Chandogya Upanishad: ( 30/03/2013. )

======================================================================== ======================================================================== 21/12/2019. Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -7.. 7. Space as the Body of the Universal Self ======================================================================== Jana Sarkarakshya, the other great man was questioned: "What is the Atman you are meditating upon?" "I meditate on the all-pervading Space, Your Highness." This is also a symbol for meditation. Space is all-pervading. When one cannot think of anything that is all-pervading, what else can one think except Space? Space is a good symbol for meditation, indeed. The king said: "Space is extensive in every respect. You meditate upon it as the ultimate Reality, and so you have extensiveness of everything as a consequence of this meditation. You have plenty of everything in your house—wealth and dear ones. You are glory-incarnate at home and in

======================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25/11/2019. Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -6.. 6. Air as the Breath of the Universal Self ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now, the king asks the third person the same question: "Indradyumna Bhallaveya, What is it that you are meditating upon? What is your Atman, regarding which you have difficulties?" "I meditate upon the Cosmic Air that blows, as the all-pervading Reality, Your Highness." The king said: "Well, so far, so good. As this, the Supreme Being, Vaishvanara, is all-pervading, so is this Air also all-pervading. You have taken this all-pervading Air which moves everywhere as the symbol of Reality. Very good. Due to this meditation on the widespread Air, vay

======================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27/09/2019 Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -5.. 5.The Sun as the Eye of the Universal Self : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now, the king puts another question to the other sage: "Satyayajna Paulushi, what is the Atman that you are meditating upon?" "I meditate on the Sun, Your Highness, the most brilliant object conceivable. It is the Supreme Being for me. I regard the Sun, surya, as the symbol of the Absolute. That is the Atman on which I am meditating." The king said: "Satyayajna, you meditate on the Sun as the Supreme Atman. Well, this is a part of the Vaishvanara's Body. Because it is a part of this Great Being, and you meditate upon it as if it is the al

======================================================================= -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09/10/2019 Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -4.. 4. Heaven as the Head of the Universal Self : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.1. The king questioned them one by one, "What is it that you are meditating upon already? Why is it that you are in difficulty?" Now, each one was asked this question. The first question to be put was to the first among them. "Aupamanyava, which Atman are you meditating upon? You are certainly meditating on the Atman. It is a great surprise. How is it that everyone is meditating on the Atman and, yet, one differs from the other in the technique? What is the sort of Atman, or the kind of Atman that you are thinking of in your mind?" "I

======================================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 02/09/2019 Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -3.5. 3. VAISHVANARA, THE UNIVERSAL SELF -5. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recap : These great men said: "Well, you are so kind, but there is a different purpose with which we have come to you. We have not come for money; we have not come for wealth. Whatever be the purpose for which a person has come, that he must express. That is his duty. He should not speak something else, nor should he be eager to receive things quite different from that for which he has come. So, our purpose is something else, quite different from what you are speaking of or thinking in your mind." "What is that?" The king was surprised. "What is it tha

12/07/2019 Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -3.4. 3. VAISHVANARA, THE UNIVERSAL SELF -4. When Brahmanas go to a king, naturally they go for some wealth. That is the usual tradition. The king thought that these people had come expecting some gift. He received them with great respect and honour, made them seated, and, lest they should not accept the gift that he offered to them, he said in his own humble way: “I follow the path of virtue. There is no defect in the administration of my country. I follow the path of simplicity and goodness. And here I am ready to offer you anything that you need by way of gift, if you have come for that.” He received each person separately with due honour. He garlanded them, gave them water to drink and enquired how they were, etc. He was good enough to give them a proper lodging in the palace. The next morning, when he got up and went to his audience, these great men came there, and the first thing that the king spoke was: “There is no thief in my king

15/06/2019 Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -3.3. 3. VAISHVANARA, THE UNIVERSAL SELF -3. But it was a surprise for Uddalaka to see all these great men coming in a mass to his cottage. They were not ordinary persons. So, he thought within himself, "Why are all these people coming? There must be some great point about it. Evidently they want to put some difficult question to me in regard to the highest Reality. Because they themselves are great men, and when they are all coming together to me, it definitely implies that they want to discuss with me the nature of the ultimate Reality, and I may not be able to answer their questions. Why should I risk my presence in the midst of these great men? So, when they come I shall direct them to somebody else, who, perhaps, will be in a position to answer all the questions." Thus he surmised within his mind that there must be some difficulty, and that he might not be able to swallow any poor show put before them if he attempted t

