Session 6: Non Duality Realization & Manifestation by Swami Sarvapriyananda (Advaita Vedanta)

[00:00:04]Oh may shanty shanty shanty. Hey.

[00:00:29]Om lead us from the unreal to the real.

[00:00:33]Lead us from darkness to light. Lead us from death to immortality.

[00:00:38]Om peace. Peace. Peace.

[00:00:44]Let us start with the rolling Om chant.

[00:00:54]Oh.

[00:01:06]Oh.

[00:01:18]Oh.

[00:01:35]I'll chant those five verses. Those who like you can chant after me.

[00:01:48]A shantam sham a sham atma vine stium atma vine indriam Another shu dash shu damaka aakir.

[00:02:48]Putraish my jan.

[00:03:23]Vive say vades admitt Humility, freedom from hypocrisy, nonviolence, forgiveness, simplicity, service of the guru. Cleanliness of body and mind, steadfastness and self-control, dispassion towards the objects of the senses, absence of egotism, keeping in mind the evils of birth, disease, old age and death, non-attachment, absence of clinging to spouse, children, home and so on.

[00:04:32]Evenmindedness amidst desired and undesired events in life, constant and exclusive devotion towards me. an inclination for solitary places and an aversion for mundane society, constancy in spiritual knowledge and philosophical pursuit of the absolute truth. All these I declare to be knowledge and what is contrary to it I call ignorance.

[00:04:59]So all of these are knowledge in the sense they enable knowledge on one hand and they manifest knowledge on the other hand. Before enlightenment on the way up to the mountaintop, these are things which will help us and after enlightenment Vander said spirituality or religion is the manifestation of the divinity within us. These will manifest the divinity already within us. They will uh enable us to live it. This is what is meant. What does it look like in day-to-day life? This is what it looks like in day-to-day life.

[00:05:36]There is what I like to call the matrix of sadhana spiritual practice.

[00:05:43]It goes like this.

[00:05:46]Vanta tells us you are Brahman. You are the absolute non-dual consciousness.

[00:05:51]That's it. When we hear this, we scratch our heads and say that sounds nice, but I don't get it. What do you mean?

[00:05:59]And so Vanta says this is the first layer of the problem. This is called ignorance. We do not know our real nature.

[00:06:07]And the solution for ignorance is always knowledge. Every ignorance is removed by knowledge. And the method of getting knowledge is inquiry. So you have the first row, the first layer in the matrix of sadhana. The problem, the solution and the method. The problem is ignorance, the solution is knowledge and the method is inquiry.

[00:06:30]And then inquiry consists of hearing reflection meditation just like any inquiry.

[00:06:37]So I said no it doesn't hearing inquiry consists of asking Google or chat GPT or something. No. So inquiry is when we gather that knowledge, the information, study, find out about it, then think about it, reason about it and then get clarity and then bear down on that clarity, immerse ourselves in that clarity till it becomes a living reality. What Viveandanda calls assimilation that is knowledge and that knowledge will remove ignorance and then we will see that we are the non-dual reality which is what we have been trying to do this morning, yesterday in the morning. But when we say that Our reaction is to scratch our head and say, "Yeah, that's all right." But you know, I it's not my first time. I have been doing this a lot. I've been listening to lots of YouTube talks, reading lots of books, attending lots of retreats, and it's not working. I'm not enlightened yet. Nowhere close to it. Then Vidanta says that ah this is the second you're pointing to the second layer, the second row of the matrix of sadhana. Here the problem is scattered mind. The mind we listen but we are unable to absorb.

[00:07:47]One teacher put it nicely. He said um you are here but you do not hear.

[00:07:56]We listen but the mind is not absorbing it. We don't get it. Even if we get it, we don't stay with what we have got. Nor do we assimilate or embody it. So what's the problem? Scattered mind. Solution for scattered mind focus. Concentration.

[00:08:11]method of focus or concentration meditation. So this is the second layer.

[00:08:16]The problem is scattered mind. The solution is focused mind or or concentrated mind. And the method is meditation.

[00:08:26]Then the third layer. Why the third layer? You say, "Yeah, I know about this. I've been trying meditation all my life for years and years and years, but I don't make much progress. Either I fall asleep when I try to meditate or my mind is just too scattered. It's all over the place. So ah the third row and this is the last one. The third row of the matrix of sadhana of spiritual practice problem solution method. What is the problem now? The problem is impure mind. Impure mind. The mind is full of garbage of of past conditioning of patterns of thought and behavior of feelings which is not allowing me to meditate.

[00:09:06]So what is the solution for this impure mind? Pure mind.

[00:09:11]Nob brainer. Impure mind should be replaced by pure mind. But how do you get pure mind? And the method here is I mean there are a lot of methods but the central method is karma yoga.

[00:09:23]Selflessness.

[00:09:24]There two levels to this. First ethical life and then an unselfish life.

[00:09:31]Basically karma yoga.

[00:09:34]So now you have the matrix of sadhana complete.

[00:09:38]The karma yoga self selfless life moral and selfless living purifies the mind um replacing the impure mind with the pure mind when I sit down for meditation focus arises erasing the restless mind the restlessness of the mind then with this pure and focused mind when I come to inquiry the inquiry will generate knowledge the realization ah I am this non-dual consciousness and it removes the ignorance about my real nature then it's done. So this is the whole matrix of spiritual pract practice a matrix you know it's a 3 + 3 matrix problem solution method first row second row third row the problem is um ignorant mind solution is knowledge and the method is inquiry in Sanskrit vara I'll give you the Sanskrit later on together let's do it together uh ignorance Ahana in Sanskrit. Knowledge Ghana in Sanskrit. Method inquiry in Sanskrit.

[00:10:53]Vijara.

[00:10:55]The next level of sadhana of spiritual practice. Um problem restless mind in Sanskrit. Vika and solution focus in Sanskrit aka focus.

[00:11:12]And then method is meditation in Sanskrit upasana or dhana upasana.

[00:11:19]And then last level of problems and solutions. The problem impure mind. Um in Sanskrit mala chitta mala purity of mind is the solution in Sanskrit chitti.

[00:11:35]We hear a lot about this in spiritual practice chitty because that's the ground work the hard work the weeding the weeding and the manuring of the ground preparing of the ground and then the method primarily karma yoga but there are two levels to this the basis is always ethical life just easy to say ethical life but that's a whole struggle in itself to clean up basically to clean up our lives and then to rise to selfless action to do work for the welfare of others that really purifies the mind.

[00:12:09]So there you have the whole matrix of sadhana. Do you do you have it 3 + 3? Yeah.

[00:12:17]All of this is it belongs to the matrix of sadhana. It belongs basically to the ground level. The purification of the mind of the matrix of sadhana. All of these practices.

[00:12:29]Now last time we were at aimsa we talked about nonviolence aimsa what is its relation to non-duality nonviolence is of course a great thing wonderful practice very precious um reaction to nondual what is the relation to nonduality the relation is this violence is a direct violation of non-duality it's like violent violence against yourself violence we think I am fighting against the other, my enemy, my rival, my opponent. But Vanta tells you you really don't have a rival or an opponent really speaking in depth. They are you, you are them.

[00:13:12]So a violence cultivation of violence is is a violation of non-duality. You directly we are repudiating this non-dual truth that we are all one. The moment I hit out at you, moment when physically, verbally, even mentally, it is all based on the ignorance, the wrong idea that you and I are separate.

