Video 3

Astavakra's Teachings, Part IV

um um um um oh um and not too close um okay um hello foreign good night um i don't know um foreign [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] m [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] no [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] home let us begin with a prayer from the upanishads this is on page 48 of this book the universal prayers the first one on that page [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] i pray to the divine lord that all parts of my personality my body mind sense organs the vital force may all those become stronger [Music] and function in perfect consult this whole physical universe the creation experienced by the mind through the sensor organs is nothing other than the ultimate reality described as brahman in the upanishads may i not reject this truth this has been verified innumerable times by many many sages separated by centuries and continents i accept this as a truth and proceed with dispatch to experience this truth in my life in this very life as i'm engaged in this lofty effort of experiencing my divine nature may all the virtues described in the upanishads virtues such as truthfulness strength purity and straightforwardness may all those virtues come to me and reside in me may all those virtues come to me and reside in me oh may there be peace and joy in our hearts may there be peace and harmony amongst all may there beings peace everywhere in nature good morning and welcome to this sunday service for some time we have been studying the teachings of the great sage ashtavakra ashtavakra from even before he was born when he was still in the mother's womb he was already abraham and the king janaka was ruling the kingdom at that time and janaka and ashtavakra became very close friends vedanta friends the long story we have gone through that some of it earlier so the conversation between two brahmagyanis ashtavakra and janaka both were numerous of brahman there are 298 verses in 20 chapters and you are going to study some of those teachings of ashtavakra to janaka and janaka's experience as explains it himself so far we have studied just to do a very quick review of what you have done so far it's been about three weeks since we met last night the book the conversation begins with janaka's questions janaka asks ashtavakra three questions janaka's questions were gotham avapi how can one achieve self-knowledge janamir means knowledge of the self that we are the divine addy punisher says you are that you are naughty body mind you are that brahman your atman that knowledge how can one gain other means freedom freedom freedom from all kinds of suffering freedoms from a cycle of birth and death how can that freedom be achieved of all that is not real how to achieve that renunciation of everything that is unreal everything is unreal from the vedantic points of view the whole universe itself is unreal including our bodies minds our our possessions all these are upadhi is added on agents they are not our intrinsic nature we are not that how to gain that renunciation these three questions janaka asked at the beginning of their conversation in response to these questions kashtavakra gives a set of six instructions in one verse six instructions very practical things that we all can on how to do practice in our daily lives those instructions are the first one is to give up attachment to all sense objects ashtavakra says to janaka muktim tata then what you have to do first thing you have to do is give up all sense objects he says give up all sensable as if they were poisoned literally we cannot give up all the sense object this body itself is a sense object the food we eat the clothes we the clothes where everything is sensible you can't physically give them up much of them you can give up they are unnecessary but the intent was januka's and ashtavakra's intent was we should give up attachment to all sense objects you can have them minimum things required necessities but no attachment they are there for a certain purpose they serve a certain purpose the body is there given to us as a very precious gift by the lord for a certain purpose now namely to know our divine nature to realize god for that purpose it has to be used likewise all the sensory objects that we have they have a certain purpose they fulfill a certain need and for that purpose to fulfill that need we use them and then we don't become attached to them once their work is done we are no longer are connected with them that is first instruction very important and very difficult to practice also then in the second line a star wars gives five different things that we have to do all these are simpler instructions we can also all of us can do most of it what are the five things that we have to do shama daya satyam means nectar as if they were nectar these five virtues embrace them follow them put into practice what are the five things we have to do first thing is forbearance whatever difficulty suffering comes in life does they do inevitably we have to bear them calmly without lamentation without brooding that that forbearance is called titiksharkshama forgiveness also second one is aarjevam means straightforwardness state forwardness means what our mind thinks our thoughts in our mind must be reflected honestly in our speech we should be not be thinking something saying something else but then what we say in speech in in words we have to