The Self in All Beings

Hinduism

Chandogya Upanishad 6:8-16

Uddalaka's repeated instruction to his son Shvetaketu — 'Tat tvam asi' (That art thou) — closes each teaching in a chiastic refrain, with the identity of Atman and Brahman as the unchanging center.

AIn the beginning, all this was Being alone — one only, without a secondA'

BAs rivers flow into the ocean yet do not know it, creatures return to Being yet do not know itB'

XTAT TVAM ASI — THAT SUBTLE ESSENCE, THOU ART THAT, SHVETAKETU

B'As bees gather honey from many flowers — all becomes one — so all creatures merge into BeingB

A'That which is the finest essence — this whole world has that as its soul. That art thou.A