The Isha Upanishad is significant amongst the Upanishads for its description of the nature of the supreme being (Ish).It presents a monist or non-dual perspective of the universe. The text then asserts the oneness of the supreme self;
"For the enlightened one all that exists is nothing but the Self". Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi thought so highly of this text that he remarked, "If all the Upanishads and all the other scriptures happened all of a sudden to be reduced to ashes, and if only the first verse in the Ishopanishad were left in the memory of the Hindus, Hinduism would live for ever."
The shloka Mahatma Gandhi was referring to is as follows. "From the whole the whole, from the complete arises the complete. Deducting the whole from the whole, the whole alone remains."
"Om Poornam Adah Poornam Idam Poornaat Poornam Udachyate Poornasya Poornam Aadaay Poornam Evaa Vashishyate"
Simple Meaning:
'You are the fullness. There is fullness, here is fullness. From the fullness, the fullness is born. Remove the fullness from the fullness and the fullness alone remains.'
Implied Meaning:
That (Brahman) is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. (Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe), it remains as the infinite (Brahman) alone.
That (the invisible Brahman) is full, this (the visible Brahman) is full. This full (visible Brahman) proceeds from that full (invisible Brahman). On grasping the fulness of this full (visible Brahman) there is left that full (invisible Brahman)
Higher Level Meaning:
The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the complete whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the complete whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.
The Isha Upanishad $5.95
"He who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me is never lost to Me, nor do I become lost to him." ~~Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita~~
ReplyDeleteI love the Vedic quotes. My favorite book is the Upanishads, The Vedic scriptures. As a Mediator, the collection of philosophical texts describe what the ancient ones cognized during their deeper mediation states. These texts speak to your soul. My personal experiences in those subtle worlds during meditation, are spoken about in the Upanishads. It is so confirming. The Upanishads are considered to contain revealed truths concerning the nature of ultimate reality.
There is no place to go... no one to be.. nothing special about you or me. We simply are.. a reflection of thoughts from a point of view before our daily perceptions. Just relax, and live them out in the display of the daily energy that we focus upon.
IF you can only have ONE BOOK to take with you in this world... for me, it is the Upanishads. Smile.