A collection of sayings and wisdom of the Upanishads. Undoubtedly upanishads contain the greatest human wisdom.
No one can understand the sound of a drum without understanding both the drum and the drummer.
No one can understand the sound of a drum without understanding both the drum and the drummer.
Let one therefore keep the mind pure for what a man thinks, that he becomes.
The only way to know it is to become it.
Self-knowledge is the best of all forms of knowledge; through it, one attains immortality.
Know yourself, so what you’ve done won’t burn you. Nor will what you’ve left undone.
The spirit down here in man and the spirit up there in the sun, in reality are only one spirit, and there is no other one.
Out of abundance he took abundance and still abundance remained.
In a world where everything changes the divine is everywhere present.
Consciousness alone is alive. Everything objective is dead and inert.
Our senses are created as outward-going. Therefore we see things in the outside. But one dhira (a bold man, or one who withdrew his senses from objects), longing for deathlessness, turned his eyes (sense perceptions) inward and perceived the real ‘I’- principle.
Love becomes divine when personality is not emphasized.
It is just mind that is the cause of bondage, and of liberation also, in our human lives. In bondage, mind is tied to objects. But, in freedom, mind recalls that it is truly objectless.
You are what your deep driving desire is – Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
As an eagle, weary after soaring in the sky, fold its wings and flies down to rest in its nest, so does the shining Self enter the state of dreamless sleep, where one is freed from all desires. – Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
What is here is also there; what is there, is also here. Who sees multiplicity but not the one indivisible Self must wander on and on from death to death. – Katha Upanishad
When the living beings are awakened from slumber, they slowly struggle to know their true nature and become free. (Shvetashvatara Upanishad)
When an exalted soul realizes that all sentient beings are one in relation to the Supreme – i.e. that all beings are the minute parts of the One – how shall he have any more delusion and what grief will come to him? Isa Upanishad
Truly, God is One; there can be no second. He alone governs these worlds with His powers. He stands facing beings. He, the herdsman, after bringing forth all worlds, reabsorbs them at the end of time. Svetasvatara Upanishad
Through the ripening of the fruits of his actions he does not attain any rest, like a worm caught within a whirlpool. The desire for liberation arises in human beings at the end of many births, through the ripening of their past virtuous conduct. Paingala Upanishad
Seekest thou to know that from which all these beings are born, having born by which they live, and into which while departing, they enter. That is Brahman. Taittiriya Upanishad
This Atman, the self-luminous light continues to exist as the power of seeing and revealing the activities of the mind, even when the lights of the sun, moon and fire have set. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
They enter blinding darkness who worships Avidya. Into greeter darkness, as it were, do they enter who delight in Vidya. (Isha Upanishad)
By self-discipline purification of the mind is attained. Through purification of the mind clear understanding is reached. Through clear understanding Self knowledge is gained. (Maitri Upanishad)
When nourishment is pure, reflection and higher understanding become pure.
When reflection and higher understanding are pure, memory becomes strong.
When reflection and higher understanding are pure, memory becomes strong.
When memory becomes strong, there is release from all the knots of the heart. (Chandogya Upanishad)
The Atman (Self) is never born and never dies. It is beyond
time, unborn, permanent and everlasting. It does not die when the body dies. —
Kathopanishad.
Teachings on Brahman in Upanishads
God the term we daily use is known as Brahman in Upanishads. Below are few teachings on Brahman in Upanishads
Brahman is existence, knowledge, absolute. (Taittiriya Upanishad)
Brahman is in nature consciousness bliss. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
Brahman is beyond sound, touch, form and taste. It is eternal, infinite, immortal and absolute. (Kathopanishad)
It is neither gross, nor subtle, nor short, nor long, nor colourful. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
That which the mind cannot comprehend but without which the mind cannot contemplate upon anything at all, understand that to be Brahman. (Kenopanishad)
That which cannot be perceived with the eyes but by which the eyes are able to see, know That alone as Brahman. (Kenopanishad)
That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the ears are able to hear, know That as Brahman. (Kenopanishad)
Teachings from Upanishads – Shvetashvatara Upanishad
Fire though not seen at first is there all the time; it becomes visible by friction; even so the Self is there all the time though unperceived by those in a state of ignorance. It is perceived when by mediation on the syllable aum, we subdue the lower self. The vision of the Self has to be seized in the body by means of the syllable aum. (I.13)
By knowing Brahman there is a falling off of all fetters; when the sufferings are destroyed, there is cessation of birth and death. By meditating on Brahman, there is the third state; on the dissolution of the body, universal lordship; oneness with Ishvara (Brahman). (I.11)
God in Upanishads – Teachings
Like oil in sesame seeds, butter in cream, water in the riverbed, fire in tinder; the Self (God) dwells within the soul. Realize that Self through truthfulness and meditation.
Self is everywhere, shining forth from all beings, vaster than the vast, subtler than the most subtle, unreachable, yet nearer that breath, than heartbeat. Eye cannot see it, ear cannot hear it nor tongue utter it; only in deep absorption can the mind, grown pure and silent, merge with the formless truth. As soon as you find it, you are free; you have found yourself; you have solved the great riddle; your heart is forever at peace. Whole, you enter the Whole. Your personal self returns to its radiant, intimate, deathless source.
The All-knowing Self was never born, nor will it die. Beyond cause and effect, this self is eternal and immutable. When the body dies, the Self does not die. If the slayer believes that he can kill and the slain believes that he can be killed, neither knows the truth. The eternal Self slays not, nor is ever slain.
Om. For instance, as all leaves are held together by (their) midribs, in this way all the words are joined together by Om. Om is indeed all these. Om is indeed all these. (Chandogya Upanishad, 2.23.3)
Teachings from Upanishads on Meditation on OM
He (Prajapati) meditated with regard to them (the worlds). From them, which were meditated on, issued
The intelligent know this world that is attainable by Rig mantras, the intermediate space achievable by the Yajur mantras, and that which is reached by the Sama mantras. The enlightened man attains that (threefold) world through Om alone; and through Om as an aid, he also reaches that Supreme (Reality), which is peaceful and beyond old age, death, and fear. (Prashna Upanishad, 5.7)
That Supreme Being moves inside the heart of created beings possessing manifold forms. O Supreme, You are the sacrifice, You are the expression Vashat, You are Indra, You are Rudra, You are Brahma, You are Prajapati, You are That, You are the water in the rivers and the ocean, You are the sun, You are favor, You are ambrosia, You are the body of the Vedas, You are the three worlds — bhuh, bhuvah, suvah — and You are Om. (Mahanarayana Upanishad, 68.2)