[Advaita-l] The significance of metaphorical meditations in various Upanishads

[Akilesh Ayyar]

Ah, beautiful. Thank you.

On Tue, Jun 4, 2019 at 3:39 AM V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> In the Upadesa Saram, Bhagavan Ramana has said the following, which are
> actually what is stated in the Upanishads, etc. as precursor of
> Self-enquiry:
>
> https://www.arunachala.org/docs/collected-worm/upadesa-saram/
>
> 3. ईश्वरार्पितं नेच्छया कृतम् ।
> चित्तशोधकं मुक्तिसाधकम् ॥ ३॥
>
>
> *īśvarārpitaṃ necchayā kṛtamcitta-śodhakaṃ mukti-sādhakam*
>
> Disinterested action
> Surrendered to the Lord
> Purifies the mind and points
> The way to *moksha*.
>
> 4. कायवाङ्मनः कार्यमुत्तमम् ।
> पूजनं जपश्चिन्तनं क्रमात् ॥ ४॥
>
>
> *kāya-vāṅ-manaḥ kāryam-uttamampūjanaṃ japa-ścintanaṃ kramāt*
>
> This is certain:
> Worship, praise and meditation,
> Being work of body, speech and mind,
> Are steps for orderly ascent.
>
> 5. जगत ईशधी युक्तसेवनम् ।
> अष्टमूर्तिभृद्देवपूजनम् ॥ ५॥
>
>
> *jagata īśadhī yukta sevanaṃaśṭa-mūrti bhṛd deva-pūjanam*
>
> Ether, fire, air, water, earth,
> Sun, moon and living beings
> Worship of these,
> Regarded all as forms of His,
> Is perfect worship of the Lord.
>
> 6. उत्तमस्तवादुच्चमन्दतः ।
> चित्तजं जपध्यानमुत्तमम् ॥ ६॥
>
>
> *uttama-stavād-ucca-mandataḥcittajaṃ japa dhyānam uttamam*
>
> Better than hymns of praise
> Is repetition of the Name;
> Better low-voiced than loud,
> But best of all
> Is meditation in the mind.
>
> 7. आज्यधारया स्रोतसा समम् ।
> सरलचिन्तनं विरलतः परम् ॥ ७॥
>
>
> *ajya-dhāraya srotasā samamsarala cintanaṃ viralataḥ param*
>
> Better than spells of meditation
> Is one continuous current,
> Steady as a stream,
> Or downward flow of oil.
>
> 8. भेदभावनात् सोऽहमित्यसौ ।
> भावनाऽभिदा पावनी मता ॥ ८॥
>
>
> *bheda-bhāvanāt so’hamityasaubhavana’bhidā pāvanī matā*
>
> Better than viewing Him as Other,
> Indeed the noblest attitude of all,
> Is to hold Him as the 'I' within,
> The very 'I'.
>
>
> warm regards
>
> subbu
>
> On Mon, Jun 3, 2019 at 8:26 PM Akilesh Ayyar via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > Namaste,
> >
> > I'm wondering why so much time is spent in various upanishads -- I'm
> > reading Chhandogya right now -- on various metaphorical comparisons of
> > Brahman or truth generally to various things.
> >
> > For example, Brahman is explained as four quarters repeatedly (e.g. fire,
> > sun, moon, lightning), as the person in the sun or the moon, as the one
> > seen in the eye, and on and on.
> >
> > There is also enormous time spent on the meaning of the various vedas as
> > compared to the sun and the fire and the sky, etc.
> >
> > How does this relate to the more direct focus on formless Brahman, which
> is
> > also featured in the Upanishads, and which is so much more emphasized by,
> > say, a Sankara or certainly a Ramana Maharshi.
> >
> > Why is *so much* time and so many words spent on these metaphorical
> > breakdowns in the Upanishads, when the essence of it is in the
> unspeakable,
> > the beyond-concepts?
> >
> > Best,
> > Akilesh
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