The irony of the self, or the ego
The Buddhists have an ego-less understanding of the self. The Buddhists agree that each living being is divine consciousness, the universe itself subjectively admiring itself. So the phenomenon that humans associate with the 'self' called ego, the Buddhist flat out reject as a simple mistake. That sensation is only our mind's eye version of our body—it does not correspond to the part of us that really matters. The part that really matters is the part that is actual divine energy. Therefore, many Upanishads have a basic irony to them around names, identity and purpose. One such Upanishad is simply a master questioning his disciple, "Who are you?"
The irony of experience
The central irony of experience is that we're having it. If the Buddhist scriptures are correct, than experience is essentially ironic, because it's happening as if reality is subjective, but the subjectivity is only a myth perpetuated by our inability to conquer our ego-centrism.
In other words, how can the experience be true if the subjective lens we use to view it is essentially misguided? And yet, it must be true, because what other point would their be in our subjectivity? If we are subjective, that means the universe is subjective in us, so does experience count or not? The Buddhists say, "Great question! Keep going," without really offering a logical answer. The point for the Buddhists is the practice of enlightenment and growth toward a transcendence, so they don't speak openly very often. They share attitude this with Jesus Christ who also famously taught in parables and riddles, much like the Upanishads.
The irony of traditional moralism
In the long battle of learning what is right and what is wrong, we often move on from legalistic views toward more complex views, meaning that we are comfortable abandoning our training wheels, so to speak. But the Buddhists take it one step further by analyzing the part of the person who assumes something is right or wrong in the first place? What if "Right" and "Wrong" are the ultimate training wheels, but ultimately, you don't need them? That would mean a transcendence of morality, but not by being amoral, but rather through the ironic juxtaposition of 'yes and no.'
Basically, if 'right and wrong' are opposites, than the Upanishads will encourage a path through the pair of opposites that does not veer off in either direction, not being too holy, not being unnecessarily unholy. This is a mystery, but it's an obvious feature of the writings.
The irony of life and death
The irony of life is death, and the irony of death is life. For the Buddhists, the meaning of death is the beauty and value of our lives in the present moment, and the meaning of life is suffering and eventually, death.
The Buddhists view reality as a dual force of life and death, acting harmoniously. Therefore, death is not evil, it's just the other part of the circle. This irony can't be overstated. The Buddhists believe that death is part of life, not antithetical to it.
The irony of the present moment
The irony of the present moment is that through devout, optimistic participation in the present moment, free from the distractions of desire and fear, the present moment can be used as a lens to interpret the whole of time. This is a borrowed idea from Buddhisms origins in Hinduism, but basically, it's karma. Through the present moment, we can understand the dynamic energies of life which shows us through implication what the past was and what the future will be. This is an underlying theme throughout the works.
