| \ Upanishads Upanishads have over the ages answered many questions related to the spiritual world and the love of God and have thus satiated the curiosity of a new initiate with authentic knowledge of the Rishis. The human consciousness tried to interact with the world through the medium of the mind and the senses. To the mind of a person this world appears to be a collection of infinite experiences like touch, smell and colour. There exists some strange longing in the human consciousness that does not keep it satisfied with what the outer world has to offer. The picture of the world that the senses project in the mind seems illusionary to it and it tries to probe deeper so as to be acquainted with its true form. It is this inborn tendency that encourages a human being to delve deeper and deeper into the ocean of knowledge. Man involves himself in the pleasures of life that form the outer world. But this does not bring him true joy and peace in life. He is not able to enjoy full freedom or totality in life by interacting with the outer world. Whether he is working, or trying to enjoy the pleasures of life, he ever remains filled with sorrows and tensions. To get rid of his sorrows and problems he works harder and tries to lose himself in the pleasures of life and tries his best to know the world better. The Senses and the Mind More a person tries to reach the inner consciousness by directing his mind and the senses inwards, more he realises that true joy cannot be had through outer means. It is through this process that one becomes fully enlightened. When one is enlightened, all one's knowledge, actions and experiences in life are freed from the limiting scope of the mind and the senses, for then one is able to visualise the true picture of this world with the help of one's activated inner vision. The world then appears very different, for then one is free of the limiting perspective of the senses. When this happens all differences that exist between the Supreme Consciousness and this world disappear and everything appears to be a part of the Supreme. The human consciousness then becomes omnipresent and omniscient and free of all limitations. Then one experiences true joy, absolute freedom and totality. It is the consciousness that is free of the shackles of the mind and the senses which is known as Human Consciousness or Consciousness of a Yogi. And the true knowledge that is had through the medium of this consciousness is known as Upanishad. The truth that unfolds itself due to the supreme consciousness forms the basis of the whole world and all the life present in it. This consciousness forms a common playground for both the physical and the biological world. It is after realisation of this consciousness that a human attains to true joy, knowledge and freedom. One then becomes free of false boundaries of countries and time , and rises above base feelings like enmity, jealousy, fear and hatred. It is then that one has the realisation of one's true powers and capabilities. When the great Rishis try to describe their experiences the people are left dumbstruck on hearing the strange facts as their senses tend to distort their inner vision. They are not able to fully assimilate this knowledge but accept it as ideal knowledge coming out of the mouths of enlightened ones. And encouraged by this description they try to accomplish Sadhanas so as to be free of the limitations of the mind and the senses. The Upanishads contain collected divine words of the great human beings who were able to achieve total realisation and gain true knowledge and to whom the supreme element had exposed all its hidden secrets. This knowledge was passed on from one generation to the next in the tradition of Guru and disciple i.e. from a Guru to his disciple. Encouraged by these very words, spiritual seekers and numerous Sadhaks have over the ages gained perfect control over their minds and senses and have had a glimpse of the Supreme. Benefits of Listening to Divine Words The greatest of spiritualists having found worldly proofs, logic and all arguments incapable of describing the Supreme have considered the knowledge of the Upanishads as the best proof of Supreme Consciousness. And they used their intellect and wisdom to the best in order to bring out the true essence contained in these texts. They decided that a human has to listen to the divine words of the sages and concentrate all his inner power if he wishes to attain true knowledge in life. All texts - the Smritis, Puraanns, Darshan and Tantra - are alive because people listen to them and this knowledge is best propagated through this medium. Supreme realisation is possible for spiritual aspirants of all ages and places. India is fortunate to have had so many great Rishis in all times. All these enlightened individuals and great savants have unanimously accepted the supreme truth that lies hidden in the divine words of the Upanishads and they have done much to propagate the knowledge contained in these texts. In fact the realised souls all over the world have known the great knowledge that is hidden in the Upanishads. Upanishads and the Indian Culture It is a very special feature of the Indian Culture that it is based on the knowledge of the Sadhanas and on the realisation of the Supreme. All its literature, sciences, philosophy, religions, castes, social structure, policies have been based on this very knowledge contained in the Upanishads. Upanishads are in fact the soul of the Indian culture or the Aryan culture. The very essence of the Vedas, the very highest knowledge appears in the Upanishads. That is why Upanishads are known as Vedaant i.e. conclusion to the Vedas. All Sadhanas are in fact based on the Upanishads. Divine Knowledge and the Mind The Supreme that is realised through the means of divine consciousness is called Brahm by the Rishis. Brahm means supreme, and nothing can be more supreme than Brahm. It is not bound by any limits of national boundaries, time or energy and the western scholars call it Infinite, Eternal or the Absolute. We call it Brahm! It is the most total manifestation of the Intellectual Consciousness, and the most enlightening concept of Philosophical Knowledge. Till the Brahm is not realised the mind cannot be peaceful and one can never attain to totality in life. Philosophical knowledge can never help one with the realisation of the Brahm. But man has great will power and he can transcend the mind, and all logic and have a glimpse of the Brahm through inner search. The experiences which are beyond the mind and the senses and which occur only when one has realised Brahm have been collected in the Upanishads. Continued Upanishads-II "The Major Ten" Back to Sanskrit Zodiac II ^ Back to the top ^ Vedic Links-I and II What is Darshan? Sanskrit Zodiac-I and II Messages Vedic Hindi Sanskrit Alphabet Mantra Why Sanskrit? Glossary yhvh@groups.msn.com | 
