In God Makes the Rivers to Flow; An Anthology of the World’s Sacred Poetry & Prose, Eknath Easwaran includes a selection from the Chandogya Upanishad entitled “This Is the Self.”  I’ve written the following poem-like reflections inspired by this selection.

All We’ll Ever See

This Self who gives rise to all works, all desires, all

odors, all tastes, who pervades the universe, who is beyond

words, who is joy abiding, who is ever present in my heart,

is Brahman indeed. To him I shall attain when my ego dies.

—The Chandogya Upanishad

This Self is skyscrapers.

This Self is cookie crumbs.

This Self is rocket science.

This Self is rainbows.

This Self is silence.

This Self is crickets.

This Self is violins.

This Self is chocolate.

This Self is train engines.

This Self is coffee.

This Self is elevators.

This Self is mountains.

This Self is grass.

This Self is weed.

This Self is wine.

This Self is bread baking.

This Self is salmon.

This Self is goat cheese.

This Self is carpet.

This Self is drawers.

This Self is tents.

This Self is rice.

This Self is broccoli.

This Self is convertibles.

This Self is oranges.

This Self is dogs.

This Self is stars.

This Self is Mars.

This Self is candy bars.

This Self is books.

This Self is authors.

This Self is pictures.

This Self is pianos.

This Self is kittens.

This Self is cathedrals.

This Self is buses.

This Self is bus stations.

This Self is index cards.

This Self is banks.

This Self is computers.

This Self is shelves.

This Self is motorcycles.

This Self is skateboards.

This Self is pharmacies.

This Self is medication.

This Self is pot roast.

This Self is mushroom stroganoff.

This Self is champagne.

This Self is sparkling water.

This Self is rivers.

This Self is seas.

This Self is salt.

This Self is quilts.

This Self is pillows.

This Self is hugs.

This Self is kisses.

This Self is lettuce.

This Self is kale.

This Self is lemons.

This Self is Windex.

This Self is Kleenex.

This Self is dust.

This Self is spiders.

This Self is bears.

This Self is gorillas.

This Self is forests.

This Self is deserts.

This Self is cake.

This Self is buttons.

This Self is Ziploc bags.

This Self is Velcro.

This Self is swimsuits.

This Self is salsa.

This Self is the internet.

This Self is teachers.

This Self is students.

This Self is preachers.

This Self is prisons.

This Self is fingers.

This Self is toes.

This Self is ulcers.

This Self is chicken pox.

This Self is hot.

This Self is cold.

This Self is paint.

This Self is magazines.

This Self is symphonies.

This Self is insight timers.

This Self is snow.

This Self is sunshine.

This Self is the void.

This Self is pure presence.

This Self is all there is to know.

This Self is beyond the physical.

This Self is beyond the emotional.

This Self is beyond the mental.

This Self is quantum.

This Self is the mystery masked by separation.

This Self is the unity masked by our illusions.

This Self is all we’ll ever see, even when we don’t see it.