A Commentary
on the Upanishads
by
Swami
Nirmalananda Giri
True desire and will
Having spoken of true desire and true will as properties of the Self, the upanishad now
outlines the practical aspect of such.
“As here on earth all the wealth that one earns is but transitory, so likewise transitory
are the heavenly enjoyments acquired by the performance of sacrifices. Therefore those
who die without having realized the Self and its right desires find no permanent happiness
in any world to which they go; while those who have realized the Self and its right desires
find permanent happiness everywhere.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8:1:6) The desires and
intentions of those who have not realized the Self, even if seemingly fulfilled, eventually
evaporate and come to nothing. But it is vastly different for those who know the Self and
act and will accordingly.
“If the sage desires to see his fathers of the spirit-world, lo, his fathers come to meet
him. In their company he is happy.
“And if he desires to see his mothers of the spirit-world, lo, his mothers come to meet
him. In their company he is happy.
“And if he desires to see his brothers of the spirit-world, lo, his brothers come to meet
him. In their company he is happy.
“And if he desires to see his sisters of the spirit-world, lo, his sisters come to meet him.
In their company he is happy.
“And if he desires to see his friends of the spirit-world, lo, his friends come to meet
him. In their company he is happy.
“And if he desires heavenly perfumes and garlands, lo, heavenly perfumes and
garlands come to him. In their possession he is happy.
“And if he desires heavenly food and drink, lo, heavenly food and drink come to him. In
their possession he is happy.
“And if he desires heavenly song and music, lo, heavenly song and music come to him.
In their possession he is happy.
“Indeed, whatsoever such a knower of Brahman may desire, straightway it is his; and
having obtained it, he is exalted of men.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8:2:1-10)
This is lengthy and perhaps not too obvious of meaning. The idea is that the realized
person has access to and embodies all that is positive from his past lives, both persons and
karmic conditions. This being so, he can obtain anything he desires and wills in the
present and the future. Yet “he is exalted of men” in a different manner than the dead and
departed “greats” of human history. He is exalted in the Self, in Brahman, in Absolute
Being.
The hallmark of Sanatana Dharma is its thorough practicality, its good sense, and its
demonstrable truth. So the upanishad next says:
“The fulfillment of right desires is within reach of everyone, but a veil of illusion
obstructs the ignorant. That is why, though they desire to see their dead, their beloved,
they cannot see them.
“Do we wish for our beloved, among the living or among the dead, or is there aught
else for which we long, yet, for all our longing, do not obtain? lo, all shall be ours if we but
dive deep within, even to the lotus of the heart, where dwells the Lord. Yea, the object of
every right desire is within our reach, though unseen, concealed by a veil of illusion.
“As one not knowing that a golden treasure lies buried beneath his feet, may walk over
it again and again, yet never find it, so all beings live every moment in the city of Brahman,
yet never find him, because of the veil of illusion by which he is concealed.” (Chandogya
Upanishad 8:3:1,2)
Meditation is the key to the treasure house! So the upanishad next says:
“The Self resides within the lotus of the heart. Knowing this, devoted to the Self, the
sage enters daily that holy sanctuary.
“Absorbed in the Self, the sage is freed from identity with the body and lives in blissful
consciousness. The Self is the immortal, the fearless; the Self is Brahman. This Brahman
is eternal Truth.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8:3:3,4)
Om!
Crossing the Boundary
The Boundary-Self
“The Self within the heart is like a boundary which divides the world from THAT. Day
and night cross not that boundary, nor old age, nor death; neither grief nor pleasure,
neither good nor evil deeds. All evil shuns THAT. For THAT is free from impurity: by
impurity can it never be touched.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8:4:1)
Setuh literally means a dam. In the experience of conditioned beings within the realm
of relativity, the individual Self or jivatman acts as a boundary between Its Supreme Self,
Brahman, the Paramatman, and the world of samsara. This is a very interesting fact, made
even more interesting by the fact that I have never encountered it except here in this
section of the Chandogya Upanishad.
