Video 19

19. Katha Upanishad | Mantras 1.2.23 - 25 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

may the lord protect us both teacher and the taught together may the lord protect us both by giving us the results of knowledge may we attain vigor together let what we study be illuminating maybe not cavale at each other om peace peace peace we are studying the qatar panishad and the dialogue between the little boy nachiketa who's the student and the teacher is the awesome lord of death yama who is teaching nachiketa about the nature of the self about what we truly are and then in the last few verses we have seen in 21 and 22 he has used 20 20 21 22 paradoxical language smaller than the smallest faster than the vastest and located within our own minds then that which goes everywhere although it is and it is seated in one place um when it it it lies down and it spreads everywhere who can know this this extraordinary entity which is with joy and beyond joy also madame adam devamp it is without a body and yet it is existing in our bodies within within this very body this vast self now all this contradictory this paradoxical language i told you last time it is used to point out the nature of the self because it cannot be said directly the atman cannot be expressed directly in language language cannot refer to that reality why it cannot refer to that reality we have discussed a number of times what language can do and what language cannot do all right now because it is so subtle you need there are certain spiritual practices sadhana to realize the atman and that's what yama is going to talk about in mantra number 23 and 24. this is very subtle so who can realize this it can be realized but who can realize this and who cannot realize this in these two mantras he will point out the sadhanas the practices [Music] cannot be known through much study nor through the intellect not through much hearing it can be known through the self alone that the aspirant prays to this self of that seeker reveals its true nature the way it is put it can be confusing it says all the things that we are doing you know attending uh classes and studying and um all of these things it's it's just saying right here you can't realize the atman by all these things now what it means is just by these things one cannot realize the point of this mantra is one must really want it if one does not want it then no matter how much of you know texts you study how much you memorize how much you try to understand it will not work until one really wants it the the point of this mantra we will see later the point of this mantra is that what sudama krishna is to say the one condition for god realization for enlightenment is vyakulata in the words of sri ramakrishna which you see in the lives of all great saints whether it is ramakrishna or khabib or mirabai or or any of the great things from ancient times in every religion you find it's not somebody who got to enlightenment casually you know i just attended a couple of lectures and i became enlightened it never happens that way so generally you will see a very intense one pointed search for god realization whether it is a dualistic theistic religion whether it is in buddhism whether it is in advaita vedanta the intense desire for enlightenment must be there so that is what is being talked about here but the language we'll have to see clearly what it what yama wants to say here it is put in such a way one may misunderstand so there's no other way of getting it except through it and then he says whoever the self chooses to that one the self reveals itself now in dualistic interpretations of uh this immediately this is put it as the doctrine of grace kripa you cannot realize god through any sadhana only by the grace of god you can realize god so at that point in that interpretation atma would be replaced by god so that is the dualistic interpretation but in advaita vedanta what does it mean you will see the commentator shankara makes it clear the yama says who will realize the atman the one whom the atman chooses to itself to to that one dotman will reveal itself the ultimate reality will reveal itself but then the question arises whom will the atman choose then shankaracharya says that one who chooses the atman so if you if you want to realize the atman yourself then yourself the ultimate nature of yourself will be revealed to you let us go to shankara's commentary i will read out a few portions and explain this uh interesting mantra if you just read about it it will seem that pravarchana by talks classes medha by you know by intellect uh shavana by hearing you know the krav maga it seems to say by none of these uh you can realize god or you can become enlightened but this is what we are trying to do where shankaracharya introduces this mantra by saying although this atma is very difficult to realize it is subtle it is uh very difficult to ascertain what it is but by the proper methods it is easily realizable so that's the point of this mantra not to discourage you by saying whatever you do you are not going to become enlightened only if the atman has its grace on you see atman has its grace on your atman is you so what does it mean you have your grace on you your higher self has your grace on you what does it mean it only means if you want to realize it that is the one condition krishna again and again said the one conditional enlightenment is the intense desire to see god or intense desire to be liberated to be free in the four-fold qualification which we read in vedanta and the introduction to any vedanta we have the fourfold qualifications what are the fourfold quali qualifications viveka discernment between the eternal and the non-eternal vairagya dispassion for the non-eternal that means a detachment dispassion turning away from that then the six-fold treasure which are disciplines and then finally the last one mumuksutam intense yearning srirama krishna says and shankaracharya also in uh vivek rahman he says this intense yearning is what is actually required for enlightenment um once this has come enlightenment is guaranteed whichever path you are walking on if you are walking on the path of god realization dualistic devotion to god you will get god realization if you are walking on the path of self-realization you will get it basically what we want intensely we will attain it that wanting intensely is what is being emphasized here but the