You Are the Absolute
You Are the Absolute
Philosophies of India
This chapter examines the teachings of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gītā concerning God and the good. For both the Upanishads and the Gītā, the goal to be pursued in life is liberation from samsāra, the cycle of birth and death. In the early Upanishads, liberation is attained through knowledge of the identity of one's inner self, the ātman, with the cosmic principle, brahman. In the later Upanishads, there develops a devotional theism to a personal God. Liberation is then redefined to mean abiding with the object of our devotion. The Upanishads maintain that the Absolute has qualities not only of being and goodness, but of awareness and joy. On the other hand, the Gītā points out that to discover the Absolute by knowledge alone requires intense concentration. The Good for Hinduism is moksa, freedom or liberation.
Keywords: good, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gītā, God, samsāra, ātman, brahman, liberation, Absolute, moksa
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