put into practice that means our thoughts speech and actions must all be the same thinking something saying something else and doing something entirely different is harmful not conducive to spiritual life or that one transparent personality second one compassion compassion towards all beings not only human beings not only good people compassion towards evil people wicked people you have to not hate red but compassion you should pray for them they are compassion towards people animals and plants especially towards animals no trace of cruelty towards any of the beings should be in our minds s being content with what we have and not being greedy for more things opposite of contentment is greed greed can kill a person in bhagavad-gita we study all these things kamakura these are three gateways to suffering in the 16th chapter bhagavan sri krishna says in the gita there are three gateways to naraka trividim narakasam dwaram you studied some of you studied that one so greed is very bad should not be we should not have greed be content with what we have happily be content with what we have more possession does not necessarily translate into more happiness the same misunderstandings that some people have if you have more money bigger house bigger property i'll be happier it's not true fifth one is means truthfulness under all circumstances we should be truthful sri ramakrishna says many places in his teachings truthfulness alone is the austerity in the kali yuga even those who are engaged in business practices they should also observe truthfulness very important instruction it is the the very first instruction that we read in the upanishads the theory of partnership says always speak the truth dharma always follow dharma those instructions patanjali in his yoga sutras describing the first step first of the eight steps are the most important virtues for any spiritual seeker following any path and he calls them these five disciplines of which truthfulness is one personally calls them a mahabrata sarah baba means relevant in all places in the world it is never out of work out of fashion in any place whether you live in america or india or some other place in the forest any city truthfulness is absolutely should be followed under all circumstances and then and whatever circumstances we live you have to follow truthfulness you have no exception to that these disciplines ashtavakra says to you shabbat bhajan embrace them practice them as if they are nectar these are the practical instructions that ashtavakra gives in the first chapter after this he gives one more very important instruction that he also we studied earlier this is a sloka number verse number 11 in the first chapter of ashtavukra meta there ashtavakra says what you think that you will become what we are at this moment what i am at this moment this person personality happy and happy good or bad whatever i am this is all my own making i built this personality impression by impression by all my actions speech and thought every time every time i think something says something do something it leaves an impression in my mind and the sum total of all those impressions is my character my personality so we should be careful about what we think and what we say and what we do there in that verse number 11 [Music] who thinks i am free i'm the child of god what can bind me i'm free god bites me the mother is protecting me i'm in the mother's child krsna's protecting me i'm the child of the king of the kings what brain what can bind me i'm free asserting like this one becomes free what we think that we become our thoughts shape our personality every moment but though if a person thinks she's bound but that means a bound percept of all these problems i'm limited i cannot do this i'm so weak some this and that if a person dwells on one's own limitations and shortcomings and things i am bound i am bound bound he will become we make ourselves what we are and we can by thinking only pure thoughts positive thoughts we can shape our future we can reach god positive thank you nobody is all these motivational speakers speak about positive thinking books many books ashtavakra said that in one simple statement in this 11th verse and it says people say very important phrase to remember as my thought is so my destination where i go depends upon what i think my future depends on upon my present thoughts thoughts actions and speech very important instruction that you can apply every moment in your life up to this all the practical instructions rashtravakar gives in the first chapter then he gives to janaka much of his teachings is about your true nature you are that the entire essence of ashtavakra's teachings that he gave to janaka we can see that nicely summarized bashankara in the nirvana should come kusum ji sang so nicely m no something none of these things then what am i supreme reality shiva absolutely i am not born by the four stages of life they're all at the body-mind level only it's the mind that thinks i'm a sannyasi i'm also it does not test the atman the atman has no such different phases of life it's all one continuous pure consciousness on and like this that the remaining teaching is all about the self being the absolute joy blessed are them now in the first chapter ashtavakra teaches janaka the nature of one's true self which is divine example in the third verse in the first chapter um if you aspire for liberation then you have to think who am i what i'm