way he is putting it is yamaha is telling nachiketa um this self you cannot attain it you cannot realize it means attaining means shankaracharya says unknowable realizable it is not realizable by a lot of here pravachana is vedic study or you know attending talks on veda like we are attending talks on vedanta for example is that intelligence is the is a spiritual intelligence a capacity of our intellect chankaracharya simply defines it it is a pretty secular definition he the says to assimilate the meaning of a text the ability to hold on to assimilate the meaning of a text not just the words so the first one pravarchana you've heard the words you've read the books i borrowed the books from the library i've gone through all the reading lists so have you understood no not much what's the difference between the two pravatana is i'm acquainted with the reading list i'm acquainted with the text but i really haven't gotten much from it the next step is to understand what has been said there that is that is indicated by medha by intelligence um systematically studying vedanta texts if i keep on doing it will i become enlightened no not even by that why this is interesting is we have been told shavana manana nidhi dhasana is the way to become enlightened here by sramana he includes banana native dhasan also so by savannah manananan and egypt jason i cannot realize the atman so he is now building up up to one important point that we must really want it all of these are necessary so you must approach vedantic texts you must attend the talks you must try to understand what is being said and you must go through the ass this is the thing to do and what we are doing but the essential condition shankaracharya now points out and the opponent itself puts it this way then what is the essential condition who will realize the self the one whom um the atma chooses means chooses by that one the the atman will be realized to that one this atma reveals its real nature so this is the point where dualistic interpreters will say kripa grace this is we're talking about the grace of god god will choose but it is not enough to put it that way why because god's grace is always there it's not that god's grace is there on some and god's grace is not there on others srirama krsna's used to you know he lived on the bank of the river and he would see these little boats even now you can see sometimes they raise their sail there's a little stale also and sudama krishna says the wind of god's grace is always blowing raise your sail and you'll catch that wind so like the boat the wind is blowing the boat those boat men who raise that sail then the boat sails along merrily on the river similarly if you catch raise the sale means you have to put forth that effort and raising the sale here would mean all of these things and all of this will be included now [Music] so the atma is realizable by that one by whom not by the one you see just the by the uh march uses it doesn't make much sense because atma is your own self it's always there always shining forth we must want it then shankara said he makes a comment so he says nishkama the one who has turned away from worldly desires the intensity of desire for god realization is inversely proportional to our pull towards the world it just is not convincing that i am very greedy and and i am very much in a you know invested in chasing worldly pleasures very much angry with some people very much upset with others very much jealous with others and i'm also intensely desiring god it doesn't work all these emotions have to be gathered up and channeled towards in our spiritual path then only it works this is this is uh in vedanta the fourfold qualification the final one mokshutum intense desire to be free like um two examples are there one is srila krishna himself is to give that example when the disciple came and asked the guru why am i not realizing god why am i not invited being enlightened then the guru took him to the river for a bath and then dunked him in the river and held him down under the water still the boy started struggling then the guru let him out how did you feel and that boy said i would have given anything for one breath of air so when you feel like that for god realization you will surely attain god realization so that's an example another example they say in which is vedic example shirovarata suppose somebody's head is on fire now you're running around that person will run around to find any water and jump into that water to douse the fire on the head which means such an intense desire the world is such a problem for me samsara is such a problem for me suffering is such a problem for me i want to get out of it now who will feel like that person who is suffering very much not necessarily a lot of people are suffering very much deep suffering is there but they don't want to get out of it they want that suffering to be solved somebody is in great financial difficulty in debt and i'm going to commit suicide because of that i can't pay up the debt if somebody comes and pays up the debt very good done no problem now will the uh problem arise the question arise why was there so much suffering then the samsara is full of suffering what is the solution to all this no no no once the debt has been paid off my problem is solved i'll go on the same thing again and so for everything illness is there i'm sick now illness is natural ultimately the body is prone to illness how to realize my existence that i am not the body not the mind that question does not come up what comes up is how can this illness be cured whether i go to the doctor or whether i go to god my question is not enlightenment how can the illness be good so we want worldly solutions for worldly problems it will go on like this it will never be totally solved or at any deep profound level look at the buddha the buddha just by seeing suffering all around he was not suffering he was having a wonderful time but just by seeing suffering all around he realized the inevitability and the ubiquity of suffering and then he wanted a solution for it is there some deep solution which can take us beyond suffering that is the real inquiry that is the great desire to know what is beyond all this jigyasa brahmaji gyasa the inquiry about the ultimate reality when narendra nath was going around and asking people about god he seriously meant it was not a casual question he was like if somebody could give me a convincing answer to my question i will throw in my entire life there and try to realize that's what happened when sudama krishna convinced him god exists god can be experienced and i will show you how god can be experienced so narendra did not just say okay now i've got my answer bye no he threw his life into it and he was transformed into vivekananda but that is that is real not just a curiosity so he says nishkamas and that can happen only when one has a certain amount of detachment from the world otherwise suffering will only let us we will struggle we'll try to solve that suffering and jump back into the world the moment is suffering is reduced um sram krishna is to call it this shamshan vairagya smash on vairagya that means a near and dear one someone dies and then one becomes very spiritual for a while and then goes away maybe in search of god but very soon it's gone and then um back to worldly life again so that which comes after a shock it may lead to permanent interest in spirituality or it may not but it should be permanent otherwise one cannot realize the atman so shankaracharya says not world karma not desiring worldly things but atma kama one who wants to realize intensely wants to realize the one who wants the atma to to that one the atma reveals itself what does it mean reveal it reveals itself atma means self the self is always revealing itself i know that i am the self i am i know this all of us know that i am but he says para martign it's absolute nature not this relative body mind nature this body mind i am this individual person everybody knows nobody has to be told this this is the objection raised against the whole vedanta project what does vedanta say inquiry into the self and what will be the result you will solve all your problems the immediate objection will be first of all what do you inquire into that which you don't know and that enquiries which will be um which will be valuable which will give some result so the puru paksha the objection is against vedanta both of these conditions for inquiry are not fulfilled what are the two conditions for inquiry one i don't know so i would like to enquire and find out second that it will be of some use well both of these conditions are not fulfilled for our you know um this atma sandhana for self inquiry why i know myself i know if i may not know many things in this world but i know that i am here i am server priyanka and i can tell you many things about myself i can bore you endlessly by talking about myself so i know who i am that's number one second one and by knowing myself nothing much has happened i'm still the same person who's suffering so that inquiry is useless which does not give any result i already know who i am and that knowledge has not helped me at all the answer to that will be you do not know who you are vedanta says what you think about yourself that i know myself is only surface knowledge is only fractional knowledge only a very limited knowledge and ultimately it is false it is wrong knowledge you are taking what you are not to be yourself not just a claim we can demonstrate it not very difficult to demonstrate can be demonstrated by the 1880 process we demonstrated what i took to be myself i was completely convinced this is who i am i did not give it a second thought vedanta forces us to give it to give it a second thought take a look what you think to be yourself is not you you are not the body not the mind you are awareness you are the witness consciousness second no use what is the use of the self-inquiry it is a great use by this self-inquiry you will realize what you are having realized what you are you will see this what you really are the atman is beyond all troubles already forever was it is a delusion that i was in so much trouble so delusion that i was in so much limitation so two stages you recognize that you are consciousness not just ordinary we all people will immediately say i know i am consciousness i am body plus consciousness no i'm a conscious body no you are consciousness and only consciousness then mind body comes later you are aware of it so you are this consciousness step one this is your real nature step two appreciate your real nature appreciative real nature means this consciousness is an unlimited consciousness it is not born with the birth of the body does not age with the aging of the body is not diseased with the disease of the body does not die with the death of the body it is not made miserable by the misery of the mind it is not does not hunger for the little pleasures of the senses and the mind it illu means everything is unaffected by anything this when you realize this and i am such a thing which is immortal i am such a thing which is not the mind and not affected by the ups and downs of the mind then it is an amazing thing for me you know i was um the advaitha teacher rupert spyra somebody asked him are there stages in enlightenment he gave a very nice answer and you see that is the pattern adopted in classical vedanta text he says three stages are actually there first stage enlightenment three stages not two enlightenment in enlightenment there are three stages he says first stage is to realize what we are that i am awareness this unlimited awareness not body not mind in drinkdrishya we wake up we do it panchakusha we wake up we do it ours we do it many methods are there but by which we realize what we are that is stage one of enlightenment but second you appreciate what you have discovered that it is actually immortal i thought i was mortal now actually now i appreciated it i am immortal i thought i am trapped by the ups and downs of the mind now i realize no the mind is peaceful happy blissful in one moment next moment the slightest problem our nice world view which we have set up if you disturbed a little bit also immediately unhappy such a rascal mind such a untrustworthy mind why will you depend on it when it shows you a lot of happiness oh i'm very happy no be wary of the mind the mind which delivers so much peace and happiness to you you you are the one who illumines that peaceful happy mind the next moment when the mind becomes upset because something in the world has changed which is not to its liking people have changed health has changed financial condition has changed weather has changed tummy trouble is there some problem mind the mind immediately becomes upset you realize i illumined you my mind when you