Video 5

Introduction to Vedanta Part 5 - Swami Sarvapriyananda - March 15, 2016

Umaga Virtusa ha no panic - sir Javed young cut of over a teacher's fina Verde Thomas - Moffat Bashar bhai whom shanti shanti shanti trig ratio vivica verse number 11 and 12 she like you can chant up to me verse 11 untuk corona British GT cha Yamagata vasana culpa heat swap knee Bodi shade be Cheyenne bah he verse 12 mono hungry - PAH dhanam hungry - ha dong Lingam make Amjad Atma come of a star try Amun BT jaha tabria Teta Tom this is as far as we had done so what we have been doing so far is in introduction to Advaita Vedanta and in the traditional way where one of these introductory texts called plucker and a Grantha introductory text was taken up and taught to the students those who want an introduction into traditional Advaita Vedanta they learned in this way take up an introductory text and understand the basics of Advaita Vedanta then go on to study the Upanishads the bhagavad-gita and the brahma sutra with the commentaries of Shankar Acharya for our purposes we have taken up this text drink Tricia Vivica authorship uncertain but probably with the arunya swami the great advaitha teacher who belonged to south india who lived about 700 years ago what did he tell us he told us that the knower and the known the seer and the seen are different just as the eyes are different from this microphone and applying the principle we see that we are not the eyes or any of the sense organs we are not the physical body we are the knower the user of the physical body and the sense organs separate from them not even the mind the thoughts and feelings and emotions ideas memories which come up in the mind our personality all of that is known is seen as it fare by the consciousness within us so we are not that mind either we are the witness rather we are the witness consciousness the witness of the mind the Sanskrit word Sakshi the world is changing the body is changing growing older every day the mind changes continuously sometimes happy sometimes sad sometimes understanding sometimes not comprehending remembering forgetting desiring satisfaction frustration all these things are there in the mind and you are the witness of the mind this is what we are but why do we not experience ourselves like this we ask we do not experience ourselves as the witness we rather experience ourselves as minds and bodies so the reason is that we are mixed up with this mind body system and all the experiences that we have belong to the body or to the mind all the experiences I am a man a male it is a body the male body I have become identified with it I am hungry it's the pranamaya kosha the pranic forces within us which generates hunger and thirst I'm happy happiness is a modification of the mind a thought in the mind of feeling in the mind I the witness becoming identified with that I feel I am happy and so it is the mind which undergoes changes what we just read in the verses before this eleventh and twelfth verse is that our daily experience we are awake we dream we are in sleep those things do not belong to the consciousness this book tells us the witness consciousness which we are is unchanging it will if you remember we read it neither rises nor sets unchanging consciousness it neither increases not decreases then why do we feel sometimes more conscious and less conscious that's because of the changes in the state of the mind sometimes the mind is awake sometimes the mind is sleepy and dreaming sometimes the mind goes shuts down in deep sleep so we are sometimes we feel awake sometimes we are in a dream sometimes we are absolutely within deep sleep these changes belong to the mind not to the witness what Vedanta tells us is we have become accustomed to regard ourselves as the mind and the body we have to learn to see ourselves as the witness of the mind on the body this is what we have learnt so far now the question still remains if we are the witness if we are unchanging pure consciousness not born not dying after all whose is birth and death birth of the body there's no doubt about it it's the body which is born it's the body which dies and is cremated or burnt or whatever so if we are the immortal consciousness as volantis is that immortal consciousness itself is brahman existence consciousness bliss that's what we are if that is so the question still remains where does this mind come from where does this body come from indeed where does this external universe spread out before us where does it only come from what is it so this question how did the mind and the body arise what are they what is this external universe which the witness consciousness illumines by its light what is this universe what is this body what is this mind that will now be answered we under 13 to burst Shakti do I am he my I uh big che poverty Rubicon weak shape shock tearling gaudy from hard ontem jackets rigid ah so now we come to Maya so when we study Advaita Vedanta the first word that we learn is Brahman or Atman the ultimate reality our self or Brahman the ultimate reality such chit Ananda existence consciousness bliss almost certainly the second thing we learn is maha because whenever you ask for an explanation from the ad weightings they will give you an answer in one word Maya so now we have come to Maya what is this Maya it is the power which resides in Brahman which projects this entire universe it's something to be understood is very interesting the advance the we open the philosophy open ishod's conceives of a power in Brahman which projects Brahman itself as this universe Brahman itself as this universe Brahman becomes the source of the universe this is in fact behind the idea of God being the creator of the universe in every religion