The Mystery of Pure Consciousness | Swami Sarvapriyananda on Atmabodha

[00:00:00]Oh dear.

[00:00:19]Om shanty shanty shanty.

[00:00:28]whom lead us from the unreal to the real. Lead us from darkness unto light.

[00:00:36]Lead us from death to immortality.

[00:00:39]Oh peace, peace, peace.

[00:00:47]So, welcome back. And now I have the hard task of keeping you awake post post lunch.

[00:00:58]very bad combination post lunch warm weather and vanta it's sort of guaranteed to work to put you to sleep but we have to we have to arise from our sleep where Swami Viveand's famous we quote it often arise awake and stop not till the goal is reached that is an adaptation from the munda Shankar comments there means rise up from the beginningless sleep of ignorance.

[00:01:47]Ignorance of our real name real self.

[00:01:51]Awake. Awake Jagrata. Awake. Awake to your real nature as the infinite Brahman and then stop not till the glorious reach. That was Swami Vivean in this adaptation. The original mundish says um resort to or go to the guru the basically the those adorable ones those watchful ones and realize the truth from them. take their help and realize the truth.

[00:02:31]Eighth verse.

[00:02:59]Vishnra V heart All the various forms exist in the imagination of the perceiver. The substratum being the eternal and allervading Vishnu whose nature is existence and intelligence.

[00:03:36]Names and forms are like bangles and bracelets and Vishnu is like gold.

[00:03:43]Okay.

[00:03:49]Swami Viveand said we Hindus worship a transcendent imminent God.

[00:03:57]A transcendent imminent God.

[00:04:00]Transcendent means beyond time space beyond this universe beyond creation.

[00:04:06]So God who is beyond all this is created this universe but not here not touched by this creation.

[00:04:14]Imminent means in and through. He's right here. So in everything in this universe God is pervading all of this.

[00:04:23]This verse is talking about that. We have been introduced to the concept of adhyasa superimposition. So what is this universe? It's a super imposition on Brahman existence consciousness place because of the projecting power of maya vshapaki Brahman pure being pure awareness pure bliss pure being existence itself appears as existing things you see so many things are existing tables chairs uh trees, people um then and actions then um chit pure consciousness that is experienced as conscious experiences seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, thinking, remembering, enjoying, suffering, all our experiences they are possible because of consciousness. That's Brahman.

[00:05:32]And all our lives whatever we are chasing that is given the name anand bliss that is Brahman. When we realize this Brahman we realize the reality of all existing things. We realize what makes it possible for us to have all conscious experiences and the ultimate purpose point of it all which is anund or attainment of ananda.

[00:06:00]Just by the way it struck me last year I think or earlier this year the three great questions of philosophy.

[00:06:12]See in philosophy you have three great questions. What is real? First question what's really existing? What's the reality? That's the first question. And the answer to that is given by a branch of philosophy called metaphysics.

[00:06:29]God, universe, these things you can call it consciousness, whatever you whatever is your idea of ultimate reality, matter.

[00:06:41]So, metaphysics.

[00:06:43]So, your first question is what is real?

[00:06:47]Nowadays, there is a new term for it.

[00:06:49]It's no longer called metaphysics. It's called uh ontology.

[00:06:55]It's a fancy new term but all it means is the study of reality. Ontos means being or reality. So what is real?

[00:07:05]That's the first question. Second question in philosophy. The most important question.

[00:07:12]Um how do you know anything?

[00:07:16]Before you make any philosophical questions God exists or God does not exist, the question is how do you know world exists? World is real. World is not real. Question is how do you know?

[00:07:28]So knowledge, how do we have any knowledge at all? The study of that is called another branch of philosophy called epistemology.

[00:07:38]Epistemology study of knowledge. How do we know anything?

[00:07:43]And the third great question of philosophy, what is good, beautiful, worthwhile, valuable?

[00:07:52]Earlier there were a number of branches of philosophy which used to deal with this um ethics that was one aesthetics what is beautiful all of them have been combined into one branch now new name axiology axiology ax io l o g y so philosophy today philosophy has three branches if you see philosophy broadly there are three branches is ontology, epistemology, exiology. Answering three questions. What's real? How do you know anything? And what's the point of it all? What's the meaning, purpose, good, bad, all of this? And now you look at it just struck me when you look at the definition of Brahman, the ultimate reality, sat, chit, ananda. These are the answers to those three questions.

[00:08:47]What is real? S pure being. Existence itself is real. That's what gives reality to anything.

[00:08:54]How do you know anything? Knowledge. How is any knowledge possible? Chit consciousness.

[00:09:01]And what is the purpose of it all?

[00:09:04]Ananda.

[00:09:07]What is the point of it all? So the very this sat anand itself covers the entire gamut of philosophy, ontology, epistemology, axiology.

[00:09:20]Anyway, this is just um by the way it struck me.

[00:09:25]So here it says this universe is an appearance on Brahman and there's no problem let it appear. But the problem is that when you forget that it is Brahman and that you are Brahman and then we identify with these little bodies and minds, you feel limited. Remember we did that words limited and then we suffer somes comes.

[00:09:52]When I realize I am Brahman then that limitation goes away. I realize I always was unlimited. Death of the body is not my death.

[00:10:04]Little demands of the mind are not my demands. Little success and failure failure of this ja is not my success and failure.

[00:10:13]I realize my unlimited nature and then I can live on through this body mind.

[00:10:21]Then you will be called jan mukta liberated while living. That is the goal of vanta.

[00:10:29]You can live here in this very life whatever the circumstances and be very happy very fulfilled and be a great asset to others also all other sentient beings also. So anyway that is the goal.

[00:10:42]Now here he saysalpita we in in eternal Vishnu this entire universe is imagined. Imagine means superimposed.

[00:10:59]It's superimposed. Why? Because of the projecting power of um the maya of whose maya Vishnu's maya.

[00:11:10]And where is Vishnu then? Where is God?

[00:11:13]Where is Sonrahman Bhagavan? Right here.

[00:11:17]What did we discuss? If this world is an appearance, then the ground of that appearance must be here itself.

[00:11:27]If the if it's the snake is an appearance then the rope must be there where you're seeing the snake. If that water is not real water it's a mirage then the desert in which the mirage is appearing must be there there where you're seeing the mirage. If this world is an appearance then reality must be here itself.

[00:11:47]Appearance of what? Of the reality. What is reality? Brahman or Vishnu is calling it here. Notice another use of the term Vishnu. Suddenly he'll use Shiva.

[00:11:59]Suddenly he'll use Vishnu. Next he will use Rishikesha.

[00:12:04]This is the beauty of Adita Vanta. It stops you from being sectarian.

[00:12:11]Because what is Vishnu is the same as Di is the same as Shiva. From an adita vanta perspective. This is called saguna Brahman is Bhagavan.

[00:12:23]various names, various forms. Now if you choose choose to call it and understand it as Jehovah, as father in heaven, as Allah adas has no problem is the same concept you're referring to, same reality you're referring to.

[00:12:40]Notice I use the term saguna Brahman, qualified Brahman. It's not the absolute Brahman. Absolute Brahman existence, consciousness, bliss with the power of maya which makes it appear like this.

[00:12:55]This sagun satan Brahman with maya becomes saguna brahman which is the god of religion.

[00:13:06]What is the definition of the god of religion in any religion? What is the common definition of god? Creator of the universe.

[00:13:16]The cause behind all of this ka in Kashmir shism they say if you see karam you see an effect if you see the pot you say there must be a potter if you see the universe there must be some power behind this universe.

[00:13:37]See in ada vanta it is the same existence consciousness place with the projecting power of that maya vshapaki only problem is created by the the veiling power and the veiling power is overcome by knowledge then what will happen will it all disappear in a flash and then you'll be left with nothing this exactly the same thing will continue because the projecting power of Ishwara has created this universe has projected this universe. But now you're no longer fooled.

[00:14:13]You see it all as Brahman. Brahman alone appearing as this as this and that.

[00:14:22]Where is Brahman?

