Video 34

Ask Swami with Swami Sarvapriyananda | Nov 19th, 2017

I remember about 12 years back I was in the Himalayas in a place called Congo 3 that is the source of the Ganga and I was staying his little cottage just by the river and it was an apple tree next to the river and one day I was feeling a bit hungry because you you get food by begging there and sometimes it's not enough or maybe it's just the winter the cold air which makes you hungry so I would pluck the apples and eat them and sit near the river well a monk who lived in a cottage next to mine he came and sat by me and he told me this unforgettable that was the month of August I think around the rainy season in the Himalayas and he says you know what's the difference between the mind of a yogi and the mind of a worldly person a yogic mind and a worldly mind a difference and he Illustrated it with the river he said look at the river now just after the rainy season there's a lot of water in the river it's moving fast and a lot of volume of water fast moving a lot of water and he says the mind of a worldly person is just like that a lot of thoughts and changing fast a lot of thoughts and the second thing is he said look at the water it's muddy it's muddy because there are landslides in the rainy season because of the rain and the soil gets mixed with the water and so it's it's not clear it's muddy and he says you cannot drink it yourself and you cannot offer it to anybody else either in the same way and say is the mind of a worldly person it's muddy negativities and resentments and miseries and anger and dislike and prejudices they are all floating around there it gives you no peace and it gives others around you no peace also makes you unhappy makes others around you unhappy and the third thing he said was that it's dangerous this is the way it flows it's so dangerous just actually the day before that lots of lots and lots of pilgrims come from the plains of India because they want to go to the source of the Ganga and they often they are not used to mountainous rivers they are never seen the high mountains so without a great devotion they take they sit down there to take a dip in the in the Ganga and they are sometimes swept away the terrible tragedies occurred and just the day before somebody had been killed they had been swept away it's dangerous there are rocks are all around and the water is flowing very fast and it's very cold if you try to step in into it your foot becomes numb immediately and he says the mind of a worldly person is like that do you don't know where such a mind will take you depression people committing suicide why is the tragedies in India you see this tremendous pressure for doing well in examinations and every year when the examination results are declared school and college you will find some young child young boy or girl has committed suicide because it's done badly in the exam so something like that minor thing really not not something to kill yourself over so not only suicide sometimes murderous rages you usually see people going out and shooting other people the mind Milton said the mind in its own place can make a hell out of heaven and I have an out of hell also so it's a dangerous thing the worldly mind where it will sweep you away you don't know and then he said to me Swami he would say said Mahatma a mad mob when you if you come in the winter this is the rainy season if you come in the winter this River the Ganga there which is flowing if you come in the winter I can show you the same River but what a difference at that time he said it's very cold and there's ice and snow all around so there's very little water and it flows slowly deliberately in the same way a Yogi's mind a meditators mind there are only well chosen few thoughts which are consciously chosen and they flow under your conscious control and he said that sometimes it stops the whole river stops also it's like Samadhi you know because it's frozen so there's no water so you the yogi can stop the mind so that's the first difference look the the wish ie he said the used word he used was be shy a worldly person worldly person worldly mind lots of thoughts and muddy thoughts and he said the Yogi's mind fewer thoughts consciously chosen deliberately and lot of clarity not muddiness he said in fact I remember he said you can go and stand on that there's a wooden bridge I can stand on that wooden bridge and in the winter if you'd show a 1/4 he said Joannie you throw a quarter down into the river it sinks to the riverbed and you can actually read that read off the denomination of the coin there it's so clear like crystal clear like glass this is a meditators mind Yogi's mind should be like that crystal clear compared to the worldly mind which is muddy it's positive it's clear it's calm second it's so so clear and pure you can drink it yourself and you can give it to others to drink similarly a Yogi's mind is so calm and serene and clear it gives peace to oneself to the yogi I mean and it gives peace to all around those around they feel the peace and joy there are stories of course in the myths and the Puranas how in the ashrams of Rishi's a tiger and a lamb would sit down together that's a depiction of the peace generated by a yogic mind and third one is it's not dangerous it will not lead you astray the mind which is a meditative mind will take you to your goal which is God realization enlightenment they call it purush arts are the goal of life it will take you there the the remind the worldly mind it takes you away from your goal whichever your gold is even if it's a worldly goal even that one cannot achieve the mind is disturbed so here is the difference it's worth remembering these three points of difference the river in in spate you're during the rainy season and the river in winter calm and clear and pure water which you can drink you can share with others and not dangerous he says you can walk across it's actually there's very little water at that time so he says you can just walk across all right now it's time for our monthly ask Swami so there are questions we have a wide internet audience all over the world and they send in lot of questions only a few of which we can answer they are selected and there are also questions from the live audience so we'll start off with some questions from the internet audience yes this first question is from other questions audible yes this first question is from a joy modern cognitive scientists are veering more and more towards the idea the consciousness is fundamental and there is a deeper reality in the world than our senses tell us a honeybee has a strong nasal sensory system that takes it to the source of honey similarly a bat has sound receptacles that allow it to sense danger and also find its prey they also do not see the world as we see it therefore is it not a legitimate question to ask how correct are we to presume that what we see is indeed the reality how can we say our sensory organs tell us the truth can you give us a pedantic perspective to it and how Advisor Vedanta sees such developments right it's very interesting as Ajay has written that's true our senses do they report the truth to us do they report reality to us and the conclusion of modern cognitive science and in the indeed even evolutionary science is that they do not the senses do not report reality to us would you mean by that so are there misreporting not at all because you see evolution has not designed our senses to report reality evolution has designed our senses to protect us and make sure that