Isa-Upanishad



Peace Chant

OM! That (the Invisible-Absolute) is whole; whole is this (the
visible phenomenal); from the Invisible Whole comes forth the
visible whole. Though the visible whole has come out from that
Invisible Whole, yet the Whole remains unaltered.

OM! PEACE! PEACE! PEACE!

The indefinite term "That" is used in the Upanishads to designate the
Invisible-Absolute, because no word or name can fully define It. A finite
object, like a table or a tree, can be defined; but God, who is infinite and
unbounded, cannot be expressed by finite language. Therefore the Rishis or
Divine Seers, desirous not to limit the Unlimited, chose the indefinite term
"That" to designate the Absolute.

In the light of true wisdom the phenomenal and the Absolute are inseparable.
All existence is in the Absolute; and whatever exists, must exist in It; hence
all manifestation is merely a modification of the One Supreme Whole, and
neither increases nor diminishes It. The Whole therefore remains unaltered.