Video 5

Astavakra's Teachings, Part VI

this is fantastic such a beautiful shrine so the Great devotees all children of the Holy Miller this opportunity to speak a few words about the highest teachings let me begin with the prayer this is from shankaracharya's protest Marana stotram to be chanted and contemplated every morning oh this is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] in the morning I meditate within my heart on the self-effulgent Atman the existence Consciousness Bliss absolute the goal of the Great ascetics the Transcendent and the eternal who is beyond the states of waking dream and sleep I am merely that indivisible brahmana and not a combination of material elements that this body mind complex is foreign and this is the conversation between them accuse us certain not accused us but points out to janaka you are a king you're an emperor your enjoying all this Kingdom Royal treasury wealth Queen all the pleasures how can you do these things janaka says every mechanic can do anything at all but is not affected by anything they just know Agency for action and he has no book the term is not affected by the fruits of his action in other days nor does he enjoy the fruits of his actions he is above action karma karma phalab do anything so I'm ruling the kingdom because it is it's my duty but I'm not affected by that by that one so he says can do anything and he has no trace of fear of anything Ordinary People knows we have so many fear all kinds of fear ordinary people suffer from Fear fear of old age disease death of poverty other kinds of problems in life but abrahimikyani is absolutely free from any trace of fear and Janika says I have no fear I can do I have to immediate Duty I'm not attached to my actions I'm not attached to the kingdom or anything property or wealth as long as necessary I will do my duty and am not affected by the fruits of my action total fearlessness that is mentioned in the brother and a cooperation there we read which is widest fear come of everybody has fear of some kind or other why does fear from where what is the cause of fear and that the Punisher says the moment a person perceives an object apart from oneself here means not the body mind the Atman the moment I deviate from my self-knowledge pursue other people my body my sense organs things that moment I am vulnerable to fear if them they absolutely by myself Atman nobody else no world no Universe nobody no mind no sense no objects then where is the cause of fear the moment I pursued a second object with em then all kinds of fear I'm vulnerable to I am prone to fear therefore a Brahma gyani who is the self who is Atman is enjoying his experiencing infinite pure Consciousness nature such is done on the every moment there is no second thing where is the cause of fear so janaka explains that one foreign there is no fear of loss fear of sickness disease old age or even death or even rebirth foreign face death we are all afraid of death and the suffering that comes before death but brahmagani has no fear of suffering or of death why because nowhere of Brahman the body death of the body is just like changing the Garment giving up an old word note garment when a government becomes old one fit to be used we throw it aside and put any new government death is like the death of the physical body is like that one this body which is like a garment to me I'm not the body I'm the Atman already person thinks I am the body whatever happens body is happening to me but not for Abram again it's a garment it comes and goes if it becomes old worn out unfit to be used I throw it aside and put on a new body a new garment this chanaka explains Freedom From Fear that comes in the deathly appreciate also there said says varuna says to his son the student he approaches his father that was the tradition of those days father used to be the teacher and brugu asked his father please teach me about Brahman foreign and then among other things this is what his father Verna says to his son is no fear where a person who knows Brahman for such a person there is no fear from any source from whatever total fearlessness that is what janaka explains and then in the next segment of their conversation in chapter 5 of ashtavakram samhita says with several examples explains how a person can give up the body mind Consciousness attachment to Body Mind sense organs and subjects and experiences divine nature as brahmana how it can be done so this will know the three traditional three steps of advaita vedanta of vedanta hearing about the truth from a qualified teacher hearing has to be done after preparing oneself with the four disciplines time that we are familiar with that one First Step hearing if the student is fully prepared is established in viveka vairagya that means in ability to discern the difference between real real and unreal or established in total Detachment I will not call renunciation but Detachment from everything ready such a student fully prepared student once here's the truth from the mouth of the teacher fully qualified teacher that thou art that Messi that's enough the field is fully prepared and the moment truth is heard it becomes the experience of the the student experiences it right away you say the teacher says you are that Brahman not the body mind see student replies yes no dealing that's for the ideal Seeker on the ideal student but for other people it takes a long time so we have to repeatedly meditate on the truth the truth is we're all only there is Brahman one alone reality Ultimate Reality foreign Place attributeless pure consciousness and that is what there is and we are all that we are not the bodyman sensor that we think we are that is ignorance sheer ignorance so how to do this one how to shift our awareness from this body mind and the world other people what's happening who said what who did what from that how can I experience my divine nature that has to be better than the three steps hearing after preparation first four step preparation then next step is reflecting on what we hear simply reading or hearing once will not do that will repeatedly do the hearing shravanam repeatedly reflect on what we hear then if you do the banana properly analyzing the truth analyzing what we hear think about deeply considering it from all aspects examining it from all aspects relating it to our own experience then what happens gradually becomes deep meditation then what do we think that's what ashtavka is going to explain in chapter 5 with four examples four ways to do this reflection this meditation the first one there are only four verses in deep in chapter five says how to reflect meditate on the Atman he says foreign that means dissolve the ego Liam means dissolution undergo dissolution resolution of what and Diego and the mind and sensor organs all