Video 12

Introduction to Vedanta Part 12 (Final) - Swami Sarvapriyananda - June 28 2016

Oh Misato Mossad gamma yah Thomas OMA Joe dear gamaya RIT Daruma um written gamma yah Oh aunty shanti shanti home leaders from the unreal to the real leaders from darkness unto light leaders from death unto immortality Oh peace peace peace we were studying the trig ratio vivica and we are almost virtually at the end of the text which is a part of our introduction to Vedanta series the 42nd verse we did up to the 41st purse last time the 42nd verse para martica ji was too Haram our Takashi versed Oh Brahm high compare amar tecum my Kamala Marty come break 80 weak shotty nanyat rutti deva katta nanyat each shot eat one without mana he got eaten mana the witness the witness self knows itself to be one with brahman knows its own brahmin nature and does not know anything else as existing or even if it is aware of anything else the world it is aware of it of the world as false as an appearance what does it mean at the point where we are in the trigger Shiva wake up we have already completed the major portion of the text now the other has sort of appended a section towards the end where he takes up a single question the question is this after the entire teaching that I am existence consciousness bliss if I reflect upon this teaching for a while it's very natural to have a question if I am Brahman who is this individual who is the individual who is under ignorance who is the individual coming to learn Vedanta because Brahman does not is never under ignorant Brahman does not need Vedanta then who is this person you're saying I am Brahman then then who is the person who is trying to get liberation why should Brahman try to get liberation so what is the nature of the individual self that is the question it's inevitable this question will come up to answer that the 1/3 says think of how you experience yourself as an individual how do we experience ourselves as an individual in 3 individuals he speaks about 3 experiences as an individual one is the way we experience ourselves in our dreams when we go to sleep we have dreams and we are there in our own dreams we create a dream world and while we are in the dreams we do not think it's a dream it seems real to us and we are very much there we are part of it that is one individual experience we have as ourselves in the dream world when we wake up we wake up to this reality here we are every day we go to sleep we dream perhaps and then wake up and we come back to this life so this is another individual experience we have we experience ourselves as individuals in the waking world these are the two experiences which we have as individuals all of us have whether we come to Vedanta or not but what we have learned throughout this text is that we are really the witness self we are not this person we experience ourselves to be this person mr. so-and-so or mrs. so-and-so this person is also an object of our awareness we are aware of ourselves as this person who has come to learn Vedanta who has got this life history this person with its hopes and frustrations ambitions dreams this person is also observed who or what is observing this person beyond the body beyond the mind a witness of body and mind that consciousness is what this text calls the Sakshi the witness so that's another experience we have that are we we are seeking ourselves to know ourselves as that witness self three selves it speaks of who is the individual the dream self every night we dream and we are in the dream that the dream self the awaking self which we experience ourselves as this person and with the help of Vedanta we realized we are the witness now he has given three names to it the dream self he calls the prati Waseca Jeeva the illusory self the waking self he calls Divya Bihari cagiva the transactional or empirical self and the witness the pure consciousness witness which we learnt about from this text he calls it the paramita Cagiva the absolute self now he's speaking about the absolute self he says the absolute self is one with brahman in fact we realize ourselves as the absolute self only when we realize that we are one with brahman the pure consciousness the witness of the mind is the one which is one with brahman when in Vedanta Advaita Vedanta we come across the maha vaakya the great statements of identity dr. Thomas E hum Brahm has me I am Atmaram pranam Brahma one from each of the Vedas all of them say with the same thing that you are Brahman in these identity statements the you they are talking about you they are talking about is this witness you not the waking individual not the dream individual the dream individual privacy Cagiva is not one with brahman the awaking individual the varaha Rika Jeeva is not one with Brahman the via Veronica Jeeva thinks of itself as related to this body and mind the paramita Cagiva the absolute individual the witness is one with brahman so when the open assured says thought worm I see that thou art that Brahman existence consciousness bliss thou art all student you are Brahman which you is are they talking about it is this witness self is Parramatta cagiva now it goes on to say that the Parramatta cagiva does not see anything else experiences all as Brahman does not see anything else or if it does it sees the other as an appearance what does it mean it can be two interpretations of this when we realize ourselves as existence consciousness bliss the verse tells us you do not see anything else