Video 6

6. Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 2 Verses 17-18 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

Oh Vasudeva Sutent even come such our Ramadan um Devaki param anand krishna monday before we start a quick announcement next week there won't be any classes the Tuesday Wednesday and Friday classes are cancelled there's the world Parliament of Religions which is going on in Toronto now so I'm going that day after tomorrow so Tuesday class Wednesday class and Friday classes are canceled but of course they are - tomorrow the morning program is there I'm here giving the talk so especially the next week's Friday gita class it won't be there next week but the week after that of course did with the classically we were studying the Bhagavad Gita 2nd chapter where Shri Krishna is teaching about the real nature of the self and we studied the 16th verse of the second chapter I mentioned that it's a difficult verse a very profound verse let's chant it again and then we will proceed 16th verse Nasser to be dirty Babu Nasser to be dirty Oh Nabu be deities [Music] we deities Europa - tanta uber rapid rich - and - Anna you start or - if he thought would receive he he we profound verse which says that the the unreal the false never really existed and the real we are the real self the Atman what we truly are it can never not exist so what he's basically saying is the entire world of experience all those things which are created and destroyed for us they appear to exist for some time this world our bodies our people we know that appear to exist for some time but that's an appearance that's what has been pointed out and do you remember the underlying logic of this approach that a distinction was made between an intrinsic property and an accidental or incidental property and do you remember the example that I used about the potato being boiled and it's heart and the water boils and the water is hot and the pan in which with the water's boiling that's hot but none of these things are hot in themselves they gain heat and then they lose heat whereas the fire underneath is always hot as long as it's burning it's always hot so the pan and the water and the potato they all borrow heat as it were from the fire why is it wet they actually do borrow heat from the fire and they lose heat also so the heat is an extrinsic or an accidental property for these the pan and the water and the and the potato and notice the nature of an accidental property or an incidental property it comes and goes I gave the example of borrowed money and buying things on on credit so it comes and goes it's borrowed it doesn't belong to to that entity which means the lesson we take away the principle we take away from it is that accidental or incidental properties are those which are not intrinsic to the very nature of a thing they come and go a thing can be with it and can be without it also and can can possess it for a time being so what if this is understood now applied to existence itself applying it to existence what will happen if if existence is an incidental property sounds very philosophical or abstract but it's not remember incidental properties are gained and lost if existence is an incidental property it will be gained and lost what is the meaning of gaining existence of losing existence it simply means being created and destroyed being born and dying coming into being and going and losing existence coming into existence and losing existence in other words what do you call a thing which is created and destroyed born and dies impermanent in sanskrit and it kept impermanent so what did we derive from this those things which are impermanent do not have existence as their in the intrinsic nature as their very nature they borrow existence now two interesting things come out of this that there is space here also I think you can sit here and I think there's space here right okay two things come out of this one is what do they borrow existence from are you with me so far I always this is a difficult subject if you get the hang of it it's not difficult I give the example of you know then the Tintin comics we used to read read as kids there is those of calculus those yeah I can see some people nodding you read it the professor calculus is explaining some complicated nuclear reaction to Tintin and Captain Haddock and Thompson and Thomson the dudes they're walking along and at at one and you can see Captain Haddock scowling because he can't understand what's going on and and professor calculus looks back and says do you follow me and the captain scouts and says yes I'm right behind you so not follow me in that sense what does it mean to gain existence and lose exist what does it mean in that case two things it means one is that these things are not intrinsic existence is not intrinsic to in the impermanent entities which by which we mean everything in this world is impermanent everything in this world is impermanent and that means they have borrowed existence one the second thing is it means it has borrowed existence from something there must be something which has lent existence which has existence as an intrinsic property which really what would it mean to have existence as an intrinsic property remember fire has heat as an intrinsic property which means as long as fire is burning there is heat if something has existence as an intrinsic property if it has an incidental property it will be born it will die it will be created and destroyed if it has existence as an intrinsic property what will happen to that thing do you remember he'll always exist fire has heat as an intrinsic property it's always hot if something has existence as an intrinsic property it will always exist by that logic now you might say that all this is fine but in the real world very interesting the use of the word term or the term real real literally means existing in the existing world where is such a thing something which has intrinsic existence which exists forever which is not born and destroyed do you remember Shankar Acharya pointed out we needed a close reading of the shop Shankar's commentary on the verse he pointed out son had a son but a son has the the pot exists the pot is the house is the elephant is house pot elephant are different they're different from each other they are not the same thing but in each of them we have the intuition of existence is is they don't pay any attention to it he said if you remember our experience has this dual nature all our experience everything in our life has this dual nature right now for example you're experiencing that I I am here and this is a room and here is a chapel here is a Swami there is speech going on that there's some sound going on I am thinking listening but these are all experiences you are having now but Shankar Acharya pointed out each of these experiences has a dual nature one part is the thing which you are experiencing the other part is the existence of that thing notice I am look at the word M it means existence the room is the chapel is speech is how do you experience speech do you experience it as existing or non existing you obviously do not experience anything is non existing because if it was non existing you wouldn't experience it so literally the experience everything the experience is pervaded by isness a sense of being and Shankar Acharya takes pains to point out it is very well established in your experience you're actually experiencing it existence and it's an interesting thing if you're experiencing if you experienced a book there is a book and you are experiencing it if you're experiencing existence there must be something called existence let me repeat that if you are experiencing a book there must be something called a book which you have in your experience if you're experiencing exists there must be something called existence which you are experiencing so there is this one underlying business which Vedanta calls pure being such pure being existence literally sucked means pure being isness which is always available to us which never goes out of existence and you remember we had all those interesting questions if a part is destroyed so the part is not and Shankar Acharya would say first of all the broken part is the easiness continues in the broken part and there are other parts so he suppose all parts are destroyed well there are there is the clot and there's the house and then there was a very interesting question suppose everything in the universe is destroyed where will existence be and then very interesting conclusion was all these things in the universe all names and forms they manifest existence if the names and forms are gone existence remains but there's no way of appreciating it all these things we discussed so the conclusion was in this world of experience whatever we are experiencing in the world there is an easiness which is permanent which is not born which does not die that never goes out of existence it cannot logically and there is this continuous stream of appearances things and places and people and events our own bodies and minds and thoughts which come and go which pop in and out of existence and they borrow existence and they appear to exist for a while then they lose existence and the god of them they die or are destroyed and conclusion being I am that pure existence I am that infinite that unlimited existence always experienced and every other thing in the world that other thing other than X explained existence in itself it has no existence they are all appearances they are what is called mithya the false the apparent and it said the one who is clear about this this is the Jeevan Muktha the enlightened while living this is the goal of Vedanta to live like this that I know my real nature and everything in the world is an appearance in me nothing in the world can shake me because I am beyond death and beyond change the real me not the body not the mind not this little person so the enlightened person is very clear about these two this is the ones who are enlightened they know these two separately what are the two the real pure being which I am and appearance name and far which appears in me and disappears in me these two are very clear for the enlightened person now moving on 17th verse so it is a very philosophical verse but what is the practical conclusion of that verse what what follows 17th verse Avena she tutored with the winner she tutored with D in saruba medium totem llena saruba medium totem Venus on Mobius yoshiya we know some obvious jasja knockers chitkul - maratti knockers chitkul - marathi but know that by which all this is pervaded to be imperishable no one can bring about the destruction of this immutable principle if there are two things one which is pure being which is the one which truly exists and the other appearance which never exists did not exist in the past will not exist in the future and even when it seems to exist right now because of borrowed existence it has no intrinsic existence it's just borrowed it from pure being so these are two things now if the appearance the world of appearance names and forms Maya this samsara - what category does it belong such or assert pure being or appearance it belongs to the category of appearance and what did earlier verse say pure being never goes out of existence and the an appearance never really comes into existence in other words all that truly exists is pure being Brahman Atman and what seems to exist right now this never not does not actually exist what what is existence here is that pure being which means this world has no existence and what seems to exist here is because this is none other than that pure being I'll repeat that pure being alone exists but we experience it as this world the example which I liked very much was in via in Canada it was last year I think in Loon Lake the beautiful place in British Columbia and it was a spiritual retreat there and if you get up early in the morning before any wind blows it's very still and the water is very very clear there's a vast lake surrounded by dense forests and hills so you can see in the early morning light if you look the water seems absolutely transparent and if you look into the lake what will you see not water what appears to you sky and hills and forests even if birds fly you can see all of that but in the lake what is there are there forests there trees there birds there mountains there no it's just water and water and water the trees are water the mountains are water the sky is water the birds flying are water everything that you see there is water in fact when you look inside and see your own face its water only there it is water alone which exists really but what you were experiencing are things people entities even actions birds flying around and all of that exactly in the same way but remember in this is an example don't extend it too far because example there is there is really a world outside which is being reflected in that water so don't stretch it is there a world which is being reflected in Brahman no in the case of Brahman pure awareness in which it appears pure being and pure awareness it can project by its own let us say Maya it can it is colored by the appearance of samsara so it says here itself when you are experiencing the world what follows is number one here itself is that Brahman pervading all of this are we now she to that video that indestructible that pure being know it we're in a server madam Tatem a very beautiful phrase by which all of this is pervaded all of this is pervaded by that but then why don't we all of what all of this experience what we are experiencing right now all of it is pervaded that by that Brahman which you are but then you might ask why don't we see it then why don't we experience it as such in the water in the case of the lake if you pay attention you can see the water also you can notice that it is water but I don't be see Brahman pure being then why don't we experience it he uses a word krishna uses a word here thought now that means literally means that and if you see the play of words sarvam idam in sanskrit edom means this that means that so what this know a little bit of Sanskrit grammar here this the word this is always used when it's something is immediately available for experience for perception so you can see it hear it smell it taste it touch it so if you call it this this thing which I see or hear or smell or taste or touch and we generally use tucked that for something which is remote which is not immediately available to your senses that place and this place this place is something here that place is something there in English also we use this and that that is remote and this is approximate in Sanskrit parotia approach a parochial protection protection means available to the senses by using the word that for forward for that pure being Krishna is indicating it's not available for your senses just as the world is available for your senses you can see it hear it smell it taste it you can interact with it all the time you are hearing smelling tasting names and forms but it's given reality by that being but that is not an object for senses it's be it's not something that you can see it's not something that you can hear or smell or taste or touch it's beyond the senses open you should say attrition literally invisible to the senses or grime you it is not an object for your motor organs that means you cannot walk to it or grasp it so that's why the word Tut has significance here then he uses a beautiful phrase yena sarvam idam tatam by which all this is pervaded very beautiful phrase it makes all the difference between high philosophy and a living philosophy between abstraction beautiful abstraction very clever philosophy and a Living philosophy available to all of us yeah in a servant Adam Tatum see one might say what is available to me what is available to me is this world not your abstract philosophy and he says yes the by rattling which we spoke about this world of yours is pervaded through and through it's available right here llena sarvam idam tatam by which all is that is that pervades everything this is pervaded by that pure being one might ask how is it per waited because pervading might mean here is a room it was dark and we switched on the lights so the lights have light has pervaded the room but remember light is something different in the room is something different the room can exist without the light and lights also can exist without a room so room and light two two different things and one can pervade the other or another way sometimes we will light the incense here so you light the incense here the fragrance pervades the room so fragrance is one thing and the room is something else and one thing pervades the other is Brahma and pure being like that is there a world and then Brahman enters it like smoke or like fragrance or like light it could be like like it pervades and it's not silly idea it's a profound philosophy but Sankhya saying that some cases there is a material universe pervaded by the light of consciousness it will there'll be at reality is that what Krishna means no how do you know it doesn't mean that he's already said it in the 16th verse only one of them exists the other appears to exist if both of them existed see the incense and the room both exist in our example the light and the room both exist is a duality in Sankhya consciousness and matter both exist independent of each other they interact but here he says one exists other one borrows existence from the other one for from the first one so it is not like that and what is it like it's like that loon lake example I gave you in the lake the trees and the sky and the rocks and the hills they don't exist they appear what exists is only water and water pervade that entire scenery there in the lake snow of all shapes all are pervaded the same water elements golden ornaments of all shapes and sizes and types varieties all are pervaded by the gold waves in the ocean clay in the part classic examples in vedanta clay in the pot all pearl kinds of pottery pottery barn huh Amsterdam Avenue today it's pervaded by clay all are pervade but just how are they pervaded it's not that there is a part and clay walks in there hello mr. part I'm going to pervade you know the part is virtually constituted of the clay through and through the waves are constituted of water through and through icebergs are constituted of of the dead water through and through no matter what the shape or the size or the form ornaments extraordinary variety of forms all pervaded through and through by one substance cold in the same way Brahman that pure existence pervades everything that we experience through and through the nice stuff phrases they use in the Himalayas and among the monks you can appreciate it I'll in Hindi they are very effective I'll tell you in Hindi and translate it into English this pervading everything pervaded by God through and through I'm using the word God is the absolute Brahman pure being the word the phrase they use Tassajara super food it's a it's a very homely phrase vertical means filled up sansa Hajus means packed there's not the slightest space for anything else left there is in Brahman there is not the slightest space for any samsara in the lake where ice all that is there any space for mountains and trees no it's full of water they had departed and given it you can come and trees can come and stay here then sky can be here in the mountain can be enough so it is pervaded in that way pure being pervades our experienced universe in that way now this this phrase by which all is all this is pervaded llena sarvam idam tatam tata means be optimum sanskrit bapto means pervading this comes three times in the bhagavad-gita and in the context is beautiful once it comes here the seventeenth verse of second chapter the other time it comes in the 22nd verse of the eighth chapter its 22nd verse is ferocious upper part bhakti obvious to Anna near your son tetani Buitoni yena sarvam idam tatam yena sarvam idam tatam it says that there is the transcendent being who can be attained only by devotion by one point devotion by love in whom all beings exist by which this entire world is pervaded the anus album Adam Tata who are they talking about they're talking about God do you see the interesting thing in the second chapter who is it talking about he's talking about you you are that pure being because the whole subject was the self Atma and he's using this exactly the same language to talk about God because when he uses the term bhakti by one point devotion whom do you have one I know we have one point to devotion to ourselves especially here in Manhattan I mean mine but one point of devotion is usually meant for God he's using exactly the same way - same language to talk about God and you the real you you are the transcendent being pure existence by which the entire universe is pervaded which constitutes tenth existence of the entire universe one and many many I don't how many months it will take when we come to the eight chapters 22nd verse we are far away there he is talking about God devotional and he says there is such a thing one-pointed surrender and devotion you will realize that reality that transcendent reality para Purusha the transcendent being by which all in which all beings exist and you can understand exactly how all beings exist in that because that is pure being and by which all is pervaded exactly the same verse but how do you attain it by love he says by devotion bhakti again the third time this comes is at the very end of the bhagavad-gita the 46th verse of 18th chapter the last chapter yet appropriate pivot on Y sorry ovum Needham Tatem soccer automata sidam vendetta manova from which has emerged all activity in the universe of all beings by which all this is pervaded same phrase that one worshiping that one by your work by your action you'll attain perfection when you recite this I don't know if people have heard Swami ranganatham ji immediately reminded of him this was one of his favorite verses so Kerman automobile check and see it clearly sitting there erect sharp soccer monatomic betcha sid dim vendetta Madhava by worshipping the lord by one's actions activities one attains to perfection again talking about God there so in three places very beautiful there is another one another place in the ninth chapter fourth verse a similar a similar phrase is used just one word is maya tatam idam sarvam by be all this is pervaded instead of saying by all this is pervaded by me all this is pervaded krishna says much stan is our Babu Thani not so much Thani and he says mastani sarva-bhutanam in ninth chapter yes ninth chapter fourth verse by the way if you are impressed how is he cruising all across the bhagavad-gita I could see that in some of your faces don't be impressed I put in hard work I mean I was studying it today but yes there are people I have personally known people who who are so well versed in this and that it's I am using their work actually so that's why it seems like magic somebody else has put in the hard work maya tatam idam sarvam jagged object martina so you can understand it immediately all this is pervaded by me in my unmanifest invisible form what is the unmanifest invisible form pure being isness much town is arbor bhutan e natural home to show us theta all beings are in me watch the magic here all beings are in me yet I am NOT in them what does it mean imagine somebody mistakes a rope for a snake can you say that snake though mistaken that snake is in actually in the Rope the Rope can say yes it may be mistaken in me but I am NOT in that snake that doesn't exist at all similarly what does it mean it's only this only the rope which exists it's only pure being it's only God it's only absolute which exists it's not that the absolute exists and the world exists and the absolute exists in the world no that's what Krishna is saying that is pure Advaita the next verse after that the tenth verse the fifth verse of ninth chapter it says not your Matsutani bhutani passion a yoga mushroom the two verses together when we come to it eventually many many months later fourth and fifth verses of ninth chapter they establish adwaita Vedanta and Maya what he says is there that I pervade this entire universe in my invisible form unmanifest form as pure being all beings are in me and I am in them and the next he says in truth none of them are in either if flat-out contradicts himself he says his all beings are me the next verse he says they are not in me pasilla me yoga my firm look at the power of my mind which means they are appearing in me can the lake lake loon lake not say i pervade all these trees and plants and mountains and skies in the lake by my power water but in my existence as water all these plants and lakes and mountains and sky is in me yet I am NOT in them and in truth none of them are in me would it not be perfectly right yes exactly like that that's the lake here it means you you the pure being pure awareness entire world of your experience appears in you shines in you disappears in you you pervade it all all right now when I say these things remember my sources are of course the original bhagavad-gita and a variety of commentaries ancient medieval and modern once in a while if something occurs to me I will tell you but I'll flag it so that you know it's not coming from any venerable source it's just coming from this guy so what occurred to me today this is not from any kind of commentary when I was looking at the three plus one four occurrences of this phrase second chapter eight chapter ninth chapter 18 chapter you know what occurred to me notice the eighteen chapter clearly is karma yoga worshiping the Lord by your action you to perfection the whole teaching of Sri Ramakrishna Vivekananda seeing Sheila in all beings worship them with service Shiva Johnny G was ever exactly it follows from that the one in the eighth chapter lobbyist Tupac Tiana Nia but it is attainable by one pointed devotion by love by devotion bhakti yoga then the 9th chapter where he clearly puts out Advaita all beings are me yet I'm not in them and truly speaking not none of these are gonna be the universal actually not in me they're not at the same level Brahman and Maya both are implied there gianni yoga and this one though we have been explaining it in in terms of Advaita following Shankara actually this is what is called Sankhya yoga the chapter name nil chapter ii Sankhya yoga it did the very language here is a sunken language Advaita follows from this no doubt especially in the earlier verse 16 for what you have to interpret it if you take it without interpretation you actually get a kind of Sankhya Sankhya and and yoga there what are called they are sister philosophies in Sanskrit Samana Tantra darshan they are not they are not in conflict Raja yoga is the way of meditation so now you have got the four occurrences of this one verse from which follow Raja yoga in order Raja yoga then bhakti yoga Gianni yoga and karma yoga so just that just sort of seemed to me this has been put in these four ways throughout the book but anyway and he goes on to say and that one practical implication is then are some of the ASCO NACA streetcar temerity of this pure being which is unchanging nobody can destroy it there's nobody nothing can destroy this pure being which means he's talking to Arjuna it does not depend on whether you fight or you do not fight what will happen all these bodies these personalities they will die they will die they are they belong to that category which never really came into existence because they belong to the category of the false the apparent they have borrowed existence they are bound to lose it all those who are worried about whether you you kill them in war or you do not kill them in what no death is certain for all of them none of us can avoid death death of the body is certain and your debt is impossible you cannot die you the real you the spirit dies not the body will die there's absolutely nothing to be worried about there that's what what terrorizes the world death it's the final instrument of Maya which keeps us in terror and he says here this message of hope be clear about this the body will not survive no matter what you what you want to do to it no matter how much gluten free and yoga and the self pure self is never subject to death it really does not depend on what you do that's what he wants to tell Arjuna what else do I want to say about this a couple of points one is by this pure being is pervaded this entire universe by that pure being is pervaded this entire universe now when Brahman pervades everything pure being pervades everything it does so equally all differences are in Maya there is no difference in Brahman in the high and the low in the living and the non-living in male and female in people of different races in human beings and animals alike the same divinity where I can to put it he says and in his inimitable way he says verily the lowest worm is brother to the Nazarene Jesus Christ Avatara Krishna Christ Buddha the highest product we can think of in in our civilization in human humanity unreachable almost divinity in human form and he says the worm is brother to that in what he means is it's same reality everywhere yes manifestation is different there is difference there's tremendous difference but all difference is in manifestation is in Maya in reality there's only one one reality this is the tremendous