those things then what remains only the self how to dissolve the ego Liam how to reject that as untruth and become established in the truth that I am the self that he explains it in four different ways first one is qurbani sangata means from the study of the Gita 13th chapter you must be familiar with the term sanghata means a collection of various things brought together put together held together something there is not one substance but in agglomeration collection of many different things brought together put together held together such a collection is called sanghata known what's an example of shanghata tell me something which is not such a collection in the world mention think of one thing that is not a collection of many things everything you take the automobile vehicle how many parts thousands of parsitters the parts are made in different parts of different countries assembly line is they're all brought together assembled should be there and becomes a ultimate bill in the same way think of this body how many parts are there innumerable parts so many different parts bones and muscles and nerves and all those things they're all brought together they're all parts of nature five elements and somehow put together and held together this is the collection now what is the problem with being a collection there is a principle in sancha which says anything that is a collection of more than one substance is short disintegrate into its components in course of time you will not stay as a collection what happens to automobile after driving couple of hundred thousand miles Things Fall Apart it goes to the junkyard and the parts are separated they are sold reused and see what happens in the body I know as long as functioning reasonably well with all the parts held together functioning what happens all the components of which it is made this integrate and go back into nature merges with air problem just with cosmic energy and all the material goes back into the Earth there's a fate of all objects in this world here it says rejecting anything that is a collection Atman is the only thing that is not a collection the only thing needed in that is not a collection of many things one pure substance is a self-adhman what is it pure Consciousness no parts no change infinite Eternal pure Consciousness that is what we are not the collection of body mind that's what the opening prayer said shankaracharya says this one you are not the collection of body means and organs you are the Atman which is one pure substance you will come to that later now instruction is meditate on this one thing that I am not the collection I mean it's not the body mind the self a pure pure Consciousness not made up of parts so that does not fall apart into component there's no components one pure stuff I am the infrared Eternal unchanging No Beginning No End no birth no death all these things change changes happen to the sanghata anything you say collection disintegrates false apart it was not like that before things are all separate at some point they come together functions for some time and then everything goes back disintegrates it into the components Atman does not have any of these things so that is what you are first instruction thinking that you are not the bodyman which is a collection of things which will fall apart sooner later meditate that you are the Atman one pure Consciousness infinite eternal unchangeless always presents that is first instruction dissolution means becoming completely free from any trace of attachment to the body some subject any object other people place money no attachment they are not me they're all sanghata they go away eternal I am that one like this we should think every day all the time then what we think visualize becomes our experience has said what is today's imagination visualization will become tomorrow's experience what we think that we become that we have seen before in the first chapter verse number had said what do you think that will become if you think you are free you will become free your thing if you're if you think you are born you become bound Aries that we studied before what we think that we become what we are is what you have thought this personality whatever he is today go to a very bad healthy and healthy educated or uneducated whatever this is is nothing but the collection of various things put together impression by impression by myself so what we visualize today meditate upon today that will become more experience in course of time that's why Starbucks says meditate that you are not the collection of material things body mind you are the Atman one without a second there is no second entity um now why this rejection of the sanghata what is sanghat actually let's understand a little bit more about the the nature of the embodiment which is a collection of things what are the things sufficient is made of this is familiar with us from the study of the Gita in the about Gita 13th chapter is presented there are two entities only one Brahman nothing else no second but according to this view their purusa prakrita to are there on his prakriti is made up of components he uses the word bhagwan uses the word in 13th chapter meets the field this body is referred to is as a field this body is called foreign for two reasons one reason is that which perishes in course of time does not stay for a long time it changes and pressures therefore it is this body is like that all bodies not only this body the whole of nature the sun stores the moon whatever is there galaxies they all exist for some time they change and they perish disintegrate just the nature of all ketra second reason why is the body is called dixitra is a field a farmer who owns a field what a farmer does in the field same thing we do in our body what is a farmer do he prepares the field sows the seeds and expects a crop to grow in course of time we do same thing we use this Body Mind as a field we do all the actions in the body mind everything that would happens in the body and mind sense organs and everything that we do produces the result that you know good good bad bad none escaped gallop so just like a farmer serves the seed and reaps the crop we do our actions and leave the benefit result of the crop if you do good deeds we Goods results will come be happy if you do bad Deeds we suffer an happiness comes that's why the body but it's called and this ketra is not one thing it's made up of many different things according to this view that incept 24 different things are made or put together to make this one body in the gospels refers to them as the 24 Cosmic principles 24 different things are there in this one not one thing so many things they have fall apart what are the 24 things 24 Cosmic principles easy way to remember there is only there is one couplet in the Gita