Video 7

Introduction to Vedanta Part 7 - Swami Sarvapriyananda - April 19, 2016

Oh Sahana Vova dosa Honoka knocked OH Saahil idiom carava hey Jesus Lina Verde Thomas - move it Bashar a home Shanti Shanti Shanti good evening Animus cars we are studying trig ratio Viveca as our introduction to Vedanta and we are on verse number 17 let us change from a little little before that from 15 onwards verse number 15 integrity or Adam under Drake drishya or Batum by his Chopra masseur gallo Aubry no topper or Shakti saw some sericea carnem Saxena port-o-potty Lingam the heinous a mutant ctj asam avi shot Jeeva satva waha Rika posture Jeeva - Amaro bot sock Shinya Java paucity a Brito to Venus diam VD party party third Advaita Vedanta holds everything is Brahman if everything is Brahman then you are Brahman I am Brahman and everything that we experience is Brahman and yet we see nothing as Brahman we do not see ourselves as Brahman we do not see this world as Brahman Brahman itself is just a concept which we hear about or read about what happened where is Brahman hiding a Swami I met in the Himalayas in Haridwar Conkel a decade ago the great teacher of advaitha was passed on since so he told this nice story about creation this universe you know the Hindus believe in cycles of creation there is creation of the universe and then the universe exists and evolves and changes for billions and billions of years until the universe is destroyed dissolved goes back to an original state and then again there is creation and it goes on and on and on and on their worlds universes without end now he told this very nice story about creation and hide-and-seek a game of hide-and-seek he says right now we are looking for God God is hiding and we go around looking for God God is playing a game of hide-and-seek with us he's hiding when the universe comes to an end the term they use is pralaya when the universe comes to an end words will disappear all life will disappear galaxies stars planets all will be destroyed and absorbed back into the into the primordial Maya and vie to the individual jiva's we will be absorbed into my aunty unless those who get enlightenment accept those the rest will still remain in a potential state in Maya so we are not there anymore not separately at least what exists God alone exists with his power Maya so in that time God is searching for us where did those fellows go we are hiding we are hiding we are hidden we are hidden and God is searching for us where did those fellows go and then he creates this universe again and projects us into this universe and we play our games for life after life and he hides himself and we search for God where did God go so this internal game of hide-and-seek is going on so he put it so beautifully what has happened is this the power of Maya rales Brahman what we learnt there was on 1512 in us we are Brahman with we do not see ourselves as Brahman because the difference between the difference between the body mind complex and the pure consciousness illumining the body mind complex rush time the ship this difference is obscured by Maya internally so Brahman is there but we do not perceive we see ourselves as body-mind exactly like if there is a movie we see the movie and the screen is right there but because the movie screen is completely covered by pictures we fail to distinguish the screen from the pictures themselves in the same way our mind and consciousness are are mixed up together for us and we are unable to separate them he says under drink drishya your vegam internally the difference between the witness and the witnessed the seer and the seen what is the seer or the witness pure consciousness what is the scene the mind first and foremost the mind the ego the mind so these two become mixed and we cannot clearly differentiate between the two so we do not realize the Atman Brahman within the witness within we think we are the mind we are the mind an embodied mind that's what we feel ourselves to be and outside what happens outside Brahman and the world we read how by the power of Maya a net of names and forms is drawn over Brahman if you remember a few verses back we read Maya has two powers the veiling power and the projecting power what is the projecting power the projecting power of Maya is it casts a net a network of names and forms over Brahman so Brahman existence consciousness bliss but what we experience is the world so outside vehicie Brahmas are gallo cerca is a term meaning creation the difference between Brandon and creation is obscured we perceive the creation Brahman is right there where everywhere and here - in every object in every person in every event everything that happens in the world is actually Brahman just as every bench here and this table all of it is actually good but if someone does not know what wood is they will say that oh there are twenty benches here and Kable so in that way the difference between the world the universe and Brahman gets obscured you see the the projecting power of Maya is responsible for creating this universe and this universe consists of two kinds of matter according to Vedanta subtle matter sukshma gross matter stool the subtle matter goes too far our minds our life I am speaking in general terms in Vedantic terms the pranamaya kosha the mono my Akasha the big annamaya kosha these are all made of subtle matter our internal experience remember this is not metaphysics metaphysical speculation why not Swami you're using so many fancy terms let me tell you what it refers to it refers to the very mind you perceive inside right now we all of us experience thoughts feelings emotions that is what is the subtle body so it's just a name for what we are experiencing all the time that is also projection of Maya subtle matter