Video 6

Ask Swami with Swami Sarvapriyananda | Feb 27th, 2022

[Music] lead us from the unreal to the real lead us from darkness unto light lead us from death to immortality om peace peace peace the first question is from florence lentini how do you reconcile god with consciousness if i am consciousness which is the only reality then i am god how is it that vedantins worship god but at the same time teach that i am brahman or god when i try to realize my true self how can i also worship god are the two the same this is a standard question which comes up when you study advaita vedanta if i worship god only because first of all god is something different from me and if myself is one with god if i'm one with god then how can i worship god it's like worshiping myself then so how do you reconcile this and yet there's an advaita vedanta there's full-fledged bhakti and devotion and worship of god so how do you reconcile this the story which srirama krishna was fond of in a parable about hanuman and ramacandra srirama chandra who is an avatar incarnation of god asks hanuman what do you think of me what do you think of me or how do you regard me and hanuman says so this verse it solves this problem the question which is asked here this is the answer what does it mean as a body identified with this hanuman body i am hanuman i am your servant you are rama my master thou art my master i am thy servant this is um a devotional approach that you are my lord i am your servant then i am also a sentient being i am not just this body hanuman says that i am the sentient being this being with um consciousness and mind and i have had many births earlier so this sentient being is part of the divinity you are the all-encompassing divinity i am thy part as a jiva i am your part and then as pure consciousness what the questioner is asking as consciousness itself i and you are one reality this is my conviction what is the answer as body as an hanuman i am the servant you are my lord as the sentient being you are the whole i am thy part and as uh pure consciousness you and i are one reality the first one is uh dualistic dwita the second one is qualified manager part and whole relationship and your part and the third one is non-dualism the um identity of the human and the divine so it shows how one can be devotional and also regard oneself as identical with brahman the question might be yes yes i know all that but i'm asking about the third one when you regard yourself as one with brahman that i and that reality we are one reality then how do you worship brahman so it is like this here the concept of two truths is very useful the absolute truth and the transactional truth um the absolute truth is that there is only one reality existence consciousness place brahman one without a second and everything else everything that you see in this world is an appearance of that one reality in reality one in appearance many see the many in appearance cannot be denied because we are experiencing it any philosophy whether it is dualistic non-dualistic whatever it is has to accept that we are seeing a pluralistic universe because that's already there it's it's being experienced now you have to explain it advaita vedanta says this is one appearing as many so one non-dual there were non-dual reality akamai wad with them one without a second that's the reality that's the ultimate truth paramatic septim but there is also a level of multiplicity where we are experiencing difference in this world now god world and sentient being is this triangle is the the empirical truth the lower truth the relative truth i am a sentient i am an individual being and here is this world and there is a god who is the creator preserver and the destroyer of this world the omniscient omnipotent omnipresent god so this is relative truth and the absolute truth is that i and that god are one reality that brahman alone exists and appears as many again one might ask what is all these two truths truth can only be one how can there be two truths but there can be when you read a novel when you watch a cinema don't you discuss the plot of the cinema who did what as if it is real yeah so there are two levels of reality you are inhabiting a level in the movie or in the novel and your own reality are they equal no they're not equal one is fictional the other one is what we consider to be real similarly the two truths one is real brahman and the other one is a level of appearance so aren't you saying ultimately then the brahman alone is real and then god is part of appearance here one has to be careful that absolute reality brahman non-dual reality when it appears as this universe then where is that non-dual reality it is saguna brahman it is god that same non-dual reality is the god of religion then what is this you can say that i am also the god i am also the same brahman correct and this world it's an appearance of that same brahman the same non-dual brahman appears as this world and is nothing but the god of religions ishwara saguna brahman and is identical with you brahma satyam jagat mithya jiva brahmapura brahmana alone is real the world is an appearance of that brahman and you the jiva are none other than that brahman he said but in this discussion god is left out you're talking about me the world and brahman what about god ishvara brahman see if you are none other than brahman what about poor ishwara god is god anything other than brahman god is it's the same is none other than brahman the non-dual brahman of uh the paramartic of the absolute reality is this aguna brahman in advaita vedante you talk about two brahmans two brahmanas not that there are two there's a higher brahman parabrahman brahma the lower or relative brahman which is the brahman that you relate to notice when hanuman said as a body as the person as this person hanuman i am your servant you are my lord he is setting up a relation you are my master i am your servant at this level of our existence you have to set up a relation with god master and servant or friend like arjuna and krishna he regarded krishna as his friend or father and child mother and child sometimes you can say god or is my father or mother like sudden krishna regarded god as mother or you can be the father or mother and god is your child like the baby krishna or the baby jesus that's the point of um having a baby form of god to love and revere so that you can relate to it as a child or the beloved god is my beloved like the gopis are like radha and krishna these are all relations so vedanta what it does is it demonizes our human relations and humanizes our divine relationship you set up a human relationship with god and you demonize your relationships with all human beings you see god in all human beings so that is the answer you see that is not very clear so am i supposed to worship god or not yes you are even as a non-dualist yes you are why because as long as we are firmly identified with one body and mind we need the help of god just think about it whether