Hinduism 11

Transcript (Not corrected)

Opening Prayer

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु ।

मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ।

हरिः ॐ ।

Transliteration (IAST):

Om Saha Nāvavatu

Saha Nau Bhunaktu

Saha Vīryaṃ Karavāvahai

Tejasvi Nāvadhītamastu

Mā Vidviṣāvahai

Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ

Hariḥ Om

Translation:

Om, may Brahman protect us both.

May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth.

May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all.

Review: The Three Divisions of the Vedas

In my last class, I dealt with the second part of the Vedas. As we know, the Vedas are divided into three parts:

1. Karma Kāṇḍa - The portion dealing with rituals, activity, and actions
2. Upāsanā Kāṇḍa - The portions dealing with upāsanā or contemplation
3. Jñāna Kāṇḍa - The part dealing with pure knowledge

I gave some examples of how we should contemplate the Praṇava, Oṃkāra. I also gave the example of how Gāyatrī should be contemplated, and briefly told you how Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had to be contemplated.

Introduction to the Upaniṣads

Now we will start the topic on Upaniṣads. The Upaniṣads are the most important part of the Vedas. That is why they are also known as Vedānta. Anta means the essence, or it also means that which comes at the end. The literal meaning is that anta means end.

Usually these knowledge portions known as Upaniṣads come at the end. Why? Like ourselves getting wisdom teeth, which always come in old age—sometimes some people are lucky and they come at an early age also, but usually in very old age. Wisdom comes after, you know, when we lose all our capacity to enjoy. Then the mind becomes calm. Then wisdom comes.

So we will deal with these Upaniṣads. But before that, what I would like to tell you is that the Vedas are the basic scriptures of Hindus. And it is these teachings, propagated from teacher to the disciple since thousands of years, that have become the basis of Hinduism.

The Four Vedas

Now these Vedas are four in number. You know it. Just to jog your memory, what are those?

1. Ṛg Veda
2. Yajur Veda
3. Sāma Veda
4. Atharva Veda

Each of these Vedas has a particular content or purpose.

Ṛg Veda

The very word ṛg means praise—praising the Lord or praying to the Lord, either praise or prayer. Which comes first? First comes prayer, then comes fulfillment of desire, then comes praise. You don't say thank you usually before you receive anything—only if you want to make sure that you receive; otherwise your thank you may be wasted.

So human beings have so many needs. And even today, no modern science or even any knowledge we are going to gain in the future is ever going to solve the problems of life permanently. Temporarily, yes, and in a small way, in small measure, yes—but not completely and not at all permanently. Therefore we need help. And what can give us that? That is the quest of these Upaniṣads.

This first prayer collection is called Ṛg Veda. It is also known as Saṃhitā. Saṃhitā means a collection. Different people had prayed at different times, praised God at different times, and they have all been collected.

Yajur Veda

The second Veda is known as Yajur Veda. The very etymological meaning of the word yajur means yajana, yajña—to worship. So how to worship gods? Various gods? In what form? How many times should we do our mantras?

To make the point clearer, you know we do special pūjās on special days, and so there is a particular way of doing it. There is a krama of doing it. Even if you see people performing pūjās a thousand times, there is always an order of doing it. And if you know that order, everywhere it is exactly the same.

So these books which explain how to perform rituals with the help of these special prayers or mantras—that is the subject matter of the second type of Veda known as Yajur Veda. So first prayers, then performance of the rituals.

Sāma Veda

The third part is called Sāma Veda. Sāma Veda means to sing beautifully for the gods. This is the third Veda called Sāma Veda.

Our modern music—Indian music, Hindustani music, as well as Karnatak music—has its foundation in Sāma Veda. They used to sing, but it has changed a lot. To give an example, if you want to know what is Sāma Veda, the only example I can give you (because most of you would never have heard the real Sāma Veda) is the Muslim priests saying their prayers: Allāhu Akbar. That is an example. Or Gregorian chants, if you have heard. That is an example. There is a wonderful way of singing that soothes the mind.

Atharva Veda

Then the fourth Veda is known as the Atharva Veda. It has come much later. And that also contains prayers as well as some part of rituals. But especially it contains how to supervise a yajña or a ritualistic part. And lots of this Veda is filled with various types of black magic mantras—how to cure diseases, how to get rid of the poison of a scorpion or a snake, or get rid of an enemy, or get some things through the uttering of some prayers, how to win the lottery ticket.

So these are the four Vedas: Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda, and Atharva Veda.

The Four Subdivisions of Each Veda

Each Veda again is subdivided into four separate parts:

1. Ṛks (hymns)
2. Brāhmaṇas
3. Āraṇyakas
4. Vedānta/Upaniṣads

This division is very important. Why this division?

