Category Archives: Upanishads

The Nachiketa fire sacrifice

Posted on February 3, 2012 by

In a dialogue in the Katha Upanishad, Nachiketa asks Yama, the God of Death, to reveal the fire sacrifice that leads one to immortality. A disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother may have experienced the Nachiketa fire sacrifice. Continue reading →

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Vidyas in the Upanishads – part 2

Posted on March 24, 2010 by

The Upanishads feature koans for contemplation called Vidyas(literally means knowledge). They are meant to trigger the mind into perceiving yet another facet of the Divine Reality thereby guiding the aspirant into deeper grades of meditation. In a previous post Vidyas in the Upanishads, five such Vidyas were covered: Bhuma, Prana, Shandilya, Madhu and Vaishvanara. The book Supreme Knowledge by Swami Brahmananda [3] lists an astounding 101 Vidyas drawn from the Upanishads. This post discusses a few Vidyas drawn from this book. Continue reading →

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PanchaTattva Dharana : contemplation on the five elements

Posted on March 23, 2010 by

This post supplements a previous post Videha Dharana : fixing the mind outside the body, which discussed a method called Videha Dharana as per Sri Anirvan. The method is drawn from the Upanishads and can also be called PanchaTattva Dharana or contemplation on the five (pancha) elements (tattva) – namely earth, water, air, fire, ether. There is a similar technique in the Tantra texts called Bhuta-Shuddhi which is also outlined here. Continue reading →

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Meditation techniques from the Yoga Upanishads

Posted on February 4, 2010 by

Out of the 108 Upanishads, there are 21 which are known as the Yoga Upanishads. These contain various methods of Dharana (i.e. one-pointed concentration). The book Dharana Darshan by Swami Nirajananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga discusses them in detail Continue reading →

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Videha Dharana : fixing the mind outside the body

Posted on December 14, 2009 by

As discussed in the post Taming the Monkey Mind, the mind in contemplation can focus its awareness on many different objects – be they gross or subtle, within the body or without. In this post, we will cover one more method called Videha Dharana(fixing the awareness outside the body) which has been briefly mentioned in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and elaborated by Sri Anirvan in his book Inner Yoga. As we see below, what is noteworthy is that Sri Anirvan’s description of the transformation bears resemblance to some changes in body consciousness that were noted in exchanges between Sri Aurobindo and his disciples. Continue reading →

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Links between Vedas, Upanishads, Tantra and Puranas

Posted on September 26, 2009 by

Sri Aurobindo and his disciples uncovered connections between the Vedas and the later scriptures such as Upanishads, Puranas and the Tantra by tracing the evolution of concepts, use of common verses and the underlying symbolism between these scriptures. This is a synopsis of their discoveries collated from a variety of sources. Continue reading →

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Vidyas in the Upanishads

Posted on March 24, 2009 by

The Upanishads, besides delineating various spiritual experiences, also give a few hints on sādhana, i.e., paths of spiritual realization. These methods of sādhana are called vidyās. Continue reading →

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The Triple Cord

Posted on February 4, 2009 by

This post describes the three knots/granthis of mental, vital and physical ignorance that tie our consciousness to the physical world and bind our soul to the superficial personality.  When these knots are broken, our consciousness widens and opens to the … Continue reading →

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The Golden Lid or Hiranmaya Patra

Posted on January 28, 2009 by

The Vedas and the Upanishads speak of a golden lid (Hiranmaya Patra in Sanskrit) which divides the lower rational mind from the higher planes of the Mind above us. This post explains the significance of that Golden Lid in the … Continue reading →

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