Video 104

104. Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 8 Verses 23-28 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

oh vasudeva sutam devam come such [Music] so this is our bhagavad-gita class and we are doing chapter eight um if I remember correctly in chapter 8 we had done the 22nd verse is that right we're done 22nd verse so we are on the 23rd we're going to start the 23rd a quick recap no recap just a little bit of context here this uh part of the Gita chapter 7 8 9 10 11 12. these six chapters are about are primarily about God and devotion ishwar or saguna Brahman and bhakti um remember that they structure which um a non-dualist and advaithin sort of sees in the bhagavad-gita 18 chapters divided into three sets of six chapters chapters one to six seven to twelve and thirteen to eighteen and uh what how do you divide that the advaitha idea that you and the Ultimate Reality are one in the same reality that which appears there's only one reality non-dual reality Brahman existence Consciousness place and that appears as this entire universe as you the individual being and as the God of this universe so God the individual being and the universe all three there is an underlying reality the reality which is deeper than all of them something that is deeper or higher than the world than us individual sentient beings and then even even higher than God or deeper than God and that's Brahman the non-dual reality and advaita vedanta further says you the individual being you are that non-dual reality we are that non-dual reality we are Brahman but we don't uh know it so to be so and because we do not know it to be so that is the root of samsara that's the root of all suffering and our whole purpose whole goal is to become enlightened to this this Ultimate Reality about ourselves that we are Brahman so that's the whole plot of advaita vedant that's the storyline now that's beautifully encapsulated in the statement famous statement that thou art you are that Ultimate Reality and the structure in the bhagavad-gita is supposed to reflect this that thou art um so the first six chapters are supposed to be an inquiry into who am I and we're supposed to discover that I am pure Consciousness the next six chapters seven to twelve is an inquiry into that that means god and then the last six chapters from 13 to 18 are supposed to be to establish the identity of you and God how not that you are God that's uh often people make this mistake about non-duality and that's why the dualistic schools of vedanta charge us with blasphemy no you think you're God if you're a miserable little creature and they would be right we as we know ourselves we are not God not at all it's ridiculous to claim that we are a very very helpless little creatures where we born and we are born and we die and we suffer we are ignorant we know very little um but we vedanta claims that we are in reality if we would know ourselves we are that infinite reality which appears as the sentient being you and as God so therefore it is correct to say you and God are one reality not that the sentient being is God but rather the sentient being is Brahman and Brahman and God is also Brahman so in that sense um but now and how is this accomplished we all know we have been studying it so long that it is accomplished by an inquiry into ourselves I am not the body not the mind and the witness Consciousness and this witness Consciousness is that infinite reality that's that's Enlightenment and everything else um is an appearance the universe is an appearance in that absolute reality now the question arises is what about conventional religion where we believe in a dualistic theistic religion where we believe that God exists and Heaven exists and we establish a relationship with God where does that figure in all of this in this scheme of enlightenment self-realization so this is the context what is going to happen now provides an answer to that question um here we are not talking about self-inquiry non-duality we are just talking about God Devotion to God you know and what happens after death that's the context before I plunge into it because the language here is going to be quite Arcane so before we get swept up by all those complexities let me give you the big picture what Krishna is going to say Krishna is telling Arjuna that quite apart from his quest for enlightenment self-realization one should lead a devout life so if one leads a devout life that I am devoted to God in the form of Krishna or Vishnu or Devi whatever come we are entering into um into the worship of the Divine mother Durga so that's another way in which we conceive of or worship God as God as the mother in whichever you conceive of God whichever way you worship God so have this loving devotional relationship worshipful relationship dependence and surrender to God and you do not want anything else in life and you don't want worldly pleasure success and all that so such persons what will happen to them they lead ethical and devout lives while they are alive and at and after death what happens to them is that they go through the series of experiences and end up in the presence of God in heaven by Heaven here would refer to brahmaloka remember in the velantic cosmology there is a multiplicity of Heavens in fact there are 14 words seven of which are the good and bright ones and seven are hellish so there are fourteen worlds and the highest the best of them is what is called you know heaven with a capital H in religion where God dwells god with capital G so those who lead devout and worshipful lives and they are devoted to God and I have bhakti devotion true Devotion to God they will end up in this Capital H heaven in the uh you know brahmaloka which is called vaikundai in vaishnavism is called kailasha or Shiva loka in shaivism or Devi Loca in um you know in shakta Traditions and I would venture to say that's what's actually meant by the Christian Heaven or the Islamic heaven even the non-theistic religions like for example Buddhism speaks of a pure land a kind of existence a very high existence so that's what you will reach this devout worshipful person who is Led an ethical and spiritual life throughout not yet attained enlightenment maybe has not tried to or maybe has tried but has not attained has not realized I am Brahman and having gone there um either they will never come back to this world and they will dwell there in the presence of God and attain to non-dual realization and eventual freedom from there or they might come back to this world but they'll be highly spiritual highly evolved beings as Krishna has mentioned this in the sixth chapter if you may be reborn here again and carry on your spiritual practices and attain and like full Enlightenment non-dual Enlightenment but in any case you are blessed you are safe you will be highly spiritual in this life in the next whatever that's one path this path will be called here the bright path shuklagati and there are other names for it this is the path of the northern course it is also known as devayana the path of the Gods the path which takes you to God then there is in contrast there is another path Krishna will mention that um and that path is those who are religious they may perform pujas Vedic rituals but they're primarily worldly the whole point is let me be happy let my family do well let me be rich and healthy and prosperous and for that I am performing so many rituals I'm trying to keep you know God on my side for what not for attaining God for the world for a good life in this world and to go to heaven in the next World and then after that again attain a better life so on that that's also a religious life that's also a religious life but not particularly spiritual such people who are steeped in in those days in Vedic ritualism what would happen to them at the point of death after death they will go through a path which Krishna will call the Krishna gati here krishnagathi does not mean Krishna uh of the Gita it does not mean SRI Krishna it does not mean God Krishna here just means dark and that's why Krishna is called Krishna actually you're supposed to be blue huge you know so uh krishnagathi here would mean the dark path in contrast to the bright path what is this dark path what does it consist in after death when women go through another series of experiences and end up in a heaven and I say ah heaven and this Heaven is small age Heaven of which there are many such Heavens you can have uh you know all up there in the sky you can have economic class and What premium class and business class and first class all multiple have it they're all Heavens but remember all of those people whether you're in the first class or business class or premium or whatever so many names are there and or the economic class all of them will have to land they'll have to come back and land so similarly all of these Heavens they are all wonderful places to be in but you will all come back that's why it's called a dark past I mean it wants the the credit of your good karma the way the rituals the good and the karma you have earned that is exhausted the good Merit of The Melody of God is exhausted you come back to this world and again continue your life you come back to samsara you have not attained anything particularly spiritual so that's why it's called krishnagati or dark past um it's called dakshina the southern courts it's also called pitriana the path of the forefathers so our forefathers who were noble people who led righteous lives and did fulfilled their obligations you know to the family to the community and where devout they paid their uh whatever they had to pay to the church or something and they did all of that so they will go by the path of the forefathers and end up depending on how good they will end up in one of those Heavens have a good existence come back to samsara again reborn again and then what happens past Karma they still have a lot of many lives Karma that will take over and give them different kinds of births not all of which may be good so these are the two options open you might think wait a minute this is both of them are religious people right yes right suppose there's somebody lots of people who are not at all religious who just live their lives some may be good some may be middling some may be pretty miserable awful people what happens to them the vast majority of the large number of people who may not be particularly moral or religious but for them it is that just after death the past Karma takes over and gives them some kind of birth no question of higher Realms or one of those heavens and not even economic class you just you just go by you know Amtrak or something like that um and um so this this is what is going to be said now remember neither the um the shuklagathi that is the bright path or the krishnagati the dark path or the people who are just you know who have no interest in religion who will be who will die and will will be before the force of the past Karma will be reborn again so none of these three are enlightened what happens to the enlightened that is not mentioned here that's not the subject here at all and I'll just mention here that before I go into this this though it is not directly related to the core the heart of vedanta the realization that I am Brahman it's not directly related to that but it's important nevertheless that it's stressing that a devout life with some amount of ritual Devotion to God prayer surrendered to God and a dispassion for worldliness not not being too worldly not being greedy lustful angry you know not nurturing negativities that is very important even if one is not non-dualistic is not trying to get Enlightenment it's very important for once further growth and for a better life so that that's a very it's a wise thing even if you're not non-dualistic even if you are not a follower of trying to realize I am Brahman you are not doing vedantic inquiry doesn't matter it's still a good thing to do at least this much and this is a lot it's it's a very ethical and religious lifestyle so this is what this is the topic why did I give all this detailed instruction because you will see the terms used are rather confusing they're because they are borrowed from ancient Vedic terms which have very technical meanings now 23rd verse foreign [Music] so best of the bharatas the time at which departing from hence the yogis attain non-return or return that time I shall tell you he is using the language of time the time of death but it's actually not time it's the kind of Life One leads and the path path by path I don't mean actual physical path through space it's a series of experiences which you will mention but what will happen after that so the kind of Life One leads is it a devout ethical devout life or a ritualistic conventionally religious life these are the two he's going to talk about about the third one who's not at all interested in religion and maybe leads an unethical life he's not talking about that person at all here and he's not talking about the other one the enlightened one the jivan mukta also here the moment how do you know the moment you talk about going and coming it means the person is not enlightened going somewhere is an experience of the unenlightened person the enlightened person knows I neither come nor go I am Brahman I am the infinite where will the infinite go all right so what is said here means at what time at which time and it does not mean time here that's another one an interesting thing to learn it means the kind of life you lead the path you are following that so that path that kind of Life which leads to non-return non-return means you go and live um in the presence of God in Capital H heaven for example in our order it all means the same place it's called Brahma local it's a realm a highly spiritual realm you dwell in the presence of God average temperature or there will be returned here return means the second pass moral ritualistic person person but wants you know happiness in this world in the next world that person will come back why because we wanted it he or she wanted it that will come back so that path so your both are he's calling both yogis but one is actually a devout worshiper meditator and God the other one is a ritualistic kind of Yogi prayata having Departed in this life after physical death of the body Yanti they go that time or that path I will speak of now what is he going to talk about let's see so here come all those a shower of Arcane terms foreign [Music] the day the bright half of the month and six months of the sun's Northern course departing by this path the knowers of Brahman attain Brahman all right first off only means fire but here it does not mean fire it means that devata or a deity who who is the deity of fire god of fire um light it does not mean light as such it means another deity day it does not mean day it means a deity who is called day um it's another deity who is associated with this time of the six months of the sun's Northern course so they all refer to deities they all refer to Gods but not God with capital G what does this mean there are reports actually of you know people who have had near-death experiences and then have come back to tell us so I take it seriously or not but the reports are interesting they often speak of a bright being being approached by a bright being who is calling to them so these are what are mentioned here that after death the sentient being you we we will come in contact or will be approached by this like some kind of heavenly guides they will take us you know all within quotes take us to another realm and hand us over to the next guide and the next guide will take us to that and so on so these are all the um the Heavenly guides which are mentioned here they are deities and how do I know this because literally if you translate literally it means fire flame day bright half of the month six months of the sun's Northern course and so on so how do I know these mean deities or Gods with small G well thanks to shankaracharya's uh you know commentary and all the classical commentaries and the reason they give this commentary is that this is not new or unique to the bhagavad-gita such terms they are all borrowed from the upanishads from the Wailers in the chandoki upanishad in the Brazil these things are mentioned the way of the uh of the Gods devayana this is what is being mentioned with a way of non-return into samsara or the way of the forefathers pitriana the way of return back into samsara uh so it is found in the upanishads these are and these are deities uh in the open issue deity not God small G God Heavenly beings um Spiritual Beings we're radiant beings who help the departing Souls on their path for example let me read shankaracharya's little bit of his commentary you'll get the flavor of how he tries to explain this difficult uh portion or Arcane portion Agni literally means fire Agni devata so this is a god small G God who is who presides over time and it doesn't mean fire Duty and then um Jyoti means here not light literally it means light but it may here it means a Divine being a devatha who is identified with a particular stage in the um The Departed Souls journey and that person takes that Divine being takes over and so on uh and then he goes on to say all of these terms they refer to devatas individual deity small G gods and then what happens passing along this path going along this path the who who are we talking about not everybody [Music] means here it does not mean it means the one who has meditated upon Brahman meditated upon God who has prayed to God who has a devotional relationship with God look if you want to put it forget all this complicated stuff just tell me straight away what does this mean it means what all the dualistic religions devotional religions tell you if you're devoted to God God after death you go to heaven that's what it means that's all that it means here and just series of mystical experiences you have one after another and as I said these have been reported by people with near-death experiences those who sort of have this experience and come back to tell us they report a little bit of this and it's some somehow common to many religions it may not be described at all in this language but all religions speak of heavenly guides or beings who help take take the departing soul to to the presence of God where do they go they go to God here they go to God means they go to heaven and dwell in the presence of God so literally what theistic dualistic religions promise if you are a believing devout person you will reach God whether it is in Christianity Islam in vaishnavism in you know shaivism in every theistic religion you you that is what is Promised after death basically that's what he's talking about and this is good this is a good path that's why it's called shuklagathi a Bright path in contrast to that he will talk about the other path of people who are not bad people but basically they are believing people also but their whole their entire belief is oriented towards the world they want this world and they take they enlist God's help for this world and you'll find most people who go to temples churches mosques they basically want God's help for this world so such people they will get this word after death they will attain to Heaven one of those lower heavens and come back again into this world and that's not bad remember that's a much more pleasant experience than outright worldly people who have no interest in religion who just you know drift in life and they will be taken over overtaken by their past Karma and they will attain to various other births that's that can entail a lot of suffering these are not people who will suffer the second group which is coming up now they will not suffer they will in fact have very pleasant experiences after death but the only thing is they will have to come back into samsara until they attain to spirituality so that's the second path [Music] umsam Jyoti Yogi propyani smoke the night the dark half of the month and the six months of the sun's Southern passage departing by this path the Yogi attains the lunar sphere and returns thence again all symbolic language which we wouldn't make any sense of I mean what's all this smoke night and it's talking about the dark half the lunar calendar you know the dark fortnite and then the six months of the sun's Southern Passage yeah by the way we all know what it means Northern passages on passage I mean we all see the sun rising in the East and setting in the west but if You observe the Heavenly movement from the from our perspective in the Earth the Sun doesn't rise and sit exactly in the same spot all the time throughout the year there's a distinct movement northward or Southward across the ear so that's what it's meant here and here it does not mean that at all here it means deities whom this person the second kind of person after death will meet in uh it's his or her spiritual in a journey after death and attain to some particular heaven and who are those deities and those deities are called the deity Associated which is called dhoomers maybe a smoky deity who knows um ratri night and then if this is called Krishna paksha the dark path dark only because you'll have to come back dark only because at the end of all of this samsara is there again but it's still a very pleasant path because it is a person who has been ethical and has been has performed rituals regular you know Puja or whatever rituals are prescribed in your religion has been basically a conventionally religious person and basically a good person a good citizen in in community so such a person will have a good time of it after death but again come back to samsar this is called the so-called dark pass other names are the bitriano the path of the forefathers this is the path by which our forefathers have come and they obviously are back to samsara somewhere in some form somewhere um so these are the two paths and remember these terminology is upanishadic upanishads they have these references another different take on this matter is a pretty detailed study is found in Tibetan Buddhism where they have a very um very fine-grained analysis of what happens exactly after death for a non-enlightened person so they call it the bardos so there's a Tibetan Book of the Dead it's a very very famous a classic that has sections on this kind of thing not in this language some other analysis but yes there are bright beings there are stages then number 26. [Music] these two Paths of the world the bright and the dark are considered to be Eternal by one one returns not and by the other one returns basically summing up all of this these are two possible paths by which a religious person might what would happen to a believing person a religious person after death one both are good one will lead to the highest Heaven and the presence of God as promised in your particular religious path and you will have those experiences and it will be a blessed experience and even the advising the non-dualists like us our point is also satisfied because the point is that there in that highest Heaven those who have not got Enlightenment in this life who were maybe not paying attention in the vedanta classes they they will again I'm sure have vedanta classes there in the highest heaven and then God is a hard task master to make sure you pay attention and become enlightened in that is heaven so non-dual knowledge also will be there so the demand of the non-dual is that you will not get you will not be free until you realize your Brahman you are one with the infinite that also will happen there or the other one where one goes to some kind of Heaven as a good time comes back again and samsara Goes On by one by the northern path by the bright path by the path of the Devas uttarayana um devayana by that path another victim it's the path of non-return and the other one the dark past which is krishnavati the path of the forefathers which is pitriana the path of the Southern course the southern course of the Sun and one comes back then and it what does he mean Eternal this is this is the way of samsara as long as one is in samsara this is true this will happen to us but again from an advaithic perspective this is not the ultimate truth the ultimate truth is this is all part of a movie an appearance you realize you are Brahman you're free of all this complication then 27. foreign [Music] knowing these paths opartha no Yogi is deluded therefore at all times o Arjuna be endowed with yoga so what is this importance of this knowledge if we know this is what's going to happen to us let's at the very minimum of course we should all try to be enlightened In This Very life at the very minimum one should not scoff at a conventional religion there's a lot of wisdom packed into it especially if you want your good Hereafter in this life and Hereafter um Devotion to God and um you know an ethical life is very important conclusion krsna says therefore at all times keep God in mind yoga means be centered in yoga but what yoga has been talked about here Devotion to God so continuously try to remember God day and night keep your mind on God keep your heart set on God and let your prayers go out to the Lord here he is referring back to what he had taught at the beginning of the chapter that if you think of God at the point of death then you will attain to God that is the first part the bright path that you will get if you hold on to God at the point of death but then he says how do you hold on to God at the point of death who knows where's the guarantee so the guarantee is that if you then you have to hold on to God throughout your life make a habit morning and evening meditation and and keeping your mind on God throughout the day dedicating your actions to God all could be done privately in the privacy of your heart nobody need know about it in fact that's the best form of devotion so that one must do very conventional dualistic theistic religion when Krishna gives his full approval to it so the basic Point here is the Smart service at all times that means under all conditions whether you are in meditation or in Puja or you are working or relaxing at all times keep your mind on God we have heard this again and again from the great swamis like Shivan and Abraham and from the holy mother and of course srirama Krishna Vivekananda the essential thing is to keep your mind on God the mind will mind means also heart means what I want and mind means what I'm thinking about I can always say oh I want God but if I'm honest I find that I'm not thinking about God at any time throughout the day or I can make the train the mind to mechanically repeat a