Video 107

107. Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 9 Verses 5-8 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

Guru [Music] the bhagavad-gita we are on the ninth chapter we have just begun the ninth chapter it's called The Royal Secret and the Royal knowledge what is this Royal secret and Royal knowledge almost at the very beginning of the chapter there are these two remarkable verses which we did uh last time I'll just touch upon them a little bit and then go on fourth verse and fifth verse two of the most stunning verses in the bhagavad-gita where um SRI Krishna makes you know he reveals himself or reveals God what is God where is God and he does it in three propositions he does it once denies that does it a second time denies that too and does it a third time it was very remarkable this these two verses where am I I pervade this entire world in all the living and non-living beings I am I am in all of them and everywhere I am in in everything in this world then next time is not that I am in all living beings and all living on non-living beings not that I am in all these beings not that these beings are and then in them nor rather it's the other way around I exist and in me these beings exist how so in what way it's like um um you know not like a cup or a bowl containing cookies or something not like that not that God is like a bowl and in which all beings are kept rather the wave it's not that there is a way when there is water in the wave rather there is water and the wave is in water similarly there is God there is a reality spiritual reality in that all beings are there just like waves in the water and we might say The Clay Pot has clay in it but actually is there a pot which has clay in it no there is Clay which has been given the shape and the name and the function of a pot that's what we call a pot and that's a fairer more accurate description of a pot it's like if the clay were to say I pervade all these parts in all these Pottery I am whatever Pottery you see the clay pottery I am but then the clay will correct itself and say that no no it's not quite that a better way of understanding is that I am I exist I am the material I am the substance I am the stuff and the pots are various shapes and names you know pot jar picture whatever they are given to these various shapes and they are put to various kinds of use so I am I the clay am in me are all these parts I the water amp in me are all these waves and Bubbles and foam and surf and I Brown I am in me are all all of these things which you call existing things of the world living beings and non-living beings and then he goes on to deny that also um third line the first line of the fifth verse foreign so I am in me all of these beings are and then the most profound step these beings are not there in me I alone exist there are no such things as different beings in me and different sentient beings jivas non-living things a physical Universe no God and God thick without any space or any kind of um Gap or possibility of anything non-god existing in between God no God and God Alone and then he says after pulling up this Grand trick in three steps he says so did you see my magic it starts with the world and then introduces God God whatever you see wherever you see all these beings living and non-living I am in them step one then he step two he says no look closely I am and all these beings are in me like pots in clay or the the cloth in Threads when say threads are in the cloth and you look closely no no it's not that there's a cloth and then threads have been put into it the threads have been arranged and that's what you call a cloth they have been woven and that's what you call a color class so the cloth is in in the threads this is a strange way of speaking but actually it's true and all the waves are in water exactly like that I am and everything else is in me and then finally the hammer blow and everything else is not in me I alone am God Alone is Brahman alone is pure being pure awareness aloneness this is look at this magic this is called Maya I'm two quick points here the first one is I was reading um uh ganeshwari it was composed originally in Marathi um I think old marathis so with their nice translations available so I was reading Mr erd's translation what did gyaneshwar say about these three verses and he says something so beautiful and yet profound the third one I am in all beings step one step two no no all beings are are in me I am not in beings and step three all beings are not in me Brahman alone exists that one what does ganeshwar say this is a very beautiful translation of the ganeshwari into English multiple translations available nowadays so here goes the third step what does you know commentary say if you wish to see without misconception my real nature Beyond prakriti you will realize that the statement that all beings are in me is false because why is it false our beings not in you they are but a deeper realization would be he says because I am all this because in the Twilight the Twilight of ignorance you know The Mind's Eye becomes dim and in that dim light although I am one I appear to be many beings when the dim light of the Divine the Divine you know display Maya comes to an end I appear in my true nature as the Garland which appears like the serpent is seen in its true form and so on so there's more into this but it's so beautiful this is just as a giddy person thinks that the surrounding objects are revolving around him you know whirling around and seems the world is whirling around me so the beings appear as superimpositions on one indivisible nature when this misconception ceases no one can imagine even in a dream that I exist in the beings or that beings exist in me so these are profound spiritual realizations and he says absolutely these are all erased to say that I support the beings or I exist in the beings is like the raving of a person suffering from a Delirious fever thus it is that the misconception of an unreal being that what makes one think that I am the core of this universe or the support of the beings just as one sees the non-existent Mirage due to the sun's rays he thinks that I exist in the beings and the beings exist in me so and he goes on very powerful statement interesting now I'm going to put a little Caution here caution is this that when we hear this three steps three Revelations then we say oh so the real thing is that Brahman alone exists and that's what we should catch hold of no all of these are very very each of these three steps is a very very valuable spiritual realization and stages of spiritual growth if we have even the first one it's very fulfilling the second one very fulfilling and of course third one is the ultimate just the first one itself that the feeling the sense that in all these people around me in all beings and even in non-living beings the Beloved Lord dwells the Glorious Lord dwells right here these human beings walking around me they're like walking temples of God of the Divine so close is the presence of the Divine so close to us right we're surrounded we are immersed in an ocean of God so the first step is not that immersed in the notion of God first step is to feel the presence of God in those I interact with it's very elevating it immediately raises us above our petty concerns little problems even life and death are not big issues anymore we are ever in the presence of God Swami ashokananda says what is the greatness of feeling the presence of God in uh human beings in all people around you when people are searching for God meditating praying uh they keep saying my mind wanders around I'm searching for God where is God my mind is so I I cannot study my mind in meditation where is God ashokanji says foolish question where is God not in so many ways God is revealing himself herself itself Kali Puja is coming so herself she the Divine mother is revealing herself all around us so the first stage is great uh how inspired we feel in the holiest of temples of our own tradition when we go you know on pilgrimage it is a you know experiences we will never forget in our lives blessed experiences but the same experience you can have all the time without break if you feel the existence of God in everybody even to just to believe that in all these people I I am I'm dealing with visibly God is there in all of them it's God shining through all of them it just revolutionizes your your thinking your day your day becomes changed so this is however this is still dualistic there is a distinction between God who is indwelling and the sentient being living being you know a holy mother she says even non-lipping beings non-living entities so there is an incident in the village house somebody is sweeping the courtyard and after sweeping the broom this lady she throws the broom it was either a lady or a monk who threw the broom aside to a corner and the mother said mashada said what is that you're doing my child Eve don't don't disrespect it so even these things have their own dignity and she carefully kept the broom aside why first of all it's a very good practice for us to be sensitive to be careful um that's a satric mind a satwik mind will not behave in that way it's only a Restless mind you know sweep swept it and threw it aside um satric mind will be will do the work carefully and keep the Implements of work the surroundings Everything clean and a little bit of Grace to work that's first but there's a deeper meaning to it it's because the Divinity dwells everywhere every in every grain of dust that has mode of dust that has been swept aside by the broom there is the Divinity and in that broomstick and in the person who is sweeping everywhere even the small Act of sweeping there is a beautiful story about Swami brahmananda in his he went on a tour to the south of India he was taken by the Swami there to the I think the Meenakshi Temple and so when Swami brahmanandam entered this Temple of the Divine mother a very ancient and very powerful Temple very powerful deity present there when um Swami brahmananda entered the just the precincts of the temple not even the um the inner sanctum not the garbage but outside he he saw somebody sweeping the courtyard and he he was already in a semi-extric state he took the broom and started sweeping and that was So Graceful to see so elevating to see this this monk this holy man sweeping uh the courtyard of the Divine mother people stood and watched and those other devotees and monks had gone in entourage he's the president of the whole ramakrishna ordered at that time the spiritual son of Sri ramakrishna is sweeping the temple Courtyard it was it's it sent people into a high spiritual State just to stand and watch that and then then he went on into the temple somebody took him inside he was already in a ecstatic state in a in a samadhi then the interesting thing was another Monk who had been very inspired by this so he picked up the broom and started sweeping doing the same thing and the people said remarked somehow it suddenly seemed artificial so so that that is what Swami brahmananda is he's seeing the presence of the Divine everywhere in everything still Duality between the indwelling of the Divine and where the Divine dwells in you go higher this is Into The Next Step where it is one Divine reality in Sri ramakrishna's words shop Judea act everything taken together it is one reality all living beings men and women and children old and young all animals plants insects all non-living things all articles the sky and the earth and the water all one all together one organic Unity this is the inside that on which vishishta dwayita vedanta is based so when the Second Step Krishna says I do not dwell in them they are all in me you should see ramanuja's commentary he he is like aha this is what I was talking about and he gives a beautiful commentary there that he uses the classic terminology of vishes whole and the part he says all beings are parts of the Divine and the whole the composite hole the divine cheshi so this is the second step and the third step comes that that all beings are in one organic hole that's denied there is only Brahman only you know like arabindra says the white glare of of an immense radiance white glare of an immortal gaze he says of an immense radiance nothing else that is non-dual Guna Brahman no second reality is there at all no world to talk about no difference at all there I was noting SRI ramanuja's commentary he falters there he can't go there because he stops with the Oneness you know everything is one organic whole everything is there but we are all part of a greater whole and that whole is the divine but he has to stop there when the next step that is denied there are no parts there is only that inconceivable existence awareness he gives he immediately backs up there and he says no no what that means is God's sankalpa it is the Divine will um every Everything depends on that Divine will divine will does not depend on anything else so God's will is independence he will not trespass beyond that Shankar of course is delighted there everything is an appearance Brahman alone is the unfettered reality there and that thou art you are that reality anyway so that is here itself in these three stages you have a kind of dualism so it's a pretty Advanced kind of dualism the first stage then we shifted the qualified monism second stage and the non-duality of shankara of advaita vedanta in the third stage okay then um Shri Krishna gives an example the sixth verse as the vast wind blowing everywhere ever abides in space no even so do all beings abide in me now here he gives the example of space it's a favorite example for non-dualists for advaithins also and if you see intermittent Buddhism for example space is a good example used again and again so just as space what is like space Brahman Ultimate Reality is like space and what's this universe all beings and everything they are like the atmosphere which is you know vast atmospheres extending from our sea level up to the stratosphere troposphere what not becoming rarer and thinner and thinner till it disappears off into uh near Earth space so Advanced atmosphere dwells in space and now you might say but isn't this dualistic there is space and there is the atmosphere but the only thing that is what Krishna wants to show here is that not that there is a Brahman and there is a world like the space and the atmosphere rather just as um the space is not touched not affected by The Atmosphere by the what it it contains space is completely unaffected so similarly Brahman is not affected by the beings in Brahman because they are appearances notice if it's a part and you keep something in the pot it will affect the pot if you keep dirty water in the pot it will cling to the pot its pot will become dirty even if you pour the water out if you put fragrance and incense in the pot the pot will absorb some of the fragrance of the incense so container and contain they come into contact but only when do they not come into contact when they are not at the same level of reality so for example a movie the movie screen and the events in the movie so suppose there's a cataclysm in the movie uh there's a huge explosion does the screen burn up no there's a huge great flood does the screen get wet even a little no so the events in the movie which are experienced you see them you react to them emotionally and yet they do not affect in the least the screen on which they are appearing because their appearances the screen and the Fire or the flood are not on the same level of reality the screen is you know what what is called in advaita the transactional level of reality our empirical reality is a screen and the flood or the fire is at a fictional level of reality which is called pratibhashikan appearance illusory fictional level of reality what is in fiction does not affect what is in our transactional empirical reality so what's your point so what is in our transactional empirical reality equally will not affect the absolute reality um Brahman so the imperfections of the world the Sorrows of the world the disasters of the world um they they do not leave a mark on the absolute reality they said that's great for the absolute reality what about me I have absolutely no use for such a philosophy it doesn't do me any good well where are you are you on the transactional level or the illusory level or the absolute we are experiencing ourselves on the transactional level and advaita vedanta tells that you are none other than the absolute reality the absolute reality is the only reality what appears is this transactional level is an appearance what about me Brahman can do whatever it likes the world can be false or real I don't care but I am really interested in I need myself what about me you are Brahman don't worry you are that absolute reality so this is the basic um teaching which Krishna is trying to convey in these three verses and which advaita vedant is trying to convey we see ourselves as this transactional level of reality and with advaith is trying to push us into an understanding that we are the absolute level of reality this is what the whole is what's going on here and the space example is meant to show just that much the absolute level of reality nirguna Brahman is not at all affected by the appearances of the world where the world appearance and notice why you so there's a air is an existing substance and it has certain qualities and then it it spreads everywhere it moves there are gusts of wind and storms and typhoons and hurricanes so all of this is going on in the atmosphere similarly um in pure Consciousness in pure being there are existence which appear they appear the pure being a Brahman does not become existing things with existing things appear like Movie images like dream experiences and there is activity there so existing things appear this is I'm translating from in nyaya terms of drabya they have certain qualities good or bad and they have action something is happening there karma karma substance quality and action all of that is in the appearance and none of that affects the underlying reality and you are that underlying reality except that you manifest through a substance what is the substance the body and you have certain qualities certain characteristics male female race you know gender age and then activities are going on karma is going on but they are all at just like the air all its qualities its substantiality and its activities none of them affect the underlying space the and the space makes it all possible space has this nature of capaciousness of spaciousness so it it provides the stage let us say for the the drama of the entire universe to unfold you are like that the unlimited Limitless Brahman um pure being pure awareness in your Limitless sky the the drama of Life your life and everybody else's life it plays out and it just like the sky is Untouched by the atmosphere you the Limitless kind of awareness you are untouched from the beginning of this life till the end of this life you're you're exactly the same um the space idea is used at three levels in vedanta mahakasha Akasha if you translate it as space or sky the physical Sky the space the physical space we are surrounded by in which the universe hangs you know the universe is set in the physical space time space matter energy they're all encompassed in Akasha the mahakash mahakasha means the vast sky or the vast space but there is another Sky there's another space it's called chittakash Mind space now it is some app I think some kind of app is there mind space or headspace something like that so mind space mind is it's a separate space it's not like this physical space at all all right um what you say why would you say that is in the mind in this physical space no it is not see the body is in physical space and the head is in the physical space the brain is in the physical space okay so there you have it then Swami mind is in physical space but brain and mind are not the same thing in this physical space you can locate the brain you can locate neurons you can locate neuronal activity can you locate a thought so that neural activity that's the thought no say I have um a thought that it's a beautiful day it's a beautiful day that's a thought look at that thought you can maybe correspondingly find out some bursts of tiny bits of electricity neural activity with refer my rice cans well all you have located are little bursts of electrical activity in the brain that's all you have located where is the thought there oh what I mean is it's body producing that thought how then you run up against the hard problem of Consciousness and so on and so forth and it's not just today David Chavez and her problem of Consciousness when Tibetan Lama I was reading he puts it so briefly and a huge amount of philosophical discussion and he puts it just briefly says if you say that um Consciousness is being produced by matter by brain you run up against two massive philosophical challenges which have not been overcome what are those challenges first of all you have to admit that matter energy time space brain body they exist independently of your mind this is timoth into this saying this independently of your mind you have to admit that so yeah we do you do because you're not trained in philosophy if you were trained in philosophy both eastern and western you would know that this is the call that the idealist problem how do you see you can never experience a world outside your you know your mind you can't you should but Sony aren't you experiencing a world outside the mind just now are you Gora pada would say switch up the Mind experience the world you can't the moment the mind is switched up when you go like deep sleep fall asleep no world is experienced the world is experienced only when the mind is active now one might say look that's not such a big deal the world exists and you need a mind to experience the world that's why the world is experienced when the mind is active yes but how do you know the vertex exists when the mind is not active how do you know there is a world that exists outside the mind if you can at no point experience anything without the mind so that was the whole basis of idealist philosophies like the Buddhist vigyanavada it's not advaitha by the way but the Buddhist which is one of the fun primary streams of uh Buddhist philosophy Mahayana Buddhist philosophy so the Lama says this is one problem you will have to face if you say body and brain have produced mind how do you know there is a body and brain which precedes the mind which is like outside the mind that's one second he says that if you hold that the body and the Brain have produced the mind then you have to answer the hard problem of conscious he didn't use those words he says how will suppose body you say that brain has produced there's a brain and it has produced a mind how how can a material thing produced a non-material we've just said that mind cannot be located in space so that non-material mind how is it produced by a brain and the problem has become even more poignant now with these artificial brains you know Ai and all this none of them have Minds none of them have any first person experience at all they can do everything that our mind does they can do it but there's no inner experience of being a conscious experiencing being anyway so um why did we get into this tangle okay um we were studying this we three Akashi yes thank you for reminding me I'm still getting old so this is mind space even this is not the end vedanta says but all of these activities of the Mind thoughts feelings emotions we have done these analysis again and again it appears to Consciousness in consciousness Consciousness and mind are not the same thing so Consciousness is again conceived of as another space what is that space yeah it is just Brahman or just Atman the tatman Brahman itself is called which is the space of Consciousness or Consciousness that is space sorry space that is consciousness in that space that is consciousness a mind appears I mean the mind uh space the mahakasha appears so vedanta has an inside out view we think that this physical universe is vast it is the mind is vaster it is an appearance in the mind and Consciousness is faster still and you are that fast consciousness so Akash example very profound see akasha's face is the closest that we have got the best example of Brahman is the closest why closest because in upanishads they say that is the first evolute from Consciousness the first appearance of a material Universe from Consciousness is space so that is the closest that you get in a material Universe to Atman or Brahman it's not Atman or Brahman it's still an objective thing it's still dead space out there but it's still the closest that you get says and all that from this very Atman I'm translating from this Atman which Atman is referring to an earlier statement where is defining Brahman satyaman Brahman is infinite existence Consciousness Brahman is infinite existence Consciousness and that Brahman is calling the Atman hey dad Brahman which is this Atman Atman means you from this Atman evolved space evolvement it appeared as space Consciousness appeared at space how why Maya is it at all possible for Consciousness to appear a space where your mind can do it in dreams don't you have a whole dream world which is projected isn't there a space there yes there is that's where all the all the drama of your dream takes takes place and nowadays it is easier to conceive of all of this because of virtual reality you know we can through computers and all we can design lots of spaces which exist only in in a computer I'm not physically in the computer just in the program so virtual spaces similarly Consciousness projects space first and then it goes on to say space evolves into um into air fire water Earth in Progressive orders of concreteness and grossness from subtle to gross this is the ancient cosmology most ancient civilizations had something like this earth earth water fire space like that so space is the closest to the Atman the first evolute and that's why it's often used as examples it is used as a meditative technique for enlightenment so in kashmiri shaivism for example this is a favorite way of um of trying to trick the Mind into enlightenment I'll give you a couple of examples I think they are there in Vegas the very well-known example of the vast Blue Sky imagine not imagine actually you're supposed to see it if you have like today we had vast blue skies here brilliant day a cool but brilliant day here in Manhattan so if you look up cloudless endless Blue Sky in the morning or afternoon evening now what you're supposed to do is you go out there in the park and sit on the bench and get a clear view of the sky and then look up into the sky it works even better if you go to out there to sheep Meadow and lie down on the grass so that you're looking up and there's only the sky above you and nothing else just the sky and look up intensely this is a meditation done with open eyes look up intensely till you are so absorbed and focused in the fastness blueness and radiance it's not just a sky it's a radiant Sky it's good it's it's luminous with with you know the early winter sunlight so you look into that and with such intensity you should come to almost like a feeling of falling into the sky as if you know to that intensity and then what you're supposed to do is as you're absorbed and looking and looking at that close your eyes shut it close your eyes in a moment and mentally also drop that blue sky drop that blue sky and in that moment it's it's a like a fast thing that's done in that moment what should be left is the radiance without the sky and that Radiance it's just like an after image or something the radiance without the sky it should trick the mind with like a trap door opening in the mind point the Mind back towards the radiance which is its own source which is the Shiva nature in kashmiri shaivism the nature of Ultimate Reality is called Shiva and what is it it is prakash of Light which is self-aware we must share means it is aware of itself closest you can get is the Luminous sky empty all your thoughts feelings perception story time um body sense what day it is what time it is what you have to do next nothing you have to do not this is the end of the world this is it there's nothing more after this life comes to an end here the world comes to an end here there is nothing left after this just that vast Blue Sky and then drop that blue sky the vastness blueness all is dropped into just glowing after image of that Radiance and the radiance also is a material Radiance but it points back to prakash self-aware Luminosity which you are it should work and the beauty of it is if it even if it doesn't work wait a few minutes take a few deep breaths and go back to it again the vast blue sky is still there so it's a very good way of emptying the Mind relax empty put in effort intense Focus and then drop it um a psychologist and philosopher who had done research on Focus concentration he says forget the name he says um calling something he says that all the major breakthroughs in science in art and of course in spiritual life have been made by concentration but not during that concentration it is that intense concentration you must work at it that day that particular session and your daily meditation and for months maybe years work at it whatever you're focusing on and then once that intense focus is over that session is over a little after that the Breakthrough May Come that's why in our meditation our meditation Masters always tell us after the end of the meditation so we have to offer the fruits of meditationalism practices to be done then don't jump up from your calling McCormick exact uh is this coming just a minute um let me see might be let me just see he was a very troubled man this person um no this is not PhD students not this person I'll tell you he wrote number of books it became pretty famous he was an Englishman um I'll try to remember anyway but this is not uh it doesn't depend on the particular researcher or the particular thinker it is something that's well known I mean those who study the psychology of my of attention they know this we also know this so we are told by our meditation Masters don't jump up from your seat and you know make a run for it done for today enough meditation and because you know young brahmachary is now he says meditation is boring how but you're forced by the strict monks you have to stick to your bonding meditation and evening meditation we are actually not allowed to get up before you complete the basic minimum so it's all done I've done it and run away no don't do that stay there just sit quietly for a few minutes that's a very very very valuable time especially if you're putting the effort before that I know of people are actually attained enlightenment intense spiritual practice I know monks in the Himalayas and they had a very good time of a very good spiritual practice meditation living on arms wandering in the Himalayas and then not that they've had any particular breakthrough some good meditation sessions some not so good and finally coming back after that maybe few months of practice and that moment of relaxation breakthrough comes at that point they were not trying they were not in a cave and meditating that was done maybe a few days ago and the Breakthrough comes a real deep breakthrough which is lasts lifelong after that but it did not come during the actual practice itself it came after that so anyway my point is when you let go and relax at that point it may come and the beauty of this uh this is these are called dharanas techniques in kashmiri Shiva meditation they are found in a book called vignana bhairav which has 112 such techniques um so um the beauty of this is you can repeat it because it's done in an instant so you build up that Focus that intensity again and then let it go in an instant and stay with it doesn't work doesn't matter take a breath relax and cycle it back again anyway so this is how Akasha space is used another one which I heard from a sadhu I think it is there in the Ghana bhairava but I'm not