We may think of the Self as a sea wall. On one side is the vast ocean of Brahman, and
on the other side is the “earth” of material form and change. On one side the wall is
experiencing the wetness of the sea, and on the other the dryness of earth. That in which
the individual finds himself immersed only applies to that “side” of his being. However
much we may experience birth, death, change, and all that attends them, they never touch
the realm of Brahman. Conversely, although we are living in–and as–Brahman, samsara
never touches that. Samsara and Brahman are mutually exclusive of one another. But we
participate in the “worlds” of both, in a sense linking them with one another. Presently we
are centered in samsara, experiencing our own Self as a barrier to Reality. But that barrier
can be crossed, so the upanishad continues:
“Wherefore he who has crossed that boundary, and has realized the Self, if he is blind,
ceases to be blind; if he is wounded, ceases to be wounded; if he is afflicted, ceases to be
afflicted. When that boundary is crossed, night becomes day; for the world of Brahman is
light itself.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8:4:2) That is so powerful and obvious that there is no
place for comment, other than to point out that the conditions listed from which the
knowers of the Self are freed are really only illusions, just mirages. The Self being Real,
such illusions vanish when It is known.
The way across the boundary
“And that world of Brahman is reached by those who practice continence
[brahmacharya]. For the knower of eternal truth knows it through continence. And what
is known as worship [yajna], that also is continence. For a man worships the Lord by
continence, and thus attains him.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8:4:3; 8:5:1)
You cannot get more clear than this! Brahmacharya is THE way to the realm of
Brahman (Brahmaloka). Certainly, sexual continence is the core of brahmacharya, but it
is really self-restraint on all levels–discipline. This is it: there is no other way to qualify for
union with Brahman than through brahmacharya. Yoga is an essential for that union, but
frankly the practice of yoga is worthless without brahmacharya. The proof of that is the
American and European yoga “scenes.” Nothing is coming of it spiritually, only
profiteering and self-delusion.
Brahmacharya is the necessary worship-sacrifice to know God. As the Beloved
Disciple wrote: “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is
pure.” (I John 3:3) Why claim to follow Sanatana Dharma if the teachings of the
upanishads and the Gita are not followed, but ignored and despised-degraded?
But there is more.
Liberation
“What is called salvation is really continence. For through continence man is freed
from ignorance. And what is known as the vow of silence, that too is continence. For a man
through continence realizes the Self and lives in quiet contemplation.” (Chandogya
Upanishad 8:5:2) Perhaps I should explain a bit about this fulsome assurance that
brahmacharya will accomplish everything.
We, like God, are incarnate in a field of energy which we are intended to evolve just as
God evolves the cosmos. When the evolution is completed, that is enlightenment and
liberation. This process requires the total application of the inner and outer powers
(energies) of the individual, powers that are devastatingly dissipated through sensory
experience, emotion, and desire–especially lust. It is like a machine that requires a certain
amount of voltage, or an engine that cannot run without the right amount of fuel. This is a
purely pragmatic proposition, having nothing to do with concepts of right, wrong, good,
bad, or any kind of moral valuation. For example, sex is not dirty, it is destructive.
Anything that diverts or dissipates the powers needed for evolution-enlightenment is to be
avoided. It is not a “sin” but a hindrance, a distraction. For this reason the intelligent
(buddhic) yogi is at all times vigilantly disciplined–in other words, a brahmachari or
brahmacharini. Those who do not wish to pay the price of enlightenment are free to pass it
by. No one is under coercion. To seek freedom the yogi must be free in that decision
(sankalpa) and in the requisite disciplines for success in seeking.
The necessity for brahmacharya is an absolute.
Forest-dwellers
“What people call dwelling in the forest [aranyayanam], that is continence.” This is the
first sentence of Chandogya Upanishad 8:5:3.