The Four Stages of Life (Āśramas)

According to Hindus, life has been divided into four parts. Approximately, according to ancient Hindus, an average human life consists of 100 years. This is divided into 25 years each:

1. Brahmacarya (Student life) - approximately 25 years
2. Gṛhastha (Married life) - another 25 years
3. Vānaprastha (Retired life) - another 25 years
4. Sannyāsa (Life totally devoted to self-knowledge) - another 25 years

This division is, you can only say, an ideal division. Everybody may not be living such a long time. Some would be students lifelong because the brain is very dull—they will never get over it.

Correlation Between the Four Parts of the Vedas and the Four Stages of Life

These four parts of the Vedas approximately are prescribed for the four stages of life.

First Stage: Student Life and the Ṛks

The first part, Ṛg Veda, means to know. A student has to know how to pray to God, what to pray to God, and how to perform rituals, etc.—to acquire the knowledge.

Second Stage: Householder Life and the Brāhmaṇas

The second part is called Brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa explains how to actually perform the rituals. Now you have known—like a newly going-to-be-married bride who quickly purchases some books, a shortcut guide to how to cook exceedingly well. It's cramming the knowledge. But the real practice will come only after the marriage.

So like that, a student learns these things and then he gets married. Then he has to put these into practice. That portion of the Veda which explains to people, if these rituals have to be effective, how they must be performed—there is an exact science. So these portions are called Brāhmaṇas.

Now the word brāhmaṇa, you should not mistake it. The caste, a man born in a brāhmaṇa caste, has nothing to do with this. This is a portion of the Veda known as Brāhmaṇas.

Third Stage: Retired Life and the Āraṇyakas

Then, you know, the householder goes on. He gets children most of the time, and then he earns money. He enjoys—say, let us say, he has become 50 years old, 50 plus. Then the time has come for retirement. What should he do?

According to the Hindu view of life, the ideal of life, this person must have prepared his whole life for retirement. So he should go. He enters into the third stage and goes to a secluded place. So he is known as Vānaprastha. Prastha means to go and live. Where? Vana. Vana means secluded place, usually forest in the olden days. He will go there along with his wife.

Now the third part of these Vedas corresponds to this third stage of life. They are called Āraṇyakas. Araṇya means forest, pertaining to the forest. This is not knowledge about trees and how to grow and graft and all that. These Āraṇyakas say that all the rituals the householder has been doing in actual practice—now he need not do them physically. He should be able to do them in the mind, mānasika—mentally he should be able to do it.

This is called upāsanā, as we dealt with some of the vidyās in my last class—contemplative techniques. So these retired householders, both husband and wife, devote themselves to what we call meditation, serious meditation, equivalent to upāsanā. And they must continue until their mind becomes one with the object of their meditation.

Fourth Stage: Monastic Life and the Upaniṣads

If that happens, then they enter into the fourth stage of life, which is called Sannyāsa. By this time, the man's desire for enjoyment of the world has become much less, his mind has become pure, it has become concentrated, and it has become capable of apprehending the higher truths by faith, through proxy. Then he has to actually realize them. That is when he is advocated to take the fourth stage of life, which is Sannyāsa or monastic life.

Then he should devote himself to the practice and realization of the essence of the Vedas. What is that essence? As we said, Vedānta. Vedānta means Upaniṣads.

The Essential Teaching of Vedānta

And what do the Upaniṣads teach? If someone asks you, "You are attending Vedānta centre, you have been learning about Vedānta, what is the essential teaching of Vedānta?" There are two ways of explaining it.

Swami Vivekananda's Teaching

One way of explaining is to take Swami's quotations: "Each soul is potentially divine. To realize that we are divine is the only goal of life. Realize this either through Karma Yoga or Bhakti Yoga or Rāja Yoga or Jñāna Yoga, and know that you are the divine, you are the supreme soul."

The Mahāvākyas

This has been put in another way in the Upaniṣads. These are known as Mahāvākyas, the quintessential teachings of the Upaniṣads. There are many, but just to give you two:

1. Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi - "I am Brahman." This means I am potentially divine.
2. Tat tvam asi - "Thou art That." Thou, the bound soul, is not the reality. You are, in reality, the supreme soul.

These are only two examples given. So this is the essence of the Upaniṣads.

Progression Through the Stages

So the fourth part—a man enters into the fourth stage of life. Supposedly, it is not an Indian government promotion where every few years one becomes automatically promoted. This is not like that. We have to lead the life indicated by the Vedas, and there will come a time when naturally we will progress. Some people may take many lives. Some people may just be able to do it in a few years' time. It depends upon their capacity, qualification.

But the ultimate stage of life is called Sannyāsa. What is Sannyāsa? Roughly translated, it means to take to monastic life, to take to the life of renunciation. But it doesn't mean external renunciation. Many times we mistake it. One need not take to the ochre cloth or even formal vows. But inside you will know, first of all, that you are the divine reality. Once you come to know that, then you will become perfect. You do not need anything else.

