The Katha Upanishad - Part 1 

In years past I've had a number of students from Saudi Arabia in my world religions or Asian philosophy courses here in Southern California. They were studying abroad, learning English, and working toward degrees mostly in engineering or finance. As Muslims from one of the most conservative Islamic nations on earth, (mostly Wahabis), they taught me so much. They were fascinated by Hinduism particluarly, and found many parallels. One of them told me that he had checked with his Imam back home if it was alright studying the Bhagavad Gita. He told him yes, that Krishna was a holy man. I loved learning that. I wish more people here in America understood that about Islam--how open-minded and open-hearted so many Muslims are.

Thank you brother.. in fact all major religions share same philosophy and in some extend have similar practice. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - the world is one family. Peace 3x..🙏

@@PeterBolland I often meet people from all communities including muslim who are very open minded. In India most of muslim friends used to come to us to temples without hesitation. I also used to go to Church, but never had a chance to visit mosque although I have lot of muslim friends. I have no problem going to mosque though. Not that its important - in fact I am not a regular to temples or a practicing Hindu - but respecting and learning about all values dear to all people will help us respect all.

​@@PeterBollandwell if they (the more extreme ones )didn't demolish temples of Hindus and Buddhist throughout history ,they may have better karma?

Thank you Sanjay! 🙏🏼

Thank you so much Emerald for your kind, generous, and supportive words. It is my pleasure to make these videos, and to immerse myself into these teachings.

@@opulentElephant11 Thanks for watching and commenting. I have no formal training in Sanskrit pronunciation so I try my best. 🙏🏼

Thank you for that clarification. I always have so much more to learn. I’m doing my best with the sources I have. But I love hearing from folks with real life experiences that go beyond what I have been taught. Thank you! 🙏🏼

Aw thank you! 🙏

Thank you for that interesting observation about Sanskrit. I have a lot to learn in that regard. I'm working strictly in English, and American English at that, translation.

That’s great! He has a lot to live up to!

@@PeterBolland I hope I will be able to guide him towards the path of knowledge and truth.. challenging in the present circumstances and also with so many attacks on our traditions and culture from other ideologies.

Dualism certainly has its costs, there's no doubt.

Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! 🙏🏼

Thanks for the reading suggestion.

Thank you so much Sateesh. 🙏🏼

Yes. This is what I teach my students as well. The Upanishads come toward the end of the Vedic period and are thought of as late Vedas.

@@PeterBolland that's why it is called vedanta...thank u for putting out this great idea.

You are so welcome.

He is at the gate of death, that's all I mean.

What a sweet note William. I appreciate your generosity.

Hi self. Can you contact me if i leave my email here? 🙏🏿

@@ashleygood2541 Anyone can email me through the contact form on my website, www.peterbolland.com

@@ashleygood2541 i would be glad to contact you if that is what you desire.

@@ashleygood2541 I emailed you as requested. Please be in the look out for it. 🔱🧘🏻‍♂️⚛️

That's right, and it's a very materialistic vision of "heaven" isn't it--lots of stuff and so-called pleasures. It's this story's version of the "Three Temptations" as told in the stories of both Jesus and Buddha, where (in that case) a demon offers pleasures to these aspiring spiritual teachers, and like Nachiketas, they both turn him down. It's a heavy-handed moral lesson about the difference between fleeting ego-pleasures and the lasting bliss of Sat-Chit-Ananda, the Kingdom of Heaven, or the realization of Dharmakaya (Buddha-consciousness).

@@PeterBolland Heaven also offers immortality and good food with music in all religions. Which ultimately comes from the root causes of materialism. We can see the after effects of greed on heaven, some people kill others because they're offered heaven, while some convert others bcz they'll get paid in heaven for accepting and spreading a certain kind of god. In the greed of heaven people are making life on earth a challenging task.

That's an interesting take on the fire ritual passage. I appreciate it.

@@PeterBolland I have always wondered why the yagna had been mentioned in an advaitic text. Why duality in the midst of an advaitic steam. This was the first time I explitly stated my thoughts. I am pleased something similar arose in your thoughts process too. It did strke me as allegorical. Not expressing duality

You're very welcome Nimeni. Thank you so much for watching and commenting!

Thank you, I keep getting conflicting advice on this one. So I teach my students both ways.

Thank you so much Chris for watching and taking the time to leave a comment. I really appreciate it!

