Video 26

Ask Swami with Swami Sarvapriyananda | January 6th, 2019

[Music] so this session is the ask Swamy session we haven't had that for some time and a lot of questions have accumulated we will respond to some of them now here is an announcement this is for not only all those who are here but also the wider audience over the internet the questions which are asked in this session to ask Swamy session they are public first of all they do not come to me directly they are reviewed by a team of our volunteers then they are asked in public here in front of everybody and in broadcast across over the internet I think sometimes it is live is this life today today it's not like sometimes it's live and in any case it is recorded and broadcast over the internet so the point is that personal questions since this is a public forum personal questions would not be appropriate many people it is understandable there's so much sorrow and suffering people would like to ask questions about that so if you can put it in an impersonal way that would be appropriate yes so remember just remember before you write in with your questions to ask Swami that it's a very public forum the way it will go is first time will ask questions from the Internet audience and then the live audience here you get to ask questions just raise your hands and I'll ask you to come forward here there's a microphone and a chair for you to sit on and please tell us your name and then ask your question so do you go in by turn the virtual audience and then your turn and then again the virtual audience yes thank you first questions we have are on Maya we've had quite a few and we've picked out a couple the first one is from batik ah if everything is Maya then what about evolution if the real world is unreal just a projection of Maya in our mind and consciousness then how come we all experience the same world the projections in different minds could be different just like our dream experiences are different for each individual but we all experience the same real world so how can we say that this real world doesn't actually exist and then Shokan asks if we are like waves in the ocean or of consciousness why do we singularly as well as collectively see the same patterns in the world for example notions of joy sorrow good evil if jeevan mukta have realized brahman which is infinite how can they interact with the finite and for what purpose a wave does not know its true nature for it is for it to know that it is infinite it should have an identity distinct from the infinite else there is nothing to know and by no one all right these are very deep philosophical questions questions about Maya Brahman is a simple fellow the absolute is a pretty simple value but Maya is difficult Maya is basically the principle in Advaita Vedanta where the one appears as the many the old old question in metaphysics is how does the one become the many and there are different ways of reconciling this one one approaches the materialistic approach which says there is no one ultimate reality it's a pluralistic world and multiple realities so some philosophies the charvaka is the ancient Indian materialists or even the the logicians device shakers nyah-nyah cos they were pluralists there are multiple realities so the one is denied there is multiplicity that's that's the reality modern science would sort of fall in this category except that there is still the search for the grand unified theory we're trying to understand if everything came from one one reality ultimate reality Sankhya would say that both are parallel the one and the many are parallel there is there is the consciousness which is again multiple like each person is an infinite awareness not one infinite awareness put multiple infinite awarenesses and the physical world outside is actually all of it is a transformation of one prakruti one nature that is Sankhya it's basically a dualism of consciousness and matter then we she stood greater qualified monism would say the one and the many the many are parts of the one there is one reality and the many are parts of it just as we am one but here is one body and the hands and the legs and the head and the tummy they are all parts of one body similarly one brahmand one absolute and the material universe and also sentient beings like us we are parts of that absolute that's another way of dealing with the problem of the one and the many what does add right away Dantas a non dual Vedanta it says the many is an appearance in the one there is only one reality and it is experienced as many why would the one be experienced as many there is that's where Maya comes in Maya's dough is the principle which does not make the one into the many but makes the one appear as the many it's like if you look at the ocean you have ten thousand waves in that lanta koushin from the point of view of waves there are ten thousand entities thousands and thousands of entities but if you change your perspective and see look at it water it's one body of water so one pure being in which all of this appears and is experienced and disappears so you can see the connection of this with the meditation which we just did so Maya then what is Maya and that's a very difficult question in Advaita Vedanta much more difficult than Brahman I'm reminded of somebody who asked a disciple who asked swami vivekananda swami vivekanand said you ask me anything and he said please explain to me what is Maya and Swami Vivekananda said ask something else and the disciples said it's recorded the disciples said if getting a teacher like you I do not understand what Maya is then I'll never understand it in my life so that's what answer I want and then the disciple records that swami vivekananda started speaking to him and it was a tremendous experience the disciple says that room literally started spinning around him in that experience he got and the external world seemed to disappear and his own body and Swami Vivekananda's body from his own experience it seemed to disappear where in this great mass of luminosity there was only the voice of Vivekananda speaking and then this disciple he burst out saying Oh Swami this is the only reality and everything else is an appearance it's all my it's an appearance even you and your even this work you know the the ramakrishna mission the order which you are starting all this work that you're starting it's all my it's an appearance and here you're speaking in Bengali so in Bengali there and like an indifferent in Indian languages when you address somebody else they're a different it represents the term that you use the pronoun you use it represents different levels of intimacy so with a revered elder you would say apni with somebody who is very close to you or a child you would say to me now he's a disciple and Swami Vivekananda's is guru so he should say apne - so in vivek and that's what he always did but he suddenly thought why am i calling swami vivekananda to me which is used to for somebody of very close to you intimate to you or to some like to a little child the moment he thought that the world snap back into place and he could see swami vivekananda sitting there and smiling at him and saying yes that is true what you what you just said it's true if you can realize that be one with brahman and be done with it if you cannot then come and help in this work I'm not trying to avoid the question the questions are about Maya you have a question on evolution and two questions which were similar across the two persons who asked why if all this is a projection why are we all seeing the same reality that was the second question the third question was the Jeevan Mukta the enlightened person must have a separate identity to realize the oneness if there's only one reality who realizes what so these are the questions these are related to Maya the first let me take the second question first why do we share a common reality if it's a projection the underlying thinking is like in a dream we understand our dreams our projections of our minds in our dreams we all have individual dreams if I saw you yesterday in my dream and I had a cup of shared a cup of coffee with you you wouldn't remember that because we what all that happened the cup of coffee and you in an eye in the dream they're all projections of my mind and you did not share that experience so each person is a separate dream if this world is indeed somehow dreamlike because the dream example is used so much if this world is some indeed somehow dreamlike how is it that we are all sharing this experience not only that later on if you meet each other you would all agree yes we were there for the class on Sunday I belong to society so you we had a shared reality then how can you say this ring like this is definitely something real because it's out there and we are sharing it do you see the question the answer is it's very simple if you look at the dream example itself in the dream you are there other people are there and you're experiencing a common shared reality is that not so this one itself right now it could be that we are dreaming that you are dreaming not us we are all part of your dream you could snap upset upset and oh my god it's already 12 o'clock and I miss the talk at the Vedanta Society I was napping it could be there's nothing impossible about it and in your dreams you always think that you are awake she asked but I'm awake now but in your dreams we always think we don't think in our dreams I am sleeping in my bed and dreaming we don't think that we think we are awake we think that we we are we are in a community of people sharing the same objective reality the same places the same food and the same talk and everything is like an objective reality we don't doubt it for a moment so how can you say so exactly like that now the difference is only this our dreams from our waking perspective our dreams are definitely different because they're projections of