THE UPANISHADS — Overview — The Greatest Sayings — Brahman — Universal Prayer KATHA UPANISHAD — Importance of a Guru — Brahman is Aum — Nature of Atman — Realizing Atman KENA UPANISHAD — True Goal of Life ISHA UPANISHAD — Ignorance PRASNA UPANISHAD — Power of Aum AITAREYA UPANISHAD — Brahman is Consciousness MANDUKYA UPANISHAD — Importance of Aum Gaudapada Karika — Understanding Maya — Non-duality of Atman — The Nature of Brahman — Dreaming and Waking — Reincarnation — Soul is Immortal MUNDAKA UPANISHAD — The Higher Knowledge — 'Aum is the Bow' — How to Know Brahman? SVETASVATARA UPANISHAD — Practice of Yoga — Manifestations of Brahman TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD — Invocation — The Knower of Brahman — Brahman is Bliss (Ananda) CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD — Gayatri Mantra — Everything is a Name — Brahman is Being (Sat) BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHAD — Prana — That Thou Art — Aspects of the Universe — Self-Realization — States of Consciousness — Liberation

 

 

Katha Upanishad

Excerpts

Importance of a Guru

Atman, when taught by an inferior person, is not easily comprehended, because It is diversely regarded by disputants. But when It is taught by him who has become one with Atman, there can remain no more doubt about It. Atman is subtler than the subtlest and not to be known through argument. (1.2.8)

[Atman: individual soul, the Eternal Self, Pure Consciousness.]

This Knowledge cannot be attained by reasoning. Atman becomes easy of comprehension, O dearest, when taught by another. ... (1.2.9)

Brahman is Aum

Yama said: The goal which all the Vedas declare, which all austerities aim at, and which men desire when they lead the life of continence, I will tell you briefly: it is Aum. (1.2.15)

This syllable Aum is indeed Brahman. This syllable is the Highest. Whosoever knows this syllable obtains all that he desires. (1.2.16)

Nature of Atman

The knowing Self is not born; It does not die. It has not sprung from anything; nothing has sprung from It. Birthless, eternal, everlasting, and ancient, It is not killed when the body is killed. (1.2.18)

If the killer thinks he kills and if the killed man thinks he is killed, neither of these apprehends aright. The Self kills not, nor is It killed. (1.2.19)

Atman, smaller than the small, greater than the great, is hidden in the hearts of all living creatures. A man who is free from desires beholds the majesty of the Self through tranquility of the senses and the mind and becomes free from grief. (1.2.20)

The wise man, having realized Atman as dwelling within impermanent bodies but Itself bodiless, vast, and all-pervading, does not grieve. (1.2.22)

He who has not first turned away from wickedness, who is not tranquil and subdued, and whose mind is not at peace, cannot attain Atman. It is realized only through the Knowledge of Reality. (1.2.24)

Know the atman to be the master of the chariot; the body, the chariot; the buddhi, the charioteer; and the mind, the reins. (1.3.3)

The senses, they say, are the horses; the objects, the roads. The wise call the atman—united with the body, the senses, and the mind —the enjoyer. (1.3.4)

If the buddhi, being related to a mind that is always distracted, loses its discrimination, then the senses become uncontrolled, like the vicious horses of a charioteer. (1.3.5)

But if the buddhi, being related to a mind that is always restrained, possesses discrimination, then the senses come under control, like the good horses of a charioteer. (1.3.6)

Beyond the senses are the objects; beyond the objects is the mind; beyond the mind, the intellect; beyond the intellect, the Great Atman; beyond the Great Atman, the Unmanifest; beyond the Unmanifest, the Purusha. Beyond the Purusha there is nothing: this is the end, the Supreme Goal. (1.3.10)

Realizing Atman

Arise! Awake! Approach the great and learn. Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, so the wise say—hard to tread and difficult to cross. (1.3.14)

Having realized Atman, which is soundless, intangible, formless, undecaying, and likewise tasteless, eternal, and odourless; having realized That which is without beginning and end, beyond the Great, and unchanging—one is freed from the jaws of death. (1.3.15)

Children pursue outer pleasures and fall into the net of widespread death; but calm souls, having known what is unshakable Immortality, do not covet any uncertain thing in this world. (2.1.2)

