Great Throughts Treasury

"This is the truth as from a fire aflame thousands of sparks come forth, even so from the Creator an infinity of beings have life and to him return again. - Maitri Upanishads"

"There are not many but only One. Who sees variety and not the unity wanders from death to death. – The Upanishads"

"Those who are clever in arguments about Brahman, but are without the action pertaining to Brahman (infinite consciousness) and who are greatly attached to the world – those certainly are born again and again (in this world) through their Ajnana (ignorance). – Tejo-Bindu Upanishad"

"This world is transitory. One who has taken birth in it, is living as if in a dream, as false as an elephant seen in the clouds. In the same way, your desires and imaginations are the result of the impact of the body and the senses; they are all illusions, like a rope that appears to be a snake. So the aim is to realize the Brahman, the ultimate reality. – Nirvana Upanishad"

"When a man dies, what does not leave him? The voice of a dead man goes into fire, his breath into wind, his eyes into the sun, his mind into the moon, his hearing into the quarters of heaven, his body into the land cheerfully. earth, his spirit into space. - Veda Upanishads"

"Through yoga, the sannyasin constantly experiences the blissful self. The only alms he longs for is bliss. Even deep in a cemetery, he lives as if in a pleasure-garden. Aloneness is his only abode. He tirelessly strives for the light. His movement is into no-mind. His body is clean and pure. Non-dependence is his refuge. His activities are like a playing, dancing river. – Nirvana Upanishad"

"When the mind is silent, beyond weakness or non-concentration, then it can enter into a world which is far beyond the mind the highest End. - Maitri Upanishads"

"Those wise ones who see that the consciousness within themselves is the same consciousness within all conscious beings, attain eternal peace. – The Upanishads"

"When all longings that are in the heart vanish, then a mortal becomes immortal and attains Brahman (infinite consciousness) here. - Katha Upanishad"

"When the senses are stalled, when the mind is at rest, when the intellect wavers not-- that, say the wise, is the highest state. This calm of the senses and the mind has been defined as yoga. One who attains it is freed from delusion. - Katha Upanishad"

"Truth alone triumphs, not untruth. By truthfulness the path of felicity is opened up, the path which is taken by the sages, freed from cravings, and which leads them to truth's eternal abode. -Mundaka Upanishad"

"Where there is joy there is creation. Where there is no joy there is no creation: know the nature of joy. - Veda Upanishads"

"Whether the body perishes now or lasts the age of moon and stars, what matters it to me having Consciousness alone as my body ? What matters it to the sky in the pot, whether it (the pot) is destroyed now or exists for a long time. – Varaha Upanishad"

"Whether the body perishes now or lasts the age of moon and stars, what matters it to me having"

"You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your wil is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your DESTINY. - Brihadaranyaka Upanishads"

"Without knowing the self, there is no immortality. – Nirvana Upanishad"

"Only those of tranquil minds, and none else, can attain abiding joy, by realizing within their souls the Being who manifests one essence in a multiplicity of forms."

"Man becomes true if in this life he can apprehend God; if not, it is the greatest calamity for him."

"This deity who is manifesting himself in the activities of the universe always dwells in the heart of man as the supreme soul. Those who realize him through the immediate perception of the heart attain immortality."

"Both the good and the pleasant approach a man. The wise man, pondering over them, discriminates. The wise chooses the good in preference to the pleasant. The simple-minded, for the sake of worldly well-being, prefers the pleasant."

"From joy all beings have come, by joy they all live, and unto joy they all return. – Upanishads"

"For him who sees everywhere oneness, how can there be delusion or grief? – Isha Upanishad"

"As pure water poured into pure water becomes the very same, so does the Self of the illumined man or woman verily become one with the Godhead. - Katha Upanishad"

"Happiness is a state of being of the nature of bliss, having cognized through experience the Reality of Sachchidananda – that which is be-ness, consciousness and bliss. - Niralamba Upanishad"

"Having realized his own self as the Self a person becomes selfless. - Maitrayana Upanishad"

"As by knowing one lump of clay, dear one, we come to know all things made out of clay- that they differ only in name and form, while the stuff of which all are made is clay… So through spiritual wisdom, dear one, we come to know that all life is one. — Chandogya Upanishad"

"An intelligent person who sees both nectar and poison rejects poison; so having cognized Atma, I reject those that are not Atma. – Atmabodha Upanishad"

"Except through the entire giving up of Vasanas and through Mouna – the observance of silence towards objects, the Supreme Seat is not attained. - Mukti Upanishad"