what is my true nature then it says these are five elements means earth water fire air and space five elements pancha mahabharata everything is made of none of these things the body is made up made up of these fighting this the bond is made up of these fightings i am none of those shivoham shivoham sakshinam atmanam i am the witness of all these five things are maintenance with the whole universe i'm not a part of the universe i'm witness i'm witnessing consciousness chitraopam of the nature of pure consciousness truth did he know this for liberation so thus ashtavakra's teaching to janaka on self-knowledge who what is our true identity most of their people muslim them most of the time think we are their body and the mind that's our whole life transpires which is a total ignorance misunderstanding you're none of this what we think we are we are we don't understand you can't surpass shankara's expression for its beauty and succinctness in a few words he conveys a sublime philosophy very nicely i'm not sure then continues his teaching the the four uh categories so social divisions brahma nakshatriya vaisha is in general all societies but in different ways the classification the distinction manifests in different ways we pray we promise of brahmana we have studied the who has gone through the rituals um of this brahmanaksha vaisha sudra that all belongs to the body-mind levels of ignorance you are the atman were no no burnham these are the foreverness four categories in society now astronomy astronomy different stages of life traditionally in our um dharma hindu thinking a person goes through four stages of life brahmacharya state studentship when the only purpose is uh to observe celibacy and brahmacharya means observing celibacy and gaining knowledge no other concern at that time only one is a student then one per becomes a householder dressed up marries and has a family and then when after some time experiencing householder's life gradually dispassion sets him if you go through examine all our experiences and reflect on your experiences which is what we are supposed to do then we learn the undependable nature of everything where are you welcome that's the white purpose of householders life is not only to enjoy but to reflect and develop this passion by the time you are finished with householders life you are ready for one aprista sharma one of prasa means literally going to the forest those days people are going even kings used to go to the forest giving their kingdom entrusting their kingdom to the eldest son prince and king and queen would repair to the forest spend their time in contemplation on the divine no it is not practical we can do that same thing in our own place you can downsize and go to a smaller apartment sell the big house and we need a lot so many cars where we just keep on simplifying downsizing and spending our time more and more in contemplation you are not that that that does not belong to the athletes all at the mind level only body mind level only and then sanyasa some people take monastic vows to pursue a spiritual life full time with no other concerns and responsibilities depending upon society for their support that is sannyasa monastic life that also atman does not have you're none of these the four stages of life don't apply to you then it continues australia continues his teaching in the first chapter then he says this verse number 16 in chapter 1 s [Music] this whole universe is pervaded the body does not prevent the equality by a very small part infinitesimal part of the universe but as consciousness as the self as pure consciousness whole universe how we pervade the whole universe not in the body's mind-sense but as consciousness same consciousness in me the same infinite consciousness everywhere in all bodies speaking in devotional terms in terms of personal god devotees say same god is present in all one diminishing present in all johnny says same consciousness perverts the whole universe in the gita bhagavad-gita 13th chapter second verse there is says i am present in the bodies of all human beings 13th chapter verse 226 27 all those places i am present in the bodies of all the beings in all the bodies totally human bodies animal bodies plant bodies inanimate bodies whole of nature earth sun moon storms everything all of these bodies i pervade them present in them how is it possible a simple example is given supposing you take a ring gold made of gold people wearing and that ring is made of gold the gold gold pervades the entirety of the ring whole ring is made of gold present everywhere in the ring is present but you don't call it gold you call it ring why gold becomes a ring when gold becomes a ring when it's given in shape and form and function when the gold is made into shape of a ring that can be worn on the finger is called a ring then in gold is called ring still gold whether you make a ring from gold or a necklace or earring or whatever from gold gold is gold but you call it by different names this is called ring this called earring this is called necklace what is the difference between necklace and gold no difference materially same material but what makes it different what makes a ring different from gold is the name and forum that is superimposed that are superimposed on the gold the name and forum that makes of things appear different one consciousness appearing as many different things as people as animals as plants as nature as earth some moon you