Video 37

Ask Swami with Swami Sarvapriyananda | May 21st, 2017

so this we also have the asks one we get questions from all over the world and we select a few of those questions and some of those questions are put at this session and also the live audience here you're also welcome to ask questions just raise your hand come up here and then ask the question we have to ask it in the microphone because they are recording it and it's going to be uploaded onto YouTube so Diane could be had the first question the first question comes from Adam in Atlanta Georgia who has a question about spiritual doubt and he charted for you in his email Testament is it I do getting the microphone okay his email his four-page email for bridges almost the charted basically has passed from his upbringing in a Protestant household through atheism Buddhism and meditation and then he had a waning of belief and then took two trips to India after which she returned to meditation and sacred texts but then was suddenly overwhelmed by doubting God guru and meditation so his question to you is in what way is doubt a part of spiritual practice I can't help recall the Apostle Thomas referred to as doubting Thomas who questioned the foretold resurrection of Christ Jesus said Thomas because thou has seen me thou has believed blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed I very much identified with Thomas in the time seeking proof of what I am Not sure and yet Thomas became one of Jesus's more prolific disciples so I suppose that all is not lost all right all is certainly not lost and thank you for this a beautiful summary of a four-page email yes but it's a very good question in general religious life is based on faith in fact the word the term used for religion in this country is faith what is your faith what place do you subscribe to I do not subscribe to any faith so faith is this become synonymous with religion where it is not it is not synonymous with religion but it has become so in our popular usage now it follows wherever you are moving ahead ahead based on faith belief shut up there will also be the danger of doubt if you base yourself on faith the crack in the foundation is always doubt the doubt is an occupational hazard if your religion is based on faith now is all lost are we always going to be subject to doubt you know there is a saying that in India we believe in karma Radha the law of karma good karma leads to put near merit and that leads to happiness lot of good karma leads to deep faith in the existence of God so if I have lot of doubt I have to ask ascribe it to my bad karma in past life but then again not all is lost not all is lost let me take it look at this question from the point of view of Advaita Vedanta what a great array Dante says is that thou art taught to Amma see in the chandogya upanishad you find it repeated nine times the guru is telling the student actually it's a father and son father is teaching the son that thou art that - am i see that standing for God the primary meaning of the word cut there stands for saguna brahman the closest we can get in English is God and from you stands for the individual us the individual being and we don't assert something dramatic that thou art you in reality are nothing different from the reality of God I mean Meister Eckhart puts it so beautifully the ground of my soul and the ground of God are one and the same he says ground of God the ground of my soul the ground is in Vedanta what we were speaking about existence consciousness place where you and the divine are saying but let's go a little broader afield and look at the whole sphere of religion into the lens of that thou art in spiritual life in spiritual striving there are two approaches possible depending upon your mental makeup I have seen in volute in the ministry when young people come to become monks we asked them why have you become a monk what are you looking for and you generally get two kinds of answers one kind is I am searching for God I believe that God exists I believe God can be experienced so I'm trying to find God I'm searching for God I'm looking for God seeking God in terms of that frame that thou art what is this person seeking that that reality the reality which he believes is a reality of this universe when whenever kind of spiritual striving another group of young people they say God is good fine I'm very good but we are not so much interested in that as much as ourselves Who am I what am I what's the meaning of life is there an unchanging immortal reality as we don t search what is the secret here what's going on here that's the that's the striving so that kind of approach is now centered approach from you and these are two different approaches not only only at the individual level but when you go further afield and look at religions of the world you'll notice something dramatic there are these two kinds of religion most obvious think about so in Hinduism you have a range you know the MER ship of the Divine Mother worship of Krishna or Rama or Shiva or Vishnu or God in Christianity or Allah in Islam the Father in Heaven in Indi Abrahamic traditions all of these are what kind of religious tradition that centered God centered religions you may say that any kind other kind of religion and immediately the answer comes to you for example Buddhism is an example where they either do not talk about God or some religious philosophers openly deny the existence of some kind of eternal creator God then what are they doing they're investigating the self they're looking inwards to see what is the mystery of life here how can we overcome suffering at this individual level so an investigation into the self not only Buddhism in Hinduism if you look at sound care philosophy if you look at the potentially yoga the simple yoga also speaks about God but in a marginal fashion God is not the center of Patanjali yoga you are the center of potential yoga Sankyo yoga if you look at Jainism so there are religions and religious packs which are self inquiry which are dealing with that bow are the valves centered centered on the individual person and if you look at these religions there are distinct differences between that the God centered religions are mostly devotional mostly dualistic there will be temples and churches and there will be rituals and songs all of them are primary festivals so they are very much centered around God with the doll centered religions are more meditative more introverted more philosophical they tend to be more austere maybe sometimes more monastic I'm generalizing here you can find ritual and music in plenty in Buddhism you can but the thrust is this way another point each of these approaches God centered and self inquiry the individual centered both of them I'm not saying self centered because it makes a different meaning to be self centered both of them have advantages and disadvantages now we come to the question