「우파니샤드의 지혜」

The Wisdom of Upanisads : Hinduism and Moral Education

「우파니샤드」는 “제자가 스승 바로 아래 가까이 앉아서 은밀하게 전수 받는 심오한 지식”을 뜻한다. 「우파니샤드」는 스승과 제자가 수행자의 숲에서 은밀하게 나눈 대화의 내용을 결집한 기록이다. 「우파니샤드」에 이르러, 브라흐만은 과거의 모든 신들을 넘어서는 초월적 실재로 간주되었고, 브라흐만의 운동을 존재의 내면성, 즉 아트만으로 온전히 확립하고 가시화하는 일은 수양의 궁극적인 목적으로 자리 잡게 되었다. 「우파니샤드」의하면, 의례와 분리되지 않는 지식의 추구, 특히 스승과 제자의 상호의존적 교섭관계는 「우파니샤드」가 추구하는 생의 이념, 즉 범아일여의 세계로 나아가는 통로인 동시에 그 의미가 온전히 구현되는 사태이다. 힌두교의 사성제도는 브라만 계층으로 하여금 범아일여를 삶의 궁극적 이념으로 확립하고 이어가는 일을 종족적 과업으로 삼도록 하는 제도적 버팀목이다.「우파니샤드」의 범아일여의 이념과 힌두교의 사성제도는 삶과 교육의 의미와 양자 사이의 관계를 통념과는 전혀 다른 시각에서 바라보도록 안내한다.

The word Upanisads come from upa, near, ni, under, sad, to seat. It means sitting near the teacher to receive instruction. It gradually came to mean what we receive from the teacher, a sort of secret knowledge and doctrine. Upanisads are compilations from different sources recording the secret dialogue of teacher and pupil at the forest of ascetic monk. Unlike Veda and Bhagavadgita which are concerned more with the religious liturgy and practice than with the knowledge and thought, Upanisads express the restlessness and striving of the human mind to grasp the true nature of reality. They attempt to moralize the religion of the Vedas without disturbing its form. The advance of the Upanisads on the Vedas consist in an increased emphasis on a shifting of the centre from the outer to the inner World, a protest against the exteralism of the Vedic practices and an indifferrence to the sacredness of Veda. Amid all the confused ferment of Vedic devotion a certain principle of unity and comprehension was asserting itself. The Upanisads recognise only one spirit-almighty, infinite, external, incomprehensible, self-existent, the creator, preserver, and destroyer of the world. He is light, lord and life of the universe, the sole object of worship and adoration. His name is Brahman . Many half-gods are but the chief manifestions of the highest, the immortal, incorporeal Brahman. The many gods were subordinated to the One, Brahman. Moreover, the inner immortal self and the great cosmic power are one and the same. Brahman is the Atman and the Atman is the Brahman. According to Upanisads, the pursuit of knowledge which is not separated from the religious liturgy and practice, especially the reciprocal relation of teacher and pupil in their pursuit of knowledge, actualizes the idea of life, that is, the Oneness of Brahman and Atman (梵我一如) which Upanisads seek, in temporal sequence. It is the course and context that embodies the meaning of Upanisads. In addition, the Caste system (Varna) is the institutional buttress, not only supporting the spirit of Upanisads but also to estabilish and succeed the idea of the unity of Brahman and Atman as a Brahman s tribal task, incessantly. The Upanisads idea of the Oneness of Brahman and Atman and the Caste system of Hindu lead us to consider the meaning of life and education from the point of view which is quite different from a ordinarily accepted view.