we find God is the creator of the universe God creates as sustains us so God is the creator of the universe the source is this idea that Brahman the ultimate reality the witness which we are it has a power called Maya which projects this universe this Maya is it different from Brahman is it different from the witness or is it the same if it is different from Bremen then the problem will be there will be two realities Brahman and Maya and then you cannot speak of non duality and if it is not different then Brahman is just Brahman how does it project project is universe so Maya is conceived of as something that is neither different from Brahman non non different from Brahman Maya is the power which projects Brahman as this universe as this body has this mind and being the power the power is not different from the one which wields the power in Sanskrit it it works very nicely in Sanskrit Shakti and shaktimaan they are not different fire and its power to burn are not two different things fire and it illumines and it burns so the power of the fire and the fire itself are not two different teams they are not used to use philosophical language they are not unter logically separate it is the same existence it manifests as the power the fire manifests as the power to illumine and to burn to get Gibbs heat and light in the same way Brahman has a power called Maya which is at the root of this universe what does it do Maya has two powers my eye itself has two powers one is called the power of veiling our honor the Sanskrit word poverty or our Verona means veiling covering hiding so Maya veils what is it veil it veils the reality the witness that we are the witness we are consciousness it's hidden from us we don't feel it we don't know it even when we read about it in the Vedanta class we forget it almost immediately it's hidden from us and not only that not only is the witness Brahman hidden promise Maya also projects it presents this very Brahman this existence consciousness bliss it presents it as the world it presents it as the body Maya presents that this witness as the mind so Maya presents this existence consciousness bliss as the mind as the body and as this universe spread out in front of this body-mind complex this is called the wick shaper Shakti Shakti means power another name of Maya is Shakti Shakti means power why is it called Shakti because it has two powers what are the two powers the veiling power our inner Shakti the projecting power the Vik shaper Shakti our and Shakti and big shaper Shakti if it sounds too metaphysical too speculative to you it is not it's something that we experience all the time if I mistake a rope for a snake in the semi-darkness to take the classic advaitha example if I mistake a rope for a snake in the darkness I see a snake but it's not a snake later on I realize it's a rope now what happened then two things happened one was I was ignorant of the fact that it is a rope this ignorance is the veiling power it hides as it were the rope from me that's number one and the next what happens I make a mistake I see it as a snake there's no snake what happened this very ignorance it projected it hit the rope for me as it were and it projected the rope as a snake that's what happens that my ignorance of the rope not only hit the rope from me did a second thing the real mischief comes next it projects a snake it presents the Rope itself as a snake I don't know the rope and I see a snake and this is exactly what Advaita is saying in respect to this entire universe body mind and this universe it is the same witness the same consciousness which we discovered through the process of drink drishya Vivica in the first verse what we discovered that that same consciousness existence bliss is projected as this universe is first hidden and then projected as the universe hiding our inner Shakti of Maya projecting big shaper Shakti big shaper Shakti Sri Ramakrishna describes the our and Shakti very nicely he is sitting in his room in the sheesh were in the Kali temple abduction issue and it takes a little Indian towel called a ganja it takes this little towel and it puts it in front of his face see you are not able to see me and he removes it now you're able to see me in the same way the grace of the Divine Mother Shakti is required to remove the veil which hides our true nature from us and that very true nature is projected as this universe now let's look at the verse shop today I am he my ayah Maya has two powers what are these two prowl powers big shaper poverty Rupa kalapa come of the form of of the form of Vic shaper projecting Alberti veiling now first he takes up the wick shaper Shakti then later he will take up the our inner Shakti and there is a method to this why Maya is not entirely bad at all the wick shaper Shakti is actually according to this brand of advaitha the wick shaper Shakti which projects Brahman as the universe is no problem at all the real problem is the average Shakti you see the desert I'm thirsty and I see water in the distance and I run towards it only to realize it was a mirage and then when I start walking and I look back what do I see water again I see water but now I know it's just sand and the hot air and reflection there and it's not real water but I still see the same thing and it actually happened to Swami Vivekananda and he speaks about it ended in the deserts of Rajasthan and he speaks about it in his lectures so he says that once you look back once again you still see the same thing but you are not duped anymore now the our inner Shakti hides Brahman and projects as if a real world once we realize that it is Brahman after that we shall still see this world and we should still experience a body on the mind but we shall know all of