you regard yourself as brahman or not right now are you not eating talking walking going to the bank going to your office relaxing all of these does brahman go to the bank does brahmana eat drink walk around no when you are doing all these activities throughout your day how in what identity are you acting as the individual being if you can eat food when you are hungry if you lie down on a bed and sleep when you are tired when you need money you go to the bank and get money or the atm and get money what harm has poor god done that you can't worship god spare a little time for worshiping god also this is part of the same level of transactional reality now why would you do that one is we need the help of god for what for leading a good safe protected uh useful worldly life and for spirituality krsna says those who are in the world they need they are in suffering in the world they worship me those who are not suffering but they need something in this world you know more success a better life they worship me those who are spiritual seekers those who seek knowledge and devotion and liberation moksha salvation they worship me so we are all spiritual seekers you worship god because you need the help of god for enlightenment the most powerful help that you get in this universe is god and god wants us wants you to be enlightened so you take the help of god now one more question remains after i'm enlightened then that means when i know i am brahman then i don't have to worship god anymore krishna says the the enlightened ones are also those who worship me the four kinds of devotees those who worship for some worldly need those who worship because they want enlightenment and those who worship because they are already enlightened if you are already enlightened by will you worship god you know your brahman then why are you worshiping god bhagavatam says such are the extraordinary qualities of the lord that you cannot enlighten one cannot but pour himself out in love and devotion to god it's not a sign of enlightenment to say that oh now i've become enlightened i don't need god anymore goodbye now it's a sign of enlightenment that for the first time you be god becomes real for you swami brahmananda said spiritual life begins after nirvikalpa samadhi because she krishna says among all the devotees those who worship me who those who worship god it is the gyani the enlightened one who is the best devotee anyway so that's the answer let's take another one this question is from abel abraham from winnipeg in canada greetings swamiji i grew up as a christian and have a deep love of jesus christ i have been listening reading and watching many videos about advaita vedanta over the last five years what is amazing is that the knowledge i have gained in advaita vedanta over the years not only helped my spiritual life to blossom but also deepened my love of christ too i loved the bible and the panchadashi they cause no conflict at all except that it is easier for me to say i am brahmana but tend to have no courage to say i am jesus christ could you help me on how to make such a statement correctly thank you swamiji you cannot make such a statement correctly uh this but what uh abel has said is wonderful first of all before i get to the question first of all this is the mission of vedanta when swami vivekananda on 11 september in 1893 in the world parliament of religions in chicago and stood up to speak about hinduism and about vedanta that was also 9 11 by the way we are sitting here in new york here 9 11 means only one thing the death destruction and religious fanaticism but there was another 911 that was in chicago in 1893 in the world parliament of religions where swami vivekananda talked not about just toleration but universal acceptance about the not only tolerating diversity of religions but celebrating the diversity and the harmony of religions so there the question arose that uh so what is the mission of vedanta then in the west are you here to convert people into vedantists and his answer was no he says do i want that a christian should become a hindu he says god forbid he says do i want that a muslim should become a christian god forbid or a buddhist should become a zoroastrian god forbid then what do i want i want that a hindu should become a better hindu a muslim should become a better muslim and a christian should become a better christian this is exactly what abel is saying here that by studying vedanta my love for jesus has deepened that means my understanding of the bible my understanding of jesus christ and the love for true spirituality which is at the core of every religion including christianity that has deepened and that is the success of vedanta that is the real purpose why why is vedanti here on american soil it's this for this purpose i remember remember a remarkable conversation um long after vivekananda had passed nivedita had passed nivedita you know she was bought up protestant she was of irish decent and in england now somebody asked a disciple of swami vivekananda so how did vivekananda make niverita a hindu and this so vivekananda's disciple answered oh i don't think he made her hindu although all the you know documentation nivedita's own writing and everything shows that she considered herself a hindu you know like as hindu as everybody else but this disciple said very interesting comment he made i don't think swami vivekandar made her a hindu i think he made her a better christian what a beautiful statement sentiment yes so the core spirituality in every religion that is brought out by vedanta correct now the particular question that abel asks i can regard myself as brahman without fear good for you you should i am brahman everybody should say that and own up to it that i am existence consciousness please it's an obvious fact but i hesitate i'm afraid to say i have no courage to say that i'm jesus christ don't shankaracharya points out long ago that the ocean the wave belongs to the ocean the ocean does not belong to the wave what advaita vedanta says god and you are the same reality not that you are god what is god and what you are are ultimately existence consciousness place but it's like saying a bubble a drop of water and a huge tsunami wave are both water true they are but as a bubble and as a tsunami wave they are very different so when i think about what i am as this person as able and when i think about what i know about jesus christ about krishna about rama about ramakrishna as this person and that divine personality i find a huge difference and that difference is almost unbridgeable that's the difference between the human and the divine that's the difference between an ordinary sentient being and an avatar the incarnation of god that's a huge difference and advaita doesn't want you to bridge that difference advaita says that difference is an appearance in that what we are talking about just earlier that the second level of truth in this empirical world goward the master i am thy servant thou art my lord i am