very sure but it was sounded so funny that I remembered it it's like you visualize a well like you might find in a village in India a stone well you know and they are pretty deep and if you look in them it's dark so imagine it's just imagine you don't actually do it in a real well you imagine sitting quietly you're looking into this well so it cuts off all your vision of everything else and you're looking down into space looking down into space you'll get if you look if you imagine it powerfully enough you'll get a sort of almost vertical like feeling that you're falling down into space and there the next thing that you have to do is let go of the walls in one like a jerk let go of the walls in your imagination the walls of the well so like it becomes space without limit into which you're falling it should also work and there are many such techniques there and remember in these techniques they're technique they are not um spiritual philosophy not tattoo as they say these are not truths they are not like Brahman is real the world is false you are Brahman they are not of that level they're not not like what Krishna says these are just tricks they're meant to trick you so don't take the blue sky very important make it very important start worshiping the Blue Sky make a philosophy of the vast blue sky or a well even worse those are just techniques to sort of trick the mind why did I say all this it's just because uh the sky how important the sky is it what a beautiful example it is and how it can be used for meditation practice next number seven Contin [Music] ENT at the end of a cycle all beings o son of kunti attain my prakriti at the beginning of the next cycle I again send them forth so why did this happen remember why did this verse come along he is explaining how Brahman is saguna Brahman same pure Consciousness is the cause of this manifestation why at all is this manifestation there because the power of Maya it's like the mind is um has got saturated with Impressions collected in the waking State and it produces dreams when we fall asleep so the same mind every night when you fall asleep it will send forth The Impressions in the form of dream experiences when you wake up those Impressions come back into the mind and stay in a potential State they will again produce dreams when you go go into sleep similarly here um withdraws this Maya with the impressions of this world into Maya it is just Brahman and nothing else and then again it projects Maya projects these varieties of appearances in saguna Brahman and that we call creation so he says at the beginning of of creation so the Hindus have this idea of a cycle of existence projection existence and dissolution of the universe over vast eons of time millions and billions of years I mentioned earlier once that Carl Sagan who did that Cosmos series I think now um the Cosmos series is being repeated or has been repeated by that astronomer who is here in the museum the Metro Neil deGrasse Tyson yes so Neil deGrasse Tyson has repeated the Cosmos series but when we were kids Carl Sagan a Carl Sagan he produced this he wrote the book Cosmos and he produced this series as kids we used to watch it on television very beautifully done I guess kids today would laugh at the special effects in those series but it was for us it was awesome and there in the book he mentions that it's modern science and cosmology which has vastly expanded our Horizons we now think in terms of vast spaces um of light years light years by the way it's not an unit of time it's the amount of distance traveled by light in in a year so vast unthinkably vast spaces distances and unthinkably vast long durations of time earlier theologians thought of a universe or the world as thousands of years old now that's laughably small we think of the universe as millions of years billions of years old so our modern science has really expanded our idea of time and space of this universe the real sheer scale and magnitude of this universe and then Carl Sagan says the only other civilization which had an even more awesome sense of time and space is uh as the ancient Hindu civilization and they thought in terms of you know Cosmic cycles of universes being created existing and then passing away a new universe is being created only thing is from an advantage perspective this creation existence and passing away the universes they are all like dreams and the dreaming mind is like Brahman Brahman is the one reality which which projects all this how through Maya he says here prakriti he calls it prakriti but it's Maya the power of Maya then what is the relationship between Maya and Brahman strictly from an advaithic perspective no relationship Brahman alone exists however sister nivedita once said to Vivekananda can I say that Kali is the dream of Shiva and Vivekananda considered it for a moment and then he laughed and he said well well have it your way so Maya is the dream of Brahman maybe and it's a new way of putting it so all beings all of us this in sentient beings the external Universe all of this is a projection because of Maya and Maya is the ground of Maya is Brahman and then what happens the Universe plays out life and death and struggle and happiness misery worlds begin World's End Evolution takes place better and better bodies are evolved and the sentient beings now get these vehicles you know human bodies God bodies and whatnot and progress spiritually some attained Enlightenment some don't and the universe is now withdrawn by by Brahman into its ma into it's Maya we translate it as as the end at the end of a cycle is in the decay of of the eons you know the shared poetry of the word like like time itself decays into nothingness when the world ends the universe ends I pulled them all back into Maya one sadhu in uttarak and I remember in haridwar he said we are playing hide and seek with God right now we are all looking for God and God is hiding and we are trying to find God where is God where is God we're like little children trying to find out yeah and the granny is hiding and at the end of the universe we all disappear back into the Maya of of ishwara of saguna Brahman and then Brahman alone remains now the brahmana now begins to search for us where did those fellows go where are they hiding and then he finds us and then he projects us back into this world again creates this universe and hides himself and so this hide and seek goes on just he was just putting it in