we survive and pass on our genes to the next generation evolution is designed our bodies and minds and senses for survival that's the conclusion of Darwinian of Darwinian science in fact Darwinian psychology that that that's how our mind-body system is designed these are vehicles for our genes which will be transmitted to the next generation and so what makes sense is not sensors which report reality exactly as it is but which report reality in such a way which enables the human animal to survive so for example the classic vedantic example of seeing a snake in a rope it's a mistake but we are prone to similar mistakes does that make sense yes it makes sense well why does that mistake make sense because it makes perfect evolutionary sense it might be a snake especially in the prehistoric jungles it could very well be a snake there were less fewer ropes and more snakes around at that time and it's pays to be aware even it are out of 9 out of 10 times it's not a snake you have just made a mistake no harm done but the tenth time when it is really a snake it saves you from being bitten and killed so it it makes evolutionary sense sense for your senses to miss report and misconstrue reality if it makes you hyper aware and more careful about your environment recently as we are reading how this our senses we like sugar so we have a tendency for sugar we like sweet things now you might say how is that good for evolution because it's very bad for health but true that is true but it's bad for health in a modern world Robert Wright he in his new book why Buddhism is true there he says that imagine where these senses were evolved to help us function in the prehistoric savannas or jungles very little sugar was naturally available and most of it was available in the form of fruits they were very valued so that you could get your natural sugar directly now it's more than available everywhere there's sugar all over especially in this country I went to a doctor's chamber in in LA and there there was a chart it showed a typical American in the late 19th century how much sugar he ate it was a he and a typical American in the early 21st century how much sugar this person eats and so the 19th century person is depicted as this farmer holding a pitchfork and wearing a floppy hat and holding a small bag of sugar a lack of sugar that's the amount of sugar that person on the average ate in one year that bag of sugar it seems a lot but it's one year and now fast-forward to the 21st century there's this person who is in an executed suit who could just be walking of Wall Street you know maybe a stockbroker or something and next to him is a dumpster full of sugar that's the amount of sugar an average American adult eats today what an enormous difference and remember that farmer late 19th century worked much harder was physically active worked much harder and these guys in spending most of his time sitting in front of a computer or typing the maximum activities are the fingers are you know updating his Facebook or something now why would why would our senses do that but it made evolutionary sense tens of thousands of years ago now it does not make sense it's damaging but the senses attract us to something which is not actually good for us in any any longer so whether it is the sense organs or the motor organs or whichever they are designed for evolutionary success not for reporting truth to us it's interesting that you should mention the bat the bat is heavily dependent on its sonar in on its like a like a radar you know it sends out pulses of sound and then receives it back and navigates through very skillfully it sees with sound as it as if so it's worldview would be quite different not the way we perceive the world there was a very influential paper written by it written by Thomas Nagel philosopher who wrote what is it like to be a bat talking about the first perspective view of consciousness and nowadays the whole science of the hard problem of consciousness which is going on but that that that paper was very seminal very important at that time and if you get it's available freely on the net so if you are interested you can always take a look what is it like to be a bad vedanta fully agrees with this persuaders perspective robert wright who's an evolutionist a Darwinian he is his most recent book he's an atheist and Darwinian his most recent book is why Buddhism is true and his first chapter is how our senses misrepresent it to us what Buddhism says about this is exactly what Vedanta says about it our minds and senses do not report the world was accurately right this in fact this inaccurate reporting is a vital component of Maya the world is not revealed to us as it is one of the major components of Maya is inaccurate reporting is what is called the hedonic treadmill the hedonic treadmill is this is well known to the Buddha well known to the Rishi's of the Upanishads is that we always feel the our our minds misreport the amount of happiness that we are going to get out of a particular activity or something if I eat this cookie I feel I'll be very happy actually when you eat the cookie you're not all that happy if I take this vacation I really feel I'll be happy and aided by the advertisers and everything if I get the latest gadget iPhone or something I feel I'll be really happy but actually when you buy it and start using it you're not not that happy and then quickly the mind it doesn't say oh I misrepresented there's something wrong with my way of view of the world no it doesn't do that it quickly moves on to the next thing saying that if you get that you will be very very happy this gadget that house to live in this relationship all of that Minds continuously report misreport misjudge that they report more happiness than is actually there that that's what pulls us along again Darwinian sense food reproduction they're all reported by our minds to be you know source of great happiness why that will that will motivate the the animal mind towards that and that serves nature's purpose but doesn't serve your purpose so yes we don't absolutely agrees with that that's the real antic perspective more and more I think it is coming to the veil antic perspective you have questions from the audience yes somebody otherwise we'll move on to the next question from the yes you have a question that please come up here and tell us your name there's a microphone there please tell us your name my name is Bishop yeah my question is that in many of your lectures you have mentioned that when someone gets realization in his book it's not that the body and mind gets realization is that the real self is liberated from the body and mind so my question is if someone if the self is liberated from one body and mind why does it not simultaneously get free from all the other body and minds when okay good question let me answer that question the question is that if there is only one self Advaita says I'm in everybody and when a person gets liberated it gets knowledge that I am NOT this body and mind I am such a Don and the one consciousness existence bliss if it's one self everywhere if one person gets liberated everybody else should also get liberated do you see the logic of the question yeah now the answer is this it's actually very simple answer it's a good question with a very simple answer is there it's not really the self which gets liberated the self such Ananda is ever liberated it's never in bondage Brahman is ever liberated then who or what is in in bondage is the body in bondage because like the bodies in bondage