Video 24

Ask Swami with Swami Sarvapriyananda | April 7th, 2019

[Music] Swami Vivekananda said what we need to do is to attune the subject to the absolute what it means is the subject means I me myself and right now we are attuned to the body mind I think I am this limited person I don't think it I feel it it's my reality attuning this subject to the absolute means shifting the reference of the eye I am Brahman I am the absolute I am that unchanging awareness so shifting that reference that is the solution that is the practice in fact all practice is there what we are doing is this the shifting of the our tuning of the subject to the absolute it cannot be done at once the skillful way of doing it is first became become aware of the physical the gross the physical then move to this subtle then from there move to the causal and from there awareness of awareness so first catch hold of something that can link the physical to the subtle and that is the breath so that's why we first become aware of the breath the attention is drawn to the breath attention is already on the physical world on a thousand different things withdrawing the attention from the thousand different things to the breath in one location that is could be the stomach could be the nostrils which inflow and outflow of breath after the mind comes down to a certain extent there then begin to notice more subtle things perceptions sound is a good thing because your eyes are closed so sound is a good thing to turn your attention to from the breath to sound not any sound sounds coming and going not any particular sound stay there for some time various sounds which come and go then become aware that the sounds are arising and disappearing in awareness this is a crucial phase where you're moving from the subtle to the causal subtle to the causal sounds are rising and disappearing and awareness if you say no Swami the sounds are arising and disappearing in the air outside now then you're still in the physical you must know what it means that sounds are arising and disappearing in your awareness it's a fact simple fact it's as simple as saying that you are aware of the sound that's all the sounds are arising and disappearing in awareness that's the only place where you hear sound where do you hear sound do you actually hear the vibration in the air outside no we are not even aware of that no only when it comes into the ears and transmitted by the auditory nerves to the brain and the brain center somehow it is converted into an mental impression which is presented to us in the mind in our awareness that's where we are aware of sound so sounds arise and disappear in awareness become aware that not only sound all other perceptions sight and pressure and heat and comfort discomfort smells tastes all of them arise shine and disappear in awareness not as a practice notice is a notice it as a fact it is true that is true it's a fact notice it this is you're moving to the causal level from the subtle to the castle then notice this awareness itself this awareness itself cannot be objectified it is that which objectifies sounds are objects smells tastes forms are all objects but the awareness itself is a pure subject then notice how all sensations arise and disappear in awareness awareness does not arise or change or disappear how the sounds and sensations are many many myriad awareness is one unchanging constant like a luminous space it's not luminous in a physical sense like this the luminous because it's awareness that is our essential nature what we are this impersonal awareness there when you become aware of awareness it's only a way of speaking and there you have moved from the causal to the absolute this is attunement of the subject to the absolute this realization this knowledge once for all that I am that ever shining awareness on which we put an overlay of thoughts perceptions ideas on which an overlay of sensory inputs sound smell taste touch and then which we again solidify into in our own awareness into an external world into our body and interact with it but it's all the time that awareness only this is attuning the subject to the awareness to the absolute but what good does it do all good is there when the subject is lost in objects samsara when the subject is merged into that absolute into that awareness I am that awareness moksha liberation that awareness cannot die it's not born it does not die that awareness cannot fall sick that awareness is is neither delighted nor depressed that awareness is not bored or excited that awareness does not need anything if you notice in your own own intuition that awareness do you think it needs anything no the body needs food and shelter mind needs education entertainment and and praise and support but that awareness does not need anything that awareness is the same in everybody say mean everybody is a way of speaking actually everybody is in that awareness it's not that the Venice is in everybody and you are that it's the absolute is the one reality of the universe and that is the meaning of home when we chant ohm ooh that's a skittle sounds put it together it becomes oh our stands for the physical the gross the breathing the the breath itself well no the R stands for the the actual physical sensation of breathing then ooh as we go from home we go into the ooh that start signs for this circle the in-between very listening to the sounds in the rareness the sensation sounds in the awareness still objects but subtle when you move and notice that it's in a space of awareness to say all merge back into the awareness that's the causal that is when omens beyond that the real you the awareness itself the silence beyond ohm that's the meaning of ohm okay that's the Vedanta lesson for today so we have questions from all over the world and no matter how many of these sessions we hold we are still whereof we are far behind we keep accumulating lots and lots of a huge backlog I'm afraid I might have to be born again to be either answer all the questions so yeah that's a very good question why afraid so we shall take a question from the Internet audience and then we shall I invite people from the live audience here to come forward with the question so think of your questions and raise your hand when I'll ask you and then we can come here and ask the question yes Swamiji we've got a lot of questions on your favorite subject consciousness okay surprise surprise surprise the first one is from J Tania s ramana maharishi's direct practice of Who am I takes me to a point where every little movement in the mind triggers the root question which centers me very close to a daunting silence but something in me refuses to go any nearer to that silence which triggers another movement and I'm back at the starting line ready to repeat the loop this practice does give me a sense of peace but how do I overcome the subversion of the unknown and start to revel in that silence very good question this refers to Ramana Maharshi you know the famous Who am I am i audible to everybody yes at the back so what he would do is anything that you ask he will ask you who is asking a simple teaching method he throws the questions a kind of philosophical jiu-jitsu he throws the question back upon yourself yes so how do I get peace of mind who is asking this find out that what is the best way of meditation who is asking this find out that sometimes people misunderstood somebody came and asked for spiritual advice and Ramana Maharshi apparently he said go back the way you've come and the shocked person stood up to leave and said no no that's not what I mean where you have come into this person from where it has come we trace it back basically what we were doing today yeah then there's a funny story of and I confirmed that from a from a follower from and mercy that it's true it really happened somebody who was a devotee of God not so much interested in this Who am I so he came and said I does this method doesn't appeal to me but I have lot of love for Narayana Vishnu for Narayana is that Alright and that Maharshi said yes yes and so when I die will I go to Vikon to the heaven to the abode of Vishnu Narayana yes oh I will yes and there will I see Narayana yes oh I will see Narayana Vishnu God yes and will not on to see me yes yes he will see you oh he will see me look at me yes and really speak to me Narayan I will God speak to me yes what will you say to me what will you say to me he'll say find out who I am I know who you are Who am I now when you try it as this person as many people did they do that and for hours and hours in a day it's not like a mantra it's not like that you know the way it is done is the actual practices it's a form of Vedantic needed the asana Vedantic meditation the way it's done is any sensation any thought that comes up just