.:SAKSI: Vedic Literature: Upanishads: Upanishads for Everyday Life:.

Q2: Can you add a few sentences on these three words?
Ans: BODY is primarily made of matter. The body is powered by the Life-Energy. Note that the body is incredibly complex with various parts like brain, heart, lung, nervous systems, sense organs, organs of work etc., which are all dynamic or continuously changing. It is called a city (puri). Hence the body is called in the Upanishad (U) as that which is continuously changing (jagat). Life-energy keeps all these parts operating harmoniously, often in a self-maintenance mode. The life-energy has a central node called as Jiva which can be called the director of all these operations. The body is always in a mode of ACTION; some actions like cooking, playing are willed; many others like heart beating, breathing etc., take place without our conscious control.

Q3: You said this JIVA is the controller of all of our bodily operations, and the body is like a vast house or city. Who is the inhabitant of this city?
Ans: I am glad you asked me this question because it constitutes the beginning phrase of Upanishad. Isha or the God is the only inhabitant, (vasyam) of my body, your body and every body. The two words Isha and vasyam constitute the beginning phrase of Upanishad. Purusha, Supreme Being, Lord etc., are all synonyms for this Isha or God. Recall that each human being is a continuously changing entity (jagat). In the universe, there are other entities both inanimate or animate besides humans. The entire universe is also a jagat.

Hence U declares:

All the different individuals and all entities in this universal motion (jagat) are for the habitation (vasyam) by the (One) Lord (isha). (Verse 1, first half)

We call the aggregate of all these entities in universal motion (excluding the Lord) as Nature or Prakrti made up of phenomenon.

So we have introduced two important concepts God and Nature.

Phenomenal Nature is a movement of the conscious Lord. The object of the movement is to create forms of His consciousness in motion in which He as the one soul in many bodies can take up his habitation and enjoy the multiplicity and the movement with all their relations. (SA)

Q4: You have introduced two big words God and Nature. But where do 'I' (with name Ram) myself come in?
Ans: You (the questioner Ram) (or I the answerer) can operate in two modes. I can identify myself with the God as in mode 1 or I can identify myself with nature as in mode 2.

Note that all branches of Indian philosophy (darshana) deal with the experiences and explanations clarifying the relations between these three entities namely, I, God and Nature.

Q5: Give me some details of the fabulous opportunity of mode 1 operation where I identify myself with the inhabitant, the Supreme God. Is it real?
Ans: Yes. What does the inhabitant (God) in each house do? He only enjoys. Through the eyes, he enjoys the scene, through the tongue he enjoys the taste etc. So in mode 1 you are the enjoyer of the Universe.

Q6: What you say is nice to hear. If I am really the enjoyer, why am I unhappy or miserable often?
Ans: You feel you are miserable because you have given up your role as the enjoyer; you have become the inspection clerk of your store room. You go on listing all the physical things which you do NOT have (my house is small, I need a big room, I do not have the latest fashion-clothes, I do not get really tasty food.....) This is called DESIRE. Desire has really two aspects. One is a list of the things which you want, but do not possess. The second is a list of complaints of, "not being this'. (I am not famous, I am not popular, I am not agile, I am not pretty, I am not considered as interesting or jolly company...). As long as you are in the mode of, "I do not have it'', "I am not being this'', you are in mode 2, identifying yourself with the everchanging nature; since you are in mode 2, you are not identifying yourself with the enjoyer, hence you are miserable. So the Upanishad states, you can be the enjoyer only when you give up or renounce the desire and not grumble about all the possessions you do not have. It is well known that one who possesses anything physical can never be its enjoyer. You go to the park, enjoy the flowers, scenery etc., and come home refreshed. If on the other hand you own your own garden, then maintaining the garden itself is a job. So possession does not guarantee enjoyment. You may possess all the physical wealth. But you cannot enjoy the tasty dishes if you are a diabetic or a heart patient.

So the Upanishad states:

By renouncing (tyaktena) (the desire) you should enjoy; lust not after other's possession. (Verse 1, second half).

Q7: I know this "desire stuff'' would pop up. First tell me, what is "desire?'' For example, I prefer the house to be neat. Is it a desire? I want to be an excellent professional (physicist, accountant, carpenter, cook, merchant etc.). Is it a desire?
Ans: I also expected this barrage sometime, no harm. Being in the mode of Desire means you are complaining and moaning that you do not possess a physical thing ("I don't have a car'') or that you are not being this ("I am not famous, I am not popular'' etc.). If you merely complain, 'nobody arranges the house', then you are in the desire mode and obviously miserable. Instead you can be in the mode of action and ask, 'what I can do to make this house clean?' then you are not in the desire mode, but action mode and you are busy with action, not complaining. Similarly, wanting to be a good carpenter is merely a desire if you are merely complaining. On the other hand if you are doing actions to become a carpenter or improving your skills then you are in the action mode. So what the Upanishad says is that you have to give up (renounce) this complaining or desire mode. Then you are fit for enjoyment. You become aware of the beauty of your surroundings, the smell of a flower, the sound of a favorite tune and automatically you are being the enjoyer. The Upanishad adds the additional condition, 'lust not for other person's wealth', because you should have some ethical or positive values behind your actions. Persons want to steal or take bribe because they think, "it is a easy way of getting money; once you have money, you supposedly can have or buy anything else''. The above statement is really a great falsehood. If you are sick, you can go to an expensive hospital for treatment but you rarely recover your health. The reason is that the disease was caused by your life-style (smoking, drinking liquor etc., indulging in venomous remarks etc.) and you believe that the disease will go away by the money even if you continue the same bad habits. Clearly this is not possible. The Upanishads states that all the resources needed by you will come to you at the appropriate time as long as you are happy and helpful to others to the best of your abilities.

Q8: What is enjoyment? I associate it with the feeling one gets with seeing a 'good' movie, eating tasty food. Any class.
Ans: I can describe enjoyment by the activities associated with it. The opposite of enjoyment is boredom, worry and pain, boredom being the most dominant complaint. The best remedy to get over boredom is to take up some physical activity such as watering the garden or taking care of it, brisk walking, running, athletics, a fast or physical game like soccer, tennis etc. After getting over the initial bout with boredom, we should not allow it to come near us by cultivating awareness or becoming more conscious of all the things around us; Paying attention to the taste and smell of food, the texture of tree and life, the sounds in the nature, paying attention to the person speaking to us are all standard methods of increasing our awareness. Pay attention to your own gifts or aptitude like stitching a dress, repairing gadgets, building new gadgets like radio. Each one of us can become aware of the origin of the things we use everyday such as water, electricity, vegetables, fruits etc. Where are they grown, what is difference between the different varieties of the same fruit. All these activities bring in us a calm enjoyment, driving away the boredom. Sometimes we never know the time we have spent.