So that is where the Upaniṣads are to be studied, to be thought over deeply with a crystal-clear rational mind, and having come to a definite conclusion that they are the truest teachings, go on contemplating on those teachings until the faith turns into fact, belief turns into realization.

Some of the contemplative techniques which one is supposed to practice in the third stage of life, as I said, I had already dealt with in my last class. This class I will devote myself to the Upaniṣads in brief. I can go on and on, but I do not like to do that. I wanted to give you a bit of the right understanding, at the same time very briefly. This is only a class on Hinduism, just for most of the Hindus and also non-Hindus to know about it.

The Number and Significance of the Upaniṣads

How Many Upaniṣads Exist?

First question: How many Upaniṣads are there? So it is said that there are thousands of Upaniṣads, but they have been lost to us because there were people who made it what is called intellectual copyright property. They didn't want to give it to anybody, but when they died there was no record of it. But there are more than 200 Upaniṣads that exist.

According to one tradition, 108 Upaniṣads are well known. Of these 108 Upaniṣads, there are only 10 Upaniṣads which have become very, very popular. This is because there was a great teacher called Śaṅkarācārya who deigned to comment upon them. Almost all Upaniṣads are marvelous, but he had chosen certain Upaniṣads which he thought were very important, which I would agree and many would agree that his selection is an excellent selection. So these 10 Upaniṣads are very, very important Upaniṣads.

Now there are so many other Upaniṣads. Later on, so many Upaniṣads have come, including one Upaniṣad called Allāh Upaniṣad. But orthodox Hindus do not count that as one of the real Upaniṣads. But it is a nice Upaniṣad in its own way. Only the name is given Allāh—we don't need to bother about it.

The Age of the Upaniṣads

So what is the age of these Upaniṣads? According to our Hindu tradition, they said almost 11,000 years. But we do not need to go into those details now. What is important is that these Upaniṣads are the very life breath of Hinduism.

The Guru-Paramparā System

And what is called GPS—according to the GPS... What is GPS? Guru-Paramparā System of Hinduism. So these Upaniṣads have been regarded as the very essence of the Vedas. That is why they got the name Vedānta.

And all teachers, whatever may be their differences of opinion, they all preached only the Upaniṣads. Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārkācārya, Vallabhācārya—all these teachers have only interpreted the Upaniṣads in their own way. They all say that Upaniṣads are the essence of the Vedas. The only difference is their different type of understanding and interpretation.

The Vedānta Centre and Swami Vivekananda

Now here we are at the Vedānta Centre. So this centre itself is known as Vedānta Centre. Why? Because Swami Vivekānanda has preached nothing but Vedānta. But he preached the correct interpretation of the Vedānta. Sometimes it is also known as Neo-Vedānta. Neo means not new Vedānta but a new understanding of the ancient Vedānta, according to the lights of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.

Swami Vivekānanda is only the voice of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. So Vedānta means Upaniṣads.

The Etymology and Meaning of "Upaniṣad"

What is the meaning of the word Upaniṣad? Some of you definitely know; you must have studied. This word consists of three words—two prefixes and one word: upa + ni + ṣad.

Put together it is pronounced as sad becomes ṣad. Upaniṣad becomes Upaniṣad. These are the rules of conjoining.

• Upa means near
• Ni means very, very near
• Ṣad has different meanings given by different ācāryas

But in short, what it means:

First Meaning: Sitting Near

One meaning is sitting—sit near. Sitting near means earnest students who want to know what is the goal of life, what is our real nature. He will go to a wise teacher and sit at his feet.

Sitting at the feet doesn't mean sitting on his feet and giving him trouble. What it means is he is so close in rapport with the teacher. The teacher is trying to give him something. He is in a fit state to receive it without distorting. That is called sitting near. And the nearer he is to the teacher's heart, the sooner the transmission takes place.

So sitting and then absorbing the wisdom from the teacher. And what does the teacher teach? Tat tvam asi—"That thou art." What does the student receive? Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi—"Yes, I am that Brahman." Not only I—Sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ Brahma—"Everything is nothing but the ultimate reality."

This is one meaning of the word "sitting near."

Second Meaning: That Which Destroys

Another meaning is "that which destroys." What is destroyed? Whatever is obstructing our right vision, that is destroyed.

There is somebody, something in front of me, but there is a thick curtain. I am not able to see. So somebody comes kindly and removes that curtain. Or we are sitting in darkness. Suddenly somebody puts on the light. So what does the light do? It destroys the darkness.

Third Meaning: Leads To

The third meaning is "leads to"—leads to the truth. A man is thirsty and he doesn't know that water is nearby. He is crying, "I am thirsty, please help me." And somebody who knows about the source of the water comes, takes him by the hand and says, "Come, I know the way, I will show you." And he will take you to that place. So it leads to reality, leads to Brahman.