doubt you see it's in a god centered religion the problem big problem is doubt the big problem is doubt does God exist in all these God centered religions you will find enormous attempts and resources devoted to proving the existence of God at st. Thomas Aquinas in is the five ways of establishing an existence of God are the great may I Iike who then acharya in his masterpiece nya Kazuma and jelly he gives nine proofs of the existence of God and some people become very interested I'd like proofs of the existence of God of course they all are if you look it up there are truths of the existence of God now Google is there right now I think we can google it but don't be in a hurry you will be underwhelmed by this proofs of the existence of God not all result if you believe in the existence of God already you will find ok these are nice if you don't believe in the existence of God they will not be convinced by those proofs in fact one famous philosopher I think appear or Antony Kenny I think he says that he became a philosophy was training to be a minister and in his theological studies he came across the proofs of existence of God after reading the proofs of existence of God he decided not to become a minister he became a philosopher insect so that's what the proofs of existence of God did so there's an enormous attempt to justify the existence of God and always there will be doubt sometimes more sometimes less sometimes you will not be afflicted with doubt sometimes you'll be really addicted without because it is based on belief based on faith but on look at the other religion Buddhism or yoga or Sankhya look I am NOT I am NOT but Advaita Vedanta into it yet there is a reason why the other kind of approaches where you're investigating the self that doubt does not come in because our own existence is beyond doubt who doubts that we exist that I existed outside my nature what kind of existence it is the Buddhist made out whether there is a permanent soul often they say but they say that there is no soul would does not say business so this is what appears to be the self as a transitory momentary nature that's what about this comes to conclusion but that there is an experience of existing I am this nobody can doubt reasonably if you do doubt it though you are the one who is doubting your own existence if you exist therefore you can doubt your existence Shankar Acharya says in one of his commentaries yellow vertice America save art Massa the one who denies the existence of the self it is the self of the thirty denier how can you deny how can you deny that you exist when you are denying it it means you exist so our own existence is not subject to the kind of doubt he is talking about so is this a problem free approach Buddhism or Sankhya yoga no not at all there are special problems in this path - you may say that I have no doubt about my own existence correct but that doesn't help me I exist but I have a miserable existence that is the whole problem I have so much suffering I have so much problems in life so many uncertainties the meaninglessness so many problems in life so our own existence though it is not subject to doubt but it is subject to limitation and suffering and trouble it's not that not it's not a solution in itself that we exist is not a solution now what great on to does and look at the other side the god centered religions they don't have this trouble God if he/she it exists has no trouble at all God is omniscient omnipresent omnipotent so God has no trouble God has no problem at all God is infinite if he exists so on the God centered religion there is no problem because God if exists has no problem at all but there is doubt on the adult centered religion there is no problem of doubt this is the problem of limitation of suffering that's what Buddha was was enquiring there is suffering how can we get out of suffering now look at what a greater way than that us Vasanta takes the certitude the certainty of your own existence and combines it with the infinity of God our own existence is demonstrated to be an infinite unlimited existence that's the bit track that Advaita Vedanta takes up it takes you into investigation of the self that you exist without any doubt and your own existence is investigated and the apparent limitations you will find all the limitations are limitation of the body a limitation of the mind limitations of our social circumstances but then Advaita Vedanta points out to you there is something in you your existence itself your awareness itself such onon the webster pol task of Advaita Vedanta it will point out in your own existence you will discover infinitude you will discover infinitude combining that M vow the whole point is the certainty of your existence combined with the infinitude of God so I become an infinite existence and hence overcome the limitations of my individual existence hence overcome the doubts related to God's existence so that's the approach taken by a greater Vedanta the doubt which he talks about does God exist in in the Himalayas once somebody asked this question to a Swami give me an irrefutable proof of the existence of God not the refutable proofs an irrefutable proof of the existence of God and that Swami replied why your own existence in Hindi issuer casted from a acosta prominent digit and answer was aapke agnostic oh that makes sense only when you see God in terms of Advaita Vedanta because your own existence and God's existence are one and the same the non-dualistic intuition when a card says the ground of God and the ground of my soul are one and the same thing when st. Catherine of genoise she says in myself my knee is God and in me there is nothing else but God so that oneness that identity there there is no doubt it's interesting that there are these two aspects of religion doubt is one aspect of religion you see whether an atheist who's an 80s and 80s is a person who doubts the existence of who's clear that it is no God an agnostic is a person who doubts the existence of God but look both of them are speaking about the God centered religion isn't it true every atheist who goes and attacks whether it's Daniel Dennett or Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins in our day to day they're attacking the god centered religion the conception of God so always it's open to doubt but you cannot prove that you do not exist nobody can attack that conception yes is that existence infinite truly infinite that's the task that Advaita Vedanta sets out so doubt is one side of religion the other side of religion it's a beautiful quote from Wittgenstein he says religion is a quest for absolute safety for absolute certainty equal insane is the quest for absolute security that's a beautiful way of putting it religion is the quest for absolute security and then we leave it at that in surveys antek approach to doubt yes is there a question from the live audience anybody yes there is a