and gross matter what is gross matter what we experience around all of us the objective world what we see what we hear what we touch and and smell and taste is gross matter now Brahman is existence consciousness place here is a point to understand everything all these names and forms all these forms of matter subtle not gross all of them borrow existence from Brahman that is why this world seems to exist all these names and forms they don't float empty they seem to have a solid substantial existence existence is borrowed from Brahma what borrows existence from Brahman all the battered subtle matter and gross matter all names and forms and another thing to understand is the subtle matter our minds our minds they borrow not only existence from Brahman they also borrow consciousness from Roman the consciousness aspect of Brahman cheat is reflected in our minds as ji De Aza we have gone through this and just repeating it consciousness aspect of Brahman is reflected in our minds as Jadhav hazzah again no speculation right now are we not aware rd not sentient I hope you are aware Vedanta has a soporific effect so I hope you are aware so we are aware that sentient which we feel right now is a reflection is borrowed by our minds from Brahman just as a part of water the water in that water the sun will be reflected as a little sun in in the water in the same way Jadhav aza literally meaning the shadow or appearance or reflection of consciousness subtle matter has that capacity to reflect consciousness consciousness being reflected in this subtle matter of our minds awareness comes that consciousness that witness in the mind becomes a knower I'm using the terms I'm said translating from Sanskrit Sakshi witness pramatta nor so the witness now becomes a knower who is this knower you right now you are I may not be aware not being able to appreciate what the witness is right now between what we are right now is what is being called the knower and this nor identified with the mind and body things of itself as this person or that person and interacts with the world with the objective world both of these the objective world a gross matter and the subjective world inside us of subtle matter both of these are nothing but brahman they're nothing but broman Brahman inside Brahman outside now Brahman inside we have been learning how to find out the very first verse which we did when we started this if you remember rupam drishyam lo johnandrich hmm the seer and the seen making a difference between the seer and the seen trying to understand what Brahman inside is what is outside is the seen the one which sees is this eerie the eyes themselves are the seen the mind is this year the thoughts feelings and emotions in the mind or the scene and the consciousness the witness is this year we learn to appreciate the witness within that is what we are not the mind not even the consciousness reflected in the mind that's what we have been trying to do all along now today's subject is even more exciting we will learn to see God in the world where is Brahman in the world let's see remedies hidden in the world they are saying we will discover it we are going to do some spiritual archaeology we are going to find that big guy in the world today now is hidden but not very well hidden we can find him or it right now so that's what we are going to do how to see Brahman in this world where everywhere in any object in any person in any event anything in this world Brahman must be there Brahman is all pervasive raman must be there let's see how we can discover from money now we come to 18% Tata's argh of Bramha Nostra badum of Rita study yah Shakti Maha Brahma week Rita train abasa T similarly Brahmin under the influence of the veiling power of Maya the distinction between Brahmin and this phenomenal universe is obscured its concealed and Brahmin appears as as this changing universe Brahman itself appears as this changing universe why because of the veiling power of Maya here in this world all names and forms are changing look at this body which we have they speak of six types of change jayati Asti verdade riperino mati epoxy a machete it is marred being born it comes into existence the body then it develops baby child teenager develops grows changes and then reaches middle age vapor in emetic keeps on changing reaches a peak and then approxiately begins to deteriorate old age so we struggle to keep the body fit and healthy looking good and it's good but the forces of change are innovative in evitable slowly it will deteriorate so vapor in Amethi epoxy a ticket it deteriorates and then naturally death six-four change for the body for any kind of name-and-form it undergoes change and the consciousness the Brahman which this name and form covers will not change does not change it is that brandman unchanging Brahman which appears as a changing body as this changing world the six four changes apply to the name and form they apply to name and form produced by Maya by the projecting power of Maya but Brahman which is right there does not undergo any change it appears to undergo a change when it appears as this changing world so look at this verse similarly similar to what similar to the obscuration within where we are Brahman but we are not aware of it Brahman and the mind are mixed up the Atman and the mind witness and Anor witness appears as the knower within we are unable to distinguish similarly in the world in the universe outside circa brahmana Sangha creation name and form is entire universe this objective universe and Brahman which it really is even now right now the difference pay them the difference between the two it is clear for the enlightened person they know exactly how this is Brahman they know exactly how this world everything in