Most yogis have an inward pull to the forest life, to live in the midst of real nature away
from the noise and poisons of city life as well as the noise and pollutions of human society.
The Gita describes the yogi as “remaining in solitude, alone” (6:10), and having “distaste
for crowds of men” (13:10). Whether this is a samskara or an intuition, it will be found in
nearly all serious yogis.
One of my best friends was constantly going out into the wilds and risking life and
limb so he would meditate far from any other human being. I am not exaggerating about
the risks he took. One time he was literally starving, and even wrote a note to anyone that
might find his body, saying that it was his unwise ways that caused his death, and yoga
should not be blamed. He had been taken into the wilderness by another man, but he had
left his original camp and gone farther into the forest. So when the man came back after
some weeks to check on him, he could not be found. As my friend was lying on the
ground, preparing to die, suddenly that man came walking up and asked: “Where is that
woman?” Hardly able to speak, my friend asked his own question: “What woman?” “That
woman with the long black hair in the orange dress! If I hadn’t followed her, I couldn’t
have found you.” At first my friend was flummoxed, but then he reached in his pack for his
photograph of Paramhansa Yogananda. “Is that the ‘woman’?” he asked, holding it out to
the man. “Yes, that’s her!” the man replied. The Master certainly honored my friend’s
forest-yearning, however impractical.
Solitude is a matter of interior condition. The incredible Russian Orthodox saint, Saint
John of Kronstadt, not only never slept, he was never alone more than two hours in twenty312
four. Yet a man who knew him very well said: “Father John was always alone.” In contrast
are those that go miles away from any human being and take the whole world and its
population right with them. The teaching of the upanishad is that Brahmacharya is the
way to accomplish true inner solitude and quiet.
Immortality
“In the world of Brahman there is a lake whose waters are like nectar, and whosoever
tastes thereof is straightway drunk with joy; and beside that lake is a tree which yields the
juice of immortality. Into this world they cannot enter who do not practice continence. For
the world of Brahman belongs to those who practice continence. They alone enter that
world and drink from that lake of nectar. For them there is freedom in all the
worlds.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8:5:3,4)
Since Brahman is beyond materiality and even any kind of subtle name and form, these
verses are speaking symbolically of the immortality-bestowing effects of union with
Brahman–which can only be effected by those that practice brahmacharya. (Shankara
agrees with me in his commentary.) The meaning is pretty obvious: those who enter the
ocean of Brahman and “drink” will be filled with bliss, made immortal with the
Immortality of Brahman, and will have access to all the worlds of relative existence and
mastery in those worlds. Those who find the Absolute do not lose the relative, for the
relative is a manifestation of the Absolute.
The core idea, like the preceding verses, is the necessity of brahmacharya
.
Devas and Demons Seeking the Self
“It was said of old: ‘The Self, which
is free from impurities, from old age and death,
from grief, from hunger and thirst,
which desires nothing but what it ought to desire, and
resolves nothing but what it ought to
resolve, is to be sought after, is to be inquired about,
is to be realized. He who learns about
the Self and realizes it obtains all the worlds and all
desires.’” (Chandogya Upanishad 8.7.1)
This is the very heart of Sanatana
Dharma: the Self must be known, otherwise all is
lost. Sri Ramakrishna said it quite
directly: the purpose of human life is knowing God, so
those who do not strive to know God are
wasting their life. This is the Truth of truth.
Gods and demons
“The gods [devas] and demons [asuras]
both heard of this truth, and they thought to
themselves, ‘Let us seek after and
realize this Self, so that we may obtain all the worlds
and all desires.’ Thereupon Indra from
the gods, and Virochana from the demons, went to
Prajapati, the renowned teacher.”
(Chandogya Upanishad 8.7.2)
The sixteenth chapter of the Bhagavad
is devoted to the idea that human beings are
divided into two types: divine (daivic)
and demonic (asuras). It should be carefully studied
by those who see higher consciousness,
for it is bedrock truth. Here in the upanishad we
are given an exposition of the two
natures by means of a story.
