In Today’s book talk I am going to discuss about my book “Upanishads – A journey into the unknown”.
The original title for this book that was in mind was – “Upanishads – A journey into the unknowable”. But then I changed it to the current title to avoid sounding a bit oxymoronic! If something is ‘unknowable’, there is no way you can know it!
But then, that is the beauty of these Upanishads. These 5000-year-old Indian scriptures, that are philosophic parts of the Vedas, seem to talk in riddles. They say that they are talking about that ‘which cannot be known, which is beyond mind, something that they don’t know how to explain to others!’
But the Upanishads claim that whatever they are talking about is not authored by anyone, not even by God! If that is the case, how is one sure that whatever they are saying is right?
Upanishads say that anyone who can put himself/herself into a state ‘beyond mind’ can ‘know’ the same truth. You don’t need to be a prophet for that. You don’t have to believe in God either! Nor you have to blindly accept what they say.
There are many Upanishads. 10 of these are considered to be most important. Most of these deal with the single topic, namely ‘that’ which cannot be described, but can be experienced in deep states of meditation. They also promise eternal bliss to all those who experience that.
Upanishads are the basis of Yoga, Bhagavad Gita and many other ancient Indian scriptures. They emphasize mostly on systematic enquiry followed by meditation, where one can ‘experience that which cannot be experienced by the Mind’.
In the present book, I take you through a guided tour, into this highly intriguing journey, into the domain of unknown, nay unknowable. You are going to discover new meanings to the act of ‘knowing’.
Firstly, this book takes you from a personified religious concept of God to an altogether abstract notion of God, that is neither male nor female, nor human like, nor has any human emotions, nor can be dealt with any of our senses.
Then it goes on to explain how such an abstract thing can be ‘experienced’. It provides a deeper insight into the act of cognition that we are so used to, and talks about cognitions that are beyond the domains of our Mind.
It talks about a specific state that is beyond our normal perception, in which we can experience this ‘indescribable thing’ that these Upanishads are talking about.
Upanishads don’t believe in talking about something, knowing which is not useful. In fact, most ancient Indian scriptures always insist on tangible purpose for any discourse.
Upanishads project ‘eternal peace’ as a reward to anyone who manages to undertake this journey. They also explain how and why of such eternal peace.
They try to unify the entire world by mapping this abstract thing onto the myriad things we see around. They say that the diversity we see around is actually many appearances of a single thing – you may call it God or whatever.
This philosophy of Upanishads has given rise to many interesting schools of later Indian thought – whether it is the Monism or Advaita of Sankara, or the Dualism or Dwaita of Madhwa. I have discussed some of the interesting scenarios, especially from the Advaitic school, and given my own views.
All this high philosophy of Upanishads is not without practical use. The Upanishads explain how the Unified view of the entire world brings us together rather than divide us. They don’t endorse a negative approach to life, but they exhort us to live a full life enjoying it. They only caution us to practice moderation and avoid excess.
If all this sounds highly technical, don’t you worry. I have arranged the journey in such a way that you can go ‘step at a time’. Entire book is split into short well focused chapters that are almost independent and self-contained. So, you can enjoy it ‘bite at a time’.
So, if you enjoy reading philosophy, and would like to have a taste of the ‘other side of the world’ (pun intended), this is the right book for you. I am sure you will find it greatly enlightening.
Where can I find this book?
You can find this book in almost every online store that sells books, such as amazon, apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, scribd and so on. This book is available both in e-book as well as in print book formats.
Check the link https://books2read.com/Upanishads for a preview/purchase in these formats. This is a universal book link that would list most stores where the book is available and if you click the store icon, you will be taken to that store in your region. Before I forget, let me remind some of you who may not be familiar with Books2read.com, that the 2 is numeral 2 and not the word ‘to’
Bye then, till we meet again, week after next, with another of my books.
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