We have had a discourse on how it is the Self that makes all things dear or beloved to us. We often use the expression “sweet” to express our pleasure or delight in something, and so the upanishad speaks of how all things are “honey’ (madhu) because “Brahman is the soul in each; he indeed is the Self in all. He is all.” The nature of Brahman is bliss (ananda), and Brahman is the soul, the Self of all. Consequently all things are joy for the awakened and realized person.
To avoid tedium from the type of repetition that is found in many Sanskrit texts (and in many Pali sutras of Buddhism), I will just give the first “honey” verse and the simply list all of the subjects covered, since except for the keyword each verse is absolutely identical.
“This earth is honey for all beings, and all beings are honey for this earth. The intelligent, immortal being, the soul of this earth, and the intelligent, immortal being, the soul in the individual being–each is honey to the other. Brahman is the soul in each; he indeed is the Self in all. He is all” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2:5:1).
Verses two to fourteen affirm the joyful nature of water, fire, air, the sun, space, the moon, lightning, thunder, ether, dharma, truth (satyam), humanity (manusham), and all things (sarvesham).
The upanishad them sums it all up with the following verses:
“This Self is the lord of all beings, the king of all beings. As the spokes are held together in the hub and in the felly of a wheel, just so all beings, all creatures, all gods, all worlds, all lives, are held together in the Self.
“He made bodies with two feet, he made bodies with four feet. He entered into all bodies, and because he dwells within the lotus of the heart, he is known as Purusha. There is nothing that is not surrounded by him, nothing that is not filled with him.
“He assumed all forms. He assumed all forms to reveal himself in all forms. He, the Lord, is revealed in an forms through his Maya. He is tens, he is thousands–he is numberless.
“This Brahman is without cause, without effect, without inside or outside. This Brahman is the Self” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2:5:15,18,19).
Read the next article in the Upanishads for Awakening: The Wisdom of the Wise