Ignorance is bliss

"The Vaishnava Upanishads" is volume 124 of the Adyar Library Series, published by the Adyar Library and Research Center (an arm of the Theosophical Society). It contains 14 minor Upanishads belonging to the Vaishnava tradition within Hinduism. Vaishnavas regard Vishnu or one of his avatars (usually Krishna or Rama) as the supreme god. The term "Upanishad" is used for a certain kind of scriptures attached to the four original Vedas, and hence regarded as divine revelation. Unfortunately, this volume contains virtually no commentary (there is more information on Wikipedia!), nor is it explained how the translation was made, and what the difference is between these translations and others. Even with Wiki´s info, the Vaishnava Upanishads are bewildering to an outsider. Who knows, maybe insiders find them equally strange? 

Some of the material seems devotional (bhakti) in nature, but the main element is apparently Tantric, with long expositions on mantras (sacred chants) and yantras (sacred diagrams). No ritual sex or human sacrifice, though! (Vishnu is usually more civilized than Shiva or Shakti.) One of the shortest Vaishnava Upanishads, Kalisamtarana Upanishad, contains the famous "Hare Krishna mantra", which was made world famous during the 1960´s and 1970´s by the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON). 

Metaphysically, many of the texts assert that Vishnu, Rama, Krishna or some other Vishnu avatar is really Brahman. One scripture, Tripadvibhuti Mahanarayana Upanishad, tries to solve the obvious problems this leads to: how can a personal god simultaneously be Brahman, which looks impersonal? There is a category known as "saguna Brahman" (Brahman with attributes) but how can an infinite and presumably invisible spirit be said to have attributes? The solution is obvious (Brahman´s knowledge is also an attribute), making him an invisible personal god - a well known concept in Christianity and Islam - but apparently terra incognita for whoever this text was adressed to. Meanwhile, the humanoid forms of Vishnu and other gods are only present in "avidya", the realm of ignorance. 

And speaking of avidya...

The same Upanishad claims that Vishnu´s heavenly abode, Vaikuntha, is reflected even in the realm of avidya, and that the sage who passes through the utter darkness of this realm will eventually meet Avidya-Lakshmi, its divine queen, and gaze in wonder at her powers of illusion. Worshipping her, the sage will become a mahaviraj, a being with the power to create entirely new worlds inside the avidyaic illusion?! Poetic metaphor, or some kind of secret Tantric path to integrate even ignorance with the god-realization? I admit my head was spinning when reading this!

Overall, however, I must say that "The Vaishnava Upanishads" isn´t exactly my cup of ambrosial nectar, at least not without detailed commentaries by an initiated guru-scholar. Here, I must end.