were peaceful happy uh delighted now when you are troubled and annoyed i'm illumining you i am not a troubled i am not annoyed i am ever the same you appreciate that you are the trouble free awareness ever trouble free consciousness so your rupert's pyro says that is the second stage of enlightenment where you begin to appreciate this amazing thing about your own nature you are already free and trouble free free of your you've got moksha already mukta swabhava then third stage what more is there he says as long as this body lasts you will have to live your life now see with this new knowledge of who you are and this new appreciation of who you are can you deal with the challenges which keep coming to life can you react better and better from now from now onwards this is called jivan mukti he doesn't say that even bhakti but this is actually you realize me and then you appreciate the nature of yourself the glory of yourself again and again the enlightened one sings oh how amazing i am salutations to myself not smallest capitalist self that is the appreciation of one's own glory having appreciated one's own glory not see put it to use practical use let the what do they call rubber hit the road uh let the walk the talk see whether things do not upset you so much that you are brave and you can face big problems in life with calmness that you can stick to what is right and easily overcome what is wrong all of these things the characteristics of sita pragya are they coming into my life that is the third stage so the atman reveals itself to the one who intensely wants the atman so this is the meaning of nayamatma prabhupada in aleppo so by vedantic study will atma be attending vedantic classes talks atma will not be attained no unless one wants it if one wants it then of course one will attend these talks one way to try to get knowledge name is not required then the capacity to understand and absorb shankaracharya says grant shakti not required of course it is required in fact in vedanta it's required more than anything else once i mentioned this in the gospel of krishna a lot of vedantic talk was going on brahman atman maya suram krishna listened very carefully and then he said in bengali this talk is good the words are very good but there should be dharana assimilation of what has been taught you know that it becomes a reality for me i can hold on to it i can live my life not just words so medha is very much required he says not by a lot of shravada so shawn is not required yes it is very much required but all of this follows the essential condition i really want enlightenment then all of these will work um of course one might then say i don't have that intense desire for enlightenment which seram krishna had vivekananda had buddha had so i will not get enlightenment for us the time will take a little longer that's all we have it not to that extent not to the level of excellence which yama is demanding here not to the level naji keta has it intense desire for uh this self knowledge but we all have it otherwise we wouldn't be here why are we all sitting here talking reading with anthem we have it only this process will develop it further this what we are doing will increase our increase our intensity of intensity to no yeah and i also pointed out that those who want to interpret want to bring in grace they bring it in at this point because the language is very much suitable for interpretation as grace by the grace of the atman of course by the grace of atman doesn't make much sense so by the grace of god one becomes enlightened and that definitely makes sense only as i said grace of god is always there in the chandooga upanishad seventh chapter narada he goes to sanat kumar and uh yeah and then there he asks give me make me enlightened and then [Music] kumar says that what do you know you are known as a great sage so you must have studied a lot tell me what you know and now that he does the whole thing all kinds of ideas all knowledge i mean if you just see the syllabus of our university the whole syllabus he tells every branch of knowledge he has mastered then you know everything no not other says no i know the words but i do not i have not realized the meaning of it so i am acquainted with the texts i've done all the reading but and i know all worldly sciences but atma i do not know why would you want to know the atma you've got multiple phds you know you're the most learned person one the knower of the self goes beyond sorrow so i have heard i have not gone beyond soul after learning so much also i have not crossed over the ocean of sorrow narada is a real seeker naji keta is a real seeker narendra was a real seeker buddha was a real seeker krishna was a real seeker because the world they saw it as a problem to be transcended and that there is a possibility of transcending the suffering of the world as i said earlier also just suffering will not make us a real seeker a lot of people suffer but they don't become seekers and there is a saying i forgotten sanskrit but the meaning of the saying is to the thinker to the sensitive soul everything is suffering whatever is in the world is dissatisfying it is like see um the eyeballs even uh the scene strand of a cobweb spider's web if that will be irritating to the eyeball eyeball is very sensitive so to the eyeball that will also be irritating similarly to the sensitive mind of the thinking person sensitive person everything in this world will be dissatisfying and they'll want to find a deeper higher truth what other qualifications so we understand we have the takeaway from this is you want you need intense desire for enlightenment good what else what else do you need next all the other qualifications are being mentioned here 24. santa translation given by gambiranji one who has not desisted from bad conduct whose senses are not under control whose mind is not concentrated whose mind is not free from anxiety about the result of concentration cannot attain this self through knowledge how will you become enlightened through knowledge how will you get knowledge and this is what we have heard again and again but here yama points out again that it will not work unless these preliminary conditions are satisfied what are these preliminary conditions we know them well the fourfold qualifications what has been said here this is the raw material out of which which was later systemized systematized as the fourfold qualifications any standard entry text into advaita vedanta they will talk about sadhana adhikari means the person is qualified for vedanta has fourfold qualification we read in vedanta means the one who needs who seeks knowledge when does the seeker of knowledge become an adhikari qualified for vedanta when that person is equipped with the fourfold qualifications um the first sutra of brahma sutras if we translate it directly it will mean hence therefore enquiry into brahman that means an entry into vedanta but what is the meaning of this hence and therefore so commentator has to explain sutra is compact it has to be expanded by the commentator so shankaracharya comments there um hence hence means what whence so there he says this hence means equipped with the fourfold qualifications so this is the meaning of that and therefore means wherefore because the one the person sees the limited nature of this samsara that suffering is inevitable here therefore the one seeks some kind of some ultimate solution to the problems of the world some the answer to this mystery of life what is going on here why are we here is there some way of transcending the problems of the world therefore brahmaji gyasa an enquiry into brahman exactly what all great seekers have done throughout they may not have read brahma-sutra but they did it they were qualified look at vivekananda look at buddha look at ramakrishna they qualified and they they were seeking this ultimate reality they were troubled by the sorrows of the world and then they inquired into that ultimate reality inquiry is not just reading is the first intense desire to be free and then these qualifications again to repeat what are the qualifications already have been talked about earlier we wake up the discernment between nithyananda eternal reality is there god atma brahman whatever you call it all religion says something is there i take it seriously then you have viveka vairagya this world which entangles us continuously i turn away from it for for the purpose of realization i don't give it that much importance 90 percent of my time and energy are going there 90 percent of my mind is given there spirituality is not possible that then the six-fold treasures these are disciplines these disciplines are now going to be talked about here yama is saying that these are the things which are necessary remember the disciplines shama a calmness of the mind the mind must not be restless thinking about dozens of different things dhamma control of the organs organs of actions and organs of knowledge eyes want to see something always running after what to give nice things for the eyes to see nice sound music for the ears to hear and could be music or it could be words of praise for me people i must always listen to praise and people praising me and that is also here tongue always seeking nice tasty food what the tongue wants and touch you know nice soft comfortable things to wear to lie down in a comfortable bed and all of that so with the touch or temperature control try again and again here that when people go to india or go back to india how uncomfortable it is it's not as cold as it here is here in new york but we always feel cold in india why because whatever is outside is also inside if it is 40 degrees outside it's 40 degrees in your house it's 40 degrees in the bed also fahrenheit so uh that's because they are they have become used to comfort no a certain control dhamma control of the sense organs then spiritual toughness ups and downs will be there in the world ups and downs will be there in the body also health and other problems will be there mind also but one must forebear with that not be disturbed from one's vedantic study then um uparati or withdrawal of the senses from too much engagement withdrawal from fundamental side the too much engagement with the world trying to get happiness from worldly success from entertainment continuously trying to be entertained by things in the world no so this means entertainment becoming too much you know taking pleasure inward in the senses in the world uparati reverse pull back then samadhana what you have pulled back now you must concentrate it on the other one focus in meditation in prayer in study it all must be focused on your goal of god realization then um a deep faith that it will sustain you all these disciplines will be sustained by the deep faith that there is some ultimate reality here this is worthwhile pursuit it's a worthwhile pursuit something the best thing best adventure that human being can engage upon is this adventure to realize the ultimate reality it is possible once i realize it is possible why should i not pursue it is the greatest thing that there is in life now this we have seen when we study vedanta you see this again and again every text will tell you this but the upanishad when you see this nupanisha you realize what we read in later texts like upper oksana bhuti or vivek vedanta they are all systematizations of the materials collected from the operations what are those materials here you see where did those six-fold treasures where did they come from here you see first nadi shankaracharya says immoral action immoral behavior and then he describes what is charitable um what is not prescribed in your religious texts in your moral text or what our own conscious conscience tells us is not right if i still continue to do that and i internally feel guilty but i continue to do that you have not stopped from immoral activities in your life this is for such a person this is called na avirata dushjarita has not stopped from immoral action one must stop it does not matter if we have done it earlier but one must one once one recognizes it is not right to speak in that way to act in that way even to think in such a way it's not right one one feels that then stop that that much stopping diseased from it then second so he says not only his activities i'm not doing anything immoral everything of what i'm doing is accepted by society society gives a take path to it that it's all right nothing wrong in it but it's continuously engagement in the indriyas in seeing things hearing things continuous busyness in the world outside then also self-knowledge is not possible the indriyas the senses are uncontrolled i may dress it up as as a work i remember when i was a young novice one day i was sitting in the office after aarothi i was sitting in the office and doing some office