our individual minds here it's not a projection of an individual mind it's an appearance in one consciousness so that this is the thinking that gold apart-er uses in the monocoque Erica and Amanda open you should learn to kick Erica so in principle there is nothing to distinguish in principle your dream from your waking experience in both you seem to share a public reality with others it's only from another point of view you realize that it was all an appearance so from your waking point of view everything in the dream is you understand it was an if there is a projection of my mind the dreamers mind from the Turia that the enlightened person's point of view from the Atman point of view you realize but if was in awareness the imagination we did down just before this session did you notice what I what I said that we we're noticing all the sounds in awareness you see we noticed that all the sounds in awareness not just sounds thoughts feelings perceptions all kinds of sensations they were all in awareness that's what is meant by being projected in awareness we still have this this idea that yeah there's a sound outside and I'm aware of it the two things there's a real sound outside and I'm aware of it that's not what we think but if you think a little more deeply you see that whatever you are aware of it's all in in your awareness you're never aware of two things your awareness and a sound outside your awareness you see what I'm saying is this piece of paper in this clock we are two things separate things how do you know you can see the clock without the paper you can see the paper without the clock right and that's the proof that two separate entities you can they can be experienced separately but your awareness the awareness which we are and the objects of that awareness sounds thoughts feelings emotions they cannot be experienced separately like this one without the other you cannot experience obviously by definition experience requires awareness you cannot experience the sound without your awareness every object is experienced in awareness that's what is meant by saying that they are all projections of awareness let me just complete this evolution the question of evolution the reason why the questioner asked this I think is that how could this tremendous diversity which can be explained by evolution how could you say it's a projection the reason the person is asking that is somehow it's in our minds that it this universe physical universe is a projection of our limited mind but that's not what we're on to say it's not what we don't assess it's a projection in Brahman in the absolute and evolution can definitely be accounted for for you canyou can accept evolution come easily let's see the beauty of Advaita Vedanta is it does not deny or go against any established scientific doctrine one should not it easily accommodates that what does evolution explain it explains the multiplicity of living forms how did all these plants and animals come about this diversity all of the this and the evolution which produced all of them they are all experienced in awareness that's all that Advaita Vedanta is interested in they're experienced in awareness they all share being isness that isness is such pure being that awareness is chit and that's what advertising is interested in before we became a ware of Darwinian evolution what held sway was a kind of creationism that the theistic religions of the world said that God created all of these things fine but all of these things they share being including God that's all that advaitha is interested in God and and his creation blessed both are they are all share in existence that being that in fact even in Christian mysticism it is called the the ground of God the ground of being that's what Advaita is talking about and I mentioned this earlier the first scholar to write an English Sanskrit Dictionary Manya Williams he writes that these ancient Hindus were Darwinian 2,000 years before Darwin not that there was a fully full-blown theory of evolution there wasn't there wasn't we're not making such claims but you can see the the sea of that the prototype of that for example even the Dasha avatar of the ten incarnations you see the bodies the incarnations are supposed to have inhabited from fish to Toto is to an an animal body bore to half animal half human body to a to a human body and so on I think and the enlightened person the question about the enlightened person when Latin person must have an individually to experience oneness no no no no you see the individuality can be a part of the appearance and the oneness is the reality behind the appearance to experience something to know something you must have definitely a body mind but that body mind refers back to that background existence consciousness the wave that's a good example the wave can continue to exist as a wave but understand that itself and all waves and the entire ocean is one mass of water you can have both we can have an underlying unity and an appearance of diversity you can have an appearance of individuality and the reality that there is an absolute behind that individuality both are possible and that is what is happening right now see our problem is this we take the individual it it's as if the wave thinks of itself as wave only as a wave and it sees other waves around it it does not see the underlying unity of water that there is we are all one substance one reality it does not see that so it sees itself as cut off from all others its infinitude is lost as wave a kundus said this universe is the wreckage of the infinite on the shores of space-time and causation the universe is a wreckage of the infinite on this only Advaita Vedanta says that it's not wrecked it only appears fragmented the underlying unity is preserved Brahman is still there it's not that it was an absolute now it is broken up into all these pieces all and one day after the universe ends or something like that we will all be one or after enlightened we'll all become one know the oneness of water is preserved even if there are thousands of waves on the surface of the ocean it's still one body of water it is what water and water only what else is there in the ocean except water only water similarly what else is here except existence consciousness place Brahman only being and this appearance goes on within this within this existence consciousness place so we'll leave it at that there was a hand who wanted to ask you to come here though they are recording it do you tell us your name and ask the question i stephanie pro so with the meditation we first let impressions come sounds and other bodily experiences and then you led us to an awareness of the awareness within so that is an experience too and isn't that also an object and how is that step or that experience different from experiencing other objects and what is the next step how do i get basically from apni to to me all right Stephanie yes is that is the awareness the primal awareness the chit-chattin is it an object actually not to the extent that you see it as an object it is not the ultimate awareness the one which is seeing it as an object is the awareness and we must not try to objectify that awareness we have this tremendous desire this tremendous urge to objectify nothing wrong with it that's what enables the absolute to experience itself as the universe oh good I came up with that it's a very profound sounding system but it's true it is this ability to objectify itself that enables Brahman to experience itself as this universe and so we also being Brahman in depth we are that reality we have this tremendous desire to objectify so if it is a thing which you can see smell hear taste touch it's real little more subtle if it is something that you can drink remember now you see subtle inside not hear smell taste touch not an object of the senses but something in the mind thoughts feelings emotions memories desires ideas but there are also objects all of these gross and physical objects outside and subtle mental objects inside both appear and shine in one consciousness the moment I say this immediate tendency is to objectify ah let me see yes I get it there is that consciousness no no it is not the one which said ah there is that consciousness that awareness that one is the awareness now I will try to make that one into an object don't there is no need at all there is no need at all you are that and you are absolutely pure and fine as that object as that as that that pure subject which is not an object which cannot be objectified then this objectifying tendency all it does really spiritually speaking its value is to point out the pure subject which is not an object every objective experience like that meditation we did we did it with sounds you can do it with forms you can do it with taste touch you know you can do it with smell you can do it with thoughts you can do it with memories the thing is what happens is when an object comes a sound comes we become involved up with it and we start thinking about it oh the stairs are creaking somebody's going upstairs we're thinking about it now instead of doing that stairs are creaking it appears in media awareness Oh is this awareness an object this this is also a thought which is shining in awareness as you do that you'll fall silent the awareness remains by itself it always remains by itself it is like a it is spacious in which all of this appears and disappears this space for example it does not resist us this space in the room it enables us to sit here we fill up this space with chairs and people and things in the and the space accommodates all of us think of that awareness as a space in fact the Manduca does that arkasha space is used as an example your awareness the awareness which we are is like a space in which all of this appears now you might think that all these chairs and people and think they are different from the space they come and fill up the space