this world is Brahman it's as clear as day for them one very enlightened teacher was asked so how do you see Brahman in the world how do you see Brahman in the world you know some kind of a vague light or something like that or some kind of concept and awareness kind of knowledge and he says no do you know sometimes you see the daytime you can see the moon in the distance and on this other side you can see the Sun blazing forth he says for me Brahman is like the Sun and this world of names and forms is like the moon in every experience there's a name and form but it is so clearly Brahman everything so to that extent of course they don't actually see it objectively through these eyes it is that awareness that knowledge which shines forth now Balaam the difference between the two is obscured it's obscured by your Shakti the power of Maya which power the two powers are there the veiling power and the projecting power this is the veiling power it it obscures tundish out Brom have accreted twin opacity because of that Brahman appears as if changing Brahman appears as the you changing universe the unchanging absolute appears as the changing universe Swami Vivekananda puts it so beautifully and graphically he says this universe is the wreckage of the absolute on the shores of space-time and causation the wreckage of the infinite on the shores of the finite space-time and causation and is that infinite alone appears it's not that it's really wrecked don't think that God has been shipwrecked it's it's there absolutely untouched and as we shall discover let's go to nineteenth verse a drop of ratina Shaina devotee Brahma Sergei madest aiyo Bakura shot sir gain a Brahmin equate here to when the obscuration recovering the wailing is destroyed then the difference between Brahmin and this universe becomes crystal clear absolutely clear shines forth clearly and then you see vicara see odds are all change all limitation all creation and destruction are in name and form in the objective world in the world of forms not a Brahmin Equus it never ever in Brahman it is strange right here is the absolute and right here is this changing universe the universe is created stars are born from Stardust planets have created life evolves and the drama of life we have got human beings and our societies and our history tremendous activity is going on here ceaseless change and yet right here absolutely there's no change in from one Ramon is right here this is the paradox how do you reconcile the two logically you cannot what advaitha vedanta does is it puts them into two categories the changing world is put in the category of the relative of the via horik of the mithya the unchanging brahman is put in the category of the absolute the noumenon we are the reality Satyam what did I just say it's like this can the desert play be full of water and yet be dry can something be full of water and yet be dry well not at the same time if I say at the same time but at the same time it is possible in only one case if one of the two is false suppose the water there is an appearance it's a mirage and the desert is real then the two can coexist and false water a false Oasis Oasis can coexist with a real desert a false snake can coexist with a real rope a false blue color can coexist with a colorless sky that means water appears it appears to be water in reality it is the dry desert it's a mirage and the two can go to look very well together a false water will not wet even a grain of the deserts and they can go together it can be dry desert absolutely and it can be false water it can be it can look like a venomous snake it can be a harmless rope but real water and a real dry desert cannot go together it must be one of the two in the same way what add weight of Iran has done is that this changing phenomenal universe Advaita gives it a lower grade of reality and the unchanging absolute advaitha gives it an absolute rate of reality it is called para martica Satyam absolutely real brahman existence consciousness place and is changing universe which we experience is given a lower grade of reality called Viva Haruka Satyam relative truth it appears you cannot deny that it appears we experience it and yet it has a lower grade of reality why not the other way around seeing that we experience the universe and we don't seem to be experiencing any Brahman right now why not this universe is real because the reality of the universe is borrowed from Brahman the reality of this universe is borrowed from Brahman just as the reality of the table is borrowed from wood what do I mean by that what do I mean by that the table will not exist if the wood is not there the weight of the table is the weight of the wood there is no other substance in this table other than the wood in the same way this world would not exist without the wood can very well exist as wood wood pilings or wood shavings not be a table at all in fact it was not a table to begin with and one day in the future it will not be a table but you'll still be wood so the wood in fact is more real than the table in the sense that it is the material out of which the table is constructed is the material cause the material cause is the reality and the effect is the table wood is the reality and the effect is the table in somewhat similar fashion existence consciousness bliss is taken as the reality and the name and form subsists upon it is in philosophical language it's called supervenience it's super wings upon the upon brahman the phenomenal universe supervenes upon the noumenon brahmana now here to a triviality now china if we if you are able to overcome the availing that which builds the difference between the universe and Brahman what will happen the difference will become clear the difference between the