Welcome! These pages are devoted to present to a general (international) readership fragments of ancient Indian philosophical thought. In some cases, we provide translations of ancient texts, in others, that of works by philosopher-saints in the same tradition of more recent origin.
The ultimate goal of modern physics today is arguably the unifying of the quartet of electromagnetic, weak, strong forces and gravitation. Underlying this endeavor is our expectation that the world is ultimately a logically connected whole. In a different yet related way, this unity was appreciated by ancient Indian thinkers several thousand years ago. Where modern science employs the method of quantitative analysis, mathematical modelling and objective testing, the method of the ancients was based primarily on intuitive, supersensory perception, aided at best only secondarily by reasoning based on sensory experience. We believe that both, the scientific and intuitive, approaches are important. Scientific and objective proof can sharpen our intellectual expectation but must always culminate in direct experience.
At the same time, the unity envisaged by the Vedantic seers, as well as mystics the world over, by far transcends, but also subsumes, the goal of science. For it speaks of an inner unity that not only unifies the laws of Nature, which may be said to comprise the mind of the universe, but also the wider one that encompasses the conscious, human agents that witness and cognize those laws, as well as the process of knowing, which may be said to comprise the intelligence of the universe. In other words, where science aims to unify elements of the known, the ancients sought to discover the principle that unifies the triple of the knower, the known and the act of knowing .
Indeed, poets and mystics the world over appear to have often grasped this unity often better than scientists, for it is not something that is so much intellectually as intuitively perceived. An aspect of this idea is well captured by John Donne, the great 16th century English poet thus:
| No man is an island intire in itself [....] Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in Mankinde. And therefore never send to know For whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee. |
We believe that the essential spiritual content of all religions are not different and they echo the above views, though dressed in form and symbolism to suit the cultural and practical needs of the peoples among whom and of the times in which they were propagated. The common denominator is that they all aim to disabuse us of our mistaken identification with the physical body, which is a sheath concealing the soul, the spark of Reality in all of us. They all instruct us in the virtue of the practice of selfless love, service and/or meditation as ways that help expand our minds and gradually enable us to appreciate the essential interconnectedness and oneness of all beings, that "no man is an island intire in itself".
According to Vedanta, neither the body, nor mind nor intellect is the essential us. They are like so many layers of programming that shroud a deeper substance. A bundle of latent imprints in the subconscious vaults, transduced into a personality through the mechanism of the mind, results in a sense of separative existence, which is our little ego.
And if I am not my little ego, nor the mind, senses and body, then: Who am I?, a question worthy of each of us asking oneself. Insofar as a verbal response is possible, Chândogya Upanishad informs us:
| Thou art That. ( tat tvam asi. ) |
That has been called the Universal Soul, Universal Self or Consciousness, or the Brahman, whose essential nature is simply existence-consciousness-bliss (sat-chit-ânanda). Just as space in a room apparently assumes the form of the room, and appears fragmented, so too the One apparently assumes the forms and personalities of bodies It indwells and animates, and appears fragmented. According to Sri Râmakrishna, the little "I" or ego is like a wave on the ocean of the Self. The domain of the little egos is the outer edge of the surface of this ocean; dive deep, and all trace of the waves disappears, their complex, wondrous, bewildering variety replaced by the homogeneity of the mighty, still ocean. Sri Ramana Maharshi has pointed out that focussing meditatively on this simple question, "Who am I?" is the most direct way to awareness of the Self, or Self-realization. This is the path of Self-enquiry (âtma vichâra).
And why is this transcendental Truth not obvious? Not out of any deviousness but simply because of Its subtlety. A comment by the great physicist A. Einstein, "Raffiniert ist Herrgott, aber boshaft ist Er nicht" ("God is subtle, but not malicious"), is pertinent here. The irony is that this immediate connection with the Self is apparently rendered distant by virtue of our inability to tune in to Its fineness. Nowhere is this better expressed than in the Gitâ by Sri Krishna (Srîmad Bhagavad Gîtâ 13:15):
| It remains unknowable on account of Its subtlety; It stands afar, yet It is close at hand. |
Thus it is that the knowledge of our true, transcendental nature is all too easily drowned in the mental tension, noise and turbulence that besiege our mind constantly.
Another reason is the dimness of our introspective search-light, stemming basically from our intellectual resistance, which is all too firmly rooted in the physical reality informed by our senses. Being accessible only to the trained, inner eye of intuition and direct perception, It eludes our all too frequent attempts to intellectualize It, of Which the Taittirîya Upanishad expresses in wonder:
| Whence speech and the mind return, baffled. |
Our human lifetimes are said to be a stage of learning and self-improvement where, through our emotional response to people and events, we have an opportunity to study our nature and improve ourselves towards the dawn of Self-realization. According to Sri Krishna (Srîmad Bhagavadgîtâ 5:25)
| The sages, freed from blemish and doubt, disciplined, and ever intent on the welfare of all beings, attain Supreme Freedom. |
The systematic effort to to this end, by restoring calmness and coherence to the mind through the practice of concentration, breath-control and meditation, is called yoga. As Sri Patañjali's defines it aphoristically in his Yoga Sûtra:
| Yoga is the arresting of fluctuations of the mind. (yoga chitta vritti nirodha.) |
Altough this state seems so esoteric and recondite in our ordinary light, in the final analysis it will be seen to be the most natural to all of us.
Transcendental knowledge frees us from the thraldom of egocentric existence and leads automatically to universal love, compassion, gentleness, tranquility, cheer and joy. As Sri Krishna informs His friend Sri Arjuna, such a free soul regards all with an equal eye, on the analogy of his own self (Srîmad Bhagavadgîtâ 6:29):
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The yogi who is united with That, and regards all with equal vision, beholds the Self present in all beings and all beings in the Self. |
and further (Srîmad Bhagavadgîtâ 5:18):
| Sages look with an equal eye upon a scholar endowed with learning and
culture, on a cow, on an elephant, and even on a dog and an outcaste. |
Just as the ocean has no difference in feeling for the different waves, and gold cannot recognize itself as different in different pieces of ornament, so too the wise, undistracted by external appearances, cannot but see and recognize the same presence of Divinity everywhere.
One endowed with transcendental knowledge, free from the innumerable desires and restless mental agitations that spring from our indentification with and attachment to our little ego and the body, and that shackle one thereto, naturally attains peace. As Sri Krishna explains (Srîmad Bhagavadgîtâ 2:70):
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As the waters of different rivers enter the ocean, which
though full on all sides remains undisturbed, likewise he in whom all enjoyments merge themselves attains peace; not he that hankers after such enjoyments. |
Such a one derives his stability being rooted in the Self. Sri Krishna is emphatic (Srîmad Bhagavadgîtâ 3:17) that:
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For one who rejoices only in the Self, is satisfied with the Self, and finds contentment in the Self alone, nothing [else] remains to be accomplished. |
To the soul that has attained Self-realization, the journey in knowledge back to perfection is complete. The wave will have returned to its true home, the ocean, having realized their oneness in substance.
A number of Indian philosophical works touching upon the topic addressed above are available in English, indeed on the web. We are involved in translating some of them to other languages. Currently the Finnish translation of the following works are available at our website.