<p>Introduction to the chapter and mantras from 7.1</p>

Chandogya Upanishad Ch-7 002

The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the most prominent among the major group of philosophical and mystical texts of the triad of Indian Culture, being constituted of the Upanishads, the Brahmasutras and the Bhagavadgita. Among the ten major Upanishads, the Chandogya and the Brihadaranyaka stand above the rest in their grand stature and majesty, these two texts being viewed by scholars as representing the cosmic and the a-cosmic aspect of Reality. The Chandogya, tries to be more realistic in its rather matter-of-fact consideration of the issues of life.The sections of the Chandogya Upanishad, is a study of a gradational ascent of knowledge for the purpose of meditations which lift us above the phenomena of ordinary experience, such as birth and death and bondage of every kind, and point to the methods of transcending all sorrow, whatever be its nature, and regaining the originality of being. The various sections that follow are a systematic teaching on what we may call Adhyatma-Vidya, or Atma-Vidya, a knowledge of the ultimate Self, which is the only remedy for the malady of empirical existence.The seventh chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad opens as a conversation between Sanatkumara and Narada. Through 26 sections of the seventh chapter, the Upanishad presents, in the words of Sanatkumara, a hierarchy of progressive meditation, from outer worldly knowledge to inner worldly knowledge, from finite current knowledge to infinite Atman knowledge, as a step-wise journey to Self and infinite bliss. To one who sees, perceives and understands Self as Truth, asserts the Upanishad, the life-principle springs from the Self, hope springs from the Self, memory springs from the Self, as does mind, thought, understanding, reflection, conviction, speech, and all outer worldly knowledges.