Let us contemplate the ancient teaching of the Maitri Upanishad, which reveals the journey of the mind and the Self. The mind, we are told, binds itself when it clings to the pleasures of the senses, but when it turns to Brahman, liberation dawns. The mind itself is of two kinds: impure, filled with desires and fantasies; and pure, free from all cravings. When one steadies the mind, freeing it from dissolution and distraction, and brings it to the state of no-mind, the supreme state is attained. True knowledge and liberation arise when the mind is restrained in the heart until it is dissolved; all else is but elaboration of texts. The happiness that comes from a purified mind, absorbed and established in the Self, is beyond words, grasped only by the innermost faculty. Just as water cannot be seen in water, nor fire in fire, nor space in space, so when the mind is merged within, release is attained. The mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation: attached to sense objects, it binds; free from them, it liberates. In praise, Kautsāyana declares: “You are Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Prajāpati; you are Agni, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Indra, and the moon. You are Manu, Yama, the earth, and the imperishable; for your own sake and purpose, you stand in many forms in the heavens. Lord of the universe, soul and creator, enjoyer, you are the cosmic illusion and delight in the universe’s play, O master. Salutations to you, whose nature is peace, most secret, inconceivable, immeasurable, without beginning or end.” In the beginning, darkness alone was present. Stirred by the transcendent, it became rajas, the state of sense objects. Rajas, further stirred, became tamas, the state of conflict. Tamas, stirred, became sattva, flowing forth as pure consciousness—the knower in each individual, marked by intention, determination, and ego: Prajāpati. His foremost forms are Brahmā (rajas), Rudra (tamas), and Viṣṇu (sattva). He is one, manifesting in countless forms, moving among beings as lord of all creatures, both within and without. The Self supports itself in two ways: as breath and as the sun, each fivefold in name, within and without, day and night, alternating. The sun is the outer self, breath the inner; the outer is inferred by the movement of the inner. Movement is thus declared. The wise—sinless, masterful, pure-minded, devoted, with withdrawn sight—by the movement of the inner self, infer the outer self. The golden person within the sun, who sees me as golden, abides in the lotus of the heart and eats food. This one, within the lotus of the heart, is Agni established in heaven, solar, called Time, invisible, who eats the food of all beings. The lotus is space; its petals are the four directions and four intermediates. The fire moves forward—breath and sun—which are to be worshipped by the sacred syllable and Sāvitrī utterances. There are two forms of Brahman: manifest and unmanifest. The manifest is unreal; the unmanifest is real. That Brahman is light; that light is the sun. The Self is signified by ‘Om,’ divided threefold, with three syllables. All is woven and interwoven by these. Therefore, meditate on the sun as ‘Om’ and unite yourself. Elsewhere it is said: udgītha is praṇava, praṇava is udgītha; the sun is udgītha, the praṇava. The leader, name, and form, free from sleep, old age, and death, fivefold, hidden in the cave. With roots above, branches up to Brahman—sky, air, fire, water, earth, and others—by one, all is eaten: Brahman. The sun is the essence of this syllable. Worship with ‘Om’; he alone awakens its taste. This syllable is holy, is knowledge; whoever knows it, whatever he desires, that is his. Elsewhere: It thunders; its body is ‘Om’: feminine, masculine, neuter, with gender; it is fire, wind, sun, shining; it is Rudra, Viṣṇu, the lord; it is household fire, southern fire, offering fire, with mouth; Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, with knowledge; Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar, with worlds; past, present, future, with time; breath, fire, sun, with heat; food, water, moon, with nourishment; intellect, mind, ego, with consciousness; breath, apāna, vyāna, with breath. Some say, ‘I give up,’ thus it is said, it becomes the offered by the prastotṛ. Both supreme and non-supreme are signified by ‘Om.’ Prajāpati, having practiced austerity, uttered ‘Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar,’ the most substantial forms of Prajāpati, with worlds. ‘Svar’ is its head, ‘Bhuvaḥ’ its navel, ‘Bhūḥ’ its feet; the sun is the eye, dependent on the great person’s measure. The eye is truth; the person is present in all objects. Therefore, worship ‘Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar.’ Prajāpati, soul and eye of the universe, is thus worshipped; all is hidden in it, and it is hidden in all. ‘Tat savitur vareṇyam’—the sun is Savitṛ. For the sake of the self, the Brahmavādins say, ‘For the sake of the self.’ ‘Bhargo devasya dhīmahi’—Savitṛ is established; his radiance is accumulated. ‘Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt’—the intellects are the thoughts; let him inspire ours. ‘Bharga’ is placed in the sun, in the starry eye, called radiance; by its light is his movement. Radiance burns, illuminates, colors, and reveals; thus, he is Bharga, Sūrya, Savitṛ, Āditya, Pavamāna. By his own self, he is immortal, thinker, goer, creator, giver of joy, doer, speaker, taster, smeller, toucher, established in the all-pervading form. Where knowledge is dual, one hears, sees, smells, tastes, touches, knows all by the self. Where knowledge is non-dual, free from cause and effect, indescribable, incomparable, without attributes—what can be said of that? He is the lord of the self: Śaṃbhu, Bhava, Rudra, Prajāpati, creator, Hiraṇyagarbha, truth, breath, swan, peaceful, Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Arka, Savitṛ, Dhātṛ, emperor, Indra, moon. He who shines, covered by fire, with a thousand rays, golden, with bliss—he is to be sought and known. Having given fearlessness to all beings, withdrawing the senses from external objects, one perceives him within the body. Then, this universal form, the golden Jātavedas, the ultimate, the one light, shining, with a thousand rays, moving in a hundred ways, breath rises among creatures—this is the sun. Thus ends the fifth section. Now, section six: The Self supports itself in two ways: as breath and as the sun, its paths within and without, day and night, alternating. The sun is the outer self, breath the inner; the outer is inferred by the movement of the inner. The wise, sinless, masterful, pure-minded, devoted, with withdrawn sight—by the movement of the inner self, infer the outer self. The golden person within the sun, who sees me as golden, abides in the lotus of the heart and eats food. This one, within the lotus of the heart, is Agni established in heaven, solar, called Time, invisible, who eats the food of all beings. The lotus is space; its petals are the four directions and four intermediates. The fire moves forward—breath and sun—which are to be worshipped by the sacred syllable and Sāvitrī utterances. There are two forms of Brahman: manifest and unmanifest. The manifest is unreal; the unmanifest is real. That Brahman is light; that light is the sun. The Self is signified by ‘Om,’ divided threefold, with three syllables. All is woven and interwoven by these. Therefore, meditate on the sun as ‘Om’ and unite yourself. Elsewhere it is said: udgītha is praṇava, praṇava is udgītha; the sun is udgītha, the praṇava. The leader, radiant, free from sleep, old age, and death, three-footed, three-syllabled, fivefold, hidden in the cave. With roots above, three-footed Brahman, branches—sky, air, fire, water, earth, and others—one, named Aśvattha, this is Brahman, its radiance is the sun, the essence of this syllable. Worship with ‘Om’; he alone awakens its taste. This syllable is holy, supreme; knowing it, whatever one desires, that is his. Elsewhere too it is said: This syllable has ninety aspects, like its own sound. It is marked by gender: ‘Om’ as feminine, masculine, and neuter. It is radiant: ‘Agni, Vāyu, Āditya’—thus it shines. It is lordly: ‘Brahmā, Rudra, Viṣṇu’—thus it is sovereign. It is like a mouth: ‘Gārhapatya, Dakṣiṇāgni, Āhavanīya.’ It is endowed with knowledge: ‘Ṛg, Yajus, Sāman.’ It is connected to worlds: ‘Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar.’ It is associated with time: ‘Past, present, future.’ It is full of energy: ‘Prāṇa, Agni, Sūrya.’ It is nourishing: ‘Food, water, moon.’ It is conscious: ‘Buddhi, mind, ego.’ It is vital: ‘Prāṇa, Apāna, Vyāna.’ Thus, by saying ‘Om,’ all these are presented, honored, and offered. Both higher and lower Brahman are this very syllable ‘Om.’ In the beginning, this was unuttered. Prajāpati, having performed austerity, uttered ‘Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar.’ This is Prajāpati’s greatest form, world-like. ‘Svar’ is its head, ‘Bhuvaḥ’ its navel, ‘Bhūḥ’ its feet; the sun is its eye, for the measure of a person is great through the eye, and by the eye this measure moves. Truth is indeed the eye. The person, established in the eyes, moves among all objects. Therefore, meditate on ‘Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar.’ By this, Prajāpati, the soul of all, is worshipped as the all-seeing. This is Prajāpati’s form that upholds all; in it, all is contained, and in each, this is contained. ‘Tat savitur vareṇyam’—that is the sun, Savitṛ. One should choose him, desiring the self, say the knowers of Brahman. ‘Bhargo devasya dhīmahi’—Savitṛ is the god; that which is called ‘bharga’ of his, we contemplate. ‘Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt’—the intellects are ‘dhīḥ’; may he inspire our intellects. ‘Bharga’—set in the sun, the guide, called ‘bharga’; his movement is by light, thus ‘bharga.’ ‘Bha’—he illumines these worlds; ‘ra’—he delights these beings; ‘ga’—they go into him, they come from him. From ‘bha-ra-ga,’ he is ‘bharga.’ Always shining, he is Sūrya; impelling, Savitṛ; giving, Āditya; purifying, Pāvana. The self of the self is this, called immortal, thinker, knower, goer, releaser, delighter, doer, speaker, taster, smeller, seer, hearer, toucher, all-pervading, established in the body. Where knowledge becomes dual, one hears, sees, smells, tastes, touches; the self knows all. Where knowledge is non-dual, free from cause, effect, and action, indescribable—what is that, which cannot be spoken?