Miscellaneous - Religion   

The immortal Self

CHENNAI: Crucial questions that vex the mind for answers relate to the purpose of one's life, one's relationship with the universe, the intriguing concept of birth and mortality, and what lies beyond one's death. The Upanishads, regarded as the repository of the ultimate knowledge — the exposition of the origin of the Universe, the nature of the Brahman and the Jivatman, the relationship between the mind and matter, etc — can be helpful in unveiling the mystery behind these questions.

The Kathopanishad offers illuminating insights into these matters, whereby one can choose the path of liberation from the binding effects of birth, pointed out Swamini Satyavratananda in a lecture. The question and answer session between Nachiketa and Yama that forms the framework of this Upanishad assumes great significance because it deals with the physical and metaphysical planes of human existence with immense clarity while also reinforcing the moral dimensions governing one's life. One needs to develop the steadfastness of Nachiketa that helped him stand the stringent tests of Yama, and also cultivate the sense of discrimination that helped him to choose the good and the right, against the sweet and the pleasant.

The supreme wisdom is the knowledge of the Self. Residing within the human frame is the most subtle Self or the "undying I". One has to become aware of the power that animates the sense organs — the power that makes the eyes see, the nose smell, the hands feel and touch, or the ears to hear the sounds — and understand that the self that experiences is the same, while the objects identified through the senses may differ. The objects themselves may not know that they exist. It is the human mind/intellect that recognises the objects as such.

The Supreme Being is the inmost Self of all beings. Each individual has to make the effort to understand that the "undying self" is a manifestation of the omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent Supreme Being. No sorrow touches a person who is aware of the immortal Self within and understands this truth wholly. All else has only a temporary existence and hence is perishable.

This ultimate knowledge confers peace on the knower and makes him strong to uphold dharma at all costs.

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