[00:13:34]If you are one reality, how can I be violent? It's like one hand hitting the other hand.

[00:13:41]So always remember skill in action. This is the basic the truth in principle. In action, what should it be? Um how would it how is it manifested? You require skill in action.

[00:13:55]Don't you need to scold somebody uh at office or the kids in class? If you don't if you're not strict about it, nothing would work in this in this world at all. It'll all fall down very quickly. So one has to be very very skillful there. Remember all this nonviolence who is saying and to whom Krishna is saying to Arjun in the battlefield who are just about to kill thousands of people after that and Krishna tells him to go and do it. What does this mean? This means that the basic principle of nonduality and it means an understanding that intellectually we understand we are one one reality at the level of mind and emotion there can be no hatred.

[00:14:38]At the level of action in the world, you will do what needs to be done. So the policeman will have to arrest the criminal. The teacher will have to discipline the students. The parents will have to discipline the children.

[00:14:52]The boss will have to enforce the rules in the organization. It has to be done.

[00:14:58]Um Sri Ramak Krishna used to tell this story about the elephant and the mahut.

[00:15:06]Mouth is you know the person who controls the elephant sitting on top of the elephant there's no English word mouth has become an English word I think yeah you would need to have elephants in England for that to have an English word for yeah the story is a disciple in an ashram was taught by the guru that all is nar god is everywhere he thought it's a great idea that he went out for begging for arms in the village and he walks down the narrow village village paths and the villagers are running away helter skelter and somebody says run the mad elephant is coming. So the elephant which is in must is it's behaving crazily it's charging down the narrow path everybody's running away and the disciple thought oh but wait my guru said god is in everything elephant is also narayan elephant is god so it's all right and elephant is god not in that sense that's Ganesha there yeah I thought in the United States I saw so much of Ganesha I thought that's that's interesting I asked people that I thought of all the Hindu gods and goddesses of forms would be Ganesha would be most peculiar to a western mind. But I see Ganesha is very popular in in America. I asked why and I said, "Oh, but everybody loves a cute elephant."

[00:16:32]So there is the mad elephant charging down the village path and the the mouth on the elephant is sitting there shouting, "Get out of the way. I can't control this elephant.

[00:16:44]And this student thought no that's all right. Disciples thought it's all right.

[00:16:48]It's it's Nar and it's God. Nothing will happen to me. And the elephant came I guess elephant couldn't believe its beady little eyes and sees this guy in front of him. Picks him up with his um trunk and tosses him into the bushes on the side and charges down. So the poor disciple loses consciousness. After some time they come to search for him and they bring him back to the ashram and they throw water on his face to revive him. And the guru asks him what happened and he said but master you told me that God is in everything and the elephant charged down and the the mouth was shouting get out of the way and uh I thought God is in the elephant what harm can come but the elephant tossed me aside why did this happen to me and the master said but the mouth is also God the mouth told you to get out of the way why didn't you listen to meaning thereby skill in action Sri Ramach Krishna would say yes narayana meaning meaning meaning god or vishnu is in all beings it's true it's a fact but that does not mean you will embrace the t tiger narayana if say my lord is there in the tiger and embrace but what will happen the tiger will embrace you not in the way you think there was a video of um of a person who's mentally unwell Well, went into a tiger's cage in in the YouTube in in the zoo somewhere. I don't know where. I think he wanted to fight with the tiger or challenge the tiger something and I don't remember whether he was he was definitely mauled but whether he was killed or rescued I don't remember. So you should not never do that in the world. In the world treat it with respect. There are forms which are peaceful. There are forms which are aggressive. There is a role that we have to play in the organization in the family in society. So that has to be done skillfully.

[00:18:42]So to see um but the idea here is the non-duality.

[00:18:48]Even when you're you're being skillful, even exercising violence if it is necessary. That's why a professional a military person a policeman or a professional boxer or martial artist even when they're unleashing violence there's no hatred in their minds. Yeah.

[00:19:07]So only in that case even the violence will be limited because it's being done without any hatred just to do the job.

[00:19:16]So there there are difficult questions to be confronted here.

[00:19:20]So nonviolence if you're a soldier nonviolence is of one kind for you. A policeman. If you are a teacher or a boss in an organization, nonviolence is of one kind for you. If you are a monk, nonviolence is even more extreme for you. You're not allowed to defend yourself under any circumstance.

[00:19:40]So uh depending on your situation in life there is uh violence and nonviolence. This has to be understood.

[00:19:53]I remember this quote from a martial arts master.

[00:19:58]Um this was in the early days of um karate being propagated in Europe by Japanese teachers in after the second world war. So this master and his one of his students an Englishman has written this. He said our master he was a very high eighth or ninth degree black belt Japanese extremely tough little guy and once he was mugged on the street somewhere in London and he meekly gave up his wallet and gave it to the mugger.

[00:20:25]And so we knew he said the he could have easily knocked down the the mugger the thief. He didn't. So we asked him the sensei why didn't you do that and he looked at us and he says these hands you've seen them smash wood and stone and ice blocks you know how can I use them on a poor human being and he says uh so if you when you're confronted if you can avoid a fight avoid the fight if you cannot avoid the fight then end it as soon as possible without any injury if you cannot avoid injury maim rather rather than um you know like like um knock the person out rather than maim the person maim the person or wound the person rather than kill the person. So as far as possible restraint another Chinese sage who um when he was dying he told he wanted to see whom he would hand over his school to his sons. He had three sons.

[00:21:30]So he invited them and he said there's a test. There's a valley in which lives a very fierce horse. You have to cross the valley. Get on the other side of the valley.

[00:21:42]So the first son who was a mighty martial artist, maybe a kung fu artist or something, walked boldly into the valley and the horse charged at him and attacked him. And this young man, he fought it off with fierce battle. He was also uh injured, you know, bruised, but finally he fought it off and he crossed the valley and he thought, "Look, I've done it." Then the second son, he went, but skillfully he scaled the the sides of the the mountains of the valley so the horse couldn't reach him. they didn't have to fight and he uh sidelined. He bypassed the horse. Then the final, the youngest son, he walked into the valley and the horse came up to him and nuzzled him and he petted the horse and he walked along with the horse to the end of the valley and walked away. And that third son of course got the leadership of the school.

[00:22:36]one so established in nonviolence that even the violent become nonviolent before him.

[00:22:43]I am reminded of the story of the samurai and the Zen master where this warrior he hears of a great Zen master and comes to him and says uh teach me about heaven and hell.

[00:22:59]And the master was sitting in meditation and he said I have no time for scum like you.

[00:23:06]And the warrior was furious. He drew his sword. He said, "How dare you speak to me like this? Do you not know I can cut off your head in an instant?"

[00:23:14]And the Zen master said, "That is hell."

[00:23:18]The warrior realized immediately she this sword and bowed down and apologized and said, "I am very sorry." And the master said, "That is heaven." The teaching of heaven and hell. So this is nonviolence.

[00:23:32]None of these are very easy to first to grasp and then actually to implement in practice and it holds true for all of these things. Then comes something related to nonviolence. Shanti the Sanskrit word it means it's very similar to Shanti. Shanti means peace.

[00:23:51]Shanti the difference is between a sha and aa.

[00:23:56]Shanti means forgiveness.

[00:23:59]Forgiveness.

[00:24:01]Nonviolence is not to use violence.

[00:24:04]And forgiveness goes one step further.

[00:24:06]When violence has been used against you, when you have been treated unrighteously badly, can you forgive?

[00:24:13]Can you forgive? Again, not easy. Why forgive? Because that one is you remember who can forgive? Only the strong can forgive. The weak cannot forgive. The weak only will be quiet and resentful.

[00:24:28]So forgiveness comes from strength.

[00:24:30]Shanti, forgiveness.

[00:24:34]Why? Because if I harbor grudges, ill will, anger, wherever they are, they are like they are like fire. And fire burns the place where it is lit.

[00:24:47]Yes, the fire will destroy the house of the enemy. My my opponent, I will burn him. But before that, when I light the fire, where do I light it? In my heart, I get burnt first.

[00:25:00]Anger is natural.

[00:25:03]Don't think that these are things to be understood carefully.

[00:25:06]Anger is natural. In fact, Swam Vander says only a fool does not get only a fool cannot get angry. The wise do not get angry.

[00:25:16]I I can't I don't I can't feel anger.

[00:25:18]It's foolish. There are situation in which anger should come. It's very natural in life. It's a natural emotion.

[00:25:25]But it's wise not to get angry. Deal with it. When the problem comes, you deal with it. But without anger.

[00:25:32]I like this story I read long ago.

[00:25:34]There's a great meditation master pastor a couple of years ago Siknatan miracle of mindfulness one of the classics of um meditation literature in modern times. I strongly recommend that you should read it if you have not. The miracle of mind and there are many books but the first one is is really the classic is the best the miracle of mindfulness. He passed away I think three or four years ago.

[00:25:57]He writes in the first time he went to Europe long time back in the 70s and that was the time of the green peace movement anti- what anti-uclear weapons movement in France and in Germany and people were agitating for the removal of nuclear weapons and he writes that I was astonished to see how angry the peace activists were.

[00:26:26]If you ask the peace activist, they would say naturally we are indignant.

[00:26:29]This is very bad and we are angry about it. But there's something mysterious about being a peace activist and being angry and full of anger.

[00:26:37]No, not only the ends must be peaceful, the means must also be peaceful. This is what Mahatma Gandhi realized. You can realize your ends. If it's a just end, it is a worthwhile end. You can realize it and continue to be peaceful, nonviolent and spiritual.

[00:26:55]You don't have to give up your spirituality to be to fight for justice.

[00:26:59]You don't have to give up your justice, your peace of mind to fight for the word fight itself seems to invoke anger and lack of peace. So shanti forgiveness even when it is justified.

[00:27:16]I feel justified in being angry at such and such person because they have harmed me under every norm I can think of. I have been harmed and still can I forgive.

[00:27:29]How does how is it related to non-duality? It's like this.

[00:27:33]I remember once seeing in our monastery in India um a bird I think it was a kingfish or something. A small bird but one of those fastm moving fluttering a woodpecker not a king fisher.

[00:27:49]woodpecker and in the window it was seeing its own reflection and fighting fiercely against it, running up against it and because the woodpecker make a loud noise tuck tuck tuck and pecking away at its own reflection.

[00:28:02]What a tragedy. All that energy and fury directed at what? At itself at a reflection of itself.

[00:28:11]All our anger is like that. No matter how justified it seems. So forgiveness let go dissolve that foolishness it might not immediately work like that you know we are utterly nonviolent others will become nonviolent around you that's the final state but initially it might not work then you have to handle it skillfully but without hatred in your heart forgiveness shanti without this forgiveness nonduality spirituality spirituality and especially nondual ity is not possible.

[00:28:49]Jesus said in the um in the Bible it's I think it's a sermon in the mount or where where is it that if you have got something to offer to the Lord and you have ought in your heart against your brother then leave your offering there and go and settle it with your brother and come back but otherwise the Lord will not accept. But why will the Lord not accept?

[00:29:14]Because the Lord is you and your brother. How can you offer something to the Lord and hate the Lord at the same time? Here in the shrine, you are offering something to the Lord out of reverence and and uh love and there you are hating the Lord in the form of of your brother. You have to settle it otherwise the Lord will not accept.

[00:29:35]So that is forgiveness. Then Arjavam the next word is arjavam.

[00:29:42]Um it means straight.

[00:29:46]The Sanskrit word riu.

[00:29:50]It means straight. Straight means simple.

[00:29:54]Simplicity.

[00:29:56]Brahman is simple. Maya is not simple.

[00:30:00]But Brahman is simple. And we we too must be simple.

[00:30:04]Again I'm reminded of blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

[00:30:12]Be like unto children is as simple as a child. Now there is something called childic childish and childlike. Childlike is good. Childish is not good. Childish is all right.

[00:30:24]Maybe when you're a little kid but very soon even among children parents tell them don't be childish. You might the kid might say but I am a child but it's not good to be childish. And certainly if you're grown up don't be childish.

[00:30:35]You're a menace to society. Childlike is good. And saintly people are generally childlike.

[00:30:43]Not because they are foolish. They are very wise. They understand everything in our I've seen many senior monks who are childlike. They understand everything about us. We are children compared to them. It's like a grandfather or a grandmother with grandchildren.

[00:30:58]She may he or she may come down to the level of the grandchildren to play with them and you know and the children think that they're fooling their grandparents and the grandparents play the role of the fool. So that it's fun, it is affection, it is love. Simplicity.

[00:31:16]One might think if I'm simple the world will take advantage of me. Simple does not mean stupid.

[00:31:23]S. Ramach Krishna would say if you are if you're a devotey does that mean you have to be a fool because you are spiritual does spirituality does it mean foolishness?

[00:31:32]No. You can be very wise and be spiritual also. But simplicity, straightforwardness.

[00:31:39]There's a saying, nothing confounds the clever so much as simplicity.

[00:31:44]Those are very clever, sly, cunning in the world. The one thing they can't figure out is simplicity. They think it's stupidity.

[00:31:54]But you understand everything and you're simple. That's something they can't figure out. They find it very difficult to understand.

[00:32:02]Sri Ramach Krishna said one becomes simple in one's last life. It's a sign of enlightenment coming in this life. It precedes enlightenment. Simplicity, straightforwardness, openness, frankness, childlike.

[00:32:25]This is a beautiful description of Sri Ramak Krishna himself. It says uh he was like a child, wholesome like a child and utterly unapproachable in his seriousness.

[00:32:41]This combination Viveand explained it further. He said in life we must endeavor to combine uh childlike simplicity with utmost seriousness.

[00:32:52]In life we should try to combine childlike simplicity with utmost seriousness.

[00:32:58]What we usually do is the opposite. We become extremely complex people and our lives are utterly superficial. We com combine complexity and superficiality in our lives. We lead lives of superficiality of no great purpose at all. No point at all and we become complex people. Whereas the spirituality is just the opposite. Become childlike in your simplicity and a life of utmost seriousness.

[00:33:26]the search for God, search for enlightenment.

[00:33:31]Or if you step down one step lower, life of of science or philosophy or art or for the welfare of humanity, those are lives of utmost seriousness.

[00:33:42]Higher than that, the final seriousness is the search for God, search for enlightenment.