but in that space of consciousness there's a term for that beautiful term chidaakaasha the space of consciousness imagine that in that all of these things that they don't come and fill up fill it up they all arise from it exist in it and disappear how do they arise from it exists exist in it and disappear just like in wood it was a log of wood you fashioned an altar out of it or it or table out of it and one day it might break and we'll still be wood so the the table it arose in this in the in the wood it is now shining and being used and existing in the wood and one day if it is no longer a table it would put up in one sense gone back into into the wood itself in that way all the objects that we see they arise in awareness they're experienced in awareness by the awareness the awareness first experiences the object called mind what is the object called mind thoughts memories ideas desires good and bad it is directly experienced by consciousness and then through the mind it experiences a body and sensory system and through the mind and body and sensory system it experiences that awareness experiences an external world see that awareness now becomes or appears to be a person Stephani it is that one awareness the two are they're not actually two it's not that I am a living be an individual being this body mind complex and there is a higher separate supreme self no there is only that separates that that higher supreme self there's only that that one alone exists and it appears as an individual and it seems to experience an external world yeah so the takeaway from this is your reality that awareness is not an object use it in this way in meditation in your in your inner investigation whatever appears to be an object use Natan 18 not this not this whatever appears is also that pure consciousness but until one realizes that pure consciousness is one self keep on going inwards subtler the background and when you realize I am that that also be a thought in the mind but it points to that that one one identity then you look outwards and you see all of this is in me in me that consciousness one must ultimately come to this this this realization of oneness you can do it in different ways and then the Manduca open assured in in the Manduca carica third chapter goroh pada calls it a carbanion a very beautiful term car Pinilla means smallness pettiness individuality separated from others fractured it literally means the Crippler word it means miser miser krishna uses it in the gita and open assured it comes the condition of being an ignorant person that unenlightened is is the miser leanest smallness and this is overcome by this magnificent vision of what he calls a carpenter the guru particles non-dual philosophy a kirpan him the non miserly philosophy the infinite philosophy the completely open and philosophy it does not have to be in the language of non-dualism it can be if you think what is this world if you think all this world is one absolute reality Brahman fine that is a carpenter the non miserly vision if you think I the pure consciousness am all this world that's also fine a carpenter if you think number three if you think my up the question which we had earlier the entire universe is an appearance of Maya in me the pure consciousness that's also fine that's also a carpenter if you think in terms of duality God that God alone is appearing in all these forms that's also fine that's also a carpenter it must be one of these approaches to the universe outside to all people all beings to the life of this individuality this a carpenter in this vast vision yes that's a very beautiful way of putting it this vast vision in contrast to this is the vision of the unenlightened individual where I am separate from all of you God may or may not exist even if God exists is a question of belief I subscribe to it and I have some kind of working faith in God especially when I'm in trouble or I'm an atheist I don't believe in God or an agnostic in any case not particularly interested here is this real world for me outside which I which which I have to struggle I have to make my way in this world and one day I shall this world will crush me out body will die and maybe I'm dead and finished in gone this is the view of the unenlightened person this is called creep Hana the miserly view we must move from the miserly view to the vast view do it by devotion perfectly alright to it by devotion do it by knowledge Jana you recognize this vastness already existing the wave must become note not only one with the ocean directly for the wave to become one with the oceans difficult why because I am this little wave how can I be one with the other wave how can I be one with this wave in that wave and this wave no let alone the entire ocean and just this much the only way that the wave can become the ocean is if the wave realizes I am I am water think about it the moment the realization comes I am water the boundaries between me this little wave and the next wave and the next wave the boundaries dissolved what boundary is there between water and water no boundary not only the boundary between me and the next wave no boundary between me and any wave and anything in this vast ocean I become literally the entire ocean by realizing I am water similarly by realizing and pure awareness everything in this universe men and women Hindus Muslims Christians Buddhists atheists living beings nonliving wood so-called matter this entire physical universe past present and future they all become appearances in me nothing other than me this is a carp on him the vast vision Thank You Stephanie good questions hold on now we have a question from the know we have question from the individual virtual audience please come then we'll all come and come to you this is a question from Bill why here in Manhattan Vedanta scholar iron Maharaja gave a talk at the New York Vedanta society in which he argued that Sri Ramakrishna's understanding of Maya was not in fact in line with that of classical adviser Vedanta Maharaja claims Sri Ramakrishna held that the world though impermanent was nevertheless real and not an illusion as commonly understood in Shankar Acharya and other interpretations of the Vedic texts doesn't this necessarily involve some kind of Judaism you yourself have often maintained that the world is an illusion appearing in consciousness in substance nothing more than a dream what are your thoughts on ion Maharaja's argument or on any of his fionna yoga ideas stemming as I gather from Kashmir Shaivism a very difficult question and it's a work in progress you must understand I fully support and back what I earn Madge is doing not because I think shankara's Advaita is wrong quite the contrary you see it is not against shankara's advaita what I am Raja said but it's an extension building upon Shankar's advaita the way through ramakrishna talks about we gana Vedanta what what ironridge calls began over anta is not possible without Shankar's advaitha you can't have it based on a strictly dualistic framework from because remember Sri Ramakrishna also accepts fully shankara's Advaitic position but goes beyond that I am not in a position to argue that out rigorously by the way there was an aside about Kashmir Shaivism iron Rajas approach is not entirely based on Kashmir Shaivism the only thing is Kashmir Shaivism is such a comprehensive philosophy that one great philosopher Orinda macaque Revati told me that if you want to really understand and appreciate the gospel of sri ramakrishna you should study Kashmir Shaivism more than shankara's Advaita Vedanta but remember this once when Swami Vivekananda went to the Advaita Schramm in my avati in the Himalayas which had established specially for the practice of non-dualism he writes in a letter I have set up these two places one is Baloo on the Ganges where all rituals and and worship will be followed in a very dualistic manner to be followed there and this place in the Himalayas the for the practice of pure greater now in Vivica and the visited the Advaita Schrom up in the Himalayas he found a picture this picture of sri ramakrishna kept there and the worship had started and Sheila and Swami Vivekananda said what the old man has entered this place to remove that picture so one of the monks was hurt his feelings were hurt because he was worshiping it he wrote to the holy mother to mushara devi that with a kundus a is removed the picture of sri ramakrishna we were worshipping the picture of Sri Ramakrishna is that wrong and of course he expected support from holy mother to his shock she wrote back saying remember your guru was adwaita non-dual and I can save it great certainty you are all non dualist s-- add white in Advaita Wadi the word he was very interesting the word she used she didn't say sri ramakrishna was a non dualist he said your guru Sri Ramakrishna was non dual meaning that he was the non-dual Brahman and incarnation and then he then she says I can save it with full certainty that you are all non dualist s' and therefore what Narine that means wave I can and has done he has done right so then why don't you remove the picture of saddam krishna everywhere see this is the beauty of iron Rajas approach he says Sri Ramakrishna's approach was not exclusively a classical Advaita it accepted everything of classical Advaita but also building on that you can have dualistic worship with a non-dualistic background canter way we are using the way of example canter wave who has realized that I am the entire ocean I am water the entire ocean can't it still make friends with other waves of course it can it will be much more friendly now because it knows I am that yeah as even when you realize I am the Brahman and the one reality of this entire universe you still will have experience yourself as a body mind and as a body might now you'll be called a Jeevan Mukta enlightened person you will interact with others knowing that you are Brahman and yet fully capable of acting as an individual in fact much more capable now what the Buddha said I am awake Buddha literally means the awake awakened you have awakened to reality all others are in fact sleepwalking not fully asleep you are the one who has awakened to reality why will you not be capable of interacting with others as an enlightened being so Vigano Vedanta Sri Ramakrishna gives many many examples I think it's high time that this work was done rigorous philosophical interpretation and system building based on Sri Ramakrishna's teachings Sri Ramakrishna gives many examples he says a person goes and enters into a house and goes through the door and climbs up the stairs leaving the ground floor on the first floor and all behind and goes to the rooftop and then realizes the bricks and the mortar and the cement rooftop is made of off or the stairs the ground-floor and everything that he left behind all of them are made of the same substance of the same reality in the same way when you do the naiton 18 not best not this not the external world not the physical body not the mind beyond that that one non objective pure subject consciousness that's only stage one of Advaita it's still not Advaita Stage two is when you look back upon what you left you left the mind and the body and external world behind when you look back upon that you realize they are all nothing other than this pure consciousness with names and forms they are all of this and all of this is that pure consciousness that be in consciousness place that is Vigano now you function in the world knowing that you are Brahman and everybody else is - Sri Ramakrishna also says that this understanding can provide a basis for your bhakti it can provide a basis for your karma for your meditation you have a body why will you not work of course you can work if somebody said after not after realizing I am Brahman what will I do well you are walking talking eating drinking I happy happily so why can't you do go out and do karma yoga and serve the world or hold a nine-to-five job and you can do anything you want you somebody asked can I worship God after after all am I not worshiping myself see this is trying to mix up two levels in Advaita Vedanta talk about the the higher truth param arctica the absolute truth and the empirical of the viajar iike transactional reality so realizing that I am Brahman and now that Brahman appears as this individual being and this vast world and God the creator of this world Ishwara Jeeva jagat this triangle then what is the role of this individual being to worship God why not if you can eat and drink and do everything else in the world what what harm has God done to you that you will not worship not always in these cases look at the lives of the enlightened people did Shankara not worship of course it some of the most beautiful hymns to Krishna to Ganga to Shiva they're all written by Shankar Acharya is there a contradiction between Shankara the gyani and Shankara the bhakta absolutely not it seems to be a contradiction why from the view of classical Vedanta it seems to be classical non duality it seems to be a little bit of contradiction but from the view of from viewpoint of Sri Ramakrishna's we gana Vedanta perfectly alright so that's the beauty of igano Vedanta I'm sure we'll hear much more of this over the years and decades to come as I would like to share that the book he has written on Mirage infinite paths to infinite reality that book the International Journal of Hindu studies I JHS has decided to bring out a special issue on that that book only and they have invited 10 noted scholars from all across the world to read that book and give their views on their book on that book and they will give iron March and a chance to respond to those views and the whole thing will be published as so remarkable I think it's a idea whose time has come and it's going to take off over the next decades and centuries it's a beautiful idea and it's really a harmony and peace can be established on the basis of this idea if somebody had his hand up the two people I'll ask you first and then you come tell us your name and ask the question hi my name is nobbut CAPTA here is my question we say that Brahman is the supreme reality is the constant experience of anahat nada the unstruck sound during the waking state an experience of Nirvana Brahman and the second question is the answer to the question Who am I it seems to point towards silence my question is whether the anahata knot is the answer to this question or is it not an answerable question altogether alright jnana hatvani which he referred to is a mystical experience it literally it means the unstruck sound so sound is always meant by the contact between two things just now we heard the clicking of a door this one this is a struck south ah ha ha but Anahata means that which is unstruck this is a beautiful concept and it's actually an experience it's actually like a sound which you can hear but it's not a produced sound it is said to be the eternal background vibration of the universe let's put it this way there's a whole theory of that of which I do not know much but it point it is not the Advaita krumin it points to the advaithic Brahman it represents the Advaitic problem because the Advaitic Brahman is not a particular experience it's not a particular mystical experience so suppose you do not experience that on earth are you can you still be enlightened yes suppose you do experience that anartha Donny are you enlightened may not be but it's a very advanced stage in spiritual experience there was a Swami in our order I never met him but I've heard about him a disciple of the Holy Mother Swami Shanta Nanda he used to hear this continuously without a break and he asked the holy mother once ma Sharda that this is my experience is it true and she said yes my child what you have what you are experiencing is is is right so it's a very advanced spiritual experience mystical experience no doubt and he used to experience that he is to hear it in later life I have heard from senior monks he would ask visitors do you hear something yeah I met one person who hears this I will not share the name because he's still there very into a very interesting person he's a multi-millionaire he is was very young and very he is a very well known motivational speaker and very deeply interested in okay and even if you know him don't tell the name very deeply interested in non-dualism in Advaita Vedanta and we had a long talk about this one of the subjects which came up was this one and then he told me that he he hears this and he has been hearing it from for a long time that's when he became transformed after this experience and he's been looking towards trying to meet other people and trying to get explanations of this yeah alright thank you thank you for the question yes and then we'll go back to the virtual audience please tell us your name and ask the question Thank You Mara Ranjit Mitra my name my question is that the concept of universe well where it says that I am the unique you why are you basically they're saying how does that differ with this consciousness and three of Oban Manasa got a rod or God that we really try to understand because looks to me like everything is relative but is there an ultimate thing versus versus a relative truth like like we go to galaxies and we are sending satellites to moon another extraterrestrial places like towards Pluto or taking pictures so they are really in they're the reality but they're not they're not the ultimate reality because when you say that about the creation about understanding about I am the universe but if I'm not there then the universe is not there it will still be there I know that I'm making a mistake of limited I versus the real lie but still this is the the concept that I think it's difficult to understand is we hear from the sastras that God is above monastic culture and how does that different how does different check from consciousness as we call it all right I'm getting two related questions from that one is how is this universe related to the absolute what's the relationship of this universe which we experience to this absolute we are talking about Brahman one second question I'm sensing there is is this universe real it seems to be real and yet you seem to be saying that it's not real how is this universe related to that are they separate the absolute brandon are they separate and this universe no they are not separate if they were separate notice what your what you call Brahman Brun what Brahman is Brahman is being itself existence itself logically if you if there is such a thing which is existence itself and if you see something is separate from existence what will it become non-existent yes something other than paper is not paper something other than human is inhuman something other than existing is non existing so if some if there is a universe apart from Brahman you're literally saying if it is other than existing it's a non existent universe so the universe cannot be apart from Brahman just it's like saying can that wooden table be apart from wood no can the clay pot be apart from the clay or the gold ornament be apart from the goal alright this is one so it cannot be a part then what is the relationship is it the same as Brahman no not quite literally the same as Brahman no not quite because we don't really see anything as pure consciousness and bliss and all of that we see men and women and people suffering and struggling in life living beings non living beings or physical universe which does not seem to be very absolute or Brahman like things are born and the change and they die and suffer all of these things are there so this universe is neither apart from Brahman one not exactly the same as Brahman - if you say Brahman is pure existence this universe is not other than existence but it's not pure existence also this thing not being you are