Dr S Radhakrishnan points out the importance and significance of pranava (om) in meditation.  The syllable AUM or OM , with which every recital of the Vedic chants begins, is represented in the first stanza of Chandogya Upanishad as the symbol of the Supreme and therefore the means of the meditation of the Supreme. In meditation, the soul is furnished with a symbol on which we fix our gaze, on which we concentrate all our imagination and reasoning. When meditation reaches its end, when there is no distraction or disquiet, when there is calm repose, sweet tranquility, there is the vision. We start with prayer, we pass on to meditation. When the discursive acts cease, we have contemplation. The Chandogya Upanishad opens with the instruction to concentrate on the syllable aum, to draw our thoughts away from all other subjects, to develop ‘ekagrata’ or one-pointedness. Symbol cannot be taken as final. It has a number of aspects. When it is transposed into the ...

Dr S Radhakrishnan quotes, thoughts and sayings are from various sources. They are mainly from his books, talks and articles. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan thoughts are mostly based on religion and Hinduism. Any form of worship which falls short of complete self-naughting will not take us to the unitive life. Faith, devotion, surrender are the means to it. Each individual has to achieve insight by his own effort after long and persistent practice. The Divine reveals itself to men within the framework of their intimate prejudices. Gorgeous flowers justify the muddy roots from which they spring. The law of karma encourages the sinner that it is never too late to mend. Service of one’s fellows is a religious obligation. To repudiate it is impiety. When the wick is ablaze at its tip, the whole lamp is said to be burning. Those who separate themselves from the rest of the world in the name of religion or race, nation or polity, are not assisting huma...

A collection of wisdom and philosophical ideas of Dr S Radhakrishnan. Regarding the future there is nothing sure or predestined or guaranteed. The only certainty is that the good will prevail over evil. The spirit in man is the source of his freedom. We are free to choose the cause. When once we exercise our choice, we may not be able to alter or affect the effect. If we do not take note of the currents of thought and aspiration but claim to speak of infallible truth about God, discard the canons of social justice, overlook that God finds something of himself in each religion and not fully in any, if we do not develop community of minds in a world that is desperately threatened by instruments which we ourselves have devised, the number of unbelievers will increase and God himself may join the camp of unbelievers. Even the conviction that one’s own faith gives a deeper insight into reality, need not engender hostility to those who cherish other beliefs. We may look upon others ...

Summing up the teaching of Upanishad Dr Radhakrishnan says God’s dwelling place is in the heart of man. The inner immortal soul and the great cosmic power are one and the same. Brahman is Atman and Atman is Brahman. We have to remember that the highest religion of the Upanishads, which insists on meditation and morality and worship of God in spirit and truth, is not encumbered by such traditional dogmas and miracles as still hang upon the skirts of other religions. Its central principle that there is one supreme reality that manifests itself in the universe is not asserted as a dogma. It is the ultimate truth at which it is possible for human understanding to arrive. The progress of science and philosophy does not conflict with it but only confirms it. The Upanishads, though remote in time from us, are not remote in thought. They disclose the working of the primal impulses of the human soul which rise above the differences of race and of geographical position. At th...