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Upanishads Quotes

Browse 13 quotes about Upanishads.

Upanishads Quotes

“As per the Indian philosophy of the Upanishads, the source of evil is one’s ego-sense –Ahankara—which differentiates oneself from the other selves. A person, who visualizes himself independent of others, tries to guard or please himself at the cost of others. Evil is thus the tendency of a person to live a life that is not ‘in harmony’ with the rest of the world, but ‘in opposition’ to it or at best ‘in indifference’ to it. The good is to discover the unity in the diversity of ‘all selves’ and beings. Once unity in diversity is realized, every being becomes our own self and good deeds follow automatically”

“It is said in the Upanishads: ‘I am the Universe.’ If you ask a hundred people as to how they find the world, they are all likely to give different answers. For some, the world is beautiful and the people are good, while for others, the world is extremely bad, and the people are treacherous and sinful. Why the same world is different for different people? It is so, because the outer world is the projection of our inner world. Therefore, the only way to improve the world outside is to improve the world within. While we may not have any control over the outside world, we can change our world within and thus change the world outside.”

“Om is the things, Om is the ingredient, Om is the container and the content of this universe.”

“Om is that God of love. Like a loving mother Om cleans us of our clutters collected through many incarnations.”

“I am Not, but the Universe is my Self.”

“Man is the expression of God, and God is the reality of man. Real man and God are inseparable. "This Atman is not to be realized by the intellect, nor by words, nor by hearing from many sources; but by him by whom this Atman is beloved, by him alone is the Atman realized." The thing necessary for us is to feel intense love in our hearts for this Atman, or God; otherwise He is not attainable. There is no other way that man can reach unto God, except through love — love always unites. This love for God comes unto those blessed beings who are pure in heart, from whom all attachment for unreal things, all selfish desires have vanished. This purity of heart and love for God are the sum and substance of all religious teachings”

“Never during its pilgrimage is the human spirit completely adrift and alone. From start to finish its nucleus is the Atman, the god-within... underlying its whirlpool of transient feelings, emotions, and delusions is the self-luminous, abiding point of the transpersonal god. As the sun lights the world even when cloud-covered, “the Immutable is never seen but is the Witness; it is never heard but is the Hearer; it is never thought but is the Thinker; it is never known but is the Knower. There is no other witness but This, no other knower but This." from the Upanishad”

“Shankara’s views were gradually accepted, possibly because he presented brahman both as the cosmic principle and as a personal god (isvara), which added emphasis to the teaching of the later Upanisads and to that of Patañjali. Advaita Vedanta thus reinforced the teaching of the Bhagavadgitä and the concept of liberation (mukti) by grace (prasäda), faith (sraddha), and devotion (bhakti). It succeeded in reviving the ancient belief in the affinity of mankind with the world of nature. From being merely one of the darsanas, the Vedanta became an element that permeated all Hindu cults and dissolved sectarian distinctions. It gave to the Supreme Essence (paramätman), Vishnu and Shiva the common, all-inclusive designation, ‘Isvara’.”

“The oldest Vedantic school, Advaita [‘Not two’], represents an extreme and purist position in arguing that Brahman alone is real. The self and the world are within Brahman, with any apparent difference arising from illusion [maya] and ignorance [avidya]. It is as with a rope, which seems to be a snake, or a seashell, which seems to be of silver. This world is like the foam on the sea, or a peacock’s egg, created simply for play [lila]. Since Brahman is all, Brahman is without attributes. When the mind, which is given to maya, tries to conceive of Brahman, it sees Ishvara in one of his many forms. If certain Upanishadic statements appear to be theistic, it is because their author (nominally, Brahman) is catering to his audience. Only in deep sleep, when we are no longer dreaming, might we experience something of the formlessness of Brahman. We are then pure, disengaged consciousness, like the sun after it has set. This is the experience of disembodied Atma, of death, of home.”