Video 18

18. Katha Upanishad | Mantras 1.2.21 - 22 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

[Music] let the lord protect both of us teacher and taught together did the lord give us the results of our knowledge together let our study be luminous let me attain greatness together maybe not careful with each other oh peace peace peace all right so we are studying the and we are in some particularly powerful and beautiful mantras right now now the last time we did this very important mantra mantra [Music] smaller than the smallest greater than the greatest is this very self notice the contradictory language the paradoxical language used here why is paradoxical language used as i mentioned earlier because the atman is so subtle our real nature is so subtle it can't be directly stated so the upanishads use a variety of strategies um one second the upanishads use a variety of strategies to communicate that which cannot be directly communicated through words one of the strategies is paradoxical language what are the other strategies one well-known strategy is nathi nati if it cannot be said directly perhaps what it is not can be said if atman cannot be said that this is the atman well at least you can say what is not the atman that this is not the atman that is not the atman this way you can point out indirectly that is the neti neti method then there is the implied meaning lakshyat which we have seen in vedantasada so multiple meanings are used multiple strategies are used for pointing out something which cannot be directly stated one of the strategies is this one paradoxical language greater than the greatest smaller than the smallest but what does it mean it sounds wonderful but what does it mean what is that which is greater than the greatest and smaller than the sports which means what is there that which is common to both in the greatest in the smallest what is that one reality suppose i tell you there is something which is greater than the greatest tsunami wave and smaller than the smallest bubble what is that you will say water water is smaller than the smallest bubble because water is in that bubble so it has to be smaller than a bubble but it is greater than the tsunami wave also because the whole tsunami is nothing but water and beyond the tsunami wave also lies water only so water is more than the tsunami wave and less than the bubble so in that sense now invo that's easy for water but what about this universe what is greater than the vastest thing in this universe and tinier than the tiniest thing existence itself being itself and if we truly appreciate what consciousness is in what sense is it satchit existence awareness then we will see this existence awareness is um at the root of everything anything that you experience it is constituted of this existence awareness or more than constituted it appears in this existence awareness the tiniest of things it is that existence awareness vastest of things it is that existence awareness and that is the atman atmas in all sentient beings in all living beings in all jivas this atman which we are talking about it resides in the cave of the heart or that means in your mind as consciousness this this consciousness is tinier than the tiniest greater than the greatest faster than the fastest and slower than the slowest it it moves without not moving without moving it does not move and yet it appears to move how is this possible i mentioned last time by upadhi by the various names and forms same colorless crystal it can be yellow if the yellow flower is behind it it can be red if the red flower is behind it it appears to be yellow appears to be red but actually it's neither similarly the atman is it actually tiny no is it actually very very vast bigger than galaxies and no not really it is only when you bring in the concept of space and then we talk about being vaster than the vastest is it even actually eternal not really eternal in the sense of persists through time for a long time or internally forever not in that sense it's only when you bring in the concept of time then atman is not like other things which are born and they die no from the perspective of time it is eternal but actually even time appears in consciousness so atmas it is another way of saying you the consciousness are this thing which you are speaking about who will see it as the one realizes it who is beyond desires who has given up these desires if you are very fixated on i want this and i don't want that ragadvaisha we will never see the bigger picture even in day-to-day life surely one will become biased surely one will become caught up in the little ups and downs of samsara too much focus on the world and why does too much focus on the world come because of likes and dislikes i am so eagerly i want this to happen i so eagerly am completely against this i'm so much against that one repulsed by that one attracted and tempted by that one then it's very difficult to see the background of both are the same see ragadvaisha is exactly the opposite of atman what is ragadvesha i really really want this i really really don't want that but then this one which you want is already yours you are that that one which you want to reject you cannot reject because you are already that that one is already none other than you everything in this universe is none other than you the two do not go together this this experience of sameness in all beings and that sameness is you you alone shine forth as a universe this experience this realization of the sameness in all beings on one hand and strong likes and dislikes on the other hand they can't go together so strong likes and dislikes prevent you from realizing the atman what one more thing dhatu prasada there's another way of saying the by the grace of this sense organs the grace of sense organs means you must be able to pull back the sense organs and steady the mind basically two things he's saying purity of mind and concentration of mind these two things are necessary who has these adhikari which we have seen in the fourfold qualifications which nasi keta definitely is adhikari adhikari means one who's qualified what qualifications are required and the qualifications which nashi keta has is completely without any desire for anything in the world and or the other world yama has tested him thoroughly he's also intensely disciplined because he saw how he was two examples he'll give how he stayed without wavering waiting for yama to come back that little boy without eating or drinking anything stayed outside yama's door until yama comes back you remember at the beginning of the story also when in the second boon yama explained to him a very complicated ritual the karma khand of the veda the naji ke nasi keta repeated it back to him verbatim which means it shows how much attention he has got focus so purity of mind concentration of mind both um you know if focus of mind is not that flickering mind is there this will not work vedanta will not work vedanta is the highest knowledge it requires a prepared mind prepared mind means equal to pure mind plus focused mind if mind is not focused somebody give a very nice example suppose you are learning how to drive you see you're driving and you're driving your teacher is sitting next to you now if it's raining or drizzling you have the windshield wiper it goes like this the windshield wiper in front of it is like this now if i start looking at the wiper if i use the wiper is going like this and i'll start looking like this the teacher will say hey look at the road and if you start looking the wiper is going like this i'll start looking like that then you have to concentrate on the road don't go like this like this with the wiper with the windshield wiper you have to look at the road let the viper go like this like this this wiper going like this like this is the british of the mind various kinds of thoughts feelings emotions memories desires are coming and going if you keep tracking that this is nice that is bad i want to remain like this i don't like that thought here is anxiety here is fear here is temptation here is desire [Music] no don't follow that that is just like viper no going like this keep your attention focused on the teaching that you are the atman so that kind of focus is necessary the glory of the atman what is the glory of the atman what is the glory of the atman that it is immortal it is not born with the birth of the body now does not die with the death of the body that it is completely affected by the ups and downs of the mind it means you you do not you are not born by the birth of the body you do not die with the death of the body you are actually completely you as awareness completely unaffected by the ups and downs of the mind that you you shining everything else shines by your light everything here is lit up by your light the mind is lit up by the by your light the senses are lit up by your light your light means you the light you consciousness by you consciousness mind and senses function and reveal the world to you not only that this mind senses and world all of it is given not only light by you but existence also by you they don't exist apart from you so this is the glory of the atman it is one and non-dual there is no second atman there is no second reality apart from atman apart from you so what are the amazing glorious the glory it is the glorious thing in the whole world um so uh you are that glorious reality i was listening to a talk by you know the new advaitha teacher rupert spyra so listening to a talk somebody asked him are there stages to enlightenment and he gave a beautiful answer which actually corresponds to the traditional teaching here in the upanishads he said yes one is first you must realize what is the other one consciousness stage stage one consciousness awareness as distinguished from body mind this is the first stage this is what we normally call the enlightenment of waking up he says this is the first stage second stage is having realized oh i am this the second stage is recognize the glories of this consciousness what is the glories of this consciousness that upanishad says glory the glories of this consciousness oh i am this second stage first is that i am this awareness i am awareness second stage i am immortal i need not fear death i am beyond the mind and did not fear the little ups and downs of the mind i am ever fulfilled i don't need anything from the world i'm ever at peace i don't even need meditation piece of meditation i am the only reality that is that the whole world is a dream in me these are the glories of the atman so he says that is the second stage you must appreciate the glories of awareness then the third stage he says now life continues with this knowledge you must live the life in this body-mind this particular body mine will continue to appear so this is what is called in vedanta given mukti and that is the process that is the process which we work on the called manifestation of the divinity already within us the manifestation means not only realizing it not only appreciating the glories of the atman but now it should be reflected in the thought word and deed of this person who has become so-called enlightened person that is living this realization so he says three stages of enlightenment first realize second what is this brahman what is this atman it is brahman itself the infinite glory of the atman you realize third live manifest it manifest it is you will become selfless you will become fearless you will be full of you know sympathy and affection and feeling of oneness for everything in this universe nothing can shake you so all the qualities of the enlightened one will come into you so this is the three stages and if you look at the traditional teaching of advaita vedanta basically these three stages are there i was just thinking the first stage is at least getting a grasp of what is taught here is you by shravana and manana you get it appreciating the glories of the atman is when you stay in nidhihasana in in that you just stay with the glory of that and then comes jivan mukti that is living the life now let us go ahead 21st asi no duran prajati all right more paradoxical language what does it mean sitting in one place it goes far travels far it means the atman while sleeping it goes everywhere when it sits it travels far when it lies down it goes everywhere custom madam adam deva this this atman is the deva the bright one the shining one who is with delight and without delight we'll see what it means who else can know this except myself someone like myself yama is little doing a little bit of self-promotion who can realize this except someone like myself right so what does this mean the commentator says this the atman is difficult to assert it is difficult to pin down understand clearly that's why this same kind of paradoxical language is used all right to understand this first phrase sitting it goes travels far you the atman sitting you travel far what does that mean for this we must understand two more important concepts of advaita vedanta [Music] this cognition knowledge and knowledge itself or consciousness cognitive knowledge and consciousness britta gyana and swarupa ghana what does this mean recall our understanding from you are pure consciousness and because of maya first thing which appears in pure consciousness causal body from that causal body appears the subtle body in that subtle body you are reflected consciousness is reflected as the reflected consciousness which is the awareness which we feel right now i am aware all my thoughts feel aware that reflected consciousness lights up the mind and every movement of the mind what do i mean by movement of the mind anything that you call the mind whatever is happening in you every thought is a movement of the mind every perception is a movement of the mind every understanding of the intellect is a movement of the mind mind i am using in a general sense meaning the technically in vedanta it is split up into four mana buddhist mind memory ego and intellect but all of them together i'm generally using the english word mind this is what we feel inside every movement of the manas every movement of the intellect buddhi every movement of the memory emotions and the perceptions which are which are raised by the five senses all of them together these are called chitta vritti movement of the mind stuff they are like think of them as the mind stuff think of it as a lake and this think of them as little waves in the lake are little ripples in the lake so every perception you see a flower outside so that perception information when it comes to the mind the impulses now travel to the mind you have a movement in your mind a ripple in the mind a ripple on the surface of the lake that is a chittavritti and every virty has a content it is about something so if you have seen a flower the information about the flower has come through the eyes then there is a virty in the mind that here is a red rose we have seen maybe there will be another victim of the memory which will bring call up the similar associations and say it is a rose so that is our tea if you smell it and have a get a fragrance that is another another perception the fragrance has come gandha another another movement in the surface of the mind now these movements on the surface of the mind all of them are movements anything that happens in the mind is chittavritti all these jittavitis are lit up illumined by consciousness you are aware of it but what consciousness it is the consciousness which is reflected in the mind the chidab has a reflected consciousness it is the consciousness the consciousness which you really are you are reflected in the mind that consciousness riding on the vritti's gives you the experience of various things seeing hearing smelling tasting touching so seeing hearing smelling tasting touching these are all called written thinking remembering understanding desiring hating [Music] these are all this is what we normally call knowledge or experience of the world this is what we call it you know external it could be external seeing here something hearing something it could be internal about a thought one thought about another thought or something going on inside your mind without reference to anything outside old memories coming up all of them are written so our country our experience of life basically is written everything that we have is all the movements of the mind they are revealed by consciousness which consciousness reflected consciousness and the reflected consciousness is nothing but the original consciousness your real nature then you the atman shining on the mind now an example would be the sun and the moon i've given this example earlier at night everything that we see suppose the moonlight is the light by which we see things so this light by which somebody goes out walks and does something outside suppose in a village outside their heart is by the light of the moon but light of the moon is actually sunlight so think of the sun as the atman the moon as the mind and the earth as earth now the light of the sun reflected on the moon from the moon falls on the earth and illumines things now without the sunlight no moonlight is possible but it is a fact also that at night it is the moonlight itself that reflected sunlight no doubt but still we call it moonlight for a practical reason it is the moonlight itself which is useful for us but the moonlight reflected is is that um [Music] reflected consciousness and the sunlight the original is the atman that is a good example and remember transaction our activities day-to-day activity or in that case night time whatever we are doing outside that is lit up useful for us we are transacting with the help of moonlight similarly whatever we do in life including studying vedanta whatever we are doing in life is all because of british ghana and that vritti gyana is possible because of the mind titavati and the reflected consciousness now so in this sense the consciousness through its reflection in the various senses travels it sees hear smells tastes touches it's as if the mind is going out that in old vedantic epistemology the idea was that the virty actually travels out to the object we will not go into that it makes things more complicated but let's just say as if the mind is going to various thoughts various perceptions you see different things continuously you hear different sounds you smell and taste and touch you think and you remember so there's a variety an enormous range of activities is being done lot of travelling is being done by the reflected consciousness how is the reflected consciousness traveling with the riding on the bridge these various viktors how are the rituals forming because of various inputs from outside through the senses and from inside arising from our subconscious mind thoughts emotions desires so variety of movements are going on in the viktors in each of those vitis shining is a reflected consciousness and that reflected consciousness very busy very active always traveling but the original consciousness you the atman beyond all this completely untouched untouched by any any movement at all so it is always shining rc no sitting it always is sitting it's always in meditation it's always glowing shining without any change whatsoever that one sitting while sitting travels everywhere does everything does everything means all the actions are actually done because of this reflected consciousness all our writings our knowledge is lit up by this consciousness even our activities if you walk and talk and eat and all of it is big possible because of reflected consciousness so all the transactions of life very busy life all done because of this reflected consciousness but this reflected consciousness is nothing but this original consciousness atman moonlight is nothing but sunlight so vritti gyana is originally nothing but swarup consciousness itself reflected consciousness in the different britties now you see asi no duram rajati sitting by itself no movement at all who is sitting by itself swarupagana atma pure consciousness duram rajathi travels far does lot of activities very very busy who is that reflected consciousness like sunlight and moonlight you what are you you're completely unchanging always steady and shining what are you a as reflected consciousness you are most busy all throughout life from early morning to till late night whatever all is going on is because of your disorder not only that there is no rest for the deflected consciousness even if you fall asleep dreams will start even dreams are powered by fueled by made possible by reflected consciousness just the contents the virties are different type in dreams mind generates a whole different set of with these where you call it a dream but the same reflected content consciousness continues but then what happens dreams also stop the mind stops and the reflected consciousness now merges back or is no longer active let us say you can call it saying it it becomes one with the original consciousness or