KENA UPANISHAD 4:9 {in resting}

Anyone indeed who realizes true knowledge dispels all gloom by the infinite light of this widespread height in resting in resting.

yo va etam evam veda apahatya paapmaanam ante svarge loke jyeye pratitishtati pratitishtati

Notes: and so ends this translation of the Kena Upanishad. My purpose has been to stay as faithful as possible to word placement and overall meaning, and not rely on previous religious interpretation. A transcreation will follow which will attempt to clarify overall meaning within an aesthetic of words and silence.

KENA UPANISHAD 4:8 {stands knowledge}

Before the tempering of passion, the restraint of sensibilities, and the totality of action ultimately stands knowledge, in which all branches of truth are supported.

tasmai tapo damah karmeti pratishtha vedah sarvangani satyam ayatanam.

Notes: The key word appears to be ‘tasmai’ indicating in front or before. And the key relationships appear to be the previous appearances of fire, air, and sky in association with tapo, damah, and karmeti, indicating the tempering of passion (fire), the restraint of sensibilities (air), and the totality (sky) of action.

pseutra 2 - true kknowledge

visualization is merely a launching pad to wordless understanding, although many build religions with it, a karmic rocket science

it's generally understood all so-called matter consists of atoms, and ultimately, according to string theory, vibration: consciousness aum!

true knowledge isn't any kind of rocket science, quantum, karmic, or other

true knowledge is what you are and not any framework of thought, no matter how scientific or esoteric it appears

can't better Ramana Maharshi's insight so won't try: "I am That I Am" sums up the whole truth; the method is summarized in "Be Still."

i bow to the guru; there is no greater authority than i

pseutra 1 - balance

the only response in this world about this world is a balanced laugh/cry

religions create an imaginary world in which they establish their absolute power over those who wish to follow them there

i am is a practicing istn't-ist

the natural state (the stateless state) is all there is; by resting (or standing) in (as) what you are, what isn't isn't

there are no words for the unknown made known and yet you know

koem 3: Mountain and River

This world, this thought-induced

hallucination, this—

divisive, selfish, non-

existent mountainous minus—

but all the words in all

the world will never do

—just rest within what is—

the river of no words…

KENA UPANISHAD 4:7 {Secret Knowledge}

The Secret Knowledge welcomes by speaking accordingly; uttered to you is The Secret Knowledge of the Absolute; just You, The Secret Knowledge, is speaking therefore.

upanishadam bho bruhity ukta ta upanishad brahmim vava ta upanishadam abrumiti

Note: Sometimes it is fortunate to be ignorant, and I am extremely ignorant when it comes to Sanskrit. The Vedantic translators wish to make this sloka out to be a communication between a teacher and a disciple, and so they split the sloka into different speakers. Even Aurobindo translates as such: “Thou hast said "Speak to me Upanishad"; spoken to thee is Upanishad. Of the Eternal verily is the Upanishad that we have spoken.” Prabhavananda / Manchester are more the playwrights: “A Disciple: Sir, teach me more of the knowledge of Brahman. The Master: I have told you the secret knowledge.” But, again, I do not feel this split, originating from Shankara or before. Rather, I intuit as such: the wisdom is speaking, the wisdom is the speech, and you are the wisdom speaking. There is no splitting Upanishad.

KENA UPANISHAD 4:6 {That Bower}

That wisdom is That Bower named That Bower, by which attended, it forwards to This its real knowledge, reaching by such a manner here, where all beings are then united.

tadd ha tadvanam naama tadvanam iti upaasitavyam sa ya etad evam vedaabhi hainang sarvaani bhutaani samvaanchanti.

Note: the most difficult decision here is in the translation of tadvanam, which appears to literally mean That Forest, and has usually been kept verbatim, untranslated, although Aurobindo goes out on a limb, as he is the only one wont to do, and translates as That Delight. However, I wish to keep the connotation of forest with a sheltering undertone, and so have chosen That Bower, which feels nicely esoteric in an ancient way, yet still firmly rooted in definition. And I have to say, I’m not adverse to the little bow it gives to That.

TOKEN PROPHECY 16 [ex marks]

—any spin you put on what is, is just more what isn't——without a view about a view——you will never remember what you are——an ex marks the spot where nothing is——when ice melts, you are the water; so is it with you and the world——belightenment!

KENA UPANISHAD 4:5 [movement of the mind]

Then in that which is the self, there is this movement of the mind, resulting in its thinking, remembering its perpetual intention.

atha adhyatmam yadetat gacchativa cha manah anena chaitad upasmaraty abheekshnam sankalpah

  

Note: this sloka is tied intimately to the previous one. The movement in the mind originates in the lightning of That resulting in the remembrance of what it is.

KENA UPANISHAD 4:4 [a flash of lightning]

By that foregoing message in which That, the lightning, lights completely in fact, and in a flash closes completely, thus is the divinity of nature.

tasyaisha aadesho yad etad vidyuto vyadyutadaa itiin nyamiimishadaa iti adhidaivatam

Note: This is another one of those slokas in which Shankara dominates the translations. It appears to me that he used the analogy of the winking of an eye to illustrate the actual analogy given in the sloka itself of a flash of lightning lit and then closed. But almost all translations incorporate Shankara’s illustration into the text itself. I can’t see it that way. What I do see is the importance of this understanding: That is seen in a flash of lightning; That is the flash of lightning; That lights the flash of lightning; and the flash of lightning is the sudden nature of enlightenment.