Notes after reading the Mundaka Upanishad

A liberated person is satisfied in the truth. The Mundaka Upanishad is a compact description of the perfected state in which a person is impersonal and truly liberated.

The work gives descriptions of knowledge which is of two sorts: higher knowledge, which is the knowledge of the immutable, and the lower which is the knowledge of intellectual topics. This immutable “thing” is described as the source for all things or as Brahman, and the understanding and study of the immutable is of essence in the text.

The understanding or knowledge of Brahman cannot be attained with works. It is simply stated, that works, be it liturgical or ordinary daily acts, do not directly grant insight into the Brahman. Deeds done for the fruit of karma are even slightly mocked in the text as these are also desire driven actions causing misery. A true understanding of your own person must be gained in order to gain insight into the nature of liberation and understanding Brahman. If one would feel a true liberated state of being, their actions will not be motivated by desire.

A Brahman-Atman relationship is established in the text, and the process of true understanding of Brahman is instructed to be done with purusa in mind. That is, the student is instructed to understand reality through self-analysis. It is warned, that the reader does not mistake atman for their personality or body even though it is related to their subjectivity.

A common misunderstanding on this self-understanding is an idea of true reality or the highest power existing within the person subject themselves. This is not completely incorrect, although the Self itself commonly is misunderstood. A person, like myself in the past, misunderstood the Self as having traces of personality within it. This is not what the vedantins or even most dharma teachers had in mind when they hint to an vague idea of “Self being god”. I personally cannot give a description of Atman, that is the “Self”, which the Mundaka Upanishad is talking about. This sentence itself is an interesting description for the Self. A hint of subectivity is implied when talking about the Self and the student is directed to seek knowledge through analysis of their own inner life.

A process of reduction for the attainment of liberation or understanding of the Self is given. It is stated that Atman cannot be reached with instruction or with the intellect. Desires themselves are temporal and being attached to them cannot give one understanding of immutable things either. As the absolute principle is wholly creative, it flows forcefully and naturally into void space. Now, if a practicioner would like to partake in the Atman, must they purify their own mind of needless and tainted things. That is, if one wishes to understand the Self, must the non-self be dismissed. As per most old traditions, emancipation is gained through renunciation.