Upanishad-Kath

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Kathopanishad-Notes

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A huge hole dug in the forest and is covered with bamboo matting and dirt. Above them are kept sugar cane sticks. When the trap is complete, it looks like a little stand of sugar cane growing in the woods. Elephants cannot resist the call of sugar cane. All their self-control is gone and these majestic animals proceed for sugar cane and tumble in. The most awful part is that although the elephants behind see the front ones falling in, but they cannot think that kit can happen to them also. The herd will stop only when there is no room left in the pit. Elephant is an intelligent animal, but when a strong desire comes, all they see is sugar cane.

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Because when we are glued then only things get near, and we see the things clearer when they are near to us - 'a man with poor judgment can't see anything past his nose'.

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Kath Upanishad - 
I wrote the following from Kath Upanishad, the same book which I used to write this log article :-

1-2-3
A good action is one thing, the pleasant is another. Both prompt people to act, but they differ in their results. Blessed are they who choose the good over pleasant. Who choose the pleasant over good miss the goal of life. Both the commendable and the pleasant actions lie in front of a person to choose from. The wise after sifting the two, prefer the good actions over the pleasant. The fools prefer the pleasant over the good.

Hey Nachiketaa, You have meditated upon and rejected the course of lusty objectives which yield momentary pleasures; you have refused the greed for wealth, under which many men perish. Living in the midst of ignorant people, fools consider themselves wise and learned. Listening to other ignorant people, they keep on going in circles, as though the blind were leading the blind. The Angel of Death said - "The immature minds believe that this life is over in this life only, there is no other life beyond. As a result of this, they fall under my sway again and again. [This does not mean that one should deny or not enjoy pleasures, but only that one should not become the slave of pleasures.]

Yam Raaj Jee said - "Wonderful is the person who is able to explain God within to his listeners, and blessed is the person who when instructed by that rare teacher, is able to comprehend Him. After hearing and grasping fully, a person realizes the Subtle soul within his own body. Such a realized person is able to separate virtue from sin and strive for virtue. You are a realized person, therefore the door to the House of God is flung wide open for you.

Supreme soul cannot be realized through religious instructions or mental reasoning. It is through divine grace also that He is revealed. A person who has not turned away from sin, whose senses are not in his control, whose mind is not focused on God, who is not at peace with himself, such a person cannot reach his soul.

Imagine your soul as the rider, body as chariot, intellect as charioteer, and mind as reins, senses as horses, desires as pathways. When the soul is attached to a body with the mind and the senses, the soul is said to be the enjoyer. A person who lacks discrimination and has an unstable mind is unstable to keep his senses under control. He is like a charioteer whose chariot is yoked to vicious horses. The power of the senses is indeed great. Yet greater than the senses is heart, greater than the heart is reasoning power of the intellect. Finally, your soul, the God within your heart, is the greatest of all.

Kausheetaki Upanishad

3
One can live without the faculty of speech - witness the dumb. One can live without eyesight - witness the blind. One can live without the faculty of hearing - witness the deaf. One can live without the legs - witness the lame, one can survive without the maturity of mind - witness the child. But one cannot live without the Death. And without soul, the consciousness of the life is lost. [If breath remains, but the soul leaves the body, he loses his mind completely and is reduced to the state of vegetable.

Maitree - 4
Which name of God/ The disciples asked. Revered Sir, What you have said  has impressed us. Now answer another question, "Out of Agni, Vaayu, Soorya, Praan, Brahmaa, Rudra, Vishnun and many others, some meditate upon one and some meditate on another. Tell us, which one is best?" 

The teacher replied - "There are various names and forms of the same Supreme. bodyless Lord. To whichever name a person is devoted, that name will bring him joy. A person meditates on the Lord's form and then moves higher and finally attains the union of his soul with the Supreme soul."

Mundak Upanishad

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God cannot be seen by the eye, He cannot be described by words, nor can other senses reach Him. Even Rituals and intense meditation alone cannot deliver Him to us. When a person has achieved all three - purity of heart, wisdom, and grace of calm meditation, God is revealed to us.

Shwetaashwatar

1
There are three entities, two of which are unborn - Supreme Soul, Individual Soul, and Parakriti (human body including mind) which is pleasure seeking. The Individual Soul is eternal and does not participate in actions. When one understands these three, one has understood Brahm.

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