Summary of the Meaning

So that is the meaning of the word Upaniṣad:

• Upa means near
• Ni means very, very, very near
• Ṣad means sitting and receiving the wisdom that reveals to us our own true nature or reality

And it will destroy our ignorance. It makes us completely fulfilled. And there is a gaining after which there is nothing further more to be gained. After gaining that reality, no one would seek because he knows there is nothing further to be sought or attained. That is called Brahman, self-knowledge, Brahman knowledge.

So that is the meaning of the word Upaniṣad.

Understanding What the Upaniṣads Teach

Now to understand properly, what do the Upaniṣads really teach? They take us, as I said, to the reality, give us self-knowledge. And this self-knowledge brings us to the goal of life. Goal of life means having achieved which there is nothing further to be attained. Until we attain it, we go on seeking instinctively.

The Peace Chant: Pūrṇamadaḥ

We have already done two classes, if you remember—one on Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad, another on Kaṭha Upaniṣad. So before doing any Upaniṣad, we also have to give a peace chant. Let us take one example, Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad.

Before doing Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad, we do a peace chant. It is called Pūrṇamadaḥ:

Pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ

Pūrṇāt pūrṇamudacyate

Pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya

Pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate

Translation:

That transcendent reality is infinite, perfect. This experienced visible reality in which we are living is also infinite, perfect. This visible reality has come from that invisible reality. Having come from that invisible infinite reality, this visible infinite reality is also infinite and nothing is lost in that invisible reality. If the infinite is taken out of infinity, still what remains is infinite only.

Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ - Peace be to all.

This is the essence of this. It also shows us what the Upaniṣads are going to teach. What are they teaching? In simple words: we come from God, and we are God, and we go back to God. Even though we have come from God, God doesn't become any less for that because He is infinite.

So this is the indication of what the Upaniṣads teach.

Historical Significance of the Upaniṣads

Now these Upaniṣads have become very, very famous, and there is a short history I would like to mention at this stage before I go further.

Translation History

In 1650, 50 Upaniṣads were translated into Persian under the patronage of Prince Dara, the son of Shah Jahan, Emperor of Delhi. Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal—just imagine, his son became deeply interested in the Upaniṣads and he got them translated, 50 of the Upaniṣads, into the Persian language.

From the Persian they were translated into Latin in AD 1801 and 1802 by a Frenchman, and Schopenhauer read and studied this Latin translation. And he declared: "In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upaniṣads. It has been the solace of my life. It will be the solace of my death."

He must have understood the meaning of the Upaniṣads. Just imagine—it is a translation of a translation, but he must have been a very great mind to be able to understand the meaning of these Upaniṣads. Even for most of us, these Upaniṣads are very abstruse. That's why so many commentaries have come. And just by reading the translation, he was able to understand.

Later on, the British East India Company under Max Müller had translated many of these Upaniṣads. But Upaniṣads, as I said you know, are very abstruse. Then how are we going to understand them?

Understanding Through the Bhagavad Gītā

Not to worry. Why? Because the essence of the Upaniṣads has become very popular for Hindus in the form of a scripture of which we all know, we all revere, we all read. What is that? Bhagavad Gītā. The essence of all the Upaniṣads is Bhagavad Gītā.

There are many who do not know much about Bhagavad Gītā. They must have heard about it, read one or two ślokas, but have not understood much.

Understanding Through Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa

Not to worry. Then the essence of this Bhagavad Gītā is the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. If you have read the teachings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa or the teachings of Swami Vivekānanda, you have understood what the Upaniṣads have got to tell you perfectly without any distortion.

Why did I say that? Because Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is one of those teachers who never distorted the real meaning of the Upaniṣads. He did not say this particular God or that particular religion alone can give you salvation. No. You are the Divine. Any religion, what can it do? It can help you to remove the veil. That's all.

The Nature of Liberation

No religion is ever going to give us salvation. No God is ever going to give any salvation to us. No Guru, no God, none is ever going to give us any salvation. What is the reason?

No Guru, no God, no scripture, no religion is ever going to free you from your bondage. What is the reason? The reason is you are never bound. You do not need to be freed. You are ever free.

Then what do they do? They remove that ignorance—the ignorance that you are ever free. This is only understanding. They will give you the jñāna. Now you don't know that you have so much bank balance. Somebody will come and tell you, "Why are you begging? You have so much money in your own bank." So that's all—just give the correct knowledge.

That is what Vivekānanda did. That is what Rāmakṛṣṇa did. He never gives anything because there is no need to give anything. But to be able to do it without any distortion, without misinterpretation, without being fanatical—that is the specialty of Rāmakṛṣṇa, Swami Vivekānanda, and also there are many teachers, many devotees who follow this. That is the correct interpretation.

Summary

You have heard the word Upaniṣads. You have heard the word Gītā. You might not have read Upaniṣads, but you have read in a way—if you have read the Gītā and understood, you have read Upaniṣads and understood in a way. Even if you have not read it, if only you have read the Gospel of Rāmakṛṣṇa and the teachings of Swami Vivekānanda, that is enough.

