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Yes, it is a small gain, yet it is in the direction of not letting myself be controlled by avoidance. Sep 23, Aarti Iyer rated it it was amazing. Awesome Sprituality and such a complex subject explained so well.
Jul 16, Ravi Raman rated it really liked it. Read this over a period of time, and it soaked in deeper. Some of the Upanishads are fanciful and metaphysical, while others seem more practical. After a full reading, it seems that the range of nature in writing was purposeful. After all, how else to appeal to so many people with varying tastes?
The presence of talking animals and lore-filled tales have their place.
I have a feeling I will be reading this book many more times. Y Read this over a period of time, and it soaked in deeper. You might be wondering why I would rate such an epic collection of works, a basis for the Hindu and other South-Asian spiritual teachings, as a 4-star vs a 5-star review???? The Upanishads are not the easiest works to understand.
Some passages are, while others aren't.
Y Read this over a period of time, and it soaked in deeper. But perhaps I need a teacher that can explain it better. Then the following 10 chapters seem to be his own representation of the spiritual path, without much reference back to the source text. One of the single best analyses of Indian thought and scripture. Thanks for telling us about the problem.
Some are fanciful and storylike featuring talking animals! Therefore, it's the descriptions provided by the author that holds the value. Those descriptions are very good, but unlike the Bhagavad Gita, which is more intelligible though still poetic and in need of translation , it's harder to parse given where my head is at right now. With re-reads over the years, perhaps I would rate this even more highly. Often the search for meaning starts with a sense of restlessness that can carry us all over the earth.
We soon realize the outer world has boundaries, but the mind is boundless.
There is a vast world waiting within the mind, and time and space have very little meaning in its realms. The best comparison is the sea: An oceanographic vehicle is used to descend deep into the sea, to seek out its secrets with instruments and searchlights. Meditation is the vehicle we use to explore the depths of our mind, to take the light of consciousness deeper and deeper until the whole of the mind is illumined from surface to seabed. Feb 17, Victor Negut rated it really liked it Shelves: This is not what I expected.
I was hoping for a detailed description of the Upanishads, this is a very loose description. However, Eknath Easwaran was a great writer and the imagery in this book are even better than usual. Though it has elements of a self help book, it is still really well done and a worthwhile read. This book would be especially good for two types of people: Those who d This is not what I expected. I am not in either camp, I want to understand the specific writings and how they affected the ancient world.
I am not so interested in implementing them in my own life. So I gave this 4 rather than 5 stars.
Nov 02, Aran Chandran rated it it was amazing. As a guide into the subject, the author is very eloquent in providing contemporary metaphors and pulling from eastern and western literature to provide an excellent primer.
Personally I feel the subject tries too hard to convince the reader of the potential to avoid death by trying to be one with divinity. But perhaps I need a teacher that can explain it better. Sep 22, Juan Rivera rated it really liked it Shelves: In religions rituals are perhaps the things that most distance us from the encounter with the divine. And all religions in the mystical aspect have much to teach.
Insights into Existence Essays on Upanishads [Raghunandan] on www.farmersmarketmusic.com * FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Attempts to offer a glimpse into the. The Insights into Existence: Essays on Upanishads [Raghunandan] on Amazon. com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. It is generally opined though.
Personally, Hinduism catches my attention, because it is the beginning of human spirituality. Because of their antiquity the Upanishads are perhaps the oldest sacred books of any religion. And the book "Essence of the Upanishads: The book praises meditation for In religions rituals are perhaps the things that most distance us from the encounter with the divine.
The book praises meditation for the encounter with the divine. Personally I think it is one of many methods, there are others, but personally meditation is what I use. Meditating at least 45 minutes a day is already a norm of life, and I believe it creates benefits in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Oct 05, Pinar rated it really liked it Shelves: Jul 04, Ash rated it it was amazing.
One of the best books I have read. Sep 23, Samuel rated it it was amazing Shelves: Sep 11, Collin Reynolds rated it it was amazing. One of the single best analyses of Indian thought and scripture. Dec 22, J. She places the Upanishads after the Zend-Avesta, which was authored much later than the Rigveda.
Cohen does not explain why she has apparently divorced the Upanishads from the Rigveda, which contains many Upanishads. While commenting on the authorship of the Upanishads, Cohen takes the popular academic stance that diverse and linguistically rich texts could not originate from a single author: Cohen religiously avoids citing translations from early Indian or monastic scholars, whose translations played a pioneering and pivotal role in the spread of the Upanishads among Anglophone readers.
While this may have creative merit, the meaning is lost to the reader. A prose translation would have been much more comprehensible. That is the story getting established by the discoveries of Bhrugu where he first identifies himself to the external things and then to his body and then discovers that there is something beyond this body.
All of us seek that experience which will make us understand everything else. It is like the question Parvati asks in the Vishnu Sahasranamam: That was the question.
Our quests are also not very different. That knowledge, if I have, ensures that I don't have to seek anything else - that is what I need. What is that knowlege?