MORE FROM THE MUNDAKA UPANISHAD

Swami Prabhavananda:

If anyone asks for the evidence of God, the answer is that it is self evident.  In their heart, everyone knows it.  Difficulty comes when we talk in terms of God being some place and having certain characteristics, but these are just ideas.

Getting to God requires self-control.  We must learn how to get within, which does not mean becoming introspective or an introvert.  Rather is it focusing the mind on the center of your consciousness.

Renunciation does not mean running away from life but renouncing the little things, the ephemeral things, ceasing to be attached to them.

The student has to be ready, the soil must be prepared, before he can be taught the truth of That Art Thou.  The student must be tranquil, self-controlled, and have the desire to know.

After we realize God, we see this universe differently.  This universe is not, for instance, a creation of God so much as an emanation of God, like sparks rising from a fire.  We see that from Him, everything has come.  We are all the time living in God.  Until we have awakened, we do not know this.

Knowing God is beyond the senses.  It is transcendental experience.  The purified mind, the purified heart is when there is no longer the desire for anything else but God.