question would you come forward can tell us your name and ask the question use it like no Swami my name is amar I have a question from I feel like day to day life so from right from my upbringing the way you know I've been brought up and we have seen it is a you know you grow up you you you know you study you get to a good job and you know you you basically get into that life where and I see it today like when you are in today's modern world in corporate world or wherever you are there is a lot of attention on like you need to be really passionate about what shaking the microphone yeah so you need to be passionate about what you're doing there should be immense desire and should be always thinking about you know your work right right so and I feel like if my I'm I need to pay actually a lot of attention to you know bring up any innovation to bring up new things right a lot of energy goes in there yes but then if I have to focus on spiritual side it also also need immense amount of energy and focus on attention but I feel like if I devote out of my time and attention here I'm somewhere sacrificing on my work yes and where I feel like I might not be progressing as much I could have if I am focus more their cancer brings me into that dilemma of where should I on how should I devote my energy energies yes it's an important question and say you are so no you are a monk in a monastery so you can devote all your energy to realizing God but we are not monks in monasteries or nuns in Tenerife we are living out there in in Manhattan in raw on Wall Street so there's a wholesome Salah to take care of the first and foremost thing is what do I want I'll give you the answer to your question later but first of all we must be very clear about what we want let us first of all internally internally tell ourselves a certain our identity as spiritual seekers so you're all here you must be spiritual seekers in some way or the other in some way some may be out of an established and organized religion some may not be but your own spiritual seekers in some sense otherwise why would you come here on a perfectly good Sunday morning you'll be out there with those two lists on or something like I know there are so many ways of engaging yourselves so we are spiritual seekers but we need to admit it to ourselves now that does not solve the problem because the problem still remains that there is the world and there is spiritual life here is Vivek Ananda speciality in the introduction to the complete works of Swami Vivekananda sister niveditha has written a wonderful introduction few pages very powerful beautiful introduction we are celebrating 150 years of the birth of sister nivedita she says that the Upanishads you know Vedanta Upanishads and greet are the teachings of Vedanta are ancient and we would have been there even if our master had not come but our master she means wave a calendar because they reckon the word guru if even if he had not come these teachings would have been there so what is the speciality of Vivekananda what did he give and he says here is the speciality of Vivekananda it here is the crowning achievement of our master he said that the one and the many are the same reality perceived by different spiritual seekers at different levels of spiritual evolution but what does that mean it means that which you are trying to realize in spiritual life God realization Grundmann enlightenment and that which you confront with your eyes open some sorrow job family they are not two different realities this has to be understood often the great problem in our spiritual life is exactly what you have said here is God and here is the world I have limited time and energy if I see it in that paradigm then almost always God will use yes why will God lose because when you open your eyes we look around from the morning what do you see you see the world you see people you see a family see jobs you see problems that's the world that's called samsara you do not see God God remains a matter of theory a matter of faith a matter of conjecture and very soon the practices devoted for God realization that pushed into a corner and they become mechanical they become they diminish they become powerless because it's an important principle what we think to be real our attention all this goes there reality draws our attention time and energy imagine we get so involved in the dream why do we get involved in the dream it's because we do not recognize the dream to be a dream for the time being when we see the dream Shankar Acharya says so a call is a clever party when there is a dream during the period of the dream it seems to be real because it seems to be real it draws our attention the moment you get up and you say oh it was a dream here is the reality that was a dream all your attention energy comes to this and you dismiss whatever you saw in the dream just some appearance now for us this is the problem this world has all the reality and God has an assumed reality and attributed reality of something based on state the same problem of doubt it's infected with doubt and it becomes weak therefore now we reckon on the strikes at the root of this problem the solution is a very powerful and radical solution he says there are not two realities there are not two realities there is only one reality gunmin misunderstood is the world the world right now this world correctly understood properly appreciated is none other than Brahma what an incredible statement where is God God is right here Wembley get God after death no right now and in what in everything in yourself in that case it begs a question you know if God is right here right now and in everybody in myself also then it should be evident to me elaborate horizonte says it is evident to you you are missing it the problem is not that you have to find God some gathers God is right here it is hidden by our ignorance we don't know what to look for Advaita Vedanta does not give you an unknown God a God which is continuously revealed Advaita points it out to you so I'm either the Kansas one of his most powerful lectures in this country was called the open secret I think he gave it in London and Ghani yoga lectures the open secret it's a secret no doubt about it that's why we don't know it but it's not a hidden secret it's an open secret upon enlightenment what will our realization be oh it was not there now I have it now our realization will be it was always there oh my god I didn't never I never saw it I never realized it it is always completely evident it's as evident as the sun shining in the sky more so salam o Krishna when Narendra not asked him like have you seen God he says yes just as I see you even more clearly what does that mean even more clearly than I see you so it is this very reality we have no time to go into the depths of it but Advaita Vedanta shows us in our experience right now in this experience what is God one example British