ABSTRACT
Though the Upaniṣads have not forsaken the path of rational realization of the ultimate truth, still they have put emphasis upon life and its intuition. Reason and discrimination can be helpful to the understanding of the phenomenal as spiritually not comforting and consoling. Hence the attempt has been always to get inspiration from life. The approach has been in two paths—the path of contemplation and the path of negation. The former is the life of Dhyana, which gives us access into the finer secrets of life, which can never present themselves to the untrained soul. But the path of contemplation cannot help us to go beyond the concrete spiritual experiences and see the face of silence. In contemplation the attitude is receptive. But the heart of reality cannot be penetrated even with the persistence of the receptive attitude. The attitude of reception puts truth separate from us and keeps up the distinction between the knower and the known. It may give fine numinous experiences of the soul, but it cannot give the impress of the transcendent truth.
