Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

This is the oldest Upanishad, and also the longest.  In it, ideas about transcendental Reality are still closely connected with concepts concerning the rites of sacrifice.  The main characters in this Upanishad are the seer Yajnavalkya and his intelligent wife Maitreyi.

 

The following sections are of most interest.

 

Chapter 2

It is oneself that one should see and hear, and on which one should reflect and concentrate. For by seeing and hearing one's self, and by reflecting and concentrating on one's self, one gains the knowledge of the whole world (which in essence is Ātman).  Ātman pervades all things invisibly, like the salt in the sea.  Salt dissolves and becomes part of the water. In the same way the Self (Ātman) is absorbed into and becomes part of pure consciousness. As long as there is separateness you can perceive the separateness; but when the Self is part of pure consciousness it also becomes the Seer. You cannot see the Seer.

 

 

Chapter 4

§1-2

Yajnavalkya rejects Janaka’s views on the nature of Brahman.  He says (4.2.4), “About this Self (Ātman) one can only say not–––, not ––– (neti, neti).  He is ungraspable …undecaying …has nothing sticking to him…is not bound…not fearful…uninjured.” [This section is repeated at least twice more later in the text.]  

 

§3

The Self is the ultimate source of light.  When a person dies, only the body dies.  When a person sleeps, the Self is awake, keeps the body alive with prana, goes wherever he wants.  The Self is free from desire, evil and fear.  The world of Brahman is a world of unity.  The Self separates from the body at death, and realises Brahman.

 

§4

This section describes what happens to the Self at the death of the body.  The Self is Brahman, and consists of everything.  As a person acts in life, so he becomes (i.e. if he behaves badly he becomes evil).  A person who is free from desire in life will not return to earth after the death of the body.

 

§5

You should reflect on the Self and concentrate on the Self.  The Self is indestructible.  Of it, you can only say, “not–––, not –––”

 

Writing about Chapter 4, Feuerstein (The Yoga Tradition, page 175) says:

Since the Self, or the Absolute, is all there is, It cannot be an object of knowledge. Therefore Yajnavalkya argues that, ultimately, all descriptions of It are mere words. He responds to all pos­itive characterizations of the Self by exclaiming "not thus, not thus" (neti-neti). This famous pro­cedure of negation is fundamental to Vedanta spirituality: Yogins of this tradition are asked to constantly remind themselves of the fact that all the states and expressions of their body-mind are, in themselves, other than the transcendental Reality. No experience amounts to Self-realiza­tion. The body, as it is ordinarily experienced, is not the Self, nor are thoughts or feelings as they normally present themselves. The Self is nothing that could be pointed to in the finite world. This perpetual vigilant discernment is called viveka, which literally means "separating out."

Through steady application to this practice of discernment, yogins develop an inner sensitiv­ity both to what is ephemeral in their nature and to the underlying eternal Ground of all their expe­riences. This awakens in them the will to renounce every-thing that they have identified as belonging to the world of change. Discernment and renunciation finally lead to the discovery of the universal Self, the atman, beyond all concepts and imagery, beyond all change.