Enjoyment has numerous grades as suggested in the Taittiriya Upanishad. The highest or most intense type of joy is that experienced by sages in a high spiritual state called as samâdhi in the yoga literature. The calm and satisfying feeling experienced in performance of actions successfully and satisfactory is again a very high type of joy. Another slightly lower type of joy is that experienced in all intense physical activities like playing a game of soccer or tennis, brisk walking, swimming, running, athletics and sex. Singing or listening to music touching the heart centre is again a type of joy. The noisy music like the rock music touching the lower centres of our consciousness is an example of much lower type of joy.

Even though there is some overlap between the words pleasure and enjoyment, pleasure is associated with passive acts done rather unconsciously like watching a cricket match, indulging in gossip, especially vicious gossip; definitely give a very low level of enjoyment called pleasure. We do not here speak; of acts of sadism.

Physical pain like that felt by persons suffering from cancer is very real. But psychological suffering claimed by many has a large element of dramatization.

In this book, enjoyment refers to the higher states of feeling (bhava) which are satisfying both physically and mentally, which are not caused by external agents like liquor and which do no harm to society or to others or to one self immediately or in the long run.

Q9: (action and sannyas) According to you renunciation (or external sannyas) is only the giving up the desires. It does not mean stopping the performance of actions. Every action has obviously a motive. So you agree that even with the practice of renunciation (sannyas), one can still perform actions.
Ans: (inward renunciation and motives) You can perform all actions as long they are righteous. For example stealing, robbing, taking or giving bribes are all not righteous actions even if you say I take bribe or rob to give to charities (as one multimillionaire declared in US). This definition of renunciation is supported in Bhagavad Gita also. The performance of action is emphasized in the next verse 2.

Doing works in this world, one should wish to live a hundred years. Thus it is in you and not otherwise than this. (verse 2, line 1)

Thus verses 1 and 2 declare we can have enjoyment all our lives only by performance of actions.

"Real integral enjoyment of all this movement and multiplicity depends upon an absolute renunciation; but the renunciation intended is an absolute renunciation of the principle of desire founded on the principle of egoism and not a renunciation of actions or of world-existence.'' (SA)

Q10: (Purpose of work and life) What is the purpose of doing work? Is it enjoyment only.
Ans: I will reproduce the answer given by the Mother "You have been placed on earth in a physical body, with a definite aim, which is to make the body as conscious as possible, make it the most perfect and conscious instrument of the Divine. He has given you a certain amount of substances and of matter in all the domains -- mental, vital and physical -- in proportion to what He expects from you and all the circumstances around you are also in proportion to what He expects of you. Everyone has a life appropriate to his total development, everyone has a experience which will help him in his total development, and everyone has difficulties which help him in his total realization''. (M)

By doing work properly, we get enjoyment. But enjoyment itself is not the aim of life.

Q11: (Work and enjoyment) You have said that we have to work always and enjoy. What is the connection between work and enjoyment? Does the type of work lead to enjoyment or the effort involved in work? How does work lead to enjoyment? A common notion is that manager's work is more satisfying than that of the subordinates' work? Is it true?
Ans: We have picked so many wrong notions prompting the Upanishad to state: remove these glittering ideas so that we can see the Truth! It is not the type of work which gives us joy. It is the effort we put into the work which gives the joy. The effort could be physical or material, moral, intellectual, emotional etc. The effort in the doer of the work gets you connected with universal vibration of delight (called as Soma in Veda) and it is this universal force which gives us the joy; the degree of joy depends on the quality of effort, i.e., the awareness and skill which has gone into the work. Even if you do not believe in god or yoga, it is this connection to the universal force which gives us the joy of work. This joy allows to continue the work without fatigue. Highly creative persons like Vishveswariah or C.V. Raman are examples.

Q12: (Mundane work) Does mundane daily chore like sweeping the floor lead to enjoyment?
Ans: Recall that it is effort, not the type of work that gives enjoyment. If you make the necessary effort to do the work with the necessary awareness or concentration, you will feel joy. This is true even if the work itself is against your nature. It is in the concentration and awareness behind the effort that is the origin of joy. When you do the work with concentration and awareness, you are getting energy from the universal forces and this energy compensates for the energy you are putting in. Here you do not feel the fatigue.

Q13: (Type of work for individual) Does the Upanishad make suggestions regarding the type of work an individual must do?
Ans: The Upanishad has already declared in verse 1 (Q6), 'lust not after others' possessions'. You have to do only righteous actions which harm no one and which benefits all including yourself. You do not have to act like a saint and think only of others. By being healthy you will be helping both yourself and society. A sick person is a big burden to the society. The actual vocation you choose depends on your taste and temperament. As mentioned earlier, we may have to do the work which is against nature.

Q14: (Way of doing Work) How to do the work assigned to us?
Ans: There are four broad guidelines:

a) Do the work consciously with awareness; do not perform any work absentmindedly.

b) Be enthusiastic about the work. There is something called the joy of work which is felt by many persons who do the work with enthusiasm; they actually enjoy the work.

c) Every work has a goal or motive. Do not be obsessed with the result of the work. If you have faith in the divine, and if you have done the work with the conditions (a) and (b), then the divine will grant the result appropriate to the circumstance. Worrying about the result all the time only hampers the quality of result and hampers your own inner development.

d) Do not do work as an observer. Identify with it. For instance, if you are pouring oil from a big vessel to a small bottle identifies with the bottle; there won't be any spillage. If you are trying to diagnose a fault in a machine, identify with it. Then you get an intimation of the source of the fault (Mother).

15: (Result of work) You have said that we should work consciously without being overly anxious about the result of the work. But result of work is important for me. Is the result determined by fate as some opine?
Ans: If you have experienced failure in a task, you have to examine all the aspects of your task done instead of simply blaming everyone else or fate. Bhagavad Gita states clearly that the quality of a result of an action depends on five factors namely:

(i) understanding clearly the nature of the work (ii) the capacities of the doer (iii) instruments of action, not only the physical instruments but also our senses and, level of concentration and awareness (iv) types of effort; physical, vital, mental (v) the unknown factors called daivam.