it is pure existence pure consciousness pure bliss then what we see will not be a problem seeing the world and a body and a mind is not the problem the problem is considering these to be real and not knowing the reality that is Brahman this bears repetition seeing the world is not a problem Sri Ramakrishna's are the world Swami Vivekanand also saw the world mashallah they also saw the world Ramana Maharshi also saw the all the Buddha also saw the world but what happens after enlightenment after enlightenment we realize this very experience we realize that it is Brahman we realize it's not a snake in the case of a snake and a rope the problem is solved the moment you see it's a rope you don't see the snake anymore the problem is up but in all illusions it's not like that there are certain illusions where you see that sky is blue and you read about it in the physics book it's not really blue it appears to be blue after reading about it after knowing all the physics when you look up at the sky what do you see blue so the illusion is not dispelled but now you know it's not really so you don't have to wash all the planes the blue color of the planes when they land you know because there's no really no real color up there so the our air Shakti is the problem that which hides the reality is the problem that which presents a multi a multifaceted world the world shining in its plurality before us that's not a problem if you can see the underlying unity the interest underlying existence consciousness bliss why should it be a problem it's joy its joy it's wonderful so the weak shaper Shakti is not a problem the problem is the outer inner Shakti that's why the weak shaper Shakti first is put out here and then we shall discuss the our inner Shakti on how to tackle that you see this place for example where we are sitting Hollywood is where the big shaper Shakti of my eyes at its peak the projecting power the whole projecting industry is rooted here is based here the words projecting industry it's called a film industry you cinema industry and right there across there in those places just outside you have the largest if you look at what's going on on the screens the largest number of murders the greatest disasters alien invasions and ghost stories and tragedies terrifying stuff but it's not a problem we enjoy it you give them Oscars why because the projecting power is not a problem we know let it be the greatest disaster possible the greatest number of people killed and what not terrible things happening on-screen we know it's not real but we enjoy the projection so the the enlightened person the Bramha Gyan e the the jeevan mukta the one who's free while living enjoys the game of this world does whatever is necessary when sees people suffering doesn't give them an Oscar he goes and helps them and in his own case his or her own case when the body mind is suffering for for him it is no problem at all it's just part of the game there are so many examples of enlightened persons in all traditions of the world in all religions of the world how they rise above their own personal suffering but it does not mean they apply it on others that it's just a game it's just a movie so it's ok if you suffer I enjoy your suffering no they will go forward and help the unenlightened but they can enjoy this world they can truly enjoy this world who know the reality behind this world so first we shall see the projecting power which is not a problem ultimately in combination with the veiling power the projecting power is a terrible problem we have started a dream it was a nice dream and maybe when we started it but problem is it soon turns into a nightmare and we cannot get out of it that's the problem so getting out of it requires us to identify the reality behind the dream the screen behind the movie the Bromham behind the world so that is the hour and up Shakti the hiding power the veiling power we shall go there later but first the question before us is how does Brahmin project is universe that's what is going to be answered now week shaper Shakti Ling gaudy Brahma Honda anthem Jarrettsville yet what does the projecting power do that very pure consciousness which we identified in the first five verses the projecting power takes that existence consciousness bliss and first projects a mind that Linga Sharia which is called it's a subtle body it projects a subtle body there is a mind as an intellect as a memory there is an egotism I it projects the sensory system it projects the physical body and it projects the entire physical universe out of what the our ignorance presents the snake the rope itself is a snake this power presents you yourself me you our true nature as the world and as the body and mind and then the fun starts the fun starts because we have forgotten who we are and we get engaged we think we are this body and mind we are like the person who sees his or her reflection in a mirror forgets the real face and sees the mirror and the reflected face as himself or herself now whatever happens to the mirror is happening to me mirror gets dirty I am dirty mirror is broken I am dying mirror is shattered the reflected face is gone I am gone finished and I don't exist how silly we would think that to be but that's what we are doing all the time according to the Vedanta now how does this week shape a shakti project the universe the next verse is so beautiful how do you in one verse he deals with it how the wick shaper Shakti of Maya projects the universe 14th verse Shrishti namah brahma rupee Shrishti naam Ruby sat-chit-ananda was Tony Abdo fee Noddy what's our OVA Abdo FINA diva Serova nama Rupa Prasanna beautiful verse Shrishti creation of the universe according to Advaita Vedanta what is creation of the