away wake of the 20th verse austerity Priam rupam nalem JT young Japan chakram object ryeom Brahma roopam Java through pocket auditorium in every experience you have these are the constituents isness existence appearance in consciousness and bliss happiness and a name and a form you see around you name and form belong to samsara existence appearance or consciousness and bliss our God our Brahman and it is coming everywhere in every experience the cane open assured says Pratley border editor madam in very experienced when you find God you are enlightened not only in God experience not only in Samadhi not only in a vision of God in every explain you're looking at the world you will find God if this is so it was it's not so for us right now true but if the fact is that Brahman is right here you see we are mistaking the Rope for a snake the classic idiotic example mistaking the Rope for a snake now let me ask you a question you are seeing a snake it's really a rope when even when you are seeing the snake wave the rope there is the rope right there you don't seem sure about it right there where you are seeing the snake the Rope must be right there if I tell you that reality of this altar is good what do i touch good I'm touching the wood here it's right here if the reality of this world is Brahman if that is so actually so then where is Brahman right here in whom is Brahman in everybody Vedanta shows us how to appreciate that in that case whatever you do in life whatever you do in life whether it's in the belong to society in a temple or in your corporate office you are actually dealing with God we awaken under said never approach anything except as God never approach anything except as God you require the whole of Vedanta to actually understand this but when you understand it it's liberating it's thrilling it's electrifying neither more nor I have seen or experienced anything other than God all our lives but we know it not the other kind of sighs in that case what what motive what follows what is relevance to your question the relevance is this sister nila Rita says if that is so henceforth no division between the sacred and the secular she says to to have and hold is as turn a trust is to renounce and quit as to renounce and quit now become a sannyasi run away to the Himalayas and meditate on God that's you're in quest of God you are right here in the middle of your life you can equally well be or even better be in the quest of and in quest of God and Juna was asked to do his duty he wanted to run away from that he said if you want to realize God in again you have to do this but now convert it into spiritual practice how do you convert it into spiritual practice your corporate work first of all the idea must be clear and this is not different in God is not something different I can find it here itself now how can I convert this into spiritual practice is it not true that even in corporate work let's do a spiritual practice alone for a while even the work that you are doing in the corporate office people do it for different reasons some are doing it for the money some are doing it for self-actualization they want to be a better person some are doing it to express their talents some are trying to find satisfaction and fulfillment in it some may be the proprietor of the company may be the founder if it's a small startup it's an act of creativity creation for that person not to make money as such it could be real it could be for different reasons altogether so might be just there for the company of other people doing a job because I like this is my like my extended family somebody said in this day and age when families have broken up communities have broken up people migrated all over the world it is the corporation's which takes the place of families Peter Drucker he says many of the responsibilities which were fulfilled by family and community earlier and now they have to be fulfilled by the corporation and the corporation will say no no we don't have that liability limited liability and Peter Drucker none other than the greatest management guru of this age he says a true leader he calls it a servant leader he says a true servant leader is somebody who has unlimited liability mentally spiritually at least so anyway that work itself is done by different people for different reasons you can do it for God realization never approached anything except as god sri ramakrishna she says she loved Danny Jeeva Siva serve all beings in the knowledge that they are none other than God she was guarding knowing them to be Shiva not imagining them not thinking them to be Shiva knowing that they are Shiva if we Dante's at all true you can start with it you see I don't get it you may get it but I don't get it all right they say in the Pelican yoneyama know either you realize it or you believe it there are only two paths to religion again we are Bob these questions are connected actually two paths to religion either either you start with faith or do you realize it if you cannot realize it if it's not true to you take it on faith for a while at least till it becomes clear to you so the people you deal with they are none other than God the work that you do is a worship of God and who are you your own reality is Brahman you are dealing with Brahman all the time mental attitude you don't have to tell your boss that or your client that they'll think you're weird this has to be this a question which has to be answered there are only two questions in life spiritual life how do I realize God we think that's the only question no no what do I do with my life look at the gospel of ramakrishna in the second meeting M the author of the gospel he asks the first two real questions he asks Ramakrishna exactly these two questions what a what a perceptive person ms2 sri ramakrishna the first two question is that the first and last questions one before that he tried to argue with Ramakrishna about this and that but leave those things aside two questions one how do I keep my mind on God it's a very pointed question not even how do I realize God no very clear he knows that I had to keep my mind on God how do I keep my mind on God that was a question and second question is how do I live in the world what a what a perceptive mind the most important questions are the first and last ones he asks famous writer on Buddhism I think I think cornfield probably he had this beautiful piece of writing after the ecstasy the laundry so after all spirituality and spiritual retreat meditation and this and that and mindfulness and so and so forth the laundry still their life is still there we have got access mud gauges for jobs problems to deal with how do you spiritual eyes that if you divorce the two you are going to wipe out religion from your life because those demands of so powerful because the reality is connected with that connect reality with God and see God it whenever you find reality say that