[Part – 14 (prashna 1)]

The “mind” referred to in the kaTha Upanishad—when it declares that “by the mind alone is the Self attainable”—is not the ordinary mind we are familiar with. What we usually call the mind is entangled with name, form, and action. It knows objects by taking their shape, and therefore keeps changing along with them. This kind of ‘knowing’ is called vRtti-jnAna—knowledge through mental modifications.

A vRtti is simply a thought-wave, always in motion. The life-principle (prANa), being inert by itself, cannot function without the mind; and the mind, in turn, cannot operate without the light of Knowledge. Yet Knowledge itself never moves. It is ever steady. The movement we attribute to Knowing is therefore only an appearance, caused by the restless activity of the mind.

This leads to an important insight. Although the mind is the only available instrument for liberation, it cannot serve that purpose as long as it remains in constant motion.  Continue reading →

[Part – 12 (kaTha 3)]

Ignorance is nothing more than the perception of multiplicity — focusing on the “particulars” while overlooking the Universal. While our sensory perception is inherently inert, it is the inner Self that provides the illumination required to experience any object. As the kaTha Upanishad declares:

न तत्र सूर्यो भाति न चन्द्रतारकं नेमा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतोऽयमग्निः ।

तमेव भान्तमनुभाति सर्वं तस्य भासा सर्वमिदं विभाति ॥           –  2.2.15, kaTha.

[Meaning: There the sun does not shine, neither do the moon and the stars; nor do these flashes of lightning shine. How can this fire? He shining, all these shine; through his lustre all these are variously illumined. (Trans: Swami Gambhirananda).]

Because Consciousness is beginningless, the Upanishad reveals that there is, in truth, no death—only the body perishes. While all forms eventually cease, the Formless remains. High-level seekers, like Prahlada or Kuchela, grasp this Truth instantly.

For the seeker of average competency, the method involves a systematic inward withdrawal:

यच्छेद्वाङ्मनसी प्राज्ञस्तद्यच्छेज्ज्ञान आत्मनि ।
ज्ञानमात्मनि महतिनि यच्छेत्तद्यच्छेच्छान्त आत्मनि ॥       —  1.3.13, kaTha.

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