it continues to be in bondage it will die upon T and what is in bondage is a very peculiar entity called the Jeeva the individual sentient being the individual sentient being is a peculiar combination of the real self satchitananda and the mind it's the mind superimposed on the real self or the real self identified with the mind you'll say what is that that's exactly what you are I am right now unless you are a Jeevan Mukta you will identify yourself with your body and mind unless you are liberated solve is Swami the way kinda says here is a simple test sit quietly close your mind and say I if any sort of body and mind crops up when you say I you are not liberated yet this one which says I means body and mind this is the Jeeva the individual sentient being individual mean this is the one which is in samsara this is the one which is trying to get liberation this is the one which is suffering try this is the one who comes to Vedanta classes this one gets liberation it realizes that I am such a don under and this realization to answer the question directly this realization is in that particular mind why so because the ignorance is in each mind and in each mind it has to be corrected by knowledge in that mind here is a thing to be known about knowledge and ignorance to be effective there is a rule there to be effective effective means if knowledge is to remove ignorance to be effective knowledge and ignorance must must share the same locus and object that sounds frightfully philosophical but it's very simple actually same locus and object what it means is if knowledge is to remove ignorance then one that knowledge must come where the ignorant sees and - it must be knowledge about what the ignorant say that you are ignorant about something if you say I'm ignorant you see good for you but what are you ignorant about they'll ask you what you say ignorant means I do not know ignorant means I do not know immediately if you say I do not know a question will be what is it that you do not know that is the object of ignorance and the object of knowledge must be the same so if I am ignorant about say mathematics then the ignorance about mathematics is in my mind wait what is the locus my mind and what is the object of that ignorance mathematics so knowledge is required where will knowledge the knowledge in my math professors mind cannot remove the ignorance in my mind my math professor knows mathematics but that will not remove you see the knowledge in my gurus mind will not remove my ignorance it must come in my mind because locus has to be the same locus means place second the knowledge must be about mathematics if my ignorance is about mathematics knowledge must be about mathematics if I get knowledge about English or Sanskrit it will not remove my knowledge about my ignorance about mathematics similarly if my ignorance is about the self then the knowledge must also be about the self if I learn about something else suppose I learn Sanskrit grammar will I become enlightened no no you will have to learn who you are really so the knowledge comes in your mind and removes the ignorant yarn in your mind and so the real self realizes itself as free but that is reflected only in your mind not in your neighbor's mind that answers the question thank you we should now a question from the internet audience yes we've had many questions on karma Swamiji and just a couple of samples here the first one is from Bill in Manhattan not not Bill Conrad I assume from your excellent answers to questions on Karma that the bad actions we have taken may to some extent be compensated for by taking good actions but in addition to this does Vedanta see redemption in repentance and true willingness to make amends if possible or does the bad we have done necessarily come back to bite us regardless of our attitude in other words is there a possibility of grace in a Vedanta and from a mile in India he asks Swamiji why don't the best always get the best okay but first about redemption and grace yes absolutely bad karma can be the effects of bad karma and the effects of bad karma suffering so the effects of bad karma can be attenuated by good karma the suffering is reduced the holy mother said that where a person's like my have been cut off he suffers a pinprick because of good karma prayer to God love of God surrender to the Lord all of these as hasn't this has an effect one big component of that is if I have hurt somebody it had done wrong to somebody it's good to try to make up the Lord says in in in the Bible it's there if you come with an offering to the Lord then and you have got something against your brother then leave your offerings there and then make amends with your brother and come back because the Lord will not accept your offering if others are hurt because it is the same Lord you see Vedanta explains it it is the same Lord in everybody if I hurt the Lord in that person and I come to the temple and try to please the Lord it's contradictory so make amends as far as you can if you say that it's not possible it's all the time maybe that person is not there maybe that person was not willing to forgive there's no way of making amends then mentally at least from your heart at least with your tears and your repentance at least make amends and make amends in front of the Lord with the other with the rest of your life and that works and the next question is why don't the best get the best when there's something peculiar if I think of myself as the best and then immediately I feel privileged I also deserve the best but yes sometimes when you see good people suffering you know them to be good and yet they are suffering you see that they do not deserve the suffering the way they are suffering and you think why is it happening or or sometimes you see people who are not really might be mediocre in many ways and get tremendous adventure advantages power and success in life and they're happy really how is that possible remember that we are seeing only a slice of time this one life is not all we carried the heritage and the burden of many many lifetimes from the from the past from the ancient past and we think of a newborn baby we say a newborn baby how cute well not really it's a very ancient creature sometimes you do you see that when you look into the eyes of a newborn baby you you see an ancient intelligence shining out there yes it's just the particular body is not developed so then the whole thing does not manifest at that time slowly it will you're guaranteed over the years and decades it will manifest so what we are seeing now is exactly what we deserve a portion of our karma is manifesting we may have a lot of karma in the back but a portion of that manifests in this life it is called prarabdha karma so i right now we are getting exactly what we deserve at this point in time but remember for all these questions on Karma I know it's fascinating because it's this leads to that our minds work with causality and karma is causality so we would like to know what leads to what and why am i suffering this and how can I make my life better through Karma all that's very good and that's the purpose of the law of karma but that's not the purpose of spirituality or Vedanta whether it's the path of devotion whether it's the path of knowledge all these paths are meant to take you beyond karma when somebody was talking about Karma does someone can someone get what he does not deserve Sri Ramakrishna it wasn't under boss's house sri ramakrishna rebuked him sharply said oh I see you dwell on these things stop thinking about these things and be devoted to the Lord cultivate love for the Lord in the path of knowledge Vivekananda in one of the most profound stanzas of the song of sannyasin he says good good bad bad and none escaped the law good karma good results bad karma unhappiness bad results nobody escapes the law that was the question so will it come back to bite me again but the point of Vedanta is what we currently say is far beyond name and farm is Othman everfree know thou art that sannyasi board if you dabble in karma if you dabble in cause-and-effect you'll be caught in the machine at the most suppose you want to remain in this world the law of karma helps you it shows you the danger of what you are caught in bad karma will lead to intense suffering therefore do not do bad karma but that's not the higher teaching of religion higher teaching of religion is to step away from the Machine altogether either by the path of knowledge where you realize you are the unaffected Brahman such Eden and they're not affected by karma karma depends on such a gun and the Brahman Brahman you are as Brahman you do not depend on karma yes your body and mind are caught in karma or in the path or by the Lord if you cannot it's not feasible for you to see yourself as the unaffected witness of karma take refuge in the one who wields karma the Lord wields karma Lord is the Karma objection one of the names given in Sanskrit is the Lord of karma Lord is one who dispenses results is the Lord merciless no not at all Lord is most graceful when we are involved in the world too much worldly the Lord makes sure we get what we deserve so that slowly our minds tend to move towards beyond the world transcend we become spiritual seekers for those who are spiritual secrets the Lord attenuates the effects of karma enables them to get God realization why because that's the purpose of this entire game the purpose is not to be caught in karma the purpose is to come out of karma so too much interest in karma at one level karma is useful for whom this is a word in sanskrit called para mara the word is Palmer remains instinctive life I just want pleasure I want power and wealth kama and artha I want to make a million bucks and I want to be famous and famous and beautiful I'm just putting together I stayed in two places you know Hollywood and here Manhattan I'm putting these two together that's what I want this is the pinnacle of human desire on this earth no the pinnacle is this I'm not saying this is the worst this is the best that the world has to offer it is the best that the world has to offer the worldly life and if you are trapped in this if you want this then karma shows you the best way of getting it what's the best way of getting it keep doing good you want one to be happy in life you want to get all the good things in life instead of pursuing those things build up a huge fund of good karma see yeah I want to be this famous actress Hollywood or I want to be this multi-millionaire on Wall Street so if I don't practice my skills if I don't practice my acting and go to acting school or if I don't practice I get an MBA from Wharton or something like that how will I do it just by doing good karma oh you will your acting skills could be mediocre you could be we could win an Oscar you are here trading skills on wall street could be laughable and you could end up a billionaire while your MBA friends it still struggles it could happen and it happens it happens yes it's a question use that you said to make amends before the Lord well the Lord is in everybody and everything why would you do it in front of the Lord I don't understand why you're saying making amends in front of the Lord because sometimes that person may not be available sometimes the person whom you want to make amends to may not be forgiving sing it out loud it's not as if the Lord isn't hearing you I mean it's it's not as if it has to be verbalized if it's sincerely within your heart yes it is it required you may not yes you may not verbalize it but feel the presence of the Lord that's what does mean you mean in being front of the Lord feel the presence of the Lord in your heart when you sincerely say sorry right now another question please come tell us your name and ask the question my name is Nabila my question is this in our past lives in our current lives and for many of us maybe never to realize we constantly try to get good karma and we try to escape from this Machine of bad karma we try to realize the true nature of of the world but is Vedanta bringing any answer on what is the purpose of all this we're constantly striving to get good karma to become enlightened and you know to move away from the solutions that we think are reality what is the purpose of this big game is there any answer yes it's a big question what's the purpose of all this this is the biggest of all questions what's the purpose yes but one must constantly keep asking this and Sri Ramakrishna or Swami Vivekananda pointed out very clearly they said very clearly the whole purpose of this is God realization the whole purpose of this is enlightenment in fact all the Eastern traditions Buddhism Hinduism Jainism Sikhism they say the whole purpose is is liberation moksha these are all called moksha Shastra the the disciplines which the teachings which lead you to freedom call it freedom call it enlightenment call it Nirvana call it salvation God realization that different names all the mystical traditions spiritual traditions of humanity give a direct answer to this question that's the purpose you might still say these are mysterious answers what is God realization and you might even as a person might even say whatever my purpose in life it's not God realization I don't even know what that means okay let me put it in terms that anybody would understand the purpose of life is to attain profound lasting happiness and to overcome suffering in sanskrit onon the property dukkha liberty param anand the property are Kenda Godot collaborative param anand the property the ultimate eternal everlasting bliss attained that one number two identical token ability completes transcendence of sorrow sorrow complete cessation of sorrow now every tradition says that look at Buddhism it stresses the cessation of sorrow born would they say the problem is sorrow and how to overcome sorrow that's the thing one approaches it's not possible this life is all that offers some people a little more happy try to be a little more happy they'll be little less unhappiness and that's the whole thing of life and you die well that's a pretty hopeless way of looking at life that's the materialistic outlook every religion says no there is the possibility of attaining bliss and overcoming sorrow now nobody can say I don't understand what it me and what what do you mean by happiness what do you mean by overcoming sorrow all our struggles from babyhood till now everything that we do is trying to overcome discomfort and sorrow dukkha and trying to attain some kind of worthwhile joy happiness peace this moksha God realization liberation is nothing other than the most excellent the highest point of this attainment of bliss and overcoming of sorrow so that's what that's the purpose of this whole game but good question thank you you had a follow-up your face looks like your father and then what and you know what I mean and then what when you when you get to that what why where was this big world designed what's the purpose of that that that's obviously very hard to answer as well yes but the question is why was this whole world design