Not What People Here Adore

What cannot be thought with the mind, but that whereby the mind can think,
Know that to be Brahman, the spirit, and not what people here adore.
Kena Upanishads (from Sacred Scriptures of the World's Religions)

What the heck does that mean, crazy lady?

Having a hard time with other scripture?

People, who are not followers of Hinduism, may read that and see the yogic and Hindu philosophy, the reference to God as "Brahman" and the word "spirit" and immediately pull back  as if stung by a poisonous snake. I know...I have heard it all before. 

Many devote followers of monotheistic  religions  believe it is blasphemous to refer to "false Gods", to speak of spirit out of context of the trinity and most importantly to have someone  insinuate that they may be too attached to the superficial  while they focus their pursuit of "knowledge" and happiness ' in the wrong direction. This line ( all lines) from these Upanishads may ruffle more than a few feathers.

Truth beyond the resistance

Putting aside our fear of the different, our conditioning, the enforced sense of right and wrong our religious upbringings may have left us with, what do these words mean? How can we understand them in a way that will help us grow as human beings, regardless of what religion we adhere to?

Kena Upanishads

The Kena Upanishads,  among many ancient Sanskrit texts, also known as the vedantas,  possibly written in the first millennium BCE are indeed the foundations on which Hinduism was built.  Yet, their deepest literal meanings imply more to the yogic search for truth in Self and therefore offer , I believe, teachings that  can transcend religious barriers.  I particularly find a certain resonance with the above words.

In this translation, which may be lacking a bit of the poetry that I have read  in other translations, the teaching refers to our need to get beyond our thoughts to what is actually doing the thinking.

Huh?

Brahman is the eternal, creative force that lies in the basis of  all things. It is the ultimate reality,  the ultimate truth.  Hmmm!  Does that sound familiar?  The spirit referred to here is translated from the word Atman which basically means the inner Self or what many of us know of  as the "soul". So, beyond the names and the words,  we have the Supreme Creative Force, the Source of all things and the soul within. How far from your own religious beliefs is that?

What it means

Anyway...these lines are saying that it is not what the mind thinks but that which makes the mind think that is God, that is the soul within us.  It is not what is going on in the mind or outside us in the physical world that we mistakenly adore, that is important but what has always been there on the  inside  of us.  The truth is not out there...the truth is within.

Here we are lost in all the mind is telling us, lost in the materialism of this world...much too identified with it, much too attached to it , that we fail to tap into that which lies beneath it all, that  from which it all sprang and was created, that which is truly important.

Whether you use "Brahman" or "God", "Atman or soul...the teaching is universal, is it not?

Turn your direction inward, away from what was created to What creates it all.  We do not need to be one of those people who adore the superficial and the false. We can be people who see and experience the truth.

Well that is how I see it...but... what do I know?

All is well.



Price, Joan. (2010) Sacred Scriptures of the World's Religions. London: Continuum Books

Yes...I am citing Wikipedia...because it had the most comprehensive information I could find.  Koodles to that site!:
Upanishads . Wikipedia.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishads