This book argues that the early classical Upanisads constitute a “field of wildflowers” of insight that later Vedanta has tried to fashion into a proper garden. These Upanisads (c. 800-300 BCE) are almost always read from the point of view of the later Vedantins, but they do not share in the neatly tailored characteristics of the mature Vedantic philosophies, representing, instead, divergent, variegated and even conflicting narratives. The author focuses on the earliest of these Upanisads: B?hadara?yaka, Chandogya, Aitareya, Taittiriya and Kau?itaki Upani?ads. These Upani?ads are read “as they are,” emphasizing aspects of these texts that are often completely overlooked, among them: their Vedic approach to contradiction, their frequent acceptance of means other than gnostic knowledge of or veneration of atman / brahman as a means for liberation, their positing of entities/realities other than atman or brahman as totalistic, and their frequent depiction of the human body or embodied human as a microcosm of or in identity with the universe. In course, the interpretations of the Upani?adic view, the Vedantic view, for each of these Upani?ads, of Sa?karacarya (c. 800 CE) and Ramanujacarya (c. 1100 CE), as primary examples in the range of Upani?adic interpreters, will be examined and often refuted “This book makes a substantial contribution to scholarship on ancient Indian religion and philosophy by reassessing the early Upani?ads within their original Vedic context. Through a close analysis of the texts' language and imagery, this book liberates the Upani?ads from both Vedanta commentators and modern scholars to reveal their often surprising and delightful insights. By letting the Upani?ads speak for themselves, Ryan reintroduces their mysteries, while pointing towards their paradoxical wisdom” ― Brian Black, author of The Character of the Self in Ancient India: Priests, Kings, and Women in the Early Upani?ads James D. Ryan is Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Integral Studies, USA.