The Ten Principal Upaniṣads

So as I said, there are more than 182 Upaniṣads, and out of them, 10 Upaniṣads are very, very important because they have been commented upon by the great Śaṅkara, some of them by Rāmānuja and some of them by Madhvācārya, etc.

What are those Upaniṣads? Just to give you a brief mention:

1. Īśa (or Īśāvāsya)
2. Kena
3. Kaṭha
4. Praśna
5. Muṇḍaka
6. Māṇḍūkya
7. Aitareya
8. Taittirīya
9. Chāndogya
10. Bṛhadāraṇyaka

Of these 10 Upaniṣads, Chāndogya and Bṛhadāraṇyaka are the biggest. They form the bulk of these Upaniṣads.

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad

Of these two Upaniṣads, Bṛhadāraṇyaka—it is called Bṛhad-Āraṇyaka. Bṛhat means what? Big. Āraṇyaka means the teaching given in the forest.

The Secret Nature of the Upaniṣads

So these Upaniṣads are also known as Āraṇyaka teachings because usually, traditionally, they used to be given by a teacher to the qualified student in secret. Forest here means secluded place. Forest here means a teaching which can only be given to a fit disciple—secret.

Secret not in the sense that it is copyrighted. In the sense, very few people are fitted to receive this sublime knowledge. If you go on telling somebody, "You are divine," he cannot understand because he knows, "I am a miserable fellow. I am very inferior."

The Story of Inferiority Complex

There was a fellow who was suffering from inferiority complex. So he was taken to a psychiatrist and he treated him for three years. And then he called him and said, "I am terminating my treatment of you." The man said, "But doctor, I have not been cured of my inferiority complex." The doctor said, "You are not suffering from inferiority complex. You are inferior!"

The Need for Preparation

All of a sudden, we cannot teach this highest truth. Slowly, slowly, step by step, his mind should be purified. It must be made ready—niścitāyā buddhyā. Mind, intellect must be sharpened through contemplation, through selfless service, etc. Otherwise, lots of doubts will come. And sometimes we feel we understand and other times we feel we don't understand. Doubts will come.

The Story of Swami Tūriyānanda and Doubt

There was a funny incident. Once, Swami Tūriyānanda was sitting and having a talk with some of the swamis and brahmacārīs. Suddenly, Swami Tūriyānanda asked those who were in front of him, "Do you get sometimes doubts that God doesn't exist?"

Everybody was sitting as though they were 100% convinced of the existence of God. Then nobody replied, "No, we don't get any doubts."

Then Swami Tūriyānanda said, "You know, even after so many years, sometimes I get doubt whether God exists."

Then many of them said, "Yes, Mahārāj, we also get the doubts."

Then he scolded them, "You rascals! When I asked the question, none of you replied. You thought, if you say that you got doubts about God, then people will look down upon you. 'What is this? After so many years of living in Rāmakṛṣṇa Vedānta Centre, you still have doubts about the existence of God?' I mean existence of Rāmakṛṣṇa."

Faith and Realization

These doubts can come only after realization—there would be no doubt until we realize something. Going by faith is always a doubtful journey. But as we approach the goal, as Rāmakṛṣṇa says, when you are approaching the seashore, first of all a cool breeze will start coming, and then you will hear the waves lashing against the shores—a huge noise will be there—and then when you go and see, actually the sea, and then you know without doubt such a thing as a sea exists.

So doubts can come at any time. That's why we have to continue our spiritual practices in spite of the doubts.

Rahasya: The Secret Teaching

These are called Āraṇyaka. These are also called Rahasya. Upaniṣads are called Rahasya—secret. They are secret, not because nobody wants to tell you. They are secret because they are so hard to understand.

Understanding Through Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Teachings

Now I mentioned, some of us did not read Upaniṣads. Some of us have read Gītā, so we read Upaniṣads. Some of us have not read even Gītā. But some of us have read the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.

And what are the teachings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa?

1. God exists
2. To realize God is the goal of life

Right?

Take these two teachings:

God Exists

God exists. How do we know? Lord Nārāyaṇa himself asked him, "Have you seen God?"

He said, "Yes. Not only have I seen God, I can also show you God." And he touched him.

And then he said, "The goal of life is to realize God."

Take this. God exists. The goal of life is to realize God.

What Do We Really Understand?

What do we understand by that statement? How many times have we not read this? How many times have we not read that the goal of life is God realization?

When you are waiting at the Maidenhead railway station for the train to come, what is the goal of your life? Is it not the arrival of the train? Suppose the train is late, then what would you be looking at? Looking at the God. What God? The watch God! A hundred times you are looking at the watch.

So, what is the Mahāvākya that goes on in your mind?

The Test of Understanding

Are we convinced that God exists? If God exists, then He is right here. If He is right here, what have we to fear? What do we want? Are you happy? If you are not happy, then God doesn't exist for you.

