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Power and Desire in the Early Upanishads

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Power and Desire in the Early Upanishads Foundations of Yoga Philosophy for Teachers Course Reference Guide Course Title: Modernity and Transformations ​ Faculty: Douglas Brooks, Ph.D. ​ Total Duration: 4 hours ​ Number of Modules: 4 modules (comprised of modules 9­12) ​ Number of Lessons: 22 lessons ​ Module 9: Power and Desire in the Early Upanishads Lesson 1: Integrating Understanding and the Ineffable Learning “Upanishads” (spelling reference) as the foundational texts of yoga How does the content of the Upanishads create the foundation of yoga? Upanishads are also known as “Vedanta” (Veda + Anta = “The resolution of the Veda”) Veda ­ that which is true, verified The Vedanta yogis are the yogis who first came to the West and shared their teachings, e.g. 3:30 Swami Vivekananda (arrives in USA in 1893). “Raja Yoga” ­ the yoga of sovereignty Vivekananda combined his knowledge of the Upanishads with his own experience to create a unique interpretation of yoga, the non­dualist Advaita school of Vedanta. Early prose Upanishads (700 BCE) are linked to the symbolic teachings of the Arankyakas, an elaboration of texts on Vedic ritual. Ironic Question: How do we articulate the sublime secret (veda) of the universe? How do we express that which cannot be expressed? “Upa” + “nisad” = to place one thing next to the other. Reflective of the methodology of the Upanishads that takes us from the micro to the macro, that takes us into the highest realms of Modernity and Transformations 2 understanding and to the core of reality. Later Texts: Chandogya Upanishad Taittiriya Upanishad Aitareya Upanishad Lesson 2: An Intelligent Universe in Self­Expression Claim: the Upanishads never describe a God (extrinsic force) who created the universe. The emergence of the universe comes from subtle, present realities. There is something “Sat” ­ something real, being­ness. Everything else that comes into existence is some form of degradation ­ the subtle moving into the gross. Spirit gives way to matter. An interesting contrast for contemporary yoga teachers is that modern science suggests that life is an evolution. ​ How could an intelligent, manifest reality appear if it did not originate from a self­knowing, supreme source? “Brahman” ­ a neutered noun, indicating an abstract notion of divinity that is self­knowing. Brahman comes close to a designed pattern, a purposeful projection of the universe that moves from the subtle to the gross. Is this feasible given our modern knowledge? To what pattern of the universe are we yoking ourselves? Does order create intelligence, or does intelligence create order? Lesson 3: Intelligent Design Brahman later becomes associated with “Isvara” ­ the empowered consciousness of its own intelligence. Brahman in the Upanishads is associated with power. 90 Monkeys Copyright 2016 Modernity and Transformations 3 As yogis, we look to integrate our understandings and draw connections within the system of relationships to cultivate power. “To understand the sublime course of being is to be able manifest power in the world.” When you know the sublime, you have the ability to change the material world with authority over the material world, i.e. to be “sovereign” over the world by tracing the sources of power to their origin. Lesson 4: Desire for its Own Sake The source of the universe holds immeasurable amounts of power. By tracing the pathways of power, we can unleash them in manifest forms. There is value in this, but also risk, and provides insights into how the power of nature can be harnessed for good or bad. A universe that is an expression of its self­initiated desire. If a universe has no need, then what is the purpose of desire? It desires to create the patterns and relationships of reality as a manifestation of desire itself. Desire is not about fulfilling a goal, it is the nature of power. Desire is the source of power and our problems as human beings. Lesson 5: Prana as the Gateway to the Sublime Desire is the problematic nature of the universe. It is the profound hope of experience to be fulfilled ­ without desire there can be no yoga. The misidentification of desire with small, limited thoughts and feelings, rather than the identification of desire with the sublime and an expression of supreme prana. Is desire itself a problem to be transcended or can we trace the patterns of life to the sublime source of desire to arrive at an empowered state of being? In order to integrate ourselves with the source of our being, we must know the vital pathway of prana. The breath (prana) is the gateway to the sublime. 