mantra or you know do a series of practices throughout the day but the heart may not want it the heart may be pretty worldly so both are necessary keep your heart on God that means I want a try to focus your energies your desires godward and keep the attention on God mind is attention on God and then number 28 he concludes this chapter again [Music] [Music] a nice like advertisement come conclusion for this chapter it says what does he say here whatever good result is declared regarding study of The Vedas regarding The Vedic sacrifices regarding ascetic performances you know like uh fasting and an austere life and charity giving gifts all of these are praised in the scriptures as good deeds all of them whatever result they can give just this practice which has been mentioned in this chapter just knowing this that means keeping your mind on God this exceeds all of those practical practices by far if you keep your mind on God keep your heart on God then it's far greater than all the good deeds like being charitable like being you know fasting regularly or chanting The Vedas or performing rituals all those are good but higher than them it's just this practice of keeping your mind on God it's just holding on to God in your attention giving your heart to God dedicating your actions to God basically leading a god-centered life day after day that's the highest spiritual practice nothing comes close to it so he he concludes the chapter with this verse that means in The Vedas or chanting of The Vedas ya performance of The Vedic sacrifices various austerities staying awake at night fasting you know repeating mantras for hours and hours [Music] means charitable activities giving in charity yet whatever Good Karma comes out of it whatever is indicated in the scriptures that all this gives rise to Good Karma attit far exceeded this one pointed Devotion to God it exceeds all of this by far that sarvamidam all of this these practices are exceeded by far the one who knows this truth that you have to keep your mind on God all right now we have completed the eighth chapter just a few words on the eighth chapter and then we'll look at the questions so in the eighth chapter Arjuna asks seven questions at the very beginning and all those questions are about terms which Krishna mentioned at the end of the seventh chapter I'm reading the first verse of the eighth chapter which we just did so what is Brahman uh what is the inner spiritual reality Karma what is karma what is this material world ADI bhutam what is the world of deities of the smallities heavens foreign what is the truth about all these spiritual practices we perform to whom is it going and then the last question which is really the theme of the whole chapter what do we do at the time of death at the point of death it's very important and what do we do um at the point of death how do we know the truth how do we die basically I remember this interesting story about a Duke in Europe I think France or somewhere who met Swami Vivekananda and he asked the Swami what can you teach me and Swami Vivekananda said I can teach you how to die it doesn't mean how to commit suicide it means what is the most glorious spiritual way of leaving this world where you can leave this word smiling this chapter it tells you really how one should prepare for death and then we know the answers we studied it all the first six questions are answered quickly in two verses by Krishna he says Brahman is the Ultimate Reality the indestructible ultimate reality of this universe transcendental indestructible reality akshara and unchangeable reality that's why this whole chapter is called akshara Brahma yoga um so uh Brahman is the Ultimate Reality that's all he doesn't say anything more about it and then what is our inner spiritual reality he says pure Consciousness you are Consciousness you are Atman that's your inner spiritual reality and then um what is karma bakarma is cause and effect that which produces this entire universe that which regulates everything causality every action has its effect every cause you know has its consequence then Adi bhutam what is this material Universe it's made of the five elements space and fire air and fire and water and Earth and combinations of those five elements we have a much more scientific description of all the elements in the world today this material universe that's its material elements combinations of those that's this material universe and then the Adi devatham so all the deities taken together small G Gods taken together is the world of the Gods I'll tell you later what it means he says to whom do all the rituals go the effects of rituals whom are we worshiping he says it is me God I am ishwar I am being worshiped in all rituals Krishna says this basically by these three terms foreign those who have followed vedanta carefully you will notice he has cleverly inserted the three aspects of the Divine one is Virat one is hiranya Garba one is ishwara so that one consciousness with the entire universe as its body is called Virat that's that's God that's God in the physical manifestation is this universe and uh just as a side note here to those who have studied theology it's not pantheism it's not that God is this physical Universe a closer term which I which is more popular nowadays is called pan-entheism so panantheism is God is sort of reflected in this material universe that is called another daiva is this the all the cosm all the minds taken together the subtle bodies taken together hirany about Karma Consciousness associated with all subtle bodies is that's what's referred to as adidaiva and then Consciousness with the power of Maya God ishwara the god of religion that is called here just as we have three levels of our being you are pure Consciousness Atman that's what you are but with you know in deep Sleep pure Consciousness associated with the causal body is that what we experience in deep Sleep In Dreams pure Consciousness associated with causal body and the mind the dreaming mind that's how we experience ourselves and in the waking State you the pure Consciousness limited one by one causal body and one subtle body and one physical body or gross body is how we experience ourselves and corresponding to that is that same pure Consciousness with all causal bodies taken together which is Maya is ishwara the same to your Consciousness with all subtle bodies all causal bodies plus all subtle bodies taken together is the same pure Consciousness with all causal bodies all subtle bodies and all physical bodies taken together is Virat or vishwarupa is what is Krishna what Krishna showed Arjuna or is going to show in the 11th chapter anyway that's just if you if it's confusing for you then just let it be but those who have done it will be it just matches it so so well the rest of the um chapter is focusing on at a point of death do remember God and in order to remember God remember God at the point of death then he remember God throughout your life throughout your days he says at the point of death think of me and let and be delivered from this body let go of this body foreign says whatever you think of whatever you dwell on at the time of death that will influence what will happen to you after death therefore dwell on God dwell on the highest I know of people I know this person who died generally a good person you know in our family before I became a monk and uh her last thought her last expression before she died of cancer was that where she had hidden some money you know so that her family could use it that's what you're thinking about that at the point of death and can't help it you know that's the most important things when dominance thoughts come up regrets come up um and in Readers Digest one nurse who was who had done palliative care for many years of her life so she wrote a very touching article of you know people who die they're conscious at the point of death some die in unconsciousness but some die with Consciousness what do they talk about at the last moment of their life many of them talk about regrets especially regrets of not having done very important not having followed their dreams there's something that they really wanted to do in their lives and then but hamdram you know life events took over and they didn't do it so they regretted that the point of death um but whatever we dwell on at the point of death that has a powerful effect on what happens to us in after this now someone may ask but isn't the whole point of the law of karma is our past Karma will determine what will happen to us after death next life what does it matter what we think about at the point of death for just for a few moments well the idea of the law of karma is we have a vast stored House of karma we don't know what's there so what will be unpacked it's Krishna seems to be saying that part of your karma will be unpacked with your which corresponds to what you are dwelling on this is always good to dwell on something positive High especially spiritual at the point of death and Krishna is very clear the smart service this is verse number seven the smart service he says therefore the upshot of all this and this might be the one verse which sums up the entire chapter therefore at all times that means under all conditions whatever is going on in your life think of me think of me remember me remember God and and fight the Battle of life it's interesting don't be disengaged from life you know this is quite interesting that all the religions the highest spiritual teachings they always include the high spirituality and the world also nothing is excluded when Jesus in the New Testament he says it's the highest teaching he says that loved you know the great the Commandment what's the one commandment we should remember love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy might what a beautiful commandment he says that's the most important then he adds and and Love Thy Neighbor so the world is not excluded your life in the world is not excluded he is both he's including Transcendence and imminence it's not that there is uh God only in heaven and there's nothing else here this is uh an ungodly place now if you exclude the world you're making a mistake so this is where non-duality comes from the non-duality says this is one reality what you find Salam Krishna put it this way the god you find with eyes closed the same God you find with eyes open dwell on me remember me and fight the Battle of Life whatever you have to do that you do in the light of you know in the presence of God in this way having dedicated your mind at his attention your thoughts to me and Bundy your understanding to me your heart to me you will attain to meet this Assam Shaya he gives a guarantee here the stamp of like a Divine guarantee without any doubt you will attain to God all right let me look at the comments quickly before we wrap up uh Aditya says what does capital mean when you say heaven with Capital H or God with capital G is a philosophical difference between capital uh God and versus lowercase God yes there is so in Hinduism we talk of devatas literally it means the bright ones the bright beings and they are not God they are like sentient beings like us they have attained to a high status they are powerful beings they dwell in some Heavenly Realm and they control the forces of nature they control the forces in our bodies also but they are not God and they are not enlightened and so just because of the great deal of Good Karma they may have attained to certain positions and they will lose it after some time and they'll come back into this samsara and we too can attain to those positions but they are it's otherworldly but still worldly it's nothing particularly highly spiritual about them so these are the gods which we hear about in Hindu mythology Indra Chandra varuna Agni and all of that right but God capital G so these are English words in Sanskrit bhagavan it's very clear saguna Brahman is the creator preserver destroyer of the universe is the controller of our destiny The Giver of the fruits of our karma is the one to whom our worship is directed is the one who loves and looks after us and protects us and guides us to Enlightenment and Freedom ishwara the omnipotent omniscient omnipresent huh and uh there's only one of that only one God and that God actually projects this entire universe out of his her or its own existence that's basically the god of religion of theistic religions so that is god with capital G because of this distinction is not understood often Hinduism is thought of as a polytheistic religion you know multiple gods and you know they worship many a bunch of different gods that's fine if you think about it that way but it's actually not true Hinduism is very clear that there is one power in this universe and it goes further I'm further than the monotheistic religions in swine Vivekananda said here in the United States I'm afraid your monoti is so-called much wanted monotheism is but halfway house it's not a complete system and go even further that is advaita non-dualism it's not that there is a universe and there are sentient beings and above us some there there is one supreme you know all-powerful dictator of the universe ruling over all of us not like that there is one underlying reality of all of this which is appearing as many anyway but it's also true