It may seem that the gods and demons
had a common goal: to “obtain all the worlds
and all desires,” but that is not so.
It was certainly the aim of the demons, but the gods
desired the realization of the Self,
although they certainly knew that “all the worlds and all
desires” come to a knower of the Self
as a kind of side effect. As Jesus later said in Israel:
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness; and all these things shall be
added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
The difference in the reactions of gods
and demons can be seen today quite glaringly.
Multitudes of demons throughout the
world are spouting that “we are all God” and
“everything is God,” but with a
complete misunderstanding of such statements. For, being
entrenched in the ego and material
consciousness, they have no idea of the real nature of
“we” and “everything.” In the same way
they have no comprehension of what the divine
unity expounded in Advaita
(Non-duality) really means, interpreting it according to their
own ignorance and limitations, reducing
it to a string of childish cliches. Demons have a
marked facility for trivializing
anything, and degradation is their particular skill.
Approaching
Prajapati
Anyhow, Indra the king of the gods, and
Virochana, king of the demons, both went to
Brahma, to Prajapati the Creator. “For
thirty-two years they lived with him as pupils. Then
Prajapati asked them why they had both
lived with him so long. ‘We have heard,’ they
replied, ‘that one who realizes the
Self obtains all the worlds and all desires. We have lived
here because we want to learn of this Self.’”
(Chandogya Upanishad 8.7.3)
This verse has a lesson, not very
obvious, yet nonetheless important for us. The two
seekers lived with–or near–the teacher
for many years, without asking for what they
desired. This is because the teacher
should know the disciple and the disciple the guru.
When one of my friends, Dr. Mukherji,
met his guru, Sri Swami Purnananda of Assam, he
was astonished at his evident greatness
and asked to become his disciple. “Not at all,” the
master answered. “You must come to know
me well, and I must know you well. Visit me as
often as you can and live with me for
as much time as you can manage. Then after three
years of observing each other we can
talk about you learning yoga from me.” What a
contrast with the drum-beating, self-promoting
gurus of today, including those that
pretend to have high standards for
accepting disciples, but really try to ensnare everyone
their eyes rest upon. And here we see
that Indra and Virochana after thirty-two years had
not even brought up the subject of
instruction.
(We need not take so long, but we
should be very careful and not rush into accepting
the teachings of anyone. That is one of
the value of books. We can read them and discard
them if we find them worthless without
any conflict with the teacher. And we can apply
them without becoming the teacher’s
slave or dependent on him.)
Now we observe the first step in the
discovery of the nature of the Self. It is not
uncommon in the ancient texts for the
truth to be presented as a kind of ladder, starting
with either a dim perception of the
truth or even a complete misunderstanding and leading
upward bit by bit until the complete
truth is comprehended. Just why this was done has
not been said. Perhaps it was to show
that even mistaken or partial ideas were to be seen
as steps on the way to perfect
understanding. Or it may have been as a kind of yardstick
by which the level of development of a
person might be known. On the other hand it may
have been a showing of the logical
progression of thought on a subject. However it may
be, this account is part of that
tradition.
The body–the
Self
“Then said Prajapati: ‘That which is
seen in the eye–that is the Self. That is immortal,
that is fearless, and that is Brahman.’
“‘Sir,’ inquired the disciples, ‘is
that the Self which is seen reflected in the water, or in a
mirror?’
“‘The Self is indeed seen reflected in
these,’ was the reply.
“Then Prajapati added, ‘Look at
yourselves in the water, and whatever you do not
understand, come and tell me about it.’
“Indra and Virochana gazed on their
reflections in the water, and returning to the sage,
they said: ‘Sir, we have seen the Self;
we have seen even the hair and the nails.’
“Then Prajapati bade them don their
finest clothes and look again in the water. This
they did, and returning to the sage,
they said: ‘We have seen the Self, exactly like
ourselves, well adorned and in our
finest clothes.’
