The Upaniṣads are a collection of documents written by various anonymous authors shortly after the Vedas were written, and the majority of them were most likely pre-Buddhistic. It a system of philosophy with a mystic haze that transitions from the emphasis on ritualistic practices of the Vedas. These writings were often in contradiction, but a general theory can be extracted from them. They are often written in analogy and metaphor and very little is known about the lives of the writers. The Upaniṣads places a greater emphasis on monism and the inner world than the Vedas and less of a concern with the rituals of the Vedas. This monism was hinted at in the Vedas but not carried out in full. The polytheism was retained but subordinated to the whole. This allowed a concentration on right living. There was a concentration on the God that is contained in the back of the mind. In the Vedas there were pleasures and the Gods were to be both trusted and feared, and this replaced by a pessimism. The rituals were replaced by a spiritual life.
There are two fundamental features of the universe, according the Upaniṣads: Brahman and Atman, Brahman being objective and Atman being subjective. Brahman is a consciousness that the world is contained in and is immanent in the world, and Atman is the higher self, as it exists one with Brahman. The discovery of the Ataman is based on a reduction ad absurdum on the different concepts of self; the three types of selves that are refuted are the (a) bodily self, the (b) empirical and dreaming self, and the (c) self in a dreamless state of sleep. The bodily self is rejected as the true self since a person remains the same if he crippled or diseased and so forth. This leads to the empirical self as it exists a collection of experience bundles. However, this is not the true self because the empirical self seems to lack consciousness. Next is considered the self as it exists in a dreamless state of sleep. However, this rejected because an object is needed for consciousness. Thus the true self is seen to an infinite consciousness that is both subject and object. It includes the past and the present and all experience in it. Brahman and Atman are seen as one in the same thing in the Upanisads. For nature exists only for the subject, the sun serves as light for walking, the darkness to cause him to sleep. One becomes the Atman when he realizes this unity of subject and object. Note the Upanisads treat dreams as unreal.
The main goal of the Upaniṣads ethics is becoming one with Brahman. This is commonly objected against that this does not allow for any moral relations. However, the recognition that we are all part of Brahman means that a person should treat everyone as equals. The Upaniṣads are for a life of reason, free from too much sensual desire. If a person allows their senses to guide them, their life becomes a mirage of temporary passions and inclinations. When a person subsumes to reason, their life takes propose, which according to the Upaniṣads is devotion to the community. Finite objects, while worthwhile, only give temporary satisfaction and the only thing of permanent value is Brahman. They are against the ego as this leads to selfishness and a cutting-off from others. A persons appreciation of the world is in direct proportion to poverty. Wealth is only handleable by the person of wisdom. But the individual should be detached from the world, that is, detached from everything that keeps the soul tied to the earth. One can cleans, fast, and be in solitude. The Upaniṣads believe a proper life is a life of social service and helping of others. However, the Upaniṣads are for a healthy enjoyment of the world. One should be detached from the world but participatory in the world. A person should work for others and themselves as we are all part of Brahman. According the Upaniṣads, evil is the result of humans denying the reality of Brahman by the ego. The Upaniṣads are against the ego in all forms and putting oneself above Brahman. Humans are not meant to progress, and all progress can be destructive. The highest state for the Upaniṣads is becoming one with Brahman, and this is like a state of ecstasy and cannot be described but the oneness of everything is realized. This can only be captured through metaphor. It is an eternal timeless state, much like being in a trance. It can also be compared to viewing a beautiful work of art. The person becomes omniscient and the creator of the world. (Revise)
Karma, for the Upaniṣads is a cosmic law of the conservation of moral energy. It is impossible to avoid the law of karma. In the Vedas, the karmic force would be cut off through sacrificing animals and in the Upaniṣads, this sacrificing was replaced by performing good deeds. It is sometimes said that karma is incompatible with social service since it causes a person to be concerned only with himself. However, we can be free only through social service. A person can increase his well-being only through helping others. And this helping of others should be disinterested as selfish work can result in bondage. . . . Karma is a blind cosmic force that operates from without. This is sometimes said to be in contradiction with Brahman. However, karma is seen as an expression of the absolute, that is Brahman controls the process and this process operates as a law. Brahman does not operate miraculously.
There is no single theory of future life in the Upaniṣads, and these concep-tions are often combinations of rationalism and mysticism. The Upaniṣads transformed the Vedic conception of rebirth in another world to reincarnation in this world. When you good in this life you are reincarnated as a higher human or a God, and when you do bad in this life, you are reincarnated as something lower such as an animal. That you can be reborn as an animal was originally not mentioned in the earlier texts and added later. Reincarnation into animal bodies can be seen as a way of accounting for the bizarreness of certain animal and human life. . . . The only thing is preserved upon a person’s death is his karma. With Kausitaki, we see perhaps a purely mystical notion of the afterlife in which people go to the moon after death. Some believe that the light will travel to the different spheres of Agni in the plane of Brahma. These other worlds are left over from the Vedic conceptions.
Here we give a brief comparison of Fichte, Jainism, and the Upaniṣads ethics and metaphysics. These are similar systems with differences. Each of posits a limiting principle of ultimate consciousness for the individual to attempt to obtain. However, there are differences in the process of obtaining this goal and the goal itself. For Fichte, the goal is reached through asserting the will and obtaining more of the world under the individuals consciousness, for the Upaniṣads, the goal is reached through social service, and for Jainism, the goal is reached through performing deeds of various types and detaching from matter. For the Upaniṣads, the Atman is attached to Brahman, and for Fichte and Jainism God is not part of the system. Although Fichte’s limiting principle is called the absolute ego, Fichte’s system is strongly attached to morals, as he is simultaneously a solipsist and for other minds, and his morals are very similar in regards Upaniṣads in that you are supposed to be working for the community, which is the natural stance for a mutual minded subjective idealism. Fichte’s ontology is a pure subjective idealism, Jainism is an atomism, and the Upaniṣads is a mixture of subjective and objective idealisms. Also the Upaniṣads adds multiple gods into its ontology as well. There are many subtle differences in the ethics of each of these systems. And these loosely follow from the limiting starting points. Each of these different approaches to obtaining absolute consciousness can be used in concert with each other or taken on their own. So these are similar systems in that they each posit limiting goal for consciousness, but there are metaphysical differences and ethical differences, epistemological differences, and so forth in each of these systems. For those who wish to do these things without respect to metaphysical issues, they must realize there are usually metaphysical issues latent in any idealism.
Idealism Studies 