AUM… With our ears may we hear what is auspicious. With our eyes, may we behold thy glorious Law. Tranquil of mind, tranquil of body, may we who attune to Thee find Peace.
AUM, SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI
Part I
Out of the Infinite Ocean of Existence arose Sri Brahma — first born and foremost among the celestial astral beings. From Sri Brahma sprang the universe and He became its protector. The knowledge of Sri Sri Brahman — the foundation of all Knowledge — Sri Brahma revealed to his first born son (Atharva).
In turn, Sri Brahma’s first born son taught this self-same Knowledge to Sri Agni. Sri Agni, in turn, taught this Knowledge to the rishi, Satya-baba — who, in turn, taught it to Angiras. It came to pass that Angiras met a very famous householder — whose name was Sounaka.
The householder asked, “Holy sir, what is that by which all else is known?” The Sage replied, “Those who know Brahman say that there are two kinds of knowledge: Greater knowledge and lesser knowledge.
Lesser knowledge is that of the Scriptures, as well as Astrology, mantra, ceremonies, communications and logic.
Greater knowledge is that by which you know the Changeless Reality directly! By this Greater knowledge is the Truth of that which transcends the senses and is revealed to the wise. It is called The Reality (Sri Brahman) — having neither eyes nor ears, neither hands nor feet, but Who is all-pervading subtler than the subtlest, the everlasting and the Source of all.
As a web comes out of a spider and is withdrawn back into that spider; as plants grow from the soil, and hair from the body, so projects the universes, from the Eternal Brahman.
Brahman willed that the universe should exist, and brought forth out of Himself the material-cause of this universe. From this cause came the primal-energy. From the primal-energy came mind. From the mind came the subtler elements; and from the subtler elements came the many worlds; and finally from the acts performed by the beings in the many worlds, the chain of karma — the law of attunement and attainment! Brahman sees All, Knows All! Brahman is Knowledge Himself. Of Sri Sri Brahman is borned Cosmic-Intelligence, name and form, and the material-cause of all created beings and all created things.
Part II
Transient and finite are the karmic fruits of sacrificial rituals! The deluded regard the sacrificial rites as the highest good, do no other thing, and thus remain subject to birth and to death.
Living in the valley of ignorance, these deluded souls continue the wheel of rebirth like the blind led by the blind.
Living in the valley of ignorance, the deluded think themselves blessed. Attached to actions, they know not the Lord. Action leads them only to heaven, where their rewards are quickly exhausted and thus they are drawn intensely back into the earth (material) life.
The ignorant remain ignorant of the Good, considering religion to be only observances of rituals and the performance of acts of charity. Having enjoyed, in heaven, the rewards of their good actions, the ignorant are intensely drawn yet again into the world of mortals.
The wise, self-controlled and tranquil are content in Spirit and practice meditation, in solitude and silence, followed by austerities; they are freed from all ignorances and attain the path of Liberation to the Immortal Ones, even unto the changeless Atma.
Let a person devoted to the spiritual life examine carefully the ephemeral nature of such enjoyment-rewards, whether here on earth, or whether in the astral world! Let that person examine carefully what may be won by good works and thyst realize that it is not by works that one gains the eternal Brahman! Let the noble soul give no excessive thought to transient things, but become absorbed in meditation on the Eternal. Become detached of the things of this world and grow!
If a soul would know the Eternal Brahman, let that soul humbly approach a Guru who is devoted to Brahman, and well-versed in the spirit of the Sacred Scriptures. To that disciple who approaches reverentially, who is self-controlled and tranquil, the wise Guru will give that Knowledge of Brahman faithfully and fully! It is by that Knowledge that the Eternal, Changeless Atma is obtained.
Part III
The Imperishable is the Real! As innumerable sparks fly upward from a blazing fire, so from the depths of the Imperishable arises all beings and all things. To the depths of the Imperishable, they will all return. The Atma is formless and self-luminous. The Atma dwells within all beings and dwells external to all beings. The Atma is the unformed the unborned. The Atma is greater than the greatest, without breath, without mind, yet ever-balanced self-consciousness.
From Atma is borned breath. From Atma are borned the organs of the senses: the mind, the breath, ether, air, fire, water and earth. These, the Atma binds and holds together.
Heaven is the Atma’s head; the Sun and Moon, the Atma’s eyes; the four quarters of the map, His ears; the revealed Scriptures, His sacred voice. The air, the Atma’s breath; the universe, the Atma’s heart; from the Atma’s feet came the earth. The Atma is the innermost reality of all beings and of all things.