ask to whom is it coming so that's the way you do it so thought comes who is thinking this a sensation comes who is thinking this now when you do that for some time you're not looking for an answer you're trying to discover there's a reality it's not looking for an answer which you can write an essay on when you discover you act it's a reality within you feel that and what will happen is very soon a piece descends upon you the frantic activity of the senses and of the mind sees there's a silence which descends upon you which he not noticed this person who's writing he has noticed it if you try it sincerely silence comes and this silence is the deepest possible silence I think Emily Dickinson wrote about it on silence very beautiful poem I wish I mean I don't remember the exact words but it's something like this different kinds of silence he says there is the Silence of the Seas of sailor alone in the seas imagine the vast ocean and one little boat and a sailor is robbed imagine that so there is a sound of the waves maybe but there's a deep silence it was nothing there I remember I visited New Zealand and I went to a beach very cold and lonely Beach and there's ocean in front and I asked what's there beyond that and they said nothing this is the last this is the end of the earth there after that this ocean goes on and on and on to Antarctica so imagine from New Zealand to Antarctica nothing just ocean vast ocean and the vast sky imagine a tiny boat there's a silence of the sailor on the Seas alone on the Seas there is the silence she goes on one by one there's the silence of death when a person whom you knew who has passed away suppose you're sitting near a coffin or near the grave or near the funeral pyre of the person whom you knew for years and decades and passed away and you sit quietly there there's a deep silence there and then she says these shall be noise compared to this is the final silence she says these shall be noise compared to that polar silence of the soul turned within itself how beautiful the polar silence of a soul turned within itself the soul turned within itself that happens when you pursue consistently Who am I so a deep silence comes now here's the question it's a very subtle question if you follow you'll understand and the answer is also very important his question was there's a fear of unknown I retreat from that silence don't that silence is not the ultimate reality but first something has to be done notice that silence is appearing to you the meditator just as the world appears to you the silence of the world also appears to you it's not alien it's not something different it is very intimate it is your own it is the orb it's the closest to you so what you do is sit in that silence for a while but that's not then some important thing comes next because I have met people meditators who have gone to Arunachala where ramanamma she meditated who have meditated long time and they have experienced this silence and they've sat in that silence and they say they told me they say it is the most life transforming wonderful experience of my life and is I wish I could recapture that again what do I do now what next first I wish I could recapture that again and second what do I do now next the answer is this that silence is also not the goal when you have that silence or at least it is simulate recreate that silence in your mind then you do this you ask what ramanamma she would have wanted you to do at that point ask to whom or to what is the silence appearing then you will go to a silence beyond silence which is not a silence which comes and goes which is a silence which is always there right now we only don't notice it that silence is Atman the Turia the underlying consciousness that awareness of awareness which we are talking about it is there only beyond silence what is that silence first of all the deepest possible silence that's the silence of the objective world when all objects are erased physical world body sensations thoughts emotions ideas personality all not there a deep Emily Dickinson says a polar silence falls upon you that's the silence the absence of objects but that absence also is shining in that awareness which you are the pure subject not an object there the last turn has to be done and that turn has to be done carefully otherwise thoughts will start again the turn is down not done by an actual question it's just your investigation of the - am i that will carry you beyond that last silence beyond that I cannot say anything more what you will discover beyond that is the goal of life is you yourself and that never goes away once you have discovered it you never feel and that I found something can I get it back again no not only that you will discover something remarkable you don't have to go to that silence also to discover that you will find even in the midst of this even when the movie is running you notice what is the screen see first you have to switch off the movie to notice the screen behind it but after that let the movie run you know where the screen is you're aware of it that will happen good question let's you want to add one more question alright let's take one more this is from behalf P in Nirvana satakam Adi Shankara says I am neither the seven materials of which the body is made nor am i the five sheaths physical vital mental intellect bliss I am existence absolute consciousness absolute bliss absolute I am he I am he I am he the two statements mentioned bliss it's negated once but then bliss is accepted is it a contradiction pray please clarify alright this is a question about Ananda you know the ultimate reality in Vedanta is called such Adan and the existence absolute consciousness absolute bliss absolute but when you say Ananda bliss absolute people immediately have a confusion or a wrong notion they feel that so then there must be some kind of extraordinary happiness bliss there the answer is yes and no the answer is both yes and no is it true that there is great joy in spiritual life of enlightenment certainly there is but is it true that that ultimate reality is a feeling of joy no no Alan there is not another kind of feeling of joy maybe a very sublime very nice happiness great peace no not even that it's beyond that the way to understand it is like this such existence existence absolute is not a thing which exists you see a chair is a thing which exists table light earth sky these are things which exist the things they exist they are there you can enumerate list them out you can point them out a body is a thing that exists even inside subtle things like sorts emotions feelings they are also they also exist no matter how for a brief while so there are things which exist they are different from each other they come and go they are distinguishable from each other but existence itself is not a thing which exists immediately our mind will say so it doesn't exist so it is nothing it's a name it's an immediate doubt which comes to our mind if it's not a thing which exists so it's nothing no no no no it is the reality of all things it is more real than things which exist let me ask you a whole range of golden ornaments at Tiffany's if you go there that's real right they exist there better you're paying so much for them so they exist but let me ask you what's more real those necklaces and and let's and tiaras are the goal which which is their substance which is real is the goal which is real you should know both not both if both were real you could have them separately can you have have a tiara apart from the goal which constitutes it no it will disappear the ornament disappears without the constituent substance this lectern will disappear if you take the wood out of it but the gold can exist without the tiara is it that is that not true it can exist as a lump of coal it can exist as a necklace it can exist as a bracelet different forms and names and forms come and go the substance is one reality similarly just use that example to understand existence just being and it's not alien it's really what you are what we are trying to understand in the meditation earlier that awareness that is also the same as being now that being which is us it's not only is it's not a dark dull existence it shines that shining of that existence is called Chaitanya chit consciousness that when it falls upon the mind and lights up the mind is the awareness which we are experiencing right now we all feel we are conscious and aware at least some of us are you take a cup of coffee and you say oh I'm more aware now you're not more aware it's the mind which becomes more alert and therefore reflects awareness better captures and challenge channels this awareness better you are the constant awareness so consciousness is also not something that comes and goes it's the mind which