Video 29

Ask Swami with Swami Sarvapriyananda | May 27th, 2018

we are going to have an impromptu session of of ask Swami but you're also joined by the virtual audience over the Internet right so it's not just us here but it's the whole world thanks to modern technology welcome to all those present here and all those who are joining in over the net we'll start with questions from our internet audience yes the first question is from Josh in Woodstock New York I have two children ages 4 and 6 and in trying to share with them my spiritual journey as best I can I have found it is very difficult to tell a child that they are Brahman or even to tell them about God it can be very confusing for them I would hate for them to have to go nearly 40 years building their identification with the body-mind complex only to have to strive to remove that ignorance in their adulthood as I have what is the recommended approach to teach Veda Vedanta to children or to at least prime them for it when they are ready is there a way to give them a head start as it were and then he has another question is the concept of a Cagiva vada or aloneness the same as the hard problem of consciousness the second question will make you want to go sit in the boat well both beautiful questions one very subtle and theoretical but the first one is of great concern a pressing question which many parents would have one principle to remember with children and you say Swami you are a fine one to talk about children you don't have any children but I dealt with children all my life from from my honest beginnings of memory nastic life when I first became a monk as a novice the first thing they asked me to do was I thought you know you join a monastery what are they going to ask you to do meditate and maybe pray and read scriptures or something the first thing they said look there is a hostel and there are 40 children 10 year-olds go take care of them 40 children if I had got we know in samsara in married life I would have had one or two with you yeah there are 40 here so I dealt with kids for many many years okay so here is one principle to understand and hold on to firmly children do not listen they imitate children do not listen they imitate child psychologist Aqsa will tell you to a certain age they do not listen up till the teenage years imitation is the way they really learn of course in during the teenage years also they do not listen that's also that's a different matter so first thing is what are we doing the parents and the grown-ups in a family in the school in society what we do that the children will do they pick it up so a spiritual household is something that the atmosphere is imbibed by the children while growing up second thing is so don't try to teach them at their own give them talks on Advaita they'll either either not comprehend at all or you will it might you know feel lead to a rebellious feeling a feeling of even repulsion it's something something is forced down on us even if it's good for us if you're not ready for it you feel irritated and upset so of course you can talk to them about it especially if they are curious but otherwise a spiritual household a household of study and prayer and spiritual music and love and peace and serenity a household of where there is emotional comfort and support and structure is very good now more directly to your question telling them that they are Brahman and the identification false identification with body mind if you build it up over the years then again to deconstruct it is a big job correct it is a big job there is a nice story in ancient Indian mythology of Queen madalasa which Swami Vivekanand it here a number of times so to cut a long story short this queen who was an enlightened lady her child the baby when the baby was in the crib she would swing the crib and instead of a lullaby would she would sing near ingenuity that you are the sinless you are the pure consciousness you are not this body and mind teaching the child from the very beginning that I am NOT this thing and much bigger than this one little body that's a good idea sort of imbibe it yourself and radiate it out so the children can can pick it up that way the identifications will not be built up so strongly if the household the house where they grow up is a spiritual house the second question a cagiva vada is it related to the hard problem of consciousness the hard problem of consciousness let me just say a few things about each of these terms the hard problem of consciousness is something that is consciousness studies people are and this is giving them headaches this is the central issue in consciousness studies today but how can a physical system generates something someday how can something objective generate the subjective experience of consciousness how can a body and body and brain how can it generate a first person experience no other thing in the world does that every other item whatever physical description you give of it that's the beginning and the end of it say for example the microphone the engineer can give a description of it the chemist can give a deeper description of it and the physical physics professor can give an even deeper description of of this microphone at the level of a gadget at the level of the chemicals composing it at the level of the fundamental particles composing it and that's the description of this microphone there is no such thing as how does it feel to be a microphone from within does it feel like something to be a microphone what does it experience itself the question is meaningless and so why how do you know I don't know but the thing is no engineer no scientist no philosopher ever ever will even make that claim that there is something but it feels like to be a microphone there's no evidence for that if you talk like that then you can talk anything so every physical system can be described in one way in terms of physics chemistry biology engineering whatever you call it but this system this is something very strange about you the physical system whatever the doctors and the biologists describe about you does not encompass the