a funny way so right now God is hiding and we are seeking for God foreign let's wrap it up here actually I should read the eighth one also together with this the two go together seven and eight hours [Music] presiding over by Nature prakriti I again and again sent forth this entire aggregate of helpless beings according to their nature so how does the Lord create this universe and maintain it and dissolve it back with Maya with prakriti is it random no it's not random it depends on our on our past Karma where we are in the spiritual the scale of evolution depending on that we'll be given new experiences in this universe and in each life that we have in this universe until we attain to Enlightenment so that's the Grand Story address is a slightly different take on it the all of this is a story that's the stresses on the story the reality is that you are Brahman always it was fine um so we go through this according to our Karma depending on where we were in the last universe so we are all withdrawn into the bosom of the Divine mother into prakriti into Maya puts it this way after harvest and the granny of the house she goes out into the fields and collects seeds and puts them in little pieces of cloth and she ties it up and she knows each little bundle has the seed of this plant and that vegetable and this and that and she keeps it and when time comes for planting it in the next season she takes it out and she she plants them and those same plants vegetables crops they come up so like that who's granny is and who what are those seeds we we sentient beaks um so we are gathered together by the Divine mother and when the time comes for new experiences we are again sent forth into this universe so how is it done through Maya Brahman does it through Maya what is the logic behind it our karma not random we are not being punished or you know arbitrarily cruelly treated no actually we have been given a wonderful opportunity to grow and evolve spiritually through dramatic life experiences and often sometimes very painful sometimes shocking and terrifying you might say that's a very terrible way of learning but notice that uh one thing is constant nothing even the worst of things death disaster tragedy tragedies nothing destroys us if it's at all true that we have gone through multiple lifetimes then we are here he would say up Horner you are here isn't it forget past lives you have no memory of that this life after having seen so much in your life from babyhood to Childhood some of them have had tragic life some had protected and privileged lives whatever it is even the worst of Life somebody has had not denying it is terrible but notice one fact you are here to listen to this so yeah that's because I'm alive I might say I'll die then what will happen well you'll still be there that particular body and life is gone that's what vedant is trying to say not just that's what every religion is trying to say the theology is different the mechanics are different the fact is we are Immortal beings we don't die we are not destroyed and that gives us a clue To What We Are Who We Are children of God children of immortal Bliss none other than God one with God Brahman the sheer indestructible nature of you oh so grama here does not mean you know for Indians immediately they think of a village but the Sanskrit word grama simply means collection this entire catalog collection of sentient beings projected fourth again and again into multiple Creations multiple universes okay let me now take a look at the comments shachi Sharma says can I ask about chapter 4 verse 24 brahmapanam I read in shankarachary's commentary that the verse is referring to gyani yogya so knowledge is sacrificed knowledge is not sacrificed it's a sacrifice of knowledge yeah so it's a knowledge is generated foreign sacrifice is where a fire is lit and the priests are there and um you commission a sacrifice to become to be performed you know butter or something milk curds they are poured into the fire so this is you're giving this is the sacrifice here what is being sacrificed it is your effort your attention it's sacrifice means it's being poured into vedanta this is the knowledge sacrifice knowledge is not being sacrificed so this is uh sriram says swamiji is the practical way to get a third level recommended by bhagwan maharish Ramana mahashi goham yes while repeating a mantra against us the Mantra sound originate are these most direct Parts yes repeating a mantra tracing back the Mantra sound but what ramanamashi recommends is not uh dharana not one of the vigana bhairava technique it is a direct pointing to the to the reality if that doesn't work still one doesn't get what's going on there then these techniques are the next level in fact a great kashmiri Shiva Saint and philosopher I think it was abhinava Gupta who says these techniques dharanas multiple techniques of meditation to to help you retain realization for the one who knows then none of them are necessary the one who realizes I am the Atman they cannot reveal the Atman to you they cannot Reveal Your Shiva nature to you they can only trick your mind and hope for the best to expect these this is the direct translation of the verse to expect these techniques to reveal Shiva to you is like expecting a pot to illumine the Sun a part cannot illumine the Sun so that's I'm explaining now that that's as much as abhinav said part cannot illumine the Sun a part cannot illumine itself a part cannot live in anything else moreover the part is illumin by the Sun see the beauty of these Masters is just by giving this example expecting a pot to illumine the Sun here also he has given a doorway to Enlightenment did you see those who those who know those who see they will immediately see the secret of this verse what he he is again showing your direct path to reality the part what is the part like mind meditation technique in the mind meditative mind is the pot then what is the sun you are the Sun you are illumining that calm and concentrated mind calm and concentrated mind cannot reveal you you are revealing it all the time and that moment you will be free when you get this know yourself to be the son know the instrument of all knowledge to be like a pot what is the instrument of all knowledge mind it's mind which knows everything and yet that's like a pot compared to you the Atman It Is illumined by you that immediately shows you what you are and it sets you free from the mind you