From the Atma arises the Sun-illumined sky. From the sky arises the rain. From the rain arises food. From food arises the seed in man which he gives. Thus, do all creatures project from the Atma.
From the Atma is borned the sacred mantras, the devotional songs, the Holy Scriptures, the religious rituals, the Yogic sacrifices, the divine oblations, the divisions of time, the doer and the deed, and all the worlds lighted by the Sun and purified by the Moon.
From the Atma are projected the astral beings of diverse stations. From the Atma are borned arch-angels, angels, men, birds and beasts. From the Atma comes vitality and food to sustain that vitality. From the Atma comes austerity, meditation, devotion, Truth, countenance, and the Law of Self-awareness!
From the Atma springs the organs of sense, their activities, and their objects — together with the awareness of these objects.
All these things, all these parts of the earthling’s nature — they spring from the Atma.
In the Atma the mountains and the seas have their source; and from the Atma springs the rivers. From the Atma, the herbs and other life-sustaining forces; and by the aid of which the astral body of earthlings subsists “inside” the physical body.
Thus Sri Sri Brahman is all in all. He is Kriya, He is Knowledge, He is Goodness supreme. To know the Brahman hidden in the lotus of the heart, is to cut asunder the knot of ignorance!
Self-luminous is the Brahman. Ever-present in the hearts of all beings, Brahman is the refuge of all. Brahman is the supreme goal of all. In Brahman exists all that moves and all that breathes. In Brahman exists all that exists. Brahman is both that which is gross and that which is subtle. Noble, indeed, is Brahman. Beyond the senses is Brahman. Supreme is Brahman. Therefore, attain thou Brahman!
Brahman, the Self-Luminous One, subtler than the subtlest in whom exists all the universes, and all living beings, is indeed the Imperishable Brahman. Brahman is the principle of Life. Brahman is the principle of living. Brahman is sacred speech. Brahman is mind. Brahman is real. Brahman is immortal. Attain Brahman, therefore, my friend — the one Goal to be attained!
Draw close to and study the Upanishads, the incomparable bow. The sharp arrow is attitudinal attunement. Then with the mind absorbed and heart softened by compassion and mantra, draw the arrow and hit the mark — the Imperishable Brahman!
Aum is the bow. Your individual being, the arrow. Its target is Brahman. With a tranquil heart, take aim and melt thy lower self in Brahman, even as the arrow is lost in the target.
In Brahman are woven heaven, earth and sky, together with the mind and all the senses. Know Brahman, the Self alone. Give up vain talking, attain to Brahman, for Brahman is the bridge to immortality.
Within the lotus of the heart, Brahman dwells! Like the spokes of a wheel, in its hub there the astral nerves do meet. Meditate on Brahman as AUM. Easily may thou cross the sea of ignorance. This Atma, who understands all, who knows all, and whose glory is manifest in all and in the universe, lives within the lotus of the heart, which is the bright Throne of Brahman.
By the purity of the heart is Brahman known. The Atma exists in earthlings, within the lotus of the heart, and is the Master of this life and this body. With mind Illumined by the Divine potencies of meditation, the wise know Brahman — the Blissful, the immortal.
The knot of the heart — which is ignorance — is loosened, and all doubts are dissolved and all negative effects of negative deeds and thoughts are dissolved away when Brahman, who is both personal and impersonal, is realized!
In the effulgent lotus of the heart dwells Brahman who is indivisible and passionless. Brahman is pure. He is the Light of all lights. The knowers of Atma obtain Brahman, for Atma is Brahman.
Brahman, the sun does not illumine, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor the lightning, nor the various fires kindled upon this earth! Brahman is the one Light that gives light to all other things: the earth’s fires, the lightning, the stars, the moon, indeed, even the very sun itself! Brahman shines, thus everything shines. Brahman Illuminates, thus everything illumines. Brahman burns with Divine fire, thus all things burn with Divine fire.
This immortal Brahman is before, this immortal Brahman is behind, this immortal Brahman exists and extends to the right and to the left, below and above. Verily, all is Brahman and Brahman is supreme. Brahman is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.
Part IV
Like two birds of golden plumage, inseparable companions are the individual self and the Atma. They are perched upon the branches of the self-same spiritual tree, the former tastes the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree. The latter, the Atma, tasting of neither, simply calmly observes all actions.
