Guest guest Posted August 13, 2008 Report Share Posted August 13, 2008 Dear All, We concluded Part 3 with the following: (P.183) " The conclusion of this in the Svetasvatara Upanishad is, " When by means of the real nature of his self he sees as by a lamp the real nature of Brahman, then, having known the unborn, eternal God who is beyond all natures, he is freed from all fetters. " [10] Here we have another description of this final state. In that state first of all one realises oneself, 'atmavidya', one has knowledge of the self. By means of the real nature of this self one enters into one's true being, beyond mind, beyond intellect, into the inner self. Then, as by a lamp, one sees the real nature of 'brahman'. Instead of seeing a mere appearance of sense objects around one, or of mental objects, one sees the Reality. And the Reality within and the Reality without are the same. One realises the non-dual Reality. " [10]Svetasvatara Upanishad 2:15 A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and Christian Faith), Pg.183 Bede Griffiths Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois ISBN 0-87243-180-0 Here now is Part 4. Enjoy! violet The Ascent to the Godhead - Part 4 (P.183) There is a further stage here. " Having known the unborn, eternal God (deva). " This brings us to the third aspect, that this Reality is not only 'brahman' behind the universe, and not only 'atman' the self within, but is also recognised as God, as personal being. This is a new stage, that the one Reality is the transcendent mystery of being and the transcendent consciousness, but also, and for that very reason, a person, because a person is a conscious being. Ultimately person is fully conscious being. So here this third element is introduced into the experience of the one reality. The text says a little later, " That person is 'purusha', not larger than a thumb, dwelling within, always dwelling in the heart of man. " [11] This is another way of expressing it. Beyond the outer senses, beyond the mind, beyond the intellect, in that inner centre, the heart, is this 'purusha'. When he is said to be the size of a thumb it means he has no dimensions, he does not belong to this world of space and time. (P.184) " He is perceived by the heart, the thought and the mind. " [12] The terms in Sanskrit are 'hrdaya', the heart, 'manisha', the thought, and 'manasa', the mind. These terms become more precise later on, and although here they are used in a general sense there is the recognition of this faculty by which we can know the self within, the true person, the God within. Finally at the end of the Svetasvatara Upanishad it says, " through the power of his 'tapas' and through the grace of God, the wise Svetasvatara truly proclaimed Brahman. " [13] One of the means by which 'brahman' is attained is by 'tapas', which originally meant " heat " . It is the inner heat which is generated in yoga and meditation, and so it comes to mean all disciplined yogic activity. It is through one's own effort, 'tapas', and through the grace of God, that one comes to know Brahman. This conception of grace occurs also in the Katha Upanishad where it says, " Not by much learning, not by the Vedas, not by understanding, is this Atman known. He whom the Atman chooses, he knows the Atman. " [14] So it is not only through the power of one's own 'tapas' and 'sadhana', efforts and discipline, that the 'atman' is attained, but one encounters the grace of the 'atman' coming from above, which draws us to itself. So that is the witness of the Svetasvatara Upanishad. Now we come to the 'Bhagavad Gita', and here a further great advance is made. The Bhagavad Gita recognises a three-fold yoga, 'karma', 'bhakti' and 'jnana'. In the earlier tradition, which we have looked at so far, the yoga was 'jnana' yoga, where knowledge and consciousness were being sought. The discipline was concerned with how to awaken the higher levels of consciousness and come to the Supreme. But the Bhagavad Gita recognises that there are other ways to the one Reality, and the first is 'karma'. Karma is basically " work " , and in the earlier traditions it was said that work cannot enable one to reach the Supreme. But 'karma' has several different meanings and the first one is ritual action. (P.185) That was the original meaning of 'karma' in the Vedas. The point that the seers of the Upanishads made was that one cannot reach this level of consciousness by ritual action. This was the basis of the teaching of Shankaracharya when he said that it is not by ritual (karma) but by knowledge (jnana) that one knows the One. So it is necessary to go beyond ritual. But the Bhagavad Gita gives a wider sense to 'karma'; it is not only ritual action but also social action and moral action. The situation in the Bhagavad Gita is that Arjuna, who represents the human self, is seated in a chariot facing the battle and Krishna, the Lord, comes to counsel him. Here the chariot represents the body, Arjuna is the mind and Krishna is the spirit within, the Lord who has come to counsel him. What Krishna says to Arjuna is that he must fight the battle. He must face life and do his work in the world. This was a very important development because at an earlier stage it had been said that one should separate from the world, separate from all activity and meditate in silence and solitude, and then one attains the Supreme. That is one path, the way of the ascetic, the 'sannyasi', and that path is also recognised by the 'Gita', but it now opens another path which is a way for the householder, the ordinary person living his ordinary daily life, if the work is done in the spirit of yoga. There are several conditions for doing one's work in the spirit of yoga. Attachment is what the Buddha called 'tanha' or 'trishna', clinging to people, clinging to things. This attachment is really the attachment of the ego in the self-centred person. There is a true self which is open to God and to others, and there is a false self which clings to itself and, centring on itself, sees everything in the context of itself. That is the great obstacle to all meditation and to all transcendent experience. [11] Svetasvatara Upanishad 3:13 [12] Svetasvatara Upanishad 3:13 [13] Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:21 [14] Katha Upanishad 2:23 A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and Christian Faith), Pg.183-185 Bede Griffiths Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois ISBN 0-87243-180-0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.