conclusion of Advaita Vedanta so this is one thing this the oneness of all existence and the sameness in down deep the sameness hence what is that what is the practical implication the practical implication is that when we inhabit this world of difference when you inhabit this world of difference the implication is respect the implication is harmony don't fight don't murder or kill specially in the name of religion you can see shades of my world of world parlimentary to talk here yeah so how many follows from this the sameness of the divinity how can you condemn another person another race another gender because the same divinities there you are you going to condemn God Swami Vivekananda was much was was he never spared the Hindus for their faults you know very interesting how he defended Hinduism staunchly when he was here against all critics but when he went back to India he pointed out the faults of the Hindu society at that time in no uncertain terms he said no religion in the world preaches the glory of the of human nature which means the divinity in such magnificent wonderful terms as Hinduism does but no religion in the world treads on the necks of the on tramples on the necks of the poor and the weak in there in such fashion as Hinduism does which means through caste ISM he pointed out two things one is the oppression of the masses another one neglect of the women this is the two great national sins of India you pointed out did this does not follow from Advaita Vedanta it cannot Vedanta is the most advaitha is the most democratic of all religions in what sense the central idea of democracy is who said that I forget very recently I heard somebody saying it democracy is the central idea the central idea of democracy is that political power lies in each of us equally and central idea of Vedanta is divinity God lies in each of us equally that's why he thought that the United States he loved America for its ideals of freedom and human dignity he felt that this country's most suited for on Twitter not so much India though Indians take it very quickly because they're used to it culturally but India has has a very ancient society stratified layer third layer of hierarchy and tremendous burden of history is there but here he found here is a fresh land with where which values freedom and liberty at of freedom and dignity what he tried to give was a spiritual philosophy for the ideals enshrined in the American Constitution actually anyway that's apart from our our talk today there is one one more thing they wanted to point out before we go further Oh an interesting point again a little bit of Sanskrit grammar here the second line it says venosum abuse here a Sein occur streetcar cut tumor hat if I translate the first line said that indestructible reality by that everything here is pervaded that and remember why he said that because it's not accessible to senses that reality by which this samsara is pervaded that means beyond our senses this means which we can interact with but strangely enough in the second line he says that and he says nobody can destroy this unchanging reality he uses the word hacia of this unchanging reality nobody can accomplish the destruction they are off this is I'm trying to it's clumsy in English if you translate that way but what I want to point out is for Brahmin for that ultimate reality he has used two words the first sentence he says that reality in the second sentence he says this reality pointing out thereby it's not inaccessible it's not beyond our reach it is in fact continuously accessible how is it accessible didn't you just say we can't see it hear it smell it taste it touch it we can't walk to it we can't hold it by our it's not accessible to any of our instruments it's accessible in this way let us say all of this all of you here are accessible what is the proof that I experience you I will say I see you what is the proof that you are here today I will say I saw them so the proof for your existence here is my seeing you seeing proof for existence hold onto this seeing is the proof for existence now what is the proof for the existence of my eyes will you say seeing no I can't see my eyes let me make it even more interesting what is the proof that there was no elephant in the room if there was an elephant I would have seen it I do I didn't see it therefore there is no elephant the proof for the non-existence of the elephant is I did not see it the proof for your existence here today is I saw it so the proof of existence is seeing proof of non-existence not seeing now I cannot see my eyes therefore my eyes do not exist what's wrong with it this rule applies only to objects to objects objects are revealed by your awareness the presence of objects is revealed by your awareness the absence of objects is revealed by your awareness both the presence and absence of objects reveal your awareness they point to the fact that you are consciousness itself it's a very crucial point how do you see God in every experience this is the answer to that in every experience God is being continuously revealed to us let me use two words revealed and manifested the light reveals this book to you here and the book manifests the existence of light you the consciousness you the existence you reveal this world you give this world its existence and this world of appearances manifests your being that you are pure being pure awareness some of you are getting it isn't it beautiful yes right what did I say both the presence of objects and the absence of objects are revealed by your consciousness and both the presence and absence of objects reveal your consciousness how do you say that you are sleeping when you are able to say when you wake up how did you say that you're sleeping because something revealed sleeping to you not at that moment you cannot say because mind is not working senses are not working mind and senses have gone to sleep hence you cannot think I am sleeping you cannot say I am sleeping if you could say that you wouldn't be sleeping you know that funny thing mothers they test the children has the goodbye gone to sleep if he has gone to sleep his right leg will move in the right leg moves little bit and mother her is this pretending the kids he had a hard time to put them to make them sleep they become hyperactive just before bedtime so you cannot express that I am sleeping and yet it's an experience it's an experience of absence it's not the absence of experience deep sleep is not the absence of experience by these words that and this that pure being points out it's not something that you can experience with your senses this pure being points out that it is continuously available to you as your very self which gives existence and consciousness in in it reveals the world and gives existence to the world in Sanskrit the words are very nice satis forty citta means exists at means existence citta means that borrowed existence chit means consciousness fruity means the shining forth sporran in Sanskrit shining forth expression the world is it shines forth yes what someone else when you say someone else there is no someone else there is only one being the moment you say the real I look at the language you used the real eye is a limitless I think about it you can if you get what what we're talking about you can actually check in your own experience is awareness limited where is the end of awareness is it limited in time does it come to an end time flows in awareness is it limited in space I have given the example one monk in Uttarakhand said hey how do you say Swami stop how do you say that I am all-pervading I'm here I'm not even there how can I be all-pervading question I'm here I'm not even there how can I be all-pervading answer was immediate answer was ah but here and there are they both not in your awareness in your dream you are standing here looking at something there here and there in fact the entire universe in your dream was it not in your mind there is no limit to awareness no limit to pure being all limits are in pure being if you say that is it so what how does it relate to my question relates in this way if it live all limits are in pure being then where is the limit between you and another person bodies are limited their different minds are limited consciousness flowing to this mind is the person who is asking the question but that consciousness in itself is the same for everybody or rather in that what did we say in that awareness all beings exist or they do not even exist that awareness alone exists there is no anybody else what you are saying at a practical level yes there is a difference the way you are perceiving this and the way she is perceiving he is pursuing slightly different because you are perceiving it through through this medium of your senses and to the filter of your mind same for each of us but that's at a practical level yes each of us is a difference we put a little layer of on the world that we perceive we do not we really do not have any access to the world outside everything that we perceive is through the medium of our minds and our minds our eyes play around and disappear in awareness awareness and mind are not the same so my answer to you is no you are the answer to your question lies in your very very question does someone else give a different existence to it no there is no someone else in your dream for example you see so many people in so many places and somebody tells you all of this is given in existence by you the Dreaming mind and if you ask all those people are they giving some existence to all these things also all those people are also given existence by your dreaming mind in the dream here not by your mind you are not dreaming all this it is rather in pure being pure consciousness all things appear yeah yes I'm repeat that awareness impacts existence yes right how do you explain that but remember with the way you are using awareness and what is meant here is slightly different the way you are using awareness is awareness channel through our minds what you're saying is this awareness in me the person has made certain things its object certain things that way anis is seeing certain things it's hearing something things it's remembering this is my area of knowledge and beyond this is a vast area of darkness where I don't know and so is it it is true for all of us but this is awareness which is what is called varaha Rica it is channeled through a body and a mind certainly for us there are things we know things we do not know but all of this body's mind senses and vishaya objects they all appear in the ground of reality again very easy to understand if you take your dream world in your dream world you have a world in that you are also there and there that person who is there in the dream that person knows certain things and also has the feeling there are many things in this world which I do not know but they exist even if I do not know but is it true what is true is that all of that exists only or appears only in the dreamers mind from the point of view of the person inside the dream there are things which are known and things are known both known and unknown are appearances in consciousness we have to think like that yes it's tremendous really what he's saying right here itself Addante is already over all right now he goes on in contrast to this what about the bodies our minds these things of the world they all have a beginning and an end so he says 18 twerks krishna says underwent he made and he made a neat just joke Tasha Irina huh me just so sorry Rina no she know premier yes annachi no from me yes the smart you just the smart these bodies of the eternal imperishable immeasurable embodied self are said to have an end therefore fight or descendant of Bharata now what about this life this first of all this particular body this particular manifestation in awareness it has a beginning it has grown it as it will age it will pass away do not worry about it as long as it exists take care of it use it act in this world very interesting what follows from all this - asif it does Matthew dosa again and again and again Krishna he has a motive in all of this to engage Arjuna in the Mahabharata war but what follows from what seems to be a very abstract philosophy is a philosophy of action it enables you to act properly in this world without attachment without ambition greed without fear and terror it enables you to act with serenity in this world to do the best you can through that particular body and mind the smart you justified the Battle of life o Partha out o descendant of the Bharata unter one time a day these bodies are with beginnings and ends with which means with beginning and end and they are appearances of what Natisha of the eternal reality which you are and that eternal reality seems to possess a body now it's called sure eerie the embodied embody does not mean there is a body and then you are filled into the body a poured into the body somehow no it means just that I accept this body as as mine in Hindi this is sweet crit imatra you just said this is mine when one begins to see this if you put some attention to it you will begin to see it is nothing more than an identification that it is mine that's all that I say it's really there is no connection between you and the body imagine where we have gone from from I am the body and nothing else - now we are saying there's nothing to be there's no connection between you and the body Mitscher Irina the embodied embodied means the one who claims that this body is mine sure eerie I remember Swami Rama Krishna and the Hashima Raj he was in Chennai at that time and sister daivam at an American lady an American nun she had gone to India - she stayed for some time met many of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna including Shashi Mars Swami Rama Krishna and eg one day she writes in a reminiscence his days in an Indian monastery she writes in a reminiscences that the Swami was talking about the difficulties he had faced in setting up that and hardships tremendous hardships he had faced for example I remember many such stories poverty extreme poverty and one day there is nothing to offer to the two Sri Ramakrishna you know there is a ritualistic offering every day Bogg is offered so nobody had bought anything no offerings from devotees fruits or sweets something that can be offered and swami rama krishna and the who had won that's why his name was ramakrishna and the one whose bliss is in ramakrishna and one pointed devotion to sri ramakrishna he goes to Sri Ramakrishna in a huff and he says alright if nothing comes today I shall go to the beach in Madras under and I will make little like coconut balls I'll make little balls of sand and I'll come and offer