You know, we use the words in a very peculiar way. God means what? Saccidānanda. Saccidānanda means what? Infinite happiness. If God is nearby you, can you not be happy? Can you stop being happy if God is very near to you?

Like, how do you know? If you are nearer to fire, don't you feel the warmth? Then if God is so near to you, then should you not feel happy? If you are not happy, what does it mean? You are reading "God exists" and you are feeling unhappy. What does that mean? That means you do not really understand the teaching of Rāmakṛṣṇa.

And if we do not feel the urge to realize God, that means we have not understood Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's teachings. That is why they are called secret teachings.

The Value of Study

So it doesn't mean our study of the Gospel is in vain. It only means we need to understand it further and further and further.

The Story of the Student and Understanding

There was one young man. He was sent to the teacher and he came back after acquiring knowledge. Then his father asked him, "Have you understood what your teacher taught you?"

And he said, "Yes, I understood."

And then the father put some questions, and then the father also understood and the son also understood that he has not understood anything.

Then the son became very repentant and said, "You please teach me. I thought I understood but now I know I did not understand."

Humility: The Prerequisite

That is the prerequisite of humility. Humility is the prerequisite. What is it? "I know. I understand." Your cup is full. But if you think you have not understood, you will be eager to understand it. That is the prerequisite.

Father became the teacher. Son became the student.

The Teaching of Salt in Water

Then he says, "My child, bring a cup of water." And the son brings. "Bring a little bit of salt." And the son brings. "Put the salt in the... Now touch the salt. You can touch the salt. Now put it in the water and stir it well." And he did that.

"Now show me the salt."

How can he show the salt?

Then he asks, "Where is the salt now? Where is the salt?"

Then the son says, "That question cannot be... 'Where' cannot be answered because it is everywhere. Where is not salt in the water? Whichever part of the cup you touch and put it on the tongue, it is salty. The salt has become one with the water. Therefore you cannot specifically point out."

Then the son understood the implication. What is that? Brahman. Everything is Brahman. Where is Brahman? The question is irrational because it is like asking the salt, "Where is the salt?" It has become one with the water.

So where is Brahman? Brahman is everywhere. When we come to that realization, that is the real understanding. Until that time, it is only intellectual knowledge or information.

Paṇḍitya: Scholarship

This is what Rāmakṛṣṇa calls paṇḍitya—scholarship, useless scholarship. No, it is not completely useless, but from the ultimate point of view, it is useless. From our point of view, it is absolutely essential.

The Subject Matter of the Upaniṣads

Coming back to our subject now. So these Upaniṣads are 108. Essential Upaniṣads are 10. And all the Upaniṣads have to deal with certain teaching. What is the teaching? What do they teach?

The Three Realities

They teach only about reality. In our practical day-to-day life, we have three realities. What are those three realities?

1. Jīva - The individual soul (I am)
2. Jagat - The world (other than me, everything else is called Jagat, world)
3. Īśvara - God (provided that I am a believer in God, there is a God)

So God is there, world is there, I am there.

Three Fundamental Questions

Now the Upaniṣad has to answer these three questions:

1. What is my real nature?
2. What is the nature of the world?
3. What is the nature of God?

Secondly, the Upaniṣads have to tell: What is the relationship between me and the world and God? Is there any relationship? Or is there no relationship? Or are these completely separate things—I go my way, the world goes its way, and God goes His own way? Is there any relationship?

Why Science Cannot Answer These Questions

Now these answers cannot be given by any science. Why? It is like one blind man explaining to the other blind man what is the excellence of a great painting. Is it possible? Only both must be sighted.

If a sighted man tries to explain what is the greatness of a painting to a blind man, will it work? One blind man trying to explain to another blind man, will it work? And only one sighted man trying to explain to the other sighted man will work.

All our five sense organs are incapable because we are like blind people. We are part of this limitation. So we cannot understand what is beyond limitation with our limited instruments, sense organs.

The Role of Scripture

So the only way is scriptures, śāstras. So these three—what is my real nature, what is the nature of this world, and what is the nature of God, and what is the relationship between us three—this is the subject matter of every religion and that is the subject matter of Vedānta or Upaniṣads.

The Advaita Teaching

What do they say about it? I already mentioned, according to Advaita Vedānta, all of us belong to one reality and that reality is called Brahman.

The Meaning of Brahman

The word Brahman is derived from the word bṛhat, that which is the biggest—not a comparative degree. It is the biggest. Beyond that there is nothing. This biggest we cannot comprehend because it is so subtle. Everything is included in it.

I am included, this world is included, what we call God is included. Everything comprises in that one word, Brahman. That means we are all Brahman.

So we can't use the word "we are all Brahman." There is only one reality and that is called Brahman. This is the teaching according to Advaita.

