The Upanishads by Hari Prasad Shastri

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The Upanishads by Hari Prasad Shastri

(From Self-Knowledge Spring 1958)

 

We know almost nothing of the history of the Sages of the

Upanishads. They were not fond of fame, and have left of themselves

little more than their bare names. The ancient Sages, unlike the

self-advertising teachers of today, gave their spiritual experiences

in a simple, direct way. They did not enter into controversies

unless a vital spiritual principle was involved.

 

Their mode of life is revealed in the case of some. They lived in

the simplest way in the forests by the holy river Ganges. They were

ascetics and not at all worldly; and though they were sometimes

visited by the ruling princes of the time, they gave the learning

they possessed freely, and did not desire wealth and riches. They

had their disciples who lived with them as brahmacharis and served

them. The teachers in return supported them and gave them the

learning. Their life was one of communion with the ultimate reality

and study of the scriptures. They were fond of nature. They

possessed cows which supplied them with the milk which was their

staple food. Some of them had families, but as a general rule they

were renunciates and celibates.

 

They charged no fee. The devoted service of their disciples was the

only material return which they expected. They were pilgrims to the

holy land of the eternal truth within. The experiences they gathered

on the holy journey were more or less the same, though the paths

they travelled varied. They have given no systematic philosophy, but

their teachings are metaphysical; everything else was secondary.

They were devotees of truth, and their chief discovery was that

truth is in the self of man and that it can be gained by a pure life

of communion, or Yoga.

 

Their ethical standard was very high. They loved truth and dharma

(righteousness) and were masters of themselves. Their very presence

radiated peace and love: the lion and the lamb in their presence

lived in peace. They were men of transcendental experience. Rituals

occupied an important place in their teachings. Fire was for them a

symbol of purity and divine light, and they worshipped it to

instruct their disciples.

 

The teachings of the Sages of the Upanishads have been systematised

by Shri Bhagavadpad Shankara. In order to understand them you have

to study the Upanishads with a teacher who has himself received the

initiation from a teacher. Sometimes they appear contradictory, and

some passages seem meaningless; but if you have patience and follow

the moral discipline you can derive light from them with the help of

the commentaries of Shri Shankara. The Upanishads are to be studied

like science: what you read in the books you have to practise. As in

chemistry in order to understand a theory you have learnt you must

experiment on it in the laboratory, so the Upanishads have to be

realised in the inner life of purity, self mastery and communion,

called Yoga. The European scholars study them like the Greek

philosophy. They follow no moral discipline and practise no

meditation. The result is that they know only the shadow of the

teachings and miss the sweet juice of shanti (peace) and

illumination. These teachings are not for show; they are called

rahasya or secrets of the inner life. One practising brahmacharya

(self control) and Yoga can know them, but not the intellectual

quibbler. This is made clear in many stories in the Upanishads.

 

There is no narrowness in the Upanishads. The Sages were democratic

in their way of life, and their teachings are free from fanaticism

and nationalism. Nobody is condemned as a heretic. Even the

materialist Charvaka is met on the plane of logic and not condemned

at all.

 

The Upanishads contain moral teaching of the highest order. The

accusation that there is no moral teaching in them is the invention

of the Churchmen. " Love truth, follow dharma " is the keynote of the

Yogic morality. Sanctity of life is a great moral discipline of the

Upanishads. Lying is the blackest of sins. To inflict pain on others

is condemned in the strongest terms.

 

Unless the passions are conquered and compassion, forgiveness and

humility are practised in daily life, you cannot meditate on the

teachings of the supreme wisdom - the Yoga. A restless mind,

burdened with worldly desires, is subject to anger, aversion and

infatuation; it is unfit to meditate on truth.

 

The essence of the Upanishads is summed up in the four great

sentences: " That thou art " , " This Self is Brahman " , " I am Brahman "

and " Intelligence is Brahman " . The Bhagavad Gita summarises all that

is best in the Upanishads.

 

The Upanishads by Hari Prasad Shastri

http://www.self-knowledge.org/key/upanishads.htm