As an illustration consider an written examination as part of the work of securing a degree or diploma, The item (i) may appear to be self-explanations, but it is not. Not only a reasonable mastery of the subject is required, but also the ability to express yourself briefly but completely in the given period of time is also required. Is your intent only in getting a diploma which has not relevance to your future career or you believe the skills learnt in that subject are useful in your career? The item tip instrument refer to your writing skills and comprehension skills, the text books etc. Item (iv) refer to your mental abilities, ability of concentration and will power. Thus a person who has paid sufficient attention need not worry about the role of daivam or fate. Fate makes a contribution but it cannot be termed as the dominant factor. Note that the Sanskrit word for fate is, 'adrshta', those factor which we do not see.

Sometimes suddenly a person falls sick on the day of examination leading to a failure. But failures are also important in life more than successes. With failures one learns to meet the changing circumstances with an open mind provided. We do not become unduly depressed by one failure. Persons who are fearful of failures can never succeeds in anything, because in every vocation we face failure at some stage of our life.

Q16: (Studying the work of others) A person says that others are not doing their share of the work in the office; she/he is doing the most work. This is a common complaint; Any comment?
Ans: Recall the Upanishad statement, 'lust not after any man's possessions'; similarly do not look at another's work load unless you have been appointed to judge a person, you should never judge another person especially behind his back. If a project involves the specific contributions of several persons, then this topic should be raised openly. Gossiping definitely degrades our consciousness and reduces our overall creativity, productivity and happiness. To call gossiping as enjoyment is a great error.

Q17: (Conversation: enjoyment and boredom) I enjoy hearing from a person about his new business venture or progress in his technical work or profession or vocation. I easily get tired while hearing about his family problems. What is the reason?
Ans: The reason is that work, especially if it is technical work is the expression of the best in the man, while in his private life he comes to a low level of consciousness like most of persons. You are getting enjoyment from his/her description of technical work because you are in touch with his high level of consciousness.

Mother of the Sri Aurobindo states from personal experience "many scholars, writers, artists, scientists do remarkable work in their office; however when they enter the homes, they become detestable husbands, unpleasant fathers, intolerable people for these around them; the reason is when they come home, they want to relax and hence lower their level of consciousness and act utterly foolishly. It is a mistake to believe that fatigue goes away by lowering our level of awareness''.

Q18: (Unhappiness in workplace) A common reason given for unhappiness at the workplace is supposedly unreasonableness of the boss or the rules of workplace; similarly a reason given for unhappiness at home is the supposedly unreasonable or difficult parent or spouse. Any comments?
Ans: We have already said that complaining about others will not help you; your level of unhappiness may even increase. So you have to switch to the action mode; you either change a job or stay in the present job. To answer this question, you have to clearly answer, "what are your expectations with your current boss at work or the current spouse''. Even with complaints, persons continue to work for the same boss because there are getting a high salary, or they hope to get a promotion etc. Psychologists have noted that persons who blindly change jobs or spouses find out that the same problems arise with the new boss or spouse. Ideally we should give up our desires and expectations or substantially lower them. For doing this, they have to become more conscious or aware and not be carried away by slogans likes "more money gives more happiness''. Then we do not continue to complain. Changes come to us because we live in an ever changing world. We can accept the changes gracefully.

Q19: My experience is that many actions have a 'sticky' property. For example, I like to read the fiction books the so-called detective novels. After finishing one book, I am almost forced to read the sequel book even though the rational part of the mind tells me that this reading of the sequel is a waste of a lot of time. I seem to be in the grip of the book. I seem to have lost my freedom. Is there any connection to the phrase, 'work limits freedom'?
Ans: You have stated your experience very well. Many have the same experience regarding TV watching, etc. This happens only because our will-power is weak. After the first act, our will-power is not strong enough to overcome the temptation to read the sequel book. But will-power can be strengthened systematically by many methods just as one strengthens one's muscles in a gym. Some methods of increasing will power are given later.

Action cleaves not to a man. (verse 2, second half)

i.e., action is not necessarily sticky; it does not limit the internal freedom of the doer.

"Actions are not inconsistent with the soul's freedom. Man is not bound by works, but only seems to be bound. He has to recover the consciousness of his inalienable freedom by recovering the consciousness of unity in the Lord, unity in himself, unity with all existence. This done, life and works can and should be accepted in their fullness; for the manifestation of the Lord in life and works is the law of our being and the object of our world-existence.'' (SA)

Q20: What about the so called, 'workholics'?
Ans: The term 'workholic' was coined in USA to denigrate the life-pattern of persons who put in long hours of work without any compulsion from others. There are two different aspects here. First of all the gadgets which we use everyday like cellphone, TV, Video, DVD etc., did not fall down from heaven. The designs of these gadgets are based on long hours of work done by many persons; a twelve hour work day is common for them. Nothing can be achieved by the proverbial "bankers hours of work'' (five hours per day). We should be grateful for the persons from whom we are benefiting every day.

However there are many persons who are compulsive workers by nature; they may be compulsive cleaners at home; compulsive accountants who want maintain a degree of detail in the financial accounts not needed by the organization. All these persons do not usually have any hobbies, they are not exposed to the enjoyment obtained by different types of work. Discrimination is needed at every stage of life such as the choice of life-style, choice of work etc. Again to effect the changes in life-style, there is a need for increasing the will-power.

Q21: For some persons, there is a natural attraction for not doing any willed work; they like stillness. According to some Buddhists the great Buddha has said, "all actions lead only to misery''. Any comments?
Ans: First of all, nobody in the world can stay still all the day without doing any actions. Some of them may say, "we are meditating'. We will handle meditation later. When a person loses a job, he may feel carefree in the beginning. Then he says life is boring and he does something like chatting with all or going on a shopping spree. We label a work as boring or uninteresting, if the work is done "only to get a paycheck''. Every action, however insignificant from the popular point of view or unattractive from the point of view of monetary rewards, has its importance for the cosmos if done consciously or with awareness and it leads the doer to an experience of bliss. This statement is experiential, not speculative. The purpose of a work is the manifestation of the Supreme Being in one aspect of the world and life. Work is the law of our being and the object of world existence.

Regarding the claim of Buddhists, you have to make the choice based on your experience. Is it within your experience that you can stay still all day? In Buddhism, there is a big gulf between the ancient teachings and the modern practice as in other religions. Buddha's cardinal teaching was kindness to animals. The present day Buddhists including the head of the Tibetean Buddhists, the Dalai Lama (including the present one) must have meat of animals for their meals everyday.

