Analysis and Update of Isha Upanishad

Īsha Upanishad – Modernized Mike Sosteric Version 1.11 The Upanishads are a celebration of the awakening of the Self (Ātman), a state of unbounded pure being, pure bliss. They reveal the great truth of life: The Self of the individual is identical to the Self of the universe (Brahman). They sing out, “I am totality” (aham brahmāsmi). The wholeness of life, Brahman, expresses itself as every particle of creation and as every human being. This is the profound message of the Upanishads. Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes. Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes, The Upanishads: A New Translation (New York: Penguin, 2015), https://amzn.to/2XAhN7M. Intro I recently started reading the Vedic Upanishads. I became interested in them as I worked my way through an analysis and modernization of The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom. As I have learned, the Upanishads are part of the Vedanta (the end of the Vedas), are specifically focussed on cosmology and theology and provide, I think, a summary of centuries of spiritual thought. There's about 200 of them, scholars say, but only a few that are considered core. Because I was learning a lot by reading the Crest Jewel, I thought I’d do it for the Upanishads as well, starting with the Īsha Upanishad, and using concepts and ideas I’ve been developing. Below you will find my modernization of the Īsha Upanishad, using an available translation provided by Katch and Egenes. Katz and Egenes. The Īsha Upanishad is fairly straight forward. It opens with an affirmation of purusha, which is pure Consciousness, Ashim Kumar Bhattacharyya, Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology (Lincoln, NE: IUniverse, 2006). or The Fabric of Consciousness, as I would say. Then, there is a statement about proper orientation to the world and a statement about the importance of paying attention to cause and effect. Then comes advice on the importance of achieving Connection, and also some commentary on the nature of Self compared to “mind” or, using LP lingo, between the spiritual ego https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Spiritual_Ego and bodily ego. https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Bodily_Ego The Upanishad also gives some advice on properly orientating your understanding. The Upanishad ends with an affirmation requesting assistance, authentic connection, persistent apprehension of truth, and union. All in all, the message of the Īsha Upanishad is quite simple, particularly from the LP perspective. If you want to connect, if you want to avoid being “covered in blinding darkness,” if you want to avoid living a life of fear and sorrow, don’t get caught up in materialism or “ownership” of things, don’t “worship” idols, don’t worship the world, don’t get run aground by semantics and sophistry; instead, work to connect. Note, the text below is divided up into two sections. The first is my updated and modernized version, and the second section intersperses my version with the version provided by Katch aand Egenes. so you can consider the veracity of my interpretation.  Īsha Upanishad – The Fabric of Consciousness, Spiritual Ego, Bodily Ego That is The Fabric of Consciousness;; this is The Fabric of Consciousness. From The Fabric, The Fabric comes out. Taking the Fabric from the Fabric, , what remains is The Fabric. 1. Everything on the planet including all life is a manifestation of, and is pervaded by, The Fabric of Consciousness. https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Fabric_of_Consciousness You do not own it. Creation is here for the enjoyment and benefit of all. 2. Remember, this is a material world and your experience of it is impacted by your actions at all times. If you want to live a hundred years, take actions that support this goal. 3. Disconnection https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Disconnection leaves you blind and covered in darkness. It is important you make a connection https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Connection to your Highest Self https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Highest_Selfwhile alive. If you don’t have this realization, you will live in a world covered in darkness and your next birth will start in darkness as well. 4. Your Higher Self, a.k.a. your Spiritual Ego, is eternal and far more intelligent then your Bodily Ego. It does not exist as a physical substance and therefore you cannot see, hear, or touch it. Nevertheless, it provides the breath from which all life emerges. 5. Your higher self, your Consciousness, https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Consciousness pervades all things. It is constant and immovable, yet it moves all things. It is far away and eternal, but is also present in the very atoms of this universe, and also deep inside you. 6. Once you realize that all this is Consciousness, that all this is Self, that all beings are an expression of Self, you will will have no reason to fear. 7. One you realize that all this is Consciousness, that all beings are part of your own Self, you will free yourself of delusion and sorrow. 8. Self is everywhere, shining in everything. Self is without body and hence undamaged. Self is pure and untouched by disjuncture https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Disjuncture and disconnection. https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Disconnection Self is the endless source of all creative emanation. 9-10. Keep in mind, to make this work, to make a proper connection, to avoid being confined in blinding darkness, you have to understand Self and creation. If you don’t, if you cling to ignorance and misunderstanding, or if you delight in the sophistry of “knowledge” that is not grounded in truth, you’ll only be drawn into darkness and disconnection. 11. If you understand this, you’ll be able to move beyond ignorance and empty knowledge and make a stronger connection. 12. The same goes for your orientation to creation (the manifest), and also to the Fabric of Consciousness https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Fabric_of_Consciousness (the unmanifest). Don’t worship the unmanifest/God or the physical world. If you do, you’ll get stuck in disconnection. Don’t get hung up on words like “the manifest” or “the unmanifest.” If you do, you’ll get stuck in disconnection. 13. Self is not equivalent to physical creation, nor is it equivalent to The Fabric. https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/Fabric_of_Consciousness All the wise folk say this. 14. If you understand this, you’ll be able to attain stronger connection. 