The Chandogya Upanishad 101
Ancient Hindu Enlightenment Series, Book 2
Continue your spiritual journey with the second of Matthew Barnes' Hindu Enlightenment Series, The Chandogya Upanishad 101.
Dr. Barnes first came across the Upanishads while watching the 1984 version of The Razor's Edge, starring Bill Murray. He had no idea the movie would have spiritual connotations, but it did, and he was hooked.
By the time he came across the movie, he had already studied many different religious and spiritual paths, but was not yet familiar with the Upanishads. Ironically, he was already familiar with the Bhagavad Gita, a later Hindu text, but not it's younger sibling.
After the movie, he sought out and began reading the Upanishads. Originally, they nearly did him in—the verses were steeped deeply in tradition, symbolism, and archaic verbiage. But he muddled through, and eventually, after years of exposure to them, and other works, as well as his own experiences, he began to feel like they were starting to make sense.
He has now attempted his own interpretation in order to (hopefullly) reduce the learning curve of others out there who, like himself, are hungry for answers.
"I just read the first 145 pages - and they are blowing my mind! The level of consciousness back then! And your presentation of this brilliant material is nothing less than brilliant in itself."
-G.B. (Stockholm, Sweden)
Excerpt from Chapter One:
“Whether you are aware of it or not, we are all evolving in consciousness—our minds are continually growing, ripening, maturing.
"'We are all on a journey of discovery, and insight is the destination.
“We, each and every one of us, begin our travels in this realm materialistic, egocentric, ignorant, and selfish, and through experience, though lifetimes of learning, mature or ripen in consciousness, in awareness, in compassion, in sympathy, in empathy, in the power of mind, in cognitive ability.
“I am still learning,” said Michelangelo. How right he was.
“There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now,’ said Lord Kelvin in 1900. ‘All that remains is more and more precise measurement.’ How mistaken.”
“We all come to realize, at some point or another, by one means or another, that there is more to this existence, and ourselves, than meets the eye.
“Some get to this point through science, some through religion, some through philosophy, some through art, some through relationships, and still others through other means. As many people as there are on this earth, that is how many ways there are to progress. Each journey is unique.
“As Emerson once put it, ‘We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate.’”