Q22: Several persons based on their experiences claim that regular meditation is beneficial; they compare the meditational exercise to the operation of charging the battery (of our life); then the performance of actions at work in the office etc., results in the discharge of battery. Your views?
meditation (fifteen minutes) are very beneficial. The ordinary action exhausts us and drains our energies because we do the work unconsciously without any enthusiasm. Also we are tense while doing the work because we are obsessed with the results of the work. A student who answers questions in the examination always thinking, "what happens if I do not get the high marks'' will definitely fair poorly in the examination than the another one who answers calmly. Every action has a cosmic dimension and we who perform it are its conscious instruments. If we perform it consciously, then we experience the joy of work; and the result ordained by God happens and this result will be beneficial to us in the long run. We have heard of many who shifted their field of work after the initial failure and did very well later in a different arena. We cannot measure the value of action by the crude means of immediate success or failure. Some failures are more useful than many successes.

Q23: (development of will) You said earlier that the power of will can be developed. Is there a method to develop it?
Ans: A method has been indicated in an earlier answer. We give here a more effective method suggested in the mantras 15 and 16 of Isha U.

In the Veda Samhita mantras Agni is not merely a physical fire, he is a multifaceted psychological power connected with will, action and related powers. That is the reason that out of 10,000 mantras of Rig Veda, about 2000 are dedicated to Agni. Isha Upanishad is really the last chapter of Shukla Yajurveda mantra Samhita. Hence it focuses on this tradition of Agni as the power of will. In the Veda kratu means will. In our life, we begin many projects; some of them end on the beginning day itself, some later; only a few, very few, are completed. So for successful completion the will-power has to be developed. We have to ask whether the work is needed. That can be done by invoking the power of the Vedic Agni in us with the help of Veda mantras. This power grows within us by our aspiration, by our eagerness, by our sense of surrender to Agni till it becomes a mighty force.

So the Upanishad has this prayer to Agni:

"O will, (make us) remember that which was done, (make us) remember.'' (verse 17, line 2)

om krato smara krtam smara krato smara krtam smara.

Agni works within us even if we are asleep psychologically or physically. He is the divine force which manifests in matter as heat and light and material energy; then he brings in us all other divine powers needed for our growth like the mental powers especially mental clarity, inspiration, revelation, the power of friendship, the power of vastness (Varuna) etc.

Then Agni will make us begin all the actions, gives all the necessary help for their completion and leads us to the Truth and the Bliss. The related mantra of Isha U. given below is widely quoted in several Vedic mantra Samhita books and others.

O god Agni, knowing all things that are manifested (vayunani), lead us by a good path (supatha) to the felicities (raye). (verse 18, line 1)

agne naya supatha raye asman vishwani deva vayunani vidvan.

This mantra is widely quoted in many Veda books and appears in Rig Veda (1.189.1); Krishna Yajur Veda (1.1.14, 1.14.43); Shukla Yajur Veda (3.36), (7.42), (40.16).

The felicity refers to the qualities of all-round happiness such as beauty and harmony, love for all things, care for all the physical things or animals under our control, cleanliness in all respects etc. It also includes the physical wealth or resources needed in the enjoyment of the felicities.

Agni leads us along the right path, the path which is appropriate to each one of us. Each one of us is governed by an inner law (svadha) that supports us in all ways. We have to recognize this self-law in us. The path we follow must be consistent with our self-law (svadha).

Q24: Does it mean that all devotees of the Agni always will travel in the correct path?
Ans: The Isha U. does not say so. There are always temptations which make us take different paths, some crooked or devious. The temptations are the so called hostile forces. The paths suggested by these forces appear to be attractive. These temptations or inappropriate actions are called in the Veda as sin (enah). Sin in the Veda is some inharmonious action done with the hope of getting some immediate happiness.

"Remove from us the devious attraction of sin;

To you we offer our most complete prayer of surrender''. (verse 18, line 2)

yuyodhy-asmaj-juhuranam-eno bhuyishtham,

te namo uktam vidhema

Note the phrase, 'devious attraction (juharanam) of sin'. We have an idea it is devious or crooked. Still the attraction is there. In the Veda, the hostile powers are like some of the modern examiners who set very difficult exercises (both physically and mentally) to the students. Our failure shows that our education in not complete. So we try again and again to achieve perfection.

The only way is to offer our complete surrender; then the power of will guides us at every step, major or minor towards the goal. As long as we believe we know everything, the devious attraction of sin steps in.

Q25: What is concentration?
Ans: The words will-power, concentration, awareness have highly connected meanings. Recall that at any moment, there will be a hundred thoughts in us each wanting us in different ways, i.e. our awareness is scattered in different direction. Bringing together these scattered threads of consciousness or awareness on the task on hand is concentration. A person begins a task; he gives it up after a few minutes saying it is boring etc. Here the will-power is lacking. The awareness has gone from the task to day-dreaming. The increase of the will-power is the power of Agni earlier described.

Q26: (Work in changing world) You said that our life is continuously changing jagat. Workplace is changing rapidly; with the old rules like a life-time job or security are no longer valid. Any advice on our response to this rapid change.
Ans: I will repeat some points mentioned earlier and add some new ones. You have to be conscious while doing the work reducing your expectations about the results to a bare minimum. With this provision, you are able to accept the drastic changes occurring in the workplace in a joyful way.

The biggest reason for not accepting the changes is the sense of fear and the all pervading sense of insecurity. "I have lost my job; I have failed in the examination, how can I force my friends and relatives?'' Fear or insecurity is there because one does not have the habit of a spontaneous trust in the Divine. Mother says that "There are people who do not even know that THAT exists; one could tell them, 'you have no faith in your destiny', or 'you know nothing about the Grace'; still these phrases do not make much impact on them.'' If one strongly believes that the helping hand of the divine is everywhere, and that is the best that happens at any time under the circumstances, then she or he accepts the changes willingly and joyfully. She or he understands that it is unreasonable to have a long list of unreasonable expectations before even beginning the work.

The drastic changes taking up in all aspects of our life, especially technology and industry are reflected in the drastic nature of the manufacturing industries. I will add a few words here on how the industrial sector of Iron and Steel has responded to these drastic changes. I will focus on these organizations both in India and United States. Because of the technological changes in the automobile industry, the biggest consumer of steel, the demand for steel was reduced drastically roughly by one-half. Hence many of the big steel mills in cities like Pittsburgh in USA were closed down because of their substantial financial losses and the major steel company in US, the US Steel even changed the name to USX. Persons who are afraid of change wrote vigorously about the misery caused to the people in the closed industries and regarded this act as one of anti-community or anti-people. However in the place vacated by these old and decaying factories, new service industries and electronic industries were opened and the life now is normal as before. People want work, not necessarily work in an iron and steel complex.

