The Upanishads: Aitareya: The Unity of Life

This Aitareya has one of the four great sayings of the Upanishads: “All reality is consciousness”. This consciousness is the life of all life. It expresses both the sanctity and unity of life. The Aitareya tells a story of evolution in the form of a creation myth. The driver of this process is desire. Not of human desire, but of cosmic desire.

Part I

“Before the world was created, the Self
Alone existed; nothing whatever stirred.
Then the Self thought: ‘Let me create the world.”
He brought forth all the worlds out of himself: the sky,
The earth, the waters, and guardians for these worlds.
The guardians were given mouths, nostrils and eyes.

“The Self, Creator, thought: ‘Here are the worlds
And their guardians. Let me now bring forth food
For them…And food appeared in the form of matter.”

The first embodied being tried to catch this food with his speech.
But could not catch it with his speech.
He tried to catch it with his breath, with his sense of smell, with his eyes, with his ears, with his skin, by the sense of touch, by just thinking about food.
All of these do not satisfy hunger.

He tried to catch food with apana
The downward prana of digestion, and at last he caught it.

Part III

“Who is this Self on whom we meditate?
Is it the Self by which we see, hear, smell and taste
Through which we speak in words? Is Self the mind
By which we perceive, direct, understand
Know, remember, think, will, desire and love?
These are but the servants of the Self, who is
Pure consciousness.
This Self is all in all.”

“Prajna is pure consciousness, guiding all.
The world rests on prajna, and prajna is Brahman.
Those who realize Brahman live in joy
And go beyond death.
Indeed they go beyond death.

Notes:

Apana: One of the five pranas active in biologic functioning that uses downward motion.

Prana: Vital energy, the power of life, the essential substrate of all forms of energy.

Prajna: Consciousness; transcendental awareness or wisdom; the highest mode of knowing.