or when was it designed remember the answer is uh Nadi there was no particular time point in time when it began because even time is part of the smile so what you're talking about is transcending is transcending time works there is a timeless state of perfect be bliss and transcendence of sorrow that's what's called let's a philosophical way of putting it philosophical way of describing God realization so to say when did it begin the answer would be its beginningless but it has an end time comes to head stop was it Shakespeare time must have a stop tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow rolls on listener time must have a stop and it's true mystics have realized this timeless state yeah one thing is you might think next question might be after this war do you get completely bored everything's done but then always when you have such questions look at the lives of people you might consider enlightened the Buddha's and the Christ's and the Krishna's and the Ramakrishna's of this world where they ever bored did they ever say did any any saint in any tradition in the whole world in hit throughout history did they ever say now I'm enlightened how boring there's nothing else left to do nobody we it's interesting we who have so many things to do we get bored we get bored there's an interesting short story of a person who commits a very rich young man who committed suicide because the thrill had gone out of life he said he had done everything to get get excitement and happiness in life throughout life spent money is like water in every avenue possibility of excitement and adventure everything is boring now everything is boring Summerset mom writes if you single-mindedly chase pleasure very soon you will find nothing pleasing anymore and so he said the last possible trill might be out of killing myself maybe I'll get a kick out of it that's why I committed suicide the enlightened person never does this is never bored so always look at the lives of the saints and you will find answers to these questions thank you thank you or there's a question there yeah my name is dr. Salah a person has realized self realization there's laws of Karma's or sattvic rajasic and tamasic character is affected to him or good question if a person becomes enlightened do the laws of karma apply to that person or do the three gunas sattva rajas sick Temasek have an effect on on that person the straight answer is no a straight answer is no that person goes beyond karma as Vivek and I said far beyond name and form is art whenever free untouched in fact add weight of Ananta says even before enlightenment right now your real self the real you is completely untouched by this world but you don't know it and not knowing it what happens is we think we are this body and mind which are completely under the spell of karma and hence we suffer we suffer along with the body there is that breath arnica verse atmanam jade by john yacht i almost meaty purusa ha Kimmy Chen Kazakh Maya sharee hram Alessandra rate if a person realizes that I am this sat-chit-ananda then desiring what for what purpose one and for whom should I continue to suffer along with the body mind if a person realizes I am this sat-chit-ananda which is beyond body and mind then two things desiring what that means nothing in the world is but worth chasing for that person that person has attained the culmination the ultimate fulfillment of all desires permanently so there is no particular thing for that person to chase for personal fulfillment nothing else remains that this will make me happy no I am happy I don't need anything in the world I am a billionaire why do I need welfare it doesn't add on to me and the second thing is even deeper for whom see the one which we are trying to fulfill this person we don't investigate what this person is this person is an illusion Vedanta tells you this Buddhism tells you this that this but with this doctrine of an Atma not self and the vedantic doctrine of I am NOT the body and mind it tells you this this individual whom I am trying to please all my life this individual does not exist it's a ghost you are trying to satisfy it's an endless black hole you are trying to fill it will never be satisfied what you have to do is not solve the problem dissolve the problem this person will never be free never don't look so shocked this person God serve up Rhiannon that can never be free but the real I can be free of this person you can be free of the person you think you are okay so this the direct answer to you that the three gunas sattva rajas tamas dark dull lazy destructive thomas ik had that personality has no effect on the searched on on the right there rajasic a person who is restless active dynamic one stays once that loves hates fights in the world troublesome to oneself and to others rajasic that personality has no effect on the self searched on under which you are and a calm serene spiritual holy personality satlak that person also has no effect on the self searched on under and when these three gunas rotate thomas thomas develops into Rogers and Rogers stabilizes into sucked or sucked or degenerates back into Thomas when it rotates do you remain unaffected as such it on earth so this is a direct answer but isn't it as you can think there is an indirect answer lurking in the bosom the indirect answer is this if you observe from outside that person seems to be affected the enlightened person seems to be affected the effects of karma will play out on the body-mind so the person may get sickness the unpleasant things may happen to that person what was to happen according to product the karma will continue to happen you can't stop it can the enlightened person stop it no the enlightened person can't stop it but the enlightened person has the option of why should I suffer along with the body-mind sharee Romano Sangha right wash the literal word is fever why should I continue to be fevered along with the fevered existence of this body mind why should I be favored yeah so the enlightened person's body mind may suffer and people seeing from outside may be deluded oh this person is supposed to be an enlightened person somebody said to Ramakrishna many devotees what kind of a pair Imam says II he got throat cancer oh that's all right and they left him and Sri Ramakrishna said there is a meaning in this it it reads out it winnows out those who are the inner circle and those who came here for with some worldly desire in mind they lose faith okay this person is just like that but those who are spiritual seekers so the enlightened person when the body mind is being affected by karma at that point is the enlightened person free of karma also yes is that person free of suffering yes and that person feel the suffering and experience is suffering yes at the same time transcend the suffering also see Ramakrishna says this throat hurts this I cannot eat and when her Iman has said but you are in bliss Ramakrishna says oh you rascal you've caught me heart a person who's not enlightened who's not aware of the self-transcending body mind cannot say this with confidence it's too difficult at the point of death to say that but enlightened person can say that with full confidence question from the Internet audience we we have several questions prompted by your lectures Andhra grish of Vivek the first one is from Manju according to the drug reserve of acre the mind is observed and I the witness consciousness and the observer hence the mind is the object and I am the subject but without the mind this knowledge of object and