atman, the Self, has four conditions.
The first condition is the waking life of outward-moving consciousness, enjoying the seven outer gross elements.
The second condition is the dreaming life of inner-moving consciousness, enjoying the seven subtle inner elements in its own light and solitude.
The third condition is the sleeping life of silent consciousness when a person has no desires and beholds no dreams. That condition of deep sleep is one of oneness, a mass of silent consciousness made of peace and enjoying peace.
This silent consciousness is all-powerful, all-knowing, the inner ruler, the source of all, the beginning and end of all beings.
The fourth condition is Atman in his own pure state: the awakened life of supreme consciousness. It is neither outer nor inner consciousness, neither semi-consciousness, nor sleeping-consciousness, neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. He is Atman, the Spirit himself, that cannot be seen or touched, that is above all distinction, beyond thought and ineffable. In the union with him is the supreme proof of his reality. He is the end of evolution and non-duality. He is peace and love.

Svetasvatara Upanishad - By the Yoga of meditation and contemplation the wise saw the power of God, hidden in his own creation. It is he who rules over all the sources of this universe, from time to the soul of man.
God is found in the soul when sought with truth and self-sacrifice, as fire is found in wood, water in hidden springs, cream in milk, and oil in the oil-fruit.
There is a Spirit who is hidden in all things, as cream is hidden in milk, and who is the source of self-knowledge and self-sacrifice. This is Brahman, the Spirit Supreme.

II - With upright body, head, and neck lead the mind and its powers into thy heart; and the OM of Brahman will then be thy boat with which to cross the rivers of fear.
And when the body is in silent steadiness, breathe rhythmically through the nostrils with a peaceful ebbing and flowing of breath. The chariot of the mind is drawn by wild horses, and those wild horses have to be tamed.
Find a quiet retreat for the practice of Yoga, sheltered from the wind, level and clean, free from rubbish, smouldering fires, and ugliness, and where the sound of waters and the beauty of the place help thought and contemplation.
When the Yogi has full power over his body composed of the elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether, then he obtains a new body of spiritual fire which is beyond illness, old age and death.
The first fruits of the practice of Yoga are: health, little waste matter, and a clear complexion; lightness of the body, a pleasant scent, and a sweet voice; and an absence of greedy desires.
Even as a mirror of gold, covered by dust, when cleaned well shines again in full splendor, when a man has seen the Truth of the Spirit he is one with him, the aim of his life is fulfilled and he is ever beyond sorrow.
Then the soul of man becomes a lamp by which he finds the Truth of Brahman. Then he sees God, pure, never-born, everlasting; and when he sees God he is free from all bondage.
This is the God whose light illumines all creation, the Creator of all from the beginning. He was, he is and for ever he shall be. He is in all and he sees all.

The very most important thing that you have to understand is the One inside can be called Tao, God, Buddha, Allah, Atman, Brahman, etc etc. Actually it is nameless, A VOID.

The other Upanishads are about the same. They stress on Atman is in all and see all. Our soul or Spirit is God.