you say it's not active anymore because mind is not active there are no more virtues what is that deep sleep sushupti then what happens that unlimited pure consciousness alone remains as if consciousness has without any limit spread all over but there's no specific reflected consciousness there's only um [Music] the swarupa gyana pure consciousness plus ignorance of course deep sleep is ignorance the blankness illumined by swarupa ghana consciousness itself the reflected consciousness is no longer active no longer running around and doing things so as if shayano yatis when you fall black when pure consciousness lies down as if in deep sleep then it is as if spread over as if spread over everywhere there is no particular activity going on anymore and the commentator will say that in specific virtis the consciousness appears to be limited here i am in this body eating a cookie this is the state of consciousness now i the pure consciousness reflected refracted from this mind in connection with these bodies and sense organs what am i doing i am having the experience of eating a cookie how limited but the same eye pure consciousness when the body is sleeping mind has shut down i'm no longer limited to this little being eating a cookie i have no particular limited form anymore all particular experiences are gone if all particular experiences are gone it's another way of saying i am all over i'm just spread all over evenly good example is in the darkness of space from the sun to the earth it is full of light actually and if you look at out into outer space there it will appear black it's only when something passes through the light like a satellite or a comet it shines and um and blazes forth with the sunlight but that means sunlight is streaming from the sun to the earth in between there's nothing to reflect it to make it come to your our eyes that's why it seems blank or dark there's no particular entity which reflects sunlight in that space between earth and sun therefore it seems dark similarly in deep sleep you the pure consciousness are now no longer reflected by chittavrithi and you know that activity of the so with the um gyana is not no is not there anymore so that is the meaning of sarvatha no more particular experiences a general experience of blankness that is deep sleep then he says very nicely put deva means the shining one consciousness you the pure consciousness the atman what are you mother amada mother means joy delight fun partying so this one is is very funny it has it enjoys life it it delights in life it chases pleasure ever it's pain um you know not just one why only one lifetime many many lifetimes have a festival of lifetimes mother this is this is delight in in living but by itself amadam devam beyond all pleasure seeking beyond all experience of pleasure and pain is awareness itself what a phrase what are you devam the shining one and how do i understand you in every experience of life no matter how pleasurable or how painful i alone make it possible how do i make it possible bring in the concept of britti gyana i light up the pleasurable flash a pleasure of eating a cookie by my reflected consciousness this becomes an experience i light up by my reflected consciousness the pain of a cut or a bruise that also light lights up pleasure and pain every physical pleasure every physical pain every emotional joy delight every emotional pain and misery all are lit up by you this is called madame mother and then amada but you in yourself are not touched by any of these nor do you require any of these these are your delight amadam devam the phrase is madame adam dev pure consciousness and reflected consciousness such a new useful concept it's a very useful concept to understand what is going on here everything is possible by you but you are beyond everything very difficult to understand this that i am such a reality who can understand it except someone as fully qualified as me that means only a person with sadhana sampati one who has got viveka vairagya sramadam sampathy and mumukshutto the discernment between the eternal and the non-eternal a deep dispassion for the non-eternal for all that is worldly and then the discipline the six fold treasures and intense desire to be free only one qualified with such things like me he says yama the lord of death says like one only one like me and oh nachiketa you are it's implied you are like me and like that all of us here we are also we are included we are also part of the in group who other than us can realize this thing this let us look at some of the phrases used by the commentator he says who other than qualified people like us can understand this very subtle very difficult to understand atma pure consciousness people generally make even if it start they mix it up with the mind and we have to be careful also if we for a long time we will keep mixing it up with the mind whenever we have confusion about nature of the know that you are mixing it up with the mind or more precisely you are not able to separate vittigana and swaroop again with the gyana swarupa or in the language of the upanishad you are not able to see madame adam deva so what is our qualification of course we have studied vedanta style we can immediately rattle up the fourfold qualifications or not but this is a much more ancient text he says we are the pandita with subtle very subtle penetrative intellect but remember here no mere intellect is mentor a mere intellectual is meant here sushma buddhi means a pure intellect pure and concentrated who can rise above the raga like and still mind is one can we can one can hold on to this very high thought for a long time that kind of this is called sukshma buddhi it means should have this subtle but subtle here does not mean somebody with very high iq here it means somebody with a which who is deeply spiritual basically pure mind not very sharp intellect not in that sense but pure intellect pandita now the pandit is now a word which is very popular in english also you have wall street pundits and you have washington dc panthers the political pandits and stock market pundits and so on pundit means an expert and who will set forth his views on in newspaper columns in new york times and washington post and so on but pandit the original meaning shankaracharya gave in another place the gita he gives the meaning one who has wisdom about the atman who has self-knowledge who realizes i am brahman that one is called pandit and then he says all of these contradictory qualities they are the glories of the atman he says stiti gati it is unmoving and yet it is moving it does not do anything just shines and yet everything is done by it you hear smell taste touch it's because of you the pure consciousness through the reflected consciousness are you walking talking working um fighting whatever you're doing is because of the pure consciousness through the reflected consciousness so stiti gotti unchanging steady and yet doing everything nithyananda eternal in its real nature but in all the look at the british means the knowledge which we are having all the time momentary moment to moment it is changing it is momentary and it is eternal etc it has got many contradictory characteristics why because of upadhi remember yellow flower red flower and the crystal that crystal which is yellow and red how can the same thing be yellow and red is because of upadhi because of the presence of yellow flower and the presence of red flower similarly because of the presence of the mind presence of sense organs presence of various sense objects you have various kinds of contradictory experiences all made possible by that one consciousness which you are and it's i mean madame adam devam the one the one consciousness which is in the midst of all delights and beyond all of it itself is a contradictory statement [Music] this consciousness shines like a diamond like a spectacular diamond what is this diamond the universe you are light itself consciousness itself you are shining like a diamond what is the shining of this diamond this universe i think yesterday i was quoting from ashtavakra my real nature is light i am not one bit beyond that when the universe shines forth i alone am shining forth this he calls like a chintamani like a diamond like a spectacular diamond it is shining forth because there are deeper meanings to this the chintamani diamond is you know if it touches something it turns it into gold and it i think it is a wish fulfilling diamond or something like that so consciousness is that whatever is possible in life everything is done because of consciousness it is the wish fulfilling diamond everything that one could want will be done given to you in time all our desires will be even worldly desires and other worldly desires everything will be fulfilled swami vivekananda says never want anything because then he says because you will get it normally we think we will not get it no no you will get it and this game will be prolonged lifetime up after lifetime never want anything if you really want to experience it do it you are doing it already we are you're all part of that game and you will get it it is your the universe is yours every bit of it is yours whatever you want to experience you want to experience it with this body with this eye with these these this mind you will get that also only it will take time then it will through time and space you will across oceans of time and space you'll have to travel to experience these things little by little then he says he explains what about this sleeping and being everywhere when all the senses fall silent no external world mind falls silent no dreams so no external world no dreams that is deep sleep the the specific knowledges what did we call it the the this um swarupa ghana and british the specific knowledge is that we get specific experiences seeing hearing smelling tasting touch those things fall silent in deep sleep even dreams also fall silent then what will happen when you are in that state what will happen eva only a general awareness remains that is of course ignorance remains that's deep sleep as if you have spread everywhere sarvato yati eva as if you have spread everywhere that's why it says it it is spread everywhere in deep sleep but when you when you are awake or dreaming then what happens eva when you are having mind is active senses are active you are awake or you are dreaming then you sway inarou pain by yourself your consciousness you are exactly the same as you are in the deep sleep of the mind similarly you are in the waking state or dream state of the mind you are unchanging when the mind the moon goes through phases of the moon sun is unchanging sun is not affected by it but the moon has various kinds of illumination depending on the phases of the moon similarly at that time you because of the various activities of the mind mana gatishu mana means mind and senses five senses plus mind have a variety of virty then you'll have plenty of written you will have hearing and smelling and tasting you'll have thinking and remembering and desiring and suffering and enjoying all this will be a series going on but what are you saying as tita though you're absolutely shining in your own nature this is called asi no duram rajati sitting in one place you go far so this is the meaning rajyathi eva as if you go for it this is the meaning of the 20 21st verse the key idea to take away from here is swarupa gyana prithi gyana this explains a lot what happens to pure consciousness or the reflection of the pure consciousness in the mind due to the activities of mind and senses that explains how our life is powered by reflected consciousness which is none other than you the pure consciousness you are not the body you're not the mind you're not even the reflected consciousness you are the pure consciousness this is what advantage is trying to tell us and yet the reflected consciousness along with mind senses and objects is also nothing other than you that is the beauty of advaita vedanta like you are the one lying on the bed and dreaming you are not the one running in the you know the plains of africa being chased by a lion that's in your dream you are perfectly all right you're lying down on the bed having a nightmare but as far as the dream is concerned that one who's running on the planes of africa and being chased by the lime the lion and the plains of africa and you running in the dream i'm talking about a dream possible dream you are running and your fear and all of that also is nothing but you it is you because of you all this is appearing unfortunately on a present state all we know is i am being chased by this lion called sabzala through through lifetime after lifetime i don't know what lies beyond this then the next mantra equally important very beautiful mantra again contradictory language chat this bodyless consciousness consciousness without a body just the reverse of what we think let me translate first bodyless consciousness not in a body and yet it is in the body it is vast and infinite this self realizing this the hera the spiritual seeker the qualified spiritual seeker nasho grieves not goes beyond sorrow so what does this mean you the consciousness you're bodyless just the opposite of what we think we think when you anybody mentions consciousness awareness we think yes yes yes i know what you mean i am aware i am conscious but i am this this fellow this body this server and in that there are some thoughts and in the thought if you insist yes it is conscious there is consciousness there that is what we think about consciousness we think we are bodies with consciousness or little better we are consciousness but embodied consciousness no there is no reference to the body at all in consciousness just like remember the dream example i gave you about running in the plains of africa being chased by a lion um you actually are none of that you that sleeper who's dreaming and lying in your bed and dreaming you there is no fields of africa there there is no lion there is no man running through being chased by a lion none of it is there actually you the dreamer have no connection with any of that and they don't exist also similarly these bodies also do not exist they are appearances in consciousness because of maya you the consciousness are bodiless you don't have a physical body growth the shade you don't have subtle body you have nothing to do with the mind nothing to do with the body is a big step but even more stunning is you have nothing to do with the mind you have nothing to do with that person you think you are that also you don't have anything to do with it [Music] and you have nothing to do with the causal body also the atman which transcends gross body subtle body causal body awareness and yet most vividly present felt here you are that remember the however warning the opposite is not true the gross body subtle body and causal body they cannot exist without the utman the you the atman are entirely free of them but they are not free of you the dream the lion and the plains of africa and the man running through the plains they cannot exist without the dreamer the dreamer happily exists without them the characters in the movie and the activities of the movie they cannot exist without the screen but the screen can happily exist without them and exists without the movie so you are ashari neither subtle gross body nor subtle body nor causal body even when they are present you are none of them just this much if you understand you are given right now your great freedom you have nothing to do with this fellow called i have eye the awareness i have nothing to do with this fellow called server nothing not being in the body appears to be the body our very intuitive feeling is i am in this body this is just the opposite it says awareness is not in the body rather you might say body is in appearing in awareness if you look at it this way take a stand in awareness that i am awareness now consider the body you will say what body is appearing to me but then to me means what i am here eyes the book is appearing to the eyes so eyes are here book is here they are separate book is appearing to the eyes but is it like that for awareness is it that i have something outside awareness which is appearing too awareness is there any evidence of a bodily outside awareness no the body is only in awareness there's no evidence of a body outside awareness if somebody will say no when you're in deep sleep you are not aware of your body we were all aware you were lying right there and snoring and disturbing us we were aware of it but you are not aware of your own body so that body existed outside your awareness that is the reflected consciousness but from the perspective of swarupa ghyana even the fact that this fellow fell asleep and was not aware of his own body and the other fellows are saying be ever aware of your body and we heard your snoring all of it is appearing in awareness or not is any bit of it outside awareness even the idea that i was asleep and not aware of my body is against appearing in my awareness only nothing else there is nothing outside that so not limited in the body this awareness pervades everything that exists it's not limited first idea is it's not limited in the body it's other than the body then in second idea it pervades the body and everything that exists third idea is a body and everything that exists is not pervaded by awareness they are in awareness it's not that they exist and then awareness comes and pervades them like a perfume or something no awareness exists and in that they appear like waves in an ocean or like dreams in a dreamer's mind [Music] so not limited by the body then what is this mahantam vibhum means infinite fast infinite now what does this vast infinite mean or you simply say big you may mean big house big man big book just it's a big you qualified with something big what not big planet but if you just say vast big without any qualification it means infinite without without any limitation it is big without any limitation vast without any limitation i'm not talking about vast ocean or vast planet or vast wealth or vast knowledge no i'm just saying vast without any limitation then the meaning of that is means infinite mahantam plus vibhu together does this remind you of something brahma means vast the literal the epi the etymological meaning of the term brahma [Music] it is vast and it expands without limit and that's why the atman is called brahma this is the definition of brahman brahman means fast but what is this vast the next term next to it in the definition satyam gyanam anantam brahma existence consciousness infinity is brahman the next term next to brahman is brahman infinity infinity is brahman so anantam anantha means no limit vast without limit what are the limits space time object desha kaalabastu no limit in space not that it is located here not there it is everywhere in fact everywhere is in it it's not located in it's not limited in time the bar now then dies are created now then destroyed no it is eternal there's no time when it did not exist and no time when it will not exist that is called infinite no limit in time no limit in object if you remember we are done we have i have discussed this definition of god satyam gyanam brahma no limitation object means there is no object which is different from it in other words no second reality apart from it in other words no second advaita non-dual so the word means anantam infinite infinite in space infinite in time and non-dual in sanskrit nithya dwight server all pervading with kim is eternal and advaitha means non-dual all of this is packed into the little word vibhu mahantam vast without limit you might say wow this is fantastic it sounds like something out of science fiction what is it you you you're talking about you the commentator says shankaracharya says the word atma here is pointed he says to show that it is nothing other than you we are talking about a vast infinite nothing other than you you are vast and infinite you are you are eternal you are all pervading you are non-dual atma idris the word atma is used about the inner self you i this person this this being what am i what are you telling me about myself that i am vast you mean i'm fat no i'm tall no i'm very rich no you're infinite all-pervading eternal and non-dual there is no second reality apart from you this is your inner self if you put these two together mahantam on one side this means brahma and on the other side atma you've got brahman is atman mahantam the vast infinite is brahman the ultimate reality of everything atma means you the ultimate reality of everything and you are one and the same thing this is the mahavakya tattwa aham brahmasmi and i'm just making it up shankaracharya himself will say this now what is the meaning of all this he says matwa realizing what do you realize i am ahamiti this infinite hum i am i am this infinite i am this vast infinity if you could just feel it for even one second you're free and if you can live it you will be a g1 mukta but even if