Academic literature on the topic 'Taittirīya upanishad'

‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’ (Genesis 1.1). For millions of Jews, Christians and Muslims this has been a fundamental article of belief. Nor is it unknown in the classical Indian traditions. The Upanishads, taken by the orthodox to be ‘heard’, not invented, and to be verbally inerrant, state: ‘He desired: “May I become many, may I procreate” … He created (or emanated) this whole universe’ (Taittiriya Upanishad, 6). The belief that everything in the universe is brought into being by an act of will or desire on the part of one uniquely uncreated being is widespread and fundamental in religion. Historians of religion generally suppose that it is a rather late belief in the Biblical tradition, having developed from an earlier stage at which Jahweh was one tribal deity among others. By the time of the major prophets, however, the notion was firmly established that there is only one God, creator of everything other than himself. Christian theologians always seem to have had a great interest in conceptual problems, and the idea of creation has proved a very fruitful one for generating philosophical puzzles. Those puzzles are still of great theoretical interest, and I shall consider some of them with reference to the work of Augustine and, to a lesser extent Thomas Aquinas. Their views have been so influential that they may fairly be called ‘classical’, in Christian theology.

This paper attempts to explore the essence of the principal Upanishads of the Hindu philosophy in T. S. Eliot’s selected seminal poems and plays. The principal Upanishads are the Ishavasya, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chhandogya, Brihadaranyaka and Shvetashvatara. The famous poems are “Ash-Wednesday” and Four Quartets, and the famous plays are Murder in the Cathedral, The Family Reunion, and The Cocktail Party under scrutiny in this paper. The essence of the principal eleven Upanishads is that Brahman is source of all creations including the human beings, who get results according to their karma and are born again and again until they get moksha (liberation) through the self-realization of Brahman; therefore, our goal should be to attain moksha or Brahman, only through which we can experience perpetual peace and unbound bliss. Likewise, Eliot suggests that we should attempt to go back to our “Home” (Brahman, also a symbol of peace and bliss), for which we must attempt several times until we become qualified through the non-dual knowledge of “the still point” (Brahman) and its self-realization along with the spiritual practices of renunciation and asceticism. The practice of unattached action done without the hope of its fruit (nishkam karma) and unselfish devotion (Bhakti) are secondary paths to attain liberation. Since the path of spiritual knowledge can make us realize Brahman immediately, Eliot prefers this path of knowledge to the progressive or indirect paths of action and devotion. Thus, his texts reflect the essence of the Upanishads. The significance of this paper within the context of existing scholarship lies in its introduction to the new knowledge that Eliot’s poems and plays could be extensively interpreted by finding the essence of the Upanishads in his texts. Practically, the knowledge of the essence of the Upanishads can help us know the mystery of life and death, and Atman and Brahman, and get liberation from all kinds of suffering and misery, and the cycle of life and death as well before death.

The alliterative Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions brings together information about the uses of food and drink within the faith practices of well-known religions with global adherents such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism as well as lesser-known faith communities and sects such as Candomblé, Rastafari, Santeria, and the indigenous peoples of Africa, Australia, and America. Articles, which follow a standard A to Z arrangement, cover customs (fish on Friday), food stuffs (rice), drink (wine), people (Guru Nanak), festivals (Qingming), practices (fasting), rituals (marriage ceremonies), religious groups (Seventh-Day Adventists), and sacred texts (Laws of Manu) to name but a few of the 226 entries and 220 or so related topics. Each article includes see also references and lists sources for further reading. Twenty-seven primary source documents such as “The Taittiriya Upanishad on Food” (2:577) supplement the main work. Each is briefly introduced for context, given see also references to related articles, and provided with a citation to the source from which the excerpted text is taken.

This research was stimulated by pastoral concerns regarding the high rate of suicide in the South African Hindu community. On the one hand it was found that traumatized individuals contemplating suicide were woefully ill-equipped with helpful religious guidelines and on the other it is known that the primary and authoritative scriptures of Hinduism possess a wealth of information that can promote healing. This work uses the Taittiriya Upanishad (3.10.5) to address this challenge. The early Vedic writings are not systematized nor are they fully explicable except through commentaries. This research surveys the early Vedic and Upanisadic Writings in order to show the literary, social and philosophical conditions under which the texts were produced. The Taittiriya Upanisad is the culminating part of several strands of thought that emerged from the earlier Taittiriya School. In order to interpret the text of this Upanisad it was necessary to link its key concepts with other Upanisads of this period. Further interpretations emerged from later Upanisads. These texts were viewed in the light of several commentators - Shaukara (medieval period), and Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Radhakrishuan of the Neo-Vedanta movements. In the early Vedic period the soul is a metaphysical entity. Upon death it is judged and in accordance with its good or bad actions, heavenly rewards or the punishments of hell are meted out to it. Heaven and hell are final eschatological goals for the soul in the Vedic period. In the later Vedic or Upanisadic period it is found that heaven and hell are temporary eschatological goals. The ultimate goal becomes Liberation which implies the cessation of duality and the realization of non-duality. Correspondingly the Taittiriya Upauisad defines the soul in a manner in which its components have the potential to achieve this later goal. Here the soul is a formulation of five sheaths: body, vital energy, mind, intellect and bliss with an immortal consciousness as its focus. Functioning under the effects of ignorance each sheath binds the soul to suffering and rebiiths either on earth or on other planes (heaven or hell). However, each sheath also possesses an intrinsic capacity to liberate the soul from suffering. Tills work explores these negative and positive capabilities of the sheaths and points out the path by which the soul's divine potential may be realized. The ultimate healing or liberation occurs when the 'focus-consciousness' of the soul is intuitively realized. This consciousness is one with the universal consciousness. This achievement produces the 'liberated soul' who experiences ecstasy at this knowledge of oneness. This research also points out that the Neo-Vedanta movements, unlike their medieval counterparts, have a life-affirming and positive social attitude that seeks to draw from ancient texts for the purposes of healing and social upliftment.