universe according to that Maya spreads a net of name and farm over Brahman that bears repetition Maya spreads a web of name-and-form over Brahman just not the worldwide web it's a universe wide web Maya spreads it over Brahman so what we experience our pictures our forms and we label them we use language and sense experience to construct a world what it is in reality is Brahman so there is Brahman only here but we see it as a world it's like this table it's wood but now with the help of the carpenter we have given it a shape a form and we have given it a name table now when you ask what is this it's a table because we know what is would we understand this table as wood and we understand it as a table there is no our inner Shakti playing here there is only a weak shape attractive that wood is presented not only as wood as a table also if we go out to the Pacific Ocean out there and I ask you look at the waves say okay we are seeing the waves and I ask you look at the water okay Swami I can see the water it's a very same thing with a certain name and form you call it a wave with a certain name and form you call it form with a certain name and form you call it bubbles with certain huge name and form you call it a tsunami wave but it's all water with particular names and forms at least there the wind and the currents they whip up the water into real waves in brahman even that does not happen even that does not happen this all the play of maya there we know what is water and we know what is wave so immediately when i ask you to see it as a wave you can do it when i ask you to see it as water you can do it it takes just a change in our understanding not into what we see we see the exactly the same thing but here in case of the world of the universe and brahman we can't do it we can't do it because we see the universe we see ourselves we experience our minds but we don't know what is Brahman here Vedanta tells us Brahman and name-and-form of the universe are presented to us mixed up taken together but just as we can separate name and form of the wave from water name and form of the table we can separate mentally not physically we can in our in our understanding we can separate the name and form of the table from the word because we know what is good and what is a table we know what is a way when what is water we know what is an ornament and what is gold we know that but here we don't know what is Brahman Brahman is hidden for us we cannot separate and we see it as all together Sudama krishna's famous example sand and sugar and mixed the ant can separate them there we have to be careful there is something called sugar and there is something called sand and they are mixed up here there are not two things there are not two things the table is not a thing and good is not another thing it is the wood alone appearing as the table it is a water alone appearing as the wave it's a gold alone appearing as ornament I remember once in another place as addressing an audience exclusively of Goldsmith's they were jewelers and somebody said Swami you should give some examples with gold so I gave this example that imagine it's the same goal which is worked into a bangle or an earring or a necklace and this lady she goes to the husband and says well I'm bored with this earrings I want a necklace and this is not going to cost you anything we can melt these down and make a necklace out of it and the husband says woman why do you bother me so much it's the same thing whether you wear it here or on your on your neck I give this example it's the same thing the classic example of a businessman in India who is fallen on hard times and who goes to the pawn shop and says that here I have a Ganesha so the Ganesha made of gold and I want to pawn it will you give me some money you want you keep it and I'll take some money in exchange and the gold Smith weighs it and says okay this is the rate at which I can give you money for gold and then Ganesha you know all the Indian gods have their own vehicles so the the vehicle of Ganesha is a mouse no less and Ganesha is so obese you know the mouse is so little but Ganesha is supposed to write on the mouse so with the Ganesha statue there's always a mouse image and this man says to the gold upon shopkeeper so what about the mouse how much will you give me for the mouse and the shopkeeper says the same rate same exchange rate goes it's gold and the man fly flies into a fury car Ganeshji kageura do not appear here 8 what is the same rate for Ganesha and for a mouse have you no religion man and the shopkeeper says it's Ganesha to you and mouse to you to me it's just gold I'll give you the same rate for both of them so this is an example which I gave the name and farm are different name and form are different that's Ganesh and this is a mouse but the material is the same after giving this example after the talk one of those Goldsmith's he came up and said Swami you are going to ruin our business why you are teaching people it's the same gold whichever form it is in when our business is transforming gold from one form to another who is going to come to us after the desert after you teach them it's the same girl whichever way you wear it whatever name you call it anyway now it says just as in an ocean you have form on the ocean it's you have to understand the example carefully it's a beautiful example but shouldn't stretch it too much there is a waves and there is form on the waves especially when on a good surf day you will have surf you have form on the waves in the same way he says in this universe this entire universe of name and form appears as foam on the ocean of Brahman it's poetic this entire universe of name and form appears like foam on the ocean of Brahman remember