Isha Upanishad: Part 4

It is motionless, one, faster than the mind; and the Devas (the senses) could not overtake it which ran before. Sitting, it goes faster than those who run after it. In That the Master of Life establishes Waters.

Lord is One, unmoving Being. Here, the one is not to be understood in terms of numerical one. This kind of understanding matures in a race of trying to portray the deity of local tradition as Supreme, here lies the seed of all the conflicts between various religions and traditions within a religion. One is referred to herein in terms of immutability. Supreme Lord, does not undergo any change. Why it is said as unmoving? Unmoving here refers to his infinite existence. Something that is finite, moves in time and space. If a Being is infinite, where does he move? He alone is everywhere. Hence, He moves not.

Lord is referred to here as Swifter than the mind. The mind here indicates all the movement of the world. This is to bring forth the point that the mind is in Lord. Lord is beyond anything the conditioned mind can grasp. The subtle meaning here is that a conditioned mind means movement that implies a change in time and change in space but there is an eternal and constant reality upon which all the changes in time and space take place.

He is already there where the devas(subtle senses) can run and reach. This tells us that all the movement of mind and intellect is futile if we want to unite with the Divine. But the senses and mind are all we have as tools to grasp anything. Now, here it says all this is useless to reach him. This is to bring forth the point that stillness of mind and transcending the rational mind is an absolute requirement if we want to unite with the Divine. This stillness comes with hard work and effort. The first step is to train and tame our minds gently. Are you thinking about how to train an untamed mind? Here are two posts by our beloved master, that can shed some light on the matter.

The word ‘Matarisva’ means ‘he who moves in the mother’. It is referred to as life principle, prana, or vayu. Here, the text tells us the second aspect of the Lord. Until now, Lord has been described as One and Unmoving. He is shown as an inactive principle, a witness of the universe. Now, The verse says he, Matarisva (growing in the mother) establishes apo ‘waters’. The second aspect of the Lord is described here. The same unmoving Being has a dynamic aspect. In Sanatana Dharma, we call her the “Divine Mother”. The feminine aspect of the Lord has the ability to grow and multiply. That One Being first manifested as a cosmic mind(Mahat) splits itself into two, Akasha and Life principle. Akasha is the constant principle and Prana or the life principle is the dynamic principle. When the Akashic principle started playing with the Life principle, it resulted in a multiplicity of the universe. Our scriptures tell us that one pure consciousness appears as seven currents of life principle as it interacts with the akashic principle. These seven currents of life principle (chit-Sakti) is revered as the Seven rivers in Vedic culture. Here lies the secret of seven psychic centers, and seven rivers. These are Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Godavari, Narmada, Sindhu, and Kaveri. The seven realms of consciousness are Mooladhara, Svadishthana, Manipura, Anahata, Visuddhi, Ajna, and Sahasrara. Here, lies the secret of One to Many, Inactive to Dynamic, Stable to moving and The Upanishads teach us to see the Divine both as one eternal Being as well as moving, active, a dynamic principle as changing manifestation in the universe of multiplicity.