can say now let the pot like mind remain as it is I don't care what it thinks what it understands what it does not understand what it believes what it does not believe it's all Child's Play I have realized the vast I am that who is a qualifies to be shaguna Brahman now nobody qualifies to be served second number one means god it is pure Consciousness with the power of Maya limited by Maya so the all of these terms can be easily clarified if one goes through one course uh I would say vedanta Sarah is good it's available the text is available all the classes are available so all the definitions you will know what is God in vedanta what is the self in vedanta what do you mean by meditation what do you mean by inquiry what is this world what is Maya what is ignorance what is meant by Enlightenment all of these questions are precisely answered so this is an introductory book to uh vedanta do that is good just Abhijit says in the sky meditation Technique we describe when one drops it how to not involve agency once will or sankalpa the point to drop the effort of meditation itself no not so Advanced it's a sankalpa it's a decision taken by the Mind itself drop the effect is not done voluntarily because if you do it voluntarily then again the mind is working the effect should be dropping away of the Mind [Music] we are dropping mahakasha from your mind and hopefully the mind will cling chitta Kasha will cling to mahakasha and will be flushed out along with that leaving only hopefully Rick says many astronauts have had life transforming spiritual Awakenings fell out in space such as Edgar Mitchell yeah some of them are really spiritual experiences they've referred to it what's his name our Captain Kirk um William Shatner he also had a transformative experience but it was he was miserable more or less when he went to space this time but he went for just a few minutes Rodrigo gravitation is difficult to overcome yes alpana says is this whole world like machine learning program well it's one way of looking at this world is like a gymnasium where we learn and grow vivekantha says one way um it says what would be recommended to read the Gita versus with a good explanation for self-reading one would be bhagavad-gita with an explanations by Swami tapasyananduji I wonder if I've got it here another would be um foreign extensive General explanations the book which we used which was recommended at Harvard University I can show it to you about my copy here foreign good books are there which are used in universities so during my time there Professor Clooney recommended the bhagavad-gita new translation by first time first time bhagavad-gita new translation George first time first time is well known for his books on yoga patanjali yoga it's a good translation Priya says technical problems saying Maya the dream of Brahman brings Duality to non-dual room and sounds more devotional that's why swamiji did not object yes I mean it's a sort of poetic way expressing it Brahman doesn't dream then somebody says often consciously we try to remember the step one God is in all beings we'll elevate how do we think of certain specific people one good to us we tend to think poorly of them and then we send through cycle of negative emotions yes so you can think of the people who are not good for Behaving Badly with you you know that they are not good people how can God dwell get think of them as a ruined Temple but God is there deity is still there the temple is in disrepair so it needs a paint job and a little bit of renovation and things like that says how are space and air different degrees of reality they are not they are not so space and air are the same degrees of reality material space and material air right and yet the amazing thing is air heat radiation nothing affects space sky in general relativistic physics aside Maharaj microphone oh it's far away right so the different levels of reality we are introducing in order to make sense and of course it's not entirely Innovation on our side when Krishna said they are not in me watch The Magic of my power or Maya and that is the multiple levels of reality there are appearances in me Siddharth says is the part of the mind or the vessel of the Mind you mean the pot and the sun example the pot is the mind and the Sun is the Atman you the real you is the sun see normally we think of ourselves as the mind with just thing mind is just to think like a pot and it's lit up revealed by the sunlight similarly mind is just a thing it's lit up by you Consciousness and borrowing your Consciousness the Mind becomes an instrument of knowledge it gives you the experiences Through The Eyes of seeing through the years of hearing and so on and through itself the mind can think remember desire imagine fear uh all of that suffer but you the light you are neither imagining Desiring fearing hating suffering no you're making all of that possible this subtle difference one must understand okay gravitational waves rip space apart as Abhijit said yes it should do that because if it is material then it should be affected like everything material there must be something very profound which can affect space Also it just goes to show space Also is material in fact there was a nice question somebody asked why should we not consider that space itself is God why because God is omnipresent omniscient omnipotent so space is omnipresent so it's everywhere obviously everything else has to be in space he's talking about material space just this space the universe everything in the universe is in space so space is omnipresent then um omnipotent according to the upanishad which you just quoted space evolved into air fire water Earth so it is the creator of the entire universe omniscient all-knowing ah but how can space be all knowing well it is space which has evolved into all knowing beings to all of us and your artificial intelligence robots aliens if they exist in space all are evolutes of space space into into air into fire into water into Earth and all combinations and this space so space is only present only protein so why not um it fulfills the definition of Brahman so isn't space from no space is still objective it is you are aware of space space is not aware of you space cannot think just as we saw you can see space evolved into this body state is true but did space evolve into thought no it the sort is not in this physical space anyway so that was an interesting question [Music] [Music]