By whom, O my beloved, shall the Knower be known?

[barney]

The Upanishads

 

 

As long as there is duality, one sees "the other," one hears "the other," one smells "the other," one speaks to "the other," one thinks of "the other," one knows "the other"; but when for the illumined soul the all is dissolved in the Self, who is there to be seen by whom, who is there to be smelled by whom, who is there to be heard by whom, who is there to be spoken to by whom, who is there to be thought of by whom, who is there to be known by whom? Ah, Maitreyi, my beloved, the Intelligence which reveals all--by what shall it be revealed? By whom shall the Knower be known? The Self is described as "not this, not that" (neti, neti). It is incomprehensible, for it cannot be comprehended; undecaying, for it never decays; unattached, for it never attaches itself; unbound, for it is never bound. By whom, O my beloved, shall the Knower be known?

 

Bhrihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5.15

 

The eye cannot see it; the mind cannot grasp it.

The deathless Self has neither caste nor race,

Neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor feet.

Sages say this Self is infinite in the great

And in the small, everlasting and changeless,

The source of life.

 

Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.6

 

 

 

If you think that you know well the truth of Brahman, know that you know little. What you think to be Brahman in your self, or what you think to be Brahman in the gods--that is not Brahman. What is indeed the truth of Brahman you must therefore learn.

 

I cannot say that I know Brahman fully. Nor can I say that I know Him not. He among us knows Him best who understands the spirit of the words, "Nor do I know that I know Him not."

 

He truly knows Brahman who knows Him as beyond knowledge; he who thinks that he knows, knows not. The ignorant think that Brahman is known, but the wise know Him to be beyond knowledge.

 

Kena Upanishad 2.1-3