work when i was scolded by the senior man the monk in charge of the ashram he said what were you doing there instead of his work no i don't want to see you in the office after uh evening already either you will sit and meditate when you go to your room shut yourself in your room if you can meditate if you can study good i don't even care if you sit in your room and if you fall asleep also i don't care i don't want you to come out of the room until the bell for night food is given see what is it teaching me this constant restlessness busyness stop it at one time you must be able to you must be able to throw yourself into work but you also must be able to step back from work so this indriya this continuous restlessness of the indriyas the reason why we don't realize the self within is because our attention is being continuously focused outside by our um our the senses the senses are turned outwards you see what was the mantra the senses swam who i forget the mantra very famous mantra the lord has damaged our senses because they have made our senses outward flowing the senses the entire sensory system has been turned outwards and of course it has been turned outward the sensors are meant to help us to see realize the world they have been turned outwards but the problem is because of that such a powerful system our limited attention is continuously flowing out through that and therefore we do not see the inner reality in our reality means our the consciousness which is lighting up the mind and through the mind is lighting up the senses that consciousness is not uh we are not attending to it so second thing is the senses must be withdrawn then the mind even if the senses are withdrawn i may not be doing anything wrong i may not be you know going out and partying or browsing internet all the time or playing video games or something but i'm sitting quietly eyes closed quietly sitting but mind is continuously roaming around mind is thinking about worldly things this is the next third one mind is restless i am quiet i am not doing anything wrong my injurys are also quiet i'm sitting steady in meditation morning and evening but the mind is not settled you know either on the mantra or on the breath whatever your technique of meditation or in vedanta on the pointer which has been given to me that i am the witness of all movements of the mind the sakshi that attention is not there flickering mind he says that also then you cannot realize the atman then finally you control the senses so no immoral action you lead an ethical life then control the senses then quieted the mind in meditation even then one more step has to be done shankaracharya says samaya jittopi even when the mind is concentrated i have concentrated now i must realize the atman i must become enlightened now that idea seizes me so that is good no it is not good why even if that idea is there that is also a disturbance that's also in the mind after all you are the atman that and that one will not be realized by the mind the atman will reveal itself what does it mean batman reveal itself all those have been nicely talked about in vedanta-saar at the end of vedanta-san brahmati those who remember you will remember palabrati and british what the mind can do and what the mind cannot do what the reflected consciousness reveals but what the reflected consciousness cannot reveal the original consciousness original consciousness shines for those things we talked about those are the technical details of what happens at the moment of enlightenment so that will not happen if the mind is quiet but still there is an anxiety about god realization that now now it will happen even a devoted devotee who may not be doing this vedantic approach just ishta devata dhyana and japa the person is doing and then that anxiety is there i've done so much i still haven't got the vision of god one sadhu who was in rishikesh wrote to mashaarada in those these letters that ask the mother the letters used to be read out to the mother ask the mother that i have done so much of japan day and night i do japan but um [Music] krishna has not revealed himself to me yet when will salam krishna have krippa on me grace on me so the mother told dictated write to him strict letter she wrote back saying that that god is not like a sack of potatoes you've got the money and you go to the vegetable market and you buy the sack of potatoes if you've got enough money so i've done so much japan now i can purchase god no just now we read in the mantra not by your own sadhana will you realize by the grace of god you will realize in a devotional context or by your intensity you will realize so no that's the first thing mother said right and second she wrote she told them to write to him he has become a sadhu if he will not do japa and dhana what else will he do this sadhu let him do that so that anxiety once swami nikhilanan said something to swami tudyananda we don't know what he said but we have got the reply of swami turiyanandoji to nikkilanji the letter so amituriyanji the direct disciple of sri ramakrishna is calling swami nikhilanji that behind this so-called restlessness for god is some other motive that we have told you to be patient and keep on doing this you will realize god so what is he um squashing depth it is this final anxiety of a of a good sadaka of a great sadhaka who may be very close to enlightenment but that final anxiety why am i not realizing when will it happen i have fulfilled all the conditions drop that also that's what turianji is telling in that letter to nikhilanji then once one drops that then one will realize then he says you realize by pragyana means that brahmacara that knowledge will not arise if the other four qualifications four things he has mentioned first of all um moral life moral dharmic life if that is if the life is adharmic if i am deliberately doing wrong things in my life they are itself disqualified second i am following an ethical life as far as i can second senses are scattered restless i remember once we were studying vedanta and senior swami was there and we used to sit on a mat on the floor and one brahmacari was sitting a friend of mine and his you know this his leg was on his lap and it was his foot he was moving his foot like this and the swami said stop what are you doing there's even little restlessness shown in the body it shows some some restlessness in the mind so restlessness of the sense