Nature of the Upaniadic Compositions

The principal texts within the Upaniads are dialogues between teachers and their disciples

• The subject: the Real

• What is said about the Real, the Absolute is neither systematic nor consistent

Dialogues

• Commentators sought to interpret the texts as consistent works.

• The opinions on the subjects fall under the following categories.

Later Approaches

• The most popular approach is a non-dual emphasis;

• The Absolute is the transcendent Reality (BU 3.8);• The Cosmic Principle, the immanent Spirit, is

mentioned in ChU 3.14;• In other passages, both aspects of Reality

are mentioned together (Mu 1.1.6)• On non-dualism (BU 2.4.14; 4.5.7; ChU

6.2.1; 8.7; Mu 3.2.9)

Nature of Reality: Non-dualism

• There is a distinction between “God,” soul, and matter

• Examples in BU 4.3.7; ChU 8.12; Mu 3.1.1.; Pra. 4.9; v 1.9

Dualism

• Some passages do not declare complete dualism, nor do they speak of one Reality

• Their position is midway between dualism and non-dualism (ChU 6.2.3; 3.2; TU 3.1.1; Ka 3.1)

Qualified Dualism

• In the v 1.10-11,14, Mu 3.1.8; Pr 5.1,3-5 the process of meditation was taught in place of the ritual act

• The Mu 1.2.7 considered ritual as useless for those who are seekers of truth, while

•v 2.6.7 reconciled ritual to other schools of thought.

Meditation vs. Ritualism

• The ultimate cause was Brahman• In some passages, it does not undergo any

change, though it may appear to have changed into the universe (ChU 6.1.4-6)

• Other passages suggest that Brahman desired to be many, so created fire, water, and earth in their subtle forms and entered them. By the combination of these elements, all other things were formed (ChU 6.2.3-4)

The Cosmos

• The phenomenal world, though seen as diverse, is at the same time the Brahman.

• Thus from Brahman it came and to it it will return (Mu 1.1.7; TU 3.1)

The Cosmos (2)

• Humans exist after death.• In one passage is contained the wish

that when one dies one becomes or experiences Brahman (ChU 3.14)

• Other passages suggest that Brahman can be attained in this very life (BU 4.4.6-7), which is not an attainment but a re-discovery of what one already is.

Goal of Life

• Hearing the Truth, reflecting on the Truth, meditating on the Truth (BU 2.4.5)

• Another teaching synthesizes activity and meditation ( U)

Means of attaining the goal

• The Upaniads recount a number of varied experiences and opinions of the teachers and seers.

• This diversity of experiences and opinions all point to the same object: the Real.

Observations

• BRAHMAN: The Absolute, the Real• In the early Vedas, bráhman was a power

“which bears, sustains, and strengthens,” animates or causes to increase.”

• It is “sacred power, sacred knowledge” which was associated with the ritual, the priests, and the gods (V), and with the magical incantation (AV)

Major Themes:Bráhman

• The source of its later elevation to Supreme lay perhaps with its identification with the ritual.

• This may be the basis in the Upaniadic equation of the Brahman with the cosmos with the totality of creation

• The sacrifice or ritual and its site were also equated with the cosmos and the powers therein

Brahman (2)

• Ritual = Brahman

• Cosmos = Brahman

Brahman (3)

• The Brahman in the Upaniads was an accepted fact.

• The purpose of the Upaniads was not to prove Brahman’s existence but to explain it.

Brahman (4)

• Via negativa: “neti neti”

• That which is beyond time, space, causality

• Sat, cit, nanda

Explanations

• Brahman is the transcendent reality and the immanent reality: it is “transimmanent”;

• It is beyond the cosmos yet at the same time is associated with the cosmos as its inner reality)

• If associated with the cosmos, it is its creator, preserver, and destroyer

• It is sometimes seen as personal but it is usually impersonal (nirgua)

Brahman: Summary

• Etymologically linked to breath

• Also associated with the body, the trunk of the body, and duration of life

• It is part of the macrocosm as well as the microcosm, for an tman of the universe was postulated as well as an atman of the individual.

tman: Self

• The tman, therefore is not simply the inner reality of the individual, but it is also the all-pervading first principle of the universe (Ch 5.11.1)

tman : Self (2)

•tman is considered to be – distinct from the sensory and bodily

organs, – distinct from the mind, – that it is totally different from the body

(being immaterial), – that it exists in different states (waking,

dream, dreamless, and later, the fourth state)

tman: Self (3)

– That it lies encrusted and bound to the mind, senses, and gua-s (rajas, tamas, sattva) causing it to partake in the relative world (karman-, phala-, sasra-)

– Its true nature is the same as that of Brahman (or the fourth state in the M U)

– Transcendent and immanent to the universe, and yet is it bound to the cosmos.

tman: Self (4)

• In the early Veda, karman- referred to “ritual action and the desired result of that action.”

• This was the central theme of much of the early Veda

Karman-

• Later, these Vedic texts were known as karma-ka- “the ruti which relates to karman-”

Karman- (2)

• Karman- now viewed in negative terms because it no longer leads to the proper goal.

• The goal is now attained through knowledge (jñna-)

• That section of the Veda (the Upaniads) that is related to knowledge is known as jñna- ka- ‘section (of the ruti-) related to knowledge’

Karman- in the Upaniads

• Karman- was to be avoided in the Upaniads

• The new teaching about karman- appears in BU 3.2.13 and 4.4.5.

• Karman- now leads to rebirth and determines the quality of rebirth.

Karman- in the Upaniads (2)

• BU 4.4.5: An so people say: “A person here consists simply of desire (kma-).” A man resolves in accordance with is desire, acts in accordance with his resolve (kratu-), and turns out to be in accordance with his action (karman-).”

Karman- and Desire