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Reddit mentions of The Upanishads, 2nd Edition

Sentiment score: 10
Reddit mentions: 15

We found 15 Reddit mentions of The Upanishads, 2nd Edition. Here are the top ones.

The Upanishads, 2nd Edition
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Found 15 comments on The Upanishads, 2nd Edition:

u/mushpuppy · 18 pointsr/atheism

Respectfully, your first question is a bit too personal for me to answer. You didn't mean it that way; I understand. But to answer it I would have to reveal more than I choose.

What I can say is that I have survived grief. I experienced it, explored its depths, and came out the other side. There was a time in my life, literally, when everyone I ever had loved was dead.

Life doesn't offer any promises. All it offers is itself. And it will end soon enough, anyway.

To address the issues you raise in any sort of competent way would require far more space than I have here. I suggest--and I don't mean this as a brush-off--that you read the Bhagavad-gita, the other Upanishads, the writings of the Buddha. You also probably would want to read commentaries, as the texts probably would be indecipherable without them. You also might want to try The Razor's Edge and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which are a couple of accessible novels that at least introduce certain ideas.

This may seem like a puzzle, but the main thing to understand is that your sense of permanence is illusory. This concept is so fundamental to life that it transcends and infuses atheism, philosophy, religion. From it flows the idea that many other things also are illusory--pain, suffering, grief, desire, hope, happiness.

In any event, as you ask such valid and profound questions, it would make sense to arm yourself with the equipment to answer them, right?

u/pi3141592653589 · 8 pointsr/india

I will recommend the following book.

http://www.amazon.com/Upanishads-Classic-Indian-Spirituality/dp/1586380214/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457682069&sr=8-1&keywords=upanishads

From what I understood reading Upanishads, the message is very similar to that in Bhagvad Gita. Our actions are driven by our senses and the selfish desires they drive. The main message of both the books is to overcome your selfish desires and do what is good for the society. The only way to figure out what is good for the society is by making yourself wiser and meditation is emphasized as a way of understanding yourself and your relation to the world. Only then you can figure out what you can do to improve the society you live in. There is no single way of achieving this. It depends on your personality. You can improve the society by doing social work, acquiring knowledge, worship, by going in to administrative services and working for betterment of the society etc.

I cannot emphasize this enough that this is how I interpreted it after reading the books a couple of times. I am not an expert.

u/reddit_account_123 · 6 pointsr/india
u/[deleted] · 6 pointsr/Psychonaut

Read the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Follow the advice and practice intensely. The word yoga means union with God. It goes far beyond the exercise. It's a state of mind and if you do it intensely for even a short period of time, you will know another state of consciousness. You will know the ecstatic feeling of oneness!

Krishnamurti helped me very much with meditation when he said this:

"Meditation is not something different from daily life; do not go off into the corner of a room and meditate for ten minutes, then come out of it and be a butcher—both metaphorically and actually. Meditation is one of the most serious things. You can do it all day, in the office, with the family, when you say to somebody, “I love you”, when you are considering your children. But then you educate them to become soldiers, to kill, to be nationalized, to worship the flag, educating them to enter into this trap of the modern world.

Watching all that, realizing your part in it, all that is part of meditation. And when you so meditate you will find in it an extraordinary beauty; you will act rightly at every moment; and if you do not act rightly at a given moment it does not matter, you will pick it up again—you will not waste time in regret. Meditation is part of life, not something different from life." - The Flight of the Eagle, p 46

This is what meditation is. Living with full focus on the infinite now, not dwelling on the past or the future, just paying attention with full force. That' sit. It's so beautiful.

After having done this, I can see just how awesome every single thing in existence is. Everything, every single atom in existence is balanced perfectly and you get to see that when you practice. The more you practice, the longer you get to stay in that state of grace, the one where you are ecstatic just because you're conscious. Because you're aware.