It is through Atman that one knows form, taste, smell, sounds, touches, and carnal pleasures. Is there anything that remains unknown to Atman? This, verily, is That. (2.1.3)

It is through Atman that one perceives all objects in sleep or in the waking state. Having realized the vast, all-pervading Atman, the calm soul does not grieve. (2.1.4)

He who knows the individual soul, the experiencer of the fruits of action, as Atman, always near, and the Lord of the past and the future, will not conceal himself from others. This, verily, is That. (2.1.5)

By the mind alone is Brahman to be realized; then one does not see in It any multiplicity whatsoever. He goes from death to death who sees multiplicity in It. This, verily, is That. (2.1.11)

He is the sun dwelling in the bright heavens. He is the air dwelling in the interspace. He is the fire dwelling on earth. He is the guest dwelling in the house. He dwells in men, in the gods, in truth, in the sky. He is born in the water, on earth, in the sacrifice, on the mountains. He is the True and the Great. (2.2.2)

He it is who sends prana upward and who leads apana downward. All the devas worship that adorable One seated in the middle. (2.2.3)

When the soul, identified with the body and dwelling in it, is torn away from the body, is freed from it, what then remains? This, verily, is That. (2.2.4)

No mortal ever lives by prana, which goes up, nor by apana, which goes down. Men live by something different, on which these two depend. (2.2.5)

There is One who is the eternal Reality among non-eternal objects, the one [truly] conscious Entity among conscious objects, and who, though non-dual, fulfils the desires of many. Eternal peace belongs to the wise, who perceive Him within themselves—not to others. (2.2.13)

The sages realize that indescribable Supreme Joy as "This is That." How can I realize It? Is It self-luminous? Does It shine brightly, or not? (2.2.14)

The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings—not to speak of this fire. He shining, everything shines after Him. By His light all this is lighted. (2.2.15)

If a man is able to realize Brahman here, before the falling asunder of his body, then he is liberated; if not, he is embodied again in the created worlds. (2.3.4)

Beyond the senses is the mind, beyond the mind is the intellect, higher than the intellect is the Great Atman, higher than the Great Atman is the Unmanifest. (2.3.7)

Beyond the Unmanifest is the Person, all-pervading and imperceptible. Having realized Him, the embodied self becomes liberated and attains Immortality. (2.3.8)

Atman cannot be attained by speech, by the mind, or by the eye. How can It be realized in any other way than by the affirmation of him who says: "He is"? (2.3.12)

When all the ties of the heart are severed here on earth, then the mortal becomes immortal. This much alone is the teaching. (2.3.15)

There are one hundred and one arteries of the heart, one of which pierces the crown of the head. Going upward by it, a man [at death] attains immortality. But when his prana passes out by other arteries, going in different directions, then he is reborn in the world. (2.3.16)

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* Excerpts translated by Swami Nikhilananda

THE UPANISHADS — Overview — The Greatest Sayings — Brahman — Universal Prayer KATHA UPANISHAD — Importance of a Guru — Brahman is Aum — Nature of Atman — Realizing Atman KENA UPANISHAD — True Goal of Life ISHA UPANISHAD — Nature of Atman PRASNA UPANISHAD — Power of Aum AITAREYA UPANISHAD — Brahman is Consciousness

MANDUKYA UPANISHAD — Importance of Aum Gaudapada Karika — Understanding Maya — Non-duality of Atman — The Nature of Brahman — Dreaming and Waking — Reincarnation — Soul is Immortal MUNDAKA UPANISHAD — The Higher Knowledge — 'Aum is the Bow' — How to Know Brahman? SVETASVATARA UPANISHAD — Practice of Yoga — Manifestations of Brahman

TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD — Invocation — The Knower of Brahman — Brahman is Bliss (Ananda) CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD — Gayatri Mantra — Everything is a Name — Brahman is Being (Sat) BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHAD — Prana — That Thou Art — Aspects of the Universe — Self-Realization — States of Consciousness — Liberation

 

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Reference to Kriya Yoga Raja Yoga

Book I: Introduction — Samadhi ('Oneness') Book II: Introduction — Sadhana ('Practice')

Book III: Introduction — Vibhuti ('Powers') Book IV: Introduction — Kaivalya ('Liberation')