The Kena Upanishad and Schopenhauer: Revelation of Brahman in Will and Better Consciousness

The paper compares the concept of absolute reality in the Kena Upanishad with Schopenhauer's philosophy of Will, arguing that Schopenhauer's ideas of Will, ideas, and better consciousness find a parallel in the Upanishadic notion of Brahman. Both traditions describe phenomenal reality as an objectification of a single underlying absolute, and identify the individual with the cosmic whole. Despite differences in time and context, the author sees a coalescence between Schopenhauer's Will and the Kena Upanishad's Brahman. The analysis uses qualitative, interpretive, and content analysis methods to draw this relation.

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Abstract

This paper explores the speculations of the absolute reality projected in the Kena Upanishad and their reflections in the philosophy of Schopenhauer. His proclamations of Will remain as the metamorphosis of the absolute reality, Brahman, postulated in the Kena Upanishad. For Schopenhauer, every phenomenal manifestation is the objectification of Will. The Kena Upanishad also states similar nature of the absolute reality. Likewise, both the Kena Upanishad and Schopenhauer identify the individual with the entire cosmic Will as a whole. In this way, Schopenhauer's philosophical concepts of Will, ideas and better consciousness find their perfect explanation in the Kena Upanishad. In spite of the differences in time, space and context, it is very interesting to see the great coalescence of Schopenhauer’s Will with the ideation of Brahman in the Kena Upanishad. They both bear similar tones and concepts in their essence. This paper applies the paradigm of qualitative approach, interpretive and explorative strategy, and uses the content analysis method to show the relation between the philosophical concepts of Schopenhauer with the enthralling ideas of cosmic speculations expressed in the Kena Upanishad.