are the only one your true nature is that the other things are simply superimposition of names and forms and functions truth is i am that pure consciousness so he says verse number 16 in chapter one ashtavakra's instructions by you the whole universe is pervaded just as the whole ring is provided by gold this whole universe exists in you how is it possible how can the whole universe exist in me not in the body body does not contain whole universe a limited thing but as pure consciousness whole universe how is it to understand this one how the whole universe is contained in me um we see the example supposing a person has a dream in sleep personally sleeping alone in the bedroom but he is experiencing a dream in the dream whole world appears all world dream world appears that person is there dreamer is there and other people come and play a part there is enjoyment party there is some suffering there is laughter and crying and whole thing happens in the dream and it is real when we are experiencing dream it is real we don't know it is real but what happens to all the people who came in our dream supposing a tiger comes in the dream what happens to tiger when i wake up is it hiding in the closet no it all went back from to the same place where it came to mind it's the mind that projects the whole universe sees different things and the whole universe goes back into the into the atmana like a dream dreamworld is projected everything happens good bad demolish withdrawn only sleeper remains before he went to bed the sleeper was there during train the sleeper was there alone nobody was there nobody came no no tiger came nothing came and when the dream ends he's still the same person that is such a dumb i am alone that you are hisses so thus ashtavakra gives the teachings essence of advaita vedanta in the first chapter now what happens the second chapter is very interesting after listening to ashtavakra's teachings janaka realizes that he is not the body man he is the brahmana is the atman janaka gets self-knowledge after listening to ashtavakra's teachings it does not happen in a moment lifelong preparation has been done by janaka manila over many lifetimes culmination in this life so over many lifetimes a person has to work hard with spiritual practice and last birth realizes god becomes only the divine merges and their end cycle of birth and death sri ramakrishna said a very optimistic very nice message that those who come here this is their last birth here means to him but what about people like us who could not miss krishna personally in a physical sense but we have taken his name we are devoted trying to be devoted to him he tried to follow his teachings to the extent we can and we take total refuge in him accepted him as our guide as our guru as our father as our mother everything is he so that is a good news that janaka had that experience in this life he became a brahmana then when he becomes a brahmanyani he tries to explain his experiences what is does it feel what does it feel like being a brahman not a body and a mind transcending body mind consciousness if a person experiences divine nature how does it feel how to express that one that means for example sriram krishna used to go into samadhi every now and then then he was totally silent body would almost stop functioning even breathing could not be seen stillness he was experiencing some of the oneness oneness the divine nobody consciousness nothing then when people asked him what do you feel when you're going to samadhi he couldn't explain he was heard the experience on a daily basis but still he could not explain what does it feel like to be in samadhi our experiences cannot be put into words not only samadhi experience not only ahmadyana cannot self knowledge cannot be explained but even by those who have it even ordinary experiences cannot be explained to other people we'll come to that sriram krsna says everything is defiled by the tongue we like to talk about everything in the world good and bad and all kinds of things people we like to talk about it endlessly only brahman remains undefined we cannot say anything about brahman no description is possible abram how do we know then only by experiencing it these things have to be known by experience only not be reading about its samadhi and self-knowledge in books etc they help in the beginning state to some extent that's why we say here expressions such as ram expressions in the gospel also in other scriptures this experience of being the self our true nature cannot be put in words in the theater punishad there is a very nice passage says the mind mana the mind watch all the speech they both go to ascertain what brahman is but they both came defeated failed in their attempts to know brahman mind cannot think what abraham is it's not in thoughts you cannot capture in thoughts what brahman is beyond the domain of the mind speech can much less experience what brahman is in words thoughts and speech cannot capture describe brahman then how is it brahman to be known then only be experiencing it how to experience that one by doing some kind of spiritual practice yoga bhakti yoga whatever you do to gain the experience that only gives our truth to knowledge that cannot be put in words what to speak of that even ordinary experiences supposing i have toothache and i'm i'm telling oh how to take i was hurting here and i tell somebody that person young person has not had any good problems so far it