What is realization, and what happens when you reach there as per Upanishads?

[Quick links]

 

 

As per the traditional belief, whatever truth one finds in the Upanishads is an attempt by the Upanishadic sages to explain their experience, that they had when they were in deep state of meditation. That is the realization they arrived at. It is a different matter whether they could describe their experience exactly as they went through it. But anyone who goes on their path, would surely experience the very same truth and it needs no further validation.

What is this realization as per the Upanishads?

What is realization, and what happens when you reach there – as per Bhagavad Gita?

[Quick links]

 

 

 

 

 

The Bhagavad Gita has a complete chapter on meditation – chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga. This deals with how someone undertakes this path of realization or attainment of ultimate truth. It also explains what happens when someone reaches the culmination of this path and what is the ultimate truth that one realizes.

Romance 05. Have you seen my beloved?

[Quick links]

 

Akka Mahadevi is on the final phase of her journey. She wants to make the impossible possible. Though without a body consciousness, she does have a body and that body has its own limitations. It wants to see the formless in some form. That is because it can only perceive forms. It does not understand abstract things.

Romance 04. I swear, you can’t trick me!

[Quick links]

 

In the previous episode, we saw how a young girl namely Mahadevi dared to take on the entire world. She did not care how the worldly people look at her. She discarded all identities, even the identity as a female!

She went around naked without any hesitation or feeling of shame.

Romance 03. He haunts me in my dreams, the curly haired one!

[Quick links] 

 

 

Before we get into this dreaming business, let us start this episode with a startling incident.

It was an assembly of great saints, all of whom had experienced God in their own way. There were men and women who had gathered together to share their individual experiences with each other. They had also come for a serious discussion about how the society can be reformed.

Romance 02. All is fair in love and war!

[Quick links] 

 

 

We were discussing the story of one of most revered mediaeval saints of India, namely Goda. Goda is in love with God! And she has no hesitation to admit it openly. So, she sings expressing her love to God. She imagines herself to be one of the cowherd girls who lived with Krishna, when the God descended on earth in the human form of Krishna.

Romance 01. Romancing the divine!

[Quick links]

 

Probably a Christian or a Muslim may even shudder to think of such a thing. Romance with God?! Maybe it sounds blasphemous. But not in India among Hindus. There, it is perfectly alright to have a ‘love affair with God’. Well, only if you are a female. As a female devotee, it is perfectly all right to look upon God as your male companion, your beloved, your lover.

Thought 41. Yoga is like the reverse of creation

[Quick links]

 

 

Many modern Yoga teachers define Yoga as union. Union with what? Many definitions have been given. But the fact remains that most of us mean body exercises, when we say Yoga. It is about manipulation of the body, it is about fitness of the body, it is about ‘control’ of the body and its instincts. That is the domain of Hatayoga.

So, what is this union about?

Patanjali Yoga goes a step further. It talks about moving beyond the body and mind. It talks about the soul. And if at all you can use such a word, it talks about uniting with your real self, or attaining Kaivalya – a state where the soul is completely free.

But is that the end? That is what we will be seeing in this episode.

 

 

New Book: Amazing Upanishads

[Quick links]

 

 

Upanishads always fascinated me. For those people who are not familiar, Upanishads are the philosophic parts of the ancient Indian Vedas. And Vedas are probably, the oldest available scriptures of the world. While most Indians view Upanishads with lot of reverence, many westerners, which include well known scientists and intellectuals, consider them as the peak of human intellectual endeavors.

Thought 27. She declares that she IS God! (Thought soup series)

[Quick links]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The topic of this episode is a strange case where a young girl declares herself to be God. It may sound crazy or height of arrogance, and even blasphemous, in some of the majority religions

Thought 26. The Man with thousand heads! (Thought soup series)

[Quick links]

 

In this episode, we will take up one of the well-known ‘creation hymns’ of the ancient Indian Vedas. But we will be looking at this hymn from a slightly different point of view.

Thought 25: Were ancient Indians aware of BIG BANG theory?

[Quick links]

Big bang theory is the most widely accepted scientific theory about how our universe emerged 13.7 billion years ago. Though there is not much of empirical evidence about this theory yet, except for mathematical derivations, it is most likely to be true. This theory was propounded in the late 1940s and refined in the past few decades.

But what is amazing is that there are seemingly similar descriptions of the origins of the universe, in the more than 5000-year-old Vedas. – the most ancient scriptures of India. In this talk, I will briefly touch upon one such description.

Thought 23: What does Patanjali say about Meditation?

[Quick links]

 

Patanjali is normally credited with laying out a formal base for Yoga or meditation. The meditation talked about by Patanjali seems to be a reframing of early Buddhist meditative practices in the light of Upanishadic meditation, and under the strong logical framework of Samkhya. What does Patanjali say about meditation?

Thought 22: Upanishadic Meditation

[Quick links]

 

 

Once, one of my readers surprised me by saying that Upanishads never talk about meditation! Probably he was watching a bit too many of the videos by the Advaiti Swami that I talked about, a few episodes ago 😉 That Swami sometimes says that meditation is only an aid to move on the path of enquiry or Jnyana Marg; and as such, meditation cannot lead to ultimate realization. We have already discussed about this earlier, when I talked about that swami.

Is it then true that Upanishads don’t talk about meditation?

Thought 21: Think twice before you try these meditations!

[Quick links]

 

Many modern Gurus propagate different techniques which they either call as ‘mindfulness meditation’ or ‘insight meditation’. They make tall claims about what these can really achieve. But actually, these are rehashing of well-known Buddhist meditative techniques. So, it is important to know about these Buddhist meditation techniques, that have a long history and are still being practiced among the Buddhists.

Thought 20: Guided Meditation

[Quick links]

 

Nowadays one keeps coming across YouTube videos on ‘Guided Meditation’. Sitting face to face with a ‘live’ Guru and going through a session of guided meditation has become a thing of the past. It is time for running a ‘Meditation ap’ on your mobile phone, totally in the comfort of your cozy home. Of course, nothing comes free. Instead of paying a hefty fee to a Guru, you end up paying subscription fee to the ap maker 😉

 

Am I also talking about one such guided meditation? 

Thought 6: Are you a sinner?

[Quick links]

 

 

 

I had an Indian friend who lived in US for a while. She was working in IT industry like most Indians who migrate to US. She told me an interesting incident.

Thought 5: Why is Hinduism what it is?

[Quick links]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most westerners brush aside Hinduism as a polytheistic religion with idol worship at its core. 

People of Abrahamic religions pride themselves as practitioners of monotheistic faith. That they feel, makes their faith superior to ‘the rest of the Pagan’ faith systems. 

If you have followed my previous posts and or many of my earlier posts, you will agree that monotheism is not some prerogative of the Abrahamic religions.

Thought 4: Amazing thoughts from the Upanishads!

[Quick links]

Upanishads are the ancient Indian texts believed to be dating back to at least 5000 years. They are parts of the Vedas. They formed the main philosophic texts of Ancient India, at least before the advent of Buddhism.

Some of the thoughts expressed in these Upanishads are amazing, seen even from today’s point of view. My intention is not to say that whatever expressed in them is right. I just want to highlight how wrong we are when we try to assign a chronology to intellectual evolution.

Thought 3: Was this world created or it evolved on its own?

[Quick links]

Most religions have a creator God. This creator God is the one who is believed to have created this world. If you are a believer, you just accept this without asking questions. But the modern Atheists like Richard Dawkins don’t agree that any such God exists. In that case, how did this world come into existence?