[00:14:25]Vishnu all the individuals living beings and non-living beings they are all imagined on Vishnu on Brahman on satan and where is satan now it is in and through when gold a lump of gold is made into a bracelet where is the gold Now it's a bracelet.

[00:14:56]You put it on your wrist. But where is the gold now?

[00:15:01]Where?

[00:15:03]>> Is it gone?

[00:15:04]>> No, it's it's on the in in the bracelet.

[00:15:08]In fact, it is the bracelet. In fact, the bracelet is nothing but the gold.

[00:15:13]It's a new form. It looks like this now.

[00:15:17]And it's a new use. You can put it on your wrist. And it's a new name bracelet. But what is the thing itself?

[00:15:24]Gold.

[00:15:27]If you melt it and make it into a ring which you put on your finger.

[00:15:34]Where is the gold now? There. Now it's now called a ring. It was called a brace. Look at the magic. It's now called a ring. Earlier you put it on your wrist. Now you're putting on your finger.

[00:15:46]Earlier it looked like this. Now it looks like this.

[00:15:50]And you make it into a necklace. Same thing. Where is the gold in and through the effects? What is the effect? The product.

[00:16:00]Bracelet, ring, necklace. These are the products. The effects in Sanskrit cardium. Where is the cause, the material of it? In the effect.

[00:16:11]When you make a pot out of clay, where is the clay? In the pot. In the pot means it is the pot.

[00:16:18]When you make ornaments out of gold, it is in the ornaments. Gold is there. When the universe appears in Brahman, where is Brahman? In the universe.

[00:16:31]Everywhere. In everything.

[00:16:33]In fact, in you will you should object.

[00:16:38]It's not quite right to say the gold is in the bracelet as if the bracelet is some kind of container on which gold has been put. No, it is gold itself which you are now calling a bracelet. It is gold itself which now looks like this. It is gold itself which you are now putting on your wrist. It's a gold. Similarly, it is Brahman.

[00:17:02]It is saguna Brahman is Bhagavan God himself herself itself which is this.

[00:17:11]When we overcome the veiling power of ignorance the ashi through this exercise of vanta we will still see this but we will see it as god it's seeing god in everything ishopad the famous first line first mantra is The entire universe is to be pervaded is pervaded by the lord. All that is moving and non-moving.

[00:17:47]The first line Mahatma Gandhi famously said that if all of Hinduism were to disappear and only the first line of the ishopishad remained, all of Hinduism would remain.

[00:18:02]And what does it say? The isshopishad says God is imminent. Imminent means in and through. The word used here is anus uh in and through all the effects.

[00:18:13]Whatever you see in this world you know let get down to brass tax if you say please point it out directly.

[00:18:22]You see in and through where in and through where is the god here. Simple answer will be simple. What did you define Brahman as? Existence consciousness place.

[00:18:33]Just as you can appreciate gold in the bracelet, in the necklace, in the ring, can you appreciate existence in the tree, in the man, in the woman, in the table, in the sky, and the earth isness?

[00:18:49]Aren't we surrounded by an ocean of existence?

[00:18:54]But it's not out there. That's the trick of it.

[00:18:58]The existence is you. It is your existence which is borrowed by these names and forms and they appear like this. Now so you Shankarachara calls it Vishnu. In some other verse he will call it Shiva.

[00:19:16]In some other verse he'll call it D.

[00:19:18]There's no need to fight between the followers you know the Shas and the Vishnavas and the Shaktas or Hindus, Muslims, Christians. The same Brahman, same saguna Brahman, same Ishwara void, various individuals, various names and forms, bracelet, ring, necklace, they all come. He gives the example.

[00:19:44]One more example just as ornaments in gold. Just as ornaments in gold. Look at the language. Not golden ornaments.

[00:19:54]Not golden ornaments, ornaments in gold.

[00:19:59]Where are where is the wave and where is the water? Is the water in the wave?

[00:20:04]That's the normally the way we speak.

[00:20:06]There's a lot of water in that wave.

[00:20:08]That's not true. The wave is in water because water was there before the wave.

[00:20:15]Water is there after the wave and when the wave is there, there is water only.

[00:20:20]So the wave is in water is some kind of activity in that water.

[00:20:26]Ornament is in gold.

[00:20:28]The shirt is in the threads. This is nayaka way of speaking.

[00:20:35]And so universe is in Brahman.

[00:20:43]Now we will move on to the ninth verse.

[00:20:47]One more concept and I promise you this is the last important one. We have already gone through some heavy duty stuff. First of all, of course, it is Brahman, existence, consciousness, place. Then that Brahman is the self atma you. And then the concept of superimpos superimposition adiasa the concept of the the um falsity of the world.

[00:21:17]And now one more concept but very important this is what shankarachara will use from now on. This concept is called upadi.

[00:21:30]Upadhi in um if you want to spell it up a d h i up p a d h iadi.

[00:21:44]I'll give you the definition in Sanskrit give an example and he'll of course give plenty of examples from now on. But this is a very important thing to understand the the exact mechanics of what is happening to us. Why do we feel like this that I am a little body mind?

[00:21:59]What's happening? And then how can we realize ourselves as pure awareness in Sanskrit?

[00:22:14]Means close in Sanskrit existing nearby existing proximally.

[00:22:26]Gonan its own qualities its attributes a imposes upon something else.

[00:22:36]So something the two things imagine two things one existing close to the other and imposing its attributes on the others on the other without actually transferring attributes but it seems to give its attribute to the other. Now what does this mean? Let me demonstrate.

[00:23:02]Okay.

[00:23:06]So here you here we have clear water like crystal in a glass.

[00:23:18]Does it look yellow to you?

[00:23:20]>> Yeah.

[00:23:22]>> Let me see. Does it work? Oh yes, it works very nicely.

[00:23:26]It looks yellow to you, right?

[00:23:28]>> Yes.

[00:23:29]>> But is the water or the or the cup is it yellow?

[00:23:33]>> No. Is it yellow now?

[00:23:37]>> Is it yellow now?

[00:23:39]>> No, it isn't.

[00:23:44]It isn't yellow now. It just looks yellow. What happened? There's this yellow flower. Yellow colored flower. I bought it close.

[00:23:57]Being close in close proximity, it appears to transfer its yellow color to the colorless cup with water. Let's call it colorless crystal.

[00:24:09]This colorless crystal, actually it's not a crystal, it's a cup with water. But this colorless crystal, let us say this is the example that Shankarachara will use.

[00:24:21]This this thing transfers its color as if I use a red flower.

[00:24:30]Notice what happens.

[00:24:33]It begins to look a little bit red.

[00:24:38]You see it begins to look a little bit red.

[00:24:45]So something with certain properties when it comes close to something else and appears to transfer its properties it's called an upadi.

[00:24:59]It makes the second thing appear as something other than it is.

[00:25:05]All right. Now we'll keep that in mind.

[00:25:07]We'll go into that now. We'll use it.

[00:25:16]Number nine.

[00:25:49]Wait, wait. I think it's Tindi bindi.

[00:26:18]It can be both. If you put a um you see we can say tat because of the difference of the upadis the sky appears different or the abat sky being non- different it appears different because of upadis any both ways so what does it mean as the allervading akasha sky appears to be diverse on association on account of its association with various upadis which are different from each other and becomes one on the destruction of the upadis. So also the omnipresent lord appears to be diverse on account of his association with various upadis and becomes one on the destruction of these upadis.

[00:27:16]All right.

[00:27:19]He gives an example space.

[00:27:25]Now look at space. Just look at it now.

[00:27:29]And look here is big tent space, small tent space, the asham space, the garage space, you know, and the open space in the sky.

[00:27:44]space in the bottle inside the bottle bottle space so many spaces I'm pointing out some are big some are medium size some are much bigger the ashram inside the ash some are small inside this bottle they all look different the bottle space looks like this tent space looks like this so each space looks different each space is different size and different name and different use. In the bottle space, you put water.

[00:28:20]In the monastery, you put a monk. In the tent, you put people.

[00:28:26]They all different uses, different names, different shapes.

[00:28:30]And yet, none of this is true.

[00:28:33]Space is one and undivided.

[00:28:36]What is different are the upadis. The tent is shaped like this. The bottle is shaped like this. Not the space.

[00:28:45]This is the shape of the bottle. Not the space.

[00:28:50]So the upadis, what's the upadi? Bottle, tent, asham.

[00:28:57]These are upadis. Because of these the one unbroken, undivided, unchanged space seems to be different, big and small, and used for different things. and named differently.

[00:29:14]In a hotel, you will get a thousand rooms and each room will have a name. 1 2 3 4 room number one to So there's a space in room one, space in room two, we have more space there, less space there.

[00:29:26]No, no, no, no. All of that is wrong.

[00:29:28]There's one unbroken space. It appears to be like that because you have put up these structures.

[00:29:38]Look at this behind me.

[00:29:41]Look at the space through these uh divisions in the tent. Here the space looks square. Here it looks triangular.

[00:29:49]You see has the space become square? Has the space become triangular? Not at all. The space is not even bothered. It's we who have made these designs in the clock and because of that the space looks different.

[00:30:07]So these are upadis without doing anything to the space it makes it look different and we can call it by different names and we can use it differently also.

[00:30:19]So this is the function of upadi. It transfers its triangular shape to the space. It transfers it appears to transfer its square shape to the space.

[00:30:32]It transfers its cylindrical shape to the space.

[00:30:38]But space is not square or triangle or cylindrical just unaffected.

[00:30:44]No matter what the upadis do the space is not affected. For example, if I move the bottle like this is the water in the bottle, is it traveling with the bottle?

[00:30:57]Don't seem to be sure. [laughter] If it didn't, I would make a very wet mess. Water is here. If I move it and the water will remain here, it will fall. No, the water travels with the bottle. Now, half of this bottle is empty. There's space there. Air is there, of course, but space. Does the space travel with the bottle? Then I move the bottle around.

[00:31:21]>> Somebody said yes. No, the bottle travels through space.

[00:31:28]Right now, we think there is space inside the ash and outside the ash. Not at all. It is the ashum which is on on the surface of the planet earth which is revolving at a uh which is rotating at at a great speed and so the ashram is traveling through space and the earth is uh revolving around the sun and the asham is traveling through the through space at great speed. Space is not traveling through the ash with the asham. In modern physics, of course, you will say that even space is affected by mass and movement and all that. But in general, I'm saying space is one undivided, not affected. Because of the presence of upadis, we give lots of names and usage and shape. All of this we attribute to space. Just like the uh cup and the yellow flower, it seems red when the yellow flower is close to it.

[00:32:32]But and does not it seems colorless when the yellow flower is not close to it.

[00:32:37]But it was colorless to begin with. It is clear and colorless even when the yellow flower is close to it and it looks yellow. Still it's not yellow at all. The water and the glass.

[00:32:51]Similarly, space is not affected by the uppadis. And he says Rishiha who is Vishnu who is suna Brahman satan completely unaffected by the upadis.

[00:33:10]The various upadis vu is like vu means all pervading like space.

[00:33:21]What? But this is not space. It is existence consciousness place. This allervading existence consciousness place various upadis will come up body mind and it will feel like an organic body, human body, animal body, mind, thoughts. It'll feel like it's depressed or happy or desirous or knowledgeable or foolish. These are all because of upadis.

[00:33:54]What is an uppadi? Body is a nupadi.

[00:33:56]Mind is an upadi. And just like this flower seems to transfer its yellow color to the colorless cup. Similarly, the body seems to transfer its qualities.

[00:34:11]man, woman, or any one of the 23 genders in New York City, it seems to transfer to you the genderless consciousness.

[00:34:25]Legal legal.

[00:34:31]So it seems to transfer. You can you can multiply as with they they all belong to padi but not to consciousness itself.

[00:34:42]Somebody asked me uh this was in London a few weeks ago what do you think of this new gender revolution from a vantic perspective. They said see there's a positive and negative side to it. The positive side is vant is always for freedom.

[00:35:00]If it gives you more freedom physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually, it's good.

[00:35:10]If this gender issue is something that is holding you back in life, it's making you deeply unhappy, unable to develop and progress in life, good. Go ahead.

[00:35:22]Have as many genders. Buy 23. Have two 230 genders if you want. One every day, every other day. You can you can keep on changing if it makes you more free. On the other hand, the negative side of it notice ada vanta and many of these other philosophies they say gender is body at the most it has some effect on the mind.

[00:35:45]But you are neither body nor mind. If you make this the whole of your life and pursuit. If you predicate your happiness, if you predicate my happiness, my fulfillment depends on me changing my gender from this to that, the the prediction is it will you'll be unhappy.

[00:36:06]You'll be unhappy. It won't work. It won't work.

[00:36:12]If it helps you in vanta there's a very simple criterion. If it is something that helps you towards realization, enlightenment, good. It's moral. It's ethical.

[00:36:23]If it obstructs you from realization, if it retards you from your realization, enlightenment, it's immoral. It's unethical, unethical.

[00:36:35]The real question from a vantic perspective would be this whole gender revolution, is it making me more body conscious or less body conscious?

[00:36:46]You decide.

[00:36:49]All right.

[00:36:52]Then all the distinctions which are so important to us in life, they are all because of upadi. They are all because of upadi. Now we will see 10.

[00:37:15]Fore at ras.

[00:37:50]Owing to his association with various upadis, such ideas as cast, color and position are superimposed on atman as flavor, color and so forth on water.

[00:38:05]So water which is which is um colorless as we just saw. But if you go to a shop um like a grocery shop or some kind of convenience store, you'll find colored drinks of so many sorts, lemonades and orange and peach and whatnot. And they all look different from each other. They look different. They're different colors, different tastes.

[00:38:33]How did the same colorless tasteless water get so many tastes and color?

[00:38:38]Because of addition of upadis.

[00:38:41]The color belongs to the upadi. The chemical which has been added there.

[00:38:45]The flavor which has been added there.

[00:38:47]The taste belongs to that flavor to that that chemical. The color belongs to that chemical. But that water now looks orange, red, yellow, all of that. And it tastes different also. So he says this is an example water by uh basically which is colorless and tasteless acquires seems to acquire lot of color and taste because of addition of various upis. Similarly we limitless existence consciousness bliss one we appear to be many. How do we appear to be many? The moment many bodies appear and I become associated with each body mind complex I the one consciousness I appear to be many.

[00:39:35]Haven't you seen a barber shop? You go and sit in a barber shop and with mirrors all around you and look how many of you are there 10,000 all around you but there is only one.

[00:39:51]What has happened? Mirror rupadi because of mirror rupadi one seems to be a thousand.

[00:39:59]Similarly we appear to be many and not only many just like this yellow flower seem to transfer its yellow color to the colorless um uh cup just as these squares and triangles seem to transfer their squaredness or triangleness to the uh formless sky. Similarly, these bodies and minds seem to transfer their attributes to you the consciousness.

[00:40:34]He says jati birth color.

[00:40:40]Um so I am born of such and such cast. Um um in fact jati w is a little difficult to explain there because jati and wa basically mean the same thing. So you could have explained it as birth high birth or noble birth or low birth things like that. Wner means cast. But here in the modern west you can easily distinguish these two. Wner would mean color race and jati would mean cast in the Hindu context. So that way I can interpret where does this come from? It comes from the body.

[00:41:23]Consciousness is not white or black or Asian. No, it's not uh first nation or no it's consciousness but it is transferred onto me the consciousness because of this body.

[00:41:39]I'm brown.

[00:41:41]How am I brown? So why vand to joke? uh he liked um chocolate ice cream. He discovered it when he came to the United States. That was late 19th century. He said, "I like chocolate ice cream because I am chocolate.

[00:41:57]I am brown."

[00:41:59]U But how can consciousness be brown?

[00:42:03]It's a body. Just like colorless water appeared to be yellow because of the presence of the flower. Similarly, the presence of the body, the appearance of the body in me, the consciousness make me feel I am brown.

[00:42:18]I am male. I am Indian. All are body.

[00:42:25]I am happy mind. I am depressed mind. I am very knowledgeable. Mind I am I forgotten whatever I learned in school. Same condition common to most people. Mind uh that's mind ashama. So that was the traditional uh division of society in ancient India.

[00:42:53]Four casts and four um stations in life.

[00:42:59]So Brahmin, chhatria, baisha, sudra, the priestly class, the warrior administrative cast, the trading uh commercial casts and the laboring casts. And then ashrama, the four stations in life. Uh the brahmachari, the student, then the griasta, the householder, married with family, then vanaprasa, the retired person, literally forest dweller. and then syasi the monk. So four stations in life and uh um four casts.

[00:43:38]Very interesting commentary comment that Shankarachara makes in his commentary on the titeria.

[00:43:45]In the opanishad there is one section one place where the student asks the teacher you know is all this thing about Brahman suppose Brahman doesn't exist that's the statement in Danish if Brahman does not exist and then the teacher gives an answer then you would not exist. exist and according to Ada Vanta you are Brahman but you do exist the most initable fact of our lives I exist and Adita wants to show me that my this very existence is Brahman so I do exist but if Brahman does not exist then what there Shankarachara in his commentary Bhasha makes an amazing statement he says in that case the entire arrangement ment of society into casts and you know these ashramas householder student forest dweller monk all of this um would be meaningless why the entire arrangement has been made to enable us to realize Brahman as soon as possible that means according to Shankarajara at least the idea in ancient India Because all of life and all of society, all of civilization, the goal is God realization and it's been the society has been designed in such a way supposed to be at least which will help you to realize God. A very interesting point if God Brahman and whatever you call the spiritual reality does not exist then the whole thing is meaningless.

[00:45:39]Civilization is meaningless if that does not exist because the whole purpose of civilization is to attain enlightenment.

[00:45:46]Interesting to in water rasa taste color all of these appear because of upadis similarly in Brahman limitless existence consciousness bliss is I am brown I am male I am Indian all of these these are appearing because of upadi what upadi body upadi mind upadi Really are those qualities in Brahman?

[00:46:20]No. Where are they in the indui?

[00:46:24]How did they appear in Brahman? This is the very function. The trick that Dupati does. The trick is to be in what ada vanta wants you to do is just this.

[00:46:41]When This cup of water, this one is appearing yellow. It's appearing yellow to you.

[00:46:49]Now at this time also you should be able to appreciate and be very clear it's not yellow.

[00:46:58]The yellow, what do you do with the yellow? Return it to where it came from the flower.

[00:47:04]That means no. By your knowledge, you don't have to actually do anything because it's there in the flower anyway.

[00:47:10]Just have to recognize the fact that the yellow belongs to the flower not to the water. That's what advant is trying to help us to do in consciousness. Just now realize that all limitations of age and disease and all belong to the body not to you the consciousness.

[00:47:35]All happiness, unhappiness, even purpose, spirituality, God realization, all these things belong to the mind, not to you the consciousness.

[00:47:45]That's why Shankarachara can sing.

[00:47:56]What's my goal in life? It's not pleasure.

[00:48:00]It's not wealth and success.

[00:48:04]It's not even a moral ethical life.

[00:48:06]Nadharma, it's not even moka. Liberation, freedom, enlightenment. No moa.

[00:48:14]Why?

[00:48:17]I am of the nature of pure consciousness and bliss. What moka for me?

[00:48:23]All of these goals have been transferred onto me by the mind.

[00:48:30]Put it back where it belongs. Once Sadu put Vidanta so simply to me I'll share this with you. I'll tell you in Hindi and translate into approximate English.

[00:48:41]He said he said um that oh monk vant is very simple.

[00:48:53]Oh monk whatever belongs to whatever object you know what you know where things belong just let things remain where they belong.

[00:49:03]Don't misplace things.

[00:49:06]Old age belongs to the body not to you.

[00:49:15]Disease belongs to the body or more specifically pranamaya kosha not to you.

[00:49:21]Hunger and thirst belong to the prana not to you.

[00:49:26]Mental happiness, unhappiness, illness belongs to the mind, not to you.

[00:49:37]Mental illness is a storm in the mind.

[00:49:40]Like physical disease is a storm in the body. Mental illness like a storm in the mind.

[00:49:46]Belongs to the mind, not to you.

[00:49:51]What belongs where? Keep it there.

[00:49:56]It's already there. Yellow is already in the flower, not in the water. Just recognize that it is. So even when the water appears yellow, be clear that it is not yellow. It's a clear crystal clear water. Similarly, even when body, mind and its qualities appear in you, it will appear in you. It will continue to appear. Be absolutely sure none of it belongs to me.

[00:50:22]It's just appearing like this. I as consciousness I'm fine.

[00:50:35]Oh, one thing I wanted to make clear in that ninth verse.

[00:50:43]When the upari is destroyed, then the space remains as it is. So what does it mean? When you take down the tent, when you smash the buildings, when you crush the bottle, then space is one. But when the bottle is there, tent is there, building is there, then space is divided. Is that what it means? No.

[00:51:06]Even when all of these are there, the space is one and undivided. So tan the destruction of the upadi one must understand it carefully. Destruction of the upadi is uh not actual destruction.

[00:51:21]It is the assertainment of the falsity the the appearance nature of the upadi. The upadi here at least there is a cup of water and there is a separate flower.

[00:51:36]But when you're talking about Brahman and the world, world, body, mind are not even separate existences apart from Brahman, they are appearances in Brahman.

[00:51:47]Just like pictures appear on the screen in a movie and then you have a hero, a villain and action and comedy and horror and what not.

[00:51:58]But even the the pictures, the actors are not different from the screen. It's just the screen itself. So upadi nasha you don't have to destroy the upadis first of all you cannot you cannot why where do these upadis come from you didn't make it it is vishnu saguna brahman Ishwara with the power of maya who has projected all of these as long as um the lord chooses to project the universe upadis will keep appearing but it's no problem at all because all you need to know is that they are appearances and the qualities of dupadis physical qualities of bodies mental qualities of minds they belong to the body mind not to you keep things where they belong when you do this you are perfectly safe so not only you cannot destroy it because it's not your creation it's God's creation these upadis god's projection that's the meaning of sishti projection And you need not destroy the upadis because even in the presence of the yellow flower, even when the water looks yellow, it isn't yellow. You don't need to crush the flower, you don't need to throw away the flower, you just need to know even the yellow water is actually colorless. It's not really yellow.

[00:53:28]And you must not destroy the upadis.

[00:53:32]You cannot, you need not, you must not.

[00:53:35]Why not? Because it's fun.

[00:53:38]Once you realize that the water is colorless, not affected. You put a yellow flower near it, you put a red flower near it, you put a blue flower near it, you take away all the flowers, it's still the same thing.

[00:53:52]Similarly when all of life becomes a festival and great joy see where all these upadis what what film it shows you next one sadu put it nicely how do you sir how do you plan your day they thought some kind of routine and everything is there how do you each day how do you lead it what is your discipline routine he said in the morning when I wake cup. So chapel that means the sandals.

[00:54:26]Do you call it flipflop in Canada or you call it flipflop? In USA they call it flip-flop.

[00:54:32]Chapel sandals. So when I wake up in the morning I see my sandals walking out of the room. I jump on them and they walk around all day take me to various things and show I enjoy have a great time.

[00:54:47]So this is what the upadis will show you the creation of the lord you need not destroy you must not destroy it is fun it is joy what is the use of just satan upadis make it enjoyable the projecting power of the lord but the aana is the dangerous one the veiling power once you realize the difference between the cup of Water and the flour. Good.

[00:55:18]Nothing can stop you then.

[00:55:26]All right. Now 11, 12 and 13. It will tell us about the upadis which we have personally. We have three upadis.

[00:55:39]Shar physical body, sukma shar subtle body, kar causal body. Each of us you must learn to identify the upupadis and their qualities.

[00:55:54]Then you'll be free of it.

[00:55:56]This is oh this is the physical body.

[00:56:00]Skin is wrinkled. It needs moist moisturizer. I have become old and wrinkled. Not I skin wrinkled old keep it in where it belongs in the body not in you. Consciousness cannot become wrinkled and old. You don't have to put moisturizer on consciousness. You're very dry consciousness. No.

