Month: November 2021

1. The Upanishads abound with passages which are both poetry and spiritual philosophy at the same time. 2. There are other passages in which the subtlest psychological and philosophical truths are expressed without falling short of poetic beauty and these are presented to the mind and the soul and not just to the understanding intelligence.… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 12

The prose passage in Katha Upanishad continues as follows: “The Self has made his doors outward, therefore man sees outward and not in the inner self. Only a wise man turns his eyes inward, desiring immortality and looks on the Self face to face. The child minds follow after surface desires and fall into the… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 11

1. When we look at the passage on AUM in the Prashna Upanishad we see that though these utterances may seem perplexing to our rational mind, they cannot be dismissed as childish mysticism. These are imaged expressions natural to the mentality of the Vedantic time. Our reason itself by its own processes is now showing… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 10

1. A prose passage from the Prashna Upanishad explains the meaning of the word “AUM”. If man meditates on the first letter “A” then he attains to knowledge. This is the world of Riks. Here he experiences the greatness of the spirit. If man meditates on the second letter “U” he is led to the… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 9

1. The Vedic and Vedantic imagery is foreign to our present mentality which does not believe in the living truth of the symbol. Our imagination has been intimated by the intellect. Hence we are unable to see the psychic and spiritual vision of the Upanishads. 2. Upanishads are very far from a childish, primitive or… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 8

1. The symbols in the Upanishad pass from psycho-physical upwards into psycho-spiritual knowledge. These are still valid for those who practise Yoga and want to rediscover the secrets of our psycho-physical and psycho-spiritual being. 2. Examples of the above kind are Ajathashatru’s explanation of sleep and dream or the passages of the Prashna Upanishad on… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 7

1. Each verse of the Upanishad is so poetic and the sound movement is such that each verse is like a wave of the infinite that carries in it the whole voice and rumour of the ocean. 2. This kind of poetry has not been written before or after. 3. The imagery of the Upanishads… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 6

1. The phrases and poetic sentences of the Upanishads help us to discover a whole infinite through a finite image. 2. All the metaphysical truths and psychological experience are made clear both to the mind and the spirit. 3. There are a number of small couplets or phrases which by itself contain a vast philosophy… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 5

1. The Vedantic sages sought to know the self, to live in it and to be one with it in identity. 2. They came to see that this self in us is one with the universal self of all things and this self again is the same as God or Brahman, a transcendent Being or… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 4

1. The larger generalizations of Science which apply to physical Nature have already been discovered by the Indian sages during the time of the Upanishads. 2. Upanishads are not a work of the intellect. 3. The Vedantic seers saw the Truth rather than merely thought it. They saw self-existence in the light of the Infinite.… Continue reading The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo – 3