flickers not consciousness itself just like consciousness is not a particular flickering of the mind though it is behind all flickerings of the mind just as existence is not a particular existing thing though it is behind the existence of every existing thing similarly Ananda is not a particular flash of pleasure or bliss it is the reality it is the joy or the Bliss which is experienced as all different pleasures of the world all different happiness's of the world all different fulfillment of the world it is a source of all value meaning fulfillment in this in life but in itself it's not a particular feeling I hope that makes sense again let me reassure you people get little oh so I can't experience it it what good is that then don't worry the more spiritual we become more we advance in spiritual life the happier we'll be we'll be bits because it's the mind which reflects that Arnon the better and better and better a pure mind a more spiritual mind reflects on and the better and therefore you are happier therefore the saint is very happy this is saying that a Saint Teresa said of centuries of avea he she said sad nun is a bad nun we also see that why should a monk be unhappy I remember when we were novices we used to laugh and joke so much that I think an elderly gentleman who visited the ashram complained to the body to the head lady the abbot of the monastery that they are these youngsters they need to be disciplined okay that story I'll tell you yes but this one it had happened to us and what the about replied the head of our ashram I can't repeat in polite company so the point being why should these boys not be happy they don't have your cares you know of the world so but he put it in far cruder language what you what you are referring to Swami turian and it is a story in them you know he was a very strict very antique monk so the young monks in bel-air mutt he heard one day in the next room they were laughing and joking in the evening and it was a sort of a Proteus thing so swami torreón underwent and scolded them what are you so happy about have you become enlightened have you realized God what's there to laugh so much about and and of course they were abashed and kept a fell silent was a senior Swami disciple of sri ramakrishna and mr. stern but luckily a team swami vivekananda was there who later started the vedanta work in argentina so he was very i had a ready wait so he said swami to to the analogy that when we read the gospel of sri ramakrishna we're too young he himself is there in the in the book we keep reading again and again all laugh and they are just laughing approach jokes and laughing and humor there's having an opprobrious good time in the presence of Sudama krishna and then story Anansi smiled and then she said all right you're right all right have fun be happy yeah as we go ahead in spiritual life life becomes internally I don't know externally the whatever our karma is that will continue but a deep joy comes from within I'll cause let's join you're generally happy that's there so that will be there but when Shankar Acharya sings sadhana and Rupa shivoham shivoham he means that absolute aren't of which Shankar Acharya later interior open assured commentary he says all the joys in the world which men are made after is just spray from the ocean of our endure within each one of us anybody from this audience you have questions so one by one will come gentlemen here please tell us your name and ask the question then who was there next you were there will come next hello Swamiji my name is namitha captain I'm going to read the question that I have raised already after realization and knowledge of the self as Brahman through a combination of advaitha enquiry into Who am I surrender to the divine feminine and Patanjali Samadhi it would mean that the person has transcended the fear of death then why do the precondition patterns of the mind such as fear and insecurity related to worldly problems at the level of duality such as someone insulting you at work not vanish immediately after the realization the second part to this question is why it is necessary to continue to do more spiritual sadhna to transform these patterns of negative behavior in the mind at the duality of subconscious mind and some of these inherent green or some of these inherent with these cannot be changed no matter what good question so after you have a breakthrough a clarity deep clarity that I get it I know that this I am this unchanging immortal awareness and the whole universe is basically an appearance within me they are also not different from me but after that that same awareness in front of me in the form of my boss and he came said comes and yells at me and then I feel insulted and annoyed and and hurt and because he's my boss I can't punch him on the nose as I would like to do so I'm very I'm Brahmin but I'm very annoyed with the boss Brahmin all my children don't listen to me and I feel frustrated then then what do I do why do I what do I do is different but your question was why do I feel insulted why do I feel frustrated when I know that I am I'll answer this at two levels one is the direct answer in classical Vedanta you what you have asked is a question that is a very old question you'd be happy to know that we're on teens from the time of Shankar or even before that they faced this problem this is called viparita Bhavana viparita bhava is an obstacle in Advaita Vedanta reparative Havanna means contrary tendencies see there are two fundamental problems after learning all this the two fundamental problems which have to be overcome one is called a sambhavana impossibility obstacle the next one is called viparita how when a contrary tendencies obstacle you're asking about the second one but let's take the first one very quickly after I listen to the classes I study it and think about it I know the teaching so the first problem that comes to me is this a sambhavana which is I know what you are trying to say I know what the texts are trying to say I have read so many books attended so many talks but I don't get it how am i Brahmin this is not what you're asking but this thing can come so this thing is overcome by repeated listening to the teaching studying it and thinking about it so raising questions this is the stage of mononym reflection a rational argumentation raised the question again and again your own mind will answer it your fellow students will answer it the teacher should answer it and there are any number of texts well you'll find all the questions that we can conceive of in many more besides which we can never conceive off they have been raised and answered satisfactorily once you get this one to a certain extent clarity comes now you can say I not only know the teaching but now I get it I have made a breakthrough it's clear to me I get it I'm convinced about it it's fine but after that comes the next question which you have asked which is viparita power I get the teaching I'm convinced about it it seems right to me it's real but I can't seem to leave it again and again problems come in day to day life in the form of Brahmin who is in the form of the bus or the disobedient child or the disappointing child or whatever so what do I do first of all why does this come this comes because these are remembering then the mind just as the physical body is conditioned after enlightenment Ramakrishna's body remains Ramakrishna's body and Swami Vivekananda's body remains wrong with a conscious body the physical body remains the same the mind also has these conditionings and this also remains the same and the Enlightenment draw dawns in that mind now you have to soak that mind in that that realization that breakthrough once conviction is there then you have to stay with it this is the third stage called needd asana vedantic meditation so what we are talking about when Rama nama she says Who am I it starts like a question Ramana then becomes an inquiry monana but then very soon it becomes a meditation needed the asana so like that anyway tantric practice must ultimately culminate in EDD asana Swami very country puts it this way that tell yourself again and again that you've stabilized in that that I am I am that reality I am he so um I am that reality until your it tingles with every drop of your blood what does that mean you have assimilated the truth then it becomes easy to live that truth you really feel that way not just think that way not just understand that way it's it's an obvious reality then it'll be easier to live that and then to go back to your earlier patterns of behavior but there will be a phase when earlier patterns of behavior they seem to go contrary to your realization now a follow-up about spiritual practices why does this happen in Vidya Renu Swami's book jeevan mukthi Vivica these