A God Shorn of Worship, and Still the All

Due to their mystical nature and intense philosophical bent that does away with all ritual and completely embraces principles of One Brahman and the inner Atman (Self), the Upanishads have a universal feel that has led to their explication in numerous manners, giving birth to the three schools of Vedanta. Upanishad is a Sanskrit term broken in three: upa- (near), ni- (down), sad- (to sit). It means to sit near the guru. The term thus emphasizes the esoteric nature of the texts, not intended for public teaching, but restricted to the confidentiality of personal instruction.

The Upanishads do not believe in a personal God. Neither do they believe in any personal relationship with the divine. They say the personal relationship is impossible, inconceivable. Why? - Because they assert, and I am quite inclined to accept their articulation which is so logical, that personality itself is illusory. Let us try to understand this.

I am a person. It means I am separate from existence – personality means separation. I cannot be a person if I am not defined, I cannot be a person if I am not different. I cannot be a person if I am not separate. Personality exists as an island, defined, demarked, different, separate. The Upanishads say, personalities are false; you can only appear to be persons that you are not. The Greek dramatists called the different masks they used to wear during a performance as personas. It is a beautiful word! Which face is the real me I don’t know.

The inner being is impersonal; it has no limitations, no boundaries. It begins nowhere and ends nowhere. It goes on and on to the infinite; it is the infinite and the eternal. In space and in time both, it is undefined; undifferentiated; it is not separate like an island.

These scriptures assert, and rightly so, that you are impersonal inside – just life, not a person; just angry; not a person; just existence; not a person. So how can you create any relationship with the divine? How can you create a relationship with the original source of life? When you don’t have any face, how can the divine have any face?

Religions have talked in terms of personal relationship. This word Tat, “that” is very basic to Upanishadic teaching and philosophy. When you call existence “that”, you cannot be related to it – there is no possibility. Rather the relationship with the divine is going to be the very reverse of a human relationship. Relationship can exist only between two related. Secondly, you cannot worship “that”, that’s impossible. And neither can you complain to “that”. Most of our prayers are complaints by their very nature. Worship and complaint, both are eliminated.

How this seemingly unconnected concept links with Sachidananda, meaning Being (Sat), Consciousness (Chit) and Bliss (Ananda), is very interesting and we may understand it later sometime.

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