whole of you there is something within you like right now all the time what you consider yourself to be and what the doctor describes you as there is a disconnect what is the disconnect your experience of yourself our experience of ourselves is what sites sounds smell touch taste thought feeling desire pain pleasure understanding memory forgetting all of these are directly experienced by us and what what does the biologist or the doctor say the doctor speaks about muscles and tissue and organs and the biology speaks about other neuroscientist speaks about the nervous system the activating electrical activity in the brain where is the connection it seems that the physical body produces that one what you call what we experience as consciousness that seems to be the mainstream view now how it produces nobody knows not only nobody knows the startling thing is nobody has even an idea of where to begin then nobody has an idea of where to begin the only the scientific approach the two broad approaches that are there one is to deny consciousness all together basically they are saying you don't exist body exists the organs exist cells exist but you as a person you don't exist you have to deny it you you say that is niklas whether the body exists or not it exists in my awareness I am aware of the body if you cannot explain awareness then you have not even scratched the surface of what I am the other approach is to reduce you the awareness to the body to the brain somehow the brain produces consciousness like this candle produces light and heat the flame we call it up a pin an epiphenomenon a byproduct of the neuro chemical processes in the nervous system in the brain is the consciousness which you call yourself how don't know this is the only approach that science has so far even the most sophisticated attempts to explain consciousness whether in terms of information theory Tony Nia think yes it's still trying to reduce it to brain states and the information theory can be used to analyze and understand the brain States but what about the consciousness the stuff of our awareness itself nobody knows that is called the hard problem of consciousness and the person who coined that term David Chalmers he is the head of the mind brain science a mind brain consciousness unit in NYU now your question here is Josh's question is is a cagiva vada connected to this hard problem of consciousness what is a Cagiva vada here is the time when you will want to go and sit in the boat Acacio vada is this I am consciousness that's what our weight of Atlantis is and advaita vedanta says it is one consciousness now there are different ways of dealing with this the different approaches the standard approaches that one consciousness associated with all these minds and bodies are the different individuals and we have to finally realize our oneness with brahman that we are one with brown and one existence consciousness bliss that's the standard approach that's what we hear all the time but there is another approach which is I would call a non standard approach only some very radical non duelists Josh seems to be exploding that would say that you know what they say it's it's those who are philosophy students I can put it to you one word it's radical philosophy okay two words radical solipsism but what it means is this you this a Cagiva bar that literally means one Jeeva the doctrine of one Jew one sentient being if you are one consciousness and everything appears in that one consciousness it would say Swami hold on they conceived of Adam we'll say at that point he will interrupt you and say hold on everything appears in that one consciousness everything appears in my consciousness all these other divas all these other beings they are appearing in my consciousness right how do I know that they are actually separate beings they could all be like like the people I see in my dream you see in a dream you see so many people but those people are not separate beings they are all part of your imagination products of your mind they're products of your mind are they 101 different people you met in the dream none of them are different they are all you in your dream your mind appears as so many people and you interact with them also but in the dream then there is actually one sentient being who the dreamer in the dream in your dream there's only one sentient being the dreamer are you with me so far now what the activating does is this a cagiva Vardhan he transfers that to the waking stage also since the waking stages in principle no different from a dream in principle there is only one person here we are not talking about God or Brahman only one person who is that person you what about everybody else what about you Swami we are all part of your dream but each one of us can say that I am the only person and everybody else that doesn't make sense it's not supposed to it's supposed to be a way of taking you to that enlightenment it's a methodology but a Cagiva of other holds there only one Jeeva that Jeeva alone in that Gia's imagination appears samsara and Ishwara and when that Jeeva becomes enlightened it realizes itself as Turia Brahman that's it what about others no others is that connected to with the hard problem of consciousness only insofar as it deals with pure consciousness the hard problem of consciousness applies across the board whenever you talk about consciousness all of it so what a canoe about is very close to is in Western philosophy it would be called solipsism a very radical kind of solipsism that only you exist okay let me take up one more question yes this is a question from the teenager from our Joe who is 14 alright 14 thanks good the basis of my question lies in the argument that supposedly God grants happiness to all those who try to attain him or her and that God is the one who created us you have said that one way of reaching God is to help the poor and the needy but they too are a creation of God is God therefore biased enough to let them be a test for our so-called goodness and therefore allows them to lead a life of utmost suffering at the end of the day they also are