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UPANISAD
whereby and to whom would one speak? whereby and whom would one hcar? whereby and of whom would one think? whereby and whom would one touch? whereby and whom would one understand? whereby would one understand him by mcans of whom one understands this All?... Lo, whereby would one understand the understander?
"That Self (ātman) is not this, not that (neti, neti). It is unseizable, for it cannot be scized; indestructible, for it cannot be destroyed; unattached, for it does not attach itself; it is unbound, it does not tremble, it is not iniured." 24
The Self is not easily known. It cannot be realized except by the greatest effort. Every vestige of the normal waking attitude, which is appropriate and necessary for the daily struggle for existence (artha), pleasure (kāma), and the attainment of righteousness (dharma), must be abandoned. The really serious seeker of the Self has to become an introvert, disinterested absolutely in the pursuits of the world-disinterested even in the continuance of his individual existence; for the Self is beyond the sphere of the senses and intellect, beyond even the profundity of intuitive awareness (buddhi), which is the source of dreams and the fundamental support of the plienomenal personality. “The Creator, the divine Being who is self-existent (svayam-bhū), drilled the apertures of the senses, so that they should go outward in various directions; that is why man perceives the external world and not the Inner Self (antar-ātman). The wise man, however, desirous of the state of immortality, turning his eyes inward and backward (pratyag, 'into the interior'), beholds the Self.” 25
The Metaphor of the Chariot “The Self (ātman) is the owner of the chariot; the body (šarīra) is the chariot; intuitive discernment and awareness (buddhi) is
24 Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 4. 5. 15. (Hume, op. cit., p. 147). 20 Katha Upanisad 4. 1.
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| SR No. | 007309 |
| Book Title | Philosophies of India |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Campbell |
| Publisher | Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd |
| Publication Year | 1953 |
| Total Pages | 709 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 34 MB |