thy devotee this is all right to jesus christ i am your devotee abel is the devotee of jesus christ but what jesus christ is really existence consciousness place and what able is really existence consciousness place we are identical at that level like hanuman said as anuman you are my lord i am thy servant so as abel jesus is my lord and i am thy servant but as pure consciousness you and i are one reality but there that pure consciousness is no longer jesus no longer able it is just one non-dual reality so at our level of existence never equate yourself with god that's that's um that's mania you are fundamentally at the deepest level one with god at this transactional level when you moment you say jesus christ the moment you say i i means able clearly they are not one and the same so this difference must be maintained and that is a helpful difference to maintain this question is from peter de grazia good morning swamiji during these times of tension in the world various gurus swamis and others request that we pray for world peace by doing mantras or slokas etc to whom are we praying after all you say that we should remember that i am none other than brahman and the world is an appearance in me you see it is the same question that's why it's been arranged in the same way actually because it's basically the same question so in these times gurus swamis and all they are praying religious leaders are praying for world peace actually i was doing just that before this program there was a program an online program india canada canada consortium hinduism and humanity so everybody's talking about world peace and praying for that that's exactly what i was doing just now so it's the same question whom are we praying to if there's only one reality if i am brahman who are we praying to i had this remarkable experience two years ago in boston a couple of scientists kidnapped me i mean not really but i'm just joking they said we want to ask you a question i said all right and where will you go let's go to find a there was the library at harvard was very busy so we decided to go to mit and find a place and then when they realized that i had not seen mit they said come with us we'll give you a tour before going to mit we went to this very secret semi-secret location classified location it's a nuclear power plant where they're doing fusion uh experiments trying to design a fusion reactor in the heart of boston underground it's there and it's an old establishment started during the manhattan project so we went in there i was given a tour of that this amazing project i mean amazing establishment huge massive so i was led to a classroom where the scientists gathered for discussions about nuclear fusion and there was a blackboard and i went there and then they said here is our question what is the question same question we are one reality then how does how do advaitans worship god so same question who are you praying to if there is one reality see the moment you say i am praying for what world peace already you have accepted world and there is war in the world and you want peace in the world there is kobe in the world you want a freedom you want us to be to escape from kovid and you who is praying is brahman praying or is this person praying this person is praying the moment you accept the person and you accepted the world you have also accepted god and you're praying to god there's no problem there the problem arises when i say at the heart of this lies this confusion that i am brahman means i this person embrace person but the question will be then if i the person i'm not brahmana i am only a person what else am i so when you say i am brahman you must mean this i am this person who is brahman no that's why advaita vedanta requires little close attention following it through carefully what does advaita vedanta do it starts with who you are and it does not say who you are is brahman it first starts with what do you think you are i'm this person what is this person this body yes and then the whole process of inquiry starts are you this body and then we are inquired to say that i cannot exactly be this flesh and bone and you know mass of organic material then we go further are you the prana the physiological processes are your life itself we go deeper and subtler are you the mind many people stop there yes i am a mind embodied in a body but when they say but we do you know we do the panchakusha viveka in vedanta we see how we are not the mind also body is there prana is there mind is there then am i the intellect which is doing all this understanding this all this discussion philosophy and inquiry that also with the same logic what is the logic we have discussed it many times in these talks so we cannot be the intellect also go beyond that you hit a blankness nothing but that blankness is also experienced when we realize that we are the consciousness we are the awareness in sanskrit so many words are there chit sakshi chiti samvith bodha all of them mean the same thing the awareness to which everything appears what are you your awareness that awareness which is the witness of that mind of that intellect of that prana of that body that awareness is called the witness consciousness or sakshi now this witness consciousness is brahman you can say this witness consciousness pure awareness is brahman then the statement is correct but that witness consciousness sakshi limited by a mind limited by a body becoming this person server priyananda is this brahmana not quite it is an appearance of brahman but you cannot literally say this particular person is brahman in that sense so when you say ivan i pray to god as a person i pray to god when abel says i cannot say i am one with jesus christ yes as a person you should not say i'm born with jesus i worship jesus christ before that fellini i think the first person who asked the question florence florence uh florence was asking how do you worship god in advaita vedanta is we worship god as the individual i just want to add here just for the sake of completion so from a non-dualist perspective is it necessary to worship god strictly philosophically speaking logically speaking no you can inquire into what am i and reach the truth and that's it work is done but then how many people can do it life is a marathon struggle through many different kinds of problems and new challenges both worldly and spiritual so we need the help the help of divinity and it makes the whole spiritual life more joyful and blessed also when you worship god all right this question comes from arpan sen i have realized from my own dream experiences that the material of my dream is completely borrowed from my real experiences they are however rearranged to build a fresh narrative that plays as my dream reality the question is where does my waking reality get its material from considering there is no higher plane of reality to borrow materials from is there any explanation other than maya or error right answer is where does the waking reality