Kenpoanishad begins with the importance of teacher in Brahma Vidya. The first chapter in the Kenopanishad brings forth the divine and passionate enquiry of the student about the nature of Truth and the ways of realising it. It says that unless the guru is well versed in the Scriptures he is not in a position to direct his disciple towards the journey of the Self. In fact it is necessary that the guru himself is well aware of the Self in order to guide the disciple towards the realisation of Self. Thus it can be said that a true guru should be well learned and at the same time should have a deep insight into his own self to bring about proper enlightenment of his disciples. The first chapter says that only to such a guru a disciple surrenders with full devotion and dedication and is ready to sacrifice everything in order to learn and realise the truth of life.
This part of the Kenopanisad also delves into the real character of a true disciple. It says that a person who has lived a diligent and intelligent life and has realised that seeking pleasure in the sensuous aspects of the world is completely vague is worthy of being called a true disciple. A true disciple also reaches the state where he achieves detachment from all material aspects and completely devotes his life in the pursuit of truth only in the presence a true Guru.
This section of the Upanishad says that external props like temples, idols and gurus are aids which help an individual to attain the ultimate goal of life. It declares that the true guru of an individual should be the inner intellect. Only with the help of self effort can an individual bring about purification of the self. It is very necessary that individuals lead the life of sincerity and honesty. Ones life should be filled with charity and love in order to purify the inner self. At the same time a very important step which takes individuals close to the Ultimate Guru is constant meditation in the name of the Lord with absolute dedication.
The next section of the first chapter of the Kenopanisad deals with Self Purification. It says that one needs to wake up minds because the minds are obscured by the false ego. Human beings run aimlessly after the fake goals without even realising that they are running in vain. In order to wake minds up it is absolutely necessary that individuals surrender themselves in the feet of the guru with a pure heart and inquire about the True Self. It has said that true surrender to the Lord is possible only when one delves into ones inner self. Moreover journey into the inner self is possible with the help of true knowledge. True knowledge on the other hand comes as individuals move down to the innermost core of minds. Such a journey brings about a total spiritual revolution which includes self perfection which in turn brings about world perfection.
As this chapter discusses about Sincere Pursuit it says that unless the student is ready to walk in the path of the guru or into the path of Atma-Loka leaving aside the grossness of the reality which is perceived by the external organs and the mind, he will not reach the Ultimate Bliss. It says that one must realise that there is a greater reality which is far deeper from the mere day-to-day experience of human beings. The fact that there is a divine Reality which is above all truths gives solace to an individual soul. The teacher in this section of the Kenopanisad prepares the student for a greater purpose in life. He encourages his student to unravel the Truth. At the same time the guru tells that Truth is not something which is perceived by the external Indryas but is the knower itself. It has explained that all human beings are gifted with the divine enlightenment. Within every heart dwells the Truth and the challenge lies in realising the inner Truth. For realising the Inner Truth one needs to undergo a spiritual perception and spiritual perception can come about only with the help of self effort.
The central theme of sincere pursuit has been explained by the teacher to the disciple. He says that one should emancipate ones mind from all kind of grossness of the material world and unless one is able to do so one is coiled by ignorance and his path towards the Atman-Lok is obstructed. Thus the guru emphasizes on concentrating on the inner self.
The next section the first chapter says through the voice of the Guru that True Bliss is present within human hearts. Even then individuals go through the cycles of samsara in order to seek that bliss. It goes on to say that with the help of the wisdom eye one is able to discover the truth and not with the help of the five sense organs which humans boast of. Truth is the Eternal Divine Presence and that is the reason it cannot be perceived by the external Indryas. In order to realise the Truth it is absolutely justified to take any path because the ultimate goal is perception of the Truth. It says that no sense organ can perceive the Supreme Truth or the Atman. The Supreme Reality can only be experienced and the experience of realising the Atman in transcendental. Thus it says that one should make ones mind powerful enough to perceive the Truth because only with the perception of the Truth one can experience the Ultimate Bliss.
When the first chapter discusses about the concept of Seer it says that Seer cannot be perceived by the ordinary instruments of perception. In this section the Guru says to the student that the Knower is beyond the Known. At the same time he says that the Knower knows the known and at the same time also knows the Unknown and hence it can be said that the Knower is the Self or the Atman. Explaining the concept of Seer the Kenopanisad says that the All Pervading Entity is the Absolute Truth and this Absolute Truth resides within the atman. Hence in order to realise the Truth it is necessary to understand the atman.
The Upanishad says that it is essential to know the stuff of the mind. The guru says that even to develop a good character, one needs to know the nature of the mind. It says that the unceasing flow of thoughts is known as the mind. Once when this flow stops the mind stops functioning. Taking cue from this it says that if mind is an incessant flow of thoughts it is necessary that individuals should have adequate illumination to decipher that flow of thoughts. The mind is illumined by the atman and thus with the help of this illumination the mind is able to cognize the Reality. It says that as mind is enlightened by the atman it is ever closer to the Absolute Truth than is the physical body of individuals with the help of its sense organs. But it is the tendency of human mind to neglect the inner world and focus at the outer world instead and as a result the human mind misses the Divine Spark.
Through this section of the Kenopanisad, the Guru says that the mind is the potent factor of individuals and the glory of a man lies in his intellectual capacities. It says that the mind is alive because it has a contact with the Source of Life or the Self.
It has said that the mind functions due to the life-center in human beings. The mind exists due to the life centre and this life centre is the Total Centre of All or the Centre of Centre. This Centre of Centre vitalizes every living being and hence it can be said that finally it is this Total Centre which vitalizes the Total Truth or the Brahmana.
The teacher in this section goes on to say that the thought processes in the mind can be controlled by the regular practice of meditation and as human beings are products of their thoughts, noble thought processes gives rise to nobler human beings. The core philosophy of this section is that the real nature of all human beings is Bliss Absolute and it is possible for one to experience Bliss Absolute only with the realisation of the Self. Only when the true nature of the Self is realised can one understand every deity born and every Seer existing.
The entire first chapter through a Guru`s voice has tried to say that the source of all life activities is the atman. Without the atman neither the physical body nor the mind is able to function. It has declared that behind all perception there is a conscious principle and without it one is not able to realise even the external world. It has emphasised that all individuals should have intimate subjective experience of the Truth in order to realise the Truth.
Thus, it can be concluded that the first chapter of the Kenopanisad through the voice of the teacher has said in a number of ways that the Supreme Being resides within the inner self and unless individuals discover the inner self it is not possible to recognise the Supreme Being. Hence the first chapter focuses on the Role of Guru in Brahma Vidya. It says that unless a teacher guides a disciple in the true path he will not be in a position to reach the pinnacle of Bliss.