if you remember that 24 Cosmic principles were listed there visited remember what are the 24 things of if the body is mine you will get number number the five Great elements subtle elements the main component of the mind is ego buddhi intellect the thinking part reasoning word objective the unmanifested organ is the mind living centers five sense objects think that you think that you can see with our eyes things we can hear from her so we can hear from our ears with our ears and things we can test with our hands like that if you had all these you get 24 and this body mind is mind also is a complex of these 24 things anything that is a complex is sure to disintegrate into its components and disappear so I am not that I am the one Eternal principle not a complex of things one one substance pure Consciousness no parts No Beginning No End and eternal changeless infinite that I am that's how we should become disengage yourself from the sanghata sanghatalya means disengage yourself from this all things that are made up of many things compound composite thing you are the Atman that is first instruction that Australia gives how to meditate on the Atman every day I'm not the bodyman complex I am the Atman which is one without a second not made up of faults that is what shankara is the beginning of I chanted this sloka exactly same thing shankara says innocent very famous means remembrance recollection means him every morning we have to sit down and remember what we Are Who We Are morning prayer in Chicago this time we all used to gather in the morning and chant this many hymns of which this was the first one says what Australia says give up the notion that you are the composite of things you are not you are Brahman one without a second exactly same thing shankara says in this this verse which Ashanti did the beginning he says here foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] in the morning first thing I remember it in my heart I meditate we are always aware of it always you are aware of the soul of the Atman sachidananda this is the goal of all Seekers of self-knowledge paramaha 3M it is the fourth one transcending the three states of awareness which you go through every day waking dream and dreamless deep sleep it aborts in all these three and is beyond this trip dream waking and deep sleep away it awaits in all these and it stays that is substratum of all these things against the background of three years the three states revolve sometimes making sometimes dreaming something sleeping just like the screen stays one screen in the movie house quiet screen nothing is there on that one but three different movies are projected every day one at three o'clock when at six o'clock one late night movie but screen remains unaffected in movies so many things happen so many people come so many people party fighting everything happens but screen remains absolutely unaffected no matter what happens in the three movies that Atman is like that it abides him all through all the three states of awareness which you go through whatever happens in Free State whatever happens in a breaking State good bad suffering praise blame enjoyment whatever happens in dream and nothing happens in dreamless deep Sleep State none of these things affects me they're all like the movies happening only Shadow light and sound nothing nobody come nobody goes it appears like that it appears so many things are happening the movie Jaws the shark comes people are afraid but the screen remains unaffected it's even not fighting when the Jaws appears on the movie when they when the shark appears and they moving when fighting happens the screen is not affected I am the screen not the movies the whole breaking State whole world is like a movie the things come and go I'm not that one yes from All Things no change freed immaculate that Brahman is I'm not the collection of elements brought together the body Health together comes and goes changes every moment body is changing old age disease death birth nothing happens to me I am changeless Eternal self that is what we should think first thing in the morning then we can go about the daily world that is what is this is the only first instruction three more instructions are there like this one then let us go to a second instruction that is how to regain our our original nature ourself how to experience ourselves the second instruction is deform in the sea in we see our ocean the four means small small bubbles and what happened the phone where do they come from where did the phone comes from from the water what is the form same as the water how long does it stay for a short time what happens to it it all the foam disappear all the bubbles break and becomes go backs into water this whole world is like that one all of us are like that one here it says let me read the translation the universe rises from you like bubbles rise from the ocean thus knowing the Atman to be one like the ocean and not many like the varied bubbles dissolve the ego and become free second hint to meditate I am the ocean one without a second on the water everywhere present the bubbles whole world Universe body mind everything or like the bubbles so there are five things to be noted here first thing is the bubbles the form is made of the same substance as the water it's made up of water it's not different experience it nicely what we see as the universe of names and forms good bad people animals plants things sun star moon what is all this only pure Consciousness Brahman appearing as this one as form is nothing but water appearing as form water itself everything is that Brahman alone how do you understand this one Krishna in the gospel he says a person goes to the roof of fed building by climbing stairs one by one one by one staircase assist climbs up he lives behind the stairs on the floor and everything reaches the top group then that's the nearest the top then he comes down same step by step down then she comes down and stands on the ground again he realizes what these roof is made up of same stepance of substance of which all the staircase on the floor are made up of there's only one Farms are different names are different spot is called staircase steps one two three four floor and that part is called the roof but only one in the same way Eric Johnny who experiences the self true nature of the self he realizes that there is no only one pure consciousness appearing because all the divers things multifarious things in the universe so that is one one thing we have to think about the ocean no the first one the bubbles are made up of the same substance water acoustic ocean is made there are one and the same second point to think about the Bubbles arise from the ocean where do they come from from the ocean so this whole universe come from that Brahman just like the