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The Higher Knowledge by Swami Sarvapriyananda

Vedanta Society of Southern California・2 minutes read

The Upanishads explore life's profound questions through dialogues between seekers and spiritual masters, seeking to uncover the unifying cause behind the diverse world. They emphasize the existence of one infinite being that can be known and experienced, leading to the realization of pure existence, consciousness, and bliss as the ultimate reality.

Insights

  • The Upanishads address profound questions about life, death, God, and the soul, often asked in youth but forgotten in adulthood, emphasizing the importance of fundamental life inquiries rather than mundane concerns.
  • The Mundaka Upanishad delves into the seeker's quest to uncover the fundamental reality that unites the diverse world, highlighting the existence of one infinite being that gives existence to the entire universe, with the purpose of life being to realize this underlying existence and attain peace through self-realization.

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Recent questions

  • What are the Upanishads?

    Dialogues exploring life's big questions.

  • What is the purpose of life according to the Upanishads?

    Realizing the underlying existence.

  • How does the Upanishads explain knowledge?

    Lower and higher knowledge distinction.

  • What is the ultimate reality according to the Upanishads?

    Existence, knowledge, and bliss.

  • How do spiritual practices align with the teachings of the Upanishads?

    Realizing identity as Brahman.

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Summary

00:00

"Seeking Unity: The Upanishads' Profound Questions"

  • The Upanishads address profound questions about life, death, God, and the soul, often asked in youth but forgotten in adulthood.
  • The Upanishads are dialogues between seekers and spiritual masters, exploring life's biggest questions and offering answers.
  • The Mundaka Upanishad, a foundational Vedanta text, dates back 4-5 millennia and features a seeker named Shaunaka approaching the master Angiras.
  • Shaunaka, a wealthy man with fire altars for sacrifices, seeks answers beyond conventional religion, leading him to spiritual seeking.
  • Shaunaka approaches Angiras in the traditional manner, offering firewood as a gift before posing the question: "What is that one thing by knowing which everything is known?"
  • Spiritual teachers emphasize the importance of asking fundamental life questions rather than mundane concerns.
  • The seeker's question delves into the concept of knowing everything by understanding one thing, likening it to knowing clay to understand all clay products.
  • The seeker seeks a unifying cause behind the diverse world, aiming to grasp the essence that underlies all existence.
  • A story about a businessman and a pawn shop owner illustrates the concept of perceiving the underlying reality behind appearances, as seen in the valuation of a Ganesha idol and a mouse.
  • The seeker's inquiry reflects a quest to uncover the fundamental reality that unites the vast diversity of the world, seeking to understand the essence that permeates all existence.

18:05

"Realizing One Infinite Reality: Transcendent Knowledge"

  • The teacher emphasizes the existence of one reality underlying the diverse world we see, which can be realized and known.
  • Analogies are used to explain this concept, such as all waves in the ocean being water alone, and all ornaments being gold alone.
  • The Upanishads claim the existence of one infinite being that gives existence to the entire universe, which can be experienced and known.
  • Knowing this infinite existence is said to solve all problems in life, with the purpose of life being to realize this underlying existence.
  • Various religions and philosophies, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity, have arrived at the concept of pure existence, consciousness, and bliss as the ultimate reality.
  • The teacher responds to a question about knowledge by explaining two kinds of knowledge: lower knowledge, which includes the study of Vedas, grammar, poetry, and astrology, and higher knowledge, which leads to the realization of the unchanging, indestructible reality.
  • The teacher uses the story of Ganesha to illustrate the difference between lower and higher knowledge, with Ganesha choosing to circle his divine parents instead of racing around the universe for a mango.
  • Knowing the cause, the divine reality, leads to understanding the effects, the manifested universe, similar to knowing clay to understand clay products or gold to understand gold ornaments.
  • The dream analogy is used to explain how the entire cosmos of our experiences is nothing but a projection of one infinite reality, with two ways of knowing it: individually studying each aspect or realizing the underlying reality like Ganesha did.
  • The higher knowledge, the transcendent knowledge, leads to the realization of the unchanging, indestructible reality, which goes beyond the study of individual aspects to understanding the essence of the universe.

35:28

"Unveiling the Eternal Reality: Akshara"

  • The higher knowledge reveals the eternal reality, the Akshara, which is invisible and cannot be perceived by the senses.
  • The Akshara lacks attributes, color, shape, or size, making it ungraspable by the senses.
  • It is the causeless cause, the source of everything, akin to clay being the source of all pottery.
  • The ultimate reality is not a specific type of knowledge or feeling but is existence, knowledge, and bliss itself.
  • It is omniscient, omnipotent, and eternal, creating the universe without the need for instruments or mediums.
  • The ultimate reality remains unchanged, eternal, and all-pervading, existing beyond time and being the essence of everything.
  • The text illustrates the concept of the universe being like waves in an infinite ocean, with individuality dissolving into the infinite reality.
  • Swami Vivekananda's realization of oneness with the ultimate reality led him to proclaim the universe as waves in the ocean of existence.
  • The universe emanates from the immutable Akshara, similar to how a spider creates a web from its own body, emphasizing the universe's projection from the ultimate reality.
  • The Upanishads clarify that the spider analogy is symbolic, highlighting the effortless emanation of the universe from the ultimate reality, not the worship of a cosmic spider.

53:15

"Realizing Brahman: Path to Peace and Self-Realization"

  • The Upanishad explains that Brahman, representing pure consciousness and bliss, projects the ever-changing universe, with the reality of existence, consciousness, and bliss always present. Spiritual practices, including meditation and unselfish actions, aim to help individuals realize their identity as Brahman, as per Shankar Acharya's commentary. The ultimate goal is to recognize the infinite nature within oneself, leading to peace and self-realization.
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