I recommend these editions of the books I mentioned (don't be thrown off by the "walkthrough" part in the one title, it's a very thorough translation.)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1577311477

http://www.amazon.com/Upanishads-Classic-Indian-Spirituality/dp/1586380214

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1435712463/

(older, free editions of all these titles can be found too, but I like these because of the commentary.)

u/Dogbert12 · 4 pointsr/changemyview

I can't change your mind. You need to meet more religious people. Read some actual theology. Meet a Ba'hai, or a Hindu, or a Muslim. Nobody can change your mind on this.

You're putting too much emphasis on logic. The fact is that formal logic (if A, B, if B, C, A therefore C) isn't all that useful outside of an academic setting, and in my experience the people who go around declaring things 'logical' and 'illogical' don't really know what it means. Usually, what these people mean by 'logical' is what makes sense to me. If you judge people based on how 'logical' you feel that they are, you're going to have a very bad time and a very hard life. Unless you're an academic philosopher, that behavior won't serve you well.

For example, do you believe the sun will rise tomorrow? I know you do. Well, that belief of yours has no basis in formal logic. That's a problem philosophers have been trying to tackle for a very long time, and with no real luck. I know, I know: the sun has risen every day in the history of the Earth, you say. Of course it will rise tomorrow. But if you step back and actually try to write a formal logical argument for that fact, you'll find you won't be able to. By your own standards, your beliefs shouldn't be taken seriously. After all, they're based on what is, essentially, faith.

You believe in these things--that the sun will rise tomorrow, that the earth will keep spinning, that your life is real and not some sort of elaborate fantasy or dream--not because you have any logical reason to (again, try to write one up. You won't be able to) but because those beliefs are based on your experience and what makes your life function. You lay out your clothes for the next morning, you study for your test, you go to bed early, all because of a belief which is based on no logical reasoning whatsoever. You need to live your life as if these beliefs are valid because you couldn't function otherwise. You've had this experience of the sun rising every day, so you have no reason to believe it won't. You have faith that it will, based on nothing resembling logic. You live your life accordingly.

So, if you're still with me, why shouldn't that apply to other people? If I have a subjective experience--a feeling in my heart which I can't describe, that there is some sort of divine providence or some form of higher intelligence--who are you to tell me otherwise? I have a subjective experience which I call 'God'; I've felt it every day of my life. Sometimes I do things based on that experience which have no logical purpose. I pray.

How is that at all different from you laying your clothes out in the morning, based on this inherently illogical belief that the sun will continue to rise like it has for the last few billion years? You live your life based off of experiences and beliefs with no formal logical underpinning. So does any religious person. You'd be a hypocrite, in my opinion, if you had the audacity to declare anyone somehow not-as-valuable as you for being 'illogical'.

I'm certain you're not convinced, and that's because no one will convince you of this. Again, you need to meet more religious people. I don't mean in your small Bible Belt town (a lot of the people I know with this attitude come from small religious towns, so I don't mean to assume). What I mean is real religious people, from different faiths and different countries and cultures and histories. Read religious texts--they're just philosophy, deep down, and if you want to be an intellectual you'll need to read them someday. Read, if you can, The Upanishads. In my experience, Hindu stuff has a lot in common with other faiths, even the Abrahamic ones. And if you do live in a small religious town (as I know many of the folks at /r/atheism do) them leave. Drive around America. You'll meet tons of religious people and, in my experience, they're nearly all intelligent and friendly and good-natured as long as you don't touch their property.

u/DormiensVigila108 · 3 pointsr/Psychic

No problem. If you're interested in self-realization, I highly recommend The Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita; short reads, but very powerful and ancient systems of self-examination and inquiry (the linked translations are, in my opinion, the best formatted and done, with a stellar introduction for those unfamiliar with the text). Additionally, I'd like to leave you with a quote about dreams that left a very strong impact on me:

As 4th century BCE Daoist philosopher, Chuang Tzu, said: “Chuang Tzu once dreamed that he was a butterfly fluttering here and there, going wherever he pleased. He was totally unaware of Chuang Tzu. A sudden awakening left nothing else but Chuang Tzu himself, who did not know anything about his being a bufferfly. It is therefore unknown whether it is Chuang Tzu who dreamed of being a bufferfly or if it is a butterfly who dreamed of being Chuang Tzu. The butterfly and Chuang Tzu are completely different entities, and it is called transformation when an entity becomes another.”

u/CivilBrocedure · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

A great primer for the core tenets and historical context is "What The Buddha Taught" by Walpola Pahula. It provides a wonderful explanation of the thought process and is very clearly written; a lot of colleges use it in their comparative religion courses.