unable to classify it as pure being or as non being this is in sanskrit called such assam anil version IAM inability to express it as pure being or non being this is the classical definition of maya when you study a greater vedanta there will be a definition of maya so the term used there is a near virginia beyond speech but beyond speech in what sense you cannot express it as pure being you cannot express it as non being also if it was non being it would disappear but you clearly it is there we are experiencing it it's not so difficult to understand also which seems to subtle not so difficult just take this example which we use all the time the wood and the table the table is not this one the lectern it's not apart from the wood it's not a separate thing if it where I could show it to you separately I showed you the clock and the paper separately but I cannot show you the table and the word separately the moment I try to do that the table will disappear not the wood not the wood this is there but the table name and form will disappear if I if I try to separate it from the wood and yet if I say it not separate from the board but is it the wood itself no because there was a time when it was a tree it was not a table there was a time in which the log of wood it was not a table and there will be a time when it'll be kindling or wood splinters it won't be a table it continues to be wood throughout but not a table anymore so this table is neither other than the wood itself not exactly the same as wood itself it is sad as abdominal Virginia our would not wood an inversion ium you cannot express it as wood itself you cannot express it as not wood the nature of the universe is like that according to advaita vedanta the non-dualistic approaches the entire nature of the universe is indeterminate you cannot dismiss it as being no it's not there you cannot dismiss you cannot say it is the absolute reality no it is not obviously not an absolute reality things are impermanent things are subject to change things are subject people are subject to suffering there is evil all of this is experienced in the world how can it be the absolute reality so this indeterminate nature this is called another term for this in Vedanta a one term is Maya another term is mithya mithya means the false the false the word false has been misunderstood false does not mean non-existence look at the difference between truth lie silence silence is no speech truth is correct speech or in Sanskrit iya Tata that means the truth is is accurate it is real it is what is but what is a lie it's not silence the liar said something but it's not really there is not the truth either it is a misrepresent of the truth it's an appearance of the truth the world appearance always connotes that there's something behind it the real appears to be something else similarly Brahman appears as this world so that is why in in Vedanta this world universe is called Maya is called mithya is called an appearance now those who do not like this I don't want to call this world an appearance or are a false thing then Vivekananda use another term higher truth and lower truth this world is the lower truth of which Brahman is the higher truth they are not two separate things no more than the word is separate from the table the table is the appearance of which wood is the substance the reality the universe is the appearance of which Brahman is the substance the reality is it consciousness is it you asked a question is Brahman synonymous with a long- a question on the Sanskrit term means beyond speech and mind I will not go there there'll be a whole talk in itself but notice I'll give you one little pointer to think about we just said Maya is beyond speech in what sense you cannot express it as being pure being or as non being as existing as as pure existence or it's non-existence you can't categorize it therefore you are unable to express what it is it is indeterminate now you are saying Brahman is beyond speech also the absolute reality is also beyond speech ineffable but they are not beyond speech in the same way this is very important Maya and Brahman are not beyond speech in the same way Maya is beyond speech because you cannot categorize it as pure being our as non being such a said p.m. a near Virgin iam that's why my the English word would be indeterminate Brahman is not beyond speech because it's indeterminate it's very specific it is it is an absolute reality for those who are enlightened it's an undeniable reality it's not a vague something it's an undeniable reality you might as well look up into the Sun don't went as they look up at the Sun and deny that the Sun exists no it's as evident as that then what sense is Brahman beyond speech it is beyond speech because language cannot express it language cannot as Wittgenstein said the limits of the universe limits of language or the limits of the universe what lies beyond we must pass over in silence and Tractatus logico-philosophicus are then towards the end he says this in two places there he says it similarly the infinite cannot be bought with within the bounds of language why not that is a whole talk in itself Advaita Vedanta and the paradox of language I refer you to my talk on YouTube that that was the subject of why Brahman cannot be bought within the limits of language thank you very much for your question thank you yes let's see hands those who want to ask ok there are two people here will ask you and then come here yes this question is from Pradeep in India how can my mind always be tied to this pure consciousness in all my work and actions I think it's not just Pradeep in India but a lot of people across the world when they listen to non-duality first they begin to understand and then this question inevitably it'll come up at one point or the other I see yes such a thing is there it's like a serene changeless being consciousness very nice but I don't seem to be somehow in that frame of mind when I'm driving walking talking acting in the world I'm mixed up and that background reality is so nice how can I be there all the time there is a verse in the Manduca the second chapter a very beautiful verse the last verse of the second chapter of Manduca carica that one dad may come reached that wondrous - bye heta that we boutta Studdard amma that the prosciutto have it very beautiful you know what it says it's an answer to this question seeing that reality brahman within and seeing that reality outside you become that reality you are that reality and you find bliss and peace and completeness in that reality and never slip away from that reality the last quarter that what approach you to have it what do you become you become that which can which can never slip away from that reality and I'll feeling the question it would say yes that's what I want Advaita Vedanta says that's what you already have you always had it you suffer under this notion that I have slipped away from it even when you think that you have slipped away from it you have not let's see how I can put it there are many beautiful ways to put it first of all notice this one I am that reality it's not that reality it's not Brahman it's not Atman we use all those terms but those terms can be distancing sometimes yes my Brahman is fine but my have a problem Atman is fine my Atman is fine like my liver is doing well but I have a problem Atman is you it's literally you your essence yeah even if I say your essence you see yes so I mean my essence is fine but I have a lot of problems in my job in my family in day to day world you are that reality let's talk about that openly instead of distancing it away as Brahman Atman or even the word tuk to him that home literally means an impersonal truth so I am that how can you ever be distanced from yourself how can you ever slip away from yourself what you can have you might the objection might be but I feel it I get disturbed I get angry I get unhappy yes that wrong notion can be there that somehow there was a serenity and have lost it it was a serenity in the mind and the mind has lost that serenity you are the one which experienced the serene mind you are the same one which is experienced the disturbing mind the disturbed mind the calm relaxed spacious luminous mind and the agitated turbulent mind you are the same one whether it's a wave less vast expanse or a turbulent ocean with waves and storms it's the same water literally the same water without any change at all even the ocean example is little misleading because you will say no Swami but something is happening to that water there's a lot of ups and downs and yes but the water nature is unchanged water has not become not water when it is in the middle of a storm in the same way whether you are in the depths of meditation absolutely calm quite the world forgotten still peaceful or engaged in frantic action in a high-pressure job you are exactly the same unchanging awareness it may not seem to be that but you are that let me see how I can put it the space space example so man Duke uses a space example suppose you have in different parts and now the space which seems too vast and unlimited seems to be cut up into different parts this space inside the pot in sanskrit guitar Akasha and the space outside the pot called Baha kasha but literally let me ask you is the space actually cut off by the pot the space which was here in Manhattan a few hundred years ago now we have so many densely packed buildings has the space been cut off it's amazing here it looks like that let me ask you even simpler question if you have a glass of water half full half or half empty there's water and there is it it's filled with air but let's forget the air part of it the space there is there's no water in there and there's space in where is water also but anyway just empty space let's forget the air for the moment now when I move the glass when I move the glass from here to there will the water inside move or