universe and Brahman the universe and Brahman just like the table is right here and the wood is also right here in fact when we touch the table we say touch food we don't say touch table we said touch wood in the same way what appears to be GUI and jagat is in in reality Brahman and we just have to see what is Brahman and what is the world in every experience of the world what we are experiencing now if it is Brahman plus world then we must be able to isolate Brahman and the world in our understanding at least if not is not physically but in our understanding we must be able to separate the technical word used in Vedanta is Vivica vivica technically in Sanskrit vivica we which protect karate to separate two things two things which are mixed up to separate them in Sri Ramakrishna's beautiful terminology simple example he gives sand and sugar mixed up the end can separate them milk and water are mixed up the Swan Raja hamsa it is supposed to be able to drink only the milk and let go of the water and otherwise as I say the Golmaal I cannot translate into English in Bengali Golmaal a mallet a gold about the multi law in English it would roughly be something like in chaos there is a reality and there is something false something something wrong so that you can leave the chaotic part out and take the substance something like that very difficult to translate into English now remember be careful about the example sand and sugar are two different things they just mixed up and very difficult to separate but here brahman and the world are not two different things the only thing you should take from the example is the process of separation don't think that there is there are little particles of sand so particles of the world and there's little particles of sugar and little particles of Brahman not like that it's more like the table and the wood ok now how do we do it how do we do it all this was touching setting the stage for the actual excavation let's now dig deep attend to me carefully here comes a very beautiful verse of the drinker Chevy Vega one of the most beautiful verses and oft quoted it's often quoted this verse is a famous verse which you come now the famous five factors of experience we will read that now verse number twenty us Peabody Priam Reuben nominate young Japan chakam our deitra Ambrym roopam jagged roopam Toto do I am absolutely fascinating how bold and clear they are exactly they're telling you exactly what is God and what is the world where in your experience which experience any experience any experience of the world at all look what he says every experience the translation is every entity actually every experience every experience that we have has five characteristics is characterized by five aspects what are they one existence number two appearance or cognizable 'ti or appearance or shining the second one number three happiness literally it means priya likeable so pleasure or happiness form and name nama name Rupa for five factors the first three are brahman the neck loss to our the world what does it mean whenever we experience anything now all that background will come in useful whatever object we experience in the world is a gross object as I said gross matter is a gross object what we experience what we see not necessarily only see what we see what we hear what we touch what we smell taste anything in this world it is a gross object and this cross object as we as I said earlier has borrowed existence from Brahman and therefore it appears to exist just as the existence of this table is actually the existence of the wood what do I mean by that if the did not exist the table wouldn't exist not the other way around if the table did not exist the world would still exist it would be something else in the same way the existence of everything in this world we experience every object first thing we experiences it is when I experience the table table is that's how I experience it when I experience the chair chair is when I experience the person the person is table exists there exists person exists that's how I experience so there is the first thing I experience about anything every experience is characterized by existence second every experience in order to be an experience must be in consciousness without consciousness you cannot speak about anything how can you have experience without consciousness awareness without being aware without being consciousness must be their awareness must be their sentient must be there for experience to take place so every experience also not only exists the objects shine I like that word shine look at the word not only the bulb chandelier shines it obviously shines but even and I like a humble thing like a chair or a pair of slippers or shoes it shines in the sense that you become aware of it it shines in the light of your consciousness so party it expresses manifests shines it is known consciousness is their third joy pleasure happiness I know what question is going to come up but wait let me just go ahead and finish so there are things in this world which give us happiness which which we like we like ting priya means that which is like which is dearer to us and thing is dear to us only if it makes us happy only if it gives us some pleasure or happiness so that pleasure or happiness that is also there in our experiences and every experience has a unique name and a unique form my form I do not mean something that's only seen it may be seen but heard also it may be touched it's a feeling a touch sensation of touch or a smell or a taste so these groves were these experiences we haven't of the world they are characterized by a form by form I mean something you may see or hear or smell or touch or taste or it might be more abstract it might be abstract a concept