trying to seek happiness and comfort and a life without struggle and shouldn't God try to grant that isn't this contradictory so just put his finger on one of the oldest problems in religion this is called the problem of the problem of evil if God exists why is there suffering now very difficult to answer this in a couple of minutes but first we must see the problem how he has put it is a variation he has come apart upon it himself but the general form of the problem is this God is all-powerful if God exists God is all-powerful omnipotent God is all-knowing omniscient God is all-knowing and all-powerful then God knows the sufferings of everybody and God is all-powerful so God can do anything can remove the sufferings of everybody add to this God is loving so a loving powerful knowing God why does he not remove the sufferings of people do you see the problem if God was not powerful see human parents human parents are loving you would not want your children to suffer but you as human beings we are limited we have limited power human parents have limited power you do your best for your children but that's not enough because we don't human beings do not have that kind of power so we want that the children should not suffer but we don't have the power but suppose human beings had the power to do everything good for the children wouldn't you do it of course you would do it now the heavenly parent heavenly father or mother why doesn't he see it who is loving and powerful and knowing what doesn't it remove suffering that's the question the problem of evil and many many answers are there many many answers if I told you told you some of them you would be underwhelmed there are none of them are very convincing there is one answer that it is character-building suffering makes you stronger but immediately you can immediately object how does this happening of a baby make it stronger a disease or a starving child dies in some underprivileged part of the world how did it become stronger all the suffering of an animal how is the animal becoming stronger by suffering I mean in general sometimes it does the classic example is that the pupae caterpillar which breaks out of the cocoon and becomes a butterfly so some experiment I how true it is that if you help it if you remove the covering then it will not be able to fly because it's wings required that exercise to come out so then argument is given those who support this theory like that we need this trouble suffering so big up to become spiritually stronger maybe in some cases it is true maybe in other case is not not true it is it is a no important theological argument in fact there is a whole branch of theology called theodicy justifying the ways of God to man explain God will not explain so on behalf of God we have to we have to charge God and we have to also provide the defense counsel also so God is absolutely unconcerned and many other theories are there why is there suffering what is the theory in Hinduism one common theory the standard answer in Hinduism Jainism Buddhism is the law of karma it's not God's fault whose fault is it it's yours it's ours so how is it our fault law of karma is cause-and-effect consequences actions have consequences so if I'm getting consequences now pleasant or unpleasant usually I don't ask too many questions when the consequences are pleasant when a lottery I don't ask questions did I deserve to why did I win this lottery oh no on the other hand is something unfortunate happens unpleasant happens why do I deserve this well I I just never made sense to me people there's so many wonderful people loving people I have lost faith in God I especially sometimes a beloved person went through so much suffering I prayed and prayed and prayed nothing happened I lost faith in God I this kind of thing I understand the emotional content behind it but what does not what does not gel with me is is that you knew there is tremendous suffering in the world just because in your own case this you experienced it first and now you have lost faith in God in your place I would have said I lost faith in God from the very beginning because there is so much suffering all around not because I are my beloved person suffered that my suffering makes me lose faith in God that argument somehow do many people make it but it doesn't cut much ice with me Houston Smith the great professor of religion whose book the world's religions it's still a textbook standard textbook he died a couple of years ago he had a very tragic incident in his life his beloved granddaughter was murdered and then afterwards there was a radio interview sometime afterwards and the interviewer asked so Professor Smith do you still believe in God after this the person who told me this is too narrated she's a nun in Santa Barbara and she was she knew Houston Smith quite well and she couldn't mimic him very beautifully so she told me that when they asked the question he replied in his characteristic way he replied how absurd the people are died and have murdered all over the world all throughout history just because today it is my granddaughter I should stop believing in God how absurd whether you believe in God or not that's a different thing this cannot be a ground for believing or disbelieving so law of karma is one suppose that doesn't cut ties with you though that is I remember there's this book professor Arthur Harmon I've referred this earlier also he was a professor of philosophy in Hawaii University he wrote a book the problem of evil in Indian philosophy but there he has collected the answers which I mean answers to this question he has collected the answers twenty three answers I gave only two answers now twenty three answers he has collected two why there is suffering in the world if God exists twenty three answers none of them are very convincing so don't be in to in a hurry to find out what are the answers but there are different answers he has collected it from the different religions of the world philosophies of the world literature of the world has collected those answers one more answer let me see if it if you like it Buddha's