Sacred Text · The Upanishads
Smaller than small, greater than great
Katha Upanishad I.2.20 · SBE vol. XV · F. Max Müller
Translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Sacred Books of the East, Part I (vol. I, 1879) and Part II (vol. XV, 1884), public domain (Müller died 1900), via the Internet Archive (items upanishads00mlgoog and upanishads02mlgoog). Reproduced in context; Müller’s round-bracket insertions are his own clarifying additions, and optical-scanning artefacts were corrected against his printed wording. The key passages Chandogya VI.8-16 (Tat tvam asi, ‘that art thou’), the Isha opening, Brihadaranyaka I.4.10 (Aham Brahmasmi, ‘I am Brahman’) and IV.5.15 (neti neti), and Katha I.2.18-20 on the immortal Self were validated against the source before publishing. References follow the standard Upanishad numbering.
How this connects to Jesus
The Self is smaller than small and greater than great, hidden in the heart, and is seen, the Upanishad says, by the grace of the Creator, by one free from desire and grief. That single word, grace, stands at the very heart of the Gospel: no one comes to know God by striving alone, but the Father draws us and gives himself as a gift (Ephesians 2:8; John 6:44). Where the Katha says the Self is seen by grace, the Gospel says God in his grace came to seek and to save, and can be found by anyone who asks.
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