PATIENT
The principal Upanishads
FORM
Dialogue, myth, meditation
CENTRAL CLAIM
Atman is Brahman
TRANSMISSION
Oral for centuries before being written
CHIEF COMPLAINT
Who am I at the core, and what is the ground of everything that exists?
HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS
The philosophical foundation of Hinduism, passed on from teacher to student for centuries before being written down. The central claim is that the self at your core (Atman) is identical with the ground of all existence (Brahman). Everything else in the tradition is commentary on that single recognition. The Bhagavad Gita is the Upanishads applied to action and devotion. The Brihadaranyaka is the oldest and longest, the Chandogya is second and holds the formula Tat Tvam Asi, and the Mandukya is the shortest at twelve verses.
REVIEW OF SYSTEMS
ATMAN AND BRAHMAN
The self within and the reality behind everything are one. The four Mahavakyas, great sayings, state it: Consciousness is Brahman, I am Brahman, That thou art, This Self is Brahman.
NETI NETI
Not this, not this. Yajnavalkya answers questions about Brahman by negating every description, since Brahman is not what can be seen, heard or thought.
FOUR STATES
The Mandukya: waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and a fourth state that is not any of them, symbolized by the syllable OM.
FIVE SHEATHS
The Taittiriya's Pancha Kosha: the self layered like nested containers, from the food body inward.
HOW TO LIVE
The Isha is the most ethical: renounce and enjoy; do not covet. The Katha's chariot is the psychological map.
PHYSICAL EXAM — STYLE & STRUCTURE
- —Neither Brihadaranyaka nor Chandogya is a lecture. They are dialogues: Yajnavalkya and his wife Maitreyi, Uddalaka and his son Shvetaketu.
- —The Katha is the most dramatically structured: a boy named Nachiketa is sent to the god of death and questions him.
- —The Mundaka separates two kinds of knowledge: the lower (the Vedas, ritual, grammar, science) and the higher, by which Brahman is known directly.
- —The Shvetashvatara is the most theistic, speaking of a personal God (Rudra-Shiva) as inner controller.
- —The Maitri is a later text that shows the influence of Buddhist and Samkhya philosophy.
ASSESSMENT & PLAN
Start with the Katha (a story), then the Chandogya's Tat Tvam Asi, then the Isha. Leave the Mandukya, twelve verses long and the most philosophically dense, for last. It is a non-denominational reference guide. The full guide recommends Patrick Olivelle (Oxford) for scholarly accuracy and Eknath Easwaran for readability.