Simultaneously new technology was developed in which big mills which involve huge investments were not needed. Steel could be produced in mini mills, where price per ton was two thirds of the price of the bigger mill. One firm which made its name and fame in this mini mill is associated with the name of Mittal. Mittals have brought unprofitable steel mills in USA, Germany (former east Germany), British Guiana and made them profitable. The prestigious 'economist' of London includes Mittals among these ten low cost steel producers. I personally know the engineer of British Guiana Company who said that the company was making a loss of one million dollars per day. After one year of Mittals acquisition, it became profitable.

I will now recount anecdotes from India. The first is the Visvesvariah Iron and Steel Company (VIS) in Karnataka. It was originally known as Bhadravati Iron & Steel. When Vishveshvaraih (V) became the chief administrator or Diwan of Mysore in 1914, he immediately starting drafting a plan for making steel in the Shimoga district adjoining the western ghats. The place had iron, but no coal. Hence the steel had to be made from charcoal obtained by burning tree. Only some companies in Scandinavia used this method. The mill was to be financed by the government. The British government which was against the industrialization of India opposed it and many eminent people in the press thought it was a white elephant. However V got unexpected help from the head of the finance department of Mysore government by name Chakravarti. He had vigorously opposed the construction of the Krishnarajasagar dam. But when he saw how successful and profitable it was, he had second thoughts about his own wisdom. Hence he did not oppose the plan of V. The Tata managing agents also were managing TISCO in Jamshedpur were made the managing agents of VIS also. The construction was given to the US firm Perrin which handled TISCO also. The work started around 1918 - by this time V had to resign as divan because of the difference of opinion with the Maharaja. The initial cost estimate was 64 lakh rupees. By 1923 the estimate was 211 lakhs. The technical operation was assigned to a team of engineers from Perrin (at very high salaries) at the advice of Tatas. However the operation was highly unsatisfactory and, the losses were high and even the original consultants Perrin and Co. advised that the part of the company dealing with steel making be closed.

At this juncture, the king asked his Diwan Banerji to request Visvesvariah to help the VIS. V readily agreed. He took several drastic decisions. He terminated the services of Tata managing agents since they were only traders with no technical knowledge. He terminated the employment of all the highly paid US technicians. Then he recruited several creative persons to run the company. This included the famous Madhava Rao who was administrator and not an engineer. V himself went to the Scandinavian factories which make steel from wood like Bhadravati and applied these techniques here. Even the workers cooperated by taking a voluntary salary cut. Thus V could make the company profitable by 1928; By 1929 V even secured orders from abroad for exporting 5000 tons of steel. He could have procured more orders but the British government discouraged the potential buyers of VIS steel. By 1929, the company was profitable.

Still the press and eminent persons wrote vicious articles against the company. A retired judge of the High Court collected all these adverse reports and gave them to Mahatma Gandhi who had come to Mysore in 1931 for health reasons. Mahatma Gandhi was all praise both for V and VIS and said the mill was a tribute to the genius of our people, the establishment of the mill showed how Indians can establish and maintain such complex machinery. He did not attach much importance to the supposed losses.

Now as a backdrop, I will add a few words on TISCO, the Tata Iron and Steel Works in Jamshedpur founded in the early nineteen tens. Around 1955, the management wanted to increase the production from one million to two million tons per year. Even though TISCO had about 50 years of experience, they had no skills in developing the expansion program. So they gave a turn key contract to a US firm of Kaisers. The budget in 1954 was 65 crores, but when it ended in 1958 it was 125 crores. Even then after the completion, the total output would not so beyond 1.9 million tons and the Tata management, with their lack of engineering skills and blind trust in the Western Company did not want to take any action against the Americans. Even in the seventies and eighties when new steel making technologies came on the horizon, TISCO management brushed them aside. Still TISCO management cultivated the press and the newspapers had always articles praising the "Vision'' and "management skills'' of the Tatas.

These anecdotes are quoted to show that the stories of successes and failures of the industries described in the Indian press may have very little truth in them. The same is true for the assignment of the labels of 'success' and 'failure' to individuals. We need to focus on the methods of consciousness to evaluate performance as indicated by Sri Aurobindo and the Isha Upanishad.

"The breath of things (vayu) is an immortal Life (amrtam), but of this body ashes are the end. Om! O will, (make us) remember, that which was done (make us) remember! O will, (make us) remember, that which was done (make us) remember.'' (verse 17).

Isha Upanishad mentions rebirth in this verse. This Upanishad does not state the condition of next birth. However the Veda or the Upanishads do not support the idea of an animal birth for a human being. This is a creation or exaggeration introduced by the Puranas.

According to this verse both birth and death belong to this physical body. Its end is ashes. However the core of the life-principle Vayu in us -- called as Jiva (or soul) -- is immortal (amrta) does not die with the physical body. After sometime, this Jiva or soul creates for itself a new body and enters it. One usually does not remember the details of past births but evidence of rebirth are numerous. How can a child of two years chant Sanskrit hymns well which many elders cannot do. It is because the training which the child had received in an earlier birth has not been forgotten. The same explains mathematical or musical prodigies. Typically a musician improves from birth to birth in music. Then he/she decides music is enough and takes birth for a different vocation in different circumstances. So we can recover the lessons needed by invoking the power of Agni, "make us remember''. Agni will give only the necessary power needed for that circumstance. In one birth, we are not going to become a genius in any field. Persons like Leonardo or Sri Aurobindo became masters in several subjects because they had spent several of their previous lives working on these topics.

Q28: (After-death states) Does the Upanishad say anything about the after-death state of persons who live only for their physical enjoyments without any thought of moral or aesthetic ideals or their fellow beings? Does it say anything regarding persons who commit suicide?
Ans: This Upanishad or others do not mention a physical place called hell or naraka mentioned in the Purana to which the evil doers will be sent. The word naraka does not even appear in any of the 24,000 verses of four Vedas. But verse 3 of this Upanishad (which is Shukla Yajur Veda 40.3) refers to the sunless worlds (asurya) where the Rays of the spiritual sun or Rays of the beneficial light are almost absent.

We have to understand there are several states of consciousness besides the one on earth which is dominated by matter, but has components of life and mind. By departing from the physical life, one does not disappear into non-existence or go out of the movement, but the concerned Jiva (or soul) passes into some other state of consciousness. These states are either illuminated or obscure, some even dark or sunless. By persisting in gross forms of ignorance dominated by selfishness, animal tendencies, immorality or by committing suicide (a mode of wrong dissolution of the body) one enters into states of blind darkness. Jivas who have made some progress enter into worlds of light after death, spend some time there and then take up birth on earth. So we do not have to look upon the cycle of birth and death negatively. Every birth and life is an opportunity for progress. However for most persons, the time and condition of death and birth are not in their (jiva) control. Persons who have reached some high stage of perfection can take up birth or death at their will. There are some who by the dint of spiritual practices completely opt out of the birth or death cycle and merge into the One. This is the state highly regarded by the teacher Shankara.