things are discussed what is enlightenment while living I am Brahman I realized that all this is Brahman if I can live it and manifest it and get the full benefit from it full benefit transcendence of sorrow establishment in on and that's ultimate bliss if I can get that then I have got this enlightenment while living Jeevan Mukti now he says there are two paths to this one he calls Crito pass the another one he calls a critter past a grito past literally means who has finished spiritual practices water spiritual practices not only the vedantic part of gana yoga but Karma Yoga karma yoga bhakti yoga and Jana Raja Yoga if my practices have been long-standing and sincere and hard I put in the hard work the cleansing of the my so I mean Vaikuntha puts it in this way he says the only thing that we can do is polish the mirror if I polished the mirror long and hard and up scrubbed it nicely then when that breakthrough comes I'll be able to live it very quickly but if I have not done that if I've not done that whiz but is it possible to have that breakthrough it is possible with the Anja Swami says there are there is a group of people who are accurate Oh past you who have not yet completed spiritual practices to a satisfactory level they have been trying maybe they have been meditating maybe they have served people maybe they have devotion to God also but not very deep not transformational and yet by the study of Vedanta he says he says by the grace of guru or grace of god or by their great good past karma notice he does not say by attending many many classes or reading many books he says they all that break through usually comes because of very good karma in the past lives all by the blessings of the Guru or by the special blessings of God its it comes by that people can have a spontaneous kind of awakening it becomes real but they have not completed the preliminary practices you know the mind hasn't been quietened and focused by deep long years of meditation the heart hasn't been been cleansed by unselfishness no selfish desires for myself the the emotions have not been pacified and purified and sublimated by by one pointed devotion to God they have not been done a little bit maybe not enough then what happens is this person what will happen to this person and vidyaranya makes a very clear point but this person because there is a genuine awakening if it's there at all it is a genuine awakening at the point of death this person will get moksha there'll be no rebirth for that person but here is the problem until that point this person will still be subject to the ups and downs of life I mean ups and downs of life will come to everybody but this person we still keep reacting to it because the mine is not fully established in the realization so what this person has to do with the irony says he will not get get the joys of Jeevan Mukta this the shadows and Himalayas they know this variable they have been cultivating it for thousands of years now there very clearly if you ask this question they will tell you in one sentence Oh Jeevan Mukti Cavill actions took a new Havana carita in Hindi they will not get the unique joy of Jeevan Mukti if that spiritual practice has not been done but realization is there Africa a breakthrough so he makes a distinction the Vidya Swami cut to a ghana realization of the reality this is what you're talking about but then there are two other things too two other components one is called Wassenaar Shia the removal of desires purification of the mind second one is called minoan asha there were very misleading term it literally if you say it means destruction of the mind but it directed actually means concentration of the mind a deeply meditative one-pointed mind now unless the purification of the mind and the one-pointed of the mind have been achieved the realization of the truth is difficult to manifest in life you will know it you will find it a struggle it's not that you will not be able to live it you'll be able to live it also if it's really there it will manifest itself it will be a struggle stabilized and it needs to be stabilized now how do you stabilize it then with yarnís swami it is a whole chapters on the two whole chapters on the stabilization jeevan mukthi Vivica the good english translations I recommend the translation by Swami moksha down on the Ching advatage from publication I knew the Swami very great well aunt the teacher one of the few I would unhesitatingly say who was enlightened in this life the only book he ever wrote and he translated it so I mean there is another other translations are also there but I've compared there are crucial passages where this Swami moksha and she gives a slightly different turn it's available yes in Calcutta advaitha sure so he gives a turn to it which directly shows that this person is enlightened and the other person may be a good scholar but it hasn't seen that the inner pointing in that phrase this comes from that so anyway two whole chapters are there how do you stabilize this so basically what it means is very simple all the practices that we have been doing so far japa meditation a mantra service to others transcending our desires all of those have to be intensified the same practices continue but there is now a whole shift in attitude earlier I was doing meditation for what mind will become concentrated attain Samadhi I will realize that truth now you have already realized it earlier you are seeking now you have found it earlier by all those practices you are trying to find something but now you have found it but now you're using those practices to stay there it was very self centered in a sense right like you're seeking because the ego wants you right but now you have transcended it and now you have touched reality but because the mind flickers you feel that you are not settled in that reality to get that feeling of being settled in that reality and able to live it day to day intensify Vidya Rena Swami says the seeker does intend spiritual practices the genuine sincere seeker but the person who has actually seen has found does more spiritual practices now you understand why the direct disciples of sri ramakrishna who directly by the grace of guru by the time sri ramakrishna was there at the time Vivekananda Brahm Han and the Torian and the Shiva and the all of them without exception they all got that breakthrough and they realized in the form in the in the Saguna aspect in the different visions of God with form and also the what we are talking about Ram Magan all of them realized without any exception and yet after Sri Ramakrishna passed away you notice all of them without exception poured themselves into the most austere kind of spiritual practice so then they were asked what are you doing you're already enlightened and all of them each of them at least in two places I know Swami Brahma Han and the Swami Siwon and they give the same answer what he gave us we are trying to make it our own what does this make me make it our own they've already got it it's just that they're big they're soaking themselves in it they say you know when you prepare Russia wala the bengali sweet it must be soaked in the syrup when you clear cooking a spicy food after everything is finished you just let it simmer you put it let it marinate you put a lid on it it's already done what you put a lid on it and let it stay there like that it absorbs more nicely similarly this mirin thick meditation and it it is it can be a long process and that's why you will find many of the greatest radicals they are no longer seeking they have found their just establishing themselves I I read that she Ramana Maharishi meditated for about the breakthrough he had the breakthrough when he was a teenager he imagined what is it like to be dead and he immediately saw his beyond depth and he realized that he's the Atman but after that what happened long time in the deepest possible meditation nearly culpa some argument Sri Ramakrishna got nearly culpa Samadhi by from totapuri the stories teaching after totapuri left Sri Ramakrishna remain like that for six months barely coming out to eat he says my hair grew matted Birds so that kind it is tremendous most people would die if they tried that but as kind of marination is necessary establishing yourself in that and that the great is the continuation of the spiritual practices you're doing Holy Mother Maharaja put it in the most simple way somebody got mantra diksha from the holy mother from her and asked I have got one to diksha from you do I need to repeat the mantra shortcut her answer was very interesting my child at the time of death Taku will come for your Sri Ramakrishna will come for that sir that's the way a dualist Mukti we are putting that you've got motion you will get motion then she says but by sight my son if you