Post by jash on Feb 21, 2013 16:18:59 GMT
The Katha Upanishad tells the story of Nachiketa learning the great lesson of the afterlife from Yama, the god of death. The story begins with as mundane an event as a teenager falling out with his father, who then goes to as monumental a place as the house of death, to learn the secret of immortality.
Nachiketa is the son of Vajashravasa, a sage who is famous for his charity. The sage gives away old cows, which Nachiketa thinks is an inappropriate, half hearted sacrifice. Nachiketa asks sarcastically to whom is he given. In anger, Vajashravasa says "I give you unto Yama."
Nachiketa takes this response to heart, and goes away to search for Yama. He goes to Yama's house, where he waits for three days. When Yama arrives, seeing that he has a guest who he did not show hospitality to, he grants Nachiketa three boons.
Nachiketa asks first for his father not to be angry with him when he returns, which Yama grants. Then he asks for instruction of the Vedic fire sacrifice, to gain immortality. Yama also grants this, and names the fire ritual after Nachiketa. The third request is for knowledge of life after death. Yama balks, saying that not even the gods know, since this knowledge is hard to come by. Yama implores Nachiketa to make another request, for anything, whether it be wealth or fame or success. But Nachiketa knows that these pleasures are fleeting, and finite, and asks again for knowledge of life after death.
Yama praises Nachiketa for having the wisdom to desire knowledge of the eternal, rather than worldly desire. He draws a distinction between sensory pleasure and inner peace. He goes on to tell Nachiketa that the true Self is like the passenger of a chariot. The body is the chariot, consciousness is the driver, the mind is the reigns, and the senses are the horses. The objects perceived are the road the chariot is on. If we can control our minds, hone our awareness, and reign in our sensual desires, then we can control our destiny. Those people with untrained minds are pulled about by their worldly desires, and are trapped in the cycle of death and rebirth.
Those who meditate to control their minds, and push their awareness from the mind to their innermost being, find that they are identical to the source of everything, God. Everything is one, and distinctions are merely illusory.
"The Lord of Love, not larger than the thumb, is ever enshrined in the hearts of all. Draw him clear out of the physical sheath, as one draws a stalk from the grass. Know thyself to be pure and immortal!"
Thus, we see that meditation is the way to realize that one is God, and that everything is one.
Nachiketa is the son of Vajashravasa, a sage who is famous for his charity. The sage gives away old cows, which Nachiketa thinks is an inappropriate, half hearted sacrifice. Nachiketa asks sarcastically to whom is he given. In anger, Vajashravasa says "I give you unto Yama."
Nachiketa takes this response to heart, and goes away to search for Yama. He goes to Yama's house, where he waits for three days. When Yama arrives, seeing that he has a guest who he did not show hospitality to, he grants Nachiketa three boons.
Nachiketa asks first for his father not to be angry with him when he returns, which Yama grants. Then he asks for instruction of the Vedic fire sacrifice, to gain immortality. Yama also grants this, and names the fire ritual after Nachiketa. The third request is for knowledge of life after death. Yama balks, saying that not even the gods know, since this knowledge is hard to come by. Yama implores Nachiketa to make another request, for anything, whether it be wealth or fame or success. But Nachiketa knows that these pleasures are fleeting, and finite, and asks again for knowledge of life after death.
Yama praises Nachiketa for having the wisdom to desire knowledge of the eternal, rather than worldly desire. He draws a distinction between sensory pleasure and inner peace. He goes on to tell Nachiketa that the true Self is like the passenger of a chariot. The body is the chariot, consciousness is the driver, the mind is the reigns, and the senses are the horses. The objects perceived are the road the chariot is on. If we can control our minds, hone our awareness, and reign in our sensual desires, then we can control our destiny. Those people with untrained minds are pulled about by their worldly desires, and are trapped in the cycle of death and rebirth.
Those who meditate to control their minds, and push their awareness from the mind to their innermost being, find that they are identical to the source of everything, God. Everything is one, and distinctions are merely illusory.
"The Lord of Love, not larger than the thumb, is ever enshrined in the hearts of all. Draw him clear out of the physical sheath, as one draws a stalk from the grass. Know thyself to be pure and immortal!"
Thus, we see that meditation is the way to realize that one is God, and that everything is one.