organs and mortal organs calm it down i was reading some of the old teachings five six hundred years ago so they're old hindi there should not be restlessness in your walking restlessness in your talking then after the senses are gathered and quietened the mind also should not flicker the mind also should not dwell on things continuously flow out on things other than the self or the ishta devata and finally fourth condition that very subtle point in which the mind is i must realize god drop that of course you will realize god but don't keep thinking about that it's a very subtle instruction applies only to advanced seekers all right then pragyani without this by knowledge one will not attain the atman but when these conditions are satisfied then knowledge will arise and that you will realize you'll be definitely be able to realize that you are drama now yama concludes his this particular section by talking about the nature of the ultimate reality 25th verse 25th mantra yes so nice mantra little mystifying what he says here is it's been translating translation by gambinji how can one know thus as to where this this self is for which self both the brahmana and dakshatriya become food and for which death takes the place of a curry so now we have lunch coming up what yama says here is look at the the glory the awesomeness of your own self what is the awesomeness of your own self it says the brahman and the khatri are like rice to it you know lunch you eat rice odana means rice the atman eats it up we'll see what it means later let me give you the literal meaning first death i myself you must say i myself i'm deaf i bring an end to everything in this universe i am not even rice i'm like a curry i'm like uh pickles i'm like sauce i'm like a savory thing which is like a side dish such is the atman such are you and is it easy to realize this who can realize this who means who one who has not got these qualifications one with these fourfold qualifications will realize will become enlightened one without the fourfold qualifications will not become invited this is the point now why this language what why suddenly brahmin and shatriya so what he means here is this the brahmin is the one who teaches who's at the top of society who teaches spirituality and religion and morals and who teaches knowledge to society that one and chatria who protects society these are the the most privileged elite sections of society by them is indicated the rest of society all human beings and by that is indicated all animals and plants all living beings indeed all of the universe so this is an indication for everything in the universe all of samsara all of the universe is like rice eaten in lunch as you eat it up what is the deeper meaning of this eaten by the atman it means atman is the cause of everything is the reality which manifests as everything how do you get that what eats up the cause eats up the effect what do i mean by it when the pot is broken clay pot is broken what remains clay when the wave which arises in the water subsides where does it go back to water it arose in water it was water also when it were arose and it went back only water remained gold ornaments if you melt it down what will remain gold so in that sense the clay is eating up the pot because it is dissipating to clay the water is eating up the waves and the gold is eating up the ornaments in that sense it's disappeared back into its cause so brahman and dakshatriya and every section of society and all living beings and all non-living beings entire universe is eaten up by the atman means the atman is that from which all of them have come all right second i was mentioning brahma sutra the second sutra of the brahmasutras janmadyasya but etc of the universe comes from which that is brahman yasmat brahma of this universe where from it arises in which it exists and into which it disappears that is brahman it's like saying where from this wave arises in which the wave exists into which it disappears that is water similarly the atman it eats up everything means that it is the source of everything all of these are appearances in the atman we do that our dream universe when you wake up wake up don't you eat up everything in your dream universe everything in the dream universe is eaten up by you sure in one of his verses he says what is the characteristic of the enlightened one the enlightened one can eat up the entire universe the whole universe and the enlightened one can put in his belly you can you put the universe in your tummy what it means is you are the awareness in which the universe appears plays around and disappears like the wave appears plays around and disappears in water like the all the contents of a dream appear in the dreaming mind play around and disappear into back into the dreaming mind when the dreaming mind awakens similarly you are the atman you are in technical vedantic terms the one undivided intelligent and material cause of the universe but what kind of cause vivata karnam that which appears as the effect you're like the rope which appears as the snake like the desert which appears like the mirage like the sky which appears to be blue not that the rope has become a snake not that the desert has become water not that the sky has actually become blue even when it looks blue similarly not that you the atman have become this universe or this person even when it looks like that you are still awareness itself in you all this is appearing you are the one who eats up the universe when the moment right now in kashmir shaivism there is the idea of bhairava when bhairava opens the eyes eyes open the universe manifests when bhairava closes his eyes the universe disappears into maharava that bharanath ravanath vamanath the bhairava is the one who literally vomits out the universe who sustains the universe and then dissolves it back into oneself who is this bhairava who can do this to the universe it's you it's consciousness how does the behavior do that karnadishti when the eyes are open when you see the table you see the chair you see the wave what is kara nadeshi when the eyes are closed means with the eye of knowledge you see the wood which is appearing at the table and chair you see the water which is appearing as thousands of waves similarly karya rashti bhairava's eyes are open you see a world body mind world individuals samsara you turn it around you see awareness only in which names and forms