Path to Perfection
The Kathopanishad may be
regarded as a most appropriate introduction to spiritual life in general. The
story with which the Upanishad begins provides the proper foundation for
commencing a study of the science of the higher life of man. From the exoteric
ritual of the performance of sacrifice and charity by sage Vajasravasa, the
Upanishad takes us to the spiritual longing of the seeker, Nachiketas, which
moves along a definite pattern of development. The three boons requested for by
Nachiketas from Yama represent the terrestrial, heavenly and spiritual realms
of attainment. In the movement from the outward liturgy of Vajasravasa in the
world to the inner aspiration of Nachiketas for spiritual values, we have the
first step taken towards the higher consciousness. The second step is the rise
from temporal relationships to the universal significance of all things found
in the all-comprehensive Vaisvanara, known also as Hiranyagarbha in his higher
manifestation, and as Virat in his lower universal form, represented in the
second boon granted by Yama. The third step is the ascent from the universal to
the Absolute, which is the third boon asked for by Nachiketas, but most
reluctantly granted by Yama, after subjecting Nachiketas to a severe test in
the form of supernormal temptations of sense and ego, to which even the best
minds cannot but succumb when placed in favourable circumstances. The Upanishad
now leads us on to the theme it intends to propound.
The path to perfection can be
trodden only after encountering several threats and temptations. The example of
Nachiketas shows that he was even cursed to death and tempted severely in his
attempt at adhering to righteousness and truth of the spirit. In the process of
the search for truth, the subjective propensities and objective tendencies show
their heads in concrete forms and either tempt or threaten the aspirant. For an
aspirant of weak will advanced spiritual practices are very near impossibility.
A person believes in what he sees and experiences and not in what he does not
see and does not experience. He has love for certain things and fear for
certain others, because he has a faith in the value of those things, as they
are the objects of his direct experience. He, however, does not believe in
supersensuous realities, because they are not the objects of direct experience.
Love for comfort and hatred for pain and sorrow pull the aspirant from two
opposite sides, and he is left at sea. It is here that the strong weapon of
will and discrimination should come to one's help. One has to clear the way in
the midst of these oppositions which are inevitable in one's struggle for
transcending one's individuality in the Absolute. The individual modes try
their best to persist in appearing again and again, and to bar the gate to
Truth. It is hard to recognise the faces of these thieves in the form of
friends, who deceive the aspirant every moment and frustrate all his
aspirations. The objects and states of every plane of consciousness have to be
rejected, as they are objective, and one has to resort to the Infinite Subject
which is divisionless fullness. One should realise that anything that is
achieved as the result of desires and actions shall vanish one day or the
other, and that the only thing ever enduring and worth knowing is the one Self
in all. Nachiketas persisted in his aspiration for Truth, in spite of the most
formidable temptations, and in the teeth of the refusal of Yama to impart
knowledge to him. Finally, Yama initiates him into the mysteries of the Self.
Continue to read:
Kathopanishad: The Science of the Inner
Life by Swami Krishnananda
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