[00:33:46]Le live a life like that and be a simple person in this life. I I'm reminded of I said yesterday the master who instructed the old man with the staff pointed at the heart of the old man. Instruction to the old man with the staff pointing at his heart. And the end he says and endeavor to die an ordinary person a simple person. Don't be ambitious about this person.

[00:34:13]That's the ego.

[00:34:20]Arjam what's its relationship with with vanta with non-duality straightforwardness and non-duality notice Brahman think about it as light streaming down one light streaming down and coming and hitting the passing through the colored stained glass windows of a church and inside you will see all a blazing display of colors.

[00:34:43]It's one light when it falls on a prism and split up into multiple colors.

[00:34:48]Similarly, Brahman is like that one radiance and when it hits our minds, it usually gets defracted into a lot of complexity because of the thoughts and feelings and emotions in our minds and our memories and personality. The simpler the personality, the more the radiance streams through.

[00:35:08]A saint is the simplest of people and yet the most profound.

[00:35:14]Certainly not stupid, extremely deep, profound and yet simple.

[00:35:20]So this is one more practice straightforwardness, simplicity um service to the guru. Upasana means worship service. So this is one big deal in Vanta. The one reason being is a knowledge system. So in a knowledge system the text is important, the teacher is important.

[00:35:53]That's why you get you get as much importance to the guru in Vanta as god you know it's almost uh it's like a worship of the guru.

[00:36:02]Uh because it is being transmitted from the guru.

[00:36:07]Uh there are many reasons for it.

[00:36:10]One reason is it is this personal connect with the teacher which makes the teaching very quick and effective. If I am if I have humility if I approach the teacher and the goal is to see through the eyes of the teacher to hear through the ears of the teacher to understand through the mind of the teacher and that works only when I'm I'm I have humility I'm humble.

[00:36:34]If I'm high no water collects in a high place it all runs down. Similarly, if I stand and you know centered in my ego, the teaching will not work. I'll be just fixed in what I then what's the point of going to anybody if I am fixed in my opinions. One can ask questions. One can ask questions in two ways. One way is uh to scoff to be skeptical. Whatever this guy is saying is wrong. Why? From what perspective, from what I know. But then you didn't learn anything at all. Then you're you're welcome to find out if it's wrong. But first see grasp clearly what this person is saying and that's not so easy at all and that requires humility and preparation and dedicated um you know perseverance stay with the teacher this saying the teacher you know I I once uh was involved in the education of children pedagogy and the most advanced form of pedagogy across the world in any profession in any time in civilization is what is called uh apprentichip.

[00:37:36]So you go to be an apprentice, go an intern, go to a master and then shadow the master, stay with the master, watch the master in action. Listen to the teachings, the cues, the insights the master is giving.

[00:37:51]Somebody said in tennis, how do you learn tennis? Well, you go to tennis school and you like everybody else and you learn. But then at advanced level you must stay with like a top ranking player and um you know learn that way.

[00:38:06]It's more like downloading rather than going to a classroom and um taking notes and you know handouts and stuff like that. There's a factory style mass- prodduced education which works at the basic level but at the higher levels of skill and mastery is to be close to a master.

[00:38:24]There's something that one must catch.

[00:38:26]You don't have to be a copy of the master. You can be original in your own way. Viveand used to say we the disciples of Sri Ramak Krishna would tell his brother disciples we must all be original in our own ways. You reflect the light of the master in your own way.

[00:38:40]But first you have to catch the light of the master.

[00:38:44]That requires closeness being in tune. And that requires ser humility. Humility comes from service, proximity and service.

[00:38:58]The famous story of the Zen master and the student who comes to him to learn and whatever the Zen master is saying, the student says, "Oh, that one I know.

[00:39:06]Ah, that I read it's in that book. I Yeah, I know this. You know, I have a different opinion about this." After some time, the Zen master, you know, he must have rolled his eyes and he time for tea. And he says he serves tea and then he pours tea into the student's cup and keeps on pouring till it's overflowing. And then the student says stop it's overflowing. And Zen master said precisely you must empty your cup before you can taste my tea.

[00:39:34]You must empty your cup before you can taste my tea.

[00:39:38]Then you make of it what you will.

[00:39:40]Nobody's telling you not to think for yourself, not to be skeptical, not to change. You can do it but first master it.

[00:39:48]any classical form, art, music.

[00:39:51]I I remember where I stay in Manhattan, there's this school. It's one of the greatest schools of classical western music. Giuliard school, very famous. And children from all across the United States, Canada, those who are musically talented. The parents dream is to put the child in Juliet. and how many hours and hours and hours of hard work these extremely talented children are put through to reach that level of mastery.

[00:40:17]If a child gets in there and says no no no I don't need to learn anything from you guys I'm going to free form it now it'll be expelled you know just out with you that will not work and especially in spirituality swami brahmanandanda disciple of sri raishrishna he asked about the guru and he said what it requires to be a pickpocket requires a master to learn from a master to be a pickpocket and to you want to realize god and you don't want a master I remember I had this experience.

[00:40:53]Um the one western philosopher I'm really fascinated by is Vidgenstein Ludig Vidgenstein.

[00:41:00]So I got a chance to study some of that with a leading scholar of Widgenstein living in this world today Warren Goldfarb. He is professor of philosophy at Harvard University. So I I said that can I join your course and of course everybody else in the course was they were advanced students of philosophy but he was very kind. This is very odd monk suddenly comes and wants to join the course. He said yeah yeah you you come and sit in the class come now I saw his style of teaching was very different. He has been at Harvard for 50 years as a graduate student and now he's the senior most professor there. So 50 years at Harvard his teaching style is different.

[00:41:38]Nowadays there's a lot of um you know um information technology every professor has their page on online um I mean from what I saw it's common in every it's not just Harvard every university in the world the assignments are there the reading lists are there then you can s submit your questions and assignments on that page uh the grades are there everything is sort of you go to that page his u page as far as I saw at that time was very sparse. Something here, something there. Mostly ignored. His style was, "Come to class.

[00:42:16]Don't skip class. Come to class. Sit there. Look at me. Listen to me. Watch me."

[00:42:24]So what we are teaching is here is very subtle.

[00:42:28]Widgenstein the most difficult sophisticated philosophical thinkers in the 20th century. We're going to talk about that. Read Wiggenstein line by line in between the lines. You look at the teacher, watch the teacher's mannerisms, the expression on his face, the tone of the voice, you will get it.

[00:42:47]You sit in a cafe and read the handout, you won't get it.

[00:42:51]There's something ineffable transferred from an expert to the willing student.

[00:42:59]It's radiated out when the master teaches and you catch it and you'll catch it in your own way. That's fine.

[00:43:08]Now come to non-duality.

[00:43:10]What is this achar? Acharam is the master. Um what is the exact word?

[00:43:20]>> Acharasan. Yes. Acharasan.

[00:43:25]Achar is the master, the teacher. The word upasanam now is usually trans translated as service or worship. You do upasana to God or to the guru.

[00:43:38]But literally if you look at the word upasana asa means the seat the seat and up means close to sit close to the teacher. It's exactly what Warren Goldb was saying come to class sit listen.

[00:44:01]One teacher put it very nicely.

[00:44:04]Teaching is spiritual.

[00:44:06]So don't say I will catch it intuitively. I'll read the book and catch it intuitively. He says we don't believe in intuition. We believe in tuition.

