Upanishads

(Sanskrit, the act of sitting down by something) The collection of philosophical verses that conclude the Vedas and make up the main original philosophical commentary on Hindu scriptures.

The Upanishads, literally teachings received while sitting at the feet of a master, are a set of writings produced in the first millennium B.C.E. in India, which had been the most important in defining the general perspective of that set of religions generally referred to as Hinduism. Transmitted to the West in the nineteenth century, they became a major source for contemporary belief in karma and reincarnation, and through Theosophy were integrated into the teaching of Western occult thought.

The first era of Indian thought was built around the Vedas, writings which suggest that India's ancient culture was built around the celebration of nature, the activity of the deities in the world, and the propitiation of the gods in acts of devotion, temple sacrifice, and the following of rules. The Upanishads represent a radical shift in perspective that developed around 1000 B.C.E. The authors of the Upanishads launched a search for the unifying reality behind the visible universe.

There are 13 Principle Upanishads, which summarize the whole of the teachings, and numerous lesser supportive documents. They critique the Vedas and are often referred to as the Vedanta, or "end of the Vedas. " Rather than outward acts of temple worship, the Upanishads call for an inward search for the ultimate principle of reality (called Brahman) and a mystical union with that principle. Brahman is the source of the visible world that goes through a continuous process of being created, sustained, and destroyed. Brahman is hidden by maya (illusion), that aspect of the world that conceals reality from us.

The essential mystical insight offered by the Upanishads is the identification of Brahman with Atman. Atman is the essential core of the individual self. The implication is that to reach the inner essence of oneself is to discover ultimate reality. It is upon this identification that disciplines of concentration and meditation and ultimately the practice of yoga are based.

According to the Upanishads, individuals are trapped in maya. Lost in maya, we face a continuous series of incarnations, the exact nature of any incarnation being the result of the consequences of actions in prior lives (karma). To escape maya one must focus upon reality, the yogic path being the ideal process for pursuing that focus. It is also recognized that such a focus can lead to selfishness. To prevent such an error, the Upanishads recommend the cultivation of virtues such as detachment and self-control, and call for the performance of one's social duties.

The Upanishads now exist in several translations in English and other Western languages, though the 1879 translation by world religions scholar Max Müller was the important early one which built support for Indian perspectives in the West. In 1893, Swami Vivekananda brought the teachings of the Vedanta to the West and established it throughout the Vedanta Societies that grew out of his work. Through the twentieth century, numerous commentaries on the Upanishads were published and circulated by the many Indian religions operating in the West. Equally important, insights from the Upanishads, freed from the texts, have permeated Western esoteric and metaphysical groups through which they have been popularized among a public unaware of their origin.

Sources:

Beidler, William. The Vision of the Self in Early Vedanta. Delhi: Motilal Barnarsidass, 1975.

Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli. The Principal Upanishads. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1953.