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This is Part 16 of A Catechism of Enlightenment–a serialized commentary on “A Method Of Enlightening A Disciple” from Shankara’s Upadeshasahasri–A Thousand Teachings

52) “In what does the sun find its support? The eye. In what does the eye find its support? Colors, for one sees colors with the eye. In what do colors find their support? The heart [hridaya], for one knows colors through the heart. Therefore it is in the heart that colors find their support.” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3:9:20)

By citing the prior upanishad Shankara has shown us that the lesser self consists of mind, speech, and prana-breath. Now by presenting us with this verse he shows that the faculty, body, or level which embraces the three together, which is the unity of the three, is the “heart,” the hridaya. We see from this verse that the heart is the ultimate sensorium, that which perceives all and also unifies and assimilates them to the atman-self. It is not at all the physical organ that circulates the blood, nor is it the anahata center or “heart chakra.” The hridaya is far, far beyond them. The heart is the core of our experiential existence, the essential faculty of objective awareness blended with the subjective awareness of the pure Self.

53) “When all the desires that dwell in his heart are got rid of, then does the mortal man become immortal and attain Brahman in this very body.

“Just as the slough of a snake lies, dead and cast away, on an anthill, even so lies this body. Then the Self becomes disembodied and immortal Spirit, the Supreme Life [Prana], Brahman, the Light.” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:4:7)

The subject of the heart is being continued. That is where the desires dwell, but when they are expelled from the heart, “then does the mortal man become immortal and attain Brahman in this very body.” Perhaps Jesus had this very verse in mind when he said: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

The second part that speaks of the glory to be attained at the dropping of the body is thrilling. It is interesting that in India the birth of a saint or avatar is celebrated, but never the anniversary of his death. Yet here in America Yogananda instituted the celebration of the mahasamadhi (departure) of great masters. In the context of this verse it is perfectly reasonable.

54) “That Self, after enjoying himself and roaming in the dream state and merely witnessing the results of good and evil, hastens back in the reverse way to his former condition, the waking state. He remains unaffected by whatever he sees in that state, for this infinite being is unattached” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:3:16)

This has a twofold meaning. One is that the Self is the witness who “lives” in dream and waking, yet is unaffected and unattached. The other is a wider meaning, and is speaking of the Self’s entry into the Cosmic Dream. There it roams through many dream-incarnations, seeming to undergo so many things as a result of its “karma.” But in time through yoga it reverses the process and returns to its eternal “waking state,” having ever remained unaffected by whatever it dreamed, for it is forever separate from any “other” and is unattached to any thing or experience.

55) “That indeed is his form–free from desires, free from evils, free from fear. This infinite being, when fully embraced by the Supreme Self, knows nothing that is without, nothing that is within.

“That indeed is his form, in which all his desires are fulfilled, in which all desires become the Self and which is free from desires and devoid of grief.” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:3:21)

Here we see that the term “form” (rupa) when used in regard to the Self, which is essentially formless, means the bhava, the stithi, the state of the Self when resting in its own swarupa. (Please see A Brief Sanskrit Glossary for definitions of these important terms.) The Self can have no desire, negativity, or fear. Yet it feels and thinks it does while immersed in samsaric existence. But when it turns back to the Source and is “embraced by the Supreme Self” all such disappear and the duality of inner/outer is no more. There is only THAT in which all desires are fulfilled because they have been transmuted into desire-affinity for Brahman, its ultimate Self. In this way it becomes free from desires and devoid of the pain desires inevitably produce.

The liberated Self is tranquil and joyful–not a negative blank.

56) “This ]Self] is said to be unmanifested, unthinkable and unchangeable. Therefore, knowing This to be such, you should not grieve.” (Bhagavad Gita 2:25)

The previous verse says at the end that the Self is “devoid of grief.” The reason for this is given in this verse from the Gita. There can be no grief or frustration for that which is unmanifest, unthinkable and unchangeable. When we know (not just speculate or believe) that this is true by having experienced it for ourselves, then we shall never grieve, either.

57) “Unknowable and constant, It should be realized in one form only. The Self is free from taint, beyond the akasha, birthless, infinite and unchanging.” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:4:20)

All forms are the forms of Brahman, being Its manifestations. But those forms are evanescent dreams. The necessary realization of Brahman must be in Its eternal form of Pure Consciousness, the Absolute Unity. The same applies to the Self, who takes on many forms in its wanderings in relativity, but is really only pure consciousness, as well. The Self is transcendent, so it is beyond even the subtle Ether.

58) “When there is duality, as it were, then one smells another, one sees another, one hears another, one speaks to another, one thinks of another, one knows another. But when everything has become the Self, then what should one smell and through what, what should one see and through what, what should one hear and through what, what should one speak and through what, what should one think and through what, what should one know and through what? Through what should One know That owing to which all this is known–through what should one know the Knower?” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2:4:14)

In ignorance we think there are “others” to perceive, and in realization we see that those “others” are not other–or many–at all, but the One Brahman. So we will continue to perceive the forms or modes, but will know they are no “things” but The One. The triad of seer, seen, and seeing will have become The One as well.

Through what should One know That owing to which all this is known–through what should one know the Knower? Through the Knower alone can It be known. That is why we use the expression “Self-knowledge.” What, then, is the way to know the Knower? Meditation. “This effulgent Self is to be realized within the lotus of the heart by meditation.” (Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.5) “Taking as the bow the great weapon of the Upanishads [Om], one should place in It the arrow sharpened by meditation. Drawing It with a mind engaged in the contemplation of That [Brahman], O beloved, know that Imperishable Brahman as the target. The Syllable Om is the bow: One’s Self, indeed, is the arrow. Brahman is spoken of as the target of that. It is to be hit without making a mistake. Thus one becomes united with it [Brahman] as the arrow becomes one with the target. He in Whom the sky, the earth, and the interspace are woven, as also the mind along with all the pranas, know Him alone as the one Self. Dismiss other utterances. This [Om] is the bridge to immortality. Meditate on Om as the Self. May you be successful in crossing over to the farther shore of darkness.” (Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.3-6)

59) “As these flowing rivers, bound for the ocean, disappear into the ocean after having reached it, their names and forms being destroyed and are called simply the ocean–even so, these sixteen parts of the seer, whose goal is the Purusha, disappear into the Purusha after having reached Him, their names and forms being destroyed and are called simply the Purusha. He becomes free of parts and immortal.” (Prashna Upanishad 6:5)

When the creation is withdrawn into Brahman at the end of the creation cycle, it ceases to exist as a separate entity and returns to the state of Brahman. Brahman alone remains. When our subtle bodies are withdrawn into our Self at the end of relative manifestation, the same thing occurs. Only when we are free of “parts” will we be truly imperishable and immortal.

60) “It is the heart and the mind. It is consciousness, lordship, knowledge, wisdom, retentive power of mind, sense knowledge, steadfastness, thought, thoughtfulness, sorrow, memory, concepts, purpose, life, desire, longing: all these are but various names of Consciousness [Prajna].” (Aitareya Upanishad 3:1:2)

This is cited to support and explain the preceding statement of the Prashna Upanishad. All that is withdrawn ultimately into Brahman and into the Self are only the One Consciousness that has been (seemingly) existing separately under various names.

• Read more installments of A Catechism of Enlightenment.

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