The individual self, forgetting his identity with the Atma, bewildered by his ego, grieves and is oftimes sad. But when this individual self recognizes the supreme Lord — the Atma — as his own True Self, and beholds Its glory, he grieves no more!
When the seeker beholds the Effulgent One, the Supreme Being — Brahman — then he transcends both the ephemeral and the eternal and is freed from all ignorance and all forgetfulness! Thus, he unites himself with the eternal Atma.
The Infinite Lord is the one Light shining forth from every creature. The wise person seeing Brahman present in everyone, becomes humble! The wise person delights in the Atma. The wise person finds joy in the Atma. The wise person serves the Lord in all!
This effulgent Atma is to be realized within the lotus of the heart by steadfastness in truth, by meditation, by countenance, or by super-conscious vision. The emotionalities of the mind, the restlessness of the body, the turbulent forces of the karmas, being stilled, the Sage realizes Brahman!
Truth alone succeeds, not falsehood! by truthfulness, the path of Goodness is made clear. The path of The Good is the path taken by the Sages for it is free from cravings and leads to the eternal abode of Brahman.
Brahman is self-luminous. Brahman is supreme. Brahman is beyond all conceptualization. Subtler that the subtlest is Brahman. Farther than the farthest; nearer than the nearest. Yet Brahman resides in the lotus of the heart of every sentient being.
The eyes do not see Him, speech cannot discuss Him, the senses cannot reach Him. Brahman is not attained by austerity, nor by sacrificial rites. When through discernment the heart has become unemotional, then in meditation is the impersonal Brahman found and revealed.
The subtle Atma within the living and breathing body is realized in pure consciousness, wherein there is no duality. He is That consciousness by which the heart beats and the senses perform their functions.
Whether of heaven or heavenly enjoyments; whether of desires or the objects of desire; whatever thought arises in the heart of the Sage, it is fulfilled. Therefore, let that person who seeks his own good, redirect his life pattern and attune to the Guru.
The Guru knows Brahman, the support of all, the pure effulgent Being, in whom the universe is contained. Those souls who attune to the Guru, without thought of self, do cross beyond the limits of birth and death.
That person who, brooding upon sense objects, comes to yearn for sense objects, is borned here and there again and again, driven by his own desires! But that soul who has realized the Atma and thus has satisfied all thirst and hunger, attains to Liberation, even in this Life!
The Atma is not known through the study of the Scriptures, nor through the subtlety of the intellect, nor through the extensive learning, but he who wills to be one with Brahman, knows Brahman. Verily, unto that soul does the Atma reveal his own true Being!
The Atma is not attainable by the weak, nor by the thoughtless, nor by those who do not correctly meditate. But attained is the Atma to those who correctly meditate, who are thoughtful and who are strong. Having known the Atma, the Sages are filled with joy and bliss. Knowing the Atma, the Sage is blessed; he is of tranquil mind and is free from passions. Realizing everywhere the all-pervading Brahman by being deeply absorbed in the contemplation of his own being, the Sage enters into the Atma, the Self of all beings.
Having fully ascertained and realized the Truth of the Holy Scriptures, having established themselves in proper conduct by following the Yoga of renunciation, the Great Ones attain to immortality even in this very life! And when their bodies fall away from them at death, these Sages do attain Liberation.
When death overtakes the physical body, the vital energy enters the cosmic source. The senses dissolve in their course of time and the karmas and the individual soul are redissolved back into Brahman, the Changeless One.
As rivers flow into the sea and in so doing lose their form and their name — but not their nature — even so the wise soul freed from his name and form attains to the Supreme Being — the Self-Illuminous Infinite Brahman.
He who knows Brahman, becomes Brahman! No soul, ignorant of Brahman is ever borned in his family. That soul passes beyond all sorrow, overcomes all ignorance, is free from the fetters of pain, and becomes immortal.
Let the truth of Brahman be taught only to those who obey the law of Self-awareness, who are devoted to Self-awareness, and who are non-emotional. To the emotional in heart, let it never be taught.
Hail to the Gurus of old! Hail to the Illuminated souls!” This truth of Brahman was taught in ancient times to the householder Shaunaka by the Sage Angiras.
Hail to the Gurus. Hail to the Illumined souls.
AUM, SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI
Mundaka Upanishad Audio Lectures Audio Lecture 1 Given by Goswami Kriyananda in 1974
Video Lecture Given by Goswami Kriyananda in 1985