now if this person is in Samadhi in a state of mystic absorption obviously the person will not experience anything as any other object and nothing in the world outside we get so many examples of this in the gospel of sri ramakrishna whenever he would go into Samadhi one common characteristic was he would be unaware of the external world even unaware of his own body there was a doctor who tested him he was standing the descriptions are he's standing like a picture so absolutely beyond transcending the body and the doctor actually poked his eyelid and his eyeball with a finger to see if the natural reaction is there and there is no reaction they took a pulse there is no pulse so much absorption so this person in deep Samadhi in deep mystic absorption is not experiencing anything as they say here but what is a there is a deeper meaning here not just somebody what is meant here is when one realizes oneself as Brahman one realizes everything is Brahman and hence does not realize does not see anything as other than himself maybe experiencing the world everything that this person experiences is Brahman may not be in Samadhi maybe with eyes open and talking with us and walking around and seeing everything and touching and smelling and tasting all of that this person experiences as Brahman not as anything other than Brahman so are the two possible interpretations clear when the verse says the absolute self parramatta Cagiva knows itself to be brahman and does not see anything else this does not see anything else can have two interpretations if it is a state of Samadhi then the mind is absorbed in Samadhi hence it's impossible for this person to see anything else but a better interpretation more advantage interpretation would be this person realizes everything to be Brahman so whatever this person actually sees he does not this enlightened person does not see it to be other than his own self Brahman he sees those things but not as an other or if he does see another he says Unruh dark mana supposing he does see it as other as what kind of other will he see it as he will see it as an appearance like a snake in a rope or like a mirage water water in the desert so once you realize that the water is not really there in a mirage seems like an oasis water there but there's no real water there once you realize that there is no real water when we have this experience oh it's just a mirage then we look back again upon it and we still see the water we still see in the water but now we know there is no water there it's an appearance it's false so this person may actually see the world as an other but as a false other as an appearance as a presentation without any kind of substance to it any reality to it the reality all belongs to Brahman Brahman alone is the reality so this is the meaning now the author will conclude the text with a beautiful example remember the three experiences of the self the illusory self our dream self the transactional or empirical self our waking self the one we are the person we are right now we think our BR and the witness consciousness the absolute self is three now he compares them to water wave and foam the still water is whipped up into a wave and I am the crest of the wave appears a little bit of foam now the foam is like the dream self which we have in our dreams I in my own dream not recognizing it to be a dream thinking of it to be real just for the duration of the dream that is like the foam and underneath the form is the wave which is what we are right now the empirical self it's a very beautiful example and underneath that when the wave subsides what will be there calm water before the wave what was it calm water after the wave subsides what will it be calm water so the water is convinced is compared to the paramita cagiva the absolute self now the thing to understand here is this when it is a wave is it water or not of course when it is form on top of a wave is the form water or not of course when the form disappears into the way into the wave it's still the same water when the wave subsides back into the calm ocean enter into the into the water itself it's still the same water calm water wave form all the same water in the same way when we experience the dream self or whether we are experiencing our waking selves just now or D we realize ourselves to be existence consciousness bliss the the absolute self it's always that absolute self existence consciousness place this is one thing to be realized it's not like now that this waking self is there so I am NOT the absolute self or the dream self I'm in my dreams I am NOT the absolute self no or we are always that absolute self now the example he gives us this water has certain qualities it is fluid it is cool it is sweet that's what you say now the coolness the sweetness the fluidity of water it's there in the water as such when the water is whipped up into a wave the wave you if you taste it it's just as sweet if it's fresh water if not Pacific Ocean to be salty and it is cool and it is fluid when it's further whipped up into form it still retains the same qualities of coolness a fluidity and and the taste exactly in the same way the consciousness existence and bliss of Brahman shine through in our present waking States and in our dream self also the consciousness just as the fluidity of the water is this a employed it in the wave the fluidity in the wave is the same fluidity of the water is not different in the same way the consciousness which we are