[00:56:26]So physical body then subtle body sukpas which is mind intellect memory feelings emotions our personality and then the causal state which we don't usually think about which is our which you experience in deep sleep seed state all three are upadhis and they transfer they seem to transfer their activities and quality ities onto you the the attributeless consciousness and they make a huge mess of your life.

[00:57:03]Okay.

[00:57:05]11.

[00:57:27]Shad physical body. Very meaning of sharira is that which is decaying continuously.

[00:57:46]That which is degrading continuously.

[00:57:49]Shirina it's going which is going away continuously.

[00:57:54]The gross body the medium through which the soul experiences pleasure and pain is determined by past action and formed out of the five great subtle elements which become gross. Okay. This part is complicated. When this one half portion of one subtle element becomes united with 1/8 each of the other four. What does this mean? If you've done Vantasara, you know. Uh so what does it mean?

[00:58:26]It means the old cosmology which the vanta happily borrows from sananka which is also which has its roots in the oponyish also. It says that the projecting power of baya viki presents Brahman as a variety. What variety does it present? First as the five elements.

[00:58:56]First as the five elements. Brahman appears as five elements. This punch five cosmic elements.

[00:59:04]This is based on the titanashi.

[00:59:25]and so and so forth. So from this atman from this pure being from this pure consciousness what appeared aka aasha space and then air and then fire and then water and then uh earth these five elements appear now one might think this is a old obsolete cosmology there's more to it than that one might instead of that one might think I'm more interested in the periodic table and what we learned in chemistry and all but basic idea is material universe appears from Brahman because of the projecting power of maya.

[01:00:07]Now these five elements are not this earth and sky and which we are seeing.

[01:00:12]They are what are called subtle elements.

[01:00:16]Um sukchma or tan matra these are the words used the subtle elements they are not perceivable by us.

[01:00:25]Then these subtle elements combine to form our um subtle body mind intellect memory. This inner instrument which we have and then these five elements they combine with each other.

[01:00:48]Space combines with the other four portions of the other four. That's where all this 1818 business comes in. So space combines with a little bit of uh the earth element, fire element, water element and so on to become grow space.

[01:01:04]What is grow space?

[01:01:08]And so also with water and fire and all they become this gross elements mahabhut and these gross elements combine together to form this physical universe and physical bodies.

[01:01:22]So creation in vanta in in fact sanka also it goes through three phases. One is it in it's in a seed form in Maya. No distinction whatsoever.

[01:01:37]Then it emerges in a subtle form.

[01:01:40]There's a five subtle elements. Then it combines and recombines with each other those elements and they emerges in a physical form gross form. So universe goes through causal subtle uh physical.

[01:01:56]It's very much like our own experience.

[01:01:59]Our dream deep sleep state is causal.

[01:02:02]Our dream state is subtle. And our this waking state is physical.

[01:02:09]Of course in the physical here right now the subtle and the causal are still there. Right. Okay.

[01:02:16]Now he what he has said is panchika mahabhuta with the five great elements where after the the subtle elements have combined with each other and the gross elements have formed as a part of that living bodies are produced in organic bodies living bodies are produced how why karmas because of past karma. So each sent each sentient being each ja we have a huge account of past karma and drawing upon that the lord who vishnu rishies or god wh you say gives us these bodies so that we can experience the results of our past karma. What will we experience pleasure and pain?

[01:03:08]Where did pleasure and pain come from?

[01:03:12]From merit and demerit. Where did merit and demerit come from? Dharma dharma.

[01:03:18]From our moral and immoral actions in past human births.

[01:03:23]Where why did we do moral and immoral actions? Raadvesa likes and dislikes. Strong likes and dislikes. Why did we have strong likes and dislikes? This is parin limited.

[01:03:37]We feel limited. Why do we feel limited?

[01:03:42]Because of these upadis.

[01:03:46]They are all limited.

[01:03:48]But why do we feel why are these upadis there? What what does it how does it affect us? It doesn't actually. That's the tragedy of it all. It doesn't. They are up. They seem to affect us. That's why limited as if. And then these bodies are places of experience.

[01:04:13]Bhoga means experience, suffering and enjoyment. As long as we are embodied in this life, we'll get a series of experiences. How? Not random based on our past lives karma. A part of it. Viveandra said good, good, bad, bad and none escape the law. Whosoever wears a uh wears a form wears the chain too.

[01:04:40]Where's the form means I'm wearing this form. This form is attached to a chain.

[01:04:45]Chain of past karma stretching back to immemorial time. So I'm wearing the chain. It'll keep giving me results and experiences in this life. Good and bad things will keep happening [music] to me.

[01:04:59]Then what does what can vanta do? If none escape the law then what can vanta do? In Viveand says far beyond name and form is atma never free. No thou art that say see far beyond not far beyond. Right here actually yellowess but right here is the cup free from the yellowess even when it appears to be yellow.

[01:05:32]No thou art that oh cup you know yourself to be this.

[01:05:37]Yeah but I am yellow cup. No you're not yellow cup. It just seems to be like that.

[01:05:43]So I am a miserable I'm consciousness but I'm miserable consciousness. not miserable consciousness. The misery comes from the mind. Misery is the mind is upadi and its quality is temporarily misery and it's transferring it to you.

[01:05:59]Oh, thanks for explaining it. Now I'm so happy. Ah, be careful again. Upadi that happiness has come in the mind after reading vanta. I feel good.

[01:06:12]So I am good now. No, no, no. You always were good.

[01:06:17]That's the mind again.

[01:06:20]Then number 12.

[01:06:33]Dashri the subtle body the instrument of the soul's experience. What is the place of experience? Physical body. What is the instrument through which you experience?

[01:07:05]Subtle body. Even if the body is there, if I am in coma, no physical body is there, subtle body switched off. So I will not experience the instrument is stopped. So subtle body, what is this subtle body?

[01:07:21]It's all see all of this is actually experience right now. None of this is theory. Take a look. Subtle body. You'll point it out. Five pancha prana. This is um I will not go into the details. Five pranas. Those who do puja they know prana, prana, bhana, udana, samana, the five activities of the phys the um human physiology which takes care of respiration and then uh digestion and all of these things he has given the footnote he has given nicl panchra. So there are five of pranas.

[01:08:04]Then there is mind thoughts various kinds of thoughts coming that's mind buddhi understanding dashaindria two he has left out chitta memory ahankara ego you can add them dashindria 10 10 sense organs 10 organs five sense organs five motor organs uh eyes, ears, nose, tongue and then uh what else? Skin and the five motor organs. The organ of uh grasping hands, organ of locomotion, feet, organ of evacuation, organ of reproduction, organ of speech, right? 10 organs. At this point, one might point out, but this is human.

[01:09:00]There are other animals with other kinds of organs and other kinds of senses and all. You know, bats have um the sound location.

[01:09:11]>> Sound. Yeah. They project the sound and then reflect it back. Dolphins have sonar.

[01:09:18]Uh snakes have infrared vision. So what about that? Remember all of these vdanta? We are not talking about biology here.

[01:09:29]It's a methodology to show us to freedom.

[01:09:33]So the careful description is of our body mind system. General description of the body more precise description of the mind because that's what we need. So this is the upadi.

[01:09:48]What are these made of?

[01:09:52]This is the subtle elements. Before the elements were mixed into this. Before that they were in the subtle form sky, air, fire, water, earth. The mixture of those the subtle uh this mind has been the subtle body has been made.

[01:10:10]This is the instrument of experience, pleasure and pain. Then finally the seed state which we see in the deep sleep 13th verse.

[01:10:50]at a what is this causal body? It's [music] basically ignorance.

[01:11:04]It's that veiling power.

[01:11:07]So when did it start beginningless beginningless anadi?

[01:11:16]This question might come. So I'm ignorant of myself as Brahman. When did this ignorance start? Beginningless.

[01:11:24]Someone might say Americans they say that's a copout.

[01:11:30]You're not giving an answer. when did it start? You're saying it's beginningless.

