From Paul’s Upaniṣat Studies in India with TKV Desikachar.

My contact and involvement with the Upaniṣat in the 1980’s, apart from the more usual casual contact through teachers’ quotes and vague readings in the 1970’s, was surprisingly through neither postural practice techniques nor textual study.

I actually became exposed to the Upaniṣat through the practice of chanting. In fact, the very first chant from the Veda that Desikachar taught me was the first verse from Chapter Two of the Taittirīyra Upaniṣat. I still have a recording of my shaky attempts in that lesson from 1984. This extended over time to chanting the entire 31 chapters of the Taittirīyra Upaniṣat and then learning to chant other Upaniṣat.

Thus it was through Chanting that my relationship with the Upaniṣat deepened and the context and understanding of these texts were absorbed somewhat differently than I expected in terms of the more usual method of studying a text. This then extended into the textual study of portions of some Upaniṣat with TKV Desikachar within a more general context through small study groups, and then to a deep word-by-word exploration of a chosen Upaniṣat through private lessons.

The Upaniṣat are a vast range of teachings and my offerings in this area are as if a pebble compared to a mountain. The Upaniṣat Freenotes aspect of the Yoga Studies website will offer a range of teachings around several Upaniṣat. These will be developed over time through added notes and commentaries from my in-depth, sometimes, word-by-word studies of various Upaniṣat with TKV Desikachar.

A Upaniṣat Collected Quotes Page will keep you up to date with the latest input. Updates will also be posted on Paul’s Facebook and Twitter pages, or you can subscribe to receive notification of the latest postings via an email subscription on the cYs Journal Home page. They are all offered with gratitude for what this aspect of my learning has helped lead me towards.