subject cannot take place does this mean that the mind is the subject an object at the same time it contradicts the principle of observer and observed being separate as Patricia divided okay Manju you have put the question very well it's a good question if you think seriously about these things this question has to come you know what the question consists are regressive America says the observer and the observed are separate clearly it works very well when you say the first verse of the drug addiction vivica says the world of forms is the observed and the eyes are the observer and they are separate that's different this is different clear enough the eyes are the observed you know you can open your eyes are open closed you need glasses all these things you know who knows the mind knows and the eyes and the mind are separate you are the mind watching the eyes clear enough then third stage the mind is also the observed you know when you are happy you know the misery you know that you understand you know that you do not understand you know that you can remember you know that you cannot remember all of the activities of the mind are clearly evident to something within you so that something is the witness of the mind and the mind is something separate from the witness you are the witness of the mind and through the mind the witness of the body and through the mind and the body witness of the world okay this is what is the first verse says now here a discerning person will say hold on eyes are separate from the object clear enough okay one step back eyes are separate from the mind eyes are a different entity mind is a different entity clear enough because the mind observes the eyes but the thoughts of the mind are evident me isn't it the mind itself observing the mind why are you saying that there is a witness apart from the mind right that's the question it's an important question if you actually understand the question you are halfway towards enlightenment and if you get the answer to the question you are enlightened listen to this carefully the mind can observe the mind why how you see what's the function of the mind what's the function of the eyes to see what's the function of the ears to hear what's the function of the mind to think the eyes see see what forms the ears are used to hear hear what sounds the mind is used to think think what think about anything the mind can think about the world it can think about you it can think about this place but the mind can also think about other thoughts I am so unhappy than stewing in my own unhappiness that unhappiness is where in the mind and when I reflect upon my unhappiness mind is thinking about the unhappiness the mind itself things about the unhappiness in the mind so the one thought is thinking about another thought are you with me so far this is called introspection it's called introspection and remember it's a function a capacity of the mind it can think about the world outside it can think about the mind itself mind can think about other parts of the mind one thought thinking about one thought being about another thoughts are always about something that something could be external it could be internal also when it is internal the word you use is introspection and introspecting I am looking into the contents of my mind it is mind watching mind clearly it's one of the functions of the mind but note that you are not always introspecting are you always looking into the contents of your mind you understand the question sometimes you are absorbed in the world when you're watching an absorbing game when you are listening to an absorbing talk you are not looking into the thoughts in your mind you're looking you should be absorbed in the object and somebody's performing a surgeon skilled surgeon is performing a difficult operation for hours together the mind is completely absorbed in Indy Indy action but he better not be introspective what are my feelings like am i watching the breath no keep your mind keep your mind on the operation okay now we are ready to answer the question when you are not introspecting that means when your mind is thinking about something outside other than your mind absorbed in something outside this experience this experience did you experience it or not you're not thinking about it but did you experience it or not now there'll be a sound did you hear it now when you think that I heard it you are getting a memory and thinking about it but when you heard it directly it was a direct conscious experience right were you thinking about it in your mind no no no you heard it directly as a conscious experience your mind recognized it as a sound of clapping and then when you look inside okay I remember I just experienced the Swami clapping his hands that's the mind thinking about another thought in both these cases there is experience something is experiencing these things when the mind is looking and thinking about things in the world it is experienced by what when the mind is thinking about another thought both of these are experienced by what do you see that one is the witness that one is not the mind thinking about the mind mind thinking about the is one capacity of the mind it's called introspection but the witness is what illumines when the mind is not thinking about the mind sudden experience of the clap of sound yes then when you think about that that experience of hearing a clap mind is thinking about the mind that is also a illumined by the same witness what is that witness I hope that answers come on Jews question that is not the mind and I actually answered a couple of the questions Seraph asks it is said that the veiling power of Maya conceals the distinction between the perceived and the perceiver both revelation and concealment can only be to somebody who is that somebody from whom I conceals the distinction referred to above is it the Jeeva you have answered your question sort of yes it is indeed the Jeeva who is the one who is not aware of one's own true self the Upanishads tell me where anta tells me I am such a Donald if you go to Buddhism it tells you you are the clear light of the void that's the reality I'm not aware of it who is this I who is not aware of it this individual be this Swami serve up yonder I can't understand it I'm trying to understand isn't it the mind thinking of the mind is it the witness illumining the mind who is thinking this this is manju the person who asked the question earlier the Jeeva from the point of view of the witness consciousness all of this is continuously revealed it's at the level of the intellect and understanding of self understanding that we are confused we think we are the person we are not the person we are the witness unchanging witness of the person yes so the veiling power of Maya obscures the difference between the Sakshi witness and the witnessed the witness and the mind this is mixed up this baling power obscures our difference so what we have what we have is this from Wrigley Chevy Vega what we have is a mixture of the witness and mind this witness and mine together is what we call ourselves in this person separate the two not you cannot separate it physically you have to separate it in what is called Vivica through understanding philosophical discrimination clearly you can see it within yourself once you make this separation just once it's done forever you have to see it but once we can understand it's like a trick picture you know sometimes there are pictures which you see it'll look like a mass of dots let's just like chaos but somebody