bubbles the form comes from the ocean in the same way the whole Cosmos creation comes from where from that one source from source of all that's what individual says to his son there he says all these beings brings me not only human beings animals plants and star nature galaxies everything all these beings from where they all come on sustaining power everything is held together sustained functions because of the God's power in them that you know from the Gita everything happened The Sun Shines because of God's power in it the moon sent because of God's power in the moon Fire Burns because of God's power in the fire same thing can no punishers the whole upanishad starts with the question by whom impelled by whom by whose power this whole universe is functioning the power of Brahman only one thing is there that is the second point to meditate about everything arranges from the brahmana whole universe and third point everything in the world Inn innumerable infinite number of things are there every one thing is different from every other thing there are no two things exactly alike in this one infinite variety as many things there are so much varieties there if you take any one tree different from the next tree no true teeth are like different number of branches and if you take two leaves on the same twig in a tree they are not identical the difference each little bit different from the next leaf in the same way every single thing infinite number of things in this universe each of them is separate different different qualities different appearance different nature but all of them are made of the same substance the resolve into one pure Consciousness no quality is not white it is not black it is not big it is not small no quality attributeless pure Brahman that I am I identify by mistake with this changing entities as the body meant I think and the body made that's ignorance shedding this ignorance let me remember my true nature which is always true even though I am that I maybe not be aware of that one but truth is always true whether I am experiencing it or not whether you believe it or not whether they buy it or not truth is always true does not depend upon my belief or experience even now the truth is that I am that Brahman we should remember that one that is second point then the third one is the third one is infinite number and variety the fourth one is everything in this universe stays for a finite duration of time and disappears you name one thing there's always there no something stay for a long time big things like Galaxy they've that they stay for trillions and trillions and trillions of years and some things for a short time people leave for 80 90 100 years and some small instruction per delay for only a few months and same Small Things live for only a short time but everything ends in time the thing that is Everlasting permanent everything stays for a short step so the body and the mind one day it's going to go away I am not that one I am that Eternal infinite Brahman that thought we had to put into your mind that's the fifth point is what happens to the whole universe what happens to my body mind they all go back to Resource from here from where they came that's what Punisher says yet pray empty that from which everything came that by which everything is sustained that unto which everything goes back and merges at the end of their cycle effect system we came from the Earth all the matter material everything goes back and merges in the five elements same thing about the whole universe come from them one is sustained by the power of Brahman goes back and murder sent to Brahman only Brahman remains unchanged Eternal these things come and go come not these things I am that Brahman it's the five pointers given in one verse in the in a second verse some bubbles are very small some very big others are in between some stay for only a few seconds some stay longer all of them burst and merge back into the ocean all beings are like that some people are very strong and big and well educated and intelligent and Rich and everything same people are not they are poor people an educated sick people all of them regardless of what they are who they are come from the same source duration of time some stay for longer time some shorter time everything goes back but just into the source from where they came from in the same way the universe like the bubbles emanates from the self and consists of infinite things of infinite variety everything in the universe is constantly changing and transient everything is changing nothing is prominent just as the bubbles merge back into the ocean and become one with the ocean so the universe and everything in it merge back into itself only self remains Unchained eternal and you are that self not the body mind sense complex which is limited Ever Changing comes and goes so with all this is nicely explained in one verse in the second chapter of the Gita easy to remember Gita is familiar to us the upanishads we have to study more hmm he did in his second chapter sloka number 20. Krishna explains all of this in just two lines about the Atman who am I not the body mind he says um what am I am that self infinite Eternal self called Brahman in the upanishad you may be called by any name the prince is called Brahman or Atman I am that one what's its nature does not take birth body takes birth they all take birth the universe they say came into exist in 13 some billion years ago they say scientists say and you'll stay for another few billion years and it will go away it won't be there everything is a beginning and then again no death it'll never be absent in the future it will never represent in their past no birth Eternal always present permanent e days that is what you are you are not the embodiment comes and goes see this thought again and again in many different ways using many different examples sent to us it's meant for people like us we want to know God we want to know our true nature this soil two more things are there we'll study them next time then he gives the famous in the next 10 years famous example of the mistaking in the Europe for this neck and all those things will come we will stop here and God willing we shall continue next time in the opportunity comes Associated closing prayer foreign [Music] [Music] thank you all and have a great afternoon and a great week closing soon you're going to pick it up [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] so much pressure [Music] [Music] he came along [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] each other [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] beautiful beautiful numbers [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] no no no no no no [Music] [Applause] again [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] thanks