"Sunless are those worlds and enveloped in blind gloom whereto all they in their passing hence resort who are slayers of their souls.'' (Verse 3)

The face of truth is covered with a brilliant golden lid; that you remove, O Fosterer (pushan), for the law of the truth (satyadharma), for vision (drshthaye). (verse 15)

In the inner yajna described in the Veda, Surya, the Sun-God, represents the divine illumination of the seer which exceeds mind and forms the pure luminous Truth of things. His rays are the thoughts that proceed directly from the Truth, the Vast, but become deflected and distorted, broken up and disordered in the reflecting and dividing principle, mind. They form the golden lid which covers the face of Truth.

The seer prays to Surya to cast the rays into the right order and relation and then draw them together with the unity of revealed truth.

So by our prayer of surrender, he reveals to us the correct path to follow based on our self law (svadha).

Q30: (Time management, working in a hurry) We generally work in a hurry because we do not have enough time. The quality suffers, What to do?
Ans: When a person is in a hurry he does the work incompletely or does it badly. There is a third way, it is to intensify one's concentration. If you do that you gain half the time, even from a very short time.

Take an ordinary example: to have a bath and dress. Let us say one usually takes half an hour without hurrying. If you hurry, you do not wash well or dress well. But if you follow the third way, i.e. concentrate your attention and one's energy on the task, then the same job can be done in fifteen minutes, without sacrificing quality. If we begin to practice this, there is tension in beginning, but with habit, the tension diminishes. You make use of work as means for growth. Note that the popular idea that work should be done 'disinterestedly' is dangerous, because it is easy to confuse 'disinterestedness' with indifference.

Parents speak of giving 'quality time' to their children, typically time periods in which one of the parents is fresh. Even here if the parent does not raise his awareness or consciousness to a level higher than that at ordinary times, the parent may not be able to understand what the child is saying in depths, i.e., she or he may not pay attention to the unspoken issues.

Q31: Does the Upanishad have anything to say about the type of work I can do and the larger topic of personality development?
Ans: This Upanishad does not mention directly the subject of personality development, but Veda does mention this topic. I will focus on this topic because the type of work you do depends on your personality.

Personality of a person is a description of the collectivity of all his talents in the physical level, emotional level (Vital level), mental level, the aims, goals, fears, the relationships to other persons and nature at large. It is not static, hence ideally this collectivity should become richer and wider in the course of time, i.e., we speak of the development of personality.

Some moderns characterize a new born baby as an empty bucket; only by pumping in knowledge by means of lessons at school and at home makes the child more knowledgeable. Veda does not agree with this. Veda declares that every human being is born with several talents which are in a latest stage. All the things in the collectivity called personality is governed by a law called svadha (self law) which is unique and which supports the person. All our education is bringing these latent gifts into the open. We can regard our human body to be made of numerous subtle switches. Just as pressing the electric button does not generate electricity, but only makes the electricity flow in the concerned place, similarly each subtle switch when pressed (figuratively) by means of a oral teaching or reading etc., yields the latent power associated with it. A music or mathematics teacher may be simultaneously teaching ten students. But it is well known one or two among them understand the lesson taught that day much better than others. It is because the latent knowledge of music or mathematics in them is more than in the others.

The first step in developing our personality is to become more and more conscious, more and more aware in our dealing with the persons, objects and entities around us. We become aware of our specific strengths dictated by our self-law. Then we can take steps to develop these strengths better by reading books, by contacting experts in that subject, by joining support groups. What is needed is an aspiration for development. Then nature or providence will give the necessary help. A reading of the biographies of eminent persons in each field, physics, maths, music, carpentry, gardening, writing, sculpting, graphic arts etc., will convince you the hints of the above statement. What is needed is faith in yourself and patience.

Our personality may have several weaknesses such becoming angry very quickly, laziness, procrastination, roughness in inter personal relationships etc. Again becoming aware of the reactions of the other persons in our meetings will indicate the necessary weaknesses.

The profession or vocation we choose must be based on our strengths. The advice given by well-meaning parents may be useless or even harmful. Many parents are easily carried away by the buzzwords or hyperboles regarding the currently popular vocations. They may never have the first hand experience. The best method is to read the concerned literature, especially the self-help books, and persons who have first hand knowledge of the vocation.

Q32: I have heard that, "this obsession with renunciation or sannyas has ruined our country, it is the main reason for the physical poverty in India''. Your response please.
Ans: I will give here a brief answer to your question, "has the practice of outward renunciation ruined India''. We should make a clear distinction between the practice of sannyas or outward renunciation among Buddhists and the sannyas among Hindus. In the times of Buddha and later on, persons from all walks of life became fulltime bhikshus or monks; many buddhist monasteries had a hundred or thousand monks. The monks in these monasteries were leading a very comfortable life thanks to the generous patronage of the kings as noted by the Buddhist monk from China, Hieun Tsang. So joining the monastery was a mark of status. All these persons would have been excellent artisans, merchants, artists, musicians, warriors etc. Clearly the energy level of the society at large declined by their absence; this lead to the weakening of the national fabric with the failure to face the external attacking hordes. A bhikshu, however advanced he may be, cannot have detailed knowledge of these professions and cannot contribute to the society directly.

But in the monasteries organized by the great teacher Shankara, the monks were selectively chosen, the number of monks in the monastery being small. The number of permanent monks in the great monasteries of Sri Shankara like Sringeri, Kanchi, Dwaraka, Puri, Badarinath is less than half a dozen, often two or three. There were attached educational institutions where students came and left after their studies. So we cannot say the Sannyas or monasticism among the Hindus contributed to the decline directly. But the emphasis on the other world matters in many of our teachings did make some contribution to the weakening of the vital energy of the society. Specifically, the dominant idea among the Hindus in the last one thousand years is that the world is a place of misery; persons with wisdom should regard this world as transient, it should be regarded only as a place where we can prepare ourselves for the perfect state after death. Even Swami Vivekananda declared that to attempt to change the world or human nature is like trying to straighten the dog's tail. All these ideas obviously do not contribute to strengthening the society to meet the challenges posed by outsiders. It is important to realize that neither the Gita nor the Upanishads support this view point. The view point of the Isha Upanishad on this topic amplified by Sri Aurobindo has already been given in the answer to the question, "purpose of work and life''.

