The evergreen treasures

You are your deepest driving desire

As is your desire, so is your will

As is your will, so is your deed

As is your deed, so is your destiny. 

--Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

The meaning of everyone's life is succinctly explained by the verses above. With remarkable grace they highlight the importance of choice and how we ourselves are creators of our destiny. Desire leads to will, which in turn leads to deed at last forming our destiny.

The Upanishads were one of the earliest texts produced in India after the Vedas. While the Vedas propound the external forces, i.e. the elements of nature; the quest of the Upanishads is to drive one towards one’s own self. It advocates the practice of looking within to find bliss and immortality. 

Over the years I’ve read them several times but with each reading something hitherto undiscovered has emerged. A shining gem reveals itself every time I walk on the path of the Upanishads making me rely on them, along with the Gita, to find solace and solitude every time my heart so desires or when I feel wobbly. 

Who wrote them or when is unknown. Several thousands of Upanishads were written and subsequently lost without being properly documented. The authors’ main purpose was not glory; consequently they preferred to remain anonymous. The only intention was to spread the teaching and their experiences of attaining the supreme goal, Brahman. Brahman is the universal Spirit, the one Supreme that pioneers the universe and governs us all. It is all pervading and cannot be seen, heard or touched but its nature can only be realized through the development of the self.  The relationship between Brahman and Atman is that of a one and a whole; the Atman representing the Brahman at an individual level but never distinct or separate from it. We human beings simply need to realize this eternal truth; we are one with the supreme, the Atman being an individual’s gateway to the Brahman. This, otherwise abstruse reality,  is the central idea of the Upanishads delivered through various tales.  

Over the next several weeks, I will share snippets of this book’s awesome power and learning. Hopefully, it will once again succeed in surprising me with a new lesson; a new truth I can accept and perhaps integrate into my reality. 

OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI