Video 8

8. Bhagavad Gita I Chapter 2 Verses 20-22 I Swami Sarvapriyananda

Oh Vasudeva suitum daivam comes a charnel Dahmer Dunham dave aqui para maana and krishna monday an announcement i see that many of you i think all over all of you taking off your shoes you know that it's not necessary so if you I know some feel uncomfortable if they don't take off their shoes but if you are comfortable with it then you can come in with shoes just accept this prayer area you can sit there with shoes also that's all right so we are studying the second chapter of the bhagavad-gita where Shri Krishna is giving the central teaching about the Atman about the self what we really are this is maybe this one thing that you can take away from the bhagavad-gita it would be this one the teaching about the Atman that we are this immortal spiritual being that old saying we think we are human beings in search of spiritual experience but the truth is that we are spiritual beings having a human experience so what have we learned so far Shri Krishna has said verse 11 12 13 that the Atman is immortal not subject to birth and death one very big teaching the body dies the Atman you the self Atman does not die then the sixteenth verse even more stunning the Atman alone is real the world of appearances this world is a world of appearances including the body and even the mind they are not independent realities I will not explain we have gone through it in the not being independent realities their reality depending on the Atman this dependent reality another term for that is falsity or Matata so that was that's what we saw in the sixteenth verse the Atman is not only eternal it is the only reality and the non Atman did non self body mind and the rest of the world they are appearances in the Atman then 17:17 twerks we saw Atman is if it's the only reality then whatever you experience must be the Atman so it is all pervading the word used was server madam Tatem everything that you experience is pervaded by the Atman contrary to what we normally think Atman means the self come on in the Atman means the self but we normally think that there is something which is the non-self that is other than me here we are taught that whatever you regard as other than you is in a deep sense nothing but you so the Atman pervades everything the self pervades the not self that's the third thing we learnt that was in verse number 17 another these are all each of them can take several lectures to you know to probe the word assimilating and they are all counterintuitive the eighteenth verse tells us the Atman is not an object it's not an object a premier premier means not an object of knowledge it's not something that you see hear smell taste touch it's not something that you inferred it's not something that is an object of scientific enquiry or religious belief rather it is the pure subject it is not the object of knowledge rather it's a subject it is not something that is known rather it is the knower no or yes and which has many ramifications when you look at it that way then it first of all it points out clearly what the Atman is or where it is where it means within codes and why we cannot see it as an object then then the next verse nineteen twelve and is not an inn not a doer of actions nor is it the experiencer of the results of actions in sanskrit occur table hook that's not the kurta the doer agent of action bhakta means the experiencer of the results of actions so the Atman in itself is free of the law of karma free of Karma cause and effect it's beyond causality so these are all extraordinary claims and all counterintuitive is it's very it's natural for us to think that I have been born and I shall die it seems to be the fundamental truth and the first thing Krishna said that no you're not born nor shall you die you are immortal then the next thing which seems common to us is that here is earlier I don't know what I am but the world here is very real just the opposite you are the reality and the world is your appearance again counterintuitive I think intuitively I think I am here small a tiny part in event a tiny speck in a vast universe so limited in space tiny just here so limited in time born and dying neither limited in time not limited in space counterintuitive that you are the vast you are unlimited all-pervading and then again when it says that you are not an object of knowledge we have almost instinctive urge to objectify very understandable because everything that we have known in our lives and anybody has known in the life that there has been an object of knowledge either something that you have seen or heard or smelt or taste or touch or it's something that you have start off remembered conceived speculated about proved believed they're all objects to consciousness when you get what they're talking about it's direct it's it's very intuitive it it's it's very very blindingly obvious but until that time we tend to keep keep making this mistake whatever we are taught we think it's some object which you are talking about and in fact I mentioned that once we begin to understand it's not an object our reaction is it doesn't exist then because everything that we have experience is existing is an object so we go into nihilism or emptiness junetta no the Atman does exist it is you and it's not an object it's not an object we look at our language even the word it is an object word it it's that then the next one occur table hook the what could be more natural than thinking of yourself as the doer of actions and we think of ourselves as I enjoy I suffer I am the enjoyer and the sufferer and he says no no you are not the doer nor are you the enjoyer or the sufferer then next 20th words so please chant up to me Naja yo te reo deva katta cheat Nadja yo team Rio de Vaca dodge it now um who trivita wanna booyah now iam butoh habitable Naboo Oh Joe Natasha vato Emperor no a Joe Natasha wat Oh Emperor no na hanyate hanyamane sarire a na hanyate hanyamane sarire so the self Atman remember whenever you were talking about the self it means you you might because the mind is very tricky um I might end up saying yes I understand myself is wonderful but I have some problems self means you it the self is not born and it does not die at any time it does not again come into existence by being born it the self is worthless constant eternal and ancient it is not slain with the body is clean so it is the meaning of the verse as we go a little deeper into this it becomes very interesting before I forget let me tell you that I was studying my copy of the Shankara Pasha the commentary by Shankar Acharya so I found a note there in my handwriting so I don't know where I got it from it's not Shankara said that it says you see in philosophy at least in Indian philosophy Pune octi is a dosha Pune octi means the repetition if you say the same thing over and over again it's considered a fault it should not repeat something now here it seems to be a clear case of repetition it's not born it does not die one he says the same thing it's not that it was existing and he died and then again came into existence that means damn being born and dying then again it says it is not born a job unborn it is eternal does not die it is not killed and when the body dies it does not die so he seems to be a case of three times repetition once it is said neither born not dying second again and third again so the note which I found it said that it's not actually a case of repetition it is protego hey - mana what does it mean in logic Indian logic the way an argument is framed the way an argument is framed is in a syllogism okay now have to explain what a syllogism ish those who are stood in students of logic or philosophy you know that so the classic one in aristotle and logic when you say all men are mortal the classic example Socrates is a man therefore Socrates is mortal so three statements the two are given to you and third one you derive from it the first two are all men are mortal second one Socrates is a man and therefore what do you derive from this Socrates must be mottled so this is called a syllogism the form of the argument the different forms of argument now this very thing in Indian philosophy kneei a logic this very thing is done in not in three parts two premise major premise minor premise and the conclusion one two three Socrates all men are mortal Socrates is a man and Socrates is mortal but in five parts so in the ayah philosophy in India the syllogism has five parts the the first one is called pratigya pratigya means that which is to be proved let me give an example it'll make things clear the classic example those have studied Indian philosophy knew you know that the classic example is there is fire on the hill because there is smoke so you can see smoke you don't see the fire you see the smoke it's not a hill here supposes there's a fire on on on a skyscraper and the fire department you know it clanging and the sirens blaring the fire department fire trucks go rushing by they haven't seen the fire yet but they see the smoke now by seeing as you're seeing smoke that is direct perception and you are inferring inferring fire you know there is fire how do you know did you see it no what did you see smoke and you know that there is a connection between smoke and fire with putting these two together the seeing the smoke and the knowledge of smoke and fire go together you you infer that there is fire and then you go out to put it so the classic example in Indian class of is pervert oh one ñamandu' Mart there is fire on the hill because there is smoke because I see smoke so the first sentence is what do you want to prove I want to prove that there is fire on the hill that is called the first and that is called hey - I that's called petechiae the thing to be proved then the second sentence is called hey - the second sentence is Hey - Hey - means cause cause what is the cause do math because of seeing fire because there is smoke and why is this a cause it says yet traitor Electra one knee he taught rest at home aha wherever there is fire there is no wherever there is smoke there is fire yet 300 Huma that Reza Trapani wherever there is smoke there must be fire so this is called the up t way up t is a Sanskrit word if you translate it into English it becomes even more complicated it means invariable concomitant literally it means two things go together so if you see one you are sure of the other if you see smoke you're sure of the fire not the other way around there may be fire without smoke so they get the example of today you might have a heater for example which is hot but there's no smoke there but there's smoke there is fire and then peculiar to Indian Indian logic you have to give an example they have to you have to say where did you see this what what is the what is an agreed-upon example so they will say yeah Tama Hana say as we saw in the kitchen there's ma fire and smoke together so this this sentence is called sudah Hana how many have we got so far predicting to be proved 2nd hey to the cause third one example Hana and there's a fourth one which is which need not concern us too much it's just a matching it just says as that case fire and smoke in the kitchen so also this case fire and smoke on the hill it must be a similar case otherwise you can't apply that's the fourth sentence there's a technical term for that and the last sentence why I'm saying this is the conclusion mana the last sentence is simply a restatement of the first sentence like in geometry proofs you do therefore and QED so therefore there is fire on the hill nigamananda commando means conclusion the conclusion is just the restatement of the thing to be proved the first sentence now you have five sentences first one thing to be proved second one the reason they're off third one example fourth one matching the cases and fifth one is restating the thing to be proved which is conclusion now three of these are found here first one particular thing to be proved second one the reason and third one the conclusion so all of this reason I am giving this little lesson in Indian logic is I just found this little noted I don't know when I wrote it maybe years back or decades back it just says it just says one pratigya first-quarter pratigya second-quarter hey to third quarter mana hence no repetition that's what it says so actually the three thrice it has been repeated same thing has been said neither born nor dies again neither born nor death and again unborn undying but the first one is what they want to say second one is the reason therefore thereof and therefore conclusion thereof so that way all of it entirely useless just that I just found it so I thought it was interesting to share they had a lot of time on their hands I think all right so what does it say first it says the Atman is not born nor does it die we have already seen this and then it says it's not as if having existed at some time then you died and then you're reborn again this is what is called ordinarily you know coming into being going out of existence and again coming back into being this is not true of the Atman of you as pure consciousness and then a series of adjectives is used ah-ha-ha-ha jaha means the unborn one so because it does not it is not born the Atman is not born with the birth of the body in the body is born it's not that you are pond you existed before the coming into being of the body so therefore you are your name is the at man's name is a jaha jaha means the unborn one normally when we use the word unborn in English it means somebody isn't doesn't exist was never born but here it means somebody who exists all the time not it does not come into existence by birth so the body is born but you are not born along with it you existed the next word used is nithya ha the unchanging or eternal it means here in this case with the death of the body you do not die with the death of the body you do not die Shosh what AHA eternally unchanging literally means undecaying purana the word piranha in sanskrit it means put up in other though in she ain't ever fresh and then it says again na hanyate hanyamane sarire is not destroyed by the destruction of the body what's going on here is the sanskrit lexicographer you know what that is dictionary those who compiled lists of words the Sanskrit lexicographer Aska who lived I think more than two thousand years ago so he's compiled one of the first dictionaries of the world and he is well known for compiling this set of six changes he says worldly things especially our body it undergoes six-fold changes in Sanskrit shut with the vicara six for changes what are these exchanges change number one birth jayati but change two is a bit peculiar having been born it comes into existence if you think about it it sounds a strange way of putting it but actually if you think about it it is quite correct that which was not there is now there so that's a change right so it's called asti jaya T born as T comes into existence word that a grows grows so a baby a kid a little boy or girl a teenager and grows then the fourth one is V Purina madam matures and keeps on changing in middle age reaches a plateau of development and then approxiately degenerates ages it's 40 so goes downhill degenerate both body starts decaying and then finally machete dies destroyed so these are the six four changes according to you skir the ancient lexicographer six four changes you would expect of a body now what has happened here is if you look carefully these terms are used to deny those six changes of UD Atman so by saying a jaha unborn it denies that in a denies the first change but and then Nakia it denies the the last change death McTeer means eternal does not die so denies the last change death then shush whatta the undecaying it denies the fifth change decay puranam ever fresh it does not become it does not grow as such it is eternally fresh so purana means it denies the third change that is what that grows so and it already said and in between change that it matures and remains at a steady state for sometime the last one na hanyate hanyamane sarire a here a little bit of magic is done with grammar Shankaracharya the commentator he says the verb Hania tahan can also represents change so it means it's a denial of the the fourth change that is the plateau it reaches a certain vapor in Amethi reaches a certain level of development and remains there for some time and the second one that not having existed comes into existence not being there comes into existence that has already been denied by the third quarter that it was not that it was not there and came into existence by birth so my point is what this verse is doing though it looks like repetition what is versus doing it denies the six fold changes coming to the body it denies those six four changes of the admin yes oh okay in Advaita Vedanta no difference admin literally means the self you and Brahman if you look at the derivation literally the word bringeth at the root means the vast it means the vast now why use two words if they mean the same thing the reason is when you look into yourself the reality that you discover I am what I am really which is what we are talking about that is called admin admin literally means self the essence and if you investigate this universe the reality that you discover the reality of the vast is called brahman and the conclusion of a trait of a dante's both of them are the same thing Atman is ramen if you want to know Advaita Vedanta in one sentence it's that Atman is Brahman the great maha vaakya is the profound sentences taught to him I see that thou art that thou art means that Brahman thou the Atman you are that a humdrum has me I am Brahman even more direct I the atman and brahman pranam brahma this very awareness which you have correctly understood and appreciated is none other than the ultimate reality brahman this awareness means we you what you find yourself inside what we find look when we look inside what we find ourselves to be the Atman that is actually Brahman and another line from the mandu Kia I am Atma Brahma again more direct very direct this very self is the ultimate reality Brahman so atman and brahman are the same reality this is the central teaching of the of non-dual Vedanta and if this is appreciated understood and realized it's enough to set you free spiritual freedom moksha nirvana whatever you call it this realization is enough why would this set us free from limitation suffering death I'll give you a pointer you can mull over it and see what what it means to you that we are sentient beings we are awareness there's no there's no doubt about it right nobody has any doubt that that you are a thinking feeling knowing aware being are you with me yeah this is most important but if you don't take this first step next will not make any sense I need to know that you are we're on the same page or you look confused what are you talking about are you aware and I mean aware in a very general sense are you thinking feeling desiring hating loving being are you aware is there consciousness there yes one to the problem the human problem put in its most general and fundamental form is this consciousness which we find ourselves to be is a very limited consciousness by limitation I mean we are subject to death we're subject to old age we're subject to disappointment we are subject to desiring without fulfillment we have any number of limitations this is the problem point number 2 point 1 I am consciousness point 2 it's a very limited dissapointing consciousness are you with me so far would you agree with me that this is one way of stating the human problem hmm no it's like what is he talking about my problem is the traffic on the way back from and I'm worried about Lincoln Tunnel that is limitation that is limitation that's what I'm talking about any practical problem in your life that's limitation so that's the second thing what solution add right away dan to provide series when you say Atman is Brahman you know what they are trying to say this very consciousness that we know ourselves to be you know yourself to be this is unlimited consciousness this consciousness is not subject to the limitations we think it is subject to and to educate us into our the nature the real nature of ourselves that's what adds weight away wrong tastes wing I'll repeat three points freedom and enlightenment in three points one is we are conscious beings we are conscious second it's a very limited dissapointing consciousness third we are wrong it's not a limited dissapointing consciousness it's actually infinite unlimited consciousness there is no problem at all that's what are the way the vedanta wants to show us that's the meaning of Atman is brahman you don't seem convinced then you have to keep coming to the class that's what krishna is telling arjuna continuously all these things what did he say you the conscious being arjuna you don't die first thing he said you are the only reality the entire universe is an appearance in you second thing Atma satyam jagat mithya third thing you pervade everything that you experience you are not a tiny spark of Chinese Park of consciousness in a vast uncaring universe rather the entire universe that you experience is with the nude expenses even in the language that I'm using if you notice carefully entire universe which you experience you pervade it all you are the vast you are not tiny number four what was number four the Atman is it's not an object it's not an object a premiere it's not an object of knowledge and that has many ramifications and so on it's not a doer not an accessor Fuhrer and now it is saying this twentieth verse is saying the Atman is not subject to the 6 fold changes which the body is subject to that's what it just said if somebody said I mean you're too polite to say it but somebody might object that these adjectives you are just fitting them into the six for changes that you charge what how do you know that it is denying the second change of the third change something like that well you take your complaints to Shankar Acharya I've got the interpretation from Shankar's commentary on the bhagavad-gita all right having said this 21st verse we Davi no Sheen Omni Geum Madhavi Nishino neaten uranium uranium Katims Purusha part Gotham cell Purusha part come God yo T hunty come come yo T hunty come whom o Partha can that person who knows the self Atman to be imperishable constant worthless and immutable slay our cause to be slain and how so this is the verse remember the language of slaying and cause to be slings because the context is the battlefield it basically means action how can this pure unchanging consciousness be a doer of actions how can it be an agent of action that's what he's asking it starts with a word Veda no this very important what is the method of Advaita Vedanta what are we supposed to do whether here means to know to realize the whole point of spirituality according to Vedanta is to realize realize the teaching as against what are you supposed to believe are you supposed to meditate or pray or go on pilgrimages or subscribe to a particular faith or church he did what we normally associate with religion what we dontoh says is all of those may be full and helpful but that's not the point the point is use all of that to realize this truth as Swami Vivekananda said each soul is potentially divine and the goal is to manifest this divinity already within us do it by meditation do it by service do it by love do it by knowledge in fact he said do it by philosophy do it by philosophy by one not more or all of these and be free so that is the purpose of religion and then he goes on to say books temples doctrines and churches are secondary details so this realization which sets you free this is this is the whole purpose of Vedanta and I dare say of all spirituality everywhere Bible says know the truth and the truth shall set you free basically this thing realization notice I am making a slight distinction between knowledge and realization it's not just knowing it because you can claim now I know it now I know it attended the class I read the book I even memorized the verse yeah I downloaded the talk so now I know it I spent countless hours on YouTube so now I know it so am I free am i enlightened know what remains is this knowing while important has to be deepened into realization which is first-person experience I must be honestly able to claim not that the Atman is immortal Atman is real the Atman is all-pervading no I am immortal I am the reality of which the universe is an appearance I must be honestly able to claim this to see this not claim it is just as a slogan but actually to see it so there the knowledge has been assimilated into realization Swami Vivekananda's says you know tell yourself again and again that I am that I am that Atman till that this thing it tingles with every drop of your blood until it becomes a living reality it's not brainwashing it is something that you have understood it must be converted into a living reality just as we without any doubt think that we are bodies right now at that time we without any doubt we will see ourselves as an unlimited immortal consciousness the spirit not the body so that is realization and that can be done the Vedanta process is Shravana monana needed the asana you listen to this study it step1 step2 think it through every possible doubt yet one has to stay with it for some time and see what doubts come up I have seen within long-standing students questions begin to crop up the answers to which has been given of every other class we give the answers actually but it strike the question first comes after a long time then only the answer makes sense that is the process of mononym in fact there's a deeper process of mononym that is the reflection when you try to live your life according to what you have studied where you try to live your life according to what you have studied in that process they'll be struggle and in that struggle that is basically spiritual practice things fall into place when you stay with that insight this is called the third stage meditation needed the asana that leads to the moment of awakening where you see it is so it has always been so that I am this unlimited consciousness so this all this is meant by the word Veda realized there yourself as this it's already there you are already this you have hypnotized yourself into bill we have hypnotized ourselves into believing that we are these little bodies that he cages of flesh and bone swami vivekananda again and again he would say if only you knew yourselves as you are as you really are what would happen if that happened if in yourselves as we really are all our problems would be solved not that at the physical level at the practical level if you become enlightened would it solve the problem of getting a ticket on your car you in the wrong parking no you'd still have to pay the ticket but the deepest problem this problem of very human existence that is solved you know yourself as beyond all problems waita you realize yourself as what again a series of adjectives is given Avinashi naam indestructible nityam eternal rajim unborn up GIM undecaying you see again those changes are negated here if you are Avinashi you are not subject to death if you are knit here here it means undecaying you're not subject to the fifth modification old age and decay if you are Adam unborn clearly you're not subject to the modification called birth obviou you are not subject to the modification called growth or development you are one unchanging such separation such a consciousness how can such a consciousness engage in action or reap the results of action it leads to the question then who engages in action it is this consciousness alone there's nobody else who engages in action it's this consciousness alone forgetting its true nature identifying with body and mind becomes the Jeeva the sentient being who engages in action and suffers the results of action are you all right so far yes right so he will keep he'll come back to the same conclusion again so if you're not the doer the action will continue at the level of body and mind everything will continue as the world continued it's not that when what you have to realize is even though acting through body and mind you are truly the untouched non acting consciousness right that is what has to be realized he is not telling you this word Arjuna wanted to do you know he wanted to give up all this and go over to the mountains and meditate and be a mendicant a beggar he says no that's not the way that is also being trapped in action he will tell later on giving up action is not attaining to the state of the non-doing consciousness the non doing consciousness is always there even in the midst of intense action the most intense action can go on and you realize you are not you are the consciousness which does not do anything many examples can be there imagine a screen on which a movie is being played in the movie intense action is going on it could be an adventure or something like that you know there could be storms or a fire or something tremendous action is going on yet from the point of view of the screen nothing is happening another example imagine your dreams and recall your dreams imagine a dream which was a really happening kind of dream lots of things happened yet you can claim with absolute honesty when you wake up what can you claim nothing happened nothing really happened because that was not actually from the point of view of the Waker none of those things happen in the dream it did happen but when you wake up from out of it you realize it didn't happen analog Ashley can you imagine yourself to be that light in which all of these things appear work out play out and disappear back again from the point of view of the lights nothing has happened yeah - Brahman it does not matter from the problem from Brahmins point of view from the point of view of pure being it really does not matter it matters from society's point of view it matters at this level you know all these non dual teachings they talk about two truths an absolute truth and an apparent truth apparent with our transactional truth so for example right now we are sitting here and and studying Vedanta what level is this zapper in truth transactional truth it's called wave AHA Rica transactional truth and at the level of transactional truth all of it works there is causality there is karma there is good there is evil there are things to be done things can get better things can get worse and the solution proposed by advaita vedanta is identify yourself with the absolute and act in the relative you cannot not act in the relative what will you do with this body and mind even when you realize that you are Brahman what will you do right now what you are doing is I do not know myself as that infinite awareness I know myself as a very limited conscious being and I'm trying to do the best I can this is our life right now what they are proposing is if you investigate we will show you how you are that unlimited awareness not affected by birth and death not affected by the vicissitudes of life and yet you are in the midst of life but that's a very enjoyable position and be able position also when you know you are perfectly safe then you can play the game to the hilt in fact then an ethical moral life becomes possible what have you got to be afraid of what can tempt you what can what can scare you nothing the consequences of that you are asking about why should one act then the consequences of that one good way of understanding is if you look at people you consider to be enlightened what did they do with their lives and you'll get a wide arrange array of answers if you look at Raman mercy he sat in a cave though he his very presence was a blessing there have been enlightened people whom nobody is known about they have disappeared from society without people knowing about them on the other hand they have been enlightened people who led lives of tremendous activity and whose blessings we are counting now the great teachers of religion the great leaders of social reform many of them with spiritual masters and they readily sacrifice their lives because they found something that was eternal for them it did not matter this little life they found an oneness with everything so our suffering became their suffering and they wanted to help us out of it therefore he says therefore fight therefore do your duty knowing the reality of yourself to be this now do you do thou your duty in Arjuna's case it was fighting the good fight in our case we have our little battlefields each of us does that address your question ya realize yourself to be this Center yourself in this realization then act you say why act at the level of the body mind what else can you do yes yes moral ethical life to the to the best best level that is possible yes that's perfectly all right yes right true and this is our this is your speaking so this is our experience you would feel that this is how it's going to be at the beginning it may seem to be like that but very soon you will see it is not so because somewhere deep inside is a feeling that I am this being and I'm trying to get hold of a theoretical absolute so I keep slipping back into what I am very soon it will change into I am the absolute I keep slipping back into habitual patterns of activity habitual thought patterns very soon you will see all our slipping our mistakes are because of past conditioning it will be a very interesting but a very difficult phase where what will happen is you are clear about this that I am the unchanging consciousness is no longer theory you see this is this has to be the truth and yet in life there is a struggle and the struggle you will see is not because somehow I become the body mind no you will see at even when I think I am the body mind and act accordingly even then I am not the body mind but I am acting due to strong past conditioning that deconditioning process takes time but before that what Vedanta says is that breakthrough is essential what we dont't rise to do is the break through see there are two ways to it one is the way of conventional the way the conventional spiritual way is a lot of spiritual practice yes you are the body mind you are this person not try to be an unselfish person try to be a truthful person try to be a disciplined person try to meditate twice a day pray thrice a day or whatever have devotion do good to others so all these spiritual practices they continue as what what are you I am this person what are these spiritual practice is doing from the point of view of Ananta they are preparing you for this insight but the time will come when through these conventional spiritual practices one makes a breakthrough and you have that insight clearly suddenly there is a shift and the reference of the eye when I say eye it refers to body mind it changes it refers to that witness consciousness that unlimited consciousness we are talking about you see it must be so once it has changed then those practices will still continue you're still not a fully enlightened being those practices will still continue but they are more like expressions of the truth what you have found yourself to be you see this is the wise way of living no longer to find this truth you found it already now to establish yourself in that truth you will see to act contrary to ethics to act contrary to spiritual practices will will seem contrary to what you have found you found yourself to the will to be the witness consciousness immortal the only reality and to act out of impulse out of anger or out of hatred will seem very contrary to what you're found still you will keep on that slipping will keep on happening why because the mind is conditioned but less and less and less so this is called the path of Gyana yoga difficult one but this is also called the direct path every other path path is indirect yes yes yes it is true of course right there is only one reality according to Advaita Vedanta one non dual reality do did you notice in the sixteen twelve says the Atman is the truth or is a reality and the world is an appearance it means it's a non dual reality that means there is no other reality not that there are many at once and floating around there's only one that one consciousness in which the universe appears right are we all one or different in the thirteenth chapter Krishna will say you are that consciousness other than body and mind how many consciousnesses are there he says there is only one consciousness here one immortal consciousness and know me to be that consciousness means God so in that one half of verse he answers to questions how many admins are there or how many pure consciousness is how many spiritual realities are there one and the second question is what is God in all of this God is that spiritual reality do you see then you are saying I and God are one and the same yes that's what it is saying but I not as this individual limited being in your nature as true spiritual nature as the unlimited consciousness that is what is God in advaitha Vedanta in that sense think about it you are actually experiencing God right now in every thought in every feeling in every experience of life the material which you are experiencing isn't isn't nothing other than the divine itself only under the limitation of our ignorance then the 22nd verse this is another of those verses which are chanted when somebody passes away somebody dies very famous works from the bhagavad-gita it says that as we go from death from life to death to other lives it's like changing a suit of clothes as you give up old clothes and put on a fresh suit of clothes exactly like that we give up give up old bodies decaying bodies dead bodies and go on to new bodies 22nd vaasam CG Narnia Taha Hasan CG Nani attabi ha navona green hearty Naropa Rani navona green hearty Naru Pirani Natasha irani B ha Eugen on Natasha irani Bihar Jinan on Jana Sangh yatin Avenida he and Jana Sangh attina bah needy he just as a person gives up worn out clothes and puts on other new ones even so does the embodied self give up decrepit bodies and enter other new ones so it's a well-known doctrine of the Gita of Vedanta that we go through many lights now what is this going through many lives what exactly happens Krishna says birth and death are nothing other than exchanging bodies one body falls apart and you go on to get another body so the example he gives is of clothes clothes are old or torn so you discard them and buy new clothes Friday sale what to Black Friday Black Friday's Black Friday sale so go and buy new ones God also has a Black Friday sale sometimes you go and pick up new ones except that in this case you are doing it consciously in our in our own lives it's done by the law of karma we do not have conscious control over it what lack bodies we come into when they will end and what new bodies will get it's all determined by cause and effect everything that is happening now is an effect of which there are causes and every cause that is set into motion will give rise to certain effects now a little bit of basic Vedanta bodies when you speak about bodies from a Vedanta k-- perspective there are three bodies not one you have three bodies one body is this physical one the public one which the doctor can check the one which which is sitting on the chair this one this is called gross body not that not in the American sense of gross physical meaning physical though it can be pretty gross if you especially if you cut it open and see what's inside can be pretty gross but gross body means physical body in Sanskrit stool a sharira body number one second body subtle body suksham sharir it doesn't mean a particularly slim body it missions it means what you are experiencing right now if you ask what's the proof for this subtle body proof for the gross body your physical body does no need to ask this question everybody knows it exists here it is but what is the proof of the subtle body again the you eggs you experience it all the time thoughts feelings emotions all of that all the first-person experiences about yourself the person you experience yourself to be that's the subtle body so why call it a subtle body why not why isn't it a part of the gross body it is not no scientists till now has been able to discover how you know first for a scientist the physical body ends at the brain at the neurons that's it how that translates into a mind thoughts feelings emotions memories clearly they're linked but how nobody knows I mean many of you studying biology neuroscience philosophy tell me is that does anybody know no it's an amazing thing something that we experience all the time that's our life what's our life thoughts feelings emotions desires the way we are experiencing it inside that's how we live our lives we do not experience life as secretions from the kidney and the little electrical movements in the brain we do not there's no doubt that it's happening in the body no doubt about it science has investigated it in great detail and all the physical systems of the body definitely enormous amount of the knowledge we have we experienced none of it what we experience inside each of us right now the first person experience what are technically called qualia subjective experiences that's what is called the subtle body there is good reason to call it a separate party there by your very observation the two are of different nature you can clearly see this physical body and what it feels like from inside two different things thinketh thought 2+2 is 4 or my name is Swami servo 3 on under that's a thought and touch this physical body these are two different things entirely so subtle body suksham sharir what is the subtle body then physical body we know it's made of hands and feet and legs and we know organs and organ systems and cells and so on what's the subtle body what are the parts of the subtle body vedanta says there's a different ways of classifying they're actually 19 parts to it 19 parts the five sense organs not the physical organs they're parts of the physical body but the powers the experiences you get of seeing hearing smelling tasting touching five sense organs five motor organs and what are called the five vital functions bunch of prana that makes y plus 5 plus 5 15 and then for parts of the mind Manabu digit tohara the mind itself memory the function of egotism or ego and intellect so these are the four together nineteen parts this comprises the subtle body according to Vedanta the different ways of classifying some make it 17 the Buddhists have a different way of classifying it and so on but it's they're all Indian philosophies acknowledge that you are a subtle body inside a physical body and there is a third one according to Vedanta third one only figuratively called a body it's called the causal body not casual body causal body the causal body is that barrier which transforms you the infinite consciousness Brahman into this individual being that it what could that be it's just ignorance it's called a gana ignorant of our real nature it's called the causal ignorance that itself is taken as a body it comes as a first covering or sheath then it's covered over by the subtle body then it's covered over by the physical body why am I saying all this at death it's the physical body which dies which is discarded like an old pile of clothes the subtle body continues subtle body is not born with birth is not it does not die with death it curls up into a little seed and then goes on until it finds another physical body where it can express itself so that's the idea you what about you the Atman you are pure consciousness you neither come or not go you have identified Atman is identified itself it's so many causal bodies and subtle bodies so it becomes millions and billions of what are called Jeeva sentient beings and each of these jiva's gets different physical bodies and lives out its life does karma gets the result of karma and the result of karma is expressed in newer and newer physic bodies so this is the cosmic game which is going on actually you are the infinite consciousness you are none of you are not the three bodies you are not the causal body you are not the subtle body you are not the physical body at death physical body dies it is exchanged for new physical bodies they need not be human the black friday sale lots of different kinds of bodies are available we go from life to life means from physical body to physical body but we go means what goes the subtle body goes and the causal body also travels these two travel together causal body is a technical point and may we not take it we do not concentrate upon it but the subtle body something that we all experience right now we are experiencing it yes this very good question so what is freedom what is moksha what is not moksha this kind of existence is not an option so death is obviously not moksha that is not freedom because you still exist as a person and you will go on so in debt you do not die with death you go on and you are existing as a person it's not good news in from from Vedantic not only we done thing all Indian schools it's not good news it's the bad news actually you don't stop at death we have existed earlier we'll keep on existing and as long as you want to as long as you are having a good time God says go on have a good time and you say no I have had enough I want to go back to my real nature then spiritual life starts for you you get the bulletin of the Vedanta Society that there's a Gita class yes now let me complete that and answer to their question so then what happens at moksha you see these questions and answers they are not for one person so when one person is asking a question don't switch off listen to the question and then listen to the answer often the answer may be effective for you and not even for the person who asked so the question is what happens at moksha then what what are we aiming for moksha the subtle body which has been getting many many newer and newer bodies physical bodies that subtle body is also dissolved it it's also made of nature physical bodies are made from nature five elements subtle body is also material it's very interesting Vedanta would actually agree with science Vedanta would say yes even the mind is material but what is not material is is the Atman consciousness it's an entirely different kind of reality so that remains by itself or you can say more figuratively the individual being the sentient being merges back into the absolute but really it is no merging back you are the absolute and you realize yourself at the absolute you wake up from this dream or sequence of dreams that's what happens and when that happens that is called enlightenment but that subtle body in which the Enlightenment has happened that will continue for a little while because of past karma then you call that being an enlightened being so that person becomes an enlightened master enlightened teacher and those are the from vedantic perspective they are the teachers of religion they are the the great spiritual masters of humanity yes yes I'm not including the causal body it'll complicate matters and the causal body is something that vedanta talks about more but the subtle body is easily understandable so the subtle body will continue until the the Karma which gave rise to this particular embodiment until that is over the physical body dies remember all our physical body is not just enlightened beings all these physical bodies we have they are produced by our past Karma and so they will live as long as that particular portion of karma which has produced this body when that is exhausted this body will die but lot of karma is accumulated our balances are not empty so they will produce newer carbon and new Karma's we have added to it