borrow its material it doesn't borrow it it is just your experience of what is out there see what arpan is asking is that uh when i consider my dream experiences the people i saw in the dream the experi the places i visited the good and bad experiences i had when i wake up i can coordinate it with my waking experience and realize it is just the impressions the memories the traces of these waking experiences which have been reconstituted by the sleeping mind dreaming mind into my dream experiences what i experience in the waking life it leaves memories in the mind and out of that is constituted my dream experience sometimes the fears in the waking world anxieties they're reflected in the dream sometimes the desires which are not fulfilled in the waking world reflected in the dream sometimes it's just chatter from the waking world which is reflected in the dream but where do these experiences of the waking world come from the answer is simple where do you think they come from from the waking world why do they have to be borrowed from another world see this is why you consider dream world to be false and the waking to be real quite apart from vedanta your common sense approach what do you think about your dreams oh they are dreams they're not real what do you think about the waking world this is real not as a philosophical point of view this is the accepted reality of our lives we talk we behave in this way that this is real so you are contacting an external world outside you through your eyes and ears and touch and smell and taste we're talking with people interacting with people having good and bad experiences that's where you get the experience experience of aching world from the waking world from an external world why bring in maya or error into it now at this point arpan will be confused this does not sound like an advaitan according to advaitan isn't it all like a dream so the dream world is borrowed from the waking the waking world is also a dream it must be borrowed from something is that's what he's pointing towards now first things first that one must see that advaita vedanta is not subjective idealism those who are well trained in philosophy will understand what arpan is thinking advaita vedante subjective idealism in the berkeleyan sense in the buddhist yogacara began about the mind only school sense no this is one talk i want to do make a distinction between advaita vedanta and the idealistic school of buddhism the mind only school chittamatra or the vigyanavada yogacara viganova the school of buddhism the two are different shankaracharya devotes a huge amount of effort to distinguishing advaita from idealistic buddhism that is idealistic in the sense of philosophical sense began about the buddhism why the philosopher arindam chakravarti has written a very nice paper idealist refutations of idealism how particular idealist schools refute idealism you would think when the buddhists say the whole world is in our minds there is no world outside you think shankaracharya would agree no much better is to treat it like a realist what is realist think about your common sense view of the world what is your common sense view of the world i am here world is out there it's not in my mind i am here there is a world and i am contacting a world which is a diverse world not one existence consciousness place diverse world of living and non-living things i am contacting it with my senses and i'm dealing with it as best as i can this is a common sense view of life you can call it a realist view of life and advaita vedanta actually agrees i'll go deeper into it at some occasion this is the answer to arpan's question advaita vedanta does not say that the waking world is a product of my mind dream world is a product of dreaming mind this waking mind when it falls at sleep asleep it dreams a world but this waking world is not a product of the mind then why does advaita say the world is false advaita says the world is false because the world is an appearance in consciousness but then it comes to the same thing my no mind and consciousness are not the same thing there is an individual mind and there is this whole world individual mind and body are as real as this world both are appearances in one consciousness this is what advaita vedant is trying to say advaita vedanta is not that it's not saying that each of us goes around imagining our own worlds we do but that's not the uh whole of it there from our individual perspective there is a very solid real world outside from your real perspective of your real nature which is sachidan and the awareness itself from that perspective the whole world and this individual are both appearances the dream example itself if you follow it carefully it will become clear in the dream suppose you are walking around talking with friends sharing a cup of coffee and a cookie so there is a friend outside there is a place where you're sitting there's a table there's presumably cups of coffee and cookies and maybe you're talking maybe you are so you are seeing things hearing things smelling tasting uh drinking and there it is you and other people presumably you have a body so you are an individual in the dream and there is a world with which you are interacting in the dream but both that individual and this world are products of the dreaming mind that world in the dream is not a product of that dream individual as the person follow this carefully as the person in the dream sitting and interacting with your friend and drinking a cup of coffee and eating a cookie that person is not dreaming that world there is an underlying sleeping dreaming mind which is dreaming of the entire world swami vivekananda said this one only exists it appears as nature soul one only exists consciousness it appears as this world nature soul the subject what does uh subjective idealism say this subject is producing this world no this subject is imagining this world no this is the difference idealist refutation of idealism why does their professor random chakravati delineates the arguments in favor of subjective idealism why do buddhists some buddhists and philosophers like bishop berkeley why do they think that this world is only in our minds and then how shankaracharya attacks these arguments people get confused why shankar attacking the argument they seem to be in support of his position no he's carefully differentiating his position from subjective idealism and then professor chakravati jumps from shankaracharya to emmanuel kant who does exactly the same thing he also attacks idealism though he supports another sort of vedantic kind of absolutism so where is the material of the waking world coming from from the waking world that's why you consider it to be real material of the waking world means here is this person in a dream you might say if it's a dream then why did i see this person because in my baking world i must have seen a person a similar person in the waking world why am i seeing that person because that person is there that's