श्री गणेश मंदिर - शिक्षा वाणी
Sri Ganesh mandir - Serene
Sunday Reflections
22nd September 2019
Upanishads
KEYWORDS:: Upanishad, Brahman,
Atman, Vidya, Avidya, Karma, Moksha, Samsara, Rebirth
After Brahma Vidya and Yoga Sasthra, now we shall reflect on Upanishads.
Upanishad Upa- (near), ni- (down), shad
(to sit): sitting near the teacher means lean from your guide clearing doubts
after formal learning from Vedas; thus Upanishads are Vedantas (the end of
Knowledge). Though Hindu tradition says Upanishads are as old as Vedas, it is
believed that various seers and sages compiled Upanishads between 800-500 BCE,
the Upanishads are a culmination and completion of an earlier body of Hindu
sacred texts called the Vedas. The Teachings of the Upanishads has Six Key
Concepts - Brahman, Atman, Avidya, Karma, Moksha, and Samsara.
Brahman - The Upanishads emphasize
the impermanence of the empirical world, physical reality as we experience it
through our senses and takes us to learn the imperishable - Maya – to the Ultimate
Cosmic Reality too. Brahman alone is Real, unchanging and permanent; everything
else is Illusion. The distinction between Maya and Brahman allows Upanishadic
thinkers to affirm the unity or oneness of all things. Brahman is
SatChitAnanda; “being” (sat), “consciousness” (chit), and “bliss” (ananda). Brahman is a state in which subject-object
duality ceases to exist; it is not-this, it is not-that (neti, neti). [Brhad-aranyaka
Upanishad, II, 3, 6].
Atman is the True Self; the
individual personality, soul, or self (jiva) belongs to the realm of maya. The
jiva is conditioned by Atman. Atman is timeless, spaceless, unchanging pure
consciousness, only temporarily manifested as jiva in maya. The Upanishads
teach the existence of a true Self called Atman. The Atman is to the jiva is
like what the space around a jar is to the space within the jar. Space within
the jar is space bounded and limited by the edges of the jar. So the jiva is
Atman bounded and limited by individuality.
Tat Tvam Asi (Atman is Brahman)
(Chandogya Upanishad, VI) says that there is a common consciousness between
Atman and Brahman.
Avidya and vidya is a perspective
characterized by ignorance (avidya) of the true nature of reality and the self.
A rope may appear to be a snake, this is appearance only, grounded in avidya
till one gets Vidya to experience a Snake.
Samsara, Karma and Moksha can be
seen as egocentric desires due to Samsara creates actions (Karma) in the
physical forms or vehicles for atman. Upanishadic teachings are for the
Reincarnation or Rebirth (Humans live multiple embodied lives, experiencing a
cyclical process of birth, death, and rebirth called samsara). Lack of satisfaction in life
- is associated with material forms of existence. Rebirth is governed by karma,
as per law of cosmic justice, the moral quality of the action. Rebirth is not
desirable. It implies that a person is still trapped in ignorance about the
nature of reality. Suffering, associated with material existence, has not yet
been transcended.
Suffering is transcended only by release from samsara and
absorption into Brahman, the one ultimate reality. This is a state of
knowledge, enlightenment, or absolute consciousness in which the true nature of
reality (Brahman) and the true self (Atman) is perceived. It is also a state of
freedom (moksha). The only thing that can be free is that which is one, for
only that which is one has no desire. Being all that there is, there is nothing
else for it to desire. There is nothing left to suffer. The ultimate goal is
not to be reborn. The goal is to obtain moksha and be free from desire and the
cycle of death and rebirth.
After reflecting Upanishads here, next week we shall see Vedas.
----- Next Week 29nd September 2019 – Vedas ------
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