experiencing right now is nothing other than the consciousness it's nothing other than Brahman it is Brahman covered with name and form identified with name and form the existence the existence which we experience within ourselves and in this universe of experience all of that is nothing other than Brahman itself the Bliss we experience the various kinds of joys we get in this world worldly joys and maybe spiritual ecstasy's whatever all of that is just a reflection of the Bliss of Brandon so the our existence we feel in our dreams the consciousness awareness we have in the dreams the the joy if we get some joy in the dream that is all that belongs to Brahman that is Brahman itself shining forth whatever we of the existence consciousness bliss fear experience in the waking is also Brahman itself existence consciousness bliss shining forth and that's what he's going to say no Maharaja Dhruva shade Johnny Gaudreau vache Johnny needed our master anguk a monster on a Ngongotaha HT Tanish t Fenian you gotta yatta we will do one more number 44 Sakshi star such Eden and some Vinod be of ahora que da ba ha ha Ricky Todd Doreen enoguh Chanti marina nougat Chanti tat Ava Pratibha ck he says just as midoriya sweetness drama the fluidity coolness shy Tia these are all qualities of the water clearly they are felt in the wave and just as clearly they're felt in the foam they are transmitted from the water they're borrowed from the water by the wave and they are borrowed from the wave by the foam exactly in the same way we transactional empirical beings in this waking world we borrow our existence our consciousness and our bliss from our real self Brahman in this transactional reality in this waking reality and when we are in dream we borrow not directly from Brahman from this waking reality we borrow our existence consciousness and bliss it is transmitted through our dream selves and what happens when we wake up the dream self merges back into the waking self what happens when you it's a fancy way of saying that when you sit up and say oh it was just a dream the dream self has merged back into the waking self and the existence of the dream self is understood to be nothing other than my existence I the one who was sleeping I was appearing as a dream self the consciousness of the dream self is understood to be nothing under them my consciousness I who was dreaming the joy they are also is nothing other than my blessed shining through similarly the point is when we are enlightened we will realize that we are existence consciousness bliss this alone was shining forth as the existence of this individual this alone was shining forth as the consciousness of this person right now and the joy this person experiences or is seeking is none other than the Bliss which is our my real nature when we awaken to the witness consciousness when we awaken to the paramita Cagiva the para martica ji was none other than brahman when we awaken to that just as wave gets merged back into water the the empirical individual will be realized when you say the empirical individual will be merged back into brahman it doesn't don't think of a wave settling back into clear water think of it as being realized to be water we will realize ourselves though we will still experience ourselves as individuals but we will know that we will we will feel distinctly realise a oneness with the whole universe this distinct realization of oneness that is brahman you see this person will not get free freedom moksha is not for the person freedom or moksha is from the person it's from person you as mr. or mrs. so-and-so will not become a liberated person now I am I was mr. so-and-so now and I'm mr. Brannan no Brahman will realize this person as an appearance within itself as I was appearing as that person but really I am the existence consciousness and bliss which was borrowed by that that so-called person 45 life heinous yata Dharma lay Venus yatta dharma draupadi asustor ranga key Raja Schuster on cocky toss choppy villa in eerie choppy villa in eerie distant idiot opera son Keating at opera as the foam urges back into the wave the qualities of the foam the coolness fluidity and the taste they all remain remain in the wave they merge back into the way from where it was borrowed as the wave merges back into water the qualities of the wave the fluidity the coolness and the taste they all remain in the water from which the wave had borrowed them exactly in the same way what happens to us when we wake up from a dream into this waking life and when we wake up from this waking life into enlightenment what happens let's see 46 Pratibha ckg Vasya rowdy Vasa Cagiva sia la lluvia vihari que su Guevara ki Tali sat-chit-ananda Lisa chillin and Maria Visconti Sakshi knee these are as de prata bossy Cagiva the illusory self merges back into the vihari Cagiva the transactional waking self it's just a fancy way of saying I wake up from my dream as I wake up from my dream I get up and say oh I was dreaming I was just all the time here on my bed I was sleeping and dreaming what has happened the illusory self the one I was with the person who was doing lots of things in the dream world that person has merged back into the person who has woken up exactly in the same way when I'll be in light when I get enlightenment this little individuality this little individuality which I consider myself to be I am Swami so-and-so merges back or is realized to be nothing other than existence absolute consciousness consciousness