04/05/2019 Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -3.2. 3. VAISHVANARA, THE UNIVERSAL SELF -2. There were five wise people learned in sacred lore, all great meditators, performers of sacrifices, but who could not come to a conclusion in regard to the final destination of their meditations. These great men are named here. Prachinasala Aupamanyava, Satyayajna Paulushi, Indradyumna Bhallaveya, Jana Sarkarakshya, Budila Asvatarasvi; these are the great men. They were all lofty meditators according to their own techniques, but they had doubts in their minds, because in the course of their meditations, in spite of the fact that they discovered a palpable result of a magnificent nature, there was something lurking in their minds, pointing to a defect in their meditations. And they could not know what was the defect. So, they conferred among themselves: "What is Atman? What is Brahman? What is the difficulty with us? Can you enlighten me?" Each one was questioning the others: &qu

18/04/2019 Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -3.1. 2.THE COURSE OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH - 5. Last para, & 3. VAISHVANARA, THE UNIVERSAL SELF -1. The Chandogya Upanishad : the tripod of Indian Culture, being constituted of the Upanishads, the Brahmasutras and the Bhagavadgita. This section, dealing with the Panchagni-Vidya, is partly a description of a lofty type of meditation, so that we may live in this world without being bound by the laws of the world, and after death go to higher regions for the liberation of the spirit, ultimately. Partly, also, it is a light thrown on the fact of the misery of life. There is a side of things apart from the fact that there is a comical aspect involved in every working of Nature. Life is sorrow; life is full of misery. It is full of grief and pain, because one is living in a state of ignorance. The Upanishad on the one hand extols the greatness and the glory of knowledge which leads to the liberation of the soul, and on the other hand t

06/04/2019 Chapter -1 : Vaishvanara-Vidya -2.4. 2.THE COURSE OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH -4. The Chandogya Upanishad : the tripod of Indian Culture, being constituted of the Upanishads, the Brahmasutras and the Bhagavadgita. So, what you are determines what you shall be in the future. And, if yours is a life of knowledge in the sense mentioned here, if you are an embodiment of this wisdom, if you are scintillating with the brilliance of this understanding, even here as a part of your own vital existence, if this knowledge is what you yourself are made of, if this knowledge is the very substance of your life, not merely an intellectual information, then you are free from the bondage of action. Then these laws of the world will not act upon you, because these laws are nothing but the expression of knowledge which is the nature of the ultimate Reality, finally. So, to the extent you are identified with the character of Reality, to that extent you are free from the law of karma, or a

07/03/2019 The Chandogya Upanishad : the tripod of Indian Culture, being constituted of the Upanishads, the Brahmasutras and the Bhagavadgita. Chapter One: Vaishvanara-Vidya -2 2.THE COURSE OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH -3. Ignorance breeds further troubles in the form of likes and dislikes, selfish actions and their consequences which bring about a birth of this kind, and eventually sorrow. In this connection it is said, in conclusion, that those who live a life of spiritual meditation are not affected by this law. This is a solacing conclusion that the Upanishad gives. You are affected by the law when you cannot understand the law. A person who knows what law is cannot be harmed by law. This is the case with any kind of law, whether it is governmental law or the law of electricity or the law of social life or the law of the spirit. It is ignorance of the way in which law works that binds us to the operation of the law. If we are thoroughly conversant with the intricacies of

04/02/2019 The Chandogya Upanishad : Chapter One: Vaishvanara-Vidya -2 2.THE COURSE OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH -2. People who have done good deeds are born in favourable circumstances. This is the law of karma. The happiness, the freedom and the satisfaction that one experiences in life are due to some good deeds performed earlier, especially unselfish charitable deeds. The more you give, the more also will you receive. This is the law of action and reaction. You cannot get what you have not given. You cannot expect happiness here if you have not given happiness to others in an earlier life. If you are a greedy person, a miser who has grabbed the happiness of others and enjoyed everything for your own self and put others to grief and sorrow—that would be your fate also in this world. You would be a sufferer. You may be a poverty-stricken individual, and you may be a pauper having nothing, as the result of your selfish deeds in the previous lives. You have grabbed things from