The Forms of Sanskrit Technology: Upanisad 2

Like all the other forms of Sanskrit, Upanisad is not a text. Even though we can read translations in English or other languages in books that sit on our shelf, the Upanisads are not merely some wise words spoken in the past.

Rather, the Upanisads -- especially in the original Sanskrit -- are alive. When heard correctly, the Upanisads have the power to transform us by awakening the presence of higher consciousness in us.

"Upanisad" consists of three parts -- "sad" (which means "to sit") + upa ("very near," "close to the up-welling force") + ni ("intimately close," "in the 'windless' state as in nir-vana).

Conventionally, it translates to mean "the teachings given to devotees who sit close."

When I first met my Guru, I felt different when I sat close to his physical body. I listened intently to everything he said, and then thought over his words for a long time afterward. Mostly, I felt the tangible affect the silence between his words had on me. Sitting close to him felt like sipping on a long straw. I lost myself drinking in...

But then the crowds started to appear and I moved further and further to the back. The silence was no longer up close, but further behind.

Eventually, I stopped going to see him altogether. Just before I left for good, he told me directly -- "Katy, go!"

On one level, I felt deeply shattered. Go where? But on another level, I knew I could only go one place -- to myself. After so many years, I finally could just sit still in myself. I didn't look to another person who I felt had "it" -- that something spiritually special that I lacked. I stopped chasing external forms.

Upanisad means those words spoken by the teacher that make you sit close to yourself -- without any thoughts moving, like a sage sitting next to a flowing river.

The teacher's words are very direct and can be startling. "You are That," is an example of what is called a "great utterance" (mahavakya) in the Upanisads. But the effect that it has on the nervous system, depends on the readiness of the student. Otherwise, they are just flat words. You have to be prepared to fall off the cliff into yourself.

For me, "Katy, go!" was a catalyst for a revolution in my meditation practice that all the years of sitting physically close had not given me. "Go" is such a powerful mahavakya. It implies that you must arrive -- the true goal of the Sanskrit technology of Upanisad.