answer not only laughs karma a deeper thing is as he said all compounded things decay everything is transitory in this world so if everything is transitory in this world whatever situation you have which you like is bound to by definition melt away after some time we like certain things and we don't like the rest of it this situation is good this person is good this relationship is good this food is good but only for a time being because it will change the person will change your taste will change body ages the world changes and so the acceptable Pleasant kind of situation which you liked that will change bound to change therefore suffering is inevitable do you see how the transitoriness of the world will lead to suffering inevitably that's an insight that the Buddha got all compounded things decay in the world they'll all things come together and they fall whatever has come together will fall apart bodies fall apart minds fall apart relationships fall apart and soon it was a cheerful guy now actually it is true professor Heinrich Zimmer he said a spirit of unbounded optimism underlies all Indian philosophy why you know what is negativity what is pessimism hopelessness without any solution that is pessimism whereas an Indian philosophy except the chair Walker the materialist all other philosophers all the schools of Buddhism all the schools of Jainism and certainly all the schools of Hinduism Sikhism all of them they all say that a solution is possible so though their prognosis about the world is pretty negative but that ultimate point is that you should be positive there is a solution possible they call it moksha Cavalia nirvana whatever they call it in fact that that's why religion you might consider religion to be gloomy religion is fundamentally positive because it says a solution to this sufferings of the world is possible so this is a general answer to our Joe's question now taking his particular particular by the way the audience here also can ask questions when I finish with this raise your hands and I'll invite you to come here and ask the answer to that particular question is did God create people to suffer so that we can help them no suffering is as you saw God has not made people suffer so that you can become a saint rather through the process of your own suffering and helping others one transforms oneself one can only do the best one can one sits in a sea of suffering do the best you can not that you can you can solve the problems of the world one cannot even the great avatars have not solved the problems of the world the world still is a pretty miserable place but what we can do is as I just understood correctly is that by pursuing by working for the welfare of others one can transform oneself and to some extent definitely you can help others definitely you can help others all right we can go on with this but I'll come to you Christian come here first you can have to come here and tell us your name and ask the question hi my name is Christian and I'm asking for my friend from Bangladesh he texted me his name is Sabbath when I'm watching my thoughts without generating further thoughts is it my mind or the witness consciousness that is doing the watching in the waking state I noticed the absence of thoughts when the thoughts subside if it is the witness consciousness that notices the absence why can't I notice the absence of thoughts in the deep sleep state in the same way I feel like that I am stuck in my mind even when I am witnessing it or otherwise I could have done it in the deep sleep - alright a subtle question but important these questions are important not only for the person who is asking but for all of us basic question comes up keeps coming up again and again when you talk about witness consciousness isn't it the mind watching the mind because the mind can do that there is a term for that introspection you can watch your mind so when you speak about witness consciousness are you talking about that kind of thing watching the mind no this is the difference the mind can watch itself you can introspect and look at the thoughts that are coming up in your mind that is a practice of witnessing the movements of the mind but it's still a practice why is it a practice because you can do it or not do it it can begin on it it can it can end what begins and ends what you can do or what can you choose not to do that is not the witness consciousness whenever you are not even introspecting a flash of pain comes you're not practicing Vedantic introspection I am the seer and the pain is the scene you're not practicing it pain comes and you say ouch did you feel it or not that which felt the pain that which reacted with without that one is the witness consciousness even when you are not trying to introspect if you try to introspect and try to be a witness of your thoughts that's a good practice but remember the operative word is practice if you think that is the witness then this can this problem will arise that that is not there in deep sleep I am watching my thoughts sometimes I watch it sometimes I don't watch it certainly in deep sleep I do not watch it because I don't feel I'm doing anything in deep sleep then what is the real so this is the first point this thing which you are talking about is the mind certainly the mind it is certainly the mind it's not the real witness consciousness once so I mean the Himalayas put it this way an easy mistake to make one Swami in the Himalayas put it this way he said teaching witness and witnessed the RIC drishya Viveca seer and seen after teaching this he said to the monks gathered there so Swami's do you feel that you are the consciousness in which thoughts are arising and thoughts are moving and thoughts are subsiding you are calm now relaxed and you see yes yes then this only works in hindi and translate he said both but I gotta make it okay you have dug up specially big pit for yourself you're going to fall into that that's the mind that's the mind that which learns trig Trisha vivica's here and seen discrimination is the mind that which attempts to practice it is the mind that which makes the