why i'm seeing how is this advaita because i the seer and that person seen are both appearances in one consciousness so why does this confusion arise unless we carefully distinguish mind from consciousness and then look at the unlimited nature of consciousness until that point it will keep seeming that this world is a product of my mind that's not what advaitha says okay one more question and then i'll call upon you this question is from i dear swami sava priyanda i love and admire you you have been the biggest strongest rope with which i pulled myself up from suicide my family and friends thank you i thank you beyond any words i am learning the principles of advai de vedanta please forgive me if my questions are naive i have the following questions how is the advice expressed by sri nisargadatta maharaja different if it is different from that expressed by you and the ramakrishna order two in our dreams we can be ourselves different people realistic animals and even imaginary creatures like dragons by seeing how ephemeral our identity identities are in dreams and often in our waking state as well does that not demonstrate clearly that our identities are mere reflections of universal awareness all right the first question is actually a general and wide question of how nisargadatta's advaita differ differs from the advaitha that we are talking about in the ramakrishna order i'll take that up second the first i'll take up the second question which is we see how ephemeral our identities are in the dreams and then so aren't these waking identities also equally ephemeral aren't they all reflections of universal consciousness universal universal awareness universal awareness so i even use such indirect language as reflections of universal awareness just say these identities are appearances in universal awareness even don't even use universal awareness i mean what is universal awareness is it awareness aware of a universe or is it an awareness spread over the universe what just say awareness unlimited awareness so what is an identity that awareness not knowing its nature somehow becomes one with a particular body mind this mind and this body which are not awareness which are objects in awareness the awareness somehow says that i am this so two things are required here one is not knowing its own real nature unlimited nature and number two uh becoming aware of mind body and saying i am this much so this is agana ignorance and then error superimposition do not know myself do not know the rope think it is a snake do not know i am unlimited consciousness i think i am body mind not only think i firmly believe and act as if i'm body mind yes these identities are ephemeral notice our individual identity can disappear if there is a little stroke in the brain then the mind also fails to function properly to mind this required mind requires the brain as hardware just as your if your hardware and a computer is not working well your software also will not run well it will keep crashing there will be problems similarly our identities get shaken or dissolved or distorted if the there is a physical problem in the brain if there are mental disorders our individual identities are very flimsy age can affect senility can affect it various diseases like alzheimer's and parkinson's can affect it a stroke can affect it mental illnesses can affect our identities our identities are very flimsy throughout it all one thing is constant awareness is constant if i'm confused about my identity if i'm suffering from amnesia identity loss or something i'm still aware that awareness does not go come and go so awareness is our real identity which it is not based on choice it is not based on accident not based on body mind it is our real identity now the first question is interesting how does the advaita which we are speaking about differed from sir it doesn't first of all the core principle is the same there is one unlimited awareness brahman in which the entire world is an appearance and you are brahman that's the same somebody asked nisargadatta who lived by the way in a slum in mumbai when he became enlightened he started walking towards the himalayas i loved this story he started walking towards himalayas i don't need any of this i want to live in the mountains for the rest of the life of this particular body and then he stopped himself what am i doing have i not realized that it's same reality whether it is the himalayas or the islam both are appearances in one pure brahman then why should i switch this awful slum for the sublime himalayas no and he came back and he lived the rest of his life in that terrible place this is a sign of enlightenment you really see the underlying sameness and you base your actions on that now what he did was he stuck to that one central teaching again and again and again in his in his books you will find why why it seems a little different is because the teachings you find in the english books i think i am that that is the name of the book probably i am that and other books also have been published they are originally in marathi his talks are in marathi and they were translated by and uh you know his interlocutors into english so the terminology can be can sometimes seem a little confusing little different from classical advaita vedanta but the core message is the same but how is it different it is same as what nisargadatta maharaj said and ramana maharshi said it is the same thing but how is it different then what we do in the ramakrishna order is first classical advaita vedanta as taught by shankar and post shankar advaitins and then broaden it out one characteristic of the ramakrishna order srirama krishna swami vivekananda maha sharda and all the other teachers down to our age is the inclusivity is the universality of approach so it is not just non-dualism against dualism it's not non-dualism of the advaita variety against all other philosophies religions no vivekananda's perspective krishna's perspective there is one reality whether it is dualism dwight a vedanta vishishta dwight vedanta qualified monism or the other schools of vedanta including non-dualism all of them are approaching the same reality experiencing and trying to express the same reality in different ways it's the like the five blind men touching the elephant so they're all touching the same elephant one calls it my narayana my vishnu or my durga or kali another one says this is brahman and it's the entirety of the universe all of it is one reality one divine reality i am a tiny part of that sun and i'm a tiny ray of the sun blazing fire and the spark from that blazing fire is upanishadic language and the other one the non-dualism says that um not that i i you're you're god and i'm your worshiper not that you are the totality brahman is the totality i am a part of it rather we are one reality the difference of brahman and that and the devotee or the part and whole relationship these are appearances if you see see a character in a movie on the movie screen is