Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad

02/26/2026 · Tue/Thu 12:00-1:15 PM · Brad Bannon · Boston College

📄 Synopsis

Instructor Brad Bannon led a concluding discussion on Śruti, specifically focusing on the Mandukya Upanishad and the symbolic significance of the mantra OM. The session explored the 'four quarters' of consciousness, emphasizing that the fourth state—represented by the silence following the chant—is not an addition but a foundational reality that has been present all along. Students engaged with metaphors such as cleaning a window to remove barriers to realizing the Ātman, which is already identical to Brahman. The dialogue highlighted the essential role of the teacher-student relationship, noting that a teacher helps a student see their inherent divinity beyond superficial academic metrics. The class also delved into the mechanics of 'superimposing' reality and the 'I-maker' (ahamkara), which categorizes experience. Bannon transitioned into a discussion on causality—material, efficient, and final—using the analogy of clay and a potter to explain how the Self (the clay) takes on various forms (nama-rupa) without being limited to any single one. The session concluded with instructions for the podcast assignment, urging students to practice upasamhara (coordination) and samanvaya (harmonization) to synthesize the semester's Hindu theological texts before the spring break.

⚡ Key Takeaways

The Mandukya Upanishad describes the Self through four quarters, where the fourth is characterized by silence and the negation of false descriptions.
The mantra OM represents the totality of time—past, present, future, and that which is beyond time—through its phonetic structure and the silence that follows.
Realizing one's identity as Brahman is described as a process of 'cleaning the window' or removing ignorance rather than gaining new knowledge.
A successful theological education requires both an inspiring teacher and a student's willingness to hear and internalize the truth.
The 'I-maker' or ahamkara is the internal faculty that creates a sense of ego and categorizes the world into name and form (nama-rupa).
Causality in the non-dual tradition involves understanding the material cause (the clay), the efficient cause (the potter), and the final cause (the goal).
The Self must exist in some form to be perceived, yet its true nature is not restricted to any particular fixed form.
Upasamhara and samanvaya are methods used to coordinate and harmonize various sacred texts into a coherent theological understanding.

🎤 Transcript Tap any timestamp to jump the audio player

0:01

Opening Meditation and Transition

Brad

Let's go ahead and, um, just transition. Take a moment to clear your hands, keep your body still, kind of keep your mind still. Let's take a breath together. Go ahead and breathe in and out. Word? Alrighty. So we will stop today at, you know, about 20 till-ish to give us plenty of time to transition and give you plenty of time to do your podcasts. I think we can probably have 3, maybe 4 groups in this room, you know, if you kind of get away from each other. Certainly a group could take my office if they want, which is right upstairs. And then, I don't know, the rest of you fend for yourself somewhere. I'm sure you can find someplace not too far away to record. And yeah, I'll say a little bit more about that in a few. Why don't we go ahead and pass them around. Just hold them face down for a moment until everybody gets one. It's actually our last time reading Śruti for the semester. I didn't totally realize that until I was writing writing this, but it's the case, because the Bhagavad Gita is not Śruti, it's Smṛti. ⚠

2:49

Administrative Check-in and Group Organization

Brad

Coming around, so everybody got one? Oh no, just a couple. Very cool. Go ahead and, uh, flip them over. Let's go ahead and round off your answers. We're missing Hannah today, right? Already? Would you pass them up, please? If my records are correct, then we've got Mickey today, yeah, and Jaden. Huh? Okay, my bad. Delaney and Max. Yeah, and Jake. Yeah, 14 I am confused about. So who's going for 14 today? ⚠

Student

Okay, Aiden.

Brad

And wait, Hannah is up today, right? Oh, Tana's taking it?

Student

Okay. Yeah, okay, I see.

Brad

Sorry, my brain is like just turning very slowly. Angel? Yeah? And Wilkes? ⚠

Student

Oh, I like did mine yesterday.

Brad

You did yours?

Student

Okay.

Brad

All right.

Student

Good.

Brad

No worries. So why don't you take a couple of minutes just to get everybody chatting. And organize what you're gonna say. We're gonna keep it pretty short though, 'cause we wanna stop in half an hour. So yeah, just take a couple of minutes and organize what you wanna say. ⚠

Student

I also like thought it was interesting how it's like, um, when we talked about like the A, B, and the C, and then like how the last part is just like, it's not even the silence, but it's just the idea that it's like been there all along. Yeah, I thought that was really interesting because like that's sometimes what, I don't know, I just feel like it's comforting to know that like there's always like things And also like the idea that, um, like a teacher will like sit down, ask like your grades and like your appearance and just like things like that. ⚠

Student

And I'm comfortable because it's like, I feel like in today's day and age we're so obsessed, especially like academic institutions, we're so obsessed, like we're defined by our grades. But like that didn't drop off. ⚠

Student

And like, that made me like redefine like a teacher in a sense, because it's like a teacher isn't just meant to like grade you and like judge you.

Student

They're not meant to be like that. So I feel like I need to take more of that through. I know, I read that. ⚠

Student

I was like, oh, okay.

16:18

Discussion on Enlightenment, Negation, and the Window Metaphor

Brad

Are any Who wants to get us started? Yeah, Angel.

Student

I think I really like the window metaphor for when you clean something and you're kind of just removing the barriers that are already there. And I think that connects to the student-teacher relationship that's mentioned in this chapter. Once you remove all the superficial qualities about the student and you realize them for their humanity, for their Brahman, they can then realize their sense of self. ⚠

Brad

Yeah, good. All those sort of categories that we put. Yeah, those sort of—

Student

yeah. Elaine?

Student

We also talked a lot about negation and the removal of false descriptions.

Student

And I think that really challenged my idea of enlightenment in general because I always kind of perceived enlightenment to be more you gain knowledge of something. But in a sense, obviously, because Ātman like exists within you, like it's always been there, but like cleaning the window, like now it's just been removed. ⚠

Brad

Good.

Student

Yeah, great. Yeah, Tam.

Student

Yeah, we were also talking about that and I was also challenged when I was reading that because I know like the text also approaches the question that's like if you keep negating, then is there anything that's left to look at? And that was kind of my question as well. Like, is there anything concrete— is there a concrete definition of the self because everything is so unclear? But then, like, Bem was saying that with the 3 positives and then 1 negation after, that kind of correlates. And I guess the uncertainty is part of the 3 positive descriptions and the negation. ⚠

Student

So I guess—

Brad

It's a process, right? Yeah, you gotta kind of take all three of— all of them together. And it's not that everything's being negated, but some things. Yeah, yeah, I think Aiden, you had, and then— ⚠

Student

yeah, yeah, I was just confused in general by like how like the— it just says like the fourth quarter is like, it's like just a bunch of negations. Like, yeah, I was kind of confused by like what that meant entirely. ⚠

Brad

I mean, I mean, it's really difficult, right? Yeah, I mean, um, So I think a good way to think about it is the way Tana just said, which is thinking of it as a process. So it's negating after it's pointing out. So yeah, I wanted to definitely make sure that I respond to that before our end of our discussion. So ask it again if we don't cover it. I think Sophia, yeah? ⚠

18:47

Theology of Om and the Four States of Consciousness

Student

I was just going to say that I enjoyed learning about om and what each letter represents, I guess, and like how the shape of your mouth is even like symbolic of what it represents, like past, present, future, and then kind of beyond time. Yeah. So I feel like when you said that the first class or like did the chant, I was kind of like, what does that mean? ⚠

Student

But now it's kind of like full circle that we're learning about it.

Brad

There are a lot of connections between this. I mean, this week in particular and the first day. Yeah, and that's definitely a great one. Yeah, thanks, Jake.

Student

Kind of going off that Om point, like, we thought something that was really interesting and important was that it starts in the back and then moves through the mouth and then ends with the silence, which is like the negation part, and shows that process. ⚠

Brad

Yeah, I mean, some swamis or some teachers who take this really seriously, I mean, they practice how to pronounce it, right? So that you're really pronouncing all of the vowels. Right? So it's sort of like a— and it's in other texts, it's directly connected to the creation of the universe, right? Sort of beginning with this yawning sort of thing, like yawning, you know? And then so that's— so I mean, the way that you say it, the way that, yeah, your mouth works and your throat works and stuff, all connected. ⚠

Student

Yeah. Good.

Brad

Oh, we'll go to Mickey and we'll come back.

Student

Yeah, I was thinking with the topic of like the OM, something we found really interesting was like the part about the silence and how like it's not like you creating it, but it's always there. It's there before and it's there after. And like, I just saw kind of a connection to a lot of the invisible things we talk about. ⚠

Brad

Yeah, lots of different ways something can be invisible, right? And so, um, um, yeah, and so I mean, you can't have a You can't have a word, you can't pronounce anything, you can't speak without the silence in between.

Student

Yeah, good.

Brad

Yes, ma'am.

Student

I guess kind of similar to what I was going to say, I thought it was like a good reminder about how like the self is always within you and you just need to like remove your own ignorance from it. And like the text says that like the silence after it's not like a fourth sound added to the other three. And I thought that that put a good emphasis on like Brahman. Always being within you and not being something apart from you? ⚠

Brad

Yeah, there was something I mentioned when we were doing Anantanand Rambachan earlier, somewhere in the text, that I— his dissertation, his first book and dissertation was called Accomplishing the Accomplished, which is, you know, I mean, connected to all these things, right? Which is that I already am Brahman, right? Ahaṃ brahmāsmi. So I don't become Brahman. There's nothing I can do to become Brahman. But instead it's just removing ignorance, right? Sort of like cleaning the glass. ⚠

21:29

The Role of the Teacher and the Importance of Śruti

Student

Yeah, yeah. Max, did you have it here?

Student

Um, yeah, I was just sort of going off the same thing.

Brad

It was—

Student

I thought it was interesting when it talks about also like you're already Brahman, but like someone needs to like see who is it, I guess. Or like before you realize that someone needs to like— I think he talks about when the teacher points at you, like, yeah, I need to see to realize that too? ⚠

Brad

Yeah, it's really important, right? I mean, if somebody— I don't know if you've had an inspiring teacher, an inspiring mentor, and probably you didn't get here without that, right? And so maybe that's something that you have certain gifts or you have certain talents and you didn't realize that you had those gifts or talents until someone who, you know, an experienced teacher is like, hey, Max, I see this within you. And you're like, you do? You know? And then you start to see it within yourself. Yeah, I don't know who was first, but yeah, go for it. ⚠

Student

I was just gonna say, like, I thought it was really kind of comforting to know that like your teacher is like not necessarily like a professor or anything. It could be just like a mentor, but like they're seeing past, like we were talking about like your grades and especially like an environment sometimes that's so academic and so competitive. It's just nice to like get that reminder that like you are more than like a grade you get in a class or like on a midterm. And I'm saying this after a theater midterm, so, you know, maybe it didn't go well, but like it's just nice to know that like someone is seeing past like all of this and like you are still like yourself regardless of like a fault you may have. ⚠

Brad

Yeah. Okay, good.

Student

Yeah.

Student

Yeah, I think like it's obviously it's very important for like the teacher teacher to like see like what they were talking about, like see kind of that like within you, like the actual like awareness of like who you really are, like more than kind of what's being taught almost, like it transcends that a little bit. But I also think the most important part for me was the fact that it's the student also, like you have to be willing to hear it. Like I think that that is, that really stuck out to me because it's like the hearing— like, you can hear something but not actually internalize it, or if you're willing to hear it, you can internalize it and actually believe it and understand it and embody it. And I think that's kind of like what it's saying, like, that's the only way you need those two things— a teacher and the willingness to hear— to actually like understand like what these texts are trying to say. ⚠

Brad

Yeah, there's an important point. And, um, so one of the If we think back to the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, right, this father and son, the problem there was that the son was very arrogant, right? He went off to college, he came back, he was like, I know everything, right? And so you can't really learn if you think that you already know everything, right? So there's a certain amount of humility is needed. I also, in my philosophy class, I teach the Phaedrus dialogue, Plato's Phaedrus dialogue. I'm obsessed with that text for the last, you know, 15 years actually. But in there, Socrates says, like, you know, to be a good student is to be like an empty jar, right? And so you have to be in this empty vessel. If your vessel is full, if your brain is full, if your mind is full, then you can't receive anything else, right? Yeah, I don't know, lots of hands. I don't know. Yeah, we'll go, we'll just go around them. Rim, Mickey. ⚠

Student

Yeah, so sticking with the same point, the part that stuck out to me was like the fact that Śruti literally must be heard. I guess that wasn't something that I internalized with like the student also having to trust you enough.

Student

Yeah.

Student

So I guess that was just a big point to me. They said a lot of what I was planning on saying.

Brad

Yeah, I mean, the relationship between the teacher and student is really important in that aspect of being heard.

Student

Yeah, Aiden.

Student

I love the point that like there's like a different intimacy to like experiencing something rather than just like reading someone else experience it. Like you gave like the example of like it's different reading about like a son being taught by his father than being the son taught by his father. And like, I feel like I really agree with that because I feel like there's so much, I guess, like you'd say like emotion and like personality that's like you can't feel just by reading it, no matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you get into it. I feel like there's like a different level of experience there. ⚠

Brad

For sure. Yeah, absolutely.

Student

Yeah. Great. Talia?

Student

I also really like the— just the text kind of reminded me that the many is also the one, like with the idea of like obviously when you're in the waking state and you're like superimposing reality and you you see a tree and you're like, oh, that's just a tree, instead of saying this tree, or when you're looking around the room, you just think, oh, these are my Hinduism class— classmates, but they're also each individual. And obviously, we've talked a lot about individuality and the purpose of individuality. And I think it was a really good reminder that everyone still is the self, even if we're all the same. ⚠

Student

Great.

Brad

Yeah, good. Angel?

26:53

Superimposition (Adhyāsa) and the Ahamkara (Ego)

Student

Yeah, I'm talking about the waking state. I think in the text it said something that once you're in the waking state, you enjoy material things. And to me, originally it was tough to see that apart from being greedy or wanting luxurious items. But I think at the end, I summarized it all and realized that it wasn't just talking about those luxurious items, but— you know, actually like realizing and coming into contact with like the real world, with like your, like, yourself and all the things that you can do. ⚠

Brad

Yeah, good. And one of the things, one of the very first things that I taught in this semester was the four Puruṣārthas, the four human aims, right? And the first of the four human aims is Artha. So that just didn't stop being true, right? So pursuing material things. I mean, we need to have food, we need to have shelter, we need to have our basic needs met, right? All of those things are Artha. All of those things are material needs. We have to, we have to meet those material needs. So pursuing that is not bad, but you could take it too far, right? I mean, so like being attached to those things, being overly, you know, concerned with those things, that is, you know, I mean, at least from this perspective, bad, right? So it's a way to value material and value material things in a way that doesn't overvalue it, right? ⚠

Student

Yeah, good.

Brad

Others? Anybody? Yeah, we can open it up to anybody.

Student

Tana? [INAUDIBLE] I thought the term of superimposing was really interesting. You perceive, but then you reduce in categories. And that kind of just reminded me of the first lecture about the dice and how we can all be looking at the same thing, but from different perspectives. And then I guess that goes back to like the 4 monologues where it's like 4 different, like 4 perspectives of one truth. ⚠

Brad

Yeah, right on.

Student

Yeah, Ben.

Student

I was going to say this, like I don't know if it has any significance, but I feel like the number 4 and 3 have like a lot of like repetition and like common appearances in like your client. ⚠

Brad

Yeah.

Student

I don't know if it means anything, but like I don't know. I feel like that's what we were about to touch upon a little. I just see this repeating. We were talking about 4 great sentences, the 3 and the 1, and then you have the 3 syllables, 3 this, 3 that. I feel like all these kind of have this repeating kind of structure and pattern to it. ⚠

Brad

And even here, there's 4, but it's kind of 3, and then the 4th is different, right? Yeah.

Student

Yeah.

Brad

Yep.

Student

Good observation. Others?

Student

Yeah, I just had a sense of desire. ⚠

Student

I think—

Student

I don't know how to pronounce this word, but it says aham kara.

Brad

Aham kara.

Student

I maker slash ego.

Brad

Yep.

Student

I thought that was pretty interesting to note, especially with the internal faculties that have intellect and mind and subconsciousness. I think it's a part of natural human tendencies. Have some sort of, at least a small bit of ego and sense of pride. ⚠

Brad

Yeah, it isn't— I mean, the word ahamkara is interesting, right? Because it's usually translated ego because that's the closest corollary, but literally it is the I maker. Aham is I and then kara is maker, right? So ahamkara is the I maker. ⚠

Student

So I think there's something Something in that too.

Brad

So much more here to unpack.

Student

Yeah, Delaine?

Student

So like with the four quarters, does that—

Student

obviously like everyone kind of experiences the world in a different way and then internally like projects in a different way. So are they just distinct to each individual, or should they still be considered as like a collective whole because we're all still one? ⚠

Brad

So I think another way to think about it is you can't be conscious unless you're conscious in one of those four ways. It's just not possible to be conscious. I mean, can you think of any ways to be conscious other than those four ways? You know, let's also think about— there's this word that keeps coming up through all these texts, which is guna, which is like a lump, right? So let's think for a moment about clay. And there's a reason that I keep handing it out every every class, particularly classes that I choose to and not to. But so let's think for a second about clay, right? So just pretend this is clay instead of Play-Doh. You know, it's Play-Doh. But so clay, what is the form of clay, right? So we've read a few times in a few different chapters about nama-rupa, name and form, right? So Uddalaka, when he's talking to his son, he says, you know, all these things are just name and form, right? In reality, you are the, you are the clay, right? You are that tat tvam asi. ⚠

32:21

Philosophical Investigation of Form, Clay, and Causality

Brad

But so then, what is the, what is the form of clay? What is the form of clay? Does clay have a form? Yeah, Yaroslava?

Student

I would say it's whatever your intention is to it, so it kind of like has the form affected by somebody, something. ⚠

Student

So something needs to affect the clay to make its shape.

Brad

So like a potter, right? So you've got like the, the clay and then the potter. So the, the clay takes on whatever form that the potter intends for the clay to take on, right? I remember one time in class I taught about the 3 different kinds of causality. What are those 3 different kinds of causality? Yeah, go ahead. Material.

Student

Material.

Brad

So the clay, right? Yeah.

Student

Effective and then the final cause.

Brad

Yeah, efficient and then final. Yeah, so efficient in this case would be— so if the material is the clay, right, then what's the efficient cause?

Student

The potter.

Brad

Yeah, the potter, right? And then what's the final cause? What they're trying to make. What they're trying to make, right? So then there's some sort of goal or some sort of purpose for it to take on this form as opposed to that form, right? So then can we sort of account for all of these things in advaita? I mean, we've got all of those things, right? So it's— It seems like Uddalaka is telling his son, "You are the clay." Right? I mean, he is telling him that, right? "You are the clay." But there's more to it than that, isn't there? What else? Max is like, "You got to spell it out for me a little bit more, man." Okay. Okay, so a couple of things. One, the clay cannot be in no form, right? Can we agree that the clay doesn't have to be in this form or that form, but for it to exist, it has to be in some form, right? It can't be in no form. So this formless form, if we were to call it that, like a form that doesn't have any particular form. ⚠