breakthrough is the mind but once the breakthrough is made it points to something beyond the mind which you where earlier are now even in deep sleep you don't have to try anything there we don't know it yet that not knowingness is in the mind and the knowingness about it also will come in the mind and remove that ignorant and you remain as the witness of the mind which you always wear from time immemorial in deep sleep also you have that but you will not have that kind of a thought I am witnessing my deep sleep earlier I could not now I can witness my deep sleep no no you cannot if you do that then you are not in deep sleep and that's that's the mind of a funny story of you know the mothers sometimes check check if children are sleeping is the good boy sleeping is easy asleep if he's asleep then his right toe will move and the right toe moves you know that I was just faking it I remember in India Haran in the school where I first joined Ramakrishna our school is the hostels with Children's Day little kids and they become specially energetic and not even at bedtime and the Swami in charge of the hostel was once once Swami in charge of one hostel was very strict and the other Swami was a very elderly very kindly grandfather Leo Swami and he couldn't manage those kids he was 80 and they were 8 I mean how about do you expect so he went for advice to the strict Swami how do you manage to persuade him to go to sleep you said I don't take any nonsense I say I'm going to count to three one two and three by that time three you should be all tucked in bed with your eyes completely shut and no more and lights off and I count one two by the time they are all jumping in bed and getting into the into the bed sheets and I need into the covers and going to sleep and three it's done nobody dares to move after that so this or elderly Swami said I should try it and then he went and tried and then he came back and said it didn't work why I said one two and the kid said three they know what how much they can push you yeah so one indication then how do you make the breakthrough here is the indication you said the questionnaire I feel that I am trapped in the mind what notices this the ramped I feel the feeling of being trapped in the mind is that one trapped in the mind be very quiet and stay with that question and I am trapped in the mind whatever I do is the mind what is saying that what notice is it that one is not trapped does anybody understand what I'm talking about here some of you - yes that one is not trapped in the mind never was he has a second question in the Mundaka Upanishad it is advised to focus on the sense of I am a Cosmo Petrus arm when I try to focus on the I am I find I am focusing on the Hong Cara or ego which is located somewhere in my chest am i doing it right all right what you have to do is I am yes I feel I am what notices that I am you have to go like that at my practice are on Sarah means on asaram following that all proved by that so that feeling of III is pointing to something that pointing back you must follow back there one cannot use words one must intuitively grasp that so we say I feel a one an is in the middle of the chest Here I am Here I am what notice is that I am you will see very quickly you go beyond language and thought you're still there but you can't express it anymore this I am here this you can Express you can locate it you can say it but that which is noticing this that you cannot look it you cannot speak about it but it's indubitably there but it's not a theme it's not an object we'll take a question I'll take a question next you come and ask a couple of questions from the internet audience these are several questions about the struggle of trying to follow a spiritual life whilst living in the world first one is from vivec how should I use this knowledge of the eye being the eternal witness separated from body and mind to successfully perform the duty I have to do as a worldly person and achieve the goals I have set forward this knowledge brings my mind to peace but still I am unable to use this knowledge for the purpose of fulfilling my duty as a person in the world then from a lock at this stage of my life the preoccupation with earning money for a stable life makes me do work which I do not necessarily like but also cannot leave this makes my mind Restless coupled with the feeling that I am neglecting my spiritual life how do I find peace in such a situation and from Ravi seeing how temporary life is and the full futility in striving for possessions and position I find myself lacking the passion to do anything serve others doesn't seem convincing as suffering problems are fundamental to the nature of life birth brings with it the problems of sustenance even if one dedicates oneself to serving humanity he or her work can it best be described as an attempt to plug a hole in a ship with the million holes that will inevitably sink how should one live and how and where can one find meaning and purpose and lastly from Abhilash throughout your lectures the truth most evident is that God realization and attainment of oneness is the prime goal of life is there not any way to marry this aim with the attainment of worldly perfection if not then toiling day and night for a Nobel Prize or Turing award seems to be as petty as being an ignorant glutton so if we can be successful in quotes and attain fulfillment in this life and how should we go about it alright I'm glad you've clubbed those questions together do you see what beautiful questions they are they're written with a lot of feeling and seriousness because you can see it comes from the person's present struggle in life first a little philosophical background and then we'll go to the application look at the language used I see that I am the witness of body and mind and this gives me peace different from body and mind and obviously different from everybody else I'm different from everybody else now you have taught me I'm different from the body I'm different from the mind and the witness unchanging witness of a changing mind changing body it gives me peace but I don't feel the