reality is God the name and form is what you see that let me I cannot resist giving that funny story I told you earlier also spiritualizing life somebody asked me what happy strangest places you have given talks so one very strange place was in airport security i passing to an airport in india and just like you have TSA people here so you have the CISS people there central industrial security force and there was nobody as I was a transit passenger and they said to me the technologies make you stand on up on a box and in the frisk you so they said Swami and indeed couch but I am long could tell us something give us a talk I said here now once it is why not and there was no other passenger so he called the other policeman and police women they stood around me about five or six of them and I gave them a talk as a thing what should I say to them I stood on that box I hit them a talk I said to that gentleman when you go out from a home leave home early in the morning do you worship God in some way this is utter pradesh so he says and Wanjiku fool jonathan i put flowers at the feet of lord hanuman and then i come out for my work and then i said all right all these persons passing through this scanner in front of you and you check them do your job to the best of your ability click Amla firmly and every time you take a person and let the person through you mentally offer one more flower at the feet of Lord Hanuman we're so delighted with this is I lit up and he said arava in 101 Zika pooja how wonderful day long worship of animal Lord Hanuman we can say more about this but this is the idea to convert this even then will it be like going just as it is you will see slowly it will not go on just as it is it will change your priorities will change so the way you do the work maybe even the nature of the work you do maybe even the place you work in those things might change because they might not be in line with your code spiritual seeking anymore let's just leave it at that can you give the microphone here this is a question from Shubham who has a question on the dream state and deep sleep meditation is there any reality in the dream state should we listen to the advice of gurus like Ramakrishna Swami Vivekananda in dreams or is it my own self guiding me also one more question Papaji a disciple of Raman Maharishi says that we should go to a deep sleep like MIT deep sleep like state in meditation where there is nothing at all but you tell us to meditate on spiritual text because of so many methods my method of meditation keeps on changing please help okay first of all the question of dreams now is there any reality in dream or in deep sleep they Dante will say yes there is and the reality not very we think it is and not in what you are dreaming about the reality in the dream state is the dreamer the person who was lying on the bed and forgotten himself or herself forgotten that you are dreaming only when you forget that then they're streaming otherwise it will be what is called lucid dreaming so when you are aware only up the dream and the constituents of the dream and the persons and the events in the dream none of those are real as such because they are imagined in the mind of the dreamer but the dreamer is real so Vedanta takes a very strict austere spell approach to that you the dreamer a real may Dante will say I am NOT interested in what you are dreaming about but I'm interested in the fact that who is dreaming or what is dreaming what what experience the dream not what you dreamt about let's read anta many people are so confused about that we expect some kind of esoteric guidance about our dreams you know like a like a counselor of a Freudian therapist who will tell you some the meaning of your dreams well aunt is not interested in that anything that comes and goes anything that's an object of your experience anything that is in seven Sanskrit Jarra something that arises in your awareness not interested in that Vedanta is interested in the underlying consciousness itself so that's one point but more practically there are many many instances where some spiritual guidance has been received in dreams it's true it's there some of the contents of dreams might sometimes be useful in spiritual life some not all how do I know first of all don't give it too much importance second always match it with the teachings of spiritual masters it match it is does it go along with the gospel of ramakrishna or the gita the open issue is it in line with them with the traditional teaching that's a safety net for you we must compare it with that is it telling me to do something completely crazy then it's not coming from a spiritual source it might be coming from a online so be careful about the current contents of your dream it's good to be aware but the attention is always directed to the one who is dreaming second when he says Appaji said meditate and go into a state where like deep sleep he is right also because the clear resist we can understand to Samadhi the closest experience we all have which we understand in deep sleep but Samadhi is not deep sleep anybody who falls asleep is not in Samadhi so often you see lot of people in Samadhi in Vedanta classes so most of that is not real Samadhi that's more the other thing the deep sleep if it is the problem well ant is supposed to induce Samadhi mind goes up and so ramakrishna goes into Samadhi when you listen to a Dante when you hear that growl what you're supposed to go into some and realized I am the one I am one with God but it induces the other kind of that's the problem so yes my deep sleep is a very good paradigm for meditation when I'm meditating the closest I can understand to the deepest meditation is in deep sleep when I'm not aware of anything else at all where this is completely withdrawn so in that respect deep sleep is similar to similar to meditation it's a good example but it should not be misunderstood you should not think clearly Papaji was not telling us to fall asleep right so it's a powerful example how much of my meditation is a deep absorption deep sleep like absorption so that's one thing I do not tell you to meditate on texts that repeating the text or thinking about the text know what I'm actually telling you what resident is telling you meditate on the purpose of the text that thou art when I say meditate on that thou art I am NOT saying you repeat that doubt to yourself all the time or I am Brahman I repeat I am Brahman am remand all the time one of our senior Swami's after they got many years ago when they became monks the Guru was Swami gum Viren and the g11 president of the order so his newly minted monk they went to him and they said this is what you have taught us I am Brahman that's part of the monastic vows how many time should we repeat it Jabba that's what we are used to repeating man Krishna Krishna Rama Rama whatever you do repeat a month of the Divine Name what we did today here