World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

Page 955

and hatred [ dvitiyadvai bhayam bhavati]. Therefore Isha Upanishad says try to see yourself in all and all in yourself. Once you realize this unity, there will be no sorrow, no grief, no delusion, no sense of hatred, peace prevails in the hearts of every being. [ Isha. Up.6- 7].It talks about spiritual unity of all existence.
Seeking one behind the many is core of Upanishadic thought. It is done by experiencing the all-pervasive Brahman in Vedanta. In the case of Taoism, it is by experiencing and imitating the Way or the Tao. In Upanishads, the purpose of finding one behind the many is to find something more real than what appears to the senses, but the purpose of Taoists is to find out constant way behind the changing and conflicting ways of life. The Lao Tzu like Upanishadic seers describes the Tao as existence, the Great, all pervasive, the Supreme, tranquility, peace but he does clearly say whether Tao is consciousness or not. But, Chuang Tzu, the second great Master of Taoism, makes statement that " Hdwell quietly alone with the spiritual and intelligence, here in lie the teachings of Tao of the ancients". From this statement we can assume that there is a trend to consider Tao as intelligence or consciousness.
This comparative study clearly brings out that concept of Reality is more or less common to all Asian traditions. Similarly, lot of Similarity is also found between Upanishads and Taoism, in respect of morality and environment.
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