[01:11:35]But no, ignorance is always beginningless.

[01:11:41]Uh I I this was pointed out to me by a professor, professor JN Mahanti who was a brilliant professor of both western and Indian philosophy. He was a he knew naya and vanta very well and he was uh in western philosophy he was a master of user's phenomenology he passed away last year so many years ago in the institute of culture in Kolkata there was a class on vdanta and then he was talking about ignorance and he says always in vanta you'll find beginningless and sounds strange or vant says everything is clear. It has to be understood. But we don't understand. It's like some kind of you know you have to take it as beginningless. It protects you from the question when did it be begin? But he said actually ignorance is always beginningless. And he remember he asked us do you know German?

[01:12:39]And we said we the students we said no.

[01:12:42]So you're ignorant of German. Yes. When did your ignorance of German start?

[01:12:50]I said when since when are you ignorant of German? Since our birth also before your birth you knew German.

[01:12:57][laughter] No any ignorance my ignorance of German is beginningless but it has an end in vantic terms not shanta santa anadi beginningless santa with an end. When will the ignorance of German come to an end? When you start learning German?

[01:13:24]Similarly, the ignorance of anything is beginningless, but it comes to an end when you get knowledge. Similarly, ignorance of your nature as Brahman is beginningless and come to an end when you read atma.

[01:13:38]When you study atma anari beginningless aidya ignorance anerata it cannot be said to be real it cannot be said to be unreali this is called the causal lupadi. So three here is only one little flower but for us the problem is complicated. Three layers of upadi. Causal upadi. Subtle upadi. Physical upadi.

[01:14:09]Upadi other than these three upadis. Atman realize yourself to be other than these three upadis.

[01:14:23]It's like telling the cup that oh cup.

[01:14:29]You think I am a yellow cup. No cup and yellow are different.

[01:14:35]Realize yourself. The flower is yellow.

[01:14:38]You are other than the yellow flower.

[01:14:41]Realize yourself first as apart from the yellow flower.

[01:14:50]Other than body, other than mind, other than causal upadi, you are at you. You have to realize that. How you will realize that's the techniques will be taught. soon that we will take up tomorrow. But let me just um All right, let me leave it here.

[01:15:10]14 will be a good place to start tomorrow.

[01:15:16]14 sort of sums up the whole adhasan up situation. We can start tomorrow with that.

[01:15:26]All right. Now, let's do some questions.

[01:15:34]All right. You want me to summarize?

[01:15:36]Good. So, what did we do today? Uh, all day long.

[01:15:42]Um, verse one, it tells us about the four-fold preliminaries.

[01:15:53]You know, I will just mention it. I will not explain. Vishaya piojana adikari samanda the subject matter what's the point of it what's the purpose of it who is the competent student and what's the relationship between text and knowledge then it tells us about the qualities the four-fold qualities of the competent student verse two tells us it's only knowledge which is the approximate cause of liberation other things will help you remember the matrix of pract practices.

[01:16:27]Then number verse number three, why won't the other practices help you to get liberation? All karma, all activity and whether it's a puja or whether it's a mental activity like meditation, they are all action and action is not opposed to Brahman to pure consciousness. Action is not opposed to ignorance. Sorry.

[01:16:54]So action is born out of ignorance.

[01:16:58]Action cannot destroy ignorance. Only knowledge can destroy ignorance. Like light and a mass of darkness. Light destroys a mass of darkness.

[01:17:09]Then number four, this is a verse worth thinking about again and again.

[01:17:15]labor. All our problems is because we feel small, limited.

[01:17:21]We feel crushed by this world, crushed by life.

[01:17:27]But here is the hope as if small. You're not small. You are vast. Chandogish says there is no real happiness in the small.

[01:17:44]In the vast alone lies happiness.

[01:17:48]That which is the vast that is happiness. You are the vast.

[01:17:54]Number five tells us that um does knowledge persist after enlightenment?

[01:18:03]That knowledge viti also dissolves like that nut the powder of the nut which dissolves after removing impurity.

[01:18:12]Knowledge comes removes ignorance and disappears leaving only Brahman.

[01:18:17][laughter] There are lot of little subtleties involved here but we have no time to go into that. Number six introduces adhyasa superimposition.

[01:18:28]Remember the projecting power of maya, the veiling power of maya and the superimposition. The rope appearing as snake, Brahman appearing as world that is adhas. It also introduces to us consequence of that is world is an appearance. [snorts] World is not ultimately real. Brahman is real.

[01:18:52]And then how how will we realize this?

[01:18:56]You see it gives the example of dream.

[01:18:58]When you wake up from the dream, you realize the dream was false. But then this is false. How will be realized? The truth is the you will realize this when you know the ground of illusion.

[01:19:11]The snake is false is realized when you know the rope.

[01:19:16]The silver is false. You realize when you know the sea shell. This world is false when you know Brahman the ground of the illusion.

[01:19:28]Then number eight where is Brahman? In and through everything like gold in and through ornaments.

[01:19:37]Number nine is introduces the concept of upadi.

[01:19:44]Number 10 it shows that every difference that we have in life physical mental all are due to upadi actually this one non-ifferiated atman only brahman only then number 12 uh uh 11 12 and 13 it tells us the main upadis which we have to face physical body mental body and the causal body. That's it. That's what we did today.

[01:20:18]What what is what remains for us?

[01:20:20]Tomorrow we will know how to separate ourselves from the upadi. How will the cup of water know itself as colorless even though it appears to be yellow?

[01:20:29]That's what we'll do tomorrow. the actual techniques.

[01:20:33]>> Uh I will request everybody to just know make it very sharp name and question so that many number of people can okay thank you and swam doesn't have to continue beyond uh Maharaj thank you for blessing uh us with your presence for second year in a row. I'm having this peculiar problem that I'm not able to frame uh the question when you are there in your presence but the moment you go away during the break the question comes jumping back so I've had to write it down so that I don't forget uh so I have two questions but I'll ask them both but you can choose to answer them based on time uh my first question is uh so for a spiritual aspirant who's who's had some inkling uh about the teaching uh you still sometimes lose uh the mind's tranquility for seemingly trivial things. Uh so what practices would you recommend uh to bring the mind back to composure and focus back on the teaching? My first question. Uh second question uh you mentioned Bill Conrad and how everything uh including body and mind is experience in the consciousness.

[01:21:56]Uh is it possible for us to experience consciousness or awareness without body and mind?

[01:22:07]>> All right. Um let me answer the second one first. It seems from all this description that consciousness is dependent on the body and mind after all and the world.

[01:22:24]After all the world provides the objects which consciousness is aware of. You see form, color, sound, you know, smell, taste, thoughts, ideas and the body, mind are the instruments through which we experience these objects. And consciousness makes it all possible. But without the world, without the body, without the mind, will there be any experience at all?

[01:22:52]Now, answer is yes and no.

[01:22:55]What does consciousness do for this world? And what does the world do for consciousness?

[01:23:04]What consciousness does for the world is provide it with illumination and existence.

[01:23:10]Consciousness is not only gives you experience of the world but also lends existence to the world. That's why it's called s being.

[01:23:20]But what does the world do for consciousness?

[01:23:23]What the world does for consciousness is it makes consciousness manifest.

[01:23:33]What does a mirror do to your face? It makes your face manifest to you. Okay.

[01:23:40]Then you will say that but then that just shows that consciousness and world are interdependent.

[01:23:46]That is what true in the case of sananka and yoga philosophy where they talk about purusha and prriti which are independent realities interacting they're dependent in one way interacting but this is not a question or a problem in adita because consciousness is the reality and the world body and mind are appearances in consciousness. See all these upadis physical body um mental body and subtle body they are all appearances in conscious they're nothing other than consciousness.

[01:24:20]So consciousness actually doesn't depend on anything outside other than itself.

[01:24:26]It is its own projecting power which provides the upadis and then it can experience. So this is the second question. The first question was about composure of mind.

[01:24:39]I'll give you an adic method.

[01:24:42]Uh it's subtle and then the general set of practices based on the yogas. The aditic method is this.