may come later but so far he has not to no two thing how does he know how can i explain my two tech to him if he himself had tooth then he knows what i mean but if he had never had to take some people are fortunate they don't have any tooth egg to them how can i explain my tooth asthma not possible so sometimes i give another example it's just like a very young first time young mother young woman has given birth to her first child and she's holding her newborn baby close to her chest you can see the joy in her face the joy that she is experiencing if you ask her how do you feel what can she say unless another person has the same experience of being a mother only that person can understand it's like seeing the niagara falls somebody comes from india and he with niagara falls and it goes back and people were not went to america they asked him how did he do what was never when he went to niagara falls how was it oh it was so wide and big and so nice and beautiful that's all you can say can i convey his experience of seeing niagara falls to other person who has never been seen videographer cannot how does he have to know then by himself going to niagara falls and watch experience with them so this is what we're in the upanishad janaka is trying to explain his experience of self-knowledge what is any possible task in the upanishads we read in the kenya punisher there's a very nice verse a group of students go to a element teacher a brahmajani teachers students are seekers they go to a teacher and ask him ask they ask him sir can you please explain brahma brahman how what is it like to get knowledge of brahman and if the teaching has brahma ghana experience how can you explain that can't be put in words even ordinary experiences cannot be put in words or to speak a brahmagana self not then he said this is what the teacher says to the students we ask him to explain what self-knowledge means what does it mean to be like brahman he says brahmagany teacher confesses to these seeking students eyes cannot go there i cannot see brahman now speech cannot capture burma again words i cannot explain what brahman is no mind cannot go there like even cannot think think in mind what brahman is like beyond the mind also naveed mo namija anymore i don't know now i cannot figure out you have to invite yourself i can tell you how to end the experience i can tell you sadhana spiritual practice everything to do you do that one you get the experience then you will know but i can put in what's my experience so in this way self-knowledge cannot be explained but janaka tries to explain his experience after getting self knowledge that's in the second chapter then he says januka says first verse what he feels it is like to gain self-knowledge he says [Music] however many years have passed in my life so far mohena eva vedanta i've been cheated by the power of whale of maya i've been under delusion there's a whole world i'm experiencing is real i'm the body i'm the mind and i've spent my whole life until now under this total misapprehension ignoring the time the body mind world is real i've been cheated i've not experienced until now i have not experienced my true nature i am really in niranjana ninja means spotless that means free from all upadhi's spotless immaculate body mind are not spotless full of impurities mind also brahman is absolutely spotless that means no upadhi no satwara jason thomas for brahman beyond the three goodness all kinds of bodies attachments and impurities and good thoughts and bad thoughts and pain and pleasure this faith that is the fate of the body man atman and none of this niranjana absolutely peaceful brahman when a person gains self-knowledge experiences total permanent unconditional peace not the ordinary worldly peace that we experience from time to time our ordinary worldly peace when i say i am peaceful that means nothing is bothering me at this moment but that next moment it will change something happens to upset my peace i become disturbed that's not true peace the peace we get from early happiness temporary freedom from problems for some time shortly would be that is not peace at all true peace comes only by knowing our true infinite brahman nature that kind of peace cannot be explained in words christians call it peace that passath understanding we can't explain that peace we only know worldly peace temporary number and then that's not true peace at all i'm pure consciousness not the body not the material body mind is all material material means that anything that is made up of matter anything that is composite in nature you should fall apart and disintegrate in time you take anything made up of more than one thing for example you take a automobile car how many parts are there thousands of parts are there they are manufactured in different countries with different companies assembled in one one place and the car begins to function as a car the sooner or later they fall the when the parts begin to malfunction something other fails and it falls apart you replace it that falls apart eventually called the car which run it beautifully at some time and swap in the junkyard just what happens to all bodies not only automobile body human body animal body plant body earth sun everything same fate though that is not the truth brahman alone is free from any kind of change no change all other things will go through six changes as we have studied before this is totally changeless eternal infinite pure