don't stretch it too far because the Rope is being presented as a snake it's not that the here the example is slightly different yes like a physical example where there is that there are the waves and on top of that there is a layer of foam so what he means to say Brahman is the reality infinite reality and the universe which we experience is something superficial is at the surface the reality we have no access to on the surface of an infinite ocean floats our universe and it's so interesting I was listening to a talk by Lawrence Krauss one of the most notable physicists today is of course an atheist he gives a talk yes he is and he was giving a talk on how the universe was created just look at the parallels little bits is thrilling he is absolutely no idea of what we are talking about here but he says the universe is the universe we experience is like quantum foam on the surface of an ocean of dark matter look at the language he says it's quantum form that the latest understanding of quantum physics that we have got today is that they say this universe is like a E they use these words the is not just Lawrence Krauss it's the technical term used a quantum foam on the surface of an ocean of dark matter now I am NOT saying that 800 years ago they knew quantum mechanics I don't think they did it's just that the language is uncanny it's it's incredible the parallels one of our senior Swami Swami smarana and the Jew who was the general secretary years ago now he's a vice president of our order he taught us one of the open issues to be hedonic open ition and he warned us against drawing too many parallels with modern physics and as some people are have the tendency to do this Advaita Vedanta modern physics he says the first of all the theories of modern physics are subject to constant revision and change so if you link your way down to one set of theories by the time they have changed your Vedanta also goes with it first of all second one should not do this in a very superficial way one needs a very deep understanding of Vedanta and a very deep understanding of physics to even say something serious about it so one should not be superficial or glib about it and the most he said what you can say is there there are interesting parallels there are incredible parallels are very interesting parallels in language and in conception between what Vedanta says or samkhya says and modern physics anyhow let's keep the quantum form aside for the time being Abdo Fane rd but it literally means up da means in the ocean venerdi but just like form just like form on the ocean surface of the ocean saravana maru the entire network of name-and-form is spread over the reality that is Brahman I'm reminded of the ashtavakra there was this book which is a very advanced book a book of Advaita Vedanta a radical Advaita Vedanta with sri ramakrishna is to keep hidden and he would only let swami vivekananda read it and he would close the doors with her so that others won't read it and I think that accounts partly for its popularity now everybody wants to read that book well don't go out and purchase it yet from the bookshop first let's get through with this then our story but I am reminded of ashtavakra there the verses are so beautiful and says my Ananda muhammad Oh Vishwa both artists Tata dramatis wanta Wadena nama masti Asahina I am an infinite ocean of existence consciousness bliss the stage experiences it I am an infinite ocean of existence consciousness bliss and what is this universe not form not even a way which says the universe is like a little boat one little boat this entire universe which is floating on my surface Vishu opposed a little boat called the universe floats on my surface Brahma theis wanta Wotton by its internal breeze internal breeze means the laws of causality which operate within the universe within the universe it moves up and down there is birth there is dead there is creation there are planets come up life evolves it comes up and then in destruction stars go supernova universe's galaxies and the best solar systems disappear it moves down by its internal law of causation what is my attitude attitude of me Brahman the infinite ocean nama masti Asahi's Neeta I am NOT impatient with it I watch it this is the this is the most superficial level of understanding they go deeper there is a deeper level of understanding next verse my Ananta Mahama the vishwam nam vishnu of EG so haha they to us Tamayo to nami with the university is a deeper level of understanding i am an infinite ocean of existence consciousness place and what is this universe including this body and mind this body and mind this little life and this whole universe what is it not a boat boat is after all separate from the ocean this universe is a wave 1 wave in in this existence ocean of existence consciousness bliss which I am then who they to asked am i or to let the wave rise let it settle back into the ocean nami Rodina wachati i the ocean am neither increased by it not decreased by it let birth come I do not gain anything by it let death come I lose nothing by it let success come happiness come I gain not a little bit by it let defeat and despair and and humiliation come I lose not a little bit by it health and disease knowledge and ignorance all of these come and go the wave rising and falling I am not affected by it I am neither increased not decreased it is my joy I alone appear appear as the wave I alone appear as the wave that is the universe even this is superficial it goes deeper that's why it starts to occur next verse my ananda muhammad o vishwam na movie kalpana a Keshawn tuna dog r8 of the BA Hamas theta I am an infinite ocean of existence consciousness bliss and the universe not a boat not even a wave a wave is