[01:24:52]Sometimes the mind loses its composure.

[01:24:57]Do you experience the mind which has lost its compo composure? Yes.

[01:25:03]And the mind which is composed and peaceful, do you experience it? Yes.

[01:25:09]That which experienced the restless mind and that which experienced the restful mind. Is it the same thing? The same consciousness.

[01:25:20]Did that com consciousness become restless?

[01:25:25]See up what does the upadi do? It transfers its quality onto something else. The restlessness of the mind.

[01:25:34]Where is the restlessness? In the mind, not in you. the consciousness it seemed to transfer it to you. You feel I have lost composure but it's the mind which has lost composure.

[01:25:49]Even when the mind is has composure has no composure has decomposed whatever it is you the consciousness are the same because you are experiencing it. That's the proof.

[01:26:03]Now it does this work for you? You have to think quietly.

[01:26:07]Then you'll realize you are this consciousness which is beyond disturbance. You can never lose your composure.

[01:26:16]Even when the mind seems to lose its composure and when you know this this knowledge will be in the mind only you will see the mind will lose its composure less and less.

[01:26:28]This effect it will have. This is adic.

[01:26:32]Think about it. This is based on upadi what we did it's you are like saying that see first of all mind loses composure that thing has become dirty nothing to you then that thing will be cleaned up nothing to you you might say okay nice why are you so worried about the mind losing its composion sense of identity.

[01:27:05]>> Identification one sadhu put it brilliantly. He said I'll tell you in Hindi and translate me how many minds are you going to put right? There are millions and billions of minds like you know ray of sunlight and there's dust in brownian movement you see movement like this in the morning uh just like that in consciousness there are millions of minds floating around good bad evil happy spiritual materialistic how many are you going to repair you're worried about this one mind why identification Now what is happening to us is I feel that I am very composed now here. Now I've lost my composure.

[01:28:15]Now I'm composed again.

[01:28:21]So what you have to do is when you have lost composure notice that you haven't actually lost composure. You're still the same colorless water little cup.

[01:28:30]Similarly same ever steady light of consciousness even when the mind is jumping around. Okay.

[01:28:39]This is the adic. Um then there are other ways. One is meditation. That's a direct answer to your question actually. Suppose I want to set it right. All this upadi is fine but I want I like a a calm mind. I like a clear cup of water. Not a yellow cup of water. Cup of yellow water.

[01:29:01]Then in that case regular schedule of meditation.

[01:29:06]It is slow. It will not always work. But over time you will find in general the mind has become more composed in. Third one is bi a great devotion. So why Viveand said give up all little loves for this one almighty love of God this so that will give you composure it will other things will not upset you my only connection is with the lord Lord is ever composed and then finally kay yoga I'm not so concerned about I me this little self what can I do for others then you will see your little self also will be more composed.

[01:29:54]So these are the uh four uh four ways.

[01:29:58]Let me add here something I read Swami Primeand G all this which we discussing he put it in a devotional context. He said all the four yogas with relation to Sri Ramak Krishna. He was talking to some devotees. He said supreme some of you know he was a disciple of Mashara. In his own lifetime he was regarded as a brahagyani.

[01:30:22]So he said four yogas know who Sri Raak Krishna is.

[01:30:30]That is Ghanai yoga. Who is Sri Ramak Krishna?

[01:30:34]Yesterday we were studying um in the reading Who was the son of Dasharata? This Avatar who came as Rama. That Rama is the one who created this this universe.

[01:30:59]Saguna, Brahman, Ishwara, Vishnu. And that Rama is also as we just read in and through everything. Gutme is everywhere is lying in this entire universe imminent God. So who is Sri Ramak Krishna? Know this. Second this is Ghana Yoga. Second is raji yoga or dhana yoga.

[01:31:22]Make an attempt he says to keep your mind that means your thoughts and feelings about Sri Ramak Krishna not about anything else you'll see constantly thoughts and feelings will go to other things you bring it back to Sri Ramak Krishna only that is dhana yoga raji yoga bi yoga in Bengali he said takur pritan feel a pull a love an attraction towards samakrishna And finally fourth because of that love for Sri Lanka Krishna he says in Bengali do something for Sri Lanka Krishna that's karma yoga you see I was just thinking this whole asham it's because a small group of devotees did something for Sri Lanka Krishna that's why it's all there that is karma yoga so these are four ways of maintaining composure of mind.

[01:32:28]Okay, I've been warned about the time.

[01:32:31]I'll ask you something which was done last time before lunch and uh when we were talking about this karma yoga, bti yoga and cano yoga that they all lead you there.

[01:32:47]Uh my thing is that uh does the definition also change?

[01:32:54]Definition of enlightenment because [clears throat] the >> Oh, I see. Yes. Yes. It will change.

[01:33:02]>> Definition changes. It will change. Why?

[01:33:06]>> If you want freedom >> then you have to go through ghani yoga.

[01:33:11]>> Yes. But remember when you say when we have to go through Ghanai yoga, we have already defined it in that way. What is the problem and what's [clears throat] the reality? You are Brahman. What is the problem? You don't know that you are Brahman. Then what is the solution? You have to know or realize that you are Brahman. But already you have defined the problem in this way. If you go to Rammanuja or Chaitananya Maha, he will not define the problem in that way. You are not Brahman. You are a ja. Brahman is God. In that case, what is the problem? The problem is you don't have faith in God. You don't surrender to God. Then what will be the solution?

[01:33:52]What will be the method? You must have faith and surrender and have devotion to God. That's the bacti way. So the whole definition has changed. Paradigm has changed there.

[01:34:04]>> So that enlightenment when we say it will be changed.

[01:34:09]Enlightenment will not be changed. It will if you define enlightenment as anandi you will attain it anyway.

[01:34:19]Even the bhta will attain it because the reality is the same whether you approach through love or meditation or through knowledge you're touching the same reality. That was the unique insight of Sri Ramach Krishna. If you don't do that then adita will cut down the others and say all right they are preliminary but finally you have to come to this knowledge.

[01:34:44]Yes. One thing I will say please sit.

[01:34:47]One thing I will say is that notice all the ancient philosophies of India.

[01:34:53]Nya, Vajika, Sananka, yoga and vanta and um Buddhism, Jinism they were all without exception knowledge systems in their original form. None of them were bi systems.

[01:35:12]The bacti schools which we talk about developed later.

[01:35:17]The devotion is a path, love is a path to enlightenment that developed later.

[01:35:23]Swami Saratan G in the leela pashangu in the great master he says why is this so today we what what kind of religion do we see? It's mostly bacti religion. Our our Hinduism here or Islam, Christianity, they're all bi religions.

[01:35:41]It seems that the knowledge systems have gone into the shadow.

[01:35:45]Why is it that originally they were only knowledge systems? Shardanji said that is more natural for the inquisitive mind. You see a transitory world. You see the inevitability of death and then you make an inquiry into what is permanent, what is beyond death. It's a philosophical inquiry and it will lead you to knowledge. So the original systems were all knowledge systems.

[01:36:12]My name is Zara. Uh I have a question.

[01:36:15]Um so when you're mentioning about that um Brahman reveals itself, it's not related to not dependent on the mind.

[01:36:25]>> So why is it that only in humans um you know Brahman reveals itself not in animals. So >> and the second >> so why is it that the sun shines forth only when the wind is blowing the clouds away?

[01:36:41]See the sun is always shining forth whether there are clouds or not but you need the wind to blow away the clouds.

[01:36:48]Similarly ignorance has to be removed by knowledge and knowledge can be only generated in a highly developed intellect and mind. Manobitanka means highly developed that which you find.

[01:37:00]See these capacities of the subtle body they become more manifest in a human uh body.

[01:37:07]See the subtle body goes from body to body. So why shouldn't it have the same capacities in everybody? It cannot. It's like nowadays you can give a good example. All your programs and apps if you transfer from a high-end hardware to a low-end hardware some of the apps will function some will not function and others which function will have degraded functionality.

[01:37:29]Similarly, when the same subtle body if it goes and is born as a h as a um dog somebody said in Manhattan most um privileged creatures are dogs supposed it be able to do vanta no it's not capable certain parts of the subtle body will become more powerful sense of smell taste uh hunger thirst first those will become more powerful.

