Supreme Reality

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Om Namah Sivaya

 

The following extract is from an ancient Indian

scripture the Kena Upanishad:

 

`The teacher said: `It is the Ear of the ear, the Mind

of the mind, the Speech of the speech, the Life of the

life, and the Eye of the eye. Having detached the True

Self from the sense-organs and renounced the material

world, the Wise attain Immortality.

 

The eye does not wander, nor speech, nor the mind. We

do not know It; we do not understand how anyone can

teach It. It is different from the known; It is above

the unknown. Thus we have heard from the preceptors of

old who taught It to us.

 

That which cannot be expressed by speech, but by which

speech is expressed - That alone know as Brahman, and

not that which people here worship.

 

That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by

which, they say, the mind is apprehended — That alone

know as Brahman, and not that which people here

worship.

 

That which cannot be perceived by the eye, but by

which sight is perceived — That alone know as Brahman,

and not that which people here worship.

 

That which cannot he heard by the ear, but by which

hearing is perceived — That alone know as Brahman, and

not that which people here worship.

 

That which cannot be smelt by the nose, but by which

smell is perceived — That alone know as Brahman, and

not that which people here worship.`

 

The teacher said: `If you think: " I know Brahman

well, " then surely you know but little of Its form;

you know only Its form as conditioned by man or by

demi-gods. Therefore Brahman, even now, is worthy of

your inquiry.

 

The disciple said: `I think I know Brahman.`

The disciple then said: `I do not think I know It

well, nor do I think I do not know It.` He among us

who knows the meaning of " Neither do I not know, nor

do I know " — knows Brahman.

 

He by whom Brahman is not known, knows It; he by whom

It is known, knows It not. It is not known by those

who know It; It is known by those who do not know It.

 

Brahman is known when It is realised in every state of

mind; for by such Knowledge of the True Self one

attains Immortality. By the True Self one obtains

fortitude; by Knowledge of the True Self, Immortality.

 

 

If a man knows the True Self here, he then attains the

true goal of life. If he does not know It here, a

great destruction awaits him. Having realised the Self

in every being, the wise relinquish the material world

and become Immortal.`

 

Sri Ramakrishnaya Namah

Vivekananda Centre London

http://www.vivekananda.co.uk