that character in the movie screen different from the movie screen but different i mean can the character exist on the movie screen exists separately no that character in the movie screen appears on the movie screen it's an appearance on the movie screen can we say well the character is that movie that person in the movie is a part of the movie screen it's not a part of the movie screen so which part the top part bottom part we switch off the movie what happened did that part will disappear will be a big hole in the screen no it's not even a part of the screen it's not different from the screen it's not a part of the screen it's not even produced by the screen it is an appearance even more so is this entire universe and appearance in awareness that's how we all experience the world everything is appearing to us the awareness in us the awareness and if you think deeply about it as nothing but us the awareness so this reality you can approach it non-dualistically that's what ramana maharshi did that's what nisargadatta did and they stopped there and they emphasized this notice being hindu they are also very deeply intrusive so if somebody comes and says i love to worship my god my krishna i don't understand your advaitha will ramana murshi say that you're wrong no never he will say that's also all right and then you'll try if possible from there try to find out who am i who is worshiping krishna if not fine you go on worshiping your krishna that will also help so this is the spirit in principle same advaita vedanta which is there in the upanishads taught by godhapada shankara and the porsche advaitins down to ramakrishna vivekananda nisargadatta ramana maharshi in principle it's the same thing the core idea is the same now some may emphasize the core principle the transcendent part of it more somewhere emphasize the imminent part of it more some may take a much more much broader more inclusive universal approach that's the only difference all right will you come and ask the question please come up here and tell us your name and where you are from and then ask the question oh sorry i'm lakshmi kulkarning i'm from bangalore india and swamiji namaskar i'm carrying warm regards to you from a whole bunch of friends in india who are your friends i seek your blessings on behalf of all of them thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to clear our doubts after being a sadheka practicing sadhana chatushaya and shatsam pati or at least believing that we get it intellectually the feeling is okay got it now what next i have a couple of questions i'll just ask them together after having ragadvaisha and the six vices under control what should our focus be on or do for during meditation because the idea is to clean the mirror when clean in our understanding but not having any experiences as such what is the next step forward and thank you for those kind words and the question the first question which you asked um about having our vices under control having developed the qualities of vivek discernment with internal and non-eternal vairagya dispassion for the world the six-fold disciplines shat sampati and an intense desire for liberation actually if somebody develops it to any particular level then all questions will disappear the advaithic truths will become pretty clear but an answer straight answer to your question is do what advaita vedanta always tells you to do engage in shravana mananananandhyasana in study of advaithic texts under you know a qualified teacher and nowadays you can do that you know through books and or youtube and thinking about it and when clarity is obtained meditating upon it shravana mananananana one may say yes yes yes swamiji i know all that we have done it not done it if you have done it you think you have done it then repeat one teacher said nicely that if we say i have already studied vedanta but i have not obtained enlightenment then repeat it i have repeated repeat again how long will i repeat i'll keep on repeating till the end of this life suppose i don't obtain enlightenment by the end of this life better luck next life there is no other way other than to stay with it until enlightenment comes all right now the second question is when i sit in meditation and i'm not getting any experiences what should i do i've cleansed the mirror now what well first of all let's not be too clear that we have cleansed the mirror as good old freud said a lot of the dirt is not on the surface of the mirror the mirror has its own stockpile of dirt we clean the mirror and the moment we look up and look back again the old mirror has got a layer of dirt on it where did it come from it was always there we didn't see it so the process of cleansing the mirror that is chittashuddhi it goes on but a deeper question is all right i'm trying to have meditation it seems peaceful nothing is coming here what advaita says is that nothing is coming is also noticed is it not that when some experience is coming worldly experience i shut it down i sit and quietly and meditate i'm sitting quietly and meditating is it not noticed that yes i'm sitting quietly and meditating that some disturbance came in the mind and then i controlled it was that also not experienced that there was a disturbance in the mind and i controlled it now mind is peaceful is that not experienced now i am not getting peaceful mind no experiences are coming spiritual experiences i was expecting nothing is coming is that not experienced also seriously all these are experienced that's why i'm asking you the question but wait a minute if all of these are being experienced then what is experiencing all this by what way in what in what medium in what reality in to to what all these experiences are coming that to which the worldly experience is seeing hearing spelling testing touching were coming is the same thing is it not to which comes the experience of sitting and meditating it is the same thing which experiences the disturbances in the mind it is that same thing which experiences the peaceful mind it is that very same thing which notes that no spiritual experiences are coming in all of this there is one constant reality to which all these experiences are happening and that must be consciousness awareness chaitanya why because experience is happening it's always awareness that without awareness experience might not happen it should will not happen if you're not aware there will not be any experience so one thing you can say is constantly consciousness is there instead of looking for exp you can have mystical spiritual experiences if you take a mantra visualize ishta devata and repeat it you will definitely at one time or the other you will get the vision of the ishta devata those things are real mystical experiences do happen but advaita vedanta is saying whether worldly experience or mystical experience both appear and disappear in the same awareness whether disturbed mind or peaceful mind both appear and disappear in the same awareness only one thing is constant