I also think that reading the "Dhammapada" is particularly vital. I prefer the Eknath Easwaran translation; I feel like he did an excellent job translating it into modern laguage while retaining the meaning of the text and providing excellent discussions of each sutra without being to neurotically overbearing, like so many religious commentaries can be. He also did excellent versions of the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads if you are interested in broader Indian spirituality.

u/BlankNothingNoDoer · 2 pointsr/hinduism

You're welcome. If you need a starting point, just pick one. I personally recommend this as a good starting point: http://www.amazon.com/The-Upanishads-Classic-Indian-Spirituality/dp/1586380214

u/RomanOrgy69 · 2 pointsr/occult

I'd start with the book that played a large role in the revival of the modern occult: H.P. Blavatsky's The Hidden Doctrine, which is a synthesis of occult philosophies from all over the world.

Then, I'd go over the text on which all hermetic knowledge derives from; The Corpus Hermeticum by Hermes Trismegistus

I'd also reccomend looking into The Pistis Sophia, which explains the philosophies of early Gnosticism.

Another important text would be The Vision and the Voice by Aleister Crowley, which is an account of 30 visions that document how one may attain enlightenment, had by Crowley while he was performing a series of Enochian rituals out in the desert.

The Cosmic Doctrine by Dion Fortune is a book that was channeled by Dion Fortune, which she believes explains the hidden secrets and doctrine of the universe.

The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune is a great book that explains the Qabalah, the system of philosophy which is the backbone of the occult.

This list would be incomplete without also including Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, which was written by a Renaissance occultist named Henry Agrippa and is a foundational text to all branches of occult philosophy and knowledge.

The Dhammapada, The Questions of King Milinda, THE TÂO TEH KING, The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, and The I-Ching are all also important philosophical texts to the occult. While they are not necessarily "occult" themselves, they all had a huge influence on the modern occult today, as well as many famous occultists such as Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, H.P. Blavatsky, etc.

u/the-electric-monk · 2 pointsr/occult

It seems a little weird to want to buy books to try and discredit some random person online who will forget all about this conversation in a couple of days, but sure, whatever.

Nag Hammadi Scriptures

Dhammapada

Upanishads

Baghavad Gita

Mahabharata

And this volume of the Vedas, though as I said I haven't read through it yet.

I also have this copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which I haven't gotten around to yet.

Now, once again, please tell me where in the Nag Hammadi scriptures it says that you spend 1000 years in a Devachan before reincarnating.

u/veragood · 2 pointsr/awakened

Do you like fantasy stories? The Gita is actually just one chapter in India's greatest epic, the Mahabharata. It's an amazing story, and gives a great cultural background for Hinduism. Hindu's other epic, the Ramayana, is also lauded by many. I actually just began reading it recently.

Hindu's purest (and probably the world's longest) treatise on non-duality is the book at the very top of the bookshelf, Vasistha's Yoga. It's intense, so if you are just beginning, it's probably not the best intro to Hindu thought.

The most ancient written roots of pure Hinduism are found in the Upanishads. Eknath Eswaran's introduction and commentary are sublime.

A more modern, yet just as mystical take on Hinduism is The Autobiography of a Yogi.

u/nomi_nomi · 2 pointsr/india

http://www.amazon.in/The-Upanishads-Classic-Indian-Spirituality/dp/1586380214

Supposed to be a good translation. Contains all that one needs to know.