absolute and bliss absolute don't think about yourself sort of melting into a puddle or something like that you know the body disappearing us is it's in knowledge you realize yourself to always have been infinite existence consciousness and bliss this little person this body and mind will still continue it will not disappear in a flash of light or smoke it will still continue but will be realized to be existence consciousness place and everything else in the universe will be one with you as existence consciousness place ok a question will take days we have a mic here we'll take that one question yes all right the question is on this one as long as there is not knowing continues technically in advaitha is not knowing is called a Vidya or a Gianna as long as it continues we will not realize ourselves to be that infinite existence consciousness please we will think of ourselves as this person this person in search of the ultimate reality or whatever but not that ultimate reality we'll think of ourselves as a limited person as long as we think of ourselves as a limited person we will be subject to desire because we feel limited unfulfilled and as long as we are subject to desire desire to attain which is pleasant and avoid that which is unpleasant which is perceived to be unpleasant pleasant and unpleasant to whom pleasant to that person and unpleasant to that person and when we pursue this kind of a life the work that we do based on that desire is going to give results good and bad and we are trapped we have to get those results good results lead to happy experiences bad results lead to bad results means popper leads to unhappy experiences and is happy and unhappy experiences so kind okay we will have to experience them because they are the result of our own Karma and hence nubert's birth after birth but then death will continue once we yeah once we realize ourselves to be existence consciousness bliss we are no longer that limited person and no longer subject to that not knowingness now we are no longer subject to desire and hence no longer subject to action prompted by desire and hence no longer subject to the effects of that action with the effects of that action no more birth no more death in sanskrit avidya karma karma encouraged area often uses this phrase of india karma karma ignorance desire action and therefore births and deaths yes a specific to Vedanta holds that it's a specific continuity it's a specific continuity of that subtle body so expressly this physical body drops of that subtle body goes from body to body and so there is an individual a person who gets Varma reincarnated again and again here Buddhism would have a different point of view but I'm not going into that remember in advaitha Vedanta they speak of three levels of reality the para martica the absolute reality where AHA Rika transactional or our relative reality and Pratibha Zika the level of illusion dream and error now karma pertains to the second level that is the wave ahora que reality our transactional reality and here if you think about it what is the law of karma it is simply causality in fact it is the very basis of all our reasoning all scientific reasoning any kind of rationality in our day-to-day world is nothing other than causality when you ask why you're basically asking for a cause the law of karma is nothing other than a version of the law of causality cause leads to effect every effect must have a cause every cause must have effect it's based on that so it's not it's not stretching it's not a big demand on our credulity and Advaita Shankar Acharya clearly he himself cuts down in no uncertain terms he cuts down the law of karma saying Brahman ultimately is the only reality it is a temporary a makeshift improvised explanation yeah all right yes let us so in the final verse finally final this is because he had already ended the purpose of the text long ago the final verse the author tells us just as the our dream individual disappears into the waking individual the waking individual disappears into the witness individual the absolute individual paramita cagiva which is none other than Brahman which is as another way of saying we realize ourselves to be pure consciousness pure existence pure bliss now this was a journey we took together rigged Russia vivica this text we studied it over the past few months it's an introduction to Vedanta now the introduction series will not end here it's given just getting started if you thought this was the heights of philosophy the highest realms of speculation are very very very subtle difficult to grasp we are just getting started the next text we will take up in our series we have planned to take up is upper auction Oh Buddha literally translates into wait for it direct realization of the absolute upper auction over the direct experience of the absolute so a peroxy an abuti that's a text by Shankar Acharya it's also an introductory text but an introductory start xed which is several steps above this one and it's a very powerful text and it's a very strong dose so that's what we are going to start from the next class onwards if you like you can purchase the books that are available in the bookshop or if you come in the next class we will arrange to give you the books here you can we can buy the books right here outside the class now let me conclude with a chant and then reveal your yes we still have the class to go so I'll reveal the surprise Oh Shanti Shanti Shanti hurry he oh that sucks read you