tells you there is a low test there and a river there and you look closely and closed and suddenly the things fall into pattern there are those trick pictures then you see the flower and you see the river okay I see it now once you see it you can't be fooled by it it just takes a little bit of effort next time to see the pattern again you don't lose it completely anymore similarly wave a kinda says enlightenment it's in the complete works of the record enlightenment is just like that once you see yourself they you realize what you are and what everything is and that's always continuously available to you especially when things go badly when the person is in trouble misery disappointment hurt and the pain is too much you want to step back from the pain then you do that then then you immediately see the trick picture questions from the live audience come after this we can take one more question but I have been informed that the food is ready tell us your name mr. Swamiji my name is Ghent I think the question sort of came up with some of the discussion around Karma and different topics that have come up today but I kind of just wonder what your thoughts are and like what is the motivating factor that that Vedanta and the teachings will resonate with someone in this lifetime or like there are many sentient beings you know of the world like suffering and I don't know if it's that like some don't have the means of doing something about that of trying to transcend it and come to some kind of teaching and it doesn't have to be in one form it doesn't have to be advice of example of any faith or any spirituality or any religion but like if even if I've talked to other to people that in in my day-to-day life that seemed to be in suffering and I like explained things that are starting to help me I'm not saying that I'm enlightened or realized or anything like that but like in other jivas there's just maybe the veil of ignorance is so strong that there's either no interest they think it's false or they just don't understand and don't seek or it doesn't grow the message doesn't resonate like what is it that makes us ready to write what is it that makes us ready why does Vedanta appeal to somebody and not to others see the basic requirement is there in everybody what is the basic requirement if we feel we are dissatisfied with this particular state of things in my life that's enough for you to start on spiritual life that's enough but what happens in most cases is we feel quite apart from spirituality there is something available right here in this world which will which will serve to take away my suffering and give me peace of mind yeah spirituality religion maybe yes but you know I'd really be happy if I got a million dollars I don't want a million dollars I just want a hundred thousand dollars that's enough I'll be happy or I'll really be happy if I get an get this nice house in the suburbs with an with a nice School District that's what's not not Vedanta this relationship this amount of wealth this amount of success and I have got it now there are people who strongly strongly feel that and no amount of persuasion will dissuade them from the only thing that will work is experience let them go through it many many times then they'll begin to see neither this not that is helping me then one awakens into something higher and that could be spiritual life and there are stages one awakens from pure pursuit of materialism to a moral and ethical life that makes you happier from just being a good person you know I'm a good person but an atheist to awakening to a higher power from being a devout bhakta devotee Catholic or something to the pursuit of gana of spiritual knowledge that that higher power is within me so there are stages of Awakening and it depends on the readiness so the readiness in Sanskrit it's called a dakara wakaru means person qualified and qualification consists of two things yoga capacity and are conscious that desired the aspiration both must be there and both come through life life teaches you it's the wise one who takes the lesson very quickly and moves on it's the foolish person who keeps on repeating it and churning its wheels in the mud and trying to just digging oneself in deeper and deeper and deeper while precious time flies by precious time flies by and soon nothing more can be done you have to wait for the next life so but that is not lost in the next life will person become some much wiser person and say your parents will say what a wise and mature child that's one another way of looking at it is we first of all we try to make ourselves happy by rearranging the world by changing the world my circumstances in the world must be different a better house a better car a better relationship we try to reform the world we try to reform others make others they should behave like this and they should not be more main purposes they should all be consistently and endlessly nice to me that's the basic thing if you say it out loud it sounds silly but that's what we're trying to do then slowly we realize that doesn't work it's very difficult to rearrange the world even if you do according to your liking it still is not particularly satisfying by the time the world has fallen into the perspective you want it to be you have moved on and change it's not no longer satisfying to you then you become mature you try to rearrange your own life ok I'm going to get up early and I'm going to do yoga and I'm going to eat gluten-free and that will make me happy rearrange the physical circumstances of your life very soon you see now that's not going to make me happy then you go further no the real thing is inside I'm going to rearrange my mind I will have holy thoughts I will think about my Ishta devatha I will repeat my mantra and or I will calm my mind down in meditation and follow the breath and things like that that works much better if you do it seriously but even that's not ultimate I'm not speaking from the Vedanta perspective finally you come to who is this I who is trying to be materialistically happy or morally happy ethically happy or spiritually have all of these projects belong to the I who are what is that I when you investigate it you find the relied on and the rupa shivoham who does not need any of it who does not need the wealth and pleasure of the world who does not need the the the high moral ethical life not that the person becomes unethical remember that's a wrong wrong understanding who does not even need spirituality Shankar I said you see who said that you're making it up no remember that Jolanda Rupa her shivoham Shankar Acharya sings I am she one of the nature of bliss and consciousness one of the lines goes not hermana chart ona carmona moksha sudan and rupa shivoham shivoham what do people want they want pleasure I don't need it what do people want they want power and wealth and success I don't need it what do people want they want virtue so that they can go to heaven after death I don't need that also what do people want they don't they don't want any of that they want moksha they want to come to Milan to society and get liberated and enlightened I don't need that also who needs that the ignorant person needs it I am such a Don and why do I need workshop so that's how it comes step by step unless one is ready it'll take time you just answered a question that had come in from Ummah about the same thing when she said when she tries to explain my spiritual beliefs to someone who is not on a spiritual path it is like explaining colours to a blind person but she