Other Schools of Philosophy

But if you go to other schools of philosophy, they say there is some difference, but we will not go into those peculiar details. I will take from the standpoint of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Swami Vivekānanda, which is Advaita Vedānta.

The Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad

I will take one example which is Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad, partly because it is one of the smallest of the Upaniṣads. It contains 18 mantras, 18 verses. The smallest of course is only 12 mantras. It is called Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. It consists of only 12 mantras, but what tough mantras they are! I don't even dare to open my mouth about it. It is so difficult.

But I will take this particular Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad. The Upaniṣad has derived its name from the very first verse. What is that?

Īśāvāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat

Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasyasvid dhanam

So it starts with Īśāvāsyam. Therefore it derived its name, title from the first few words of this Upaniṣad, beginning of this Upaniṣad—Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad.

The First Verse and Its Meaning

So how does it go? Here is, I am giving you a small test.

Verse 1: "All this, whatever exists in this changing universe should be covered by the Lord. Protect the self by this knowledge. Do not covet any other wealth."

Verse 2: "If a man wishes to live a hundred years on this earth, he should live performing action, slowly purifying his mind and leading him to this knowledge. For you who cherish a worldly desire and regard yourself not as Brahman but as a man, there is no other way by which you can keep work from clinging to you excepting offering it to the Lord."

Verse 3: "Verily, those worlds of the asuras or demons are enveloped in blind darkness and thereto they all repair after death who are slayers of the Ātman."

The Nature of the Ātman

I will come to the meaning later on. So what is the nature of that Ātman?

"That non-dual Ātman, though never stirring, is swifter than the mind. The senses cannot reach it for it moves ever in front. Though standing still, it overtakes others who are running. Because of Ātman, Vāyu, the world soul, apportions the activities of all."

"That Ātman moves and moves not. It is far and likewise near. It is inside all this and it is outside all this."

"The wise man beholds all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings. For that reason, he doesn't hate anyone."

"To the seer, all things have verily become the Self. What delusion, what sorrow can there be for him who beholds that Oneness?"

"It is He who pervades all. He who is bright and bodiless, without scar or sinews, pure and by evil unpierced, who is the seer, omniscient, transcendent, uncreated, He has duly allotted to the eternal world creators their respective duties."

Understanding the Essence

Don't bother about the words. What it simply means is: whatever we are experiencing—I am seeing you, you are seeing me, I am hearing you, you are hearing me—who is he? This is all pervaded by the Divine Lord.

Meaning what? Who is talking? The Lord is talking. Who is listening? The Lord is listening. Who is not listening? The Lord is not listening. Who is not understanding? The Lord is not understanding. Good and bad, whatever—it is all nothing but the Lord.

With this verse, mantra it is called, the essence of the holy Upaniṣad is revealed to us because if we can only understand that this universe that we see in front of us is nothing but the Divine Lord—means Self, Ātman, Brahman—then we are free.

Freedom Through Knowledge

We are free not because somebody frees us, because it is the Lord—that is the truth. But unfortunately, we have forgotten the truth. The scripture only reminds us what is the truth. It is very essential for us. Only a reminder. Scripture is only a reminder.

The Story of the Forgetful Man

There was a man who forgets everything. So his wife was very worried. She had to post a letter. So she gave him the letter. Told him a hundred times, "Don't forget to post it."

And he promised he will not forget it. And he was going towards the post office. And every few seconds, somebody knocks him and says, "Don't forget to post the letter. Don't forget to post the letter."

So he was surprised. "How did you know that I need to post the letter?"

He said, "You know, your wife has written on your back, 'Please remind him to post the letter.'"

The Reminder of Scripture

You read any page of the Gospel, any page of the Upaniṣad, any scripture—all that it tells us: Don't go on trying to kill this fellow because he is not a Christian, he is not a Hindu, he is not a Muslim. Don't go on wasting your time. It reminds us only one thing: God is everywhere. It is He who created. It is He which has been created. He Himself has become this world.

But we do not know this fact. We need to know this fact. This is what the scripture is there to remind us.

Analysis of Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad Verses

Verse 1: Everything is Pervaded by the Lord

So the first verse of this Upaniṣad says that everything is pervaded by the Lord. That means everything is nothing but the manifestation of the Divine Lord. Live in this world with this knowledge. Do not covet any other wealth because every other wealth is ephemeral, perishing, it is trouble-giving. This is the only knowledge that is necessary for you to be eternally happy.

Verse 2: The Path of Karma Yoga

But supposing many people are not capable of living up to this life, have worldly desires. What should you do? And he says, you know, whatever works you do, you spend your time not in idleness but in doing such actions which will slowly bring you to this knowledge.

So the scripture is telling us: Don't stop working. No, go on working because your very desires—means your very restlessness of the mind—desires make the mind restless. So your very restlessness of the mind will make you do work. So you work, but only do such works, only do in such a way that these works slowly remind you of your true nature and will take you to God. This is called Karma Yoga.

