The Upanishads deal primarily with the nature of the ultimate Reality, which they denote with three simple but significant terms: sat, Brahman, and Atman. Each Upanishad provides a different conceptual approach to the same eternal principle. Divergent opinions surface in various contexts even in a single Upanishad. Nevertheless, we do not find a single instance of chauvinism in the vast Upanishadic literature.
Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings are in consonance with the
concept of God found in the Upanishads.
His allegory of water in the pond being referred to by different names by
people of different religions substantiates this idea. In fact, Sri Ramakrishna
himself practiced the disciplines of various religious paths, attaining
fulfilment through each one. In the end, he declared, ‘As many faiths, so many
paths.’ Truly, his life and teachings embody the substance and spirit of the
Upanishads.
Description of the nature of God, the universe, and the
individual soul forms the crux of any system of religious philosophy. The
principal Upanishadic idea is that the phenomenal world derives its existence
from the great principle, Brahman. The intention is to impress upon the pupil
that the universe comes out of God, exists in God, and goes back to God.
‘Everything is to be covered with God’ — this is the process of meditation that
the Upanishads place before a spiritual aspirant. They
see the whole universe as one entity filled with divine consciousness, the
diversity of which is but an aberration, a conceptual error. Upanishadic philosophy
is not passive, as some Western authors think it to be; it is holistic,
positive, and dynamic.
According to Sri Ramakrishna, this world is a ‘mansion of mirth’.
The Upanishads too concede this. The Taittiriya Upanishad teaches about ananda
or the blissful aspect of Brahman. The
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says that the sentiments of love and bliss found in
the world among humans are but parts of supreme Bliss, which is the very nature
of Brahman. Sri Ramakrishna was also averse to a negative attitude towards the
world, as he visualized God in every being and God’s lila in every phenomenon
of this universe. The Upanishads substantiate this idea, stating that one who
sees the Atman or Brahman everywhere overcomes all sorrow. Thus, in Sri
Ramakrishna we find the perfect ideal of the Upanishadic sage.
A common element in the teachings of the Upanishads and
those of Sri Ramakrishna is the conviction that God can be both without
attributes and with attributes. If we study the Upanishads
independently, we can see that these two concepts of the supreme Reality occur
side by side in many places without any ambiguity. We see clearly that according
to the Upanishads the ruler of the universe, Ishwara, is the same as the
transcendental principle called Brahman. In addition, the same
consciousness dwells in each being as the innermost core of the personality.
This absolute principle transcends the functions of the body, mind, and intellect,
which are the cause of diversity among
living beings. Though transcending this diversity, it remains a witness
thereof.