The Upanishads – by Swami Ramakrishnananda
Introduction
The Upanishads are not simply textbooks of an intellectual nature, but are sacred documents that contain faithful writings of the mystical experiences and wisdom of the ancient seers or Vedic rishis. This transforms them into transcendental road maps of priceless value for seekers of the Truth. As footsteps of the great sages who traveled the path to the light, they are worthy of following. They are not only a means of information, but transformation.
The meaning of the word Upanishad is very beautiful; it means, “to sit close”, to sit close to the closest to you… which is you… they are literary testimonials of those who have realized their soul…
The Upanishads are the wisdom of the Self… You can get infected with it by sitting close to and taking refuge under the lotus feet of a spiritual master. This is our tradition…
Many of the books in the world that are considered to be sacred were actually written by religious people commenting on what they had heard about the utterances of enlightened beings. A major part of the Upanishads value is due to their forming direct testimonials and documentation of the words of beings who have experienced and realized the reality of the soul. In this respect, they are scriptures of incalculable spiritual value, because they were not written to or destined for a specific group of people in a particular time or place. The Upanishadic vision is nonsectarian. The enlightened one does not see countries, races or nations, but he sees the one humanity. Therefore, this is a message for all men, in all places and all times…
When referring to the author or authors of the different Upanishads, it is important to clarify that the prevailing attitude in Hinduism, as in science, is that more important than the one “who discovers” something, is “what” has been discovered, and more important than “who” is the expounder of certain revelations, is “what the revelation consists of”. This sometimes leads to some confusion, especially for western students and readers, due to the fact that in our culture, the approach of certain religious organizations has been to situate religion more closely to history and archeology than to the direct realization of the Divine and enlightenment…
