ChAndogya Upanishad (Ch 6 to 8) Part 3

Part 2

Part 4

6.5.1 to 6.5.4
The teacher asks the student to pay attention to what he is about to say. The mind is essentially formed of food; the prana is essentially formed of water and speech is essentially formed of fire. The Upanishad captures the state of mind of the student who says, “It is very difficult for me to understand all these things. Please clarify this a little more. That I am made up of the three elements and that I have nothing in me of my own are unheard of. This is strange indeed. It looks as if I cannot exist at all independently. I am ‘somebody else’. Unbelievable! Please explain further.” “Yes, I shall tell you, in detail, dear boy. Listen attentively.”

Continue reading

Meaning of anubhava

The Sanskrit term that is interpreted by many modern teachers as ‘experience’ is anubhava. And indeed ‘experience’ is one of the translations given by Monier-Williams, along with the expansion “knowledge gained from personal observation or experiment”. (Ref. 179) But words such as ‘understanding’ and ‘apprehension’ are also given and these are much closer to the intended meaning.

Continue reading