Isha Upanishad - Super school - Auroville - Isha Upanishad 202

There is a beautiful story in Chandogya Upanishad, there are many Upanishads, we shall come to that. One of the Upanishads is called Chandogya Upanishad, ‘chanda’ is metre in the English language, there are many ‘chandas’ metres, in Sanskrit and in the Veda. This Chandogya Upanishad consists of many good stories but one of them is the following; there was a great learned man, very learned perhaps one of the best of his time. Every discipline of knowledge he had mastered, whatever was known at that time at the highest level. It is something that we should do in Super School, everything that was known at that time, you might say he was a master of Super School; he had learnt everything that was known. His name was Narada, he had attainted the highest possible learning that was available at the time. You speak of any subject and he would say I'd know it and I know it very well and know it thoroughly well and know it at the supreme level. Something like Aristotle, I spoke to you yesterday of Aristotle. You take any subject and you know that he has written a book on it, so, something like Aristotle.

Narada went to a teacher; his name was Sanat Kumar. Sanat Kumar was a great Rishi, he had employed all the methods of Vedantic knowledge, he had recovered the method by which words can be transcended, the veil of the words can be overcome, you can you can go behind the words; you can get at the bottom of the words. So, Sanat Kumar first of all asked Narada: ‘what do you know and why have you come to me?’ So, he gave a list of all the subjects that he knew. One day I'll give you the list of all the subjects that he knew, I don't want to burden your mind. He gives a list of all the sciences, arts of his times and said I know all this but I've come to you because I'm gripped by sorrow I still have sorrow in spite of all the knowledge and I am suffering, there is sorrow in my mind, in my heart. I am sorrowful and I want to be delivered from the sorrow, what is the secret by which sorrow can be overcome? And I know so much yet sorrow doesn't go out of my consciousness and I am still sorrowful.

The first answer that Sanat Kumar gives is, your knowledge is the knowledge of words that was his answer. He said all that you know is words and so long as you know through words you cannot be delivered from sorrow. It is a very great sentence, it summarises why there is sorrow because all that we know is only words. Mother once told me, when I was speaking to her one day on many subjects that I taught, Mother said all that I taught was language, whether I taught mathematics, physics, chemistry, history or geography whatever it be, you are only learning language. You're trying to find out the words and trying to understand the meaning of the words, it's all language. Exactly, what Sanat Kumar told Narada.

Mother told me that all the subjects, all this is language and the Mother told me exactly what the Upanishadic seers had done. ‘Today, you are thinking with words’, she told me, ‘but today, I ask you to think with ideas’. There is a difference between words and ideas. This is the first method by which you can go behind the words, you penetrate through the words and go behind; you will get ideas and then she said a little later: ‘I shall ask you to think through experiences that are the heart of the matter. Today you're thinking with words, I'm asking you to think with ideas’. That was my immediate program at work, she said, ‘now you think with ideas, don't think with words and then little later, I do know what is, a little later. But anyway later she said, ‘I will ask you to think through experiences’. These are the three words, which are very important. Thinking with words, is the veil of words, veil of language, symbolism. If you want to go behind the words then you break through the words and catch the ideas, which are there behind the words and then go beyond and then you try to get experiences.

If you read the chapter number eight, what is the title, − The methods of Vedantic knowledge. If you open the chapter, there are three parts of the chapter. The first part deals with the knowledge that you gain through senses, which culminates at the highest point of the senses, − is the knowledge that you get through the real sense, since the discovery of the methods of Vedantic knowledge, the Upanishadic seers discovered how to penetrate. As long as we get knowledge from the senses, words are very important but when you go beyond the senses and come to this real sense they discovered that the five senses, which we have eyes ears etc. behind these five senses there is one more sense the sixth sense, which is the real sense. It is called in Sanskrit, manas, it is the manas the sixth sense. You may have the eyes open but if your mind is not attached to the eyes, even while seeing, you will not see. Isn't that so? You may have your ears open, if your mind is not attached to the ears even while hearing you will not hear. When you're about to sleep, one mosquito bite may sting you but if you getting deep sleep you will not experience it, − the mind is withdrawing from the senses. Manas is the mind that sense-mind which is attached to the senses, which can detach itself from the senses that is the sense-mind. Vedic Rishis discovered this that behind the five senses there is a sense which has tremendous capacities, it can see without seeing, it can hear without hearing and even while hearing, you may not hear that even while seeing, you may not see both ways.