{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/ftu/ftu05.htm","path":"hin/ftu/ftu05.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/ftu/ftu05.htm","text":"From the Upanishads, by Charles Johnston, [1899]\nChildren seek after outward desires; they come to the net of widespread death. But the wise, beholding deathlessness, seek not for the enduring among unenduring things.\nBy that which perceives form, taste, smell, sounds, and embraces; by this verily he discerns, for what else is there? This is that.\nThe wise man, thinking that that by which he perceives both waking and dreaming life, is the great, the. lord, the Self, grieves not.\nHe who perceives the living Self, the honey-eater, close at hand, the lord of what has been and what shall be, he is no longer seeking for refuge. This is that.\nHe who knows the first-born of radiance, born of old of the waters, standing hid in secret, who looked forth through creatures. This is that.\nAnd the great mother, full of divinity, who comes forth through life, standing hid in secret, who was born through creatures. This is that.\nThe fire hidden in the fire-sticks\u2014like a germ, well concealed by the mothers\u2014that fire is day by day to be praised by men who wake, with the oblation. This is that.\nWhence the sun rises, and whither he goes to setting; that all the bright ones rest on, nor does any go beyond it. This is that.\nWhat is here, that is there; what is there, that also is here. He goes from death to death who sees a difference between them.\nThis is to be received by the mind, that there is no difference here. From death to death he goes, who sees a difference.\nThe spirit of the measure of a finger stands in the midst, in the Self; lord of what has been, and what shall be. Thereafter one is no longer seeking for refuge. This is that.\nThe spirit of the measure of a finger is like a light without smoke; lord of what has been and what shall be, the same to-day and to-morrow. This is that.\nAs water rained on broken ground runs away among the mountains; so he who beholds separate natures runs hither and thither after them.\nAs pure water poured in pure remains the same, so is the Self of the discerning sage, O descendant of Gotama.\nUnderstanding the eleven-doored dwelling of the unborn seer of truth, he grieves not; and, freed, he is set free. This is that.\nThis is the Swan in the pure world, the radiant in the middle world, the fire here on the altar; as a guest in a dwelling.\nThis is the essence of man, the essence of the best, the essence of the deep and the ether; those born of the water, of earth, of the deep, of the mountains, are that true great one.\nHe leads upward the forward-life, and casts back the downward-life. All the bright powers bow to the dwarf seated in their midst.\nWhen this lord of the body, standing within the body, departs; when he goes forth free from the body, what is left? This is that.\nNo mortal lives by the forward-life, nor by the downward-life. But by another they live, in whom these two rest.\nThis secret immemorial Eternal, I shall declare to thee; and how the Self is, on attaining death, O descendant of Gotama.\nSome come to the womb, for the embodying of that lord of the body. Others reach the resting-place, according to deeds, according to what they have understood.\nThe spirit that wakes in those that dream, moulding desire after desire, is that bright one, that Eternal; that they call the immortal one. In this all the worlds rest, nor does any go beyond it. This is that.\nAs fire, being one, on entering the world, is assimilated to form after form; so the inner Self of all being is assimilated to form after form, and yet remains outside them.\nAs the air, being one, on entering the world, is assimilated to form after\nAs the sun, the eye of all the world, is not smeared by visible outer stains; so the inner Self of all being is not smirched by sorrow of the world, but remains outside it.\nThe one ruler, the inner Self of all being, who makes one form manifold; the wise who behold him within themselves, theirs is happiness, and not others'.\nThe durable among undurables; the soul of souls, who though one, disposes the desires of many; the wise who behold him within themselves, theirs is peace everlasting, and not others'.\nThis is that, they think, the ineffable supreme joy. How then may I know, whether this shines or borrows its light? No sun shines there, nor the moon and stars; nor lightnings, nor fire like this. All verily shines after that shining. From the shining of that, all this borrows light.\nRooted above, with branches below,\nis this immemorial Tree. It is that bright one, that Eternal; it is called the immortal. In it all the worlds rest; nor does any go beyond it. This is that.\nAll that the universe is, moves in life, emanated from it. It is the great fear, the upraised thunderbolt. They who have seen it, become immortal.\nThrough fear of this, Fire glows; through fear of this, the Sun glows; through fear of it, the King and Breath; and Death runs, as fifth.\nIf one has been able to understand it here, before the body's falling away, he builds for embodiment in the creative worlds.\nAs in a mirror, this is seen in the Self; as in a dream, it is seen in the world; as in 'the waters around, it is seen in the world of sylphs; as in the fire and the shadow, it is seen in the world of the Evolver.\nConsidering the life of the powers as apart, and their rising and setting as they grow up apart, the wise man grieves not.\nMind is higher than the powers, the real is higher than mind; than this real, the great Self is higher;\nand than the great, the unmanifest is higher.\nThan the unmanifest, spirit is higher, the universal and formless; knowing which a being is released, and goes to immortality.\nThe form of this does not stand visible, nor does anyone behold it with the eye., By the heart, the soul, the mind, it is grasped; and those who know it become immortal.\nWhen the five perceptions and mind are steadied; and when the soul struggles not, this, they say, is the highest way.\nThis they think to be anion, the firm holding of the powers. Unperturbed is this union, though there be ebb and flow.\nNor by speech, nor by mind can it be gained; nor by sight. It is gained by him who can affirm \"It is\"; how else could it be gained?\nIt is to be gained by affirming \"It is\"; and as the real in what is and is not. In him who obtains it by affirming \"It is\" its reality is perfected.\nWhen all desires that dwell in his heart are let go, the mortal becomes immortal, and reaches the Eternal.\nWhen all the knots of his heart are untied here, the mortal becomes immortal. So far is the teaching.\nA hundred and one are the heart's channels; of these one passes to the crown. Going up by this, he comes to the immortal. The others lead hither and thither. .\nThe spirit of the measure of a finger, the inner Self, ever dwells in the hearts of men. Let him draw forth this spirit from his body, firmly, like the pith from a reed.\nLet him know that this is the bright one, the immortal. Let him know it is the bright one, the immortal.\nNachiketas thus having received the knowledge declared by Death, and the whole law of union, became a passionless dweller in the Eternal, and deathless; and so may another who thus knows the union with the Self.","title":"From the Upanishads: In the House of Death, Second Part","type":"page"}