Meditation and Transcendence in the Upanishads

The Upanishads are the essence of all religion. Really, they are not for the beginners, they are for those who have left the beginning far behind. They are for those who have been struggling for a long time – meditating, searching, inquiring. Only then can the Upanishads become helpful. ~Osho

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From wholeness emerges wholeness, wholeness coming from wholeness, wholeness still remains.

Isa Upanishad
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When all the senses are stilled, when the mind is at rest, when the intel-lect wavers not--then, say the wise, is reached the highest state.

This calm of the senses and the mind has been defined as yoga. He who attains it is freed from delusion.

Katha Upanishad 2.6.10-11
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The wise man should surrender his words to his mind; and this he should surrender to the Knowing Self; and the Knowing Self he should surrender to the Great Self; and that he should surrender to the Peaceful Self.

Katha Upanishad 3.13
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Even as a mirror stained by dust
Shines brilliantly when it has been cleansed,
So the embodied one, on seeing the nature of the Soul,
Becomes unitary, his end attained, from sorrow freed.

When with the nature of the self, as with a lamp,
A practicer of yoga beholds here the nature of Brahman,
Unborn, steadfast, from every nature free--
By knowing God, one is released from all fetters!

Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.8-15

By making the body the lower piece of wood and Om the upper piece and through the practice of the friction of meditation, one perceives the luminous Self, hidden like the fire in the wood.


Two birds, united always and known by the same name, closely cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit; the other looks on without eating.


In this universe the Swan, the Supreme Self alone exists. It is He who, as fire, abides in the water. Only by knowing Him does one pass over death, There is no other way to reach the Supreme Goal!

Svetasvatara Upanishad
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"Meditation (Dhyana) is, verily, greater than consideration.
Meditate on meditation!

Chhandogya Upanishad