urge to do anything more then how do I live my life then because this witness consciousness is unaffected by this life whatever happens happens and the similar kind of questions have come there are the other questions are also in the struggle of life first of all is it worthwhile and how do I do it with what attitude is it at all relevant to spirituality if I am the eternally separate unchanging witness of all of this this happens when you leave Advaita incomplete I have said again and again in adroit of a rant or two steps are important one is stepping back from the body and mind in your understanding and see that you are the witness of body mind and everything else but that's only one step this is called Atman Atma vichara the distinction between the true self and not self why is this necessary because right now we have mixed up the true self with what is not the self Who am I or what am i I am consciousness pure consciousness Atma sat-chit-ananda but actually practically I think and behave in a way as if is I'm consciousness no doubt but I am also mind all these thoughts I am angry I am angry desirous I am desirous depressed I am depressed apathetic I don't want to do anything I don't want to do anything I don't say there is a wave of apathy arising in the light in my consciousness so it's arises and disappears I'm unattached no I don't say that I am a pathetic body I am old or young or diseased or overweight or skinny all of this body so I am attached with the body and mind I have included it in my definition of the self in what I am so that has to be excluded that is the first step otherwise I will not come to a correct understanding of what I am that is called Atman Atma vichara Shankar Acharya in his famous hymn in Sudan and Rupa shivoham shivoham but what does he say first mano buddhir hunka it Tony Nahum I'm not the mind I'm not the intellect I'm not the memory I'm not the senses and not this body made of five elements I am the witness consciousness so first 1980 not this not this you come - you must first get clarity really feel I am this immortal consciousness but that's only the first step there's one more important step to be taken if you stop there it is a bit like sound Kia philosophy but there's one more important step to be taken this is not ad waiter it is not non-duality how can it be non-duality because now I am pure consciousness and here everything else there are millions of things different from me how is it not - it is millions of things one consciousness and so many other things at Mahatma the next step is to CD to reduce the anatomy to dogma that all these things I saw separately from myself are also myself yes mind is also consciousness body is also nothing other than consciousness in fact the entire universe is nothing other than you the consciousness you alone are in the form of everything you are one with everything they are not separate valueless things which you can dispense and walk away unconcerned there it's all one it's one with you everybody is you yourself so that is the second step Swami Vivekananda within us and the oneness of the universe central teaching of Vedanta the divinity within us and the oneness of the universe these two otherwise this problem will come alienation from the world I am a witness consciousness what about the others don't matter doesn't matter earlier alienated from every other person but I hugged my body mind to myself I am alienated from body mind also extra problem with an thick problem this example of the clay pot what the example of the clay pot is take a pot it's a pot but then you are told that actually there is something called clay apart from the pot which is the cause of this pot it is the material out of this the pot is made the part is not an entity the clay is an entity so clay is the cause part is the effect but you so you have separated clay and part in your mind if you stop there all these problems will come you have to go one step further what is one step further that there is no clay and part it's not two things it is one thing only and what is that one thing you started by thinking it's a pot you should end up by thinking it's clay and clay alone the purpose of the procedure start by thinking its world body-mind and you end up by thinking i brahman alone I'm all of this ah hum Rahm has me Brom havea Dom sarvam at me madam sir I am Brahman Brahman alone is all of this the self the real self I alone am all of this if you stop in between I am separate world is separate then you have got two real things world body mind world one thing and I the consciousness one thing that's not the correct that's not the end of Advaita it's not the control that is not non-dualism you stop with clay and pot obviously it's false there are not two things can you show me separately clay separately parts separately no then the clay pot Theory becomes a problematic Allen what he called it the crackpot theory the clay pot theory if you don't complete it from pot vision gutter Drishti - mystical HT in sanskrit very beautifully pot vision - clay vision without doing anything to the pot you leave it unharmed but you change your paradigm from world samsara Drishti to brahma Drishti sir even Brahma maíam jagat once this Drishti comes then these problems will not arise you have oneness with everything whatever you have to do in that station of life you will do it gusto and enthusiasm and yet with perfect detachment one Swami put it in one phrase to me many many years ago more than twenty years ago I asked the question about karma yoga how can one do work without desire one needs a motivation to work how can you do what without desire and he said disinterested work my boy not uninterested work in English the word disinterested uninterested or different uninterested means you say in Hindi shalt I let it somehow finish up the work there is no need to do it we are not getting anything out of it so just somehow finish it I'm not interested telling me to do it okay I'll do it but disinterested means the meaning of disinterested is that I don't have axe to grind I don't have a personal motive behind it a