is the difference between bhakti and gala ceramic a mirror and they replied that is meant for realization it's not meant for repetition you are supposed to get it if you like somebody going to the physics class and saying okay Lippincott is equal to MC square professor how many times should I repeat it an example to repeat it you're supposed to understand it you say no no I believe you specify it is supposed to believe me I want you to get me professor will be insulted if you tell him that I believe you okay I believe you you're a great guy you won't be lying to me no you're supposed to get it I am Raman that vow watt is supposed to get it and then what about meditation once you get it you dwell on what you have got not on the words as such the words are pointing to something within you they are pointing to the real you when you get it you've got the real you dwell in that that is vedantic meditation the words are an aid one last question point technique of meditation do not keep changing that's the danger of not having mantra diksha guidance from a guru otherwise what has happened you know I want spiritual life I want who wants it the mind wants it if the mind wanted and wants it independently it wants something today it wants something tomorrow and the third thing the after and nothing after that and if your mind is the only thing which is deciding then you are at the mercy of the mind I want God realization I want a method of practice if I go to the guru and the Guru gives me a technique and I vow to the Guru I will follow this for the rest of my life now it is taken out of my you know jurisdiction the limits of the mind the mind has to away because I've given a commitment I shall practice this it is not appealing to many people in modern age oh I have given up my independence I am going to think for myself fool you see what you are doing you are completely identified with the mind and saying that I am this mind and then therefore I think this mind don't you see the ego involved that this mind is superior to all other minds including the mind of my guru and I shall listen to am i yes but what might I'm listening to only one mind my mind why is your mind better than anybody else's mind you know why we think that we think we are the mind the self in itself has independence we are truly independent and free but that independence is mixed up with the mind and we think the mind has to be independent this mind has to be independent of everybody else keep a little detachment between yourself and your mind it will be skeptical of your own mind if you're so good at being skeptical of everything except the mind be a little skeptical of your own mind also so the Guru gives you a technique of meditation take it up practice it seriously you can read many things you can learn many things you can even try out different things but the core practice which the Guru gives this is and this is the beauty of mantra diksha some kind of initiation by a guru in any tradition any tradition so Ramakrishna gives the example of a man who was digging for water and it does a little bit any said there's no water here I'll try there somebody said you try there that's a good spot it goes and digs there within a few minutes somebody has says that's a really nice spot and he goes into us digging there at the end of the day he has tried a dozen different places nowhere water but if he had stuck to one place and dug deep enough in that place probably would have found water that's what's happening many of these parts may go almost all of them are there genuine spiritual teachings practice it follow it take up one and follow it any question from the audience we are running out of time please come there the microphone Newsbank please tell us your name my name is a swapping Sengupta yes and from India I would like to put a small question what is the existence of the universe and how is it is related to the spiritual world that's a small question [Laughter] okay let's limit it at that let me get the answer is of course there are great away tanta the existence of the universe is brahma it's like this you are asking what is the existence of the wave and how is it related to the ocean something like that the existence of the way it is the existence of water it is water which constitutes the wave it is wood which constitutes this altar in fact there is nothing in the world other than the water this nothing is this altar other than the wood the substance is the wood here the substance is water there the very existence or deaiing of this universe is brahman suck pure existence so according to add weight of a tanta pure existence is the ultimate spiritual reality and it is your own nature when you say that thou art for existence you are that's what brillantes say what we are experiencing as the universe is a clear existence plus name-and-form sub plus nama rupa that's what we are experiencing so there is a direct answer to a question but it's a difficult question or difficult answer also but the whole spiritual project of spirituality in Vedanta is conceived of as realizing yourself as that existence underlying the universe again I'm quoting mr. Descartes do you not see how he uses the words my Stella cut ground of my soul is the ground of God the ground means the existence there is one existence which is that God and tau the individual and when you realize yourself is that existence you find yourself one with God but the waiter so far as to say this entire universe bottles its existence from you not from you mr. Sorenson Gupta but the real the reality behind this person the reality is sucked so that reality is borrowed by by all these names and forms it may sound incredible why does it sound incredible because we think they are independent existences I am something separate from them how are they borrowing existence from me good example is the dream example when we are dreaming you see people other people yourself buildings and so and so forth things are happening but when you wake up what do you realize all of them in my mind to have not whatever you see again no confidence yes whatever you see in the dream is your own mind there is no doubt about it it is generated by your mind therefore the existence of every person in the dream every building and Road and the sky and the planet and the whole universe in the dream the existence of it depends on your mind because your mind generated it that's an example this is an example we are all familiar with veyron two goes one step further and says this world which we are experiencing if there is one existence consciousness bliss which itself is manifesting at this world so the existence of the universe and the quest of spirituality are one and the same in advaitha Vedanta difficult question but very very profound and deep question thank you one more question after this we'll take one more question from the live audience here so get ready with