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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com)

 

Realisation of truth, a revelation

 

CHENNAI, NOV. 10. When a spiritual aspirant strives for the goal

of liberation from bondage, it is knowledge of the Self (Atman)

which can remove his ignorance and thereby enable him to see the

truth of his nature. Scriptural texts like the Upanishads point

to this fact by various methods with the objective of illumining

the seeker's mind.

 

One of the smallest Upanishads which is slightly more abstract

than an average one, is the Isavasya Upanishad. It leads the

aspirant beyond the level of spiritual progress wherein he

envisions truth as effulgence. The seeker in this Upanishad

expresses his wish to go beyond this light, its very source.

 

The Isa is generally regarded as the first among the Upanishads

and is very popular because of its universal appeal. It

recognises that human life in the world has to be fulfilled in

all aspects - both secular and spiritual goals must be realised.

One of the concluding verses of the Upanishad is in the form of a

prayer for divine revelation. It says, ``By the lid of the golden

orb is the face of truth hidden; please remove it so that I may

see Thee, I who am devoted to truth.'' Two significant facts are

expressed in this prayer. Firstly, it affords a glimpse into the

mind of the spiritual aspirant.

 

Here the seeker is not totally ignorant of the spiritual goal. He

has evolved from that stage by assiduously striving towards the

spiritual end and is aware that he has not attained the highest

and thus seeks the intervention of the Supreme Reality to reveal

the truth to him. Generally one tends to associate black with

ignorance or something hidden from our sight. The second

significance of this Upanishadic prayer is that it conveys that

the face of truth is hidden by a ``golden orb'' and hence it

refers to a seeker who is not totally ignorant.

 

In his discourse, Swami Asutoshananda said the seeker's intellect

was indicated as the ``golden orb'' in this Upanishad. It is

common knowledge that ignorance prevents man from realising the

truth but it is puzzling when human intellect is referred as a

veil camouflaging Reality. Mind is the instrument of knowledge as

far as empirical knowledge is concerned and man's intellect is

the most evolved aspect of the mind. But, at the spiritual level

the intellect acts as a barrier hiding the true nature of the

Self. So the last hurdle that a spiritual aspirant has to

surmount is his own intellect, which is very subtle, and hence it

is more difficult to overcome than ignorance. It is for this

reason that divine intercession is essential to realise God.

 

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