want to feel the joy of spiritual life then you must practice in this life look exactly what with the arrhenius at seven hundred years ago at the point of death this person was made a breakthrough yeah we'll get moksha is no doubt this is the last life for such a person it must be a genuine breakthrough it's not a oh I get it and then after the class it's gone again no sign of a genuine breakthrough is it will never go away it will always be there you try to forget it also it'll be there all the time and it'll be available to you at an instant's call but even that is not full enlightenment but she says just like with the ernia the journey says in this life if you want to taste jeevan mukthi enlightened while living that real freedom bliss that transcendence of sorrow even in the midst of sorrow if you won't experience that then you must do this that the other two components have to be completed she simply says if you want to taste the joy in this life well job good tell you have to practice one more thing I will adhere most very important but I could leave it out but you must take it carefully it's very dangerous what I'm going to say yeah now everybody perked ears what this question which you're asking genuine question you must do exactly what vidyaranya Swami has said or Holy Mother says what the Saints have done very good good guide is to look at the lives of saints but I must add what wouldn't someone like Shankar Acharya or go to father have said they would say this this very question you are asking is it a question that the Atman would ask or the mind would ask the mind for some mind asks that question yes I am NOT steady there what is not steady there is the Atman not steady in Atman always always is what is not steady there the mind yeah I want to make the mind steady can the mind ever become steady in the Atman never ultimately all the spiritual practices will bring you to this insight the Atman is perfect is fine and the mind do you understand not worth bothering about that that question I'll come to you yeah oh that philosophy in a classic philosophy nothing of mind and matter mind and matter what is matter never mind what is mind no matter yes the what yes please ask the question it happens to me so you are madam please thank you very much please ask the question you can ask that I'll repeat it I'll repeat please ask them yeah please go ahead the mind itself gives us sometimes the question is she's asking the question is sometimes the mind itself gives the answer that is true that is true but you know I'll add something to that even when the mind gives the answer it's good to know to check to verify from a teacher or a text I get the answer but if I find the same answer in kilometer if I find the same answer in vidya swami oh good you do you feel yes that's right yes in the bible in the quran wherever in the great teachings in Buddhism you find echoes of this everywhere in the highest teachings of the different religions of the world you find the same thing I don't know if she will be mad at me for pointing this out but we have a very distinguished visitor in our midst today justice room appalled she is she was in all right she's mad at me now yeah I'm biased but all righty but you are in age where you shouldn't be embarrassed yes you're above that now you know she was one of the first women judges of the Supreme Court the third one so imagine something like Ruth Bader Ginsburg four out of India so she's so she you're visiting for a conference so welcome to you and thank you for the question can we have a question from the internet audience you wanted to ask a question tell us your name I'm on a mu and I me Bangladesh crew chief to get your and I'm sure she'll ask she'll ask in Bengali I'll translate for you and yes you can ask jhemini are Marmont throwing at you don't tell mantra into a me Abner void antic meditational video codec is a proteomic initiative good tatata immediacy on top roll on curry Bala Hachi a a meditation into amar Montreux Lamba Montreux you're coming brilliantly close to who don't talk about the mantra don't talk about the timeout what is the question don't don't mention don't mention the mantra don't mention your inner spiritual experiences in many cases yes many cases so don't mention care now let me keep hobby armory Namba Montreux tacky feat Corbeau all right so what mo is asking you from Calgary what more is asking is I've been initiated I've got a mantra from a guru but now we listen to the Vedanta teachings and we have also heard a little bit about pedantic meditation for example today one one way it's there's the prolonged chanting of home with the meaning that's not only there's nothing meditation there are many many many many techniques so but how do I fit that with what I've been taught she's asking so good was given a mantra and an Easter day was chosen deity and a way to practice so all that has been given when I've been initiated so there's a good question many people have that question especially when delete listen to Advaita teachings how do I fit it how do I fit these to my answer is don't for God's sake don't fit what the Guru has said guru jubilation about the I'll tell you in Bengali gerousia bullets in German through the Athena Deva dibala team shut up hakuna that we do contact me jermonta polish internment occur in Java don't try to eat a shank or take a measurement parentage a a mother shavon modernization a Lada Alisha called Jean de Basquiat my guru mantra is Tony or akin to act don't disturb Kootenay what a Jumonville isn't about keep these two compartmentalized due to a Lada so let me answer what let me translate what I just said to her because many people have this question the answer is if you have been initiated in a particular worship tradition meditation and devotional tradition like in the Ramakrishna order or other if you have a guru has given you the teaching keep it sacrosanct don't meddle with it don't improve it after every lecture that I hear I'm upgrading like your phone my downloading uploading the word upgrading the different apps yes I upgraded my mantra app and my birth every two days never desire you're asking for disaster so always keep that exactly as it is that's why guru mantra these are based on Shonda they have your dis your direct link to God it's mystical don't fiddle with it it's not a box you can open and change the settings every time no so as it is given keep on practicing so R is ever going to compartmentalize my spiritual practices only practically so but ultimately no when you dwell upon Vedanta when you listen to these talks and read the text and even practice the meditation once in a while you will only strengthen your core spiritual practice you begin to see the reality behind that Ohr should total both having a barren took early do kala the NOI into practice it do two colors are act a Hawaii by guru dev a mantra each took a crystal cottony in computers there is a word called firewall so it's isolated from the rest of the environment viruses cannot get into it or upgrades can can't get into it so you have to firewall it so that it remains with you and that's a core practice that will continue till end of life there will come a time when the two will merge it will come automatically the day we don't have to do anything about it don't fiddle with it don't try to change it I'll tell you one of the few monks whom I know I feel very strongly that they were enlightened near Muktananda G upin maharaj who lived to the age of 102 I think or 101 when I asked him when he was nearly 100 years old in the is a disciple of swami sivananda jiho's in baler but he was sitting in the temple of maharaja they are facing which faces the Ganga now what had happened was all I won't tell you the whole story a long one but one specific question let me tell you and thats related to yours so I said exactly this question i said swami the guru has given me and each today without the form of god i'm supposed to meditate on and love and pray to and a mantra given by the guru that's one thing so there's a farm and a mantra and a practice and we are studying Upanishads the Gita and the Brahma sutras and all these vedantic texts and where they talk about one existence consciousness place an impersonal really which has to be realized not repeated or visualize or meditated what is the connection between that impersonal Atman and the personal guard which guru has taught what is the connection and his answer was this I will repeat I'll translate the exact words make of it what you will do you think that they are too and he said do you think that the Ishta devatha Showzen god is only here it is here there and everywhere and then he said a quiete there's only one reality then he repeated to me he had served Swami or kundan on the G so what's