[01:38:01]Intellect, creativity those will become less will become uh dysfunctional.

[01:38:07]So human birth is very important. Human physical apparatus is very important but not for revealing Brahman for removing ignorance. All sadhana is at our level not at level of Brahman.

[01:38:21]Brahman is ever shining.

[01:38:24]All you need to do is to remove that ignorance. And for that this human apparatus is necessary.

[01:38:31]>> So one one more question um on the analogy that you're drawing between uh uh waking state and the dream state. Um like the waking state could be as much false as the dream state right but the >> it is that it becomes false when you realize Brahman. What did we read?

[01:38:58]During its own time it seems to be real but when you awaken it seems false. It becomes false dream. Similarly also waking state. Now it seems very real.

[01:39:09]When you realize Brahman it becomes false.

[01:39:11]>> But but the waking state is common to all. Right? The dream is just explicit to me.

[01:39:17]>> So from there it seems the waking is >> all right. So waking and dream can you equate them? Is the waking another form of dream? Adita seems to say that. But then we have many objections.

[01:39:32]Waking you gave one objection but there are many other objections and each objection can be easily overcome. Um Swami Nikilanandra GI in his book on the opishads there is an essay uh at the end of the manduk or beginning of the mandukish in which he has taken up 10 objections to differentiate dream and waking mandukish is is heavily dependent on the dream example.

[01:40:05]If the waking can be equated to the dream then it becomes easier to show ada but if waking is different from the dream which it feels like that to us. So he says whatever your objections please tell. One of those objections is this.

[01:40:19]David Chamas also takes up these objections in reality plus one of the objections is this.

[01:40:26]This is a common reality public reality dream is individual.

[01:40:34]But is it suppose I say in the dream you are having a tea party which you will have have soon I think and so many people are there all sitting around and having tea in the dream will other people say I don't see the tea only you can see it because you are the dreamer no they will all say we are all having the same tea in the dream also all the people who are there in the dream in your dream they will see it as a shared reality.

[01:41:08]If you are talking to your friend in the dream, in a dream you don't know it's a dream, you feel it's real. You're talking to your friend. Will your friend complain, I can't see you because it's a it's your dream, you know. I can't hear you. It's your dream. No, your friend will hear what you are seeing. He'll see you. So, the sense of a shared common reality is there in the dream. It's there in the waking.

[01:41:35]What you are doing is mixing up dreaming and waking. From the waking state, none of these other people shared my dream.

[01:41:42]But they all see the bottle in Swami's hand. This is waking state. And my dream is personal. But you're comparing the dream state with the waking state. In the waking state, it's a shared reality.

[01:41:53]In the dream state, it's a shared reality within yourself. It's only after waking up then you say that was my private thing. This is my shared reality. But after waking up from this the waking reality, you will find all of them are part of one consciousness or appearances in one consciousness.

[01:42:14]David Chamas uses that for a virtual reality environment.

[01:42:20]He says this is a shared reality, a public reality. Virtual reality is virtual. False. This is not shared. But it is shared. In a virtual reality you can in fact all of us can go into virtual reality and experience the same thing.

[01:42:38]So that argument will not hold. And there are many such arguments. There's one more argument which says look you can answer you can counter these arguments yourself. Now see in a dream um uh the the things are false they don't work in the waking state they work the water in the dream will not quench my thirst the real water here will quench my thirst you'll immediately say no no no no the water in the dream will quench your thirst in the dream the water in this waking state will quench your thirst in the waking state in fact opposite Opposite also is true. The water in the waking state will not quench your thirst in the dream. It will not be available to you in the dream.

[01:43:27]Like this many arguments are given and all of them you will see they fall apart.

[01:43:34]There is no way of distinguishing between dream and waking logically of course psychologically you feel the difference.

[01:43:42]>> This will be the last question.

[01:43:44]>> Okay.

[01:43:44]>> For today.

[01:43:45]>> Hello. Uh thank you for taking my question. My name is Manoj and this is my first day in Vanta.

[01:43:53]So first >> first day >> first day very first day I came here just to listen to you.

[01:43:58]>> Oh it's it's a steep beginning my it's my pleasure and my privilege to be here and to be asking this question uh question about action being uh born out of ignorance. Right.

[01:44:17]And then there's the other part of uh Krishna who says your action is your destiny. You have to take action when you see something when there's sin taking place you have to correct it.

[01:44:34]>> Absolutely. So uh this inaction which ada teaches us that knowledge is supreme, removal of ignorance is supreme uh does it take take us away from acting? Does it make us inactive or sometimes uh even cowardly in the face of oppression?

[01:44:58]>> No, just the opposite. It makes you more active and gives you endless courage in the face of oppression. Uh um Mahatma Gandhi when he was facing the British in India he said you can consider me to be a practical adwin.

[01:45:16]My philosophy basically is ad his own words.

[01:45:21]See when adita talks about knowledge being supreme and action being born of ignorance.

[01:45:30]Notice after knowledge also after enlightenment also is action possible.

[01:45:37]Certainly from the outside did Viveanand not do lot of action? Tremendous amount of action. Did Krishna himself not do any action? Tremendous amount of action.

[01:45:47]Krishna says I have nothing to gain in this world or in the three worlds but I'm constantly engaged in action for the welfare of the world. Guru Nanak um um you know whether it's Kabir or Shankarachara himself adant most active life 32 years intense activity but what will they say shankara himself says those who see in action no action and in no action they see action They truly see and they are the doer of all action. Gita chapter 4 18th verse.

[01:46:35]What does it mean?

[01:46:38]In the middle of suppose there's a tremendous activity going on. Cops are chasing robbers. Will you say action is going on? Yes, of course. Lot of activity is going on. Next if I say it's a movie appearing on a screen now will you say action is going on? Are there cops chasing robbers? No. It looks like that from an adin's perspective the only thing that is there is nishkria brahman actionless brahman but from our perspective that adwitan is most busy has not even a single moment to spare.

[01:47:17]Somebody said very nicely, if you want your work to be done, give it to somebody who has no time.

[01:47:26]He will do it. He or she will do it because that's the reason that person has no time because he has lot of work.

[01:47:32]Be beware of the person who has lots of time. I'm an ad in no action for me.

[01:47:38]Hopeless.

[01:47:40]Never give that person any responsibility because nothing will get done.

[01:47:45]So yeah adanta has no contradiction with action or anything else once put it so beautifully I'll translate Hindi I will tell you and translate he said yeah um Adita is not for wiping out the experience of the world. Adita makes you limitless within samsara.

[01:48:24]Have limitless action.

[01:48:27]Come back lifetime after lifetime. If you want to come back, adita allows you to do that.

[01:48:34]Which one wants to wipe out all action?

[01:48:36]Yoga does that. Patanjali yoga adita says a so-called action is reduced to no action at all that's what in the middle of action didn't you see while this cup looks yellow I am claiming it is not yellow and it's true that it's not yellow in the midst of tremendous action of body and mind you can honestly claim there's nothing being done by me but which me is that limitless awareness consciousness and it makes you very brave because you know you cannot die will die but you cannot die you will never be a coward van was accosted by when he came to the United States by uh what's his name the great agnostic uh Ingresol, Robert Ingresol. There's a new book name of the book is the great agnostic he was a well-known public speaker in the United States at that time. So he said to Viveananda, I don't believe in all this religion, spirituality. I believe in this life. I want to squeeze the orange of this life dry you know get every every drop of it.

[01:50:02]Viveand said, "I also believe that, but I know that I cannot die. Let me show you a better way of squeezing the orange um of squeezing the orange. I know that I cannot die. Therefore, I'm not in a hurry. I know that I'm one with the universe. Everything is pervaded by by God. Imagine my joy."

[01:50:28]Live your life in this way. Get every drop of it. Get 10,000fold more from the orange of your life.

[01:50:38]He says van this is adavidant.

[01:50:42]Okay, let me do a peace chant. Oh shanty shanty shanty homatrishna.