[Advaita-l] Message of Upanishads in a nutshell

[sreenivasa murthy]

Dear friends,
I  fell  in  love  with  the  poem  and  hence  
I  am  sharing  with  you.The  poem  is  nothing  but  a  mirror  held 
before   a mumukshus  to see  their  true  nature 
 as  revealed  by  the  Sages  of  upanishads.

                         WHAT AM I

Iam pure consciousness, which stays

unchanged,while all else comes and goes.

 

Nochange at all pertains to me.

Mylight shines always by itself.

Itshines alone, as what I am.

 

Iam that light which always shines,

illuminatingwhat appears.

Withoutme, nothing can appear.

 

Wheneversomething disappears,

thatdisappearance too is shown

bymy illuminating light.

I’mthat which shines when things appear

andalso when they disappear.

 

Asthings appear and disappear,

I’malways there, quite unaffected

by what comes and goes away.

 

Whateverchanging things appear

ordisappear, I am still there,

supportingall this changing show –

justlike a changeless background screen

illuminatingwhat it shows

byits own nature underneath.

 

Myvery nature is to shine.

Myshining is no changing act,

butonly what I always am.

 

Itis from there that all things rise.

Whateverobject may arise,

I’mthere before it has appeared.

Itis from me that it appears.

 

Whenit appears, it has come forth

fromme alone. It’s nothing else

butmy own shining, taking shape

inan apparent, changing form.

 

Allthat appears comes forth from me,

ismade of me, and shows myself

asits unchanged reality.

 

Andwhen things disappear, they do

nomore than come back home to me,

thus showing what they really are.

 

Allthings that come and go must show

thatknowing light which makes them shine.

Thatlight is what I truly am,
and it is all that’s truly known.            [Ananda Wood]The  author's  parents  were  disciples  of  Sri  Atmananda.The  readers  might  have  recognized  the  thought 
 positions  as revealed by Upanishad mantras.

What  a  beautiful  poem  it  is!
With respectful namaskars,Sreenivasa Murthy.