Thank you Kassandra! 🙏🏼

Mysterious indeed are the ways by which we find ourselves here instead of there, experience this instead of that. Sometimes it feels like we are being led, other times it feels like we are just falling forward into whatever's next. Either way, it's a joy isn't it to find ourselves in a place we've never been before, that still feels strangely like home. Thank you for your kind words.

Don't be hatin' on fiction -- mythology is the gasoline that drives wisdom. We'd have no religion or philosophy without mythology, or as you call it, "fiction."

@@PeterBolland makes sense I guess. Never thought about it from that perspective, might have to give this some thinking lol. Anyway, amazing channel and keep posting more analysis of philosophies from all around the word.

@@varunkhatri3199 the intellectual capacity of general people like us is low and good stories are something that remains with us , pass down through generations.Every one can't jump directly to philosophy , so for everyone to remember some important bits of it stories were created as a medium to Carry the important essence of philosophy.I guess....

@@rishirajbanerjee4956 Well said!

Thank YOU Stephanie. 🙏🏼

by the by, i will be studying sanskrit in a new program for the next 2 years at least, so i will hopefully be able to answer this question my self in the next year or so, but nonetheless i would like to know; i am perhaps too impatient an Earthly creature;

I'm afraid I'm a little unclear on this too. Is Easwaran translating "Atman" as Self, AND spirit? I'm not sure. Great question! Anyone else want to jump in here and help us out?

@@PeterBolland I have not read Iswaran's translation. My understanding there is a passage in Mundaka Upanishad that two identical birds sitting on a tree branches one that is not participating only witnessing and the other enjoying and experiencing the fruit. It keeps climbing until it reaches the highest branch and discovers thare is no different bird or there is complete non difference (a-dvaita) between the apparent identity of difference. As you shed the pancha koshas as mentioned but Taithriya Upanishad Upanishad you come to a point of Ananndamaya kosha or anatma - a state of emptiness a sunayata or a feeling of sunnata. From this you wake up only back to duality how ever you experience a hint of Ananda - anandamaya kosa. ( Mandukya Karika Upanishad). You do have a memory of state of happiness pointing to existence of a state of non enjoyment of sat - existence, chit - awareness and Ananda - Bliss. When you dissolve duality you merge with sach-Chit-Ananda. But at the boundary you are like the Mahayana Buddhist who decides to retain the individuality and help others. It is debatable or inscrutable whether one who is already beyond all and barriers is capable of action and help a duality who is blind to what he already is. The description of action without attachment is like priestly hang on the point of non - gravity. Vedanta is silent on this Gita is dualistic on this, Visishtadvaita duality too is confused on this as it never confers a complete Liberation. Dvaita - Duality denies it. But Advaita never talks about it and neither accepts or denies it. Even the upanishads looses its determinism at this point. In a world of duality the bird that enjoyed can be compared to spirit and the other bird to Atman. Existence of them separately is mithya or avidya or Management and nothing more. As these are beyond all three: time (nirantar) , Material (Corpus), Bliss (enjoyment) it becomes beyond every thing and not knowable, not imaginable, not enjoyable.

Thanks for watching!

@@PeterBolland Thanks for porting me to the realm of knowledge and wisdom! I lost myself in the process though!

I've always been interested in it, since I was a boy. I studied it in in college, majoring in religious studies and philosophy. I got my BA in religious studies and my MA in philosophy, and have been a professor of these subjects for 32 years. I didn't REALLY learn this stuff until I started teaching it.

Aren’t we all? 🙏🏼

I don't know how "popular" they are in the West. In some circles, yes, but it cannot be said that they've hit the mainstream of popular culture. If you stopped someone on the street and asked them what the Upanishads were, I doubt many would know. But in my world, as a student (and teacher) of world religions and philosophy, Indian thought is core. A great book on how Indian thought came to the West is "American Veda" by Philip Goldberg. LOVE that book. www.amazon.com/American-Veda-Emerson-Meditation-Spirituality/dp/0385521359

@@PeterBolland Thanks for the book suggestion. I sounds the kind of book of that I would love to read !

Thank you for watching. 🙏🏼

Buddha, just ask: who am I ?

Thank you for watching. 🙏🏼

Neither that I know of. Mystics tend to leave other people alone, especially other mystics. Soldiers, bureaucrats, and strident nationalists on the other hand -- that's another matter.

@@PeterBolland We miss you Peter. Come back soon

@@adithyanaren519 Thank you! Sorry I haven't made a new video in a while...I'll start producing new videos in the new year. Taking a little break...

@@PeterBolland Happy Holidays 🙏🏻❤️🤗