Transcript Complete Presentation

THE UNCOMMON
WISDOM
OF UPANISHADS
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DR. SIDDHARTHA GAUTAM AT HINDU TEMPLE,
KANSAS CITY, MAY 8, 2015
Saints Highlight Them
Go back to your
Upanishads – the
shining, strengthening,
bright philosophy,
and part from all these
weakening things.
Swami Vivekananda,
Hindu monk (1863 – 1902)
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◦ Four are the Vedas – Rig, Yajur, Sāma and
Atharva.
UPANISHADS◦ Each of the four Vedas contains several
AND
Upanishads.
VEDAS ◦ Aitareya Upanishad, among others, is from
Rig-Veda
◦ Ishāvāsya Upanishad, among others, is from
Yajur-Veda
◦ Kena Upanishad, among others, is from
Sāma Veda and
◦ Mundaka Upanishad, among others, is from
Atharva Veda
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THINKERS RECOGNIZE THEM
The Vedas ..are the royal road to the
attainment of the Great Knowledge.
When I am at it, I feel I am under the
spangled heavens of a summer
night.
Henry David Thoreau,
American philosopher and writer
(1817 – 1862)
Note: The Vedas contain the
Upanishads.
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THE ULTIMATE VISION
◦ Upanishads, by number, are less than 5% of
the Vedic mantras
◦ By gravity of their message, they are
above the 95%
◦ Therefore they are Vedānta = the final
teachings of the Vedas.
◦ Upanishads = Vedānta = Vedānām Antah
◦ The 95% (Veda-Poorva) prepares us for the
5% (Veda-anta)
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EVER RELEVANT
The messages contained in
the Upanishads, like some
eternal source of light, still
illumine and vitalize the
religious mind of India.
Rabindranath Tagore,
Nobel laureate
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DHARMA
AND BRAHMA
◦ Thousands of scriptures guide us on DHARMA, righteous living.
◦ Merit (punya) and relative happiness (sukha) are the rewards of
dharma.
◦ The small number of Upanishads (108 or maybe 400) teach us
Brahma.
◦ Liberation (moksha) and absolute happiness (paramānanda)
are uncovered in Brahma.
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SCHOLARS ADORE THEM
Upanishads are the
solace of my life; they are
the solace of my death.
Arthur Schopenhauer,
German philosopher and
writer (1788 – 1860)
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1
What is UNCOMMON about them?
◦ All else gives happiness that comes
and goes.
◦ This wisdom puts an end to sorrow once
for all.
◦ The very purpose of Vedānta study is:
ātyantika-duhkha-nivritti,
paramānanda-prāpti
SELF-KNOWLEDGE TAKES ONE BEYOND
SORROW.
Nārada in Chāndogya Upanishad (7.1)
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2
What is UNCOMMON about them?
◦ Usually, more we know, more there is to
know!
◦ Knowledge, however glorious, does not
eliminate the sense of incompleteness.
◦ The insecure self disappears in this wisdom.
◦ We discover our ‘ever-free’ nature.
KNOWING WHAT, DOES EVERYTHING
BECOME KNOWN?
Shaunaka in Mundaka Upanishad (1.1.3)
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3
What is UNCOMMON about
them?
◦ Our common understanding: the world is
divided in numerous ways.
◦ Nationality, race, religion, language etc.
divide us.
◦ Wealth, power, position, privileges divide us.
◦ Here we discover absolute oneness of all
existence.
SEE YOURSELF IN ALL; SEE EVERYONE IN YOURSELF.
Ishavasya Upanishad (mantra 6)
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What is UNCOMMON about
them?
◦ Though “thought” is mighty, it is not the highest
power.
◦ Upanishads point to the deepest DIMENSION of
our existence.
◦ The Pure Self (ātmā) can see what the mind
cannot.
◦ This intelligence is not bound by space, time
and causation.
NOT GRASPED BY MIND, IT DRIVES THE MIND!
Kena Upanishad (mantra 1.6)
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SEEING BEYOND
RIGHT AND
WRONG
What is UNCOMMON about
them?
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◦ Virtue and vice (punya and pāpa), good
and bad, etc. are polarities in which our
mind is caught.
◦ Compassion rooted in Self-realization rises
above judgmentalism.
◦ The sun knows not ‘night and day’. Pure
love embraces saints and sinners alike.
INSTRUCT ME ON THAT WHICH IS BEYOND DHARMA AND
ADHARMA.
Katha Upanishad (mantra 1.2.14)
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What is UNCOMMON about
them?
◦ Much of our life revolves around sense gratification,
emotional satisfaction and intellectual indulgence.
◦ Pure Consciousness (prajnānam / pragyān)
remains behind the curtain!
◦ If we know our true nature to be CONSCIOUSNESS,
we conquer disease, old age and death.
CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE SUPREME TRUTH.
Aitareya Upanishad (mantra 3.3)
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What is UNCOMMON about
them?
◦ Thought creates the ideas of “others” and
“us”.
◦ Self-knowledge erases this division of “he,
she, you, me”.
◦ Whom do we fear when there is no ‘other’?
◦ Why fear our own shadow?
HE GETS ESTABLISHED IN FEARLESSNESS.
Taittiriya Upanishad (mantra 2.7)
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What is UNCOMMON about
them?
◦ This universe is just one third of what we
experience.
◦ The dream world is another vast domain.
◦ Deep sleep – without dreams – is the third
field.
◦ The Upanishads point to the FOURTH
(turiya), the essence of the waker, the
dreamer and the deep-sleeper.
THE WHOLE WORLD DISSOLVES INTO THE FOURTH.
Māndukya Upanishad (mantra 12)
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What is UNCOMMON about
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them?
◦ Great are the heights of spiritual growth, which we
can reach in human life.
◦ The mystic sound Om is the means to climb up.
◦ Om is the ladder to go up – towards excellence in
the relative world (apara brahma).
◦ Om is the ladder to go beyond – towards the
transcendental truth (para brahma).
OM IS EVERYTHING – THE ABSOLUTE AND THE RELATIVE.
Prashna Upanishad (mantra 5.2)
Vedas merge
in Gāyatri.
Gāyatri
merges in Om.
Sri
Rāmakrishna
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What is UNCOMMON about them?
◦ In the relative world, we “conceive” and
then “achieve”.
◦ In the realm of the absolute, we drop
concepts.
◦ The supreme truth shines forth when all ideas
fall.
neti, neti
na iti, na iti.
◦ The sun is evident when clouds move away.
THE WAY TO REALIZATION IS –
NOT THIS, NOT THIS.
Brihadāranyaka Upanishad (mantra 4.2.4)
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GUIDING US NOW TOO
The Upanishads,
though remote in time from us,
are not remote in thought.
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Second
President of India
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May we find
in the Upanishads
the key to
holistic health and right living
in today’s world.
VISIT
upanishad.info
THANK YOU
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