a movement of the ocean however tiny but he says imagine an ocean without waves in this universe its imagined by Kalpana there is no wave called this universe its imagination in the ocean of consciousness if you have a mirror and you take it in front of the Pacific Ocean you will see so many waves big and small you will see the surf and the spray but in the mirror in the mirror none of those waves are actually there not one drop of water is there in the mirror you see the entire ocean there exactly like that I realize myself as an infinite ocean of existence consciousness bliss where the universe itself is an appearance then what am i a tea shondo near our car I am formless and and profoundly peaceful peace and the Bible it is said peace that passeth understanding not peace that is subject to arrival and departure not peace that subject to disturbance profoundly peaceful at Ishant Oneiric are ADA d'Ivoire Hamas theta this is how I have ever been eternally so this is ashtavakra that's why I start our tour anyway we'll leave our Tucker alone for the time being so sirisha T Nam look at the verse Srishti nama brahma rupee sat-chit-ananda was tunis in the reality that is existence consciousness place brahman existence consciousness bliss which you are or I am what is this universe it's a projection of name and form that is the fourteenth verse just like form on an ocean now we come to the real problem the veiling power just mention it and then we leave the tackling of it today to take a whole class to tackle it but today we will just begin the problem what is the problem then your problem is I am not aware of myself as an ocean I identify more with a wave I am a little wave who comes up maybe even a bubble has just come up and is about to pop anytime and I have problems I have serious problems I have things to do a wave in a little wave has places to go things to do there are bigger ways with which I have to compete the lair little waves have to be scornful off and there are waves I will be friendly with and there are waves I will fight with and I know inevitably I will go back into the ocean death that's my life that's the life of all the waves there's another verse in the there's another verse in the ashtavakra which says asharamji wavy chaya amazing incredible are these individual creatures the little waves which arise in the ocean of brahman wouldn't ignant equal aunty provision T so how they arise in the ocean of Brahma who yet born millions and millions and billions of us kaylynn T the play which I still remembered an old Swami in the Hema Himalayas teaching this to us his face beaming with joy and his looks at us well like hell until it really means play the waves arise in the ocean of brahman and play and the Swami's looks at us and says Wells monks I love you I want to marry you and we will always be together with gently grunty a Kalyan did you play with each other and wonderful or we form a company and we do something great together a corporation or we form a nation together we love each other next none T I hate you will have a divorce I won't stay in your country I want a separate country of my own I will not be a part of your cooperation I am going to do have a separate and split off none till they fight with each other and at the end what happens provision T we merge back into the ocean what was the point of it all from the point of view of the wave it's a tragedy it's a farce Shakespeare says what a farce the human life is but from the point of view of the ocean its joy is the joy of the ocean to have this cosmic game play on yon after yon and the thing is each of those waves is the ocean it's an illusion that the ocean forgets itself and identifies itself with one wave of course there's a point to it so that it can play really play with the other wave Sri Ramakrishna once was asked by a devotee why is there so much suffering in the world people dying people being tortured and so much so much misery and suffering in the world and Sri Ramakrishna gave different sets of answers as the devotee showed his displeasure is dissatisfaction with the answer Sri Ramakrishna moved to a deeper answer so Sri Ramakrishna says well it is the Lord's play the play of God it is the lord's wish it's a wish of God that's why it's all this is happening can we understand the mind of count the devotee evidently was not satisfied whatever be the mind of God but it is suffering it's terrible then sri ramakrishna goes to a deeper explanation he says well it is the play of the Lord the ocean playing as the waves it's the play of the Lord Leela tante Leela it's the play of the Lord and the devotee gets furious he says Artaud Leela our amore sees him he says it's his play it's dead for us it may we play on the Lord I don't know but it is death for us it's disease politics its tragedy for us it's terrifying for us and then Sri Ramakrishna comes up with us with a an explanation for which there is no reply just two words he says and he puts an end to the whole discussion it is dead for us it's play for image dead for essential Ramakrishna says are to me key who are you who are you you ask the wave who are you truly you are fighting against that wave you're jealous of this wave you are lording it over the other wave who are you really you are the ocean which manifests as all these waves you are not different from God at the deepest level the Lord alone is playing in all in you know into all of us that is what they want to say now we have to know this we don't know it because of the veiling power we just do this verse and then stop enteric Trisha or badum Mahesh Chopra Maha Sergio abrino topper or Shakti samsara SIA carnem here we have it what is the cause of our misery if I am Brahman if I am an