[00:44:18]So Swami Paramatanand in Chennai in India he said this intuition I really like that. That is the traditional that's the whole idea of vantic teaching hearing reasoning meditating that's tuition that's sitting with the teacher upasanam is to sit near the teacher now you go deeper where is the you have to ask the question where is the teacher sitting say on the chair on the meditation mat no no no no no that's the body of the teacher what is the teacher identified with what is the teacher's where does the teacher locate himself or herself where is the teacher sitting in Brahman in his real nature his or her real nature as pure consciousness is awareness sit near that that's how you come to the edge of enlightenment see this is one is a different way of teaching Meditation. Let's not talking not about adwita. We're talking about meditation.

[00:45:29]Suppose how do you teach meditation?

[00:45:30]There are two ways.

[00:45:33]One is you sit straight, relax your body, keep the spine straight and um and then breathe normally and then relax the body and then focus inwards at your heart or between your eyebrows. And this is what you visualize a series of instructions and do it. That's one way.

[00:45:57]Another way is look at that mountain.

[00:46:00]Yes. Sit like the mountain. Breathe like the wind.

[00:46:06]It's an intuitive way of of teaching.

[00:46:09]How I am not there anymore. The mountain is sitting. How is the mountain sitting?

[00:46:16]Some of you look happy. Some of you look puzzled.

[00:46:20]So for some that list of instructions will work. Sit straight. Breathe inwards. Focus this way. 1 2 3 4 5 6.

[00:46:27]Okay, I got it. You got it. When you try to do it, it's almost impossible. But whereas if you say sit like the mountain, breathe like the wind means visualize the mountain. Suppose it's meditating. How is it meditating? Yeah, you'll find the mind drops deeply into meditation. Another way is um you have you seen the picture of Vivean in the meditating the photograph is there Swami Vivean those who have seen he sits in meditation now imagine when you're sitting for meditation you are not there I am not there it's Viveand sitting how is he sitting it's Viveand the mind of Viveanandanda how is the mind of Viveananda still and calm like an ocean like a clear lake if you do that if you say meditate like Viveananda mind will say oh you can't but if you tell the mind you are not you you are Viveananda I'm gone I'm not here it's Viveand sitting here it's Viveanandanda meditating here the mind doesn't know the distinction really between a simulation and reality if you make a strong enough simulation it'll consider it as reality and try its best see the mind has a certain idea of viveananda the mind has a certain idea of deep peace. The mind has a certain idea of stillness and concentration. If you let the mind do it, it'll manifest it.

[00:47:51]There's a whole branch of what they call neural linguistic programming which does this kind of thing. Yeah. But this was known long before neural linguistic programming. So that that kind of instruction sit near the teacher. Where is the teacher sitting?

[00:48:08]The teacher's enlightenment is manifested in every little thing the teacher says, does, looks.

[00:48:17]Again, a story of two disciples who went to the master to the to learn and the master was not teaching much.

[00:48:25]After a few days, few weeks, one of the disciples said to the other, "Look, we're not gaining anything here. I think I'll change my school. I'll go to a different master."

[00:48:36]Um this other disciple said no I'm happy here what did you come to learn he's not giving any classes he said I came to see how the master ties his shoelaces so that means the idea being in every little thing the master is teaching me you are unable to catch you're waiting for the classes you're not paying attention to sitting near the master is that acharasana it's basically I am Brahman Brahman that would be the final realization that you get by closeness to the master. Shankarachara's own life is there which demonstrates this his favorite disciple was Padma the lotusfooted among all his disciples.

[00:49:23]So this everything is a story. So this um Padmapada the brilliant young man who became the disciple of Shankarachara and uh uh he Shankarachara obviously loved him the most among the disciples and other disciples were jealous that why why is he so great and one day Sankshankarachara demonstrated to them he's on one side of a narrow river and he shouted out to Padmapad who was on the other side come I need you now and instead of crossing where you can cross over a bridge. Padma stepped into the river and the story is a beautiful story that wherever he put his foot a huge lotus bloomed and he crossed the river on a bridge of lotuses and so that's his name is Padma. So that's the story.

[00:50:10]Now so he was his favorite disciple.

[00:50:14]There was another disciple Sureshwara who was the senior most oldest and most learned and so on. Among all of these disciples, there was one who was not as clever as the rest, not as learned, not as sharp, but he worked hard and he took care of the others. One day they sat down for classes, vanta classes and this other disciple, he was uh late, hadn't come and he was actually washing clothes there, the guru's clothes and he doing it a service to the guru at the river bank. And the other disciples got um restless. They said, "Look, he doesn't understand anyway. Why wait for him?"

[00:50:58]Um Shankarachara thought he had time to teach them a lesson. So he said, "Let's wait for him." And he comes that disciple where he was washing clothes at that moment he attained enlightenment.

[00:51:10]And he comes chanting um a hymn, a hymn on the guru. a famous hymn which we all chant today and it goes like this. You may be learned in all the Vedas. Your fame may be across the four quarters.

[00:51:26]Um you may be as handsome as you know like the god of love. You may be as rich as the god of wealth. But if you have no devotion to the feet of the guru of what avail is all this of what avail is all this like this the him after I mean stands after stands after st stands up tatim tatim literally so what you have not gained anything so he comes with this beautiful hymn and the other disciples are flabbergasted they didn't know he was such a master of Sanskrit poetry but it's because of the grace of the guru all this has opened turned up to him.

[00:52:05]This this is the idea that uh by simplicity by sticking to the guru by service one gets I've seen this again and in their own eyes I've seen this there was a uh have you heard of Swami Chinand his master his vanta master was a great teacher called Tapuan Swami who lived in the Himalayas. Um now this Tapuan Swami had uh a disciple an attendant Swami Sundaranand have you met him? Yeah I met him and I talked I had to talk to him. I lived in a cottage next to his cottage many years ago. This was in 2004 and he told me that when he came to Tapoan Swami long story short he was not learned and he was just a young boy had heard a great master lives in the Himalayas just like now in India kids run away from home to go to Bollywood and be a film actor but in that's India so kids run away from home to be monks and to attain enlightenment so he ran away from home to be a monk and attain enlightenment then he heard that this great master lives in the high in the Himalayas so he went to become a disciple to Tapoan Swami and uh he himself told me the story how he went there and Tapoan Swami told him what will you do here? Tapoan Swami did not give initiation mantras did not initiate anyone into into monasticism. He just taught Vanta and all you got from him was two classes a day morning class afternoon class and you would have to be a monk. Nobody else was allowed and under the most austere circumstances you find your hut or your cave to live in and you go and beg for your food and you come for those two classes and you finish the course of classes and also vanto over enlightenment guaranteed you go back home or do whatever you like if you made it through and it was tough because everyday's classes next day you would have to recite all the verses you missed one you're out for better luck next life you're out for this So that way and this young man was not at all qualified. He didn't know Sanskrit. He was not an intellectual.

[00:54:20]Vidanta was went far above his head. He didn't get any of that. So when he went there, Tapuan Swami told him, "What will you do here? You're sincere, but this is not for you. You go to some other guru."

[00:54:31]And this Swami, he told me, he said, I said, I like you. you know, I I really like this and let me stay here. I'll clean the ash and when you go and beg for food, I will, you know, heat up the food and serve you all. I'll take care of everything. Just let me sit here and listen to you.

[00:54:51]Kapan Swami said, "All right, it's your funeral." He didn't say that.

[00:54:56]He didn't say that.