only a continent had told him and what Sri Ramakrishna's said well Sonia are condemned and other direct disciples I'll tell you the exact bring is like a mantra which and it's direct answer to your question JJ or Ishtar Atma what your each to divert eyes what as the guru has taught you that is the Atman only the Atman as pure consciousness awareness there's no farm there's no objective objective thing that you can hold on to so a divine name and form is added and then you given a practice but literally though we don't understand it they seem to be two different things to our minds remember this and take it on faith it showed that in heaven JJ are each two Shotaro Atma so you are Ishta devatha as given by the guru with the mantra is exactly the Atman of diffident take it on faith and at one time it will become clear very good one question and Adam will come to you you gentleman there one question from the Internet audience oh they're early today I'm getting signal that the food is ready now we have now they'll have to hold on don't get hungry right now we still have about 20 minutes to go if you permit I'm going to give you two to questions yes this one is from Virenque is Brahman the cause of the universe if not how can the universe come out of nothing and Sudhir Kay does Advaita Vedanta recognized the omniscience of God does it consider him or her or powerful omnipotent omniscient and omnipresent or is such a God a myth in Advaita Vedanta all right two questions is brandman because of the universe if not and how did the universe come from how does the universe come from nothing or how can the universe come from nothing is one question and the other question is does will Advaita Vedanta recognize God or accept God God means a God of religion only omnipresent omnipotent all-powerful everywhere so or is such a god of myths in Advaita Vedanta so here's a standard question what's the status of the old guy in seen in in Vedanta it can be an old guy it can be the old lady and it can be young and man women without form in all forms yes so a direct question does Advait Vedanta accept God yes yes it does but it is a new very nuanced approach which you must understand this question is understandable why this question is period this has been asked for more than 1,000 years ever since Shankar Acharya wrote the boshy has come into this actually explaining what dopes initials mean from an advaitha perspective the immediate attack was from two sides the buddhists of course but from the hindus themselves in Uttarakhand sadhus put it humorously the Hindus were shocked these fellows non-dual ii start the hindus at all they will say in hindi shiv ji Chiara Donecker TiVo do you worship Shiva do will accept shivaratri or the worship the divine mother or do you go on pilgrimages do you go to temples do you take baths in holy rivers do you perform shraddha and all the the rituals of the hand of Hinduism are you Hindus at all or not very big question doubtful guys these guys are and the attacks not only just common people philosophers on the Hindu side pretend about da Shankar Acharya is is a crypto Buddhist Buddhists rejected him and the Hindus also rejected him so what was his answer to the Hindu side his answer was that the solution you try can put it nicely arre Baba I'm Samantha hey yes my dear fellow we accept everything we accept everything we can take a dip in the holy Ganga we go can go to the temple and worship in fact we can accept more than you can accept we can accept Shiva and Vishnu and Kali but we can also accept the god of the Christians or the Muslims because we all see there they are all different forms and names of the same reality so we accept it so what is the conception of God in Advaita Vedanta it is this it is called saguna brahman Brahman with qualities what what is then what is Brahman without qualities attribute less Brahman what is called apathetic in a in technical language philosophically anguish the path of not this not this the ultimate reality which we sensed with that meditation on awareness that is not an object you cannot describe it in any table but it's real it's real in fact it is the only reality that there is so but that reality alone appears as the God of religion so when you're talking about the god of religion advaita vedanta calls it saguna brahman with qualities what qualities exactly the ones he mentioned omniscient omnipotent omnipresent all-knowing all all present everywhere then all-powerful all-loving all good ramanujacharya in registered whether he has a phrase Ananta kalyana guna gana endless auspicious qualities so does Advaita Vedanta accept it yes absolutely and because it is ultimately attribute less when it takes on attributes it cannot it can have the attributes of narayana of shiva of the divine mother or it can be jehovah the Jews or the Allah of the Muslims or the Father in heaven of Christian it can be the other way Jinnah has no problem so this is one one side of it how do you understand it but not very difficult as we do the analysis on ourselves I am NOT the body not the mind which we did attuning the subject to the absolute I am the awareness existence consciousness bliss so this existence consciousness plays disk disk well this consciousness within Sudan and the rupa shivoham with an overlay of the mind and the sensory system and this body is serve up yonder and it is this person there mo and is that person there and that other person is man that woman these plants and animals and dolphins and whales and all living beings that one consciousness plus mind plus body differentiated and thinking of itself as a limited be that same consciousness an absolute Brahman alone thinks of itself as a Jeeva a sentient being Brahman alone is the Jeeva in ignorance Jeeva in knowledge Brahman didn't pick one what is reality brahman sri ramakrishna is to say posh bug do jeep a schmuck Toshiba died in the bondage and in there in bondage it is Jeeva sentient being us freed from bondage it is none other than Shiva the ultimate reality now what is God here I understand this is the G but this is us but what is God just one tweak of this that same absolute consciousness existence consciousness bliss associated not with just serve up Rhiannon the mind and body but associated with all these Minds all these bodies not these alone the billions of bodies of all living men and women all living creatures from the tiniest bacteria to the biggest blue whale all of them and if there are living beings in other words to all all the pointy-eared aliens and whatnot whatever hollywood can conceive of all of them that one consciousness associated with all of them can you imagine such a being the way you look at yourself imagine how such a being would look at itself this is the vedanta conception of god the imminent consciousness in the universe identified with the entire living and non-living universe also the Vedanta Vedanta is a word for this it is called Bharat the vast Bharat there the vast does not mean that the physical universe it means consciousness associated with the entire physical universe looking upon itself as one reality does this exist this is the God of Vedanta this is what Arjuna saw in the eleventh chapter of bhagavad-gita is visscher rupa darshan another name of varieties with sure Rupa when Arjuna said I want to see thy cosmic form he didn't know what he was asking first the result was he was terrified with the mind nowadays they would say mind-blowing experience imagine such a farm you know in public speaking they say we get afraid because 100 people are staring at you you can nervous if one person stares at you feel nervous 100 people are staring at you thousand people the biggest audience have faced is in balloon about 14,000 people it's scary because so many people are staring at you but imagine if all the people in the world today the 7 billion people living and the billions have lived earlier and the billions who will live in future and all the living creatures from bacteria to lions and tigers and elephants and whales and whatnot all of them together all of that together suddenly turns and looks at you what would you feel and I'm not making this up when in the eleventh chapter when he sees Arjuna sees this the commentator says what we all experience in slices of time and space the life they are living throughout our lives all the food that we have eaten all the people that we have met all the places that we visited all the sensations we have had seeing hearing smelling touch if all of that in one time not just one person all persons all experiences at one time they suddenly burst forth in your consciousness and as a person not just an impersonal thing as the whole thing as a person or turns and looks down at you the immediate reaction Arjuna says every hair in