had also asked about the redness factor yes this last question then is from two hen he refers to one of your lectures in which you talked about swami vivekananda telling sister nivedita that art science and religion are various expressions of the same truth but you need the advisor approach to it he wants to know how his art doing so all right but before answering to his question let me go back to the earlier question you can save yourself a lot of grief and lot of effort and time in many lives by coming straight to a traitor many people think non-dualism it's really dry and abstract and the final thing no I think it's the easiest thing it's a direct approach why not do that ramana maharshi was once asked am I qualified for Vedanta for a fraud rate of Iran to non-dualism am I qualified for non-dualism and Ramana answered did you say I because you know his main method was Who am I if you can use the word are you're qualified if you are using the word I and we are all are who is not in that case you've got an eye that means the vertical eye not this one I was talking about getting the eyes checked and going to the eye doctor and then somebody said to me Swami you are also an eye doctor in one sense vertical [Laughter] yes since we have it within ourselves all the time why take a roundabout route why not walk straight to it Who am I who is the eye who is trying to be worldly successful who is trying to be moral and ethical who is trying to be spiritual who is that what is that I was an insistent hand at the back and let me just hear the question and we will stop yes okay you can ask it from there yeah but he kills him somebody gives you like not wants nothing as a suffering I think that is can acknowledge what is okay if I understand this is one thing I take a little that question is suffering is subjective this is a great thing if you can understand it literally the world itself is not out there so what do you mean Swami are you subscribing to a subjective idealist position philosopher would say it's the world is in your mind I'm not talking about that no doctor will deny no biologist scientist will deny that the world follow this carefully the world that you are experiencing right now all of that experience is within your own mind are you actually seeing something outside or is the light reflected from the objectives outside coming to the lens of your eyes then transmitted through that optic nerves in the form of signals the mic here does not enter into my eye luckily it doesn't I have to be blind immediately then I would really need an eye doctor what enters into the eyes only light whether it's a human being a chair or a table of the sky or quasars or quarks whatever you see on TV and then all of that the only thing that the eyes take is light right nobody denies it no object enters your eyes shouldn't it only light and that light does not remain as light also it's converted into electrical impulses in your brain science tells you that and finally takes it to the brain and somehow it is reconstructed into that image of a person sitting on a chair and present it to your mind how nobody knows no doctor no neuroscientist no brain science expert will tell that we know anything about it at all we know at the point of the neurons that's where all our knowledge stops how you the conscious mind experience a person sitting in a chair that nobody can explain but the thing is you're experiencing it in your mind and all next step all that is in your mind is actually in your consciousness in your awareness right so the entire world of experience all other people all your so-called suffering and injustice and problems are experiences in you the awareness nothing outside I am NOT denying the whole thing is outside it may be but you are not experiencing the outside you are experiencing a very powerful simulation in your mind not one scientist can deny it not one philosopher can deny it nobody in the world can deny it anybody has got the basics of school education knows that it is true but we don't think about it therefore one take away one practical take away from it is that person outside is not causing me suffering that person outside is not insulting me it's a recreation in my mind no different from a dream which is saying an insulting thing and the flash of irritation in my mind is also in my mind the whole thing has happened in my mind what happened outside I have no way of knowing moment you do that you have internalized your enemy you're the person who's who is aggravating the circumstances even the illness of the body it's all in the mind proof switch up the mind where is the illness where is that irritating person where is the suffering know where it all goes even the grossest things terrible pain in the body great hunger in the body go to sleep what happen it's all gone why has the pain gone has the suffering of the body gone no no no it's everything is there outside it's just that the mind is shut down so that shows that entire samsara is in your mind I'll end with this quote I remember Assad juanita rock and very powerful quote you don't need any spirituality philosophy for this it settles all your problems with one stroke he just said one thing to me Shawn come and make a handsome start Achanta - I'm sorry Shawn tamanna make a handsome sir exact words he said we're shan't monmouth kaha con some salty guy who has seen a samsara in a peaceful mind yes in a calm serene mind calm serene mind where is samsara where is your worst problem in the mind worst problem in the world everything is gone if it was there it couldn't be a calm mind if it's a calm mind no problem is there at that moment in that might no problem no problem is a problem for that mind so thank you all sufferings are subjective correct there's a good note rendered yes yes I forgot the question from from two-in-one it one remark the question was Nevada turn is in her introduction to the complete works of Vivekananda she says that Vivekananda told her art science and religion are all means to the same realization but it requires advaitha to understand it twins question is how is art doing that not only art neither art nor science nor even religion will help unless you make it a spiritual pursuit not that every artist is going towards enlightenment not that every scientist is going towards enlightenment not that every religious person is also going towards enlightenment it must be a spiritual pursuit now what does Advaita claim it is one reality if you read never it does introduction just a preceding paragraph she says the the significant contribution of our master she means Vivekananda was that one and the many are the same reality she said the ancient teachings of India Gita Upanishad all of this would have been there even if we they can endure had not come but then what's the special contribution of special contribution of Vivekananda it's that one and the reality are the same real same one and the many are the same reality that one Brahman and the world of activity and people and things you see they are one and the same reality just seen in different perspectives okay if that is so she says then to labor is to pray to have and hold is as important as to renounce and quit the the shopkeeper the office the shop floor of a factory they are fit places for meeting of man and God as is the cell of a monk then she writes then she writes art science and religion are all the ways of reaching the same reality therefore Advaita is the connecting link all right Shanta shanti shanti hurry he oh that's at Shri Ramakrishna