that touch later but the moment you realize it for one second also the promise is this is your last word then it's done the game is over for you you have realized your infinity if you can't even taste this infinity for a fraction of a second and if you do it do that for a fraction of a second it's forever you'll never lose it again you will be touched by this infinity and others will slowly over time they will see they will see in you they will they will they will not understand but they will feel the breath of the eternal the presence of something vast when they come near you so matwa realizing what do you realize i am ahamiti shankaracharya this vastness is i you realize this then what happens go beyond sorrow it's simple for a person who has realized this vastness to be sorrowful yes may say is there pain in your throat because of throat cancer surround krishna says yes it hurts i can't eat true what is that written certainly it's not escapism it's not spiritual bypassing every bit of the medical diagnosis is true it hurts it's difficult you know aging is the disease is there death is also there not one bit of it is denied but there is this vastness behind it which makes everything all right you see compared to which all this is becomes vanishingly small then salam krishna so then the hari maharaja he says to salaam krishna but sir i see that you are in great joy salaam krishna says oh the rascal has found me out how are you getting great joy swarup fine no problem it is vibhu mahantam vast and infinite and the vritti gyana experience particular experience in this body of ramakrishna suffering throat cancer dying the body is dying so both are together how can both contradictory things be together remember madame adam the shining one who is who this is the glory of the shining one who is in the midst of all pleasure and pain and samsara and entirely beyond it the beauty of this upanishad is makes you understand how this is possible not only possible it is you right now all right so this verse is this mantra is very nice it tells us um about the atman which is not related to the body it has it's not in the body but it pervades the body and everything else it is infinite and it has to be realized the word hero always points to the qualified seeker theory literally means the heroic one the patient one but patient and heroic one is the one who has got the qualifications the fourfold qualifications and the result of all of this is also mentioned you go beyond sorrow result is mentioned all right let's quickly take a look at discussions before we wrap up dima says does awareness imply that there is someone who is aware no and yes what do i mean by that awareness means awareness by itself is not a someone it is awareness it is not someone to whom awareness belongs you are awareness you are not someone who has awareness as long as you think you are someone who has awareness that's the body idea i am a body with awareness i am somebody see literally some body with awareness now you are awareness who is aware of a body and the mind and the senses i am still trying to understand how to go beyond the sense of i yes how to go beyond the sense of i just think even the i is experienced don't you experience i then to what is that experience i appearing i am not i i'm not the mind i'm not the intellect i'm not the memory but i am not i am not the ego peter dawkins said during the week i came across this great quote from swami vivekananda among the upanishads one finds no other book as beautiful as the qatar panishad yes it was his favorite i wish you would all get it by heart what will it do only to read it through try to bring into your life the faith the courage the discernment renunciation of logic the true truth absolutely god of mittel says when i try to understand greater than the greater smaller than the smallest using water example then try to look something material which is common to both that looks theoretical to me now don't look at something external what an example is just a nice example to make you understand how one thing could be smaller than the smaller smallest and greater than the greatest isn't it true that water is smaller than the bubble because it has to be in the bubble and water is greater than the greatest because it is in all the great waves now the next he says dream example dream is made of my own mind and this paradox applies to dream smallest and largest dream objects are contained within mind when we know the dream is unreal and we don't attach importance to it and become equanimous automatically correct also um through logical and scientific reasoning one can easily see this world as something like a dream ultimately conceived by mind like virtual reality correct dream example does not seem theoretical to me by theoretical mean speculating about some object dream example seems very intimate to you because you are experiencing it directly good is it okay to try these advertising concepts not only okay you must the dream example is a favorite example of advaita vedanta godapadha has a whole chapter on using the dream example and now following on gaurapatha david chalmers his latest book reality plus so there i was just looking through it i got my copy recently just yesterday so there he's saying basically the same thing but language is just the opposite he's saying let the dream also be real virtual world is also real as real as our waking world and i saw i was very happy to see he has mentioned advaita vedanta he has mentioned sankhya he has mentioned buddhism so little places here and there he says these ideas were there in uh ancient indian philosophy and also some greek philosophers nilavora says can the original self be described as catalyst in a chemical reaction a good example it makes everything happen by its very presence that is the that is the definition of catalyst which we learnt in school yes in that sense like a magnet like a catalyst to some extent you can apply this example sean lee says is the movement of mind as a reflective consciousness activities are suffering punishable um what does this mean for example if your mind bad intentions minds bad intentions in our minds have consequences in life i'm not very sure what you mean but at the level of uh reflected consciousness the the vikti chaitanya is very much in the realm of karma cause and effect is there but if you think that are you saying that bad intentions in the mind will lead to bad karma not unless you act on them if you actually act on them that means bring those intentions in the mind to the level of speech and actual action then it will give rise to karmic consequences holy mother once said that that in this kali yuga in this kali yoga sins of the mind are not sins moner pop pop not but one has to be careful there because if i entertain negative thoughts bad thoughts in my mind continuously will be very difficult to check them because then then next till we they will come at the level of speech and actions also but don't what holy mother meant was