my body standing on end and the earth trembles at that at this this experience that doesn't tremble but it's just that Arjuna feels like that he sees this the what beautiful poetry as if a thousand suns were to rise in the sky together one Sun in the sky as if a thousand suns were to rise in the sky together open however he quoted this verse when he said when he saw the first atomic bomb explosion as if a thousand suns rising in the sky together I come as time the destroyer of worlds that's just one atom bomb well imagine so so that is God in Vedanta that is accepted you might be thinking this up here but lurking in the background you are right there is a but this is accepted in what way lanta calls via waha rica transactional plane transactional plane i am an individual being that is of the vast god but beyond god an individual beyond ocean and wave there is one reality the water which is both ocean and wave is one reality one near guna brahman which is saguna brahman and Jeeva what a great avid anthem wants to teach is not that not just that personal devotion of you to that vast vastness rather it is beyond that vastness and be and your personality there is one infinite attribute less Brahman impersonal reality that's the only reality that is what I am so what Vedanta teaches a humdrum asked me I am Brahman which Brahman not God Vedanta does not teach I am God without the teachers I am that impersonal absolute where there is no God there is no individuals what is upsetting to the duelists what do you mean no God the gentleman there please tell us your name and ask the question so Tucker Babu yes I have one simple practical question and a regular question so this morning when your letters in meditation are we supposed to do our own meditation or father or instructions the one that was given to us by our guru oh the one that is given to you by our guru of course all these so don't get hung up on the techniques of meditation there's no end to that guru taught me something I've been doing it nicely for 10 years but this is really a fine vedantic meditation poor old guru is now replaced now let me take up the new improved will never do such a thing I don't I have read all of this I practiced them all so but what my guru gave me and a mantra always my personal believe is all this spiritual development progress is coming from that little mantra which the Guru has given that's the personal belief all astir mantra always follow that and the other things will come and go if you like something practice it is a good supplement but it's not your main diet this is a second question you've got to bear with me I'm troubled by this all the time I know the question of consciousness people thought there is a thing called life force and when you die life force goes away but as you understand now modern science that no such thing it's an illusion of lifeforce where is the can we use the same analogy for consciousness I mean I always say a feeling that but okay I understand perfectly because we have this discussion all the time let me put it in this way are you a biologist or I'm a physician physician so what he's saying is at one time people thought there is something called a life force and when you body dies means the life goes away prana goes away but as biology has advanced we have understood more and more about it Bill Conrad is there he's a biophysicist he's our most senior most member at 95 years so now let me put it let me change the question a little bit and put it this way because I I have discussed this we have something called a philosophy cafe here in the ethical society which meets once a month and among the leaders there are philosophers from Columbia from CUNY so I know many leaders is Massimo he is the head of philosophy in at CUNY and he's a biologist by training and also a philosopher so his argument is exactly this when I asked him we had discussions on consciousness studies so where do you stand on the hard problem of consciousness he dismisses it is there's no fundamental thing called consciousness it's just a process of a living brain it's a byproduct epiphenomena process and he begs answer the question the answer he gives the reason he gives us exactly this he says right now because we don't understand the brain well enough and consciousness well enough at all we don't understand that's why we think there's a mysterious thing called consciousness which has to be discovered but similar thing was there he said at the turn of the century where life was not understood and it was thought that one of the questions which science will never be able to explain his life and people called it things like Elan vital no Bergson and so there is something corresponding to the Indian idea of prana all ancient cultures had this Chinese had the idea of Chi and Japanese had the idea of ki and the Indians of the idea of Khurana Greeks had the idea of Numa the life breath now as science has advanced we have understood that what we call life is basically a collection of several biological processes going on in this body he said and to a great extent we are able to synthesize many parts of the similar things in the in lab in a very simple way in the laboratory also so we understand it down to the molecular level we know it's no some mysterious single thing which comes and goes not like that that's what he said so one day we will be able to able to understand consciousness also like that one day when we understand the brain better so there's no such separate consciousness all this consciousness come you know being the ultimate reality or the soul immortal soul which religions believe in nothing like that he says that now the answer is I'll give you the simple pedantic answer see if it makes sense to me it makes perfect sense you know you'd be surprised to know that according to Vedanta life is also material world is material body is material life is material mind is material by material the Sanskrit what I'm using is Jarrah the original Sanskrit but they have chit jata consciousness and matter how do they distinguish they were very elegant way of distinguishing in Vedanta what is the consciousness and what is not consciousness this is you will always look at your own experience in your experience right now whatever you are aware of whatever you are aware of belongs to the category of gerra objective reality what is objective that which appears to consciousness then what is consciousness clearly it cannot be an object of anything that is object must be an must be Jutta an object to consciousness so the pure subject which is not an object which is the one which is aware of everything including mind that is consciousness according to Advaita Vedanta now what follows from this what will equate in say to an objection like this ultimately will say there is no problem that you have been able to explain life in terms of other objective processes one objective process is a explained in terms of simpler objective processes of course in principle there is no problem prior our life is an objective process and you have explained it in terms of other simpler objective processes good but if you now claim that an set of objective processes in the brain is generating the subject which is not an object you must remember the the knife with which they are cutting reality in Barranca subject an object why will you believe will I accept that because that's how you experience the law in universe I lost you're not lost yourself life is an objective reality ok because we first of all remember what what I am defining as objective anything that you are aware of or can be aware of is an object ok anything that is presented to consciousness is Jarra it's not conscious you are consciousness and your mind your thoughts your breath prana body world all our objects jarrah are you with me so far indeed you have to change the paradigm now in this paradigm life also is an object and you have explained life in terms of other objects biological processes there is a objective process of life and they have been explained in terms of you know how there is the physiology of the body and all of that there are all objective so an objective process is explained in terms of more simpler objective processes nothing there no problem in principle ok but now the pure subject consciousness how can it be produced by objects the brain is an object whatever is happening in the neurons is an object how so one object can produce another object like so neurons can produce the electrical activity of neurons but how can it produce you the subject why does not make sense to you or a scientifically trained person is the scientifically trained person has a deep objective bias according to science look at that look at the the tremendous contradiction at the heart of science