“To which Prajapati rejoined: ‘The Self
is indeed seen in these. The Self is immortal
and fearless, and it is Brahman.’ And
the pupils went away well pleased.” (Chandogya
Upanishad 8.7.4; 8.8.1-3)
Brahma asked the two inquirers to have
experience for themselves, which they did.
Notice, that they were the first to put
forth the idea that the body “which is seen reflected
in the water, or in a mirror” was the
Self. The teacher agreed. Puzzling as it seems there is
a great lesson here. It is better to be
mistaken on our own than to have the truth imposed
on us. I have known of teachers in
India agreeing to very silly ideas or proposals put forth
by disciples because they wanted them
to learn for themselves the error of their thoughts.
This is absolutely unique to India, and
surely one of the reasons why so many disciples
have become masters in their own right.
It is better for an idea to be ours, even if wrong,
than to bow to the belief of another,
even if it is more correct. The Gita (3:35) says: “Better
one’s own dharma though deficient than
the dharma of another well performed.…the
dharma of another invites danger,” and
this applies to personal philosophy, as well. Only
when we have the freedom to make wrong
conclusions will we develop the capacity for
right conclusions. Intellectual
integrity is of the utmost necessity, however most
religionists are opposed to it.
Indra and Virochana “went away well
pleased.” And this is normal. The whole world is
happy in delusions and illusions. So a
religion or philosophy that “satisfies” us, “answers
all our questions,” and in which we are
“happy” may be completely worthless. But we need
to discover that for ourselves. Though
their conclusions were wrong, twice in this passage
Brahma has told them that Brahman is
immortal and fearless. In this way he planted the
seed of truth in their minds.
“But Prajapati, looking after them,
lamented thus: ‘Both of them departed without
analyzing or discriminating, and
without truly comprehending the Self. Whosoever follows
a false doctrine of the Self will
perish.’
“Now Virochana, satisfied for his part
that he had found out the Self, returned to the
demons and began to teach them that the
body alone is to be worshipped, that the body
alone is to be served, and that he who
worships the body and serves the body gains both
worlds, this and the next. Such
doctrine is, in very truth, the doctrine of the
demons!” (Chandogya Upanishad 8.8.4,5)
The assertion that “whosoever follows a
false doctrine of the Self will perish” is crucial.
It tells us that thoughts really are
things and they lead us to a revelation of their nature: if
false, to confusion and delusion, and
if true, to the True. Jesus said: “According to your
faith be it unto you.” (Matthew 9:29)
Literally we are creating the world of our personal life
sphere. As we think it to be, so it
will tend to be, though much depends on the strength of
our mind and the intensity put forth in
exercising its creative power. Brahma let them hold
a wrong concept of the Self because
they had to discover the right concept for themselves.
This is hard for those brought up in
coercive religion to accept, but it is true. The nursery
rhyme is right: “Leave them alone and
they will come home.” But only in the East will this
faith in the individual be found.
Wherever we find it in the West it is but a ray of the
Eastern Light–but none the less
valuable for that.
Body-worship, which is really only
body-enslavement, is the “faith” of those possessing
demonic nature, and they literally do
die for it. When demons think about yoga it is always
Hatha Yoga–“Virochana Yoga.” The
myriads of “yoga studios” in the West are the haunts
of the children of Virochana.
“But Indra, on his way back to the
gods, realized the uselessness of this knowledge.
‘As this Self,’ he reasoned, ‘seems to
be well adorned when the body is well adorned, well
dressed when the body is well dressed,
so will it be blind when the body is blind, lame
when the body is lame, deformed when
the body is deformed. When the body dies, this
same Self will also die! In such
knowledge I can see no good.’ So he returned to Prajapati
and asked for further instruction.