not with the glass all of you don't seem to be sure this part you should be sure of because the next part is more confusing yes the water does move otherwise it would make a very wet mess here if I move the glass and the water would splash down here some you forgot to take the water along with the glass no that doesn't happen when you move the glass of water moves with it now let me ask you does the space move with it when the glass is moving like this the space sir comes from circumscribed by the glass that space inside is it moving along with the glass is the space moving along with the glass tell me does space move along with the container the glass or the glass is moving through space glass is moving through space yeah when you cut up Manhattan into so many buildings you have not enclosed space space has permitted graciously permitted the buildings to exist within itself now what can happen is in one part there may be smoke and soot maybe you lit a fire or something in one part there may be holy Ganga water in one part they may have dirty water in one part there may be milk is the space polluted by the smoke in that part is the space purified by the by the holy will water of the Ganga river in that part yeah no the part might be affected the pod gets affected but space does not get affected at all I noticed in India when a person dies and the body is burnt the wood is burnt to ashes and the water there's a lot of water in the body it vaporizes and the air around it becomes very hot because the fire is burning but the space is it affected right there where the body is burning fiercely the space is not affected it's the air which becomes hot it's the wood which becomes burnt into ashes it's the water which is vaporized look at the four elements they are affected earth fire water air space not affected similarly whatever the contents in the mind whatever the actions of the body you the pure consciousness you are exactly always the same you have not departed from your real nature as pure consciousness how can I remain connected with that what you at what is asking I know because it's something that we also ask I remember I've told you earlier once I was sitting with a monkey in Haridwar and one young monk was discussing non-dualism very earnestly with the teacher with the Swami old Swami and finally he said excitedly exactly this question but Swami we must at least hold on to that idea that I am Brahman ah-hum Brahm has me yet cinta took Anita here this much I must hold on to and the Swami said this is exactly what you must not hold on to because somehow I think I am server prion and I must it's like saying I must hold on to it I must keep saying in the background I'm server Priya and i'm server parent otherwise I might forget Who am I this is Swami you always ask Who am I no I never forget that the difference between an actor who is acting as Hamlet or somebody in the open-air Shakespeare there in Central Park in summer that actor must always remember that I am Hamlet must keep in mind consciously but suppose the actor's name is mr. Scott does he have to keep remembering I'm Scott AB Scott I'm Scott I must keep it in mind otherwise I'll become Hamlet no doesn't it remember in fact to be a good actor must not even think about it must be try to be Hamlet with all intensity similarly the reality which we are you don't have to keep thinking about it otherwise I might forget that happens at the beginning because once we get an intuition of what is possible what we really are we want to be centered in that and that's why this question comes give me some technique so that I can always I noticed what you are talking about it's remarkable and let me they always remain like that what a droid says is you always are like that alright one more point and then we'll go on very important here it is what actually a non dwellest teacher would say to this question the difference between memory and ex perience in sanskrit Smitty and anubhava the two are not the same they do not go together when you remember something you are not experiencing it when you are experiencing something you are not remembering it all you need not remember it all right now I'm showing you a clock look at the clock you are will you see I'm seeing a clock and I'm remembering a clock all right now close your eyes and visualize the clock will you say I'm seeing the clock or I'm remembering the clock remembering okay can open your eyes this is the difference between Anubhava experience and smithy Advaita is experience it's not an inert and memory it's not something I experienced earlier and then I'm trying to remember it now the question is how can i always remember am Brahman no you don't remember you're Brahman because you're always Brahman it's always shining forth it just somehow we think it's not present to us we think it seems to be hidden that's why we think that we have to remember it all the time if you are looking at me it says Swami I'm seeing you yes you're seeing me but are you remembering me the Swami I'm seeing you I have to remember you but I don't see you I might remember you this is the difference between memory and experience non-dualism is based on an ever-present experience it's blazing forth all the time in fact it's the only thing that's blazing forth all the time and we have to recognize it we don't recognize it you might ask all right so how do I recognize it all the time you don't have to recognize it all the time also once you recognize it it's done only thing is you are right there might be a period in our spiritual practice when you need to dwell on it intensively for some period of time but remember that's also practice that's not enlightenment it's remembering an ever-present object if you are trying to remember the clock when I'm showing it to you you're doing something odd indeed can we have a we had two hands up the lady first and then you can come notice it recognized it notice it we don't forget your question let me tell you a little story I I just remembered I mentioned Swami shan't Ananda the one who always heard the anahata the disciple of masada he I've heard this from senior Swami's who have met him actually he was very childlike like a little child and up he sort of seemed to inhabit two worlds I guess that'll happen to you if you're continuously hearing the primal sound of the universe so for example there were one or two stories about him which I'll share how childlike and it's like like a like a radiant little boy in so once she asked one of the sabor quandary younger monks who were serving him why don't I see Swami village on and he said Kali Krishna Mirage so I'm in the region and there was a guru of Swami Tata cottoned he was the president of the order why don't I see him I haven't seen him for quite some time and monk said but Swami village on in the past about 20 years ago said ah that's why I haven't seen him in bengali tie Dick Cheney that was one another time if many people would come to meet him but it it would depend whom he would talk to it - interesting maybe you talk to a little kid and maybe a very important person comes to meet him he wouldn't even talk and it so happened that this man was very rich and powerful and all and he came he obviously had some kind of ulterior desire in his mind which he wanted to be fulfilled by the blessings of this Swami so he came came and he started he did salutations and he started talking in a very disarming way and and this one he just kept quiet sat with his eyes closed after 15 minutes this man asked a few questions and kept on asking Swami Swami Swami didn't open his eyes then this fine man finally got disheartened and he bowed down honey walked away and the others were watching the moment he walked away the Swami's eyes flew open little with the cutest smile he said look how I tricked him look how I fooled him we don't know what was going on there the subtext it may be that person had some strong world worldly desire which he went and he could be the most unworldly person he had this question he would ask anybody who's a household person in the world you know he was very sympathetic so he would ask questions like what do you do and this is my job are you earning enough for your needs in Bengali songs actually that is your samsara can you can you take care of yours I'm sorry are you earning enough for your needs is it alright so one day comes this Chief Justice of the High Court and with his flunkies running around and somebody rushed ahead to Delhi Swami Swami this guy this person is coming he's the chief justice it's like a like a really big person you know he's coming to meet you and talk with you Swami said yes and so on then the person came Swami said what do you do and somebody and said sorry he's the Chief Justice of the High Court of the state and the Swami said do you are earn enough to take care of here you will absolutely unmoved by him sorry my question is kind of little long read go ahead so when one is doing the vedantic meditation Aditi asana first it seemed very difficult but with repeated listening and other practices I am NOT I'm not saying 100% but intellectually I was able to appreciate it and as I went deeper into it initially I thought this body and mind is doing the sadhana but later when I went deep like when this whatever went deeper into it I felt like the self is trying to know itself by itself this was my intuitive feeling and followed by peace and bliss there were disturbances ups and downs so obviously when I'm dealing in the daily life there will be ups and downs right so my mind whenever there is like there will be a desire for something which which makes my mind restless and miserable not miserable maybe restless and sad and immediately I feel that there is a strong Grace or something which is helping me realize very immediately as I am going deeper and deeper and followed by piece and then immediate serenity and calmness and bliss and