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The Upanishads are pretty interesting and have some serious wisdom. I've heard it said that Buddha might have evolved some of his concepts from them. One of the core differences between Buddhism and Hinduism might be this concept of self which they discuss. In my copy of the "Upanishads" it states, "The word OM as one sound is the fourth state of supreme consciousness. It is beyond the senses and is the end of evolution. It is non-duality and love. He goes with his self to the supreme Self who knows this, who knows this." It says this after defining the Atman as the "eternal" word om with three sounds A, U, and M. 'A' being the first state of waking consciousness, 'U' the state of dreaming consciousness, and 'M' sleeping consciousness. 'M', it says, "is found in the words Miti, 'to end', that gives Apiti, 'final end'." I have heard it said that Buddha discredited the Atman as a central tenet to Buddhism. It seems to me a possibly defining point between the two. Buddha seems to discredit the Atman by letting go of the self. Yet in this passage it says "He goes with his self to the supreme Self who knows this, who knows this." What could the supreme self be other than the interconnectedness of all. According to Tsongkhapa, all phenomena are dependent originations, which means that they do not exist in and out of themselves alone, are thus not self-defined, and empty (of self). It almost seems as if it is one step of philosophy to the next. Like how those waves are all made of water and we are all made of atoms we are all part of one reality. You are a single person in a world of approximately 6.725 billion and only one in around ten million, billion planets in one universe we are infinitely small yet your consciousness holds it all in your minds eye. As my junior high school teacher once said to me, "If you don't mind, I don't matter." There is form and emptiness in everything. There is no such thing as a perfect black body, all matter emanates electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic radiation is a particle and a wave traveling at the speed of light. The sunlight's wavelength changes at sunset, blue to red and gold while the speed it is traveling does not vary. Time and space are one, and it is bent by matter. A sun, a black hole, they can bend time and space and create gravity. Every molecule of our bodies, every atom in existence has mass and bends time and space into now. How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?
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