that this God of religion is a reality it's not a fiction and this one God that's the capital G God that's the God you would worship and that God can be worshiped in different forms in different names in Hinduism now we are going to worship the same God as mother in Durga Puja this week by the way those who are here in New York you can come for the Puja on Sunday morning um but the same God is worshiped as Shiva is worshiped as Vishnu and some will save one God the name is different forms are different mantras or different rituals are different stories are different it seems but when some things are common that it's one power who controls the entire universe Who projects maintains and dissolves the universe who is omniscient omnipotent all loving beneficial so those characteristics are common across all of these and this is the same God that Jews Christians Muslims they all worship as the one power behind this universe the one loving you know father of this universe so that's the capital G God small G Gods many and they are all like people like sentient beings in charge of different powers of this universe you can think of them we have DC Comics and Marvel Comics and superheroes and so a variety of supernatural beings okay not spiritually important similarly heaven so after death we do exist but these are called Locas or planes of existence there are multiple planes of existence why after that even now we do exist and we live in a particular loka this is the Mortal plain called matyaloka so this is one plane of existence but after the death of this body there will be other planes of existence those are all called small H Heavens the they're good ones and there is the highest Heaven Brahma which is a spiritual Heaven because that's where you you you are dwelling in the presence of God capital G so a devout a devotional person would aim to reach that that's what's promised in religions I mean be a good person believing person you go to heaven even Krishna here in the eighth chapter has said that that's the highest heaven but there are lower I mean not even Earth's word mortal worlds or Heavens there are miserable worlds worlds of darkness and despair and suffering those are Health it's not right to say that in Hinduism there is no hell people sometimes think that that's what Vivekananda said no no there are there's not not just one hell there are multiple Hells there are seven hills which are described in um in vedanta for example in Jainism in Buddhism the descriptions of multiple health so it's a part of Indian culture but the only thing is none of these are permanent you don't burn in hell forever not you go to one of these lower Heavens forever though the highest Heaven is truly forever but all of these others this mortal world the lower heavens and the hellish worlds they are all temporary a lot of Bad Karma will take us to the hills a lot of good karma will take us to the lower heavens and mixed Karma always brings us back to this world so that's the difference between God etymology god with capital G in Sanskrit with devatas and ishwar or bhagavan that's the difference so Charles ciao is saying where are the good and bad in the karma stored and transferred in the I read that karma is not linked or contained in the Atman right karma is not has nothing to do with the Atman the effects of karma the Tendencies are there in the subtle body and the results of karma are always stored with God just like your funds your credit and debate everything is stored in the bank and the bank manager gives you a line of credit or pulls in your debts whenever they want similarly our Karma account is is controlling what happens to us in this life and the next yes the story of bhishma Nila nilaji Bill they're all talking about this yeah so that their time the six-month journey of the Sun to the not literally it is true and remember I am giving an interpretation of this um from the commentaries of shankaracharya but if you literally take what Krishna is saying it seems to be time one part of the year if you die at that part of the year you go to the highest seven if you die in the other part of the year you go to the world of the forefathers both are by the way good Rick says some people routinely perceive these subtle beings even without having an ndes there are mystical experiences of these beings um and there are depictions of people experiencing these Gods these small G gods literally look at the word devata div means shine so there's some shining beings Padma says a strong believer of God after he took away my child is being very difficult to understand how to accept his actions in worship Him yeah uh everything in this world I mean giving and taking is karma is cause and effect impersonal it's not that there is a being out there who is punishing us that's very difficult to accept if there's a being out there who's punishing us and rewarding us that's a bit infantile but if it's all cause and effect then maybe one can come to some kind of reconciliation but something like losing a child is is so traumatic and so deep when I was reading somewhere notice there are words in all languages for people who lose a husband or a wife you know widower or a widow or you lose parents an orphan there is no word for somebody who's lost a child so that's so so devastating and at that point it's difficult to believe in a loving God still we do survive and we go on with life and even afterwards there are pleasures and pains and it might sound cruel but even after such a terrible shot you do go to sleep and when we sleep we forget everything including the most terrible shock of all and when we wake up when we even remembering such Sorrows even then loss of a child may be the most traumatic and sorrowful thing even that most traumatic and sorrowful the greatest of griefs that you don't remember continuously you'd go mad if somebody remembered it it comes and goes Thomas says it is only Brahman then are the gods and other Spiritual Beings in their own right they merely manifest all our manifestations of problem they're mainly manifestation does that mean the gods and the various upanishad puras are just Brahman interacting with itself yes from a non-dual perspective there's only one reality now interacting with itself when you talk about interaction like we are interacting with each other so it's much better to describe it as sentient beings interacting with each other but what is the truth of all of this the truth of all of this is there is one underlying being which is shining forth as all of this Lisa says it sounds like the three ishwara Virat and Brahman are comparable to fathers and holy ghosts um better not compare that