then the desire for that is like disappearing like because having experienced this I don't want I know like there's no reality really genuinely there so my question here is like even this grace whatever I am feeling which is helping me be alert maybe if the closest I can put so I feel this is also nothing other than the self but the self has no characteristics right it is near guna so what exactly is this so then I have again a feeling kind of intuitive feeling like I don't know forgive me if I am wrong or whatever so I feel that this like you have like for a person like a body mind to be pulled into a world you have this tendencies to run for whatever right like the same way this grace is an appearance in me to help me realize my to help me realize me I because followed is like a peace and bliss and sure two things have come up from the question as you say when you first thought that you are doing thousand or spiritual practice it's a body mind doing this for spiritual practice but you realize it's just it's actually a self realizing itself yes it's correct yes the way we talk here can give rise to the wrong notion that there are two selves even the language of the opening shots and the gita higher self lower self God individual I am the person III often use this language and the person and there is the supreme consciousness behind all of this so as if that's like a halo behind my head which I have to realize and I'm this person no there is only one self there's only one self that pure being awareness is the only reality there is it seems to get entangled with thoughts with sensations with the personality and seems to be a limited self which what seems to be a limited self that pure unlimited self alone seems to be this limited self so there are not two selves here there is only that self both are correct when you say it neither it is beyond thought beyond sight beyond activities correct but it is also true to say that that consciousness alone is the one which is seeing hearing smelling tasting talking you can realize it if you think about it as I I am that pure awareness correct as pure awareness I need a need a talk or hear or smell or taste or touch I am beyond all activities all thoughts but I who is sitting who is talking who is walking I who is that I that same pure consciousness but with the addition of the body mind the body mind complex it's not that the body mind complex is a separate self and at map the pure consciousness the separate self no it is the Atman alone so you are always that remember that the second thing I'll say is that when you mention disturbances come when disturbances come do you know the disturbances that it is a disturbance yes who knows you know yes that one which knows the disturbance is it disturbed no well because you have been practicing so much you will say that you know it's not many people might feel that no no I get disturbed I was not disturbed now I am disturbed again I will be peaceful there is a wrong thinking there as you said the knower of the disturbance is not disturbed because the knower of the disturbance was there before the disturbance came clearly who noticed the disturbance the one who was already there before the disturbance came and the knower of the disturbance will still be there when the disturbance is gone right so the disturbance is not something that sticks to you the nor it comes up in your awareness in the light of your awareness you in your light it comes up in your light it is recognized as a disturbance in your light also you recognize disturbance gun that light is always free of the disturbance now instead of saying that light oh it's good that light is free of disturbance say I am free of the disturbance before the disturbance was there were you free of the disturbance after the disturbance is gone are you free of the disturbance yes when now follow carefully when the disturbance is there at that moment you are aware of the disturbance right yes you the one which is aware of the disturbance is that awareness disturbed no you are not disturbed let the dark cloud come in the sky sky is not affected let it be a cloudless sky sky is not affected similarly you the awareness we let the disturbance come what happens is we have a feeling disturbance should not come ah here is a disturbance now I must chase after it it's got you now you are using the mind which is now a disturbed mind and to make it a city in mind and you get down to it I have to sit like this have to breathe like this I have to listen to the YouTube lecture and all good but at up at one time you understand all of this I can you whatever I'm saying it's good to hear it even if you understand it at one point is good to hear it again at one time you must one must come out of this even when the disturbance is there you know you are exactly the same room and absolutely nothing to be done as far as your nature as Brahman is concerned think about it this way you are coming the restlessness in one mind we are using Vedanta and meditation and breathing but you are the same consciousness in all minds how many minds will you calm down there are mines which are terribly disturbed in this world are you going to go out and calm down all those Minds no in those Minds the consciousness shining in those minds is the consciousness in itself disturbed no is the sky in a smoky pot smoky you know in sky in a dirty pot does the sky become dirty no in a sky in a pot where it is holy Ganga water does the sky become purified no it is always pure you are that unchanging ever pure ever shining consciousness especially in the midst of disturbance that is a great help therein still see you but no so my question here was exactly like so when there was a disturbance right immediately there is some alertness I don't know maybe how best I can yeah right so then the I am not being deceived maybe I can put it like that and I'm able to recognize the reality in there right and then followed by peace obviously right then that desire is no more public up and then followed by bliss there is something which is making me alert right I don't know if I am still not getting it suffering is making well not okay you see when our real nature has that pure consciousness pure being that is holiness that is always available to us but we don't continuously think about that I am Swami I don't continuously think I am Swami sort of appearance I'm Swami I don't continuously think but if you have somebody asks me what's your name I say it says Swami that name Swami is available to me all the time it is continuously available to me not that my mind is dwelling on it you are nature Atman pure consciousness pure being is always available to you because it's always there eternally there it's not that you have to always think about it when the mind gets embroiled in suffering because of its past conditioning or because of blows from the world outside then that suffering recalls that you are real nature and you you you relax into the Peace of that yeah it's suffering it's suffering which which alerts you to this constant awareness of the Atman is not that I'm constantly thinking I'm at man I am Atman or am Brahman am Brahman or am one with God no not like that that's a mantra you're repeating it but it's not like that somebody there's a website actually a very nice name never not here that's a good one never not here the Atman is never not here there'll never be a time when the Atman is not available to you it is there whenever you need it it's it's available somebody asked the Holy Mother in a slightly different context that are you the Divine Mother and she finally said to say yes and then somebody asks are you always aware of your divine nature she said no my child and that way how could I go about doing all the work that I do then she says find this very very interesting whenever I want it's there yes one Swami put to put told me in a very simple very in acute example he said it's like your favorite pillow whenever you want to relax it's there you can put your head back on it and relax yeah maybe you can take one more question yes the gentleman here and let me know when the food is is ready somebody wrote on the Internet why does he keep asking about the food another lady came from Vienna Austria she hears these discussions she said I really enjoyed these discussions the conversations and questions and answers the only regret is at the end I hear that there's going to be food and I don't get the food so she came here once and then she was it finally I get the flu food please tell us your name and ask a question I'll be body butter shea butter Grande I'll get us a sign a car key super ah here piranha Govinda Rama with Rana Subash as my namaha that was in Sanskrit is he said his name was Shabazz Sharma and that also gives the name of his lineage and the place he is coming from so all of that all right I cannot go much further than Sanskrit then that so so my question is and it might be your answer maybe what you just spoke about but my question is is not the awareness of the brahman the same as the belief in that that God are they not the same thing Brahman or consciousness is aren't the two that that and the DAO don't they basically share the same issue of faith it's not faith it's rather noticing an ever-present reality for example right here you can see all of this the altar and I'm sitting here and the microphone is in front of you that microphone in front of you do you believe in the microphone or do you experience adduce yet you experienced it you said very the question itself is wrong Swami when we I'm experiencing something there's no question of belief or not belief it's a direct experience Brahman is a direct experience one of the most beautiful definitions these are not definitions exactly they are pointed towards Brahman if you understand the definition and then see where it points towards one of the most beautiful such pointers is what