infinite ocean what of what not but then why am I like this they saw some sorrows shekharan this is the cause of some sorrow of our problem what is the cause tell us the cause is this it is the veiling power of Maya what does it do within us it veils the fact that we are consciousness pure consciousness that we are the witness and as a result we think of ourselves as bodies and minds the difference between body mind and the witness Sakshi this difference is veiled right now what are we experiencing ourselves as we see we are experiencing ourselves as bodies and minds no we are experiencing ourselves as Sakshi plus mind plus body right now which is not not aware of the differences what we experience ourselves as a mind right now is pure consciousness plus mind but we are unable to separate the two because it is veiled what is pure consciousness what is the witness consciousness is veiled by this power there internally within us and externally this whole universe is Brahman it is God what this does is Bahia Brahma Sergio it veils their difference between Brahman and name-and-form the universe and Brahman Brahman and the universe the difference between the two is veiled it's not a veil Brahman Brahman is not hidden from us God is not hidden from us but God is mixed up with the universe what we are experiencing right now is God limited through the universal time Vivekananda says this universe space time what is this universe he says it is the wreckage of the infinite on the shores of space time and causation it's a wreckage of the infinite on the shores of space time and causation what is space-time and causation Maya so Maya takes the infinite existence consciousness place and projection when we are seeing a snake by mistake are we not truly speaking seeing the rope when we see a snake by mistake we think it's a snake where is the rope at that time right there it's not elsewhere I have to do the rope I have to get hold of that then the snake will go over no it is the rope we are imposing a name and form of snake upon it it's right there so what we see is the real rope with a false name and form of snake what we are experiencing is God and God alone with the name and form of the universe so what does this whaling power do it veils the difference between pure consciousness and mind I'm not even saying body and might and mind let's make it more precise where does it operate he says under drink Drishti or Veda the difference between the witness and the witnessed they are the witnessing consciousness the mind is the witnessed the Shem the difference between the two is wailed by Maya Artman is not veiled consciousness or witness is not veiled the difference between the witness and the witnessed the drishya and digesta this difference is veiled and externally God is not veiled the difference between world and God is weight this is what the veiling power of Maya does and that's what is cause of samsara how does this cause Sahra the moment the difference is veiled what happens I the pure consciousness now consider myself to be body mind when I consider myself to be body mind I see lots of other bodies and minds around me and say they are all different people and externally what happens Brahman and the world the difference between them is veiled and I see Brahman in the world mixed up I see the rope and snake mixed up I say it's a snake I say it's a universe and I am a limited body and mind here is a vast universe in front of me and because I'm a limited body and mind I have certain desires certain things which I like which depends on the body and the mind certain things I do not like which are unpleasant which depends again on the body on the mind and now I try to attain my desires I try to avoid that which is unpleasant I try to get what is pleasant and try to avoid that which is unpleasant in relation to the body and mind I become what is called kurta kurta means agent the doer of actions why do I do actions because I want why do I want because I feel limited why do I feel limited because I have put on a restricting straitjacket the straitjacket of the body and the mind and I do not know I am separate from it and God so I start doing actions to get what I want and to avoid what I don't like moment I do action and caught by causation cause and effect whatever action I do I set into motion subtle energies the law of karma it will give rise to effects anything you do in the universe it will give rise to effects so - and now I have to get the effects when I get the effects I become what is called the bhakta the enjoyer the English word enjoyer does not do justice to the sanskrit book we enjoy sounds nice bhakta means literally the experience of both pleasure and pain mostly pain mostly pain as Bhagwan Buddha said our experiencing is pain through went through there is pain at the beginning there is pain at the end and what we consider foolishly to be pleasure his pain is just a layer on the reality that is pain this reason why he said that so we become bhakta we get the results of our deeds and because all results we do not get in one life we are subject to new lives new bodies where we go on experiencing the effects of our past karma and this is samsara why is this samsara because of the veiling power we will stop here he says I will know the Opera Shakti the other power of Maya which is availing power hides the difference between Brahman and the world in the world outside the witness and the mind inside and this is the cause of samsara I'll take one or two questions and then we'll conclude yes some saw as this condition we find out so this is pre-eminently unpleasant condition where we are some literal it means some certainty that which moves continuously from body to body from birth to death