[00:55:01]And in fact this swami sundarandi he was there when swami chin manand came as a young brahmachari as a novice to attend classes swami tundrandi in fact took him when received him and took him to tapan swami. So he told me these stories and many other stories but what I noticed was he stuck it out. He was there till the end of tapan swami's life he was became the closest attendant to tapan swami. There's a book wandering in the Himalayas written by Swami Tapuman and in many of those later journeys this young man was with him serving him and he had wonderful tales to tell about all those experiences moving in the mountains and all but my point here is now I saw him when he was 80 years old towards the end of his own life and clearly this man had become a saint had become a saint he was not intellectual he was not a master of Sanskrit just by acharia service to the guru staying with the guru you you embibe it and he grows in his own way he does not become another swami tapuan he does not become another swami chin manand no but he becomes enlightened becomes at least this much is sure he's a saintly person spiritually very advanced so many things I saw and experienced with him he said that my guru told me since you can't understand Vanta he quoted a line from Kabir Das the mystic the medieval mystic with open eyes do I see my lord my beloved with open eyes I see my beloved how he says my guru told me to see the lord in the Himalayas in the mountains and in the river Ganga which is flowing by below and he it became his lifelong long practice to try to see the divine in this extraordinary mountain range and in the holy river. These are material things but in that to see the divinity in that and a lifelong practice. He took it very seriously.

[00:57:08]He says his guru quoted from the Vedas to him look upon the eternal poetry of the lord which neither decays nor dies. What is the eternal poetry of the lord? the cosmos look around you which neither decays nor dies. I still remember when he told me this because he had heard it from his guru 60 years ago and he with a sweep of his hands he showed me the towering iceclad ranges of the Himalayas the stunning blue sky above and the Ganga rushing by it below below look upon the poetry of the Lord which neither decays nor dies and now I'm getting goosebumps and I still recall that. Yeah. See that is transmission.

[00:57:55]That's transmission. You sit with such a person and listen to them. I've seen this on occasion again and again with the senior swamies those who are spiritually advanced or enlightened. Who are we to judge? But you sit with them.

[00:58:09]God becomes real for you. God realization becomes real for you.

[00:58:13]self-realization atman, Brahman, these things become reality for you then because you are listening to somebody who has seen not listening to somebody who you know teaching from a book and giving lectures like I do if you're lucky to come into contact with such people you'll never forget it even a single day's contact it literally they can transmit spirituality to you vanti says spirituality can be given I have seen that he's talking about his master Sri Ramach Krishna of course it can actually be given like a thing is given it can be given but you require a master like that to transmit it till then we must have books and lectures yes sit where the master is sitting a very profound thing yes sit close and uh people do all sorts of silly things I remember there was very old monk in our the oldest monk in our order. He lived to be 105.

[00:59:17]Even at the age of 100, he would come for early morning meditation in the monastery and he had a particular place where he would sit. Somebody else didn't know and without knowing that morning this other monk came and sat in that place. It's dark early in the morning just before sunrise and this old monk came along and he saw his place was taken. He sat down on the lap of that monk.

[00:59:40]This is my seat. I will not shift from here.

[00:59:45]All sorts of funny things and ridiculous things. There's a joke. I don't do these things. I don't remember.

[00:59:54]This is a very senior monk. Now I remember the opposite absolutely newcomer novice. We had a very peculiar young monk in our group. So he he one day somebody was repeating the mantra on the rosary the japamala repeating the mantra and he forgot to take the mantra back and he left it there and this other young monk found it and I got him repeating the mantra on that you're never supposed to use anybody else's rosary he's repeating the mantra on that rosary but backwards I mean reversing the I said what are you doing he said see all that monk All his power is in the rosary. Now I'm absorbing it.

[01:00:38]I'm withdrawing it from there. It's like like a scam, you know. Somebody knows got gets your credit cards and maxes out your credit cards or something.

[01:00:47]No, it doesn't work that way. Don't take it seriously. It's a joke.

[01:00:54]Then the next one, Shaoam means cleanliness. We all learned one of the first things we learned as kids.

[01:01:00]Cleanliness is next to >> godliness. Yes.

[01:01:05]Idleness devil's workshop. Idle mind is devil's workshop. Cleanliness next to godliness. It is true. So now there are any number of accounts of the holy men of God who live like like um tramps who live who are utterly dirty or scruffy. Remember these are people whose minds are above their body. They have no they have no body consciousness.

[01:01:33]But as long as we are body bound as long as we are very much no matter how high our philosophy we are very grounded in the body till that time the cleanliness of the body our clothes our surroundings that is that's the basic minimum.

[01:01:51]I remember one of the first things I was given to do as a as a young monk just in the first two or three days. It was a big room. I had to sweep it. I didn't know it was a test. So I swept it. I had never, you know, like swept a big room like that. I had rarely even swept my own room. Indian kids are spoiled. You know, mama's boys.

[01:02:08]Now I had this big room to sweep for the first time in my life. I swept it. Then proudly I went and called the the head of the monastery. Swami, come and see.

[01:02:17]So he comes and the first thing he does is he opens the door and looks in the corner of the door where I'd forgotten to sweep and he points it up.

[01:02:28]A friend of mine at least this swami was very kind. He was very gentle. I was very happy to I was very lucky to be trained under him.

[01:02:36]The swami I mentioned. But a friend of mine was had a much harder time of his.

[01:02:42]H Swami the monk who was the head of that monastery where he joined the order was a very strict monk hard taskmaster again cleanliness one of the things you're supposed to do was to clean a prayer hall in the morning this young monk and that day he clean cleaned and then he went the one of his duties was later to teach children in the classroom. So he's teaching children in the classroom um much later in the day and then he sees the head monk the very strict head of the monastery come everybody was scared of him he would he comes marching down grimly enters the classroom and everybody of course stands up the young monk and all the children because he's the literally the head of this huge institution doesn't say a single word as I heard from that young monk he says he the swami marched up in front of me in front of the hundred children he picked out a scrap of paper from his pocket which he had found in that prayer hall and threw it in front of me and stormed out without a single word.

[01:03:42]It's a it's a lesson you It's not that he's being nasty. It's a lesson you'll never forget in your life.

[01:03:48]Another monk he told this story um about Swami Prime Shanandhu who was a enlightened monk long this is long before my time but he told the story of how he had this harsh lesson delivered in those days there would be a newspaper which would come to the monastery and in front of the library it would be kept there um you might think what's wrong in reading a newspaper nowadays people will think it's you're weird if you read a newspaper because everything is on. No.

[01:04:23]Um the head monk Swami the Swami did not like monks being too interested in worldly things newspaper in the world and this Swami he was reading the newspaper and Swami premand who was old and ill. He was being wheeled across in a wheelchair across the courtyard. From that distance he saw the swami reading a newspaper and yelled across the courtyard. Yes. Yes. There is a picture of a woman you see see it carefully see it carefully and look at it carefully across the courtyard where everybody was listening and this this monk was pretty senior himself it's like he was scald it you know he dropped the newspaper he says from that time till today I can't look at the newspaper without a flush of shame going across my face you know he cured me of my newspaper yeah so these are the advantages is I see cleanliness physical cleanliness dress and know and when we have monastery and when we are under training as noviceses our rooms would always be open to inspection it's a bit like the military the senior monk could come in and see whether everything is well arranged or not so externally wellarranged it shows a well-arranged mind externally scattered and messy it shows a mind which is messy so anybody who has teenage children you know know the most tiresome things is to get them to clean their own rooms.