is Brahman Anubhava Swarup Atma the real the essence of experience which experience any experience what is their sense of experience experience sir but that what is that experience of them because experience is also a body eyes and ears and is that the essence of experience it is awareness if I have to tell you this then I've already failed what is the one common thing in all experiences by experience I mean the simplest things hearing smelling tasting touching talking remembering getting angry angry loving hating all of that is experience what's the one common thing always the one who is somebody said awareness and you said the one who experiences are they the same thing that awareness and the one who experiences correct the one who experiences and the awareness are one and the same thing is that direct or or is it something that you believe in this world that you are seeing around you the one which we are seeing around us we about this world itself let's alter and the and the lamps and the microphone and the people we don't say I believe these are there I say I see it how much more direct is the one which sees except only one problem is why this question of faith comes up because the seer is not an object we are so used to objectifying that to believe in something we must make it an object to be convinced that it exists we must see it it the word it means an object we must see it we must hear it smell it taste it touch it or even think it or even understand it it's like saying the photograph is the proof of the photographer but the photograph R is not in the photograph unless it's a selfie but the photograph are in the interval those old portraits you know the painter or the photographer is not in the photograph but the very photograph all the people in the photograph the photograph itself a group photo it it shows the unseen presence of the photographer the very existence of the photograph photograph experience your experience it shows that it is happening in awareness even in the case of photograph and photographer it's something that we are thinking about it's a thought experiment but consciousness is not as hot experiment it's an ever-present reality blazing forth like the Sun Anubhava Swarup oi'm Atma this self is the very nature very a sense of experience another beautiful similar pointer is anubhava Mottram param brahma the highest rahman the transcendental brahman is pure experience now what do you mean by pure experience moment I say pure experience immediately it gets into a mind oh that must be something that Swami's get we are getting lots of impure experiences no what is pure experience I'll define it very precisely for you right now it is pure experience experience - the object of experience in every experience there's an object drop that object there are techniques in Kashmir Shaivism which use this but a book called began Abhay rava which uses this to great effect in order to point you back to the pure self it generates an object which you have to meditate upon and then drop the object like this for example we do this and then stop before we do that meditation I will also answer the other one we said the question of that and Dao is it's not a question of faith that means pure Brahmin technically this is called maha vaakya which our analysis of the great saying maha vaakya there's a there are different steps you have to first see what the terms mean there's something called luck Shan I implied meaning and then you come to a common meaning so what is that the sentence is that thou art where is the sentence from its from the chandogya position that thou art you are that what is the meaning of that in shandong definition it means Brahman from which everything in the universe is originated son what is the meaning of thou there thou means the question at the student shoe educator who's asking the questions that means the individual being you I so this is that is you and Brahman is the that the source of the universe literally guard saguna brahman now there's a process there's a it's it's lot of philosophy of language is involved there there's a multi-stage process in which finally you come to the the understanding I am pure consciousness and Brahman is also pure consciousness we are one in the same pure consciousness that is the meaning of that thou art is it a question of faith no if you start with God the whole question of God is a question of faith in sanskrit it is called / auction parousia means beyond our senses beyond our senses it's God is not something you normally see or hear or smell or taste or touch or you meet and talk with on a regular basis no so it is something that we believe in we have read about it we have heard about it and so we believe in it it is a matter of faith your own existence is it a matter of faith I exist other people are in this room how do you know let me look at the picture yes that that person was there you were in that room yes how do you know will you say let me look at the picture was I there no you remember being there you remember being here you were here directly your own existence is not a matter of faith it's a direct experience now put these two together God is an infinity without any problems omniscient omnipotent omnipresent without any problems whatsoever but only one problem God has only one problem what is that God is based on faith God may not exist do you see where I'm going with this the idea of God does God have a problem nothing except one God let's put it this way God has no problem provided God exists in every religion which believes in God there is always the desperate attempt to prove the existence of God in fact later this month there is going to be a discussion in East Side in Manhattan a group of philosophers will meet and the subject of discussion is God does God exist so two proofs for the existence of God will be discussed and one proof against the existence of God will be discussed so it's always there in Hinduism and dualistic Hinduism then the ayah philosophers they developed nine or ten proofs of the existence of God well-known their texts which have been more than twenty different proofs of the existence of God none of which would be overwhelming I mean none of which will impress you much if you actually look into it and they're Christians st. Aquinas for example Thomas Aquinas five ways they talks about five proofs of the existence of God why this struggle to prove the existence of God nobody tries to prove the existence st. Thomas Aquinas did not try say five ways to prove the existence of Saint Thomas Aquinas no why because my existence is directly evident I don't have to prove it I don't have to struggling to believe it God's existence is based on faith God is an advantage God has no problems disadvantage based on faith I have an advantage I am obviously present it's not a question of faith I'm directly evident but I have a disadvantage I have many problems you see where I'm going with this there are two terms in this equation that thou art that thou the individual you mean we beyond any any reasonable doubt we exist but our existence is a limited existence surrounded by lot of problems suffering and that is God an infinite existence without any problems but doubtful doubtful infinite existence certain limited existence bring them together what the maha vaakya does is when you bring them together you get a certain infinite existence the doubt regarding the existence of God is removed and the infinitude of the self is magnitude of the self is removed I'll repeat again the beauty of the maha vaakya that thou art what it does is when you put these two together it will show you the undoubted existence not of faith God is faith your existence is not faith so this this very existence not dependent on face directly revealed existence it will use God's infinite ood to show you that this directly evident existence is infinite beyond any problems that is the whole approach of Advaita Vedanta that's why it's so stunning a problem-free infinite indubitable certain existence if only but if we get it it's there for us that's the beauty of it that's why in Advaita Vedanta there's no problem regarding God's existence somebody asked a Swami in in Rishikesh give me an irrefutable proof of the existence of God he sure cast it to Mia Katya prominent DJ give me an irrefutable proof of the existence of God and the answer was your existence up casted through it makes sense in advaitha Vedanta it does not make sense in a dualistic religion because my existence is not the existence of God in a dualistic religion but in non-dualism the two are one and the same they're pointing to the same reality so we'll end on that very good note the meditation a pointer there's no time but let me point out what they do in began of a robber is that they take up an object it's like this lie down or it will work even if you imagine it will lie down on your couch or your bed imagine you're lying on the grass in Central Park and you're looking up in its a bright cloudless day bright blue sky when you look up there there's nothing else except the sky all the trees and people are you can't see them because you are flat on the ground looking up there look up you have to keep your eyes open brightly see bright shining vast limitless sky be absorbed in that until it seems you are falling into that vast blueness and then it one instant close your eyes dismiss the sky move it up out of your just just let it drop it dismiss it what will happen is you'll be left behind with awareness only that sky it serves to blank your mind from all objects except that sky it's an object but it's a limitless physical object then when you finally in one instant drop that limitless object only the subject is left behind it should become evident even if it doesn't try again and try again that's one way to do it food home shantih shantih shantih he hurry he own tatsat Sri Ramakrishna Aparna Musto [Music]