consciousness that is what i am that is liberation knowing that i am the body mind is the total ignorance and cause of all suffering i've been duped by now until now by the illusion that i was their body and demons delusion now if i do this i'll be happy if i get this job i'll be happy if i marry and have children grandchildren i'll be happy if i make more money i'll be happy all mohawk only they do temporarily they do bring some happiness conditional then go away that's not true happiness that you know from bhagavad study of bhagavad-gita in a very telling fashion shri krishna describes the undependable highly temporary ever changing nature of worldly happiness in one shloka in the gita you heard that so many times i mentioned that on chapter 5 shloka 22 the only happiness that we think is happiness for which we strive so hard all our lives is not happiness at all [Music] that comes from contact of sense organ with sense object so all our happiness we know is of that nature now all the happiness that i know people know he is the result of contact of one or more sense organs with one or more sense object on that contact is construed by the mind is happiness sometimes same contact is thought of as unhappiness by the same mind there's nothing fixed about it and it's temporary arjun tavanta a beginning and an end therefore a wise person does not depend on them does not hank does not seek this worldly happiness only true source of permanent eternal peace and joy unconditional infinite eternal honor the bliss is the self that's the one goal that we have to try to reach then we'll do one more sloka this whole world which we are seeing is a separate entity ordinarily we think god is separate world is separate only separate from god that's what an ordinary person thinks but gyani say there's no such thing as separate word all brahman itself appears as the world there is no separate thing apart from brahman the world is not so it's not a separate independent entity the same thing appears as something else due to ignorance whale of maya covers it just like a rope appears as a snake in darkness semi-darkness there are now two different things open snake only rope is there that appears something else different from what it actually is in the same way only brahman is there infinite eternal pure consciousness due to the power of mayam ignorance we see the world as we see brahman as the world of names and forms good and bad pain pleasure that ignorance can be removed and when it removed we experience the eternal peace and joy of knowing department that is explained in the fourth verse in the second chapter vijayanagara is explaining his experiences [Music] his experience is explaining just as the waves tarangami the waves on a surface of water on the surface of the sea or ocean china means the the form foam that you can see in on the edge of water buddha among the bubbles all of them appear on the surface of water are they different from water are absolutely actually they are all water only names and forums and appearance are different in the same way whatever we see in this world so much variety infinite variety good and bad good people bad people highly extremely good and bad all those things that we see infinite variety of things they are not different from permanent just like the waves and form and the bubbles are not different from water the same thing appears appearing in that way this world is not separate from the atman this whole world is contained in the in brahman just as the snake which you are seeing really it is not a snake it's a a rope but due to ignorance we see it as a as a snake there's no snake at all only rope is there the world is like a snake frightening so much suffering this some this challenge and that problem enjoying crying sometimes little bit enjoying none of it is actually absolutely true it's all like listening it will disappear in a trace in a moment moment we achieve self-knowledge everything this only brahman remains ah this was the truth all the time i just did not know that realization comes that way in that way janaka explains his experiences really it can't be explained in words but as much as he can that is janaka's response to ashtavakra's teachings even in the first chapter we shall stop here is going to sing very good foreign um [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] is [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] hidden talent but no longer very nice thank you let us uh say the closing prayer om survey bhavanth [Music] so [Music] may all be free from ill health and other problems they all realize and practice what is noble dharmic and auspicious men won't be subject to suffering home peace may there be peace and joy in our hearts may there be peace and harmony amongst all beings and may there be peace everywhere in nature no suffering due to natural calamities [Music] next sunday swami atma gandhi will speak and his topic will be peeling the onion he spoke about this topic recently anatomy of the onion the pancha koshas surrounding the atman so we'll speak on that next week peeling the onion is topic we have classes every day of the week you can get all the details from our website vedantadc.org please try to attend as many of these classes as possible either you can come personally or you can watch from home all these will be either live streamed or will be on uh soon thank you very much have a nice afternoon stay well until next week you