your questions yes um this question is from a Barney who is a student from horror in India you often emphasized in your lectures that truth Brahm Acharya are hamsa and other moral virtues are the uncompromising prerequisites in any spiritual journey but when disruptive external conditions and last greed etc distress from the way what is one's duty in one of Swamiji's verses to Mary Hale he urges her to clear the deck for battle either vulgar or yoga achieve happiness or achieve greatness yes given that for a student like me what inner qualities should one take into account to make a decision regarding one's way of life householder ship on or monasticism and there is a similar question that comes from Sai Anton in Detroit who says how can a serious spiritual aspirant who does not have a natural faith in a personal God provide his mind sufficiently strong arguments to counter distractions provocations etc in order to attain perfect chastity in thought word and deed yes the whole thing goes back to what we want in life and the core idea should be that I want distinguish which God which is being promised in religion all religion and different language different mythology it promises the bill is something where you find the solution to the problems of life call it God or Brahman or Allah or Nirvana or whatever you call it so there is such a thing do I want it or not truth is most valuable internal truth do I really want it in fact well the answer will be really a mixed answer all of these questions if they all reflect a mixed answer he says I want it but not too much I think it was st. Augustine who's who prayed Lord gives me perfect chastity but not right yet not right now so that clarity something that will not come immediately we have to work upon it and the way to work upon it is to keep on emphasizing the reality of Brahman and the illusory nature of the world that all meaning and value and Happiness are concentrated in spirituality and what we are seeking outside is a fool's errand if it does not seem to be a fool's errand then trying it out try it out try it out intelligently Sri Ramakrishna once he said I had a desire to wear an expensive shawl and of course Mutulu was supplied those things to him to mother but the world bought a very expensive shawl and gave it to him and said I'm Krishna wrapped it around himself and he said oh my mind this is called an expensive shawl look at it people wear it and they forget God they become rain after some time he got disgusted with it he took it up and he threw it on the ground then not content with that he he was flat upon it and then he jumped upon it and stomped upon it and then he was about to set fire to it with him both away we came and rescued the poor shark shark now that's a lesson to us not that you should create your expensive clothes like that what it means is all the experiences we are seeking in life good go go into it intelligently with awareness and then evaluate what did I want what did I get keep the vedantic truth in the background and keep checking back with it did they speak the truth about the world say yes did it there is one unchanging reality which will give true satisfaction to the to the heart to all our to all our aspirations you know when you say Ananda in such children and we think about it as happiness and bliss but not just happiness in bliss all human aspiration meaning in life purpose in life the whole value all of that from aesthetics to everything everything is involved in the Tyrande so the whole culmination satisfaction of life lies in our endure and Vedanta says that Anand is Brahman you convince yourself of this more and more it's on an ongoing process the mind will begin to turn that way where the mind files reality where the mind find satisfaction the mind will turn there as the mind turns there the other qualities come by themselves I'm not telling you something new it's just the same for qualifications of the Vedantic student be very kind by rakia it's only when River wisdom like this again and again the reality of brahman and the illusory Ness and the ephemeral nature of worldly experiences to look at it see it as a fact that's wave Aker as you see it more and more the Vairagya will come up itself if you try to first fully develop by Raja it will be a conflict you know what is the nature of a conflict I want to give it up and I want it at the same time say in mind I want to give it up and I want it a doctor says I have to give up the cookies and mine says I want the cookies I genuinely want to give up the cookies and I genuinely want the cookies also conflicted so they'll wave Aker helps and resolve that conflict and they genuinely want God one more way a powerful way again love of God some kind of bhakti is a great help why is it a great help even the path of knowledge you see the pull of the world is a pull of the heart it's not knowledge I know Brahman is real and I know the world is false I know that there is quite possibly I am a witness consciousness and so on and so forth that's at the level of knowledge but I want is at the level of the heart of the emotions I know something I want something else I know Brahman is real the world is an appearance the heart is not convinced I want the world what we work there more books and Vedanta classes will not work there now that's why for Vedanta students a very strict framework is given a model framework give a kaburagi Ahmad Ahmad Rashad sympathy momoka septum you have that fencing then we ran through the will work very well you do not have that fencing then Vedanta is often you know it's dissipated so where do you get these experience every where do you get these qualities Mukti works at the level of the heart gianna intelligence and knowledge works at the level of intellect so bhakti works at the level of the heart the nature of bhakti is I want what is the nature of desire I want what is the nature of bhakti I want only thing is the object of wanting is changed I want the world world is replaced with God I want God same I want in same passion same agreed that becomes bhakti then it becomes connected to God the same thing becomes passion and lust and greed it becomes connected to the world so bhakti works at the level of the heart at the level of the desires and transforms you there the qualities which you're looking for will come automatically but keep draws it in its wake all those qualities come automatically last question from the live audience please come forward [Music] Swamiji and Jyoti Agarwal yes last week I was at a investment conference they were talking about demographics and the future of what we can expect in the next maybe 50 years or more and one of the speakers invited us to think of this idea that the way we know life today that you take get an education that you get into some kind of work productive work that may all change because this advent of artificial intelligence and a lot of