--- In [email protected], "do.rflex" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Is anyone on this forum qualified to explain the following in > practical terms? > > 271:5 ... That future life is reached by two roads; p. 272 one, the > Devapatha, leading to the world of Brahman (the conditioned), beyond > which there lies one other stage only, represented by knowledge of >and > identity with the unconditioned Brahman; > > the other leading to the world of the fathers, and from thence, >after > the reward of good works has been consumed, back to a new round of > mundane existence. > > There is a third road for creatures which live and die, worms, > insects, and creeping things, but they are of little consequence. > >> Now it is quite clear that the knowledge which king Kitra possesses, > and which Svetaketu does not possess, is that of the two roads after > death, sometimes called the right and the left, or the southern and > northern roads. These roads are fully described in the > Khândogya-upanishad and in the Brihad-âranyaka, with certain > variations, yet on the whole with the same purpose. > > The northern or left road, called also the path of the Devas, passes > on from light and day to the bright half of the moon; the southern >or > right road, called also the path of the fathers, passes on from >smoke > and night to the dark half of the moon. > > Both roads therefore meet in the moon, but diverge afterwards. While > the northern road passes by the six months when the sun moves >towards > the north, through the sun, (moon,) and the lightning to the world >of > Brahman, the southern passes by the six months when the sun moves > towards the south, to the world of the fathers, the ether, and the >moon. > > The great difference, however, between the two roads is, that while > those who travel on the former do not return again to a new life on > earth, but reach in the end a true knowledge of the unconditioned > Brahman, those who pass on to the world of the fathers and the moon > return to earth to be born again and again. > > http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe01/sbe01239.htm
Additionally, the 6 months when the sun moves North refers to the 6 chakras (even MMY mentioned this significant number in his talk on the chakras. The Sun generally refers to Spirit or the absolute (7th) and the Moon (1-6) to the reflected image or the soul. The 'smoke' and 'night' refers to man's identification with the lower material worlds and the 'light' or 'day' to his identification with Spirit. The moon has a 14 day waxing and a 14 day waning period naturally, hence the beautiful analogy confirming the proclamation, "As above, so below" & the Macrocosm and the Microcosm. Thanks for sharing this beautiful Upanishad. You'll find a similar verse in the Bhagavad Gita CH8 vs23-26.
