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Reading the Upanishads: Part Eight

Reading the Upanishads: Part Eight

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:37 pm by Ambaa Choate

Reading the Upanishads: Part Eight 2015-03-13T22:37:46-04:00 Ambaa Choate

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I thought it would be nice to read along through some scriptures and discuss the passages. I have a translation of the Upanishads done by Eknath Easwaran, a teacher whom I deeply trust and love. In this book there is an introduction before each translation with some insight from Easwaran.

Here is a link to the Amazon page for the book I have:

The eighth verse of the Easwaran translation of the Isha Upanishad is…

The Self is everywhere. Bright is the Self,

Indivisible, untouched by sin, wise,

Immanent and transcendent. He it is

Who holds the cosmos together.

What a gorgeous verse this is!

It’s interesting to see this translation kind of making the Self both big and small in the same place here. While talking about how all pervasive the Self is, it still uses “he” as a pronoun, making it also feel relate-able and close.

I wonder about the “untouched by sin” part. The Self is everywhere and part of us at all times. I think this verse means that it is not affected when we mess up.

I love the part about holding the cosmos together.

I like to look at it like the world is a huge wooden puzzle. All the pieces are made of the same material, but they appear in different shapes and colors. Even the air connecting us is a piece in the puzzle. This verse reminds me of that description.

***

Update on the meditation challenge: I did not get very far in it! Which is too bad because I really like it. I truly enjoyed the meditations that I did. I’d like to go back and do them and I hope that they keep them up on the site.

I got out of the rhythm of it because we were moving and I didn’t have Internet at home for several days. I had it at work, but I couldn’t exactly sit in my office chair with my eyes closed.

However, the meditations I did do were really enjoyable so I think this may have renewed my interest in trying to meditate.

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