these are very theologically loaded terms a lot of complex theology behind it so let me just leave it just like that and people have compared Brahma Vishnu maheshwara to the father Son and Holy Ghost but again I don't think that's a good comparison because the father Son and Holy Ghost in Christianity father would be saguna Brahman ishwar or bhagavan of of Hinduism that I agree but the sun here would mean Incarnation Avatar that also is compatible but the idea of Holy Ghost the presence of God amidst all of us that's a conception not directly found in in vedanta security is Brandman and Atman the same yes that's the advantic idea Atman means our own reality Brahman means the reality of this universe of God they are the same ultimately because it's all existence Consciousness place if you follow a dualistic religion then they are not the same you are an individual being you have an immortal soul you can call it the Atman but that Atman is not Brahman Brahman is God who's separate from your Atlas it's a dualistic approach they are literally the same ultimately but at this so that by two levels of Truth ultimate truth Brahman and Atman are the same at the level of um relative truth transactional truth which we are living in basically we are interacting in this virtual reality we are living in their differences are there you can clearly see there's a difference between us and God therefore Krishna can tell us keep thinking about what is this and not saying that you are God so keep thinking about yourself and we can happily say yeah that's what I do all the time I keep thinking about myself all the time no that's not what he means he says you are individual beings and even being think about God love God and you and God are not the same in at this level so that one level uh that is advaitha that self-knowledge that was taught in the second chapter and third chapter and so on but this year Devotion to God is being mentioned here the difference is emphasized Ramya says buddhi being convinced to inevitably lead to minus being convinced now buddhi is convinced buddhi means understanding so understanding requires conviction Clarity and Manas means thoughts we have a series of thoughts coming and going that requires Focus each thought should be directed to God I might be totally convinced yes I am convinced God is real self-knowledge is required spirituality is great I want to be spiritual I want to be enlightened I want to be devotional but what do I do actually throughout my days am I really paying attention to God no I'm concerned with so many other things in the world mostly my days are passing sort of you know thinking about the world and people good thoughts bad thoughts that means the Manus the mind is engaged with the world though we are claiming I have understood God realization is the Min ultimate God exists so one must take care of both that Clarity understanding determination must be there my I am a spiritual Seeker my goal is God realization God does exist that's buddhi and the Mana says continuously moment to moment day to day as much as possible think about God love pray worship God repeat the Mantra so the two have to be done separately one is not enough somebody Chaudhary says how do we keep our mind and heart on God what is the difference between the two yes I just explained that skipped over iPad at 8 16. where is iPad oh how do you remember God at the time of death when you are unconscious or in extreme pain what happens then yes that's why only only way out is um as Krishna said as much as possible throughout our days keep your mind on God otherwise it's not possible at the time of test time when the mind is very weak the mind is tortured by the pain in the body and when the mind slips into unconsciousness you cannot remember God but just before you slip into unconsciousness and remember one thing more than this I mean this is like creating a lot of pressure on people oh God I have to think about God all the time remember it does not matter it's not dependent on our efforts really this thinking about God and loving God expresses our yearning for God but what happens after death and what we attain to that's all in the hands of God even this praying to God is also in the hands of God if I want to if I really yearn for God God will make it possible if I slip into unconscious at the time of death how can I think of God I cannot but it's not that it really much depends on me it depends God will take care of me that power which has been taken care of me till now will take care of me at that time too I'll share with you what you know words of Hope a very senior month the head of our Monastery when I became a monk he told me and these are really great blessing words of Hope so as an over enthusiastic young novice after a few days I said to the the about the head of the monastery I don't think I'm making progress I don't see how I will attain to God realization you know the way I am going and you read about all these great swamis and great devotees and you find yourself so lacking in comparison to them and he told me something which is so soothing calming and great blessing because I'll share with you he said do not worry the one who has bought you till not here the one who has done all this for you till now that one will do the rest for you also actually put it as a as a rhetorical question will will he not do the rest for you where we have come to now if you read honestly take a look at our lives whatever little progress we have made in spiritual life whatever good aspirations we have spiritual aspirations we have it's not we have not really generated it ourselves it has come to us we it's not that we have made all these progress ourselves all the great things in our life there's there is some other component working behind our efforts we make efforts there is something else there too so that power will continue to help us until the very culmination of this game of life not just this life of all our lives so with that wonderful prayer pray to the Lord to bless us keep his her its hand over us a hand of blessing over us all the time keep us under protection and It's a Wonderful Life wonderful lives in plural we will see it all through you know under the grace of God the either best of all things Enlightenment here and now in this life or even at the point of death or failing that the bright path the path of the Gods devayana the bright course of the Sun uttarayanam the northern coast of the sun which is all this Krishna mentioned here that will happen to us now we know what's going to happen we can check our bright being coming here check I I said and Krishna told me about it all right um [Music]