that to you today as as the offered food and I will eat that and live today as he said this somebody little while later somebody turned up at the monastery a devotee with lot of delicious foods and everything so see Rama Krishna he can be threatened yes immediately all sorts of nice food came up and turned up anyway so he told many stories and how he had struggled he was a powerful figure but apparently and his talks with we're not very you know very entertaining let's put it this way it was a very serious man Ram Krishna energy so sometimes his talks were very poorly attended but whatever if even one person turned up he would go and give the talk he would go to different parts of Chennai and gave the talk he'd go in a rickshaw sometimes and give the talk there he wouldn't touch money he would ask people gave money so he would ask them then to tie it on his dhoti donations for the monastery and it so happened one day interracial rain and that place is flooded he invades through knee-deep water dirty water in the sewers there to go to the place we just to give a talk and goes there because just to give a talk that nobody has turned up he sits there gives the talk and comes back so he says I'm not doing it for a person I'm offering it to the Lord the Lord is always present it is seriously meant it and so on so many many experiences he tells and sister Dave Mata writes that I was indignant why should a person like Swami Rama Krishna under this saintly person why did he have to suffer so much I felt so bad so I said to invite Swami why did you have to suffer so much and then she writes he looked startled and surprised and he said what are you saying my real life is infinite let the Lord play with this little life as he will Nakia of the eternal this little life born yesterday to wait it to die tomorrow what is it to you give it to the Lord and let the Lord play with it as even so that is what he says it just your Tosha Irina and their and thus act don't sit idly act do what is in front of you annachi no cannot be destroyed APRA me alright let me explain this important point a premiere means not an object to the pramanas that means the instruments of knowledge how do we know something by seeing hearing smelling tasting touching by inferring through science by you know through logic inference by testimony from others we know in a various ways in in various sources of knowledge are there for us however all you know whatever you know you can know through google today so all of these are called pramana which gives you knowledge and this ultimate reality uh premiere it's not an object for any of these pramanas you can read about it in a book even Google can tell you about it you can tell you lots about Vedanta but it really will not give you enlightenment you cannot grasp it directly to any of this just the way you can see it with your eyes you can touch it with your hand you can see I know it in that way you cannot know Brahman so it is called a premier not an object to these sources of knowledge sources of knowledge protection that means direct perception then anumana inference and then shooty that means that that is scripture testimony instructions from trustworthy sources shabda pramana is this and there are secondary pramanas also I mean they're technically there's something called supposition like art uppity there is a new pallab the absence itself is a pramana will not go into a lot of technicalities the whole system the whole thing is called epistemology the science of knowledge it's a branch of flowers are very big branch of philosophy but the point here is all these sources epistemic sources pramanas do not operate on brahman so this leads to a problem the problem is all this you are saying what is the proof again the same thing proof that this book exists I see it and touch it all of us see it so it exists what is the proof that dispiay or consciousness exists what is the proof I was talking to a philosopher recently NYU and he said what is the proof but you're saying that it exists such a thing a premiere you know what is the proof the answer is there in that example of the eye is seeing what is the proof you know what a nut waiting will say he'll say all the sources of proof the methods methods of knowledge pramanas they all operate because of it that consciousness is the one which powers which lights up all the pramanas how do you see do the eyes see no it is consciousness which sees through the mind and the eyes do the ears here no it is consciousness which hears being channelled through the mind and the ears do does the intellect do science no it is consciousness channel through the intellect which which does science it is consciousness in consciousness and through consciousness everything is happening so this is the answer that Advaita Vedanta gives oh it is not an object to pramanas but all pramanas this script phrases from our server pramana premiere of Ihara all activities epistemic activities are grounded in consciousness you might say so this is what this leads to the hard problem of consciousness one of my favorite subjects yeah as a camera there's a camera there the camera it's recording is it seeing in a way you can say it's seeing it can record that if it's connected to computers and devices it can even react to things happening but does it have a first-person experience of seeing inside is there something which is seeing can the first-person XP like you are seeing colors you're hearing sound is that thing going on in the camera it's recording light and sound no not even the most ambitious Sony executive will claim our cameras are conscious No so what is that behind all epistemic axis is consciousness it is not an object to sources of knowledge but it is that which powers all sources of knowledge therefore I'll leave you with this thought in all knowledge it is available just as eyes are available in all seeing though they are not something you see mind is there in all thinking similarly consciousness is there in all experience our attention is it flows through the objects of experience but if you know this knowledge is there with you you can know that consciousness within quartz know you can know it by being it Brahma Veda Brahm haver Parvati the knower of Brahman is none other than ram it yes so two questions this lady first and then I'll go to you yeah let's call it pure being awareness pure being awareness I will modify it that's right I'll modify it in this way she asked is the continuity in our experience due to pure being sick let's call it being awareness such chit existence consciousness the continuity's and the perceived discontinuities are all due to that pure being there are perceived discontinuities deep sleep anesthesia discontinuities amnesia memory failure very boring the Dante class the class went up in a twinkling of an eye what happened mind was elsewhere so but that is also revealed by the same continuous awareness yes question yes that will come in the 13 chapter very powerful statement shape the gam-cho up imam with the serve Akshay Trisha beretta I am the consciousness in all bodies and minds literally I am the knower of the field in all fields this relates directly to your question the gentleman here who asked the question other people because we see I am the knower of this field this body is a field in this I am there as the nor Krishna says how many