young people are not finding jobs college graduates so what will they do or what will life look like if the work that we you know was supposed to be doing or we think that we will have a life that we will get you know go for a job or get married or do this or do this what would life look like any thoughts on that yes there's a very broad question but it's a vital question there are some eternal truths which do not undergo change spirituality is about that but life also undergoes change the external realities of life undergo change and never more so them today I'm reminded again of I've mentioned Peter Drucker earlier management challenges for the 21st century one of his lesser-known books but a very interesting book where he points out the challenges of our time are unique you might say every person said it in their time the challenges of our time are unique no if you look back upon history then really never has been a time like this now the last 100 years and specially now the pace of change is so tremendous and so far-reaching and deep he is for example all of our ancestors so going back to the time of our grandfathers and before that almost all of us our ancestors grandfathers grandparents and great-grandparents going back to so many generation centuries and millennia the way they lived where they were born they lived there they married there they had children there they lived out their lives and they died with a part they worked with the professions of their fathers and forefathers most of them there was no radical change not much there was but not much not heavily disrupted we ate the food most people ate at that time for generations for centuries together they rode the same dresses more or less they had more or less the same kinds of governments they had more or less the same kinds of implements technology and tools for centuries and millennia but today if you look at it today in this world a person is born somewhere educated somewhere else works somewhere else and lives the rest of his or his or her life somewhere else the person not only does not do what his father or mother a great grandfather grandmother did but does something different very different occupations which did not exist let alone hundred years ago did not exist last year and not only does the new things continuously changes that also even up to our fathers our parents generations they mostly did something for the whole up their lives mostly and then they retired out of a job in a company or in the government or somewhere but now young people go from job to job very different professions within a matter of years where will you live what will you eat whom will you marry how will you live what will you do your own identity politics gender all these are open now there is a tremendous degree of freedom now now what do I say from the point of view of spirituality especially Vedanta the importance of spirituality is increased many fold now Drucker in that book says wisdom is most important now young people even before they are mature they have to take decisions now all your decisions were taken you live what decision will you take you live where your grandparents tablet you do what your room your family has always done you eat what people they have eaten this is more or less fixed you didn't have much freedom at all but null here freedom across many degrees many parts of life and the decisions you take at a young age will influence the rest of your life very powerfully you do not have infinite flexibility you can't keep changing your decision making up for errors or later on you cannot so wisdom is most important and this wisdom is even worse it's not rooted in communities and families because communities and families are gone so ultimately this wisdom has to be rooted in the individual and that's why spirituality is very important well are you at home and the concept of home required the famous travel writer he gave a TED talk on the concept of home he says you know what the largest now a group of the publisher are the homeless not in the sense of being without a home but they do not have a particular country or place to call her there are people in this room who ever come a come from different continents different places and gather took a look at New York itself at this time the only route you can find is within your system and the only route you can where you can find routes within yourself is through spirituality the importance of spirituality is many times more about than it was earlier there are no more but many many people there are no support structures anymore except what you can find within yourself your home is the spirit is Brahman it is strange that the definition of quarters a monk Anika Taha one who has no fixed home the holy Wunder is now a definition that applies to large sections of the population of the world but you must have the monk spirituality internally the monkey must become become the monk the monkey mind must become the monk mind if you have to find happiness otherwise there is no other way how powerful be the bacon is inside there the secular and the spiritual are not two different things there is only one life he says there is only one life you cannot have two lives anymore there is only one life and that life had better be a spiritual life you may be a corporate executive you may be a monk in a monastery you may be a teacher in the school or a nursing Hospital you can certainly and must spiritual eyes your life and implicit you know he doesn't have to plea you don't have to preach a person was nursing up in a hospice terminal care situation he said that I am amazed at how many people among the caregivers and those who are dying both sides how many people have some kind of spiritual practice so it's so widespread in the society it's a silent revolution we are not much very much aware of it is widespread everybody seeks meaning everybody seeking roots everybody seeking spiritual resources to cope with life what is behind the growth of positive psychology why is it not enough to cure mental illness why do we need resilience and sustenance with from within positive psychology the entire range the popularity of Eastern religions all over the world because they offer resources for resilience for coping with life so very important question Jyoti ji and I hope that conference was successful somebody said graduates cannot find jobs because the professor is too old remember what you are teaching in them in the classroom will be useless by the time they graduate yes well he is partially responsible he changed he changed the world in a way which made it to a self-fulfilling prophecy but this is the world we live in in one one sense exciting another thing's terrifying also in some say this is the world for an ever younger person yes very good let me chant and then we'll come to a conclusion shantih shantih shantih hey hurry he that sat sri ramakrishna Aparna