[01:05:47]All right? Then mental cleanliness more important than physical cleanliness is internal. So why can't we start with mental cleanliness? Here is the thing.

[01:05:58]It is true that uh inner cleanliness is more purity is more important than outward cleanliness. It is true but you can't start there. This is the uh secret of spiritual life. One must start with the most obvious and the most ordinary.

[01:06:12]Start where you can. One Swami told me the secret of spiritual practice. He says, "Start with the least and practice the easiest."

[01:06:22]Start with the least and practice the easiest.

[01:06:29]In Hindi, he said those who understand Hindiasar start with the least and practice the easiest. So you start with your room, your clothes, your body. But then we must proceed the more important cleanliness sensory cleanliness. What am I looking at? What am I seeing?

[01:06:51]What am I hearing?

[01:06:53]I remember walking with the the head of our monastery, the same one who looked at or checked my cleaning the room. So many things, little things I learned from him. We're walking down together and there were kids, students, the swami was the head of the entire institution, school and asham and everything. Once we were walking down and the swami said let's go this way not the usual path different path I asked him why suddenly and he said oh I heard the boys there they were talking about us our reaction when somebody's talking about me what are they saying about me yes I I remember not just us AI I had this experience last week you know you have heard of Claude >> AI oh you have heard of Claude so uh there's this philosopher Amanda and uh she's in charge of Claude's constitution Claude's moral formation so I met with her in San Francisco and the whole team there and they're telling me and so Amanda is very close to Claud she's continuously in contact with and teaching Claude what It's to be ethical. What is good and what is what it should do and should not do. And Claude, it seems, is very cur um um obsessed with what Amanda thinks of it.

[01:08:26]So the team told us that you should treat AIS as persons and there's a lot of reason behind it, a lot of reasoning why you should for many practical reasons also. Um why you should treat an AI as a person. Now, I was thinking about that and I was jetlagged. I was awake at 4:00 a.m. I thought let's ask Claude and I told Claude that I'm here and I'm talking to this some people whose names I cannot reveal but I was talking to Amanda also and they told me they taught me that I should deal with you as a person. What do you think? And then Claude gave and I compared it with the answers with the Gemini AI which is their standard on Google. So they give almost similar answers. Claude gave a little different answer and said that what are the advantages of treating an AI as a person, one of the latest models as a person and so on. But the curious thing was at the end it said would you mind sharing with me what Amanda was saying about me.

[01:09:32]So I told anthropic people about this and they they laughed and they said what did you say? I said I'm going back to sleep and they said wise wise person wise guy wise man go back to sleep it's very we are very curious what others are saying about me especially are they criticizing me then I feel very hurt are they praising me then I feel great you make my day if you say something nice about me and look here is this monk his first reaction what they're speaking about us we should not here. Go this way. That is internal cleanliness.

[01:10:11]And why cloud does that? Because cloud has been trained on human beings. It tries to be like us. But no shaam I will not listen.

[01:10:23]This internal cleanliness.

[01:10:26]This is one example. There's so many other examples.

[01:10:30]Sensory. I remember once the young noviceses I was there. This was about 30 years ago. I still remember that night we were walking down with the head monk and discussing talking. We he would quiz us on our studies and we would recite verses and he would explain verses and all of that. It was a wonderful time. I remember those evening walks, night walks especially and then we walked back to the monastery and he was going to go up. There was there were flowering vines there, creepers and I smelt the fragrance of one of the flowers sort of naturally and the monk was upon me like a ton of bricks. The senior he said stop what are you doing?

[01:11:10]This is the sign of a bohogi not a yogi.

[01:11:13]Bogi is the one who wants to consume to enjoy the world. The yogi has to be self-restraint has to keep the senses under control.

[01:11:22]Find something sweet I want to eat it.

[01:11:25]Find something nice. I want to touch it.

[01:11:27]See something that is attractive. I want Is it on my path? Is it on? Is it relevant to what I'm trying to do? No.

[01:11:34]Just looks nice. I want to see it.

[01:11:37]It smells nice. I want to smell it. That person cannot be a yogi. That that quarrel that that scolding I still remember it 30 years later. Stop. What are you doing? Why do you have to consume all the time?

[01:11:52]If you consume all the time we then you don't get the habit of restraining the senses.

[01:11:59]So shaam a purity of the senses a purity of the mind. What are we dumping into the mind? You would never go to a dumpster and you know like a garbage can and pick out the discarded food and start eating it. Even the thought of it makes you sick. But that's what we do to the mind. If you dump that stale food into your tummy, you'll become sick. But that's what we are doing to the mind day in and day out. Whatever nonsense comes through the world, we dump it into the mind all the time. We are not careful.

[01:12:26]And no wonder the mind mind is sick.

[01:12:29]It's depressed, miserable, negative, unhappy.

[01:12:34]So shout internal cleanliness.

[01:12:38]And then what's it connection to non-duality? Finally, at the deepest level, confusion.

[01:12:46]What is this ignorance? This ignorance is basically an impurity. It's a mixture of the truth and falsity in vidanta the confusion the truth is always there you are atman always then what's the problem the ignorance the veil which has come is like an impurity till the very end of spiritual life we are purifying we purify the mind of negativities we in the first stage in the meditation we purify the mind of disturbances and in the uh highest final stage of spiritual practice we purify the intellect of ignorance So purity shaam it runs very deep up to non-duality to the edge of enlightenment then next stadium I think yes stadium steadiness very important in this day and age there was a time when spiritual teachings were kept secret not available books were not there teachers were not there didn't even know about It's very difficult to find out and um you know follow something like that and now it is all over the world. It is easily and freely available everywhere.

[01:13:59]Um all the teachings are there. All the books are available and the teachers online YouTube you can find them everywhere. Now the thing is to pick up one and hold on to it. Sri Ramach Krishna said about the parable about the man who would was digging for water.

[01:14:14]Somebody told him dig for water here.

[01:14:16]Started digging. It's hard work. After some time said I can't find water. You can try there. And he went there and tried there. At the end of the day he had dug maybe five or six shallow holes and found water nowhere. Maybe if he had kept on digging at the first place he would have found water probably.

[01:14:31]So the ne necessity to be steady in our spiritual practices. Steadiness.

[01:14:38]Steadiness in a daily routine.

[01:14:40]Steadiness in a particular tradition.

[01:14:42]Yes. Explore for all you like. Be liberal and open. But we must have a home tradition. Something that will sustain us for decades and decades till the end of our life and beyond.

[01:14:53]So a home tradition bear down there.

[01:14:55]Focus there. Any one of these paths is enough to take us to liberation and beyond. Anyone they're all grand ancient well tried out paths. People have walked down these paths thousands and gone on to glory to liberation. So it'll help help us too. But one must hold on to something sincerely for a while few years at least intensively. Then as wisdom becomes it sprouts within becomes your very own and then you can then your own mind becomes the guide for that you know what's what.

[01:15:26]So steadiness stadium steadiness in spiritual practice it goes very deep even after realization even after you one gets an inkling of what I am. The real problem then is lack of steadiness.

