The Upanishads

The Upanishads: India  c. 500 BC -  A school of thought membered by Indian thinkers who wrote ‘passages of wisdom’ of a religious and philosophical nature.

“The Upanishads*” is also the Title of a book that contains the insights of these spiritual Indian figures.

The Upanishads are not parts of a whole. Each of them is complete in itself. They represent the experiences and lessons of men and women.

Hindu scriptures and texts
	That which is not uttered by speech, that by which the word is expressed, know That alone to be Brahman, and not this (non-Brahman) which is being worshipped.
Vedas
Upanishads
Related Hindu texts
Vedangas
Puranas
Itihasa
Shastras and sutras

* Format in this doc: Because ‘The Upanishads’ can refer to ‘a school of Indian thinkers’, and also to a book, I will put the book title The Upanishads in italics. Otherwise, I’m speaking of the school of thought (the people).

c. 500 BC

  Indian society started to question traditional Vedic religious order.

·         Some people decided to engage in the pursuit of spiritual progress,

o   living as ascetic hermits,

o   rejecting ordinary material concerns and

o   Giving up family life.

      Their philosophy:

·         Much of the writings focus on the human EGO vs the human SELF.

·         They succeeded in shifting the focus of religious life from external rites to internal spiritual quests.

Their writings: instead of explaining, I will give examples:

Satyameva Jayate. (Truth alone triumphs.) Part of a mantra from the ancient Indian scripture Mundaka Upanishad. It was adopted as the national motto of India. Also translated as: “truth shall prevail”.

·         See how it was with those who came before, how it will be with those who are living. Like corn mortals ripen and fall, like corn They come up again.

o   Katha Upanishad, 1.1.6;

·         Know the SELF to be sitting in the chariot, the body to be the chariot, the intellect (buddhi) the charioteer, and the mind the reins.

o   The senses they call the horses, the objects of the senses their roads.

·         When he (Highest SELF) is in union with the body, the senses, and the mind, then wise people call him the Enjoyer.

·         As large as this ether (all space) is, so large is that ether within the heart.

o   Both heaven and earth are contained within it,

o   both fire and air,

o   both sun and moon,

o   both lightning and stars;

o   Whatever there is of him (the SELF) here in the world and whatever is not, all that is contained within it.

In the famous Chandogya Upanishad, we find the story of Uddalaka and his son Shvetaketu.

At a certain point Shvetaketu went to study the Vedas and returned to his family after twelve years, very proud of what he had learned, maybe even a little arrogant.

Uddalaka asks his son if he had gained the wisdom that allows him

·         to hear the unheard,

·         to perceive what is unperceivable,

·         to know the unknown

Shvetaketu has no idea what he is being asked,
so his father employs a series of metaphors to enlighten his son:

As the rivers flowing east and west

Merge in the sea and become one with it,

Forgetting they were separate rivers,

So do all creatures lose their separateness

When they merge at last into pure Being.

There is nothing that does not come from him.

Of everything he is the inmost SELF.

He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.

You are that Shvetaketu, you are that.

              (Chandogya Upanishad IV.10.1-3)

---