will always has been there is there now and will always be there with you what is that you the awareness nothing else no worldly experience will stay with you even the memories will fade away no person will stay with you even the memories of those persons will fade away no gathering of wealth of facebook likes will stay with you those will all fade away no knowledge or whether it is worldly knowledge medicine science or we don't acknowledge we have memorized banished locus none of that will stay with you it will also fade away one day only one thing will stay with you that you are this consciousness that will be there that consciousness which is experiencing all this you might say yeah that's not not wrong but how does that help me now notice the interesting features or the interesting nature of this consciousness one is it never goes away it does not come it does not go whatever comes and goes is experienced in that consciousness by that consciousness because it does not come and go it cannot age it cannot die it was the witness of the birth of the body it was the witness of the development babyhood childhood of the body it is the witness of the aging and one day it will be the witness of the death of the body i the consciousness will still be there so consciousness is immortal what a huge thing this is it sets you free from the fear of death the deepest fear that we human beings have the fear of not existing never be afraid you will always exist krishna says to arjuna oh arjuna you and i and all these kings and princes in the battlefield of kurukshetra you have all existed earlier you are here now and you will continue to exist in the future your past lives you do not know them i know them all so existence and consciousness are the same reality sat and chit it is immortal and you are that immortal reality more you think about it that's the great advantage you have then peace relaxation that consciousness is always at peace it is peace itself shantam is the name of consciousness in one documentation disturbance of the mind is revealed by consciousness peace of the mind meditative mind is revealed by consciousness you know i was now mind has become peaceful like you said too peaceful no experiences are coming this is too much peace something should happen i i'm reminded of this zen cartoon you know the student has come to a zen master then master is teaching zen meditation to the student and this zen master is saying with a very serious expression that cartoon is saying to the student this is it student is like what this is it nothing happens that consciousness is always at peace it was at peace when it saw the disturbance of the mind it is at peace when you see the the peaceful mind it is at peace when the mind seems too peaceful and you want some excitement experience consciousness itself was never disturbed consciousness itself never became peaceful consciousness itself does not want one more experience that is all the states of the mind is the mind which was disturbed the mind which became meditative and peaceful it's the mind which wants extraordinary spiritual experiences yes i have calmed down all worldly experiences i'm quiet and inward now some spiritual experience please it's too boring it is the mind which is doing all of that consciousness is completely at peace all the time and uh illumining all these coming and going the thoughts in the mind the desires in the mind the restlessness in the mind the peacefulness in the mind this is called shantam so the second great benefit first benefit don't forget immortality freedom from fear of death body will die that one must accept nobody can save the body from dying nor should one be too worried about that nowadays in silicon valley the billionaires are getting together to make the body immortal so why you must ask why and so why not i want to live forever but that means i and body are same you made it the same cryogenic can i freeze the body or upload my personality into the cloud at least that's a higher way of thinking that means body is not important only the memories and feelings are important there was even the talk of head transplant a russian doctor he promised that there was one man who was paralyzed he said what do you want i want to be able to ride a motorbike in california so for that what what operation has to be performed they will wait for a person who has died in in i mean in coma body is preserved so they will get the body of that person and this patient they will cut off the head of that body and cut off the head of this patient and freeze the head and then transplant this head into that new body and hopefully the patient will wake up with a more active like fully then he can ride a motorbike they did not try hopefully they did not try it don't worry about body transplant every life we get a new body transplant we have got thousands of body transplants and many more are available to you so no problem about that consciousness does not need body transplant consciousness is one and constant so it's a great freedom freedom from fear of truth death freedom from restlessness anxiety unhappiness then oneness and love because you realize it is one consciousness in all bodies and minds i will not go into the arguments for it this is a huge topic but it is one consciousness in all bodies and minds krishna says to arjuna imam to be the one consciousness in all these bodies one knower of the field in all these fields from this oneness comes all ethics and love if we are you and i and everybody is one how can there be violence how can there be greed how can there be competition how can there be dislike of other people there is no other so these are the benefits of realizing this one consciousness thank you very good questions thank you thank you i think we can take one more question from the internet audience this question is from anil matal swamiji my question to you relates to the goal of self-realization you had mentioned in one of your recent talks that you know of a small number of people personally who you believe are jivan mukti i expect that these are monks who have devoted their lives to achieving the goal of self-realization it follows then that even if you devote your whole life very few actually achieve self-realization what hope is there then for an ordinary householder is this even an achievable goal i also notice that associating our identity with the mind body seems to be hardwired into all living things humans and animals can we realistically hope to overcome something that seems to be part of what nature gave us and by us i am referring to the mind body complex i agree there is no higher goal than being able to live fearlessly unaffected by the ups and downs of life but it seems like even if you devote your whole life to it there is only a very small likelihood of success so the question is that there seems to be very few people who become enlightened why engage on this project you know that to become enlightened by the chances of success are