Brown University; Providence, Rhode Island, USA

9 February 1972

The Upanishads come from the Vedas. They contain the records of eternal
Truths. These Truths were discovered by various Seers at different times and
handed down to humanity.
Life is a problem. Even so, is death. The aspiring Aryans of the hoary past
wanted to solve these two problems. Soon they came to realise that their senses
could be of almost no help to them in solving these two major problems. They
also came to realise that it is the knowledge of the Ultimate Reality alone that can
solve, once and for all, the problems of life and death.
All of a sudden, two divine soldiers came in. Nobody knows where they came
from. These two soldiers were inspiration and aspiration. The first soldier,
inspiration, commanded them: “Give up the study of the body.” They immediately
did so. The second soldier, aspiration, commanded them: “Take up the study of
the soul.” They immediately did so. Lo, the King and the Queen from the Golden
Shore of the Beyond garlanded them, the seekers, the Seers, and the Knowers of
Light and Truth.
What do the Upanishads actually mean? If you ask a Western seeker, he will
immediately say, “Very simple. Sit at the feet of the Master and learn.” If you ask
an Eastern seeker the same question, he will quietly say, “Very difficult.
Transform human darkness into divine Light.” Both the Western and the Eastern
seeker are perfectly right. No Master, no discovery of the Transcendental Reality.
No transformation of darkness, no manifestation of Divinity on earth.
Who needs the Truth? A seeker. When does he achieve the Truth? He
achieves the Truth when he becomes the surrendered and divine lover.
His first achievement is God the Creator.
His second achievement is God the Preserver.
His third achievement is God the Transformer.
His fourth achievement is: Thou art That.
His fifth achievement is: I am That.
His sixth achievement is: He and I are one.
His seventh achievement is: He am I.
In the Creator he sees.
In the Preserver he feels.
In the Transformer he becomes.
The heart of the Upanishads is the Purusa. The life of the Purusa is the
message of the Upanishads. Who is the Purusa? The Purusa is the real dweller in
the body of the universe. The Purusa is three-fold: the outer atman, the inner
Atman, and the Paramatman.
The outer atman is the gross physical body. The outer atman is that which
grows in the body, with the body and for the body. The outer atman is the identification
of one’s body with the gross aspect of life. Here we live, we are hurt, we
hurt others, we enjoy pleasure from others, we offer pleasure to others. This
atman exists, changes, develops and, finally, decays.
The inner Atman is the discriminating Self. The inner Atman identifies itself
with the aspiring earth-consciousness. It identifies itself with air, ether, fire,
water and earth. The inner Atman is the thinker, the doer and the direct
messenger of God. The inner Atman manifests its inner realisation through outer
experience.
The Paramatman reveals itself through the process of Yoga. Neither is it born,
nor does it die. It is beyond all qualities. It is all-pervading, unimaginable and
indescribable. It is Eternity’s Reality and Reality’s Divinity.
Each Upanishad is a mighty drop from the fountain of eternal Life. This drop
can easily cure the teeming ills of human life. The infinite power of this drop can
free us from the endless rotation of human birth and death.
The mind, assisted by the body, creates bondage. The heart, assisted by the
soul, offers liberation. The unaspiring mind thinks useless thoughts and down it
sinks. It thinks too much and sinks too fast. The blind body is constantly digging
its own grave. The heart wants to love and be loved. God gives the heart the life
of oneness. The soul wants to reveal God. God fulfils the soul and, by doing so,
He brings down the message of Perfection in the Divinity of manifested Reality.