Regarding the Upanishads.

[Arun Gupta]

The Upanishads themselves tell the reader to find an enlightened
teacher; studying the text is not enough.  Eknath Easwaran is no
more, but he would have qualified as one, in my opinion.

I do not deny the uses of getting the historical context, the
meaning read into the text over the ages, etc. right.  It is
important.  But one would miss a lot.

The boxer analogy was probably not the best.  Her is another try :
the Upanishads are like a guide book (in Sanskrit) that say --
there is a mountain over there, it is worth climbing, the view from
the top is phenomenal.

You can mull over the text all you want.  But to get to the view you
have to try climbing the mountain. Perhaps the historical study can
help you decide whether you want to try or not.  But should you try,
the person who has been on the climb himself is preferable to the
translator of the guide book.

-arun gupta