We started
this series of posts with a question whether there is anything after knowing
which we know everything; after hearing which we have heard everything. Or in
other words, what is the essence of all the diversity we see around us as the
world and our individual existences?
The
Upanishad (Chändogya Upanishad chapter 6, sections 1 to 16, “The story of Swetaketu”) says that this
essence is as follows.
Whatever subtle thing from which this entire world
came forth has also made things in this world alive by entering them in the
form of individual souls. And in essence, ‘each one of us is nothing but that’.
This is the ultimate truth.
Anyone who
has ‘realized’ this fundamental truth has understood everything and there is
nothing more to understand. All our
worldly knowledge is only an elaboration of whatever that ensued from ‘that’.
And so, once we know ‘that’ we know everything.
This is the
well known Advaitic (non-dualistic) statement
‘Tat Tvam asi’ – 'That thou art' - ‘You are That’.
PS: Incidentally, the same statement has been
interpreted differently by the Dwaitis
(dualists) in consonance with their point of view.
This is a series of posts based on the well known
discussion in Chändogya Upanishad (part of Säma Veda, believed to have been
recorded more than 3000 years ago) regarding ultimate truths.
No comments:
Post a Comment