an idea that also has a form because that's how we distinguish one idea from another one concept from another so it has a form and it has a it has a label we put on it the way we think about it that's called the name the language which we use for it so name and farm now what he is saying is having understood you can analyze any of your experiences into these five factors in all these experiences you can find five factors in these five factors he says the first three are Brahman the last two of the world the first three are Brahman are actually borrowed from Brahman to make it more precise the last two are name and form are the projections of the projecting power of Maya the projecting power of Maya the poverty and Lee BIC shape the projecting power of Maya Vic shaper Shakti project's name and form so the last two name and form here is a person the name of the person Sam or Joe or Aram whatever the name is and the form of the person that is the projecting power of Maya the very existence of that person the very fact that it is shining forth in in experience and the very fact that the person is dear to me that happiness a joy you get from it is from Brahman the existence of that person is borrowed from such pure existence the cognizer bility the appearance the shining forth at that experience we are getting that is borrowed from kit and the joy or the dearness and that you like that person or the joy it gives you is borrowed from Anandi now you're getting impatient for the answer to your question I hope the question is in your mind I'm sure it is the question will be oh but wait wait wait we do not find pleasure or joy everywhere there are things and there are things and people and objects in the world which scare us which we make us unhappy so it's not that everything everything in the world is joyous or full of joy for us well it's actually like this one way of explaining this would be the two tracks in which this verse has been explained one way let me give you a very traditional way of explaining it would be remember the distinction between gross matter and subtle matter stool and sukshma the gross matter has the capacity of borrowing existence from Brandon the gross matter has capacity for of borrowing existence from Brahman therefore this entire gross universe exists seems to exist just as the name and form of the table have the capacity of borrowing existence from wood in the same way this universe is the capacity of borrowing existence from Brahman what will borrow existence from Ramon any name and form but there are special names and forms called subtle matter Sushma our minds subtle matter which borrowed not only existence from Rahman they can borrow consciousness from Brahman so consciousness is reflected in our minds as ji De Aza the reflection of consciousness no speculation that's the awareness which we are feeling now each of us feeds awareness in the mind in his or her own mind you feel awareness sentience that is the consciousness titanium chit aspect of brahman shining in our minds why not everywhere well it's a bit like I like to give the example of sunlight sunlight is reflected from all the surfaces which we when we go out into the sunlight you will see the houses and the garden and the rocks and the lakes everything is glass everything is reflecting sunlight everything reflects sunlight one but only a few of them few of them form an image of the Sun a rock or the wall will not find an image of the Sun but the glass will the lake will the pool of water or the bucket of water will fall so there are certain substances it's an example I'm giving there are certain substances which will not only reflect the light but they will also form a little image of the Sun in the same way there are so there is subtle metal sukshma which will not only borrow existence from brahman but also borrow consciousness from Raman and that is our minds so as the existence where do you find it everywhere party shining forth awareness where do you find it only in subtle bodies in minds whose minds our minds in fact here is the distinction that Vedanta makes between living beings Jeeva and non living Jagat between the chit between the the sentient and the in sentient you remember how in in biology class we had to make a distinction between living beings and non living beings what is the distinction between us people and the chairs we are sitting on according to Vedanta according to err on - the difference is this we are living beings we are Jeeva individuals sentient beings and these are in sentient this in Chuncheon matter what is the difference the difference is it is only a gross body it's only a gross body we have a gross body and the subtle body the living being this Jeeva has a gross body plus a subtle body so we have a living gross body and a subtle body inside full of life and thought and emotion and memory and feeling the sense of ego all of this is part of our subtle body so this subtle body is what distinguishes living beings from nonliving beings in the book of a lamp life also belongs to the subtle body in Vedanta pranamaya kosha belongs to the sukshma sharir so this is the distinction so bothy shining forth awareness sentient that is possible only in the mind in each of our minds that's why we find the manifestation of consciousness in the mind not anywhere else you say no I find the manifestation of consciousness in my mind in everybody else's mind you do not actually think about it what do you experience you experience first of all in a sentient awareness in your mind and with that sentient aware mind you use your sensory apparatus to look as the world and you see certain beings human beings plants and animals around which appear to be like you sentient beings but you do not directly