Video 103

103. Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 8 Verses 21-22 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

foreign [Music] [Music] classes and we were on chapter eight so let me just a little bit of a background I'm gonna run I remember we had a teacher is to teach us statistics what what's now called data science used to be called statistics at that time and we'd had this long mathematical derivations he would you know this implies this this implies this and go on and fill up the Blackboard and we stopped for summer vacations long derivation was going on and after two months he comes on the first class after two months he enters the classroom and then he writes on the Blackboard implies and then he goes on with the very very left of the derivation two months ago so obviously everybody's forgotten what was going on let's have a little background bhagavad-gita we know 18 chapters 700 verses and it is a Moksha sastra yesterday I was talking to a very well known intellectual philosopher he was saying that I'm going to give this talk about how unmanageable human nature is and all these you know the this Gita for management this is this is not right because Gita is not a management book it's it's a Moksha shastra it is a a text which tells us how to attain Enlightenment how to attain freedom spiritual Freedom go beyond suffering attain the purpose of life however in defense of those who use bhagavad-gita for management or for many other things for you know healthy living or what not it's not true that Gita is a book for management or for diet or for whatever all but it is full of insights which can be useful so it is not totally invalid to use bhagavad-gita for purposes other than Enlightenment but one must never forget lose sight of the fact what is the Central purpose of bhagavad-gita I remember there was a Gita class at Harvard University and there were people from the Kennedy School of government they had come to learn about what was the ancient Indian view of warfare the politics of warfare I said you'll be sorely disappointed because you might think the bhagavad-gita is set in the Mahabharata and in the midst of on the battlefield that's the setting so there will be discussion about what there isn't it starts off in the first chapter with the consideration of the pros and cons of engaging in war and then the whole thing you know sort of Fades out to the background there is a discussion about what is the self what is God what is devotion devotion what are spiritual practices and so on moral virtues and so on because it's a Moksha sastra it's not a text on governance it's not a text on war it's not a text on management it's not a text on healthy living but you can get a lot of insights from this and you can apply it in different fields that's there's no doubt primarily a text for enlightenment God realization in these 18 chapters 700 verses divided into 18 chapters one way of reading it and a pretty accepted way in classical interpretations of the bhagavad-gita is to see it as divided into three sections of six chapters each from chapter one to six seven to twelve and thirteen to eighteen and how do you divide this the great vedantic saying that thou art you are that Ultimate Reality you the individual being that Ultimate Reality and how are you that Ultimate Reality that identity so these are the three sections the first six chapters tells us about you I who am I I know what I am right now but an investigation into what we really are the claim is we do not know ourselves as we truly are and it's really really worthwhile the most worthwhile Endeavor search in our life to find out who or what we are um you know this inquiry Atma which are inquiring to oneself this is the direct route the direct path to enlightenment most famously ramanamashi in our Modern Age he would teach who am I find out who you are who am I and he would teach it to one and all so a group of people who were obviously devotees they came to him and asked us what is the way to attain Enlightenment and he said do which are inquiry find out who am I then when the news of this went to another saintly person who who was told that these people these particular group this had gone to Ramana mercy and Ramana mashi gave the same advice which he gives everybody so this other person who was also a saint I won't take the name he said well if they had come to me I wouldn't have said that I would have told him to do japa to repeat the name of God they are not qualified ripe enough for self-inquiry now this was again repeated back to Ramana Maharishi so you can see that even the highest spiritual levels there's gossip this is repeated back to Ramana you told these people who are obviously uh quite ordinary folk with a simple devotion to God you told them to practice self-inquiry who am I whereas that saying said they are not fit for this it's no use telling them all these things they have to do japa and have Devotion to God said is not wrong but I gave an honest answer they asked me a question what is the direct the shortest way to God realization Enlightenment and I told them the honest answer the honest answer is this now so then he stopped he didn't explain any further honest answer is this that self-realization who find out who you are of course he does not say that those people will be able to do it and become enlightened or not but straight question straight answer is this and it won't do them any harm if they try [Music] so anyway the first six chapters deal with self-inquiry inquiry into who am I and Krishna teaches Arjuna that you are not the body not the mind you are the Atman Immortal Consciousness not the object the pure subject not subject to birth and death not subject to um old age disease aging I mean death not subject to the sorrows and miseries and depressions and the limitations of the Mind remember he does not say old age misery and death are not there they are there the body will become old and it will become diseased and it will die the mind will be subject to UPS and terms however if you know who you are at least at the level of the mind you will attain some peace you will attain the ability to transcend these uh the buffets of of life then comes the next six chapters where we are now from chapter seven onwards the focus shifts from the inquiry of the self to the inquiry of God um who is God what is God like and how do you cultivate you have to set up a relationship to VidCon with yourself you don't have a relationship you it's identity you know who you are I did not know who I am after inquiry Now I Know Who I Am With God after we hear about God we are taught about God in our religions we set up a relationship the Lord is my master and the servant the Lord is my friend I am the friend of the Lord the Lord is my father or mother and I am the child or the other way around and Lord is my child so on so this chapter 7 to 3 through 12 are about devotion and we are there in chapter eight so the chapter is about God and it's about Devotion to God is still the same God realization Enlightenment and Moksha Liberation from sorrow and then from chapter 13 to 18 Again the the approach will shift it will be back to knowledge to Ghana and the great identity this is a broad picture don't come to me by saying that in the in the second chapter also we had lots of other things apart from self-knowledge we have we were taught karma yoga and then in another chapter we were taught about the Avatar and Devotion to Avatar true it's just a broad picture each of these chapters contains a lot more now eighth chapter all this was to say the eighth chapter you will should not be surprised when it is you find it is overwhelmingly about God because it's in the middle sixth sixth middle third of the of the divisions of the 18 chapters what is there in the eighth chapter what have we seen so far and the eighth chapter starts with Arjuna asking seven questions he asks what is a dhyatma I'll explain what is adhi Deva what is and then what is karma what is Brahman and what is um uh what is how do you remember God at the time of death and what's the point of that and how why should you do that the seventh question is actually the theme the the central thing about this you know take away from this chapter thinking about God loving God and holding on to God specifically at the time of death also and throughout your life but specifically at the time of death but before that all these other these questions seven questions the first six questions technical terms all of them what do they mean and why why is he asking all this all of these are there because Krishna referred to them at the end of the seventh chapter so he sort of instigated Arjuna to ask these questions and I will not go into the details of that basically it's an outline of vedanta means our inner spiritual reality and Krishna says our inner spiritual reality is pure Consciousness he answers the first six chapters questions in brief just brief straight answers within one or two verses what is uh that means this physical Universe this is It's Made of five elements it is material what is he says it is the cosmic mind hiranya Garba all our minds together and then what is the and literally it means what is the spiritual reality to which all religious rituals are offered you know all devotional practices specifically The Vedic rituals and he says it's God ishwara ishwara is all all sacrifices are given to God what what was this discussion what was it all about notice if you carefully follow what Krishna has done here he has referred to Virat hiranya Garba ishwar those valentic idea of the cosmos of the Divine behind this Cosmos Consciousness with his entire physical universe that is Virat Consciousness with all our minds together the cosmic mind that is hidden and Consciousness which is the power of Maya which why is it called because it is the one which gives the results of uh of the sacrifices it's the one which gives the results of all Karma the master of karma all karma is administered by God foreign and then he talks about his Brahman very quickly he touches upon the same idea of Brahman and Karma which propels US from birth to birth and which is a constitutes a bondage that's what keeps us as individual beings all of that just quickly and then he says those who think of God those who hold on to God they will be freed at the end of their lives um and so you one must think of God at the point of death one must be have this devotional attitude at the point of the death of this physical body but how do you do that he says for to do that you have to have devotion um you know throughout your lives so this at least the practice of devotion throughout your life the predominant thought and love of God throughout life has to be cultivated a question might arise that what happens after death you know God will come will help us at the point of death if we take refuge in God at the time of death but then what about Karma say yes but um you know all the good karma the results will be given they will be activated if you take refuge in in God so it's a very powerful thing to do most powerful thing to do at the point of death is to take refuge in God that's why in all religious Traditions which are theistic religious Traditions there is an Importance of Being specially prayerful and devotional at the point of death and Krishna makes the point that you cannot do it at the point of death unless you have done it throughout your life um why just at the point of death it is difficult at the point at in old age also if one has not practiced then it's difficult to make these changes in old age it's better to practice well begin practicing when you are young now what else is there in this chapter he says Krishna says that those um who worship God for worldly and otherworldly desires I want a good life in this world happy prosperous things will go my way and I want to go to heaven and have a nice life after death they will attain that um by the by worship of God but that's a very worldly uh way they will not attain Enlightenment they will not get freedom from samsara they will again come back but they'll just accumulate Good Karma by the worship of God and Performing religious rituals Vedic rituals with Desire with the desire for a good but limited worldly and otherworldly existence have a nice life here and go to heaven after death but those who do not do that also um so they will be subject to the Past Karma and they'll be born and they will die and be born again and die as their past Karma you know they caught in the Stream of the effects of their past Karma and there is a third category of those who are very spiritual very devoted to God have not yet attained Enlightenment what will happen to them at the point of death they will be by the grace of God they will go to God and live in that highest Heaven called Brahma local which is basically the heaven of all the theistic religions which is what the vaisnavas mean by vikunta the Jews Christians Muslims mean by Heaven um by um you know so there is a realm a kind of existence which is not World which is actually spiritual and where you dwell in the presence of God what about Enlightenment you will get Enlightenment there and you will be free so that is called karma mukti sequential liberation and so so you have these um four options what happens after death one is the majority of all sentient beings they are they are swept Along by their past Karma new births new lives a mixture of misery and pleasure mostly misery and it goes on this is a cycle of birth and death This is called samsara Without End those then there are those little better than that who are moral who are devotional have faith in God have performed some kind of prayer rituals technically it would mean the Vedic ritualism but you can more liberally you can open it up to include all sorts of devotions in different religions all sorts of religious ritualistic practices why do they do that they want to hold on to God and have a good life here and go to heaven and have a good life in heaven afterwards so that's the second kind who will um who will have still be in samsara but have a relatively better samsara they will go to heaven on the Merit of the past Good Karma when that past good karma is exhausted they will again come back to this worldly existence but they will not get into animal births or lower births they will get human births and good human birds and be born in maybe prosperous and good families and get an opportunity for uh you know Spiritual Development also so that's the third option um who are who are what do you call um who no is the third or the uh no this is this is a second option the second option those who perform religious rituals with the desire for good life here and good life in the in the future the third option is that those who do not want samsar they want God realization and they have intense Devotion to God in some form uh through meditation Japan through Puja in some kind of devotional practice and sincerely they don't want samsariq existence either in this life or again in future so what will happen to them after death they will go to brahmaloka to the heaven of religions that means the highest level remember there is a gradation of Heavens also so the highest Heaven is a spiritual Heaven it's not a worldly or otherworldly place it is a place where you dwell in the presence of God and ultimately get Liberation and freedom from there in vedanta it is called brahmaloka and then there is the fourth one the highest of all who gets Enlightenment here and now in this life you realize your Brahman game is over for you you are jivan mukta in this very life and after death you are with liberated by living as long as your body continues and bodyless Liberation after the death of the body so that's the highest four options born and dying swept Along by Karma worst Anything Can Happen depending on our past Karma little better than that holding on to God but with worldly desires and otherworldly desires she'll have a little better kind of worldly existence and other worldly existence still samsara third even better has dispassion for the world genuine devotion wants only God and yet for some reason has not attained Enlightenment in this life we'll go to God after death we'll not come back so that person is in a sense technically has attained Moksha because not rebound anymore lives in in the presence of God so all the dualistic religions all the you know different dualistic schools of edanta for example who say that our goal is not that Amber I am Brahman realized that and no no our goal is to go to heaven and stay in the presence of God whether it is you think of it as Shiva or Vishnu or Devi or whatever um they will and they will not be born again in this world they are liberated but we have not got Moksha and they have not attained Enlightenment yet their they will attain Enlightenment that's from an advaithic perspective the dualistic religions might say we don't care we just want to live in the proximity of our beloved Lord that's it and the fourth one last one is the one who realizes I am Brahman this is what he will has discussed and will discuss a little later and the final topic which he has touched upon before we move on is the entire universe Brahman that is God the personal God the saguna Brahman with the power of Maya from the unmanifest projects this this manifest universe and with the universe light lasts for billions of years and again goes back into the unmanifest disappears again and again it's projected so this is cycle of projection and reversal um a lot like we wake go about our business in the waking world and then we fall asleep and dream and go to deep sleep so in the same way from an ishwara's perspective from unmanifest Maya this universe comes into manifestation exists for billions of years or the drama of this universe and life goes on and then again is absorbed back into the Maya of ishwara and this cycle goes on the last verse we did the 20th verse before we closed the 20th verse of the eighth chapter it was said other than this I'm Manifest this entire Universe goes back into it comes from an unmanifested State and then exists for a while and then goes back into the unmanifested state recently there was an article creation of this you know something from nothing and I read it so some scientists have created tiny particles of matter from quote unquote nothing so not nothing if you see what that nothing is it's a pretty complex you know a lot of complex physics behind it there are Fields there's something called Quantum form and whatnot so that's clearly not nothing it just seems like nothing from our gross perspective that that's called the unmanifest from the unmanifest comes the Manifest universe and in the Manifest Universe again goes back to the unmanifest creation existence destruction in the 20th verse however Krishna says Beyond this unmanifest Beyond this Maya there is another unmanifest a greater unmanifest which is Brahman Which is higher than Maya which is the Ultimate Reality of the universe Brahman itself so that was the verse which we did 20th verse new objective so beyond this unmanifest from which the universe has come into which it will go again Beyond this there is another unmanifest object what is that object it is transcendent it is Brahman existence Consciousness place it is the absolute reality even Maya is not the absolute reality sanatana it is eternal so Maya is also Eternal but a changing eternal this Brahman is is an unchanging or an absolute Eternal it's beyond concepts of change and changelessness actually but anyway compared to Maya compared to this universe Brahman is unchanging um Maya is also Eternal but it's a flow like a river a river goes on but every moment it's different similarly this creation this universe it is there all the time sometimes in this form sometimes disappears back into Maya but it is continuously changing Brahman is not like that eternal um he says a reality there is another reality quite distinct from Maya my eyes object Brahman is pure subject Maya is something that you can still experience how do we experience Maya well we experience it all the time in our deep sleep the potential blankness of deep sleep from which emerges all our dreams and our waking experience we experience it all the time as ignorance I do not know that wailing power especially I do not know myself my real nature he says Mommy I Know Myself yes but after we read vedanta after you read Gita upanishads and all then we are forced to say oh so this is what I am sachidan and this I don't know I don't know really I'm gonna read about it but it doesn't it's not clear to me that's Maya That's The veiling Power of Maya so we experience so Maya is experienced not as an OB not as something that you see or hear or smell or taste or touch but as the seed of all of this not only that that Maya undergoes changes it now emerges as dreams then it emerges as this entire physical universe but Brahman is not seen in that way not as an object and nor does it undergo any change so different different this unmanifest Maya and that unmanifest Brahman the Ultimate Reality they are different they are not the same although we are using so why are we calling it unmanifest are you calling both of them manifest because none of them are available to um you know sensory experience even the Maya in its original state you can't see it or hear it or smell it or taste it or touch it it is prior to all sensory experience the physical manifestation of Maya you can see here smell taste touch you can think about it you can do some art religion science politics all of that in the physical manifestation of Maya but when it goes to unmanifest State Maya in its real nature I mean as unmanifest then you cannot um you know it's not an object to your senses nor can you really think about it it is Unthinkable it's something incredible and far more incredible than Brahman itself so that story is there when you know Narada asks Vishnu and show me your Maya and then that story is the many of us we know it how um Vishnu says no ask something else now this is no no I want to know Maya what Maya is when vishna says all right you asked for it and then he says that can you get me a glass of water I'm a little tired they're out for a walk all right God and and the sage allowed for a walk and God is thirsty and so now this is immediately I'll just bring it and it goes to this Village well to get some water for Vishnu and then some stories it is Krishna but in some stories Vishnu so and then he sees this girl drawing water at the well and he falls in love with her he goes with her to her house and asks for her hand to her in marriage to her father and then they get married and then um it's completely forgotten that Vishnu is waiting for water and then they settle down the father leaves his property to his daughter and son-in-law and children are about three children are born to them they were very busy and very happening life as you would say today so once a flood comes and washes away the village late at night one one night and Narada desperately tries to save his property his children his wife and clutches hold of his children into one hand to two children one child on his shoulder so graphic description one hand touching his wife and desperately struggling against the flood waters in the dead of the night then the children get swept away and then his wife gets Swept Away by the flood waters and in spite of his best efforts and he's thrown weeping and wailing on the bank of the river and then he sees a quiet voice that uh he hears the quiet voice Narada Where Is My Water you have been gone quite a half hour and he looks as you can see and then vishnu's feet maybe in sandals and when he looks and looks up and sees Vishnu looking down at him there is no River there is no Village no flood nothing it's bright shining daylight Vishnu says to him and this is Maya um but then this is our life this is exactly what we experience as life and notice something something that can develop over years a story a narrative it gets married meets the girl gets married there are places people there's work to be done there's the farm to be taken care of their children to you know raise and all of it can be destroyed in you know one night everything can get swept up and it does and then it's gone forever and then you don't know what was that what was all that recently David Chalmers in his book reality plus he has used this story to describe what virtual reality could be like and here's a cartoon of Vishnu and Narada there in that book also so this is this is Maya and we experience this Maya um and there is that very stirring story of a devotee who asked Swami vivekananda's disciples he said I have vivekan just once was very pleased with him in balloon in Calcutta and said ask me for anything and this devotee he said young man tell me what is my I want to understand Maya vivekantha said ask something else quite a lot like Vishnu and the devotee said no he said and his own reminiscences he has written he said I asked Vivekananda I said with a teacher like you if I don't understand this I'll never understand it ever again so then Vivekananda started talking and that gentleman he says that as Vivekananda spoke my mind was raised to a very high plane I found the world the room and the court and everything around whirling around doors and windows whirling and disappearing into a void and into a vast mass of Luminosity I could still hear vivekantha's voice though and then I exclaimed that then all this is Maya even what you are doing the ramakrishna mat and Mission and all these ashram says all of it is Maya then and Vivekananda smiled and said I'm welcome to set the voice said that you are right merge yourself in Brahman in meditation and realize all this and be free or if you cannot then come here and help me in this work now this gentleman says that I addressed Vivekananda in you know in Bengali Indian languages you have apni to me so apnea is like you address somebody's senior to you somebody like your parents or your Guru or somebody is apni in Hindi it would be up to me is something that you do for people who are your age are equals and so this person he this man he said I suddenly realized to my horror ad addressed Vivekananda as to me don't do that to your Guru the moment I realized that in the sense of difference hierarchy comes into his mind suddenly the whole world snaps back and he sees vivekan is sitting on that cartoon looking down at him and smiling um if you are interested in knowing you know we want to know then what do you what is it that Vivekananda said to this this person given this realization so he has not mentioned that but you know Vivekananda gave three lectures on Maya so if you want to get a sense of what he might have said you have to see the read those lectures anyway so quite apart from Maya is this Brahman which is existence itself not a changing thing like Maya which is consciousness itself not an object to Consciousness which is bliss and fulfillment itself not a mixture of Pleasure and Pain like my eyes so this is how Brahman is different this unmanifest is different where is Brahman where is Brahman yes in all beings in all human beings all and all living animals in plants in non-living things in all beings in all existences in this in the tiny and in the vast in the near and in the far in physically externally and internally in our minds and thoughts and feelings in all things Brahman is there where is Brahman here here we have heard it again and again even learned people scholarly people who studied vedanta they make a mistake you know sometimes people say when talking about vedanta oh vedanta says see Brahman is the only reality the world is false and so all of this you know this is false and Brahman is the reality no no no you're making a big mistake but that's what trunker has said Brahman is real world is false this is the world it's false Ramen is real there's something called Brahman maybe then you access it in deep meditation or something no no no look carefully what is Krishna saying what is shankara himself saying where is Brahman when you say a world is false true but when you say this here's the word it's false but what when you say this is the world this is Brahman Plus World if you say this is false and there's some other Brahman you have thrown out the baby with the bath water it's like saying the gold is the reality it's not the necklace or the or the bracelet or the ring is not the reality the ornaments are not the reality it's gold oh all right then I'll throw the ornaments away look for gold you'll never find it then please teach me where to find the gold in every golden ornament there is gold in everything that exists there's Brahman because Brahman is existence is pure being in every conscious every experience there is Brahman because Brahman is consciousness without Consciousness no experience and every movement for happiness fulfillment is striving you see all around you spiritual striving non-spiritual striving everything this vast movement going on in this samsara this is describing is towards Ananda Brahman is this Anand where is it here here here so people make a mistake don't be mistaken about it you are immersed in Brahma you're in an ocean of Brahman you don't see it it's like a fish in the ocean does not know what water is you're right here right now it immersed in God all the time how do you then distinguish Brahman from not Brahman as is next notice one thing about the world it changes we've already said Maya and its products are continuously changing this is somebody might ask a vedanta scholar but Maya is not changing its products are changing the Maya itself is dynamic it's composed of satwa rajasthamas and those authorities are there in sometimes they are in equilibrium and that is the state of pralaya cosmic dissolution and other times they are active one changing into the other and that creates this universe so that's sankhen cosmology basic point is Maya is continuously changing products of Maya are continuously changing in all this change there is a background of no change oh there's one thing that does not change but something note this carefully when we say Brahman is in this world it does not mean Brahman is contained in this world like say if you have a bowl and you have got um peas or fruit or you know apples in a bowl it's not like the world is a bowl and in that Brahman is kept not like that yeah it's not like a cupboard in which many items are stored so one item is permanent not like that it's not like the body in which there are many organs brain and heart like that one one more thing is Brahman not like that Brahman is not the Ultimate Reality is not one type of reality one existing thing among many existing things no it is the very existence of all of them it is also not when he says then in all destructible things there's the undestruct indestructible then the non-changing it is also not don't think of it as oh so it's like a compound in which everything is changing but one part is not changing not like that one good example would be a movie so everything in the movie is changing the movie itself changes and the movie is finished another movie starts and everything in the movie is changing but the screen is not changing but the screen is not a character in the movie it's not an item it's not a part of the script of the movie right but it is the reality of all movies similarly being or existence here everywhere and you can notice it in every experience in everything in this world living and non-living so that is Brahman and that's what you are now we go on into 21st verse that unmanifests which is Brahman which is called the imperishable is said to be the supreme goal attaining which they return not that is my Supreme abode our state the point here is all these metaphysics is fine why should we care the answer is you should care because it's a solution to all your problems you should care because this is the answer to all your questions I often say another there is one answer to all questions one solution to all problems there's an important thing to note because especially these days it is fashionable give me some practice for little peace of mind give me some practice for can you give me some practice for a little managing stress or practice for developing compassion for others a practice for um this and that so I am often asked to give a talk on Hinduism or vedanta and so now it's it's part of the academic curriculum you know so so Swami at the end of the class can you add one can you show us one practice is not about a bunch of isolated practices even Buddhism isn't it's often Buddhism which is taught as a few practices for mindfulness a few practices for calmness a few practices for developing compassion no no no no Buddha also had one Central Insight which he wanted to share and then you can have lots of other practices so it's the the problem of the modern secular approach is to to dismiss the central insight and then mine the resources of religion for something that can give a little bit of secular help in this world a little peace of mind little stress busting little boosting the immune system or handling the wrinkles in the face little better interpersonal relationships a little more ecological approach all those things you can do but it's a very secular way of looking at spirituality because you are ignoring the essential The Core teaching of spirituality in all meditation The Core teaching and saying to say at least in yoga is that there is something beyond the mind that has to be realized in all devotional practices in all theistic religions The Core teaching quite apart from this practice and that practice The Core teaching God exists and you have to have a loving relationship with God that's the Core teaching The Core teaching you are that you are Brahman that's the Core teaching not you know discrete little in Bengali you say kuchura it means um I don't know how to translate that into English scattered practices little practices here and there I have learned 20 nice practices you might and they might improve your day-to-day life a little bit but that's not the point of uh spirituality so he said what's the point of spirituality this is the ultimate goal of all life attaining which you have fulfilled the purpose of life the goal of life is attained from which you do not come back into newer country you do not come back come back where come back to death come back to misery and limited existence limitations of sorrow and striving and frustration never attaining fulfillment that limitation is gone forever you attain but for that one goes beyond this limited Body Mind limited body mind will continue as long as life is there but even after the death of the body mind nothing is lost you remain as this unlimited ocean of existence so never come back into limitation again that's the goal it's not one little goal among many goals it is the goal for which all other goals are subsidiaries whatever we are trying to do in life whatever we're trying to do in spiritual life is this whatever we're trying to do in any life secular life also in art religion science in war in criminality in hatred in fights and quarrels in love in desire in all of that whatever we are trying to do is is ultimately this we just don't know it this is what what is the point of it all the entire gain that is going on and Mama what is that you attain you attain my real nature my Transcendent nature which is existence Consciousness this which you are this is the ultimate goal of all existence of all life of a human life definitely and of all life it's the goal of all spirituality it's a goal of vedanta it's the goal of all spirituality it's the goal of all life also then um 22. no so is that it yes yes [Music] great I want to do this how do you attain it he says that Supreme Being o partha in whom are all beings and by whom all this is pervaded is attainable by one pointed devotion and ah now you non-dualists are cut but wait remember this is the section on God and devotion from chapter 7 to 12. so he says that reality you want to attain that yes of course we have advertised it enough it sounds great I want to I want to get that how how tell me how by devotion by Love by adoration by worship Faith worship devotion adoration surrender continuously dwelling in God what kind of devotion ananya there's no second anymore the one and only one thing in our life is God I love the Lord my God in whichever formula whichever way you understand god with nothing else everything else yes other people whatever is there in life everything I love through in and through God not as I love God plus so many other things no only God ananya without a second but if you see shankaracharya's commentary you will you will smile he says by devotion it's about put shankara say to this the Great non-dualist he is quite Brazen here he says devotion what is devotion it is the knowledge what is what knowledge the knowledge of the self I am Brahman is it what do you mean this is clearly it's devotion love of God is being talked about and you don't seem to be budging from your self-knowledge aham Brahma but he says non-dual without a second there's only one without a second that is Brahman and Devotion to that would mean uh focus on that without anything else so this word ananya ananya or ananya not no second there's no other it means the love for in which there is no other thing except God Only God and God only it is the focus in which there is nothing else except God that is samadhi and it is the knowledge in which I realized I am Brahman one only without a second all of these come from ananya very beautiful word no other in Love no other except that in thinking meditation no other except that one one reality that is samadhi actually and in knowledge Ghana no other so this bhakti you can understand as love you can understand as meditation you can understand as knowledge Ghana yoga bhakti all are included in this so Shankar is right in that way Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda was reading the inspired talks so one each sentence is so powerful a mantra didn't take you to enlightenment he says this today I was reading he says we can never know God but we can be God knowledge is a lower State a degradation what does he mean by that he says we can never see our faces really in a mirror how interesting that example what a precise example we do see our faces but what we see is not the face itself it's a a it's a nice copy of our faces it's second hand it's a reflection that's all that we can see when you see in a mirror and it depends on the mirror also whereas our face we are it but we don't we never see it then it's so this is from the knowledge perspective then he makes a very stunning statement about love same thing he says about love he says the truth is that we are love itself all dry matter physical things he puts it so beautifully no you are loved but the only way we can experience it is by taking the help he calls it he says by taking the help of a Phantasm what is the Phantasm a person something an appearance a person a place a job a favorite food your favorite pet dog a country a cause um you know from the from a favorite cookie to a great thing like religion and nationalism and science and art whatever it is that we love and people specially so our understanding of Love Is that person is lovable and I love that person no it's a much lower understanding what you love is love itself how much do you know about that person how long will you have that person you never had that person earlier you will not have that person later husband wife children grandchildren father mother grandparents all come and go and even when they are there and you love them intensely how well do you really know them what you know is a Phantasm little bit of what they really are mostly our own covering our own thinking imposed upon them and even what they really are the little bit you know is continuously changing it's continuously changing so uh some of the very kind of stunning inside we are love itself but the thing is we the only way we can experience it is by catching hold of a Phantasm that means holding on to some kind of object to love now the the person who understands this knows that what is truly valuable what is truly Great Is Love itself what does it mean that I will not love the person I will just love love itself whatever that means no it means then the love itself is important so that love itself flows out unconditionally unconditionally freely openly without Reserve to all persons all beings so you love all whatever whoever comes in front of you is because your very nature is to love it goes out there unconditionally so I'm Vivekananda said greatest of all is to be enlightened and realize your brahmana he says or if let all Vision cease he says or if you cannot then dream but better dreams if you still have to dream then better dream the best dream that you can what is the best dream he spells that out also he says um unconditional love and service free so love without any condition everybody all the time everyone internally at least and then actually what do you do service and free I give without asking for it my time energy my resources continuously flowing out because these are these are all manifestation of Maya or Brahm of Maya they will continuously flow better he says give give and do not look back whoever looks back his ocean dwindles to a drop so you keep on giving don't think it will ever be exhausted won't be the more you give time energy love service your resources more will flow through you and this is absolutely sure in any case you don't need any of it for yourself you are the infinite problem these are all the riches of Maya the glory of Maya let it flow the best use it is in service of Those whom you love whom do you love everybody foreign how would you love all of them because all beings they dwell literally says in Brahman see this universe appears to you all people universe everything appears to you step one Step 2 it appears in you step three it is nothing but you all of this universe it exists or it appears in existence an ocean of existence in which all things appear that's why they seem to exist and they are nothing but that existence itself appearing as existing things just as all waves and Bubbles and you know drops of water and foam and all they're nothing but water itself appearing in all these ways and where are they it's not that there is water and on top of that there is a wave the wave is nothing but water it is in water and it is nothing but water similarly this entire universe is appearing in Brahman and it's nothing but Brahman it's appearing in you the real you and it's nothing but you where is this Brahman yeah oh sarvamidam here again this very exp that means here here now what you are right now where you are sitting the people you are around you however crazy it may seem all those people may seem crazy and unjust and unfair and miserable to you then none other than God and then you say I don't care it's an awful god well they are none other than you they're your own reflection they're literally you I am you pervade in every bit of them God dwells you dwell you know every bit of them every being which who is around you sarvam Edam here that's why I'm telling you the huge misunderstanding of advaita vedanta happens when you you know like a [Music] Brahman is real vedanta State and this world is false but when you say this world what are you dismissing you're dismissing Brahman itself you're getting rid of God when you get rid of this word because here is this is God is appearing in the form of this world everything in this world every person every being in this world is pervaded by the divine so these are very glorious verses next he will switch to the topic which I mentioned earlier the pathways suppose one does not realize this right now in this life then what's open to us so we are not going to go the miserable way of not being spiritual religious at all so there is the the lower religious way of religious person but still worldly wants something in the world that's one option religious person spiritual person wants nothing in this world one's just God second option and of course the highest is becoming enlightened Here and Now itself so you'll speak about two paths the dark path and the light path and illumine path the dark path is where people are religious are devotional they believe in God but they're still holding on to the world so they'll come back to this world again that's the dark path and then the light path is the path of light is uh they want God realization but somehow not yet enlightened they will go to God God will take care of them and give them Enlightenment later that is sequential Enlightenment Karama mukti and what he will not mention here of course in this chapter is the Ghana that the other one which is to realize your identity with God here and now and you get Freedom straight away no path then there's no path path because you don't go anywhere anymore that is direct Liberation here all right let's quickly take a look at the questions I don't think we'll have time to answer the questions today but I'll just read out the questions at least bill says isn't there a Gita verse there's a search category will reborn in favorable circumstances continue there sadhana yes so there are some who are yogis who will be given an opportunity so it's a spectrum there are those who do not come back into this world and remain in brahmaloka there are those who have not yet gone to that level but will come back and do more sadhana and go to to Brahma local Rodrigo says what about the sincere vedant that do not hold ideas about a personal God would die unenlightened but even if you don't hold ideas you'll be taken care of because God is all loving God doesn't look at your particular philosophy or whatever as long as you want spirituality as long as you want God realization that's enough and God will take care of you in the sixth chapter Arjun asked this question to Krishna Krishna says whatever you state as whenever you're started on the path of spirituality you're Hereafter will be good at the very least you can look forward to going to the heavens but I have not done all those rituals and prayed for going to heaven well you will still go to heaven and enjoy heaven like everybody else those were those who wanted to go to heaven and then you will come back they will the others their their karma will be exhausted they will come back and again they'll fall into samsara you will come back but you will not fall into samsara as such you will be given an uh another opportunity to attain Enlightenment in this life sixth chapter at the end of sixth chapter Krishna says this to Arjuna absolutely it's a very pollution prakriti which becomes Brahman and Maya in vedanta of course there are philosophers Will Roll their eyes if they hear me saying this there are major differences for example purushas are many in sankhya in in vedanta purusha Brahman is one prakriti is separate from purusha in um sankhya in vedanta prakritis Maya the power of purusha power of Brahman so these differences big philosophical differences are there but yes in principle it is exactly the same thing purusha prakriti becomes brahmanaya here Patrick says why is it Brahma local instead of ishwara loka I thought Brahma no this Brahma is hwara and it's interesting even the Buddhists who don't have a concept of personal God a Creator God they still have a pure land concept of a state of you know slightly below full Enlightenment where highly Advanced spiritual Secrets will go and dwell Alpena says isn't Maya experience only by experience only by Maya not by brahmana no no no no everything is experienced by Brahman Atman you are Brahman Atman are you not experiencing the world so ultimately everything that happens and everything that is done everything that is experienced is this Brahman Atman but under multiple layers it is mediated by Maya it's because of my all of this is happening Shiva Priya says is in the fourth level rebirth Swami turian monks Vivekananda came or incarnations can be considered from brahmaloka that is not mentioned here um but you are right there might be another category you are fully liberated and yet choose to hold on to the individual existence to help Humanity they come once in a while imagine a jivan mukta who doesn't die suppose so holds on to individual existence and yet knows for is fully established in identity with Brahman such maybe there may be such people I mean that sriram Krishna says there are Aditya says should we take the existence of various heavens and health in an article of faith is there a way to prove and rationalize the existence of such places in our Cosmos Heaven hell is beyond the known Cosmos so the way we know about it is from the shastra just as how do you know God exists we are talking the 7th to 12th chapters notice one thing in chapters one to six uh we're talking about who am I basically and chapter 7 to 12 we are talking about God from seven to ten Krishna will give a very glorious description of God and then what is arjuna's reaction he says I want to see I want to see why would he say that he never said that for the self in the first six chapters he didn't want to say I didn't say I want to see the self he knows he exists it has to be realized it has to be realized through self-inquiry and spiritual practices but God when he hears about it from Krishna well he has heard about it he tells Krishna I believe you but I would like to see it because it's not really part of her experience right now unless you are sudama Krishna having a continuous experience of Kali we generally don't have an experience of God we we read about it we believe in it we sort of even may feel a kind of divine presence that much we don't have a direct experience of God as we are having an experience of ourselves or this world is an Article of Faith similarly Heaven is an article of faith so that's why those who have a problem with all of this would say find out who am I [Music] kalpana is saying why are we asked to see or understand oh big question so I think somebody uh somewhere I gave the answer to this question you will find they have made a little video out of it our it team why should we take the world as false this is a video this is uploaded recently you go to our YouTube channel you will see foreign how and why does existence appear as existing things it's the very nature of existence it is and see we didn't you know you could accuse existence what good are you your existence but nothing exists so existence immediately hurries up and appears as things existing if no things existed and so what good is existence is nothing no thing so you want some things to exist tables chairs people good and bad so existence obliges and comes forth as this one existing world and then when we suffer and we say oh why did it happen you ask for it your question is why does existence appear as existing things what are the options two options it could appear as existing things as this universe or it could not it may need not it could just remain as pure existence without any existing thing at all and that's what existence does when there is the universe srishti stithi existence is existing as existing things when there is pralaya the entire universe is absorbed back into the Maya of Brahman existence exists existence itself without any existing things so from manifest to unmanifest when it becomes manifest we say things are existing here is a universe it becomes unmanifest it seems to be nothing but Brahman is still there Michael bird says similar to how my reflection interface is just a copy of the real thing not to be confused with the real face is the object of my love a romantic partner also reflection of true love not to be confused with real love uh AKA problem it's a limitation of real love that's why it is a source of pain and suffering also the zone of source of pleasure and joy because love is always it gives Joy but then why does love give pain and suffering romantic partner children um you know any anything that that you that you love it could be a cause it could be you know like a nation or a organization or something whatever limited thing you love will be a source of pain Masha rather put it very nicely and she said um and so he she says love God if you love person as a human being there is there will be suffering there will be happiness also if you love there will be happiness but they'll also be suffering because the human aspect comes into play there and that's a Phantasm we are holding on to something that's not really real so object of my love a reflection of true love your love for the object of your love the person of your love that's a reflection of true love and you're using the object of your love as a way of manifesting that true love but if you know what true love is and you know that you are love itself it will manifest towards everybody including the present object of your love it will melt us towards everybody and it will not be limited and it will not be subject to increase and decrease not be subject to coming and going not be subject to strain and frustration and unhappiness in misery Jennifer says is consciousness the same as unmanifest Maya no Maya is unmanifest and it becomes manifest as this universe and Consciousness is the reality behind it conscious Consciousness is chit or sat that which gives substance and reality to my eyes without which Maya couldn't exist think about all the pictures and sounds and all in a movie and there's the background the screen so the background the screen is not the pictures but the pictures and the sound in the movie itself couldn't exist without that background background is the solid rock upon which the movie plays and all movies play okay Dimitri has raised his hand can you unmute yourself yeah yes uh good evening swamiji uh swamiji uh like could you please correct my understanding here if I'm not quite getting this the final stage uh the given mukhtar then merging into Brahman this is like a final death right like a final Liberation because there is no self in the final which is also the beginning and the middle and the end of all therefore uh the experience itself is part of Maya and Beyond it there is no experience so is ishwara also a permanent entity also is ishwara permanent entity or it also goes through the cycles of no ishwara does not go through the cycles it's the insurance power which is Maya goes through these Cycles it expands and contracts it manifests and becomes unmanifest again just as you really do not go through uh waking dreaming and deep sleep it's the mind which provides you the experience of waking dreaming and deep sleep you illumine all regardless similarly ishwar is one constant shining uh Consciousness and ishwara is ever liberated ishwara has a sense of I so I I am the Lord of all I am God that that sense is there that's because of Maya yeah so it doesn't mean that in the final stage we are sort of like uh I'm I'm running out of language to express myself that's good that means you're on the right track if you have a sense for the for the truth as it is you will find it difficult to Encompass in language so but this does it mean that in the final stage we are sort of we will be able to come like the Consciousness itself the Brahman comprehends himself through ishwara and that is uh the final resting point for each um not even final when we break out of this we will see this whole sequence of ignorance then seeking Liberation becoming liberated that also is not real that was also within Maya and that's it there's nothing more to be said beyond that not that it could be a blankness remember take the example of a person who's liberated so all experiences are still continuing just that the person knows for the first time what the truth is and so and that sets him free so it's Brahman is perfectly compatible with experience with the universe with things when they exist Brahman is perfectly compatible with the existing Universe with life with experience Brahman is perfectly compatible with the dissolution of all physical mental in all kinds of existences existing things and just Brahman exists with the power of Maya brahmana is perfectly compatible with that also Brahman is perfectly compatible with something and with nothing nothing is a potential form of that something it's not literally nothing but there is no self in that right like there is no like the sense of I the sense reflexive sense of I will come into being when there is a mind which can reflect upon it so for example our own baking dreaming deep sleep see um you know even in deep Sleep there's no sense of self that sense of self kicks in the moment we start dreaming or we wake up yeah all right um you wanted to ask something or you've already asked to unmute yourself can you unmute yeah yes and and that's why my question was isn't Maya experienced by Maya because it is the mind or the eyes or the instruments that are experiencing you are just a Illuminator of all of that so is it yes now now careful here suppose you as the Illuminator were not there would the instruments go on experiencing no No never they would never go on experience it that's right so so who experiences it is you under the limitation of those instruments or you equipped with those instruments you become the bhakta the experiencer but uh in reality you are not yes that's the point that in reality you're not you're ever free of that but without you no experience there exists it's like who illumines the world at night moonlight but the is the Moonlight independent of sunlight no no no in one sense it is the sunlight but if you ask the sun why are you eliminating why is the light more in to tonight why is the light less tonight the sun will say I have nothing to do with rice shine and that the fellow that in your little world there is a little or in the sky there's a little fellow called the moon and it you know goes through phases and that's why you're getting more light and less light and in the full moon and New Moon and all of that I have nothing to do I am shining absolutely exactly the same for millions and billions of years I'm not literally the same Sun Also goes through phases but little bit of changes are there but but you see what I mean you are like the sun all right let's end here um