Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (I.4.1-17)

02/24/2026 · Tue/Thu 10:30-11:45 AM · Brad Bannon · Boston College

📄 Synopsis

The class explored the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, focusing on the relationship between individual identity and the universal Self (Atman/Brahman). The discussion began with the linguistic significance of the word 'I' (Aham) as the primary identifier that points toward a shared essence rather than mere individuality. Students compared the Upanishadic creation narrative—where a solitary being splits into male and female forms to escape loneliness—with the biblical account of Adam and Eve in Genesis. This led to an analysis of procreation as a form of 'unfolding' (avyakta) or development of the divine into the manifold world. A central portion of the lecture examined the Mahavakya 'Aham Brahmasmi' (I am Brahman). The instructor highlighted the provocative passage where gods are depicted as viewing human enlightenment with hostility, likening unawakened humans to useful livestock. The class also discussed the nature of consciousness after death, noting that while individual cognition (duality) ceases, the essence remains part of a 'single lump of experience.' Finally, the session touched upon the ethical implications of non-dualism, suggesting that loving one's neighbor is a recognition that the neighbor is literally one's own Self.

⚡ Key Takeaways

The name 'I' (Aham) serves as the foundational response of the Self before any individual name or form is applied.
Creation in the Brihadaranyaka is motivated by the One's desire to escape fear and loneliness through the manifestation of an 'other.'
The term 'avyakta' describes the state of being 'not unfolded' or 'latent,' referring to Brahman before it evolves into the world of names and forms.
The Mahavakya 'Aham Brahmasmi' asserts that the realization of one's identity as Brahman grants a power that even the gods cannot thwart.
According to the text, the gods prefer humans to remain in ignorance because awakened beings no longer serve as 'livestock' through ritual sacrifice.
A student interjection noted that the 'Self is alone with salt water everywhere,' reflecting the text's analogy of the Self as a single lump of experience.
The instructor explained that cognition requires a duality of perceiver and perceived; once the whole becomes the Self, the means of worldly perception cease.
The concept of 'yoni' (womb) is used to describe the priestly power as the source or origin to which a king must eventually return.
Ethical responsibility is redefined as 'love for the self,' where caring for others is a result of recognizing no ontological distinction between individuals.
The phrase 'neti neti' (not this, not that) serves as a primary method for defining the ultimate reality by negating all limited characteristics.

🎤 Transcript Tap any timestamp to jump the audio player

Opening Meditation and Transition

Brad

And put everything away. Please just take a moment to transition and reset. Clear your head. Keep your mind still and your body still. Just focus on your breath.

Student

It.

Brad

Let's take a breath together. Go and breathe in and out. My commute was actually 20, 30 minutes shorter today than normal. That was unexpected. Alrighty. Start with a little quiz. The devices and on notes.

Student

Oh, yeah, the hair.

2:23

Attendance and Midterm Vocabulary Review

Student

Good.

Brad

All right, go ahead. If you're not sure of your number, please let me know. Round off whatever you're running. If you would, please go ahead and make sure they're kind of oriented the right way and pass them up, please. Also, your number should go on the blank line where it says your number. Not on the opposite side of the page or beside your name, really, anywhere else. Sorry, I'm stealing your papers. Good, Ernie. So I. I got pulled into a vortex this weekend called Claude Code and way fun. If you have never used cloud code before. Oh my God, it is crazy, crazy fun and can even be a little bit productive. So I did this thing. So just to be clear, my attendance policy is the same for everybody in all circumstances. Doesn't really matter how many emails you send me or anything like that. It's just the same for everybody across the board. So if you want to, you know, make up an absence or something like that, or if you just are extra studious, you're going for an A, that kind of thing, then, you know, I've created this. ⚠

Brad

As you know, I've already given you all of the readings. Right. I don't know if I'm sure everybody read that about March 1st deadline, The attendance policy. Right. So you can listen to the audio recording and I've got a link there to the audio recordings. But I don't know, this can get a little bit stale and boring, imo, a little hard to follow. So I created this. I don't know why these aren't showing up. They're actually there. But I don't know. Let's say you wanted to review or you missed the Katha Upanishad on February 10, then you can go to this link. And so here's a synopsis of the class, some key takeaways, and then a full. This is the part that I kind of really obsessed over. I think a fully corrected transcript. And not only that, but it's actually got links in here. So if you wanted to, I don't know, review this discussion on Shreya and Preya, you can hit the link there and it actually goes to. Yeah.

Brad

So I don't know, maybe useful Some ways it also, in addition to having the full transcript there and the audio recordings, there's also a glossary. So if you wanted to review like artha, something like that, it's got the little definition there but also has links to the classes where we discussed it. It's got 120 in there twice because 10:30 and 12:30. And then when I took a picture, when I used the board I also took pictures of it work. So yajna one resource, this one I already showed you Write the vocabulary study quiz. You got flashcards and multiple choice, all that kind of stuff. This is more for yeah, for the vocab like quiz right there. ⚠

Student

Is that all the material that's going to cover in the midterm or is it going to be a lot of referencing back to readings?

Brad

This is not everything that's going to be on the midterm but it will be good vocab review for the midterm for sure. This is more for after the break. This is really what I spent my weekend on but. Bradbannon.com Gita so the entire Bhagavad Gita is here. And then in addition to all the chapters, you can like read the chapter, you can read the entire text. And I put like, you know, the Sanskrit in there to kind of help you see what words are being translated because I assume most of you don't know Sanskrit but you know words like prakriti, right? So then that way you know, like oh yeah, we've learned a lot about prakriti. And then if you wanted to go deeper, you can click the go deeper and then it gives you the verse in Devanagari and in Roman translation you can select different translations. Here I've given you this. This is really a Gemini AI created translation but I mean a little bit more complicated than it sounds. Barbara Stoller Miller's translations, great translation, very literary translation. I've given you R.C. zayner's translation.

12:32

Introduction to Advaita Perspectives and Scholars

Brad

He's a Jesuit, so scholar or was a Jesuit scholar, Gambirananda, who's a follower disciple of Shankara. So we've got the advaita perspective there. Adi Devananda who's a disciple of Ramanuja. So you got the vishishtadvaita translation. And then Sivananda who's he's a little bit doing his own thing there also. This is not really. Oh well now this will be helpful. So I've given you Shankara and Ramanuja commentaries so you could have a glimpse. This is more after the break but just so you're familiar with this tool and then also maybe most useful of all of this. So this is sort of an AI built in guide and you can ask question questions. It will only pull from the context that I provided it. So it's got a knowledge base in there mostly it's got in Shankara and Ramanuja entire commentaries so if you wanted to just like click on that one right It'll give you. So it'll inquire about this particular verse and it will kind of compare the. It's going crazy there. ⚠

Brad

It'll kind of create compare like Shankara and Ramanuja so the theistic and the atheistic perspectives so you can see how different, you know, two of the different schools of thought within vedanta, you know, both read the same verse and it'll you know, take you back to things like Hiranyagarbha that we studied earlier and that kind of stuff. avidya this is a big word that we're going to talk a lot about today and you know you can ask it follow up questions right. So you can ask the follow up questions. Kind of helpful use resource I think hopefully. So that way you've got all the transcripts, all the class recordings at your fingertips and as well as the course reader. Yeah obviously you know, I mean I assume you know this right? You've also got Gemini up here which can you can talk to and it will just answer questions about the document or you could also, you know, I assume you guys know a little bit about how to use AI.

Brad

I know it's not being dvaita by most professors yet but you know you can copy the link and then like go into you know, Gemini or Claude or one of the other ones and you can ask your questions like hey, help me with chapter 11, help me with chapter 10. I know, I know. I noticed some people have been like going in and doing this right before class and like copying and pasting it into something else that's really, really 2025. So yeah better ways to do it with more context. That's why I've given it all in one document this way. That way you can give the models more context and be able to ask more specific questions and not get sort of random AI slot kind of stuff. Any questions? I also asked it to create a game today so I wanted to play a game in class today. The game is so incredibly bad that it is low key. Hilarious. May I play a little bit of it? Yeah. The great unfolding of Brihadaranyaka Game show. Start the sacrifice.

Brad

And we're not even worried about the team scores on this one because it's so bad. Let's see who can get this one. I don't even need to stop the. Start the clock. She became a cow, he became a bull. And from their union, these were born. Yeah. Cattle. Whoa. Good job. She became a mare, he became a stallion. From there, union thieves were born. Whoa. One hoofed animals. You were so close. This one. This one's gonna trip everybody up. She became a female goat, he became a male goat. From their union, these were born. Wait, is that it?

17:16

Scripture Review: Sheep and Goats and Yat Sat Tyat

Student

Sheep and goats.

Brad

Yeah, sheep and goats. Goats and sheep. Okay, let's see. Aiden. I thought nobody would get that one right. They existed. They created every male and female pair that existed out to the very ants. Ants. Good grace. He turned like this. And using his hands, produced this from his mouth as from a vagina. Yes, it is fire. Yes, fire. Answer right there. Penetrating this body up to the very nail tips. He remains there like a razor with na. Probably overthinking there case. He remains there like a termite with na.

Student

Termite.

Brad

Right Hill. Close enough. Give that to you. I kind of like this one, actually. Yat Sat and Tyat. The body, Fixed shape. Mortal. Stationary. No, fixed shape. Immortal in motion. Breath. The eye space within the body. Air. The sun's orb. Yeah, I actually don't know what it's looking for there, Tiam. It sounds like sat though, doesn't it? I don't even. I don't even know what it wants us to do here. Mole holds a blank deer out of love for the self. I guess you're supposed to just know them. Husband, wife. Well, children. This one's super lame. That's the finale. I told it it wasn't fun enough, and then so it added that graphic at the end to make it more fun. So yajna failed game on that one, but work on more games later. Cool. All righty. Have to wait till this afternoon to play with more clock codes. Okay, let's spend a couple of minutes in teams. There's. There's a lot. There's a lot here.

Brad

I didn't give you any, you know, sort of Brad commentary on this one because it's nine pages already, and I decided I would rather give you more of the Brihadaranyaka than more of my commentary. So. Kind of like I did for the Chandogya, but. Yeah, but I would really like to talk about all of this chapter, not just the mahavakya. mahavakya is Obviously why we chose it. But the most famous passage. Actually, I think maybe the most famous passage of all of the upanishads is probably here at the end of the. For hedron, you got 2.3. So that's book two, chapter three. And so, yeah, let's just do like usual. So who are my team leaders today? All right, let me just jot these down. All right. Evan and colin and grace and kat and katie and team 3 and castalia and sophia. Then, man, are you leaving today? All right, cool. And the gang. So why don't you take a few minutes? I'd really love to hear from everybody today. ⚠

22:00

Small Group Discussion on Sacred Texts

Brad

I think maybe we'll probably do a similar kind of thing where I shut the hell up for a little bit of, you know, to start things off, and then we'll dive into this. This largest of the upanishads, the Brihadaranyaka upanishads. I also want to talk about these books. Why don't you kind of move the chairs so we can see everybody get a little bit more circular and take. Let's go until the top of the hour, and then we'll transition into big group. Hello, classroom.

Student

Yeah.

Student

Not this, not this, not this, not that, not this, not that. Basically talking about the ultimate reality.

Brad

Self is alone with salt water everywhere

Student

that can't see as well as, you know, after death. There's no awareness or cognition. So I think those are. I think it's very different than a

Student

lot of other, you know.

Student

Well, but does that make you. Achieved?

Brad

Yeah. Think about the word existence. We did actually.

Student

It. That.

29:52

Class Discussion: Individuality, Brahman, and Atman

Brad

Already. Just rock and roll. Who wants to get us started? Castelia. Thank you.

Student

Like, the name I is like, the first thing that one says, like, when they're introducing themselves, saying, like, here I am. Or like, it's I. And I just thought that reminded me of the conversation that we had. I think it was last class about individuality and, like, your name and how if everyone responds with I like does that. I think that, like, further reiterates the point that, like, we are all, like, part of the self and. But it also still brings up that whole, like, debate about whether or not that's like, an individuality that we all have. Like, if we're all responding to the same thing, we're all part of the self. Like, because it says, like, the name is just like, what you've been given. Like, that's like. It seems to like, maybe kind of like, this is like, it then states whatever other name he may have. It's kind of like Dismissing that a little bit and, like, putting back the emphasis on the I. So I just thought that was similar to, like, what we talked about and whether or not, like, looking at the last reading of looking at this one. ⚠

Student

If people think that it reinforces the

Student

argument that we lack individuality, or if this just further substantiates the idea that you're the part of the self and that the name is still significant. We all have individuality from that, but that's just to reinforce that aspect of the text.

Brad

Excellent. Great. Most discussions and most debates in Etreta come down to that question, that issue. Very important.

Student

Others I thought that, like, it was interesting that they put, like, the eye first. Like, it's like you're. You're part of this, like, whole first,

Student

and then you're kind of part of,

Student

like, this more individual.

Student

But I don't think it necessarily, like, erases your individuality.

Student

I just think that, like, it kind

Student

of is, like, showing how, like, you're part of, like, a whole person before you're, like, part of, like, whatever. You're like, audience, I guess. But you are still part of both. Like, it's like, you say I, but you wouldn't understand someone if they just said it's I. You also need, like, whatever other name they have.

Brad

Okay, thanks, Grace.

Student

I agree with that. Where, like, you're part of that hole, but you need that distinction to separate yourself within the larger group. But also what I was. I don't know, a question that we thought of was in normal conversation, I feel like it's kind of uncommon to, like, this I. You're just like, yeah, it's Brent. Would that be, like, a further disconnection with atman and, like, you're even that much further from Ramen. ⚠

Brad

Could you just repeat the last. The question part? Yeah, yeah.

Student

Like, so do you think if you're, like, cutting off the it's I part and you're just saying, like, someone calls your name and you're like, like, yeah, what's up? That that's a further disconnect, disconnection from atman and, like, further, you're even lost that sense of being part of the greater whole. And is that making it harder to achieve brahman because you're so disconnected from Ramen? ⚠

Student

I don't think so. I think ultimately comes down to awareness of the self. And I think that just in our culture and I think. I think in society in general, people refer to each other's names, but that's not disconnecting themselves. I mean, sure, I think what you're going at is. It is creating more individuality, which again, that's less whole. But I think just having. Being able to have that awareness of it, which I think we can do through reading the text as I think we can do this culture, then I think you can reach.

Student

Yeah, I think that you saying that really made me think of the story of the tenth man and ignorance, especially in Rambachan, where sometimes you. You're ignorant, you forget yourself. You don't count yourself as the 10th man.

Student

That has a lot to do with

Student

the team for brahman and atman and recognizing himself.

Student

I think even with that is like, a lot of the texts we've read of all. So much of them have been like, oh, your name and form. Like, everyone has their name and form. At the end of the day, you're still individual. So even with that, it's like, maybe, like, I see what you're saying, like, maybe we're splitting off more, but end of the day, like, we are all, like, externally, you know, different, but internally we have that same, you know, that same substance, which is what we all are. ⚠

Student

Yeah, I feel like adding on to that, you kind of have to, like, take everybody else's opinions of you to, like, factor in and really, like, you know, achieve brahman and like, understand who you are, while also, like, factoring in like, men meditation and really, like, you versus you.

Student

I feel like that whole idea that you have to factor in other people's opinions, like, really what sets it, like, sets the idea that you're part of a big, like a whole, a group of a whole versus just yourself. Because it's like, basically saying that you need to think of other people to understand yourself fully. Like making other people part of the group of yourself, sort of.

Brad

Yeah.

Student

I feel like that idea really connected with like, what I was talking about in the text when it talked about how, like, you need to do everything for yourself, not for your body, I guess, but, like, you should focus all of like, your intention on what's best for yourself, I guess. So I think that that's really like, kind of considering your impact on like, the greater pull, I guess, in that, like, it needs to be about, like, the greater self versus phone body.

Student

Also going back to the point of, like, splitting.

Student

In the first part of the text, it said that he found no pleasure at all.

Student

So no one finds pleasure when one is alone.

Student

And I feel like that emphasizes the fact that you need to have like, some kind of separation from others, but

Brad

also you are part of one way

Student

because the all split in your. That's how it could be separate part, but you kind of have to have

Brad

that other to also be a part of yourself.

Student

I don't know if that makes sense, but we just.

Student

Like similar kind of things in Genesis. I don't know if you guys read the Genesis, but they. They take Adam, God takes Adam and removes his ribs to create Eve. That kind of splitting was a very stark similarity between the two texts.

Student

Yeah, we discussed that too. We were talking about kind of in Conjecture's last comments about like the idea that here says like, the two of us are like two halves of the block and the space there, that here therefore is completely built by the woman. And we are kind of relating that to the later idea about how you do everything for like some sort of. It says like, you're holding something dear for yourself and like those people are not necessarily dear to you, but it's so dear for yourself. And like, at first when I read it, I kind of thought that contradicted like some of the other things that we've talked about, like the three deaths. Like, I thought, like, if you're not holding other people dear, like, why do you feel like you need to have debt towards someone? Like the whole motivation to begin with was like to, you know, have it like, you know, have better yourself. But then we talk talked about how here it's like kind of saying that like, there's two halves, so you kind of need that other half to be whole in like your person. ⚠

Student

So you're always kind of meeting someone else or something else to like, make yourself whole. So I guess it's not really contradictory in that like, if you're bettering yourself, there's always like that need for other people. Like someone said like that if they were alone, like, that wouldn't be pleasurable for them. So I just thought that was interesting. Whereas, like, at first it samhita a little bit contradictory, but I think it all like fits together and like it fits together and that you need something else to like.

Student

I think our group also was talking about the contradiction before that, where it talks about that you're afraid when you're alone, but then what is there to be afraid of if it's just you? And I think we're a little bit confused about how that contradiction then also leads to the splitting and like how the loneliness ends up with.

Brad

Yeah, good. I want to move on to another part of the text, but I think. I think it's really important what you guys are pointing out here, right? So we Have a couple of things to point out. One is the relationship between creation and procreation.

Student

Right.

Brad

We've got a lot about sex in here. And sex is a form of creation, right? Pro. We call it procreation. It's creating forward to creating. Yeah, creating forward. So definite relation between, you know, that sort of unfolding. I mean, I think about it in terms of like, you know, Darwinian evolution. Right. So sort of unfolding of one creature and increased specialization. Yeah. Right. So the unfolding of the one into the. The mini. All that stuff that Darwin talked about. And then the other is. As you. As you're very astutely pointing out, right, we have a clear reason for creation here, Right. I think we have clear. We have clear understanding of a reason for creation before now, but here it's just so much more explicit. Right. So in the beginning was this one. This one was afraid. And then he was like, there's nothing to be afraid of, Right. You're only afraid of an other and there is no other. And then as soon as you realize that, then it's like, oh, shit, I'm like, super alone. Right? ⚠

Brad

And then, so what's the point of existing if there's, you know, if there's only absence of pleasure and absence of companionship? So there's something about the reason for existing having, you know, something to do with not being alone. Right. And then we get the sex aspect there. Good. And, yeah, this name and form thing. Name and form keeps coming up a lot. Right. I think we saw it quite a bit in the Chandogya upanishads and then quite a bit here as well. So we should probably talk a little bit more about that. But let's shift our focus for a few minutes on the Great mahavakya here. 1, 4, 10. Yeah, you want to chime in there. And again, we don't just have to hear from our leaders.

Student

I mean, I thought it was really interesting when you just talked about, like, if you truly understand that I am brahman like, internally, then you probably become like the gods. And I think it was interesting that the gods didn't want that because it was like, I feel like in a lot of societies, like, you're looking up like you want to be like your gods. So in this scenario, you want to be like your gods, but why don't the gods want you to be like them? And it almost samhita kind of selfish in this end. We're like, oh, like, who's going to perform the sacrifices for us? Like, it didn't seem like as, like, fully positive as I feel like it should have.

Student

I think this is also, like, the first time we've seen, like, more portals going up to like, the God level. And like, it's very different from other texts that we've read where, like, usually they're like, mortals are on the ground and gods are up in the sky. And, like, there's no transgression between the two. But in this, like, you're able to like, get up to godly powers, which is interesting.

Student

Yeah. Going off of what you said, I

Student

thought it was interesting. Like, yeah, like, the people are like, kind of compared to like, livestock, their gods. And like, it's useful for them. But like, once humans, like, they were saying, like, oh, there's like a warning. If, like, someone does worship a deity, thinking, like, oh, he's the one, like, I'm another, then like, the person doesn't truly understand it and like, he truly isn't like, knowing brahman or saying like, I am brahman But at the same time, the gods don't want humans, like, have that realize that truth and be like, oh, have their understanding. Because, yeah, the gods are like, oh, then we're going to get these rituals ⚠

Student

or like, sacrifice or like, the usefulness out of them.

Student

And then in the second paragraph, it starts with in the beginning, this. Only brahman and not the holy exist. That was.

Student

And I think it's kind of interesting.

Student

It's like in the beginning, the whole kind of is the same as the

Student

self in the body.

Student

And so it's kind of like to what end? Like, if the brahman hasn't fully developed, like brahman has it become like the many?

Student

Is it actually brahman

Brad

Yeah, that. I mean, I wrote one of my master's thesises on that, on that word, that avyakta. So this idea fully developed. It's in verse 11 also in the beginning, this world was only brahman only one, because it was only one. brahman had not fully developed. And they put there evolved or unfolded. The word in Sanskrit is avyakta, a meaning not, and vyakta meaning I mean really unfolded. I mean, I think, I mean evolved. Literally, the word evolved means unfolded. So developed, like envelope means to close in. Develop means to undo that envelope. So they all kind of have the same meaning, develop, evolving. I mean, those are actually the same root and unfolded. So then it unfolded as the ruling power unfolded all these great things. Yeah. Evan, you want to jump yajna. ⚠

Student

I was a lot of parallels to.

Student

I think it was the purusha Sutra,

Student

one of the Sam Gitas that it talks a lot about, you know, brahman unfolding, and then it unfolds into the Katstraya, the vaishya the sutra, all the

Student

classes, which also happens in the Prusa

Student

Sutra where, you know, the mouth becomes

Student

the brahman class and so on.

Student

So I don't know if those parallels are significant, supposed to be drawn, or if that's like a coincidence or. I don't know. All the creation stories kind of makes up for me, and I don't know which ones, like, how to connect them all.

Brad

I mean, this is a great observation, right? And so this is the whole idea behind Upasamhara and Samanvaya, right? So we have here, not. I mean, not just. I mean, just in this one text, we've got lots of different creation stories, right? And then combine that with the creation stories that we've already seen from, like the Purusha Sukta and the Nasadiya Sukta. I mean, we looked at so many creation stories, you know, already just on the Hindu side of things. And then, so what do you do with that abundance of creation stories? So one option would be to say some of them are right and some of them are wrong, but that's not nastika right? So then you're rejected and you're saying some of the Veda is right and some of it's wrong versus which is not Hindu theology. Option two is to say, okay, well, maybe the world has been through lots of cycles of creation, right? ⚠

Brad

And so this one applied one time, and then this one applied another time, then that one applied another time, but then another way of thinking about it, and maybe there's more than just these three, but another way of reading it would be to say, all right, all of these are saying something about who I am here, here and now, and what my ethical responsibilities are to the future, right? So none of them are about the past. So they don't contradict at all, because they're not about the past. They're not histories. They're, you know, things that are to be heard. You know, they're saying something about first principles, right? So something about the relationship between I, not I, and the holy other, or God, self and society, right? And so, so then in that, if we would read it that way, then we have to say, all right, my interpretation of, say, the Purusha Sukta can't contradict my interpretation of this, right? So if both texts are true, then I have to sort of reconcile them, right? I Have to recognize that. Okay. In the great Venn diagram, maybe we could think about it like that.

Brad

Right. Every creation story is another sort of circle in this great big Venn diagram. And then you have. If your interpretation of this one doesn't overlap with your interpretation of this one, maybe you need to look for another interpretation. Right. Does that make sense? Good. Yeah. Good. Yeah.

Student

We kind of talked about that in

Student

our small group, about how chapter 11 talks a lot about, like, consciousness. And then this one talked a lot about how, like, everything pulled it into, like, different classes, into every, like, population of things.

Brad

Student

So that's how we kind of, in that Venn diagram example, how we kind of overlapped them, because they talk about two different things, but it's all talking about the same creation and how the, like, world came to be and how it became whole. So I just found that connection.

Brad

Yeah, great. And then. So. Yeah. And then. So on that related point that I was just saying. Right. So I was just talking about creation stories, but now I have to do the same thing with the Mahavakyas. Right. So then. So then the Aitareya upanishads is saying, brahman is consciousness. Right. So then we can't. So on the one hand, we have to think about the table. Right? It's like the table is brahman and Brad is brahman Brad's conscious. Yeah, I feel conscious. The table maybe not so much. Right. So then what do we do with that? How do we reconcile that? Right. Is it just a matter of zooming in? Because you could zoom in on Brad and say, all right, is this cluster of neurons in my brain? Are they conscious? What about these cluster of neurons in my brain? What about in the individual neuron in my brain? Right. So then. Right. Is an individual neuron in my brain conscious? I think most of us would say no. Right. And yet I am conscious, even though I am just this collection of things. Right. So then. See where I'm going with that. ⚠

Brad

Yeah, Great question. Great cat. Yeah, Manny.

Student

I mean, just adding on to what you just said, I feel like consciousness is kind of a collection of everything in your body working together. And then on top of that, you love your soul, which kind of gives you, like, your own form of, you know, like, understanding reality in a way. ⚠

Brad

So we've got sort of the many neurons, the many cells, the many parts of my body contributing to this one consciousness that is Brad. Right. So then sort of a one and a many. There also. Good.

Student

Also, just to go back to the creation story, like we were talking about, at the end of paragraph 11, like it says, it talks about how, like at the. It says, therefore even if the king should rise to the son of Power, it is to the priestly power that he returns in the end as. As to his own womb. You're kind of confused about that part. Like, as to his own womb. As we've been talking, I kind of thought of like, maybe a lot of this is like kind of cyclical in nature. Like a question from a while ago about whether or not as you refer to yourself as eyes, you're drifting farther from vomit. Maybe it's just a cycle. Whereas, like in the beginning you don't really understand your name or like know your identity. And then as you go up, you. You're calling yourself fire name. But then as you towards, like reach the end of your life, maybe you're reverting back to that. ⚠

Brad

Student

Because now you have a great understanding of yourself and like you connect that to brahman So like, maybe in the same way, like this is kind of cyclical. Because I was kind of confused as to what it meant as like in the end, as to his own womb. Like, I wasn't really sure what that meant, but maybe it's just kind of like a cycle that they're going through. And I don't know how that relates to the other like, creation story that we talked about last class, but I just wanted to bring that up.

Brad

yajna, it's great. And I think. I think this is a very. I think it's a good intuition that you're having and thinking about it in that sort of samskara that sort of cyclical way. In fact, the word that's being translated there as womb is a word that's come up a few times in the text. I don't always translate it exactly the same. I mean, I kind of took Olivel's translation and then I changed a few words. Maybe A should have highlighted that particular word also because it's the. The word in Sanskrit is yani. Y O N I Quick story, just fun, random story about yani. When I was doing my doctoral studies, I had like a. A desk in the library. You're a doctoral student, you get your own desk in the library. Like a real estate in the library. It's kind of cool. I don't anymore, but yajna nice. Not part of the story. My desk was beside another doctoral student who had, you know, a desk beside mine. And we were the only people that were in there. I don't know. I guess because I had a kid at home. ⚠

50:32

Theology of Yajna (Sacrifice) and Creation Stories

Brad

So I was like, always in the library to get away from, you know, kids. But none of this is relevant. yajna this guy comes up to me and he's like, you know, being friendly and stuff, and he's like, hey, you know, I notice you're always here and I'm always there, so I thought I'd come over and say hi. And so we start chatting and stuff, and he's like, you know, my name's Yani. And I was like, hey, yajna And we chat for a while and then he, like, looks around my desk and he's like, Uddalaka, you study Sanskrit? And I said, yeah. And he said, just call me Yonatan. And I laughed because he knows that in Sanskrit, Yani, which, you know, was his nickname, short for Yonatan, but in Sanskrit, Yani means vagina. And he's like, not super comfortable with being called. You've seen Rick and Morty, like Principal Vagina. yajna yajna the word yani means. So that's the word that's being translated womb here, which does mean. So yani can mean womb. yajna means vagina. yajna also, even I think the primary meaning of the word is the sacrificial arena.

Brad

So, like, if you're having a sacrifice, right? We saw this with Naciketas right? He's asking Yama, like, what are you doing? And he's like, I'm practicing this, the fire sacrifice, right? And then the second boon that Naciketas asked for is how do you build the sacrifice, right? And he asked for the bricks. How do you build the bricks? How do you arrange the bricks? And they're arranged and shape of an eagle and that kind of stuff, right? But that place is the yajna And so the yajna is also. We saw that in the video that I showed on Thursday, right? So they're throwing things into the yajna into the fire, right? So the fire. So we see a connection here. Just as Cassalia is pointing out, there's a cyclical aspect of it, right? So in the same way that sperm goes into the womb and then procreates, right? So it's the death of the seed, but the birth of the new person, right? And then likewise, throwing food into the fire, throwing oblations into the fire, right? Converts that matter into energy, that sort of thing.

Brad

So we've got a transformation there, that sort of process. And so we've got this sort of. Yeah, it's like in order to create something, you've got to destroy something else. Because matter and energy are Neither created nor destroyed, but and state of constant transformation. Right. Is it helpful? Think about all those different connections. See how much you opened up there. Castalia. Thank you others. Yeah, Colin, I wanted to kind of ⚠

Student

talk about the ending. When they talk about after death, there is no awareness, cognition, and then kind of saying how it requires duality of receiver and perceived. I was just kind of curious what the room thinks about post death. It's kind of saying, is that just an abyss of nothingness since you're no longer a perceiver? Or was it trying to say. Because I feel like a lot of different religions and monotheistic kind of beliefs view death at differently. ⚠

Brad

The ending. You mean 2 4. The ending of 2 4. The ending of like the chapter. Yeah. So just to be clear, this is not the ending of the text, it's just the ending of our reading. But yeah, the. The actual text is beefy. This is the Brihadaranyaka with Shankara commentary. I'll just kind of pass it around so you can have a look at it. Yeah, I think my text will be okay, passing around, but so you'll see like the, you know, doesn't really matter, but you could see like the upanishads text there. And then everything else is Shankara commentary. So sometimes in like 1.7 and 1.10 he goes on for like 20 pages on those verses. Right, so just a short little verse, but it goes on quite a bit. But this, this passage, chapter two, verse four or chapter, sorry, book two, chapter four that Colin's pointing us to now, verses 13 and 14. So yeah, so when you're referencing these. Right, So that would be.

Student

Give the salt analogy. And it says, says like. So I say after death there's no cognition.

Brad

Okay, good. So the salt analogy. So if you were referencing this in your podcasts, when you're referencing this in your podcast, then you should call this Brihadaranyaka upanishads or bu. Or as one group a couple years ago called it, the Bradaranika upanishads It's not that, but it's kind of close. So the Bradaranika upanishads 2, 4, 12. So book 2, chapter 4 and then verse 12. So this section here, especially verse 14, is super special to me. In particular, a lot of times when people are studying advaita, it seems like there's what they call sort of a light bulb moment, a moment of enlightenment, a moment where everything clear clicks moment, where all of a sudden all this confusing stuff clicks in and Makes sense. And I'd been studying Ajayta for a few years actually before I read this. And when I read this passage, I don't know, the light bulb came on. It was a light bulb moment for me. So this particular verse had quite a significant impact on me. But let's read that. Why don't you read 12 and 13 and then we'll.

58:08

The Salt Analogy and Post-Death Awareness

Brad

Yeah, Colin, why don't you read 12 and then we'll just maybe go from there.

Student

It is like this. When a chunk of salt is thrown in water, it dissolves into that very water and it cannot be bhakti up in any way. Yet from ishvara place one may take a sip, the salt is there the same way. This imagination being has no limit or boundary and is a single lump of experience. It arises out of and together with these beings and disappears after them. So I say, after death there is no cognition.

Brad

Yeah. And then somebody else want to read a little bit. So after Yajnavalkya said this, Maitreyi exclaimed, now sir, you've totally confused me by saying after death there is no awareness. And he replied, nothing confusing. I haven't said anything confusing. This body, right? This. This body has the capacity to perceive. So it seems like something I talked a lot about on day one. For when there is duality of some kind, the phrase there is dvatam eva, like Eva kind of is like scare quotes, actually. So dvaitum eva, like duality, like literally eva means scare quotes. So like duality, when there appears to be duality, then one can smell the other, then the one can see the other, the one can hear the other, the one can greet the other, the one can think of the other, and the one can perceive the other, right? So you need those there. You can't have. You can't have perception without that duality or dvaitam iva. When, however, the whole has become one's very self, then who is there for one to smell? And by what means who is there for one to see? And by what means?

Brad

So that. And by what means? The word there is Kana. We heard Ramachandra talking about that in passage that the video that I signed for you last. Last Tuesday, right? He's talking about the Cana upanishads Kena means by what or by whom? So by what means? So by what means could there be for one to see? Who is there for one to hear? And by what means who is there for one to greet? And by what means who is there for one to think? And by what means who is there for One to perceive. And by what means? By what means can one perceive him? By means of whom one perceives this whole world. By what means can one perceive the perceiver? Right. So, yeah, very important passage. I don't know. That's a light bulb moment only for me. Or did it help anybody kind of. Or did it just add further confusion to. Yeah, Logan.

Student

Yeah, definitely, like, kind of tied together a lot of the big themes that we've been talking about and how it's kind of. It kind of was telling me that, wait, everybody was created or everything was created from something. What exactly is, you know, just some sort of deity or God or brahman that exists, which.

Student

In each.

Student

That exists in each and every one of us and everything.

Student

Like the one for men.

Student

And it's also like that when you die. Because our only current body is like the way that we process things is through perception of our senses. That that perception of senses doesn't occur anymore. So that whole entire plane of existence is different.

Brad

So then if you had. So then this would be another kind of question. Like, if you had this moment of realization or enlightenment or awakening where one becomes the self, then have you lost the means to perceive? So then would there be any means to perceive another? Right. If I become one with everything, then nothing is not me. Does that make sense?

Student

I think one thing that I really

Student

liked was kind of the salt analogy.

Student

And I know we had like focused on this alt analogy, but I think this kind of like reframing it in like the individuality discussion stand out more to me. Like, the salt is like, still there even though it like kind of dissolves and like you fade away into like, the hole. But that doesn't mean that there's like no salt in there. Like, you're still like your own body, even though you have kind of like become the one. Like, you're still like part of both of them. But it's just that you, Your body isn't necessarily like, like full, like fully like, shown anymore. Like, it's just kind of like dissolved into a good. ⚠

Brad

Other folks. Yeah, man.

Student

I mean, I just feel like I'm having trouble kind of like grasping this idea. Especially when you factor in like, you know, other systems of thought and like, you know, how you have a soul and there's an afterlife. And I mean, I guess like, even then, like, especially things you go to heaven, but you kind of don't have these like, worldly feelings. Like, I don't feel like it's talked about as much like, oh, touch or taste or Anything. But, you know, it's just like. I feel like it's a lot. I can't see the parallels.

Brad

Okay.

Student

Yeah.

Brad

I mean. Right. So not sort of like a soul that exists apart from the body. Yeah. So that's a significant difference for sure. Yeah. Good. Yeah.

Student

Logan, another kind of interesting thing that I took away or was like, that was different from some of the previous readings, or at least my interpretation was that, like, selfishness as catalyst for good, in a sense, as like, you know, the parable of the 10th person or something like that. Or like his previous text that we read kind of talk about how selfishness or ignorance of the self leads to

Student

a lot of issues.

Student

But this kind of also says that. That selfishness, not necessarily ignorance of self, selfishness as like, you know, that's almost where creation stems from sense. You know, he created another person through himself as a result, like that kind of. I just thought that was interesting.

Brad

Yeah. So, I mean, so then the question would be, like, why is there many? Right. Why? Why did the one become Logan and Brad? Right. Could have just become Logan or could have just become Brad. Right. Or could have stayed the one. Right. So then what would be the point? What's the meaning? What's the reason for the one to become many? Right. So we've got some answer there, right. As you're pointing to. Yeah.

Student

Kat, kind of going back to that point about, like, not selfishness, but, like, love for the self in the U24.

Student

Don't know what.

Student

I think it's five. He talks about how the enemy holds something dear out of love for herself.

Brad

And I feel like that was a

Student

little bit confusing to me because, like, today, intuitively, you think you love someone else out of love for them, not because you love yourself. So I was kind of confused when reading this, like, that section of the passage. And then, like, in other traditions, you, like, it doesn't tell you, like, the self.