experience their sentient let me repeat that none of us experiences sentient anywhere awareness anywhere except in his or her own mind so what about the person sitting next to me are you saying that person is not sentient are you saying that person is has no consciousness the person is a zombie are you saying that no I am NOT saying that but I am saying that you are not aware of that person's awareness directly the way you are aware of your own awareness never ever the only place where we are aware of conscious maybe get consciousness is in our own minds third party then third one the question happiness pleasure joy it's only in a particular state of our mind that we experience joy the same logic is being extended all names and forms everything in this universe borrows existence from Brahman only Minds can borrow awareness consciousness from Brahman only minds in a certain state can borrow joy or bliss from Rama that's why the only place will be experience happiness in a certain state of mind and Vedanta calls it a soft weak state of mind Segura is necessary for experiencing suka material happiness any kind of happiness it requires the mind to be a say in a certain state of mind in certain state suka so car car with these necessary in the mind to experience happiness so now what what have I said this is one explanation why we do not experience joy in all beings if in every experience there is joy why don't we experience it the answer is this though existence consciousness bliss is everywhere existence alone is manifest in everything existence and consciousness manifest only in our minds existence consciousness bliss manifest only in our sattvic minds mind in a particular state which we call happiness that's one explanation so a steve harty priam existence the shininess and the joy they are there but they are not there than in all experiences in only those experiences which are which are in the mind which are joyous we have all three but otherwise every experience will definitely have existence so existence aspect is borrowed from such consciousness aspect from chit and the priam likable miss the pleasure is borrowed from ananda sat-chit-ananda is reflected in our exist in our experience as a ste bothy priam asti the being of all things body the shining forth of all things priam the the pleasure the joy we get in life and nama rupa this is the distinction between brahman and the world now here I would like to make a point it is not that there are two things one Brahman and one world it's not that there is one absolute and one phenomenal world which is only one thing it is one thing Brahman alone is appearing forth in all these ways this distinction we have to make our mind to recognize that unchanging Brahman Amen through all our experiences then what happens the enlightened person then the person will understand this focuses on the austerity Priam focuses on the existence consciousness plays in every experience the name and form becomes secondary to that person that's why you will see in the lives of all great enlightened persons All Saints anybody who is spiritually advanced they seem to look upon everything with an equal vision they are not chasing pleasure they are not afraid of pain they do not favor their friends they do not hate their enemies they find the same they will say the devotee will say the same Lord in all beings the same ass Tea Party Priam in all experience and what they are claiming here is it's always available and in every experience what is happening is we are looking only at the name and form we are not noticing the existence consciousness bliss we are not noticing the Osteopathy Priam what they are inviting us to do is in every experience of the world notice become aware take the attention away from the name and form towards the existence this exists and this exists and this exists instead of thinking of it as a microphone as a table and as a scarf think of it as existence with the name and form of a table as existence with the name and form of a microphone as existence itself with the name and form of a scarf that's what wadn't is asking us to do it is not that we think of a wave with water this water in the wave Vedanta is asking us to say that look at the water itself water is appearing with the name and fall of the wave imagine all of this as an ocean of existence everything around it is in fact you just have to say new way a strange way of looking at things we are surrounded by an ocean of existence here and in this ocean of existence just like the Pacific Ocean which is an ocean of water there are waves big waves and small waves and surf and bubbles in the same way in this ocean of existence there are chairs and tables and people some are moving around someone not moving around there is this entire there are planets and atoms all of them are names and forms the realities existence what are you you're also existence that existence does not change what changes are the names and forms it was existence alone which appears as the word as a tree as a table as a broken table it's the same existence so this is what they are asking us to do now how do we do it this is the concept the theory behind it what you have to do is first listen to this carefully read it repeatedly so that you understand what they are trying to say then clear out all doubts through reasoning Shravana Marana now after understanding this once we begin to get a glimpse of what they are talking about remember it's nothing very vague or abstract you see this is the most clear thing that we have all the time but amazingly enough so anyway vikander is to call it the open secret very beautiful he said the open secret it's right there God is hidden but he didn't write in in plain sight right in plain sight it's hidden