in this life well some might retain there are certain ones who retain their subtle bodies even after enlightenment it's possible they are the ones who are called eternally perfected once they exist Bodhisattvas hour Sri Ramakrishna's to talk about neat jacinta's but the general form of the problem you know mathematics is the general problem the problem is this and you get free ones enlightenment one stays enlightenment at the depth of that enlightened person that death of the enlightened person means death of the physical body and with that the dissolution of the subtle body again I'm not making this up this opener should speak about it that it says just as the rivers run into the sea the very poetic description of the of the passing of an enlightened one as the rivers run into the sea and merge and become one with the sea so also the nineteen parts of the subtle body of this enlightened one they run back into the vastness of nature and become one with it the enlightened one remains as Brahman that's pure consciousness yes after all of them a material yes this material yes right and if you're interested you can split these three bodies this again basic Vedanta you can split or you can analyze these three bodies into the five sheets we have often talked about the five sheets the food the food sheet the physical body the vital sheet the mind sheet the intellect sheet and the Bliss sheet in sanskrit annamaya kosha pranamaya kosha manomaya kosha vicky anima kosha are in the micro sure can you match them with the three bodies the food sheet is the physical body gross body so food she's under my Akasha is the physical body then this subtle body has three sheets in them pranamaya mono Maya big anime that's the subtle body second body the third body is the causal body that is the anandamaya kosha so the five sheets as if there are five coverings to the Atman you can imagine it that way like nesting dolls the five coverings to the Atman you are none of them so in Sanskrit or in Hindi even Vedanta teachers they say all of this which I'm saying they would say it in half a phrase Shuri Rattray of election punch echo shovel Akshara sati Don and Artois to Maha Maha Raja they will say you sir are the pure consciousness pure being pure bliss not the distinguished from the three bodies distinguished from the five sheets you are this immortal being yet right now your existing embodied and that's fun once you realize what you are yeah you have this nice vehicle to drive around cool vehicle yeah it's not just a suit of clothes it's a very sophisticated sort of suit of clothes it can do so many things many apps it's it's a very very sophisticated iPhone that you have got that God has given you all of them are Maya correct they are all products of Maya and technically they are all Brahman is already this way Brahman if Brahman is the only reality that exists then all of these are also Brahman it's because of Maya it appears to be not permanent the eternal appears to be the the changing the pure consciousness appears to be non conscious object the debt which is pure bliss appears to be a life of sorrow and misery in between is Maya the Veil of Maya Elliott yes I'll come to you Bill Elliott put it so beautifully he says the wasteland I think in between the intention and the act the doer and the deed in between the intention and the act Falls the shadow hmm but shadow is Maya yes we'll end with bills question yes you can prove it in the fake plug in the bits very easily the question was suppose an enlightened person is to have a stroke and loses his or her mind how do you fit it into the picture now analyze that question the enlightened person what does the person think of himself or herself to be pure awareness pure awareness not having a brain or nervous system cannot have a stroke that's number one as awareness itself you cannot have a stroke what what would have a stroke there are no moving parts to have a stroke okay the brain can have a stroke it can and as a result lose its functionality the beauty of Advaita Vedanta is it does not contradict science in any aspect neither physics nor medical science those areas are left untouched what medical science says about the brain and the body that accepts exactly what will happen if there is a stroke in the body but internally the person is aware in fact I can tell you an actual example Swami Ranganath Ananda G who was the 13 president of the order I have heard from his say Bach who is his assistant young monk that when maharaj towards the end of his life he suffered from the stroke which left him partially paralyzed the day the moment he suffered from that stroke that young Swami he told me that it's very clear for us he was sitting there in the room remember this is 95 year old monk he looks at me and he says call the doctor something is happening in my brain and so they call the doctor and then the stroke happened and a part of the body was paralyzed and they had to go to physically they were able to save him and physiotherapy and he regained most of the act and he still there was a tremor in the hand and all of that all it did was it increased his curiosity about the brain and he read books about the brain and he would later explain it to you in great detail what exactly happens in the brain when there is a stroke what about you Swami oh I'm fine Swami Siwon and the disciple of Sri Ramakrishna when he was very ill he also had a stroke and he was partially paralyzed when people came to meet him in value but in the main minister he was the president of the order Swami we heard how are you feeling now he said oh I'm fine no Swami we heard about this oh you mean the body oh it's not at all good it's very bad it's and if they're not being funny it's and it's not very difficult either when you make the shift clearly it's not it's not you don't have to pretend to be not affected you can clearly see there is something which is not at all affected absolutely not affected and there is something which is affected and the two are not equally real that which is not affected is real that which is affected you can say it's a tiny part or it's just an appearance Vedanta would say it's just an appearance in the non affected real so that's a good point to end it on all it says I'm it's sounds very easy all it says you to notice it it's there for the noticing even if you cannot manifest it in your actions right now even if you say I slip I fall doesn't matter even if you just notice it and begin to see it for what it is the atman yourself that itself gives a great deal of peace and freedom tremendous freedom there is daily you will have a core which will always know it's all right I pray by the grace of the Lord that we may all have this insight in this very life itself Oh Shawn the Shanti Shanti he hurry he owned that sat sri ramakrishna Aparna must