Brad

Right.

Student

So I was just a little bit confused.

Brad

Yeah. So on the. So another point of comparison we could draw would be like in Luke's Gospel, chapter 10, rather famous passage where Jesus says one should love one's neighbor as oneself. Right. So to love a neighbor as oneself, you know, Whereas here you're saying your love for your neighbor is because your neighbor is your very self. Right. So it's not sort of pretending that your neighbor is yourself. Not love your neighbor as you love yourself, but love your neighbor because they are your very self. Right. So really seeing the whole. Seeing us as part of one team. Right. So then one is Motivated by a love for the whole. By the love for the self that is cat and rat. Right. So then I don't do this for Cat because. Well, I'm doing this for cat because it's beneficial.

Student

Right.

Brad

It's Shreya automatically. Right. So then I'm doing things because it is. Because Cat is the self. Right. So not just. Yeah, yeah, good. Yeah.

Student

I feel like what, like I've like taken away from this. Like, this just that there's an emphasis on like the inter, like connected nature of all of us and the fact that once you recognize that like, you are part of the self. Like, I think it's just reframing what we think of and how we use like, selfishness. Like, I think, like, if we use selfishness, we're talking about this like it's not how we're thinking it. As in, like we go out of our way to like, not care for others, to like, harm them in some way because we want to just look at ourselves. Like, I think it's that you acknowledge that like, the idea that like, you cannot love something if you don't love yourself. And then I think it's further, like you cannot acknowledge something if you don't acknowledge yourself. So I think that like, once you understand that you're part of this, like, like, I think of like the fabric, like, example with the points.

Student

Like, I think like, once you understand that you're part of the fabric that everyone else is as well, like, you're greater able to contribute to like, the society as a whole because you realize that like, like you said just now, like, everybody, everyone is just yourself, just in different forms. And that we're all part of the same experience. So I think like, the emphasis on the self is not so much as to reinforce this idea of like, selfishness as we view it, but just to like, understand that we all are just part of it.

Brad

Yeah. Really, really important point that if we're that word selfishness, we have to totally redefine it. Right. There's a professor, Chakravarti Ramprasat, I think he said he's at Lancaster University in the uk and he argues that we should not be translating atman as self. That atman. Yeah, and I very much understand his points because like, his point is that anybody who hears the word self in English is going to think the individual self, Right? Which in Sanskrit is the jiva, not the atman. And so then from individual perspective, then being selfish means caring about Brad, not caring about Castilea. Right. And then so that's Bad. Right. But if. If I don't make a deep, you know, ontological distinction between myself and my individual Bradness and Castilia Castilianess, then selfishness is not seen as something bad. It seems as even the highest ideal.

Student

Yeah, Sophia, I feel like going back to paragraph five. Like, after reading the salt example, this is, like, what really made it click for me is that, like, if you are like, what makes everything salty, like, then everything you love has, like, a part of the salt in it. Like, that just goes back to the whole. Like, that's, like, what really made it stick for me is that, like, if you're part of this whole group, you are in everything around you. So, like, even if you do love something else, and you might think it's because you love that something else, you also find yourself within something else. And, like, that's what makes you love it.

Brad

Good. Yep. Good. Gosh, we only have a couple minutes left, don't we? We did not get to talk about what's arguably the most famous passage from all of the upanishads, which is this. neti neti. So Brihadaranyaka 2.3. This maybe be a good passage to talk about in your podcast, but this Sat and Tam. I mentioned this the other day, I believe, talked about satya Nadala, right? He's the CEO of Microsoft. yajna satya. satya is his name. So satya means truth, but it's this. So this upanishads Tupat 3 is taking that word satya and breaking it in half, right? Sat meaning being. And then Tiam is just really just an ending, right? It doesn't make any sense. It's not a word. It's like, if I were to say being, but I were to take being and chop it into like, be and then ing, right? It's actually very much like that or being ness, right? If I were just like, being and then ness, right? Ness. Tiam really translates as like ness, like ness, Right? So it's really an ending. It doesn't even make sense. It does not make sense on its own, right? ⚠

Brad

So one is stationary, the other is in motion. Sort of like, I don't know, I think sounds very much like E equals MC squared kind of thing, but like matter and energy. So one is sat and the other is tian. But the most famous passage in all the upanishads is actually this. Or. I mean, one of the most famous passages is verse six. So neti neti, not this, not that. I think we can talk about that more going forward in the. In the last 30 seconds I have, we just say, say a word about Podcast four, I am all. Podcast three, I am all caught up on listening to your podcast. They're good for Thursday. I want you to come to class prepared. Prepared. I want you to. I want you to. The quiz on Thursday, in addition to. On the reading, which I wrote my dissertation on, by the way, but in addition to the reading on the Mandukya I would like you to come prepared to, like, point to a specific verse that you're going to talk about in the next podcast. Right.

1:12:39

Closing Remarks and Podcast Preparation

Brad

So I want you to do your podcast preparation before Thursday, in other words. Right. And then what I thought might be fun is if we take the last 45 minutes on Thursday and then give you time to go and record your podcasts on Thursday, so that way you don't have to figure out when you're going to do it between Thursday and the time you leave for break. Yeah, but then that means I really want them on Thursday. So come to class on Thursday. Follow the rules. Right. So you gotta. Yeah.