One Truth, Many Voices: Wisdom of the Upanishads and the Bible
At first glance, the Upanishads and the Christian Bible may appear to represent conflicting spiritual perspectives. One grew out of ancient India and speaks of Brahman, the ground of all existence that transcends name and form, and Atman, the eternal, unchanging essence of Brahman appearing as name and form. The Christian framework emerged from the Middle East and centers on a personal God, on concepts of sin and redemption, and on a linear journey towards salvation. Despite the apparent difference, these two traditions share striking similarities that reveal a common aim: to reconnect humanity with its divine source.
Using differing terminologies, both the Upanishads and the Bible, point to an ultimate reality that transcends human comprehension and is the ground of all being. In the Upanishads, this is Brahman, the indescribable, formless Absolute, simultaneously immanent and transcendent. Passages speak of Brahman as “not this, not that” (“neti neti” in Sanskrit), emphasizing its nature beyond all dualities and attributes.
Similarly, the Christian Bible, while often personifying God, also contains mystical declarations of God's transcendence and omnipresence. Passages like “God is Spirit” (John 4:24) or “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) echo the pervasive, formless nature of the Absolute. While Christian theology largely posits a distinct Creator, mystical interpretations within Christianity point to a unity where God is intimately present within and as all creation, mirroring the Upanishadic understanding of Brahman as the Self of all.
A key aspect of both traditions is the alleviation of suffering caused by perceived wrongdoings. The Christian framework, with its emphasis on sin and forgiveness, can appear highly dualistic with a separate God forgiving separate individuals for their transgressions. However, from a nondual perspective, forgiveness can be seen as the ultimate act of non-resistance to reality, a letting go of the ego's attachment to guilt and past narratives. The grace of God is the ever-present reality of wholeness and perfection, available when the mind ceases to identify with the burden of separation. “Getting right with God.” then, is not a negotiation with an external judge, but a re-alignment with the perfect, unblemished nature of consciousness.
Similarly, the Advaita Vedantic or nondual interpretation of the Upanishads also contains teachings on non attachment to the past. Certain passages emphasize that the divine, the true Self, is utterly unaffected by accumulated actions. “When he is seen within us and without / He sets right all doubts and dispels the pain / Of wrong actions committed in the past” (Easwaran, Mundaka Upanishad, Part II, 2:9). In other words, the suffering caused by perceived wrongdoings in the past dissipates when the illusion of a separate actor, the ego, is ultimately seen as illusory. As the potential for experience and the ground of all being, the reality of consciousness is not judgmental in the human sense. Consciousness, pure awareness, the “I Am,” simply is.
Both the Upanishads and the Christian Bible, when explored from the nondual perspective, point to the recognition of our essential nature. The Upanishads call for self-knowledge, for discerning the Atman (the true Self) that is identical with Brahman. This inquiry into “Who am I?” leads to the realization of oneness, transcendent of the belief of being a separate ego.
While the Biblical language differs, the essence of the teachings point towards a similar unification. Jesus’ teachings on losing one’s life to find it, becoming “one with the Father” (John 10:30, 17:21-23), or the Kingdom of God being “within you” (Luke 17:21), are pointers to this dissolution of the separate ego and the realization of unity with the divine ground. The “new creation” in Christian theology can be seen as the transformed perception of reality that comes from abiding in this oneness, where the world is seen as infused with, or as an expression of, the divine.
So while the outer forms, narratives, and theological frameworks differ, the Upanishads and the Christian Bible, in many ways, point to the same truth of a shared, unified reality.