BU 2.4.1 - Immortality

Excerpt from the book 'Upanishads' - A new translation by Patrick Olivelle

- Brhadaranyaka Upanishad -

'Maitreyi!' Yajnavalkya once said. 'Look - I am about to depart from this place. So come, let me make a settlement between you and Katyayani.

Maitreyi asked in reply: 'If I were to possess the entire world filled with wealth, sir, would it make me immortal?' 'No', said Yajnavalkya. 'it will only permit you to live the life of a wealthy person. Through wealth one cannot expect immortality.'

'What is the point in getting something that will not make me immortal?' reported Maitreyi. 'Tell me instead, sir, all that you know.'

Yajnavalkya said in reply: 'You have always been very dear to me, and now you speak something very dear to me! Come and sit down. I will explain it to you. But while I am explaining, try to concentrate.' Then he spoke:

'One holds a husband dear, you see, not out of love for the husband; rather. it is out of love for oneself (atman) that one holds a husband dear. One holds a wife dear not out of love for the wife; rather, it is out of love for oneself that one holds a wife dear. One holds children dear not out of love for the children; rather, it is out of love for oneself that one holds children dear. One holds wealth dear not out of love for wealth; rather, it is out of love for oneself that one holds wealth dear. One holds the priestly power dear not out of love for the priestly power; rather, it is out of love for oneself that one holds the priestly power dear. One holds the royal power dear not out of love for the royal power; rather, it is out of love for oneself that one holds the priestly royal dear. One holds the worlds dear not out of love for the worlds; rather, it is out of love for oneself that one holds the worlds dear. One holds the gods dear not out of love for the gods; rather, it is out of love for oneself that one holds the gods dear. One holds the beings dear not out of love for the beings; rather, it is out of love for oneself that one holds the beings dear. One holds the Whole dear not out of love for the Whole; rather, it is out of love for oneself that one holds the Whole dear.'

'You see, Maitreyi - it is one's self (atman) which one should see and hear, and on which one should reflect and concentrate. For by seeing and hearing one's self, and by reflecting and concentrating on one's self, one gains the knowledge of this whole world.'

May the priestly power forsake anyone who considers the priestly power to reside in something other than his self (atman). May the royal power forsake anyone who considers the royal power to reside in something other than his self. May the gods forsake anyone who considers the gods to reside in something other than his self. May beings forsake anyone who considers beings to reside in something other than his self. May the Whole forsake anyone who considers the Whole to reside in something other than his self.

All these - the priestly power, the royal power, worlds, gods, beings, the Whole - all that is nothing but this self.  

~~

I'm on a high! sigh!

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BU 1.5.1

Excerpt from the book 'Upanishads' - A new translation by Patrick Olivelle

- Brhadaranyaka Upanishad -

    By wisdom and by toil,
    when the father produced
    the seven kinds of food - 

One was common to all here.
Two he assigned to the gods.
Three he kept for himself.
One he gave to the beasts.

    All beings depend on it,
    both those that breathe
    and those that do not.

Why aren't they exhausted,
when they are eaten every day?

The man who knows it
as the inexhaustible - 

    he eats food with his face;
    he reaches the gods;
    he lives on invigorating food.

--

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BU 1.4.16

Excerpt from the book 'Upanishads' - A new translation by Patrick Olivelle

-Brhadaranyaka Upanishad-

Now, this self (atman) is a world for all beings. So, when he makes offerings and sacrifices, he becomes thereby a world for the gods. When he recites the Vedas, he becomes thereby a world for the seers. When he offers libations to his ancestors and seeks to father offspring, he becomes thereby a world for his ancestors. When he provides food and shelter to human beings, he becomes thereby a world for human beings. When he procures fodder and water for livestock, he becomes thereby a world for livestock. When creatures, from wild animals and birds down to the very ants, find shelter in his houses, he becomes thereby a world for them. Just as a man desires the well-being of his own world, so all beings desire the well-being of anyone who knows this. All this is known and has been thoroughly examined. 

--
Well, it all started here I suppose!

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blind

beliefs that are in the air
arguments that are not grounded
to not question and how
to not reason and out of mind
signing up for the falling
flowing into the herd
following other voices
or just one such
sleeping through the time
drugged to be happy
masked by the false
fooled by the mass
ignoring self
....
....
....


--
Srik

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dare to understand

Excerpt from the book Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker

In his book The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch argues that if we dare to understand, progress is possible in all fields, scientific, political, and moral:

Optimism (in the sense that I have advocated) is the theory that all failures - all evils - are due to insufficient knowledge... Problems are inevitable, because our knowledge will always be infinitely far from complete. Some problems are hard, but it is a mistake to confuse hard problems with problems unlikely to be solved. Problems are soluble, and each particular evil is a problem that can be solved. An optimistic civilisation is open and not afraid to innovate, and is based on traditions of criticism. Its institutions keep improving, and the most important knowledge that they embody is knowledge of how to detect and eliminate errors. 

--

Enlightenment's motto is "Dare to understand!" and its foundational demand is freedom of thought and speech. 

Srik

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why should I live?

Excerpt from the book Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker

"Why should I live?" 

In the very act of asking that question, you are seeking reasons for your convictions, and so you are committed to reason as the means to discover and justify what is important to you. And there are so many reasons to live.

As a sentient being, you have the potential to flourish. You can refine your faculty of reason itself by learning and debating. You can seek explanations of the natural world through science, and insight into the human condition through the arts and humanities. You can make the most of your capacity for pleasure and satisfaction, which allowed your ancestors to thrive and thereby allowed you to exist. you can appreciate the beauty and richness of the natural and cultural world. As the heir to billions of years of life perpetuating itself, you can perpetuate life in turn. You have been endowed with a sense of sympathy - the ability to like, love, respect, help, and show kindness - and you can enjoy the gift of mutual benevolence with friends, family, and colleagues. 

And because reason tells you that none of this is particular to you, you have the responsibility to provide to others what you expect for yourself. You can foster the welfare of other sentient beings by enhancing life, health, knowledge, freedom, abundance, safety,  beauty, and peace. History shows that when we sympathise with others and apply our ingenuity to improving the human condition, we can make progress in doing so, and you can help to continue that progress. 

--

Reason! 

Srik

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second-order questions

Excerpt from the book The Four Horsemen

Maybe faith and belief in divinity and an afterlife, even if founded on claims for which there can be no evidence, may nonetheless be considered a force for good?

Maybe they offer moral guides and ethical codes without which the world would be a cruel and riotous place? Much of what we live by is metaphor. Why shouldn't we accept a religious narrative irrespective of its truth - as a framework in this relativist culture cursed by the disappearance of structure, hierarchy, and meaning?

And what about spiritual, the numinous immanence we all feel? Can you really deny that there is a realm which reason and numbers and microscopes cannot penetrate?

--

Open inquiry, free thinking and the unfettered exchange of ideas yield real and tangible fruit. 

Srik

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