to birth again this is samsara it's called a cycle of samsara its life as we know it aside is a vast term it's life as we know it samsara that which moves from birth to death to birth from life to life eternally dissatisfied eternally seeking eternally suffering this is samsara the wheel of life and yeah there's a question there yes is it a choice that we have we have hiding this believe it with choice we wouldn't suffer so much I really wouldn't want to go on suffering this way so Advaita Vedanta says it doesn't talk about the question of choice it just says this is the condition we find ourselves in now get out of this get out of this this very world tsunami krishna says becomes he says what he goes is modular koti that it becomes a a festival of joy the moment you realize it has got it becomes a festive life becomes joyful full of unending bliss and joy a moment you realize it is God so why would it be a choice to suffer it's called super imposition in fact it is called super imposition that's the technical term used but there is a philosophy not advaitha Vedanta there is something even more stunning than advaitha valent in some respects there is this philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism but karakia philosophy where they say we are all Shiva we are all Shiva Sri Ramakrishna says also at one point in bondage it is Jeeva individual freed of bondage it is Shiva the same Shiva a bound is Jeeva who bound Shiva Kashmiris shaivism says nobody bound Shiva it is the play of Shiva you want to be like this this man or this woman with these experiences you are Shiva yourself therefore you are doing this so no I want to be free from it well now Shiva wants to be free so she was coming to a parameter class now I want to be a realized soul right now if you really did want to be a realized according to custom Kashmir Shaivism if she really wants to be an enlightened soul right now nothing can stop him no Maya no Organa nothing can stop him you want to be a student of Vedanta right now let's why here like that so that's the play of Shiva according to Kashmir Shaivism yes there's a question there yes well yes you don't have to get rid of Maya just have to transcend the a verandah shakti the veiling power which hides the fact that you are brahman not near Brahman you are Brahman yo Punisher is very strict on this point with to submit to mop no T yo nani opposite e yes yoga Dharam created one who says even the slightest difference here between himself and Brahman will go from death to death reducer me to mop naughty yahan on Eve a paucity who sees in this life the slightest difference between himself and existence consciousness bliss that person will go from death to death see he could have just as easily said from birth to birth but he wanted to be nasty about it so he said you go from death to death what is at least some sense this is nice people are happy when peel somebody is born nobody's happy when somebody dies so says you go from death to death the slightest difference between you and Brahman don't even say my witness my pure consciousness you are the pure consciousness not like your liver or your kidney my pure consciousness you are the pure consciousness learn to claim it exactly beautiful question for that you have to come to the next class okay we have two questions I'll just take that question first and then yours and we'll stop yes yes yes yes but the whaling power you can overcome it from poor Brahmin it does not affect the whaling power as an effect not on Brahmin but on DG you are the individual how do you understand this Shri Ramakrishna gives the beautiful example of a serpent or Cobra which if it bites and puts a little bit of the poison into a frog or a mouse the mouse faints or dies and is eaten up by the Cobra but all of that poison is in the mouth of the Cobra and it doesn't do anything to that Cobra it B it's the power of the Cobra what is dead for something else is the power of the Cobra the one who wields it in the same way what is the power of Maia for brahman is delusion for us so from the point of view of brahman maya does not create a problem at all Maya is it enables women to express himself as this or itself as this universe but from our point of view as long as we are in ignorance it is a problem and its problem only in the aspect of the veiling power and that veiling power we can get out of we can get out of that how will we get out of it the question that will be taken up next in fact exactly how do you get out of it what does gana Yoga suggest and what are the methods the methodology the techniques all of those will be discussed in the next class last question yes true only when we experience it then only we have the question arises is this true if you do not experience it then it's not a problem you see in deep sleep nobody has a problem the multi-millionaire Oscar winner has no problem and no no special greatness in his deep sleep and the homeless man sleeping outside the Chinese Theatre there also has no problem in deep sleep because the world appearance does not appear to him neither the film not the Oscar in his hand appears to this man not the terrible condition of homelessness appears to the other man because there is no experience only when you experience you have a problem something you like something who dislike what advaitha tells you is you go one step further look behind that experience what is the reality of that experience they will show you in every case it is brahman its existence consciousness bliss it is what you want yes thank you very much Oh boon Amida poornamidham poornaath poornam Uday Shetty poornasya Pune Madara Pournami bhava Shetty own shanti shanti shanti hurry he own that's at SRI long Shawn if I must