The Source

Recently, I was rereading All Love Flows to the Self, a book of stories from the Upanishads. I’ve mentioned this quote from the Taittiriya Upanishad (3.6.1) before:
Out of bliss these beings are born,
In bliss they are sustained,
And to bliss they go and merge again.

The book tells more of the story of this quote. It’s a realization of a young Bhrigu, who becomes one of the Saptarishis or 7 seers of the Rig Veda. He also wrote a classic on jyotish and some of the nadi leaves.

In the story, Bhrigu comes of age and is initiated into meditation. On his first day of meditation, he observes the plants, birds, and animals around him and he realizes:
Out of matter these beings are born,
In matter they are sustained,
And to matter they go and merge again.

He confirmed this with his father the next day, who said there was more to be discovered. A few days later, he realized:
Out of breath (prana) these beings are born,
In breath they are sustained,
And to breath they go and merge again.

He had a similar interaction with his father. Some weeks later, he realized:
Out of mind these beings are born,
In mind they are sustained,
And to mind they go and merge again.

Some time later, he realized:
Out of intelligence these beings are born,
In intelligence they are sustained,
And to intelligence they go and merge again.

And then gradually, bliss came and he realized:
Out of bliss these beings are born,
In bliss they are sustained,
And to bliss they go and merge again.

And then he realized bliss is Brahman and became Self Realized at a young age. (The book tells the story in more detail.)

This story arose in a much higher age and unfolded for a great being. Most of us take much longer to get results from meditation. 🙂

Many of these stories emphasize knowing Brahman. I’d suggest in the current time, we should seek to know Atman, the cosmic Self. This is accessible. Once the Self is fully known, we can discover Brahman (Ayam Atma Brahma).

Through practices like an effortless meditation, people experience consciousness within. Yoga calls this samadhi (steady intellect*), or in the Upanishads, turiya (the fourth*). When that becomes established, consciousness can wake up to itself through this form. We call this Self Realization.

We then commonly go up the verses in the reverse order, recognizing bliss, intelligence, mind, prana, and finally matter as consciousness. And then, in Unity, that they are all the Self. That sets the stage for the Brahman shift.

Readers of the blog will also recognize this sequence of realization is 5 of the 7 koshas, with consciousness itself being the 7th.

All bliss,
Davidya

*the intellect becomes steady when the mind becomes steady. The mind becomes steady when we transcend it, settling the body as well. The fourth state, along with waking, dreaming, and sleep.