so minimal and it seems to be as he says few people are enlightened and they must be all monks it's not true that they're all monks there are people who are monks or not monks householders they have been enlightened and even now continue to be so so every anybody can become enlightened but still the question remains how few so few then why start a process which will chances are you will not get freedom or enlightenment that reminds me of in india they always see westerners the moment you feel spiritual in this country in america or in europe the first thing they do is they pack a backpack and take their passport and off they go to india they go to himalayas it's not necessary to go to the himalayas to become spiritual you can of course it's nice but it's not necessary now in india the idea is that yes it is possible to become enlightened but it's a very few people can become enlightened just just the opposite you see when the wave of immigrants started coming for 30 40 years ago the large wave of immigrants from india to the united states so the indian guy packs up and gets a passport and a visa and comes to united states why not for enlightenment for becoming a millionaire and the american tells him it's not impossible but it's not guaranteed that you're going to become a millionaire just coming coming to the united states the same thing when the westerner lands with a backpack in delhi or mumbai and i've come here for enlightenment the indian will tell him it's not impossible people have been known to become enlightened but it's not guaranteed that you're going to become enlightened very few become enlightened now then why at all start this process well this professor in uh at harvard university professor parimal patil in one discussion this question came up and he asked he was asking how few people you know become enlightened so why should at all anybody start this process so the three answers which emerged from our discussion was one answer is that first of all everybody will become enlightened srirama krishna gives the example of benares which is the place of the divine mother annapurna literally she who is who gives who fills you who gives food to all those who seek so his food of course means spiritual growth development and fulfillment so the example srirama krishna gives is in banaras nobody goes hungry everybody will be fed only thing is some are fed in the morning some in the afternoon some may have to wait till sunset to be fed but everybody will be fed similarly in this universe everybody will ultimately get fulfillment god realization enlightenment moksha but some may get it early some may take a few lifetimes or may get it in this lifetime some may take a few lifetimes some have to wait till sunset what is sunset god sunset is the end of the universe a few billion years some will get or maybe beyond that also many universes will come and go before some people who are little slow on enlightenment who haven't yet come to the vedanta society so they will take a little bit of time so first of all first answer is everybody will get enlightenment but you don't know when so it's it's it's a guaranteed thing and why not you are brahman what can stop you from realizing yourself you may do some some other achievement in the world you may or may not attain enlightenment you will get it's guaranteed because you are brahman let's answer one the second answer is once you have tasted the spiritual life what else comes close to it [Music] that you know i remember once as a young novice after a few weeks i think in the ashram i told another monastic novice too shy to go to the senior swamis so another somebody closer to me in age saying that you know i'm not making much spiritual progress it was not even i think a month into my monastic life and then that always gave such a nice answer to me he was a senior to me he gave nice answer which i've never forgotten till now i said okay go back home i said no i can't do that i said why not you spend the last 23 years in that home and you've just been here for less than one month and you feel you can't go back there you want to stay here then isn't this progress so once you taste spiritual life nothing else comes close everybody i know who for a long time whether it's vedanta or devotional practices or japa or karma yoga serving others after some time when you ask them they say that this is really a very precious part of my life this is something i cannot do without anymore i have become deeply attached to this this is a source of peace and joy to me the second so second answer is in the process of your journey towards eventual enlightenment you find this is the best thing that you have got in life spiritual life it could be meditation it could be vedantic study it could be devotion service a combination of all of these third answer which professor patel himself he gave was a beautiful answer he says actually you know what motivates people in spiritual life it's not that i'm waiting enlightenment will come then only everything is done or before that there's no gain nothing it's not all or nothing it is the moment to moment day to day peace of mind meaningfulness of life a higher spiritual purpose something noble and beautiful in my life which gives me strength which gives me peace of mind day to day long before enlightenment that's what keeps people in spiritual life whether monks or householders which is correct even a little practice of dharma of spirituality saves you from great fear we may add great meaninglessness in this day and day in life in this day and age real crisis is the crisis of meaninglessness what is the purpose of my life once upon a time the purpose of my life was to survive i have to gather food i have to get security protect myself take care of the family that itself was such a huge burden people had no time for thinking of anything else but now things are guaranteed you live in a safe society unless you are in ukraine you live in a safe society you live where things are more or less stable prosperous but then the question arises again that old ancient question what's the point of it all i've got enough to eat i've got enough for entertainment we have got protection from the elements of weather and all we are reasonably happy and engaged then very soon i'm going to get old and die and that's the end of this game what was the point of it all the question of meaninglessness arises again with redoubled force and then once the world has provided you with all it can reasonably what can it provide you this is what it can provide you once the world has provided you with all it can then the world has no more answer for your question of meaninglessness only spirituality has the answer spirituality gives meaning to life an ultimate high goal and purpose to life on that high and a high note let us conclude here oms i pray to takurman swamiji to bless all of us may the grace of god be upon all of us in protection of god be upon all here and all over the world [Music] you