right here within us and outside us hidden right here but we don't notice we don't look look so I mean they began to put it very forcefully do not seek him just see him it's like saying you know it's like saying the reality of the wave is water look deep into the way we will find water what deep into the wave deep in the wave in the middle of the wave on the top of the wave up above it below it it's all water sometimes mystical language abstract analysis obscures the fact that you're talking of what the most vivid thing in our lives after all what do we experience anywhere throughout our lives anything other than existence itself in various forms and names there's this story but it's hid a hidden it's hidden in this way the veiling power of Maya everything there is a story of a businessman travelling in a train in India long distance train from the north to the South maybe was travelling and he gets up and sits in the Train and the person sitting opposite to him was actually a thief looking for an opportunity to steal money and the thief sees the businessman will bring out our word of cash and count it thief looks like that the businessmen stops it back and goes to sleep he makes all plants that when the businessman is fully asleep at night he'll sneak in and take a money out and when the businessman is asleep and the thief quietly sneaks up and start searching carefully always becoming startled when the businessman you know sort of changes sides and rolls over whatever hand he searches and searches and searches and he couldn't find anything and it's becoming daytime he gets nervous and he goes back to his bunk but he cannot sleep and as day breaks the businessman gets up from his bunk and stretches and yawns and as the thief is watching he takes out a wad of cash and counts it and puts it back as he was stunned what happened anyhow then next last the second day of the journey that's the last night again the thief tries it and he's again he cannot find anything now he's thoroughly puzzled next day in the morning he is terribly tired he dozes off suddenly startled awakes and since the businessman is getting ready to leave he's counting the cash and pray and he couldn't restrain himself any longer and he asked the businessman sir will you please tell me where did you hide the cash and the businessman said why under your pillow under your pillow the last place you'll ever think of looking you're trying to get cash which you already had it was in hinge your fur in your pillow itself that's where God has it in its himself right in front of our eyes right here now how do we discern this this is what we learned today but how do you make it a living reality it's difficult to wrap our minds around this thing but once you do how do you make it a living reality how do you get benefit from it how does it help you to overcome suffering and sorrow in life so for that purpose there's something called needed the asana the process of assimilation the truth which we have heard which we have understood the second part is vital we must understand first having understood that make it a living reality there are techniques there are six techniques which we shall learn in the class I think we have it next week with the class next week so we shall start those techniques how do you assimilate this true how do you practice it moment to moment those trick techniques will come and as I say people when they hear about this they say oh that's the real thing let's jump ahead to that no you cannot jump ahead it's like if some physics professor teaching you physics quantum mechanics in UCLA and it says the main thing is think deeply about it and you will get it and if the student says okay so thinking deeply about is the main thing so I'll bunk all the classes I will not read any books and sit quietly and think deeply about it you'll never get it that way you have to attend the classes you have to read the books you have to put it thing put in a lot of thinking and then sit quietly and dwell on it it will come to you and it will come that part is not so difficult and so the techniques we will take up next week let's take up questions before we end all right there two questions oh if the tree it's a orange the local question philosophy yeah so if a tree falls in a forest and there's nobody to hear it does it make a sound yeah well let's just put it very simply actually it's a question that is used for distinguishing between realism and idealism but from Vedanta point of view you can take a very realistic answer also if you take let me give a technical answer if you take the basic approach of Srishti Drishti vada the Lord creates this universe to the power of Maya so the tree falls and just like I'll be obeying the laws of physics waves are generated now they are not called sound until somebody hears them obviously waves are generated in any physical object falls so it becomes a sound only when a sentient being hears it as sound but the physical part of it is still there so it's a very realistic explanation and Virant has no objection to it Virant is often confused with idealism the world is not there in the mind of the observer as an idealist would say the world appears in Brahman both the observer and the observed appear in Brahman what you call the mind of the observer is subtle matter what you call the observed universe is gross matter the same Brahman appears as the observer and the observed so a moving under puts it beautifully he says one alone exists it appears as nature soul so the in that one this universe is appearing vegetable will come to you first five elements yes Brahman in order to find Brahman in your experience yes experience of the world yeah the idea was the question is that the five elements were introduced