nodes are there is there is only one nor apparently there are many nodes with respect to bodies and minds many many nodes with respect to consciousness behind the body mind one consciousness that is what is called God in Vedanta I am the consciousness I am the knower of the field in all V God is therefore available to us in every experience inside yourself as yourself but as your real self capitalists there was another question that yes that's the last question yeah true we don't know in fact the only thing that you know for sure is that you see you don't even know that we see how do you know how do you know because you don't have access to our first-person experiences we could all be zombies for all you know yes Halloween just passed yes yes the camera yes yes correct the difference between living and non-living so this is a issue which is easily resolved how does weighed on to distinguish between living beings and non living beings from Vedantic perspective there is only one existence consciousness and all things are names and forms but among these names and forms there are living names and forms like us we call them living beings and there are non living names and forms like tables chairs and the camera how do you distinguish between them Vedanta says the word is right there living in Sanskrit piranha piranha means it's a part of what is called a subtle body right now we have two bodies one is a physical body and one is a subtle body see what proof again Vedanta always go to your experience you have a dual experience you experience a physical body which is public others can see it your doctor can examine it but you have an inner experience thoughts feelings emotions right you seem doubtful thoughts feelings emotions ideas memories questions all of those are there your doctor cannot see it your doctor can only go up to the brain in our experience you have got that inner experience is where is happening in what is called the subtle body sukshma sharir which constitutes constitutes of which is constituted of the pranamaya kosha monomeric ocean big animal coercion 3 there is a causal body beyond that which will not bother with that so these three are called this subtle body now the distinction between living beings and non living beings is living beings have the subtle body which has prana which is life mind and intellect and emotions ideas and memories the whole person is there that is called the Jeeva tapa and beyond that is of course causal body and then consciousness so existence consciousness is there in that camera also but what happens is because there is no subtle body there the only the existence aspect is manifest as a theme but there is no person in there because there is no subtle body in there that's how we distinguish you'll say why is there not a subtle body there we can't see if there was a certain body it would be a person this is an important question because in these days where AI is being seriously discussed so I have had actually people working with AI in some of the most advanced labs in this country in a couple of questions quite a couple of times I've been asked this question can this AI they are talking about a particular project which is still yeah can it become conscious in the sense you are talking about so they have many theories about that from a vedantic perspective if you can design a subtle body if you can generate a subtle body it'll become conscious because existence consciousness is always there existence is manifest this is this is but there is no inner awareness there there's an inner awareness here because consciousness is also borrowed see it happens this way physical bar body borrows sucked being subtle body borrows being and awareness existence consciousness this is called Chi dabas reflected consciousness again your experience you not only have thoughts but those hearts shine in consciousness if we note here onyx inner experience that consciousness which you're feeling now that is not pure consciousness that's the consciousness associated with a thought shining in a thought that's called reflected or in sanskrit pilita Jadhav has a shadow of consciousness or reflection of consciousness it's like the sun's light being reflected from the moon the moon appears luminous for all practical purposes shines gives light and all of that but it's not luminous its borrowing light from the Sun the mind in itself it borrows existence and consciousness from the Atman the body borrows only existence it cannot because it does not have the capacity to borrow consciousness so this is the distinction again if you say what how what Guerra but gives you the right to make this distinction I say look at your experience science cannot explain this I just leave you with and I can't resist this obviously I've heard of the hard problem of consciousness I've been repeating it again and again science has a problem a neuroscience that you go up to the brain but after that how it has a first-person experience you can't talk about it they have a huge debate going on and New York NY you all of this is at the nerve center of that debate I mentioned that last week week before last there was actually a workshop a colloquium where some of the top philosophers were present and Advaita Vedanta perspective on the heart consciousness of problem that was hard hard problem of consciousness was discussed so it's come to that level now but on the other hand philosopher Galanter Strawson from UT Austin University of Texas Austin he says forget the hard problem of consciousness there is no hard problem of consciousness there's the hard problem of matter what he says is is very adroit ik he's not saying it in a reductionist materialist way he's just saying the opposite he says consciousness we know what it is you're all conscious we know we are conscious matter appears to us in consciousness and we investigate it which science common sense science whatever and as we investigate it with science it disappears before our eyes the more we have investigated matter it seems to be only structure nama Rupa where is the substance it keeps disappearing what is matter how matter we makes distinction science tells us a lot about what how matter behaves it is continuously failing to tell us what matter is what is the thing there the moment to investigate the thing it breaks up into smaller and smaller and smaller particles atoms to subatomic particles to nucleus two protons and neutrons to quarks to super strings goes further than the unimaginably receding further and further back what are you getting Jim Holt said in his book why does the world exist we are getting only name we are getting only structure structure in my eyes name and form more science investigates matter all you keep getting his name and form substance disappears the most clearly you investigated the more it fades away so he says Garin Strawson says he calls it the hard problem of matter you you forget consciousness consciousness everybody knows consciousness because we are conscious and he says we don't know what matter is the more science it advantages just shown us we have absolutely no idea what matter is if you put the hard problem of consciousness and he brought the hard problem of matter together you get a greater weight on till you get tuck thomassie on that we will end shantih shantih shantih hurry he sat sri ramakrishna reporter must