The inactive and the active Brahman are simply two aspects of the one Self, the one Brahman, who is the Lord. It is he who has gone abroad in the movement. He maintains himself free from all modifications in his inactive existence. The inaction is the basis of the action and exists in the action; it is his freedom from all he does and becomes and in all he does and becomes. These are the positive and negative poles of the indivisible consciousness. We embrace both in one quiescence and one movement, inseparable from each other, dependent on each other. The quiescence exists relatively to the movement, the movement to the quiescence. He is beyond both. This is a different point of view from that of the identity of the movement and quiescence which are one in reality; it expresses rather their relation in our consciousness once they are admitted as a practical necessity of that consciousness. It is obvious that we also by becoming one with the lord would share in this bane conscious existence. (SA)

In the ordinary view the Jiva cannot exist in both at the same time; his dissolution is into the quiescence and not into unity with the Lord in the action and inaction. (SA)

"It is he that has gone abroad -- that which is bright, bodiless, without scar of imperfection, without sinews, pure, unpierced by evil. The seer, the thinker, the one who becomes everywhere, the self-existence had ordered objects perfectly according to their nature (yatatathya) from years sempiternal.'' (Verse 8)

Q34: (Quiescence & Movement) Let us go now to "God''. We have all heard that the Supreme Being or Brahman is in a condition of absolute quiescence or stillness; for the attainment of bliss, quiescence is said to be necessary. Do we associate movement with Supreme Being also? Note quiescence and persistence of movement are opposed to another.
Ans: The quiescence and the movement are equally one Brahman and the distinction drawn between them is only a phenomenon of our consciousness. So it is with the idea of space and time, the far and the near, the subjective and the objective, internal and external, myself and others, one and many. Brahman, the real existence, is all these things to our consciousness, but in itself ineffably superior to all such practical distinctions. The movement is a phenomenon of the quiescence, the quiescence itself may be conceived as a movement too rapid for the Gods, that is to say, for our various functions of consciousness to follow in its real nature. But it is no formal, material, spatial, temporal movement, only a movement in consciousness. Knowledge sees it all as one, ignorance divides and creates oppositions where there is no opposition but simply relations of one consciousness in itself. The ego in the body says, "I am within, all else is outside; and in what is outside, this is near to me in time and space, that is far.'' All this is true in present relation; but in essence it is all one indivisible movement of Brahman which is not material movement but a way of seeing things in the one consciousness. (SA)

"One unmoving that is swifter than Mind, That the Gods reach not, for it progresses ever in front. That, standing, passes beyond others as they run. In that the master of life establishes the waters.'' (Verse 4)

"That moves and That moves not; That is far and the same is near; That is within all this and That also is outside all this.'' (Verse 5)

The phrase in verse 5, "that moves and that moves not'', may seem enigmatic, but it is not so. For instance, take the wooden table on which this book is being written. Everyone agrees that it is stationary and not moving. The wood is made of millions of atoms of carbon etc., in each atom which is imperceptible to physical senses, the electrons are revolving at a fantastic speed, the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). So if you, "ask is the table associated with movement?'' the answer is yes. All these are relations of consciousness. When we are focusing on the atom (to improve the quality of wood) then table is "moving'. When we focus on its use as a writing platform, "it is stationary'.

Q35: So you seem to be saying that God or Supreme Brahman is simultaneously quiescent and moving. It seems hard to imagine.
Ans: I will give you a simple example. A lady (L) can be simultaneously a mother and a daughter. She is mother of D and she is daughter of M. She is mother and daughter simultaneously, but in relation to different persons. Similarly Brahman appears to our consciousness as quiescent and appears at other times as moving.

Q36: (Vidya and Avidya, Knowledge and Ignorance) What exactly is the distinction between knowledge and ignorance. All of us prefer not to have any ignorance at all, if it is possible. All of us know that our knowledge is very very limited. What is the view of Upanishad?
Ans: Ignorance used in ordinary language and ignorance used in the Upanishad or the books on Indian philosophy are quite different. In ordinary language, 'I am ignorant of cooking', means, 'I do not know how to cook'. In philosophy ignorance is the translation of avidya, which really means, 'limited or partial knowledge of an entity or object'. Avidya is only mental knowledge; mind has to divide an entity into separate aspects and understand each aspect separately. Then it tries to combine all these snapshots into one view and call it the knowledge of that entity. Clearly this synthetic knowledge cannot be the total knowledge of even that entity.

Vidya means the knowledge of the One from which all our manifestation came, yet which remains separate from all the manifestation. This vidya knowledge has remained all along unabrogated in the consciousness of the true seer or kavi, who is within us also. This seer within us stands back from the mental knowledge avidya.

The Upanishad states that we need both this vidya and also avidya or limited knowledge (called as apara vidya) in the following two verses.

Into a blind darkness they enter who follow after the Ignorance (avidya), they as if into a greater darkness who devote themselves to the Knowledge (vidya) alone. (Verse 9)

Immersion in the pure vidya appears to be plunging into greater darkness (note the phrase 'as if' 'iva') since the experience of nirvana is almost like total darkness.

The connection between the vidya and avidya and the need for avidya is clearly declared in the next verse 11.

He who knows That as both in one, the Knowledge and the Ignorance, by the Ignorance crosses beyond death and by the Knowledge enjoys Immortality. (Verse 11)

The knowledge of the One and the knowledge of the Many are a result of the movement of the one consciousness, which sees all things as One in their truth-Idea but differentiates them in their mentality and formal becoming. If the mind (manishi) absorbs itself in God as the formal becoming then it loses vidya, the knowledge of the One, and has only the knowledge of the Many which becomes no longer knowledge at all but ignorance, avidya. This is the cause of the separate ego-sense. (SA)

Death of an entity is nothing but non-functioning of one or more parts or lack of harmony between the different parts. Hence to overcome death, one has to master the (partial) knowledge of all the components. The seer in us, first stands back from the knowledge of the One; thus separated he as the individual inhabitant (verse 1) develops the knowledge in its variety and reunites this separative knowledge with the true source One and thus conquers death and division. Thus he has the knowledge of the One and the Many simultaneously. "This is our proper course and not either to devote ourselves exclusively to the life of avidya (limited knowledge or ignorance) or to reject it entirely for the motion less absorption in the One''. (SA)