science studies everything as an object it cannot but do that what you do when you do science be objective so everything that is studied is an object and that works fine when you are studying objects but when you are studying the subject the only way science can work is to reduce the subject into an object not only that science has earlier made up its mind that the object is the only reality everything in the universe is an object but that's not true that is falsified by your own experience what science has already made up its mind is that there are this what you are calling subject is a by-product of an objective brain are you with me at every step yes I can understand the fundamental primordial not in this philosopher not in spiritual sense the scientists have done that way riah are very beginning actually plan that let us call it the primitive the primordial paradigmatic the paradigm difference science never considers this science says this talk about subject objects the way of talking actually everything is an objective reality no all of it is fine as long as you're studying quasars or quarks or living cells they're all objects even when you're trying to study the mind according to Vedanta even mind is an object why why is mind an object because what is the definition of object anything that you experience is an object but by that very definition when you now say the objective thing like the living brain can produce the subject you are making what is called in philosophy a category error and this is very clear from vedantic perspective where is the necessity to invoke category error because object and object relationship is clear but the subject is something entirely different in nature from an object how can you jump from the object to the subject never in scientific history have you ever come across something like consciousness and strange that you have not because consciousness is ever-present all science is done in consciousness it is we are first-person experience is conscious and that is where you do science that is where you are a theist an atheist that is where your scientific or unscientific everything in life is in consciousness from Vedantic perspective not in without this perspective in a common sense perspective also so this consciousness it's not an object this is what we learnt assess this is what science is unable to grasp look at all the prevalent theories of consciousness now they're either reductive that some are like like Massimo told me that it is a process of the living brain we don't know how give us time we will find out this is called promissory materialism I'll give you a materialistic explanation I promise ten years forty years fifty years hundred years we will find out what David Chalmers in NYU says that you don't understand the question what you feel as first person experiences pleasure pain there is something there that first person s of that experience there is no connection between that and the objective realities in the world in fact if you look at your own experience your personal experience these objective experiences are in you yes will come yes these objective realities are experienced in consciousness isn't it what is more primary in your experience you the experiencer then only experience is possible are we to understand consciousness is something like say I have magnesium in my body there's magnesium everywhere or iron iron everywhere I own part of the iron and magnesium no not even like that iron and magnesium still are objective realities is it like a life force and electromagnetic force No a life force electromagnetic force there are also objective realities just use that lock that thing see what we are saying is attend to your own experience right here at right now what is there in your experience let's do this what is there in your experience there are many things that you see hear smell taste touch and what you see hear smell taste touch varied though they are they're all objects what you think and feel and understand and remember very subtle things but there are also objects why are you why am i calling them objects because you are aware of them now that which is aware of all of this is it an object can I do you believe in the Socratic logic say something new cannot arise it must be dormant all along yes believe there's consciousness in government and nonliving things plants and animals and then sentient beings good question do you believe that something new cannot arise that question I forgot to answer that how can your universe come from nothing that's a good good question so do you believe that consciousness is dormant in all living beings we know what what what would be the if you understand the answer which I'm going to give from a pedantic perspective then you will get Vedanta vedanta says it's not that consciousness is dormant or active somewhere in the universe rather the universe lies dormant in consciousness according to Vedanta the consciousness is the reality in which the universe lies dormant and then it appears you can call it a Big Bang you can call it evolution life appearing and then conscious beings appearing like us and then life disappearing in the life will universe ending going back to dormancy Jesus says from the from the unmanifest the manifest comes and goes back to the unmanifest but unmanifest manifest and unmanifest again this cycle it's all happening in consciousness the Vedanta will go forth for forward and say it's not even happy happening it's a movie wing played the reality all throughout is a changeless consciousness see I'll end with this the four possibilities are there I'll just give you in a seed form this answer and I heard it I mean I read it from a non duelist teacher in Hindi who had no idea of modern science he says consciousness and matter let's call it object no matter the material universe in consciousness what is the relationship these four possibilities are there one is consciousness emerges from matter which is the the old materialistic charvaka argument in in ancient India and which is exactly the modern scientific argument matter time-space pattern energy this is fundamental and at one point planets develop living more complex matter comes organic matter and from that living beings come and they organize themselves more and more by Darwinian evolution into complex beings and then they develop nervous systems and brains and from those nervous systems and brains all material there is a by-product called consciousness just like a flame from a candle epiphenomenon and there is no consciousness without matter so matter is the reality out of which consciousness flickers somehow that's one theory the second theory is just the opposite matter emerges from consciousness whose theory is this all religions hold it when they say God is the creator that's religious language if you ask them easier God conscious or unconscious these are all sake of our God is conscious so actually matter emerges from consciousness consciousness is the creator of a material universe religion says which religion all theistic religions say it second theory it is not advaitha not non-dualism third neither emerges from the other both are eternal and parallel samkhya theory kirusha prakruti consciousness and time space matter they exist eternally parallel to each other and interact where do they interact in us we are consciousness interacting with matter that's a living being according to samkhya very sophisticated theory in fact what David Chalmers is proposing now has been psychism here it's a variation not exactly Sankhya but a variation of the Sankhya theory this is also not advaitha there is another one which he has not counted which is the Nara Arjuna's book this thick theory matter is also shown near consciousness is also shown here both are appearances in the void it's a different thing to explore now the if you can't if you add that then that's that's the fourth one the fifth one is that Dwight the theory that greater theory is consciousness alone is real it's the only reality which in which matter appears consciousness does not create matter it does not become matter matter appears periodically as universe as life and as conscious beings and disappears but consciousness is fundamental that consciousness I'm using the English word consciousness there's no parallel to it you might say what proof I will leave you David this the proof is look at your own experience where does matter appear where does matter appear in your consciousness in your mind where does mind appear in consciousness where does mind disappear in deep sleep in consciousness very good profound matters now let us eat some matter is necessary consciousness demands matter now shantae shantae shantae hurry he own that such Sri Ramakrishna Aparna must [Music] [Music]