don't obsess over that just be sure not to say or do the wrong things sunivas raju says in the second state of enlightenment appreciating the glories of atman the same as having sarawatma bhava seeing oneself in everything which realized masters have certainly that is one aspect of it i alone am shining forth in all these ways correct so these are all ways in which you can do nidhasana you are saturating yourself by your own glory ashtavakra sings once in a while how how remarkable i am salutations to myself with that s with capital self with capital s alpana says movement in the mind as a result of religious right and not due to consciousness consciousness just illumines the movement and absence of movement correct consciousness illumines the movement and absence of movement ultimately in the long run you must say that even mind itself is an appearance in consciousness they are not two realities as long as you keep consciousness is illuminating the movements in the mind and my mind is some reality apart from consciousness that is sankhya but the mind itself and body and the world they are all appearances in consciousness then becomes advaita nation says in those with dementia and for alzheimer's and their awareness is significantly diminished awareness is not diminished the capacity of the mind is diminished and therefore the the what we today called the vritti gyana does not function too well that's all can you talk about utman in relation to these conditions yes so the consciousness is present there too the atman is equally present everywhere why just with diminished capacity even uh one would say um the lower animals with very little capacity compared to even an alzheimer's patient even in plants and even in non-living things as the pure existence of those things this one is present see here the question itself shows you're talking about diminished awareness immediately means not swarupa am i right in understanding that appreciating the glories of atman happens through mind as manifestation divinity yes all of this is happening in the mind even the enlightenment i am awareness in mind only but even next we'll see what does awareness do for that even in enlightenment what role does awareness itself play consciousness itself play but then also mind is required for ignorance mind is required so for knowledge also mind is required sridhara says when we practice pancha kosher vivek or drikdrisha how far back can we objectify is reflected consciousness and object unlike pure consciousness yes it is an object is it the awareness we feel beyond thoughts in the mind if you feel it it's still reflected [Music] these are at that point the techniques used in bikini are pretty good they they understand the very psychology of the mind how the mind functions so at that point we needed hasanah see i am i have calmed down the mind i'm not aware of anything external my body is steady breath is steady mind is calmed and i feel awareness percolate i'm shining through drop that they will say and then you have a complete blankness and next they will say drop that also then there will be no words to express what is there absolutely not except for understanding its presence through the knowledge from the scriptures right no next mantra will say it is not just scripture the scriptures are pointing it out to us but the swarupa ghana makes everything possible your deflected ghana that was which briti ghana is nothing other than sarupagara it's like saying that you know sunlight cannot be really detected by us we can only experience moon light when you're experiencing sunlight only the sunlight can only be understood by you know you have to believe the physics textbook that's why there is sunlight only in physics textbook actually in the external world is only moonlight no the physics textbook is pointing out what is there what the experience is there out there you look at the world and you see at night the light and you know that it is nothing other than the sunlight now in this is actually the realization here is even more vivid and i mean we are experiencing gyana sarupagan is even more vivid than that but that requires this breakthrough this knowledge it is not just scripture not just believing in it scripture should be used as a pointer many people think at this point so ultimately here we have to believe that such this is the case no no no it is most vivid it's more than every experience even the greatest spiritual experience becomes small compared to the realization that i am the swarupa guy means that ahamram has me only it can't be put in the category of a particular experience that's the thing ramya says there's a talk by swamiji where he answers the question about why there's a need for chidavahasa it's called akanda karavity can someone point it it is part of the vedanta salt talks yes it is that a full discussion is there in fact little bit of the discussion will come we'll see the original source of such things in the next mantra palak says shubhadeep says here what is the difference between reflected consciousness and ego okay ego is a variety of the mind called vedanta makes this clear many of the what are the different functions of the mind one of them is ego and in all of these reflected consciousness is shining just look at your own experience of i you will see two parts of it one is i this this thought i ego and you are aware so it's a shining thought that shining is chichidavasa reflected consciousness and that ego is that i thought is the ego so it is when you have an ego experience i it is two things the i thought plus reflected consciousness every experience is like that it is plus reflected consciousness that is called vritti gyana in every britta gyana there is avritti and there is reflected consciousness palak says my question i do understand at times suddenly that yes i am brahman this clarity does not stay permanently it slips out of mind after some time how to fix it permanently don't worry stay with it come keep coming to the class although very interesting in the next mantra yama will say even your this zoom class also will not help he says pravachana vedanta talks also will not lead you to enlightenment he will tell you next three different methods of describing or pointing to atman brahman 1880 paradoxical language implied meaning could you tell us other methods um the other methods are um nathanity contradictory like implied meaning then there are these stories sometimes they're told now i've told these stories um the five parables for vedanta sometimes in vedanta you will find these these stories are told in order to point towards that reality then uh there's one more about five major strategies are there method of agreement and difference so multiple experiences are there what is changing and what is unchanging if you reflect on that you will see that there is one reality behind them one method is that also unveiled multiple methods are used these are some of the strategies used in the upanishads okay good om shanti me [Music] you