90 Monkeys Copyright 2016 Modernity and Transformations 4 Lesson 6: The Story of the Vital Functions: Chandogya 5.1 Story from the Chandogya Upanishad, Chapter 5. Lessons: 1. There is a vital pathway to the source of our being and we, as human beings, tend to limit walk more limited paths which leads to a disconnected (un­yoked) life. 2. We are not being cut off from our desires, rather, we are being invited to an unlimited, sublime source from which our highest desires and intentions will flow. “When a person know the best and the greatest, he becomes the best and the greatest, and the best and the greatest is none other than the breath. When a person knows what is most excellent, he becomes this excellence among the company he keeps, and such excellence is speech. When one know the firm base and stands firm in the world, and next to him, that firm base is sight, for when one knows those connectivities, his desires, both human and divine, ar fulfilled for him, for making the connection happens by listening. When one knows there is a sublime refuge, he becomes a refuge for others and such a refuge is the mind. Once, all the vital powers of breath were arguing amongst themselves who was the greatest. ‘I am the greatest, I am the greatest,’ so each shouted, and the pranas went to Prajapati, the lord of creatures, their originator. They asked the divine one, ‘Great one, sir, who is the greatest among us.’ And he said, ‘The one after whose departure the body appears in the worst way. Well that is the greatest one among you.’ And so, among these vital powers Speech departed, and after spending a year away returned and said, ‘Well, how did you manage to live without me?’ And the others replied, “We lived as dumb in the world, without speaking, but breathing with the breath, seeing with the eye, hearing with the ear, reflecting with the mind.’ And so Speech re­entered, knowing that speech was limited. And so then Sight departed, and spending a year away it returned and said, ‘Well, how did you manage to live without me?’ ‘We lived as the blind would live, without seeing, but breathing the breath, and speaking with speech, and hearing with the ear, and reflecting with the mind.’ And so Sight understood. 90 Monkeys Copyright 2016 Modernity and Transformations 5 Hearing departed, and so followed the same pattern. ‘We lived as the deaf would, without hearing, but breathing with the breath, and speaking with speech, seeing with the eye, and reflecting with the mind.’ And so hearing re­entered. And then the Mind departed, and after spending a year away it returned. ‘How did you manage without me?’ the Mind said. And, ‘We lived as simpletons would, without reflection, but still we breathe, and still we speak, and still we see and hear with the ears.’ So the mind re­entered. Then as Breath was setting off, it so vitalized all the others, in a way a fine horse would jerk at the stakes to which it was tethered, they all gathered around the Breath, and they implored the Breath, ‘Oh no please stay, surely you are the greatest among us. Don’t depart.’ And Speech said, ‘As I am the most excellent so you are the most excellent. ​ ​ And Sight told him, ‘As I am the firm base, so you are the basis.’ And Hearing told him, ‘So I am all the connectivities of listening, so you are that connection.’ And the Mind told him, ‘So as I am the refuge, so you will be that refuge. For surely do people call ​ ​ things that they say, see, and hear, and mind, but they call them pranas, breaths, vital connections, for only the breath becomes all these.’” Lesson 7: The Story of the Breath Prana feeds all the other vital functions. How vital are they then? The breath is truly the one vital source that manifests the other important forms. 1. If we follow a limited path, we will arrive at a limited result. 2. There is a relationship between dependence and source. Dependant relationships are conditional, and therefore we must look somewhere else for the unconditional sublime. 3. There is a pathway to the sublime, and that is the breath because it animates all the other functions. When we know the source and cause of things, we are empowered to understand their effects. Lesson 8: Interpreting an Inexhaustible Resource Conclusion: These resources are invitations to interpretation. How do you make these texts and teachings your own and relevant to your own life? This is the fundamental work of yoga. What is the value of our own interpretation of these texts? How can we empower ourselves through 90 Monkeys Copyright 2016 Modernity and Transformations 6 them? Don’t settle for something less than the result of your undaunted courage and the strength of this resource itself! What is valuable about being human is contained within these stories. MODULE 10: Upanishads: Conversations with the Self ​ ​ Lesson 9: The Conversation of Cosmology Chandogya Upanishad ­ many continuing themes, but also the introduction of many ideas that will become important to Vedantan philosophy and contemporary yoga.
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