Brad

We could say like no fixed form, right? We literally talked about that on Tuesday with the sat and this tyam, right? The sat being the thing that exists and then the tyam being its formlessness or form, right? So the clay, if the clay is going to exist at all, it has to exist in some form, but the nature of clay means that it doesn't have to exist in any particular form. Form, right? So it has to exist in a particular form but not any particular form. It's literally saying and then unsaying the same thing, right? Kind of like the sayings and then the unsayings, right? So both of those statements have to be true. The cataphasis and apophasis is how it's described in Christian theology, but the positive statements and the negative statements, right? So this not this. But then we have to account for all three of those forms of causality, right? So if we were to say— let's take Joran for a moment, if that's okay. So Joran, you have a body. You brought it with you today. Appreciate that. Your body hasn't always been like this though, right? ⚠

Brad

So like, did you have the same body when you were 5 days old? Pretty different, right? So, but you've never not had a body, right? So like, or even been a body, you could say, right? So then your body shape takes shape and, you know, forms, right? Your body changes over time, right? So, but you have to have some form or another, right? So you've always had some form, but that form, whatever that form is, changes over time. Why does it change? Yeah, Drona. ⚠

Student

I mean, you like eat things and then you process them and they become you, essentially.

Brad

I mean, yeah, right? And yeah?

Student

You interacted You're affected by something or somebody?

Brad

Yeah, I mean, so you're affected by the things that you do. You're affected by the things that you eat. You're affected by the things that you do to your body, right? If you want to be jacked like me, then you got to like work hard for it, right? That kind of stuff. And so the way— so then could we say that whatever your body is like is entirely up to you? Not entirely. Say more.

Student

It's like, for one, you get your genes from your parents. Also, there's just stuff can happen.

Brad

You can be born without arms or legs if you get really unlucky and get a mutation. Okay, all right, so all those are sort of biological kind of things. What else?

Student

Yeah. Just like you're a product of your environment, like Like where you grow up, how much money you have, if you're able to get food, if you're able to have a house.

Brad

So the world around us, right? Society and the world and the way people, the opportunities people give us, the opportunities people deny us, that sort of thing, right? So who I am is sort of a really complex mix of biology and, you know, nature, that sort of thing. Society and how people enable me to shape myself. But then there's also an aspect of agency, right? How many times I go to the gym or what sort of things I, you know, smoke. That sort of stuff, right? And so all of these things play a role in those three kinds of causality, right? So my material body, my material stuff, but also I have a chance to shape those by the things that I eat and the things that I do, right? To shape my body, but I don't have total control over it because it's not just me, right? But the world around me that's having an impact on those kind of things. Oh snap. We're like kind of out of time. So many things that I didn't get to. Last questions, thoughts? ⚠

39:06

Small Group Podcast Recording and Discussion

Brad

Okay, for your podcast, because we'll break now into your podcast, just a reminder that everybody should be leading the discussion on a different part than you, you know, than you led in class, right? That's one thing. Another thing is instead of going like, you know, chapter 10, 11, 12, 13, or whatever, instead of going chapter by chapter and treating all of these texts as separate texts, really try to practice upasamhara and samanvaya, right? Really try to read all of the texts together. Think about them maybe— did I give the Venn diagram example in here the other day? Yeah? So like thinking about the text as different Venn diagrams and they overlap in some ways and they don't overlap in other ways, right? And so the goal of upasamhara, I've kind of done the upasamhara for you. I've already coordinated these texts together. But now your job is to try and, you know, harmonize them. And not just the 4 that we've read for this unit, but maybe all the texts that we've read so far on the Hindu side of things, right? ⚠

Brad

Try to see, you know, can you sort of make sense of this, all of these different things together. Word? And then I guess in addition to those, you know, you could feel free to maybe start the podcast by telling me whatever you're doing for your spring break. And have a good time. I'll see you after the break. Thank you. ⚠