Q37: (Works and Knowledge) Great thinkers in the past have declared the fundamental opposition between works and knowledge. What is the Upanishad's view?
Ans: The opposition between works and knowledge exists as long as works and knowledge are only of the egoistic mental character. Mental knowledge is not true knowledge; true knowledge is that which is based on the true sight, the sight of the Seer, of Surya, of the Kavi. Mental thought is not knowledge, it is a golden lid placed over the face of the Truth, the Sight, the divine ideation, the truth-consciousness. When that is removed, sight replaces mental thought, the all-embracing truth-ideation (also called as mahas, vision or as vision (drshti)) replaces the fragmentary mental activity. True Buddhi (vijnana) emerges from the dissipated action of the Buddhi which is all that is possible on the basis of the sense-mind, the manas. Vijnana leads us to pure knowledge (jnana), pure consciousness (chit). There we realize our entire identity with the lord in all at the very roots of our being. (SA)

The face of Truth is covered with a brilliant golden lid; that do thou remove, O Fosterer, for the law of the Truth, for sight. (Verse 15)

O Fosterer, O sole Seer, O Ordainer, O illumining Sun, O power of the Father of creatures, marshal your rays, draw together your light the luster which is your most blessed form of all, that in you I behold. The Purusha there and there, he am I. (Verse 16)

Q38: Suppose we call the Supreme as the BEING. Recall we express our existence by saying, "I am'. Does this person (Being) become the different bodies? Similarly the Supreme is regarded as One but everyday we deal only with the Many all the different things we see in the world are likely to be becomings or formation of the one the so-called Being. Some regard the 'Many' as unreal or at least 'less real' than the One. What is the relation between these opposites.
Ans: (Being & Becoming) Everything depends on what we see, how we look at existence. In our soul's view of things, Being and Becoming, One and Many are both true and are both the same thing: Being is one, becomings are many; but this simply means that all becomings are one being who places himself variously in the phenomenal movement of his consciousness. We have to see the one being, but we have not to cease to see the many becomings, for they exist and are included in Brahman's view of himself. Only, we must see with knowledge and not with ignorance. We have to realize our true self as the one unchangeable, indivisible Brahman. We have to see all becomings as developments of the movement in our true self and this self as one inhabiting all bodies and not our body only. We have to be consciously, in our relations with this world, what we really are, -- this one self becoming everything that we observe. All the movement, all energies, all forms, all happiness we must see as those of our one and real self in many existences, as the play of the will and knowledge and delight of the lord in his world-existence.

We shall then be delivered from egoism and desire and the sense of separate existence and therefore from all grief and delusion and shrinking; for all grief is born of the shrinking of the ego from the contacts of existence, its sense of fear, weakness, want, dislike, etc., and this is born from the delusion of separate existence, the sense of being my separate ego exposed to all these contacts of so much that is not myself. Get rid of this, see oneness everywhere, be the One manifesting Himself in all creatures; ego will disappear; desire born of the sense of not being this, not having that will disappear; the free inalienable delight of the One in His own existence will take the place of desire and its satisfactions and dissatisfactions. Immortality will be yours, death born of division will be overcome. (SA)

In the ordinary view all this would be admitted, but the practical possibility of maintaining this state consciousness and birth in the world together would be doubted.

But he who sees everywhere the Self in all existences and all existences in the Self, shrinks not thereafter from aught. (Verse 6)

He in whom it is the Self-Being that has become-all existences that are Becomings, for he has the perfect knowledge, how shall he be deluded, whence shall he have grief who sees everywhere oneness? (Verse 7)

Q39: (Birth and Non-birth) In popular lectures we hear that the Birth is the beginning of bondage. Still nobody, even apparently the saints, look forward to death. What takes birth?
Ans: The reason for this double movement of the Thinker is that we are intended to realize immortality in the Birth. The self is uniform and undying and in itself always possesses immortality. It does not need to descend into Avidya and Birth to get that immortality of Non-Birth; for it possesses it always. It descends in order to realize and possess it as the individual Brahman in the play of world-existence. It accepts Birth and Death, assumes the ego and then dissolving the ego by the recovery of unity realizes itself as the Lord, the One, and Birth as only a becoming of the Lord in mental and formal being; this becoming is now governed by the true sight of the Seer and, once this is done, becoming is no longer inconsistent with Being, birth becomes a means and not an obstacle to the enjoyment of immortality by the lord of this formal habitation. (SA)

This is our proper course and not to remain for ever in the chain of birth and death, nor to flee from birth into a pure non-becoming. The bondage does not consist in the physical act of becoming, but in the persistence of the ignorant sense of the separate ego. The Mind creates the chain and not the body. (SA)

This is the stumbling-block to the ordinary philosophies which are impregnated with the idea of the illusoriness of the world, even when they do not go the whole way with the idea that the world is an illusion. Birth, they would say, is a play of ignorance, it cannot subsist along with entire knowledge.

Into a blind darkness they enter who follow after the Non-Birth (asambhuti), they as if into a greater darkness who devote themselves to the Birth (sambhuti) alone. (Verse 12)

Other, verily, it is said, is that which comes by the Birth, (sambhavat) other that which comes by the Non-Birth (asambhavat); this is the lore we have received from the wise who revealed That to our understanding. (Verse 13)

He who knows That as both in one, the Birth and the dissolution (vinasha) (of Birth), by the dissolution (vinasha) crosses beyond death and by the Birth (sambhuti) enjoys Immortality. (Verse 14)

Therefore when we have the sight and live in the Truth-Consciousness (verse 15) our will becomes the spontaneous law of the truth in us and knowing all its acts and their sense and objective, leads straight to the human goal, which was always the enjoyment of the Ananda, the Lord's delight in self-being, the state of Immortality. In our acts also we become one with all beings and our life grows into a representation of oneness, truth and divine joy and no longer proceeds on the crooked path of egoism full of division, error and stumbling. In a word, we attain to the object of our existence which is to manifest in itself whether on earth in a terrestrial body and against the resistance of Matter or in the worlds beyond or enter beyond all world the glory of the divine Life and the divine Being. (SA)

40: I am intrigued by the phrase, "live for a hundred years'' you quoted earlier. Is it merely an expression of sentimentality or is there a deeper meaning?
Ans: Of course the phrase, 'live for a hundred years' (Verse 2, Q.9) has a deeper meaning.

The mantra hints that we should choose the type of actions and the way of doing these actions so that we can lead one hundred years of life pervaded with health and happiness.

Note also the remaining line of the Upanishad verse quoted, 'Thus it is in you and not otherwise than this.' It means that your body including the mental and pranic apparatus is designed to last for at least a hundred years if you do the works all your life which are appropriate to you and by doing them in an appropriate manner.