Verse 3: The Slayer of the Ātman

Supposing a person neglects this teaching, then such a person is called the slayer of the Ātman, killer of the Ātman, murderer of the Ātman.

Now nobody can murder the Ātman for the simple reason, you know, you can't even see it. Not only that, he is the murderer.

The Story of the Smoker and the Missionary

Yeah, he is the murderer. You know, a man was sitting there by the roadside and drinking some roadside tea and smoking a cigar. So a Christian missionary was passing by. So he looked at this man, felt pity for him, and he came and said, "How many cigars do you smoke every day?"

He said, "Only about 50-60."

"So each cigar, how much does it cost?" He calculated something. "So every day 50 cigars, 50 into 1 pound or whatever, 50 pounds. Every day, since how long have you been smoking?"

"For about 50 years."

So the missionary calculated how much money this man had spent. And then he said, "You see, if you did not smoke, you see, look at that building, there is a multi-storied building. That building would have been yours today if only you had not smoked."

The man said, "Is it so?"

The missionary said, "Yes, I am telling you. It is the truth."

Then the man said, "Sit down, missionary. So do you smoke?"

He said, "No."

"And do you own that building?"

He said, "No."

"Do you know to whom that building belongs?"

The missionary said, "No, it belongs to me."

The Meaning of "Slayer of the Ātman"

So a slayer of the Ātman doesn't mean that it is an object to be harmed, hurt. What it means is being ignorant of the Ātman is equivalent to slaying.

Slaying means what? Supposing you have a billion pounds in a packet and you burn them. You have burned all the money? You have lost them? Suppose you have a billion pounds in a packet. It is there, but you don't see it. You know that you had it, but now you don't know. If you don't know about it, what good will it do to you? You can't even buy a cup of tea because you don't know about it.

So ignorance is what is called slaying. A person who doesn't know his own true nature is the most miserable fellow in the world.

What is the Ātman?

So what is this Ātman here? To put it in common words, it means the Ātman is the nature of infinite bliss. So you want bliss, but unfortunately you lost that packet of bliss. I mean, it is there, but you don't know where it is. What good will it do to you? That is what is called slaying of the Ātman.

The scripture is there to remind us that you are that Ātman. You don't need to seek for it. You are searching for it everywhere.

The Story of the Myopic Fellow

Like the myopic fellow. He is so myopic that he can't see anything without specs. One day he was seen furiously searching. Somebody came and asked him, "What are you searching?"

He said, "I am searching for my specs."

You see, he is not capable of searching anything without his specs on. And he says, "I seem to have lost my specs. I am searching for them."

How could he do the very search without the specs on?

So the other person says, "You are foolish. They are there right on your eyes. Otherwise, your search is not possible."

The Searcher and the Searched

So the idea is that which we are searching for is none other than our own selves. The knower, the searcher is not somebody else. The searched object is not something else. We are searching for our own self.

In Vedāntic terminology, we use this: A musk deer searching for the musk. The musk is supposed to have come from its own navel. So it is enchanted with that perfume. So it is searching. "I must find out." Where will it find? It is running around mad not knowing that it is originating from its own navel.

So this is what Vedānta wants to tell us. Tat tvam asi—"Thou art that."

The Nature of the Self

So the nature of the self is: it is inside, it is outside. It moves, it moves not.

Not paradoxical. That which is everywhere neither moves nor doesn't move. The language—there are various ways of using language to convey knowledge, information to us. So this is one of the ways, the paradoxical method: it moves, it doesn't move. It is inside you, it is outside you, etc.

The Essence of Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad

This is the essence of the Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad which says that the whole universe is nothing but the Divine Lord. You are also nothing but the Divine Lord.

Where is, who are you? You are the Divine. What is the world? That is also the Divine. What is the Divine Lord? He is also the Divine. So there are no three. There is only one because of ignorance appears to be three separate objects, beings. No, it is not true. This is from the Advaitic point of view.

The Universal Teaching of the Upaniṣads

So this is the subject matter of the Upaniṣads: to let us know the reality of the individual soul, of the universe, of God, and the interrelationship between these two.

What is the essence? Whatever exists is only Brahman. So there is nothing called individual, world, or God. Everything is one and nothing else besides that one exists, and the name of that one is called Brahman.

Realize means you get that knowledge, knowledge of the Brahman. This is what every Upaniṣad teaches us. This is what the Vedānta or the end of the Vedas or the third part of the Vedas called Jñāna Kāṇḍa teaches us.

The Accessibility of Truth Through Secondary Scriptures

This very truth—very difficult for us to understand because of the language, distance—so this truth, the same truth has been conveyed in an accessible form. And all the other scriptures which convey this knowledge in an accessible form are known as Smṛti, secondary scriptures.

Briefly, I will deal with them in my next class.

Closing Prayer

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

Om Śānti, Śānti, Śāntih.

Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all.