Sacred Jewels of Yoga

This Self Is Brahman

The Self,
who can be realized by the pure in heart,
who is life, light, truth, space,
who gives rise to all works,
all desires, all tastes,
who is beyond words,
who is joy abiding —
this is the Self dwelling in my heart.

Smaller than a grain of rice,
smaller than a grain of barley,
smaller than a mustard seed,
smaller than a grain of millet,
smaller even than the kernel of
a grain of millet is the Self.
This is the Self dwelling in my heart,
greater than the earth, greater than the sky,
greater than all the worlds.

This Self,
who gives rise to all works, all desires, all tastes,
who pervades the universe,
who is beyond words,
who is joy abiding,
who is ever present in my heart —
This Self is Brahman indeed.
To him I shall attain when my ego dies.

— Chandogya Upanishad

The Eternal One

I know the Self, the sage Shvetashvatara said,
to be immortal and infinite.
I know this Self who is the Self of all,
whom the sages call the Eternal One.

May the Lord of Love, who projects himself
into this universe of myriad forms,
from whom all beings come
and to whom all return,
grant us the grace of wisdom.

He is fire and the sun, and the moon and the stars.
He is the air and the sea, and the Creator, Prajapati.
He is this boy, He is that girl,
He is this man, He is that woman,
and He is this old man, too, tottering on his staff.
His face is everywhere.

He is the blue bird, He is the green bird
with red eyes; He is the thundercloud,
and He is the seasons and the seas.
He has no beginning, He has no end.
He is the source from which the worlds evolve.

From His divine power comes forth all this
magical show of name and form, of you and me,
which casts the spell of pain and pleasure.

Only when we pierce through this
magic veil do we see the
One who appears as many.

— Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Lord Is the Supreme Reality

The Lord is enshrined in the hearts of all.
The Lord is the supreme Reality.
Rejoice in him through renunciation.
Covet nothing. All belongs to the Lord.
Thus working may you live a hundred years.
Thus alone will you work in real freedom.

The Self is one. Ever still, the Self is
swifter than thought, swifter than the senses.
Though motionless, he outruns all pursuit.
Without the Self, never could life exist.

The Self seems to move, but is ever still.
He seems far away, but is ever near.
He is within all, and he transcends all.

Those who see all creatures in themselves
and themselves in all creatures know no fear.
Those who see all creatures in themselves
and themselves in all creatures know no grief.
How can the multiplicity of life
delude the one who sees its unity?

— Isha Upanishad