Prajapati required him to live with him for another
thirty-two years, after which time he
taught him thus. (Chandogya Upanishad 8.9.1-3)
In Eastern Christianity they say that
it is the nature of demons to fall and never rise,
and of human beings to fall and rise
and fall and rise over and over again. In the same way
it is the nature of human demons to
adopt an error and hold to it throughout their life. But
it is the nature of devic human beings
to keep sifting through their ideas, discarding the
ones they discover to be mistaken, and
using the ones that are true as steps to even more–
and higher–truth. Since Indra was not a
demon, even before he got back to Indraloka he
understood the fallacy of identifying
the body with the Self. His reasoning is quite clear. So
he returned to Brahman for another
period of time, after which he was again instructed.
The astral
body–the Self
Brahma told him: “‘That which moves
about in dreams, enjoying sensuous delights
and clothed in glory, that is the Self.
That is immortal, that is fearless, and that is
Brahman.’ Pleased with what he had
heard, Indra again departed. But before he had
reached the other gods he realized the
uselessness of this knowledge also. ‘True it is,’ he
thought to himself, ‘that this Self is
not blind when the body is blind, nor lame or hurt
when the body is lame or hurt. But even
in dreams it is conscious of many sufferings. So
in this doctrine also I can see no
good.’” (Chandogya Upanishad 8.10.1,2)
In the conscious, waking state it is
the physical body, including the physical brain, that
dominates our consciousness, but in the
dream state it is the astral body and brain that
come into function and dominate our
awareness. This astral body leaves the physical body
at death, so it is usually mistaken for
the Spirit-Self by the various religions. But, as Indra
realized, this cannot be if the
definition of the Self formulated by the ancient rishis of India
is believed to be accurate. We must go
a step higher.
The causal
body–the Self
“So he went back to Prajapati for
further instruction. Prajapati now bade him live with
him for another thirty-two years, and
when the time had passed taught him, saying, ‘When
a man is sound asleep, free from
dreams, and at perfect rest–that is the Self. The Self is
immortal and fearless, and it is
Brahman.’
“Indra went away. But before he had
reached his home, he felt the uselessness even of
this knowledge. ‘In reality,’ thought
he, “one does not know oneself as this or as that while
asleep. One is not conscious, in fact,
of any existence at all. The state of one in deep sleep
is next to annihilation. I can see no
good in this knowledge either.’
“So once more Indra went back to
Prajapati, who bade him stay with him yet five
years.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8:10:3,4;
8:11:1-3)
In dreamless sleep the causal body is
dominant, and even in India there are people
who try to identify it with the Self,
and equate the dreamless sleep state with the eternal
state of the Self. This is because of
the extreme subtlety of that condition. Here, too,
Indra’s reasoning is as clear as it is
inevitable.
It is significant that Brahma only
required a residence of five years this last time.
Obviously Indra is so near the truth
that a longer time of purification is not required.
The Self as It
is
And when the time had passed, he made
known to him the highest truth of the Self,
saying: “This body is mortal, always
gripped by death, but within it dwells the immortal
Self. This Self, when associated in our
consciousness with the body, is subject to pleasure
and pain; and so long as this
association continues, freedom from pleasure and pain can no
man find. But as this association
ceases, there cease also the pleasure and the pain. Rising
above physical consciousness, knowing
the Self to be distinct from the senses and the
mind–knowing it in its true light–one
rejoices and is free.” (Chandogya Upanishad
8:12:1,2)
This is as inspiring as it is simple:
freedom and bliss (not mere pleasure) are the
attributes of the Self–and of those who
know the Self. Therefore Brahma concluded his
teaching of Indra with these words:
“The gods, the luminous ones, meditate
on the Self, and by so doing obtain all the
worlds and all desires. In like manner,
whosoever among mortals knows the Self,
meditates upon it, and realizes it–he
too obtains all the worlds and all
desires.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8:12:6)
Om
Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations H H Swami Nirmalananda Giri ji and Hinduism online dot com for the collection)
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