15-17 Now let us pray, “I ask that my Spiritual Ego, my Highest Self, the spark of divinity within me, reveal to me the truth. Make me steadfast in the truth. Help me to see. Let my life breath join with your immortal breath. Let myself be connected to my Self. Help me remember what I’ve learned. Help me understand all the teachings. Lead me on a good path to prosperity. Lead me away from disjuncture and sin and show me the way to alignment. That is The Fabric of Consciousness;; this is The Fabric of Consciousness. From The Fabric, The Fabric comes out. Taking the Fabric from the Fabric, , what remains is The Fabric.  Īsha Upanishad Interpolated with Original Translation That is full; The original Sanskrit here is Purusha, mistranslated here as full. http://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/index.php/Purusha this is full. From fullness, fullness comes out. Taking fullness from fullness, what remains is fullness. Om shāntih shāntih shāntih. 1. Everything here, whatever moves in the moving world, is pervaded by the Lord. Enjoy it by way of relinquishing it; cease to take for yourself what to others are riches. 1. Everything on the planet including all life is a manifestation of, and pervaded by, The Fabric of Consciousness. You do not own it. Creation is here for the enjoyment and benefit of all. 2. Always performing actions here, one may aspire to live a hundred years. Thus for you there is no other way than this, whereby action will not cling to you. 2. Remember, this is a material world and your experience of it is impacted by your actions at all times. If you want to live a hundred years, take actions that support this goal. 3. Sunless are those worlds called, covered in blinding darkness; there, after departing, go those men who are slayers of the Self. 3. Disconnection leaves you blind and covered in darkness. It is important you make a connection to your Highest Self while alive. If you don’t have this realization, you will live in a world covered in darkness and your next birth will start in darkness as well. 4. It is one, unmoving, swifter than the mind. The senses cannot reach it. It darts ahead. Standing still, it outruns those who run. Within it the breath of life supports all that stirs. 4. Your Higher Self is eternal and far more intelligent then your Bodily Ego. It does not exist as a physical substance and therefore you cannot see, hear, or touch it. Nevertheless, it provides the breath from which all life emerges. 5. It moves and it moves not. It is far away and it is close by. It is within all this. It is outside all this. 5. Your higher self, your Consciousness, pervades all things. It is constant and immovable, yet it moves all things. It is far away and eternal, but is also present in the very atoms of this universe, and also deep inside you. 6. He who sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings no longer hides in fear. 6. Once you realize that all this is Consciousness, that all this is Self, that all beings are an expression of Self, you’ll will have no reason to fear. 7. For the man of wisdom, in whom all beings have become his own Self, how can delusion, how can sorrow befall that seer of oneness? 7. One you realize that all this is Consciousness, that all beings are part of your own Self, you will free yourself of delusion and sorrow.. 8. He is all-pervading, shining, bodiless, unscarred, without sinews, pure, untouched by sin. He is the seer, wise, encompassing all, self-existent. Through endless time he has ordained objects in due succession. 8. Self is everywhere, shining in everything. Self is without body and hence undamaged. Self is pure and untouched by disjuncture and disconnection. Self is the endless source of all creative emanation. 9. Into blinding darkness enter those who worship ignorance. Into as if still greater darkness enter those who delight in knowledge. 9. Keep in mind here, to make this work, to make a proper connection, you have to understand Self and creation. If you don’t, if you cling to ignorance and misunderstanding, or if you delight in the sophistry of “knowledge,” you’ll only be drawn into darkness and disconnection. 10 “It is other than knowledge,” they say. “It is other than ignorance,” they say. Thus we have heard from the wise who have explained it to us. 10. All the wise people say this. 11. Knowledge and ignorance— he who knows both together, crosses beyond mortality through ignorance and attains immortality through knowledge. 11. If you understand this, you’ll be able to move beyond ignorance and empty knowledge and make a stronger connection. 12. Into blinding darkness enter those who worship the unmanifest. Into as if still greater darkness enter those who delight in the manifest. 12. The same goes for your orientation to creation (the manifest), and also to the Fabric of Consciousness (the unmanifest). Don’t get stuck on words like “the manifest” or “the unmanifest.” Don’t worship the unmanifest/God or the physical world. If you do, you’ll get stuck in disconnection. 13. “It is other than existence,” they say. “It is other than nonexistence,” they say. Thus have we heard from the wise who have explained it to us. 13. Self is not equivalent to physical creation, nor is it equivalent to The Fabric. All the wise folk say this. 14. Manifest and unmanifest— he who knows both together, crosses beyond death through the unmanifest and attains immortality through the manifest. 14. One you understand that “It” is beyond all things, that “It” is the source of all that is, you will be able to attain stronger connection. 15. The face of truth is hidden by a disc of gold. Unveil it, O Pūshan, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushan so that I, steadfast in truth, may see. 16. O Pūshan, the sole seer, O controller, O Sūrya, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surya offspring of Prajāpati, disperse your rays and gather in your light, so that I may behold your most graceful form. He who is that person afar, I am he. 17. Let this life-breath join with the immortal breath. Then let this body end in ashes. Om. Remember, O my understanding, remember what has been done. Remember, O my understanding, what has been done, remember. 18. Agni, lead us by the good path to prosperity, O radiant one, who knows all our ways. Remove from us our crooked sins. May we offer you abundant words of praise. 15-17 Now let us pray, “I ask that my spiritual ego, my Highest Self, the spark of divinity within me, reveal to me the truth. Make me steadfast in the truth. Help me to see. Let my life breath join with your immortal breath. Let myself be connected to my Self. Help me remember what I’ve learned. Help me understand all the teachings. Lead me on a good path to prosperity. Lead me away from disjuncture and sin and show me the way to alignment. That is full; this is full. From fullness, fullness comes out. Taking fullness from fullness, what remains is fullness.  Referencessp Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes, The Upanishads: A New Translation (New York: Penguin, 2015), https://amzn.to/2XAhN7M. Steven T. Katz, “Language, Epistemology and Mysticism,” in Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis, ed. Steven T. Katz (London: Sheldon Pess, 1978), 13, https://amzn.to/2TW0OpC.