Eternal Stories From The Upanishads

The Upanishads include some of the most beloved and illuminating stories from the vast literature of India's Vedic tradition. Adapted from the original text, these twenty tales tell the story of enlightenment in simple, poetic language that will appeal to all. The power and beauty of Vedic life unfolds in a variety of settings: a teacher and his student in a secluded forest ashram, a great seer meditating in a Himalayan retreat, and a proud king bowing to the wisdom of the poor.

Thomas Egenes received his doctorate from the University of Virginia, after graduating from the University of Notre Dame. He is a professor at Maharishi International University and translator of Maharishi Patanjali Yoga Sutra (1" World Publishing) and The Upanishads (Tarcher/Penguin) with Dr. Vernon Katz. In addition, Dr. Egenes has written Introduction to Sanskrit, Part One; Introduction to Sanskrit, Part Two (Motilal Banarsidass International); Learning the Sanskrit Alphabet (Maharishi International University Press); and All Love Flows to the Self (Samhita Productions); Dr. Egenes lives in Fairfield, Iowa, USA.

Kumuda Reddy was a faculty member and anesthesiologist at Albany Medical College, practicing Western medicine in the United States for more than 25 years. Dr. Reddy has coauthored eight books on Ayurveda, a series of children's stories based on traditional Indian tales she first heard as a child, and she coauthored a retelling of the Ramayana (Tarcher/Perigee) with Linda Egenes. Dr Reddy and her husband, Dr. Janardhan Reddy, divide their time between the United States and India.

The Upanishads are a precious aspect of the Vedic literature of India, the land of the Veda. The Upanishads focus on the ultimate reality of life, the Self, Atma, by gaining which nothing else is left to be gained. They teach that the true nature of the Self is wholeness, which is the totality of natural law, Brahman. When Brahman is realized, everyone and everything is near and dear as one's own Self.

Traditionally, the Upanishads were passed down from teacher to student. Upa-ni-shad literally means "sit down near," meaning that the student sits down near the teacher to receive instruction. "Sit down near" can also refer to the hidden connection between everything, whether it is the connection between the teacher and student, or more broadly, the infinite correlation between all things, the oneness of reality. In this way the word spanishad might be thought of as a state of consciousness in which everything is connected to one's own Self.

The Upanishads contain beautiful, exhilarating phrases such as "Thou art That" (tat tvam asi), "I am Totality" (aham brahmasmi), and "This Self is Brahman" (ayam ātmā brahma). These phrases, taught by Shankara, are descriptions of the highest state of awakening, where a person directly perceives consciousness as the reality of everything, including oneself. They are known as "great sayings" (mahävakyas) because they describe the essential teaching of the Upanishads in compact expressions.

The Upanishads are traditionally said to be cognized by rishis, or seers. The profound truths dawned spontaneously in the silent depths of their own pure consciousness and were passed down through generations, first orally and later in written form. According to the Muktika Upanishad there are 108 Upanishads. Shankara commented on ten, which are called the ten principal Upanishads: Isha, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandakya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chhandogya, and Brihadaranyaka. Each of the Upanishads is associated with one of the four Vedas: Rik, Säma, Yajus, and Atharva.

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