to find Brahman so how do you do that the five elements are the elements of our experience in of the world and we have said earlier that Brahman is hidden by the name and form of the world so the five elements are the name and form existence consciousness bliss a steve harty priam the existence of a thing the appearance of the thing in knowledge and the joy that it sometimes gives us so now it says that in these five factors concentrate on those those three steve80 priam that is that's not directly brahman it's borrowed from Brahman one experiment you can do in fact let me tell you where I read about it a student of philosophy was talking to his professor and the professor explaining something like Vedanta to him he is saying that see what do you see in front of you well the lawn of your house and beyond that well the road beyond that the meadows beyond that the hills in the distance beyond that the sky and beyond that and the person says students is why me you see what happens is when actually when you're emptying your mind space helps you to empty the mind you find that everything is experienced in consciousness in your awareness so the five factors which are introduced here they help you to focus if you want to say the brahman is hidden he what you are experiencing is Brahmin plus name-and-form it's like I am saying the wood is hidden by the table then I must point out what is wood here and what is table here the name and the farm are table the material itself is good similarly name and form are world existence awareness and joy are Brahman not the feelings that they are borrowed from Brahman yes and the world yes the world of the universe is a productive mile it is pervaded by Maya it is my eye itself no you see what they're claiming here is you see if I ask you what are you experiencing you'll see the world and the vedanta says no not just the world you are experiencing the world covering brahman the world veiling brahman you are experiencing world plus Brahman right now if you say that then you if we say that your question next question will be if I am experiencing Brahman plus world then what in my experience is the world and what in my experience is Brahman and the answer they gave was the name and forms which you experience are the world and that is Maya and the existence consciousness bliss is Brahman are the same Maya's the cause the name and form which gives us the world but remember when they when these where we when we say I am experiencing the world I am experiencing world plus Brahman or Brahman plus world brahman covered over by the world yes yes yes all right it's a very good question and I'll just dwell on it for a little while and then stop here but if you want you can take it up next class also it's important to note this in Vedanta because language breaks down at the point of expressing the absolute the language language is never meant to express the absolute language is meant to deal with the relative world so because language breaks down we are forced to rely on several strategies one of them is using examples metaphors now when using examples examples can be very useful to teach something but they can be very dangerous also because the teacher when he is using the example knows what he means but the student may not student may not if you say that man is like a lion you mean the man is as brave as a lion or as fierce as a lion or whatever if you but the student may understand that the man sort of goes around on all fours and jumps on the unwary people that may understand that doesn't know what you mean in the same way I just answer that British briefly on its end it here when you say when when Vedanta says the snake and the rope rope is like Brahman snake is like the world now in the case of snake and the rope the moment you see the rope the snake vanishes this snake has no existence at all and in the beginning in the middle or in the end it's the rope alone which exists nothing has happened to the rope to make it a snake so all these things are understood from the example and correct they apply to Bremen in the world in the case of the table or in what they use the clay and pot or here the table and the wood what confuses us is it seems that the table is as real as the wood and you make something make the che would into a table so his brahmins are more shaped into this world the answer is no when you talk about table and good clay and pot it took me a long time to understand this clay and part table input only one thing and one thing alone is being made is being intended here they are not saying that the clay has been shaped into a pot and so Brahman has been shaped into the world no they are not saying the table has been made into a table the wood has been made into table by a carpenter so God has made the world out of something no only one thing is meant here the entire existence of the table is wood the only thing here actually is wood if you examine it the top is wood the bottom is wood sides are good the weight of the table is the weight of the wood are they equally real they are not equally real why because the wood can exist without the table it can exist as out tree it can exist as a broken table it can exist as wood powder it's the same word just as water can exist without being a wave but the wave cannot exist without water did you get it the wave cannot exist without water and so the wave is not real like the water there are let me put it this way the reality of the wave is the reality of the water in the same way the reality of this world is Brahman we will leave it at this and then next take up the techniques the six techniques pot assimilating it to make it a real thing in our lives Oh shanti shanti shanti hurry oh that's sad shri ramakrishna aparna master you