The Essence of the Message of Upanishads -  Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati

What is the essence of the teachings contained in the Upanishads to reach that stage of merging?

Modern science is of the view that the phenomenal world exists as a result of the inter-play of the concepts of time and space. The Upanishad says that only when one transcends this conceptual state or gets outside it, can one realize the truth. The space-concept gets cancelled as it were in the anecdote I narrated earlier regarding horizon as the place where we stand. Likewise one should get beyond the time-concept.

Is it enough to talk theoretically of these? Is it within our capacity to perceive? To prove that it is possible to achieve this end, an illustration is available from our everyday life. In order to spend time, we read in the newspaper of an account of a war in Africa. But, if there is a war nearer, say in Pakistan or Kashmir, we become less interested in the Congo battle as compared to the battles taking place nearer. Even the editor of the newspaper takes the Africa news to a corner and presents the Pakistan war in banner headlines and bold print. Then this news appears more important to us. Then still nearer home news of some boundary dispute between two states appears, attended by acts of violence. Then even the Pakistan news is ignored and the boundary dispute draws our attention. When there is news of disturbance in the adjoining street, even the border dispute does not hold our attention. We throw the paper away and run to the next street to see what is happening. If, while there, someone reports a quarrel in our home (say between our children or say between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law) we ignore the street fight and rush home.

© `The Vedas’ by Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, published (1988) by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai 400 007.

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