"Finite and transient are the fruits of sacrificial rites. The deluded, who regard them as the highest good, remain subject to birth and death. Living in the abyss of ignorance, yet wise in their own conceit, the deluded go round and round [on the wheel of death and rebirth], like the blind led by the blind. Living in the abyss of ignorance, the deluded think themselves blessed. Attached to works, they know not God. Works lead them only to heaven, whence, to their sorrow, their rewards quickly exhausted, they are flung back to earth. Considering religion to be observance of rituals and performance of acts of charity, the deluded remain ignorant of the highest good. Having enjoyed in heaven the reward of their good works, they enter again into the world of mortals. But the wise, self-controlled, and tranquil souls, who are contented in spirit, and who practice austerity and meditation in solitude and silence, are freed from all impurity, and attain by the path of liberation the immortal, the truly existing, the changeless Self. – Mundaka Upanishad"

"He who knows both the transcendent and the immanent, with the immanent overcomes death and with the transcendent reaches immortality. — Isa Upanishad"

"He whose mind is freed from Vasanas is not subject to the fruits arising from the performance or non-performance of actions. - Mukti Upanishad"

"In the beginning was only Being, One without a second. Out of himself he brought forth the cosmos and entered into everything in it. There is nothing that does not come from him. Of everything he is the inmost Self. He is the truth; he is the Self supreme. You are that, you are that. — Chandogya Upanishad"

"He whose mind, devoid of destruction, is centered on Me (Vishnu) as the nature of consciousness alone, abandoning the Vasanas is no other than Myself of the nature of Sachidananda. - Mukti Upanishad"

"He who sees all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, hates none. – Isha Upanishad"

"Just as by one clod of clay all that is made of clay is known, the modification being only a name, arising from speech, while the truth is that all is clay. – Chandogya Upanishad"

"Know one, know all. - Katha Upanishad"

"Know the self to be sitting in the chariot, the body to be the chariot, the intellect the charioteer, and the mind the reins."

"Just as by one nugget of gold all that is made of gold is known, the modification being only a name, arising from speech, while the truth is that all is gold. – Chandogya Upanishad"

"Just as sugar is found permeating all the sugar juice – from which sugar is extracted – so I am full in the three worlds in the form of the non-dual Brahman. – Atmabodha Upanishad"

"Lightness, healthiness, steadiness, clearness of countenance and pleasantness of voice, sweetness of odor, and scanty excretions-- these, they say, are the first stage in the progress of yoga. Even as a mirror stained by dust shines brilliantly when it has been cleansed, so the embodied one, on seeing the nature of the Soul, becomes unitary, his end attained, from sorrow freed. When with the nature of the self, as with a lamp, a practicer of yoga beholds here the nature of Brahman, unborn, steadfast, from every nature free-- by knowing God, one is released from all fetters! - Mukti Upanishad"

"Like the bubbles, waves, etc., in the ocean, so all beings, from Brahma down to worm, are fashioned in Me; just as the ocean does not long after motion of waves, so to Me, there is no longing after sensual happiness, being Myself of the form of spiritual Bliss. – Atmabodha Upanishad"

"One who meditates, all his knots of his heart, the bondages are opened; all the doubts are eliminated and one becomes gradually free from the fetters of action with ego. - Mundaka Upanishad"

"Previous to creation all this was being, one only without a second, Name and form were not. – Chandogya Upanishad"

"Some of those who contemplate the process of creation regard it as the manifestation of God’s powers; others imagine creation to be like dreams and illusions. Those who are convinced about the reality of manifested objects ascribe the manifestation solely to God’s will, while those who speculate about time regard time as the creator of things. Some say that the manifestation is or the purpose of God’s enjoyment, while others attribute it to His division. But it is the very nature of the effulgent Being. What desire is possible for Him who is the fulfillment of all desires? -Mandukya Upanishad"

"Still your mind in me, still yourself in me, and without a doubt you shall be united with me, Lord of Love, dwelling in your heart."

"That which cannot be perceived by the eye, but by which the eye is perceived—That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship. - Kena Upanishad"

"That which cannot be smelt by the breath, but by which the breath smells an object—That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship. - Kena Upanishad"

"That which cannot be expressed by speech, but by which speech is expressed—That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship. - Kena Upanishad"

"That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended—That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship. - Kena Upanishad"

"That which cannot he heard by the ear, but by which the hearing is perceived—That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship. - Kena Upanishad"