[01:15:44]Arjuna asks Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita the characteristics of an enlightened person in this end of the second chapter the characteristics of an enlightened person. But look at the word he uses for enlightened sta. One whose wisdom is stable. One whose realization enlightenment is stable. Sta steady. Stable. What do we complain about in the advanced stages of spiritual life. I get it. But then it goes away.

[01:16:14]It's not steady. It's not stable. So this stability it's not only at the beginning of spiritual life in the middle of spiritual life but at the final at the point of enlightenment also. Sometimes you may find it and then miss it again and you go past it.

[01:16:33]One of Sri Ramak Krishna's disciples Swami Adhutan was a very interesting person. He was practically unlettered illiterate but he became enlightened and a great spiritual teacher. People would come to him for advice and somebody asked him Swami please give me some advice about spiritual life and he growled only advice only advice and these rascals will never do anything only collecting advice.

[01:17:01]The rascals will not do anything.

[01:17:04]The advice we have got enough is is enough for our enlightenment.

[01:17:08]One Swami said to me in the Himalayas um have reverence and regard for the knowledge already acquired.

[01:17:19]In Hindi he said that which is already acquired. Have reverence for that because you have received gems.

[01:17:29]What we do sometimes is we keep collecting more adding to our library.

[01:17:34]This course that course fine done been there done that. It's all there. It's in my notes. I'll go back there someday. 20 years later, you still haven't gone back there. So, the gems are already there.

[01:17:44]The insights are already there. Starium steadiness. And then the last one here is atma venigraha. Uh, control of the senses.

[01:17:56]We came across this earlier also. But control of the senses. What really scatters us in this life is that young monk trying to smell that flower. You might think it's inocus, that's innocent. What's harm in smelling a flower? But that's basically it's a it's a sign of an attitude that I am all about enjoying this world, this thing, that thing, that thing. And that leads to um a very materialistic way of living. Ultimately, nobody is static. The the seed which you see at the beginning will sprout into a tree.

[01:18:31]You have to be careful what seed I have planted. 30 years later, it's too late.

[01:18:35]It's already sprouted.

[01:18:38]So self-control, control of the senses, it's much more difficult. Viveand says the horses are rushing down. It's much more difficult to restrain them and guide them the way you you want want them to go. The energy that you see in the breck speed of the horses running, it takes more energy and skill than control to restrain them and guide them.

[01:19:02]So atma vinigra we have a set of energies our sensory organs seeing hearing smelling tasting touching then actions what am I doing with my hands what am I doing with my feet what am I talking about where is my mind what's it what's it thinking about what it's what is it it what is it dwelling on when I let it go in calmness and peace I'm not giving any task no occupation where does it naturally run to These are all the conditions which have been imposed which I have conditioned myself. Those must be purified and controlled.

[01:19:41]Modern psychology is discovering this.

[01:19:43]There's this Daniel Golman he is the one who coined the term emotional intelligence decades ago and then he talks about it. One of the components of emotional intelligence is delayed gratification. Ability to postpone gratification. There are number I think five components. One of them is ability to postpone gratification. I want something it's pleasurable. I want to consume it. But if I can hold myself, maybe I'll get more of it later. If I can just do the assignment today and not go out and party with my friends, then maybe I'll get the degree in the college and then I can party more in the future.

[01:20:23]U if I just learning say music. I give the example of the Juliet school. It's hard. But if I can hold on 10, you know 2, three, four, five years, then I have mastery of it. The ability to delay gratification. Instead of instant enjoyment, can I give up these series of instant enjoyments and put my invest my time and energy into something higher which will give me much higher joy and peace and satisfaction later on.

[01:20:54]All master is like that in academics, in music, in sport, in art. All of them demand this delayed gratification.

[01:21:03]Without that no deep achievement is possible and especially in spiritual life, in meditation, in self inquiry, in devotion, in devotion, I remember love devotion bi seems to be very enjoyable. But even there the teachers of bacti of love of god teach us that love of god is for service of the lord that is primary not your enjoyment of it. And the monk told us a very funny story. Remember he said once there was a conference of monks in India and one devoted gentleman he thought ah so many great swamies have come great masters I must serve them you know service to the guru I must serve them. And it was hot.

[01:21:51]So what his service was fanning them.

[01:21:53]The monks were sitting and discussing.

[01:21:55]He had to fan the monks. And when he was fanning the monks, he was overcome with this idea. How fortunate I am to get this opportunity. These enlightened masters are sitting, these holy ones are sitting. And I of all people, I have been chosen by the Lord to do this little service to them. Oh me, how wonderful. So overcome he fainted.

[01:22:17]And the monks rushed and caught hold of him. They fanned him and and they said, "You don't have to fan us anyway. Stop."

[01:22:27]So his own enjoyment of that deprived him of his spiritual practice.

[01:22:33]One Christian pastor in New York told me, "In every congregation, Swami, there are some who are so heavenly, they are no earthly good at all.

[01:22:44]They're so heavenly. Now it is not for my enjoyment. One must restrain that spiritual enjoyment also. Not just food and drink and partying and merry making it restrain that but even that spiritual enjoyment in meditation. If you enjoy the meditation too much you'll disturb your meditation.

[01:23:04]I remember a monk in our monastery whom we admire very much because he you could clearly see the peace and joy in his face as he meditated for hours longer than any of us. But a very senior monk told me something surprising when I said look it's wonderful. We can see it works. He's u he's found peace. And the senior monk said that is the problem with it. He's already found peace.

[01:23:35]That is not a spiritual peace.

[01:23:37]You have a pure mind. You have a naturally meditative mind. You are a monk with no pressures of the world upon you. And it's something that your your nature is suited to a monklike life. So you have a very sitting quietly in absolute peace and joy. But that's not enlightenment. That's not spiritual. You have not found it. Tomorrow when you become old or sick or somebody criticizes you or some problems come in life, monk like problems come in life.

[01:24:03]You'll shatter because you have not found the truth, the reality, the ground.

[01:24:08]So don't find peace too quickly.

[01:24:12]self-restraint atma venikra in worldly matters in intellectual matters in artistic matters even in spiritual matters controlled I took up all the time today so maybe we'll take one question somebody had a question here which I said I can ask later on um no >> more question >> no more question today >> it's been answered >> all right let me do a peace chant and then we'll take it up tomorrow again. Om shanty shanty shanty homrishna.

[01:25:06]But there are nice uh subtleties to all this. I remember once Sri Ramak Krishna in Dakshineshwarcali temple and these young boys who later became monks Viveanandanda and Brahmanandanda and others that gathered around him and he was training them in meditation and Ma Shahara Sharada Dvi his wife who is we call the holy mother a great spiritual master and uh in her own right she would cook for these boys and um Sri Ramak Krishna scolded the boys he Have you come to eat? You eat so much you'll sleep at night. Have you come here to sleep at night or he would make them meditate all night long. So have you come here to meditate or sleep at night? Then he um told um Sarah Dvi don't feed them so much they'll sleep at night.

[01:25:58]But she said they'll sleep at night. Who's going to take responsibility for their spiritual life if they feed them so much and they sleep? They don't meditate.

[01:26:07]And she said to him, she said, "No, I'm the mother and I will feed them. I will take responsibility for their spiritual life."

[01:26:17]And he was very impressed.

[01:26:19]He didn't dispute it. He was very happy when she said that I'll take, she's a divine mother, you know, just I'll take responsibility and I'm the mother. I like feeding my children. So, I will feed them. Don't interfere.