disinterested party I can work with full enthusiasm you are doing pooja out of devotion to God how carefully you do pooja you have your charts your speed your actions all the articles everything is done so carefully and beautifully and seriously and yet you don't want anything back there can you do all the work in the world like that it'll be wonderful so your that is spiritualizing life that happens when you have even will not do party clarity but from samsara Drishti to Brahma thirsty everything is my beloved God so the suffering person is also my beloved Lord the duty is also the puja of which I'm going to give give give to my lord so what was why you feel apathy because the worldly goal does not pull you anymore and that's good that's why you feel apathy the worldly goal does not pull you you've seen through it now you don't it doesn't excite you anymore now that worldly goal has to be replaced by a spiritual goal until I am liberated until I get moksha Nirvana I must spiritual eyes all my activities if I become apathetic that is tamas ik not sattvic all right we'll stop here we'll take this lady's question we will stop are we ready with the yes it's ready Swamiji my name is Geeta I have a question on guilt as a parent if for example an adult is suffering due to adharmic reasons as a parent when they are suffering you know you have a lot of compassion and love and jump in to help do the suffering the same person then causes a lot of pain and hurt and we get advisement and just stay away don't respond at the same time we here see God and all but their's in doing so this tremendous amount of guilt as much as the compassion to end the suffering so how do you how to what kind of tool can we use to feel less guilty or what advice would you have for somebody that is understandable because if you try to take care of others especially you trying to take care of sick people it's not easy it sounds noble a lot of people who go into social service whether it is in the family or whether you do social service look for people outside actually when you try to do it it's not at all easy there's so much of reaction from other people and reaction in your own mind when if you see people people are not grateful people play politics with your work people criticize you that's in the field of social service but in a family also when you are looking after say a sick person very difficult to deal with that that's why in psychiatric care also they talk about the well-being of the caregiver the one who is taking care of the patient physical illness mental illness whatever the one who's taking care of the patient also must take care of his or her own health and mental well-being otherwise if you break down if you are upset how can you provide care to that person so your own spiritual strength and peace of mind is necessary now one thing I will say is each case is different I don't know about your own particular case you have to make up your own mind that way to do as much as you can without suffering a breakdown yourself and for that spiritual practice is very good meditation prayer detachment like a doctor treats the patient with a lot of detachment doctors do not treat their own children or their own family members so detachment is also necessary as detachment means not helping helping but mentally don't get involved so if somebody shouts insults you and all of that a doctor would not be affected by it because the doctor has nothing to do with that person doctor is just providing care you get upset by it because you are emotionally involved with that person if that person hits back you get upset because you're emotionally involved with that person so their detachment is necessary here is a suffering person I am dealing with the suffering and sickness in this body beyond this body beyond even the mind beyond even the person is that one consciousness is that one God which I worship now one thing I will say here and stuff Swami Ashok Anand has pointed out again and again a question a complaint comes in spiritual life Swami I try to meditate my mind goes here and there difficult to meditate I know obviously it's difficult to meditate you know why it's difficult to meditate whatever do you do when you try to meditate you sit down close your eyes you shut out the world you're not moving you're not dealing with other people all your mental capacity is freed so that you can meditate the moment it is freed it runs right because we cannot control it whatever comes up from within the mind chases it if external things you cut off it will bring out its own samsara from within that's why it's so difficult to meditate when you're sitting by yourself there is no challenge anymore the world does not engage your conscious capacity whereas Ashok Anji pointed out if you take the path of service when you are dealing with a sick person we're taking care of a sick person nobody ever will say my mind is wandering here and there that person will make sure your mind is there by shouting you at UWE cursing you if you're teaching a group of 10 year old kids in class you can't say my mind is wandering here and there I'm falling asleep they will make sure that you can you cannot you will not fall asleep or your mind wanders here and there because you are in charge of so many people it's a wonderful way to concentrate if you can overcome the child's difficult but if you can overcome the challenge and see it as spiritual practice not as a person who should be grateful or not as a service which should be easy serving a sick person is never easy especially an older person who is sick so you have to convert it to a spiritual practice in your mind with detachment with prayer and a meditative approach to it take a witness approach to it it's not my husband wife father mother uncle child who is like this and who is giving me so much suffering no it is God in this farm it is a perfect place for me to help and help that person also will be helped and I will be uplifted by that health not degraded by it alright let's bring this to a close Shanti Shanti Shanti hey hurry that's that sri ramakrishna Aparna must