are playing around this is the opening of the eyes and closing up the eyes this is the eye of knowledge closing of these eyes means opening the eye of knowledge by which you reduce this universe to its reality it's cons consciousness here it is called eating up eating up the atman eats of the universe and british time itself is nothing for it so space and time and causation time space and causation maya is nothing for it it's just a tasty sauce or you know upon means curry or a sauce with which nicely you can mix up the rice and eat it up so this this is the meaning who can realize such a self the only one who has got those qualifications which i mentioned oh naji keta beware only because of those qualifications you are able to realize the one who is not qualified by like you and that one will not become enlightened again in another way yama will go on with the teaching the next section let me quickly look at the comments here sean lee says when can one understand that he or she is spiritually enlightened no problem at all because um your enlightenment itself will show you that you're enlightened he gives a rather crude example the little boy asked the mother mother when is time for me to go to toilet you wake me up the mother said don't worry the feeling of going to toilet itself will wake you up from sleep don't worry about it similarly you don't have to be told that you're enlightened you will see for yourself but one good test is what is the promise that you will go beyond sorrow you will attain fulfillment you check for yourself have i gone beyond sorrow have i attained fulfillment unshakable fulfillment have i gone beyond sorrow yes then you are lucky no then some more work is remaining gaurav says our attention flows outside after understanding vedanta and bringing that attention to awareness being aware of being aware is that what is meant by one's choosing self by word yearning i get sense of lack but understanding vedanta i'm going to awareness knowing that i ultimately don't like anything it's correct however the more important thing more important than being at bringing attention to awareness is uh realizing what i am not because bringing attention to awareness can create a problem the awareness which you are supposed to attend to is not an object you cannot attend to it you have to realize that everything that comes to your attention is not i that um alertness is required so every problem that comes to me how do i apply vedanta to understand that problem and see that it is an object it's a drishya and i am the unaffected witness don't try to make the witness an object knowing that i ultimately don't lack anything yes this ultimately don't lack anything it's not just rhetoric that i don't like anything telling oneself no as long as i feel the lack there is i'm still looking towards samsara to fulfill me i have not yet appreciated the unlimited nature of myself the atman when i'm unlimited what do i lack unlimited misinfinite if i see there is some unhappiness dissatisfaction in the mind let me inquire if i have realized i am brahman why should the mind be dissatisfied what would it lack should be at peace should be full of joy often it is past habits the mind has a state of acting as body mind and holding on to past dissatisfactions or conditioning so that has to be given up deema says how does desire to be enlightened increase does it follow reconditioning of causal body listening rationalizing meditating i'll just give a hint i mentioned this earlier the fourfold qualification the last one is the intense desire to be enlightened which yama says is most important but the question here is how do i intensify that if that's most important how do i intensify that if you remember in the four-fold qualifications i have mentioned there's a secret to it each one is the cause of the next one so intense desire to be uh liberated the cause of that is the six treasures the six treasures the disciplines if i if i find my desire to be liberated is not intense let me intensify those disciplines then the effect will be intensification of the desire for enlightenment but i can't i find my disciplines are lacks they're not strong enough then instead of struggling there let me intensify the one before that what is that dispassion for the world the moment there is deep dispassion for the world those disciplines will become natural to me and then the intense desire for enlightenment or devotion to god one of the two will grow but dispassion for the world is not coming then let me intensify the first one that viveka let me sit and think about it this difference between the ultimate spiritual reality and samsara nithyanathas let me be very clear about it otherwise there's some confusion there some kind of thinking that the things in this world are real they're important they are nice they're worth having some kind of understanding is there that's a misunderstanding that has to be removed rodrigo says does quantum mechanics reveal that life is but a dream and there's so many interpretations it's very interesting physics quantum mechanics so many interpretations i suppose you can give philosophical meanings to some of these interpretations that they are given nowadays interpretations rick says the six-fold treasure seems number two control of senses sense action and for number four withdrawal senses from too much engagement are very similar how are they different so control of the organs of sense and action is at the physical level like that novice brahmacharya was tapping his foot stop it's a gross example but there are many such things in them and some of them can be pretty subtle what my eyes are doing what my ears are what they want am i chasing my tongue that means trying to get good good food so all of these things control their kind of moderation and discipline there so that's at that level but the uber rati the withdrawal that is at the mental level the mind the desires in the mind are what are forcing the senses out into those uh their their respective avenues so that has to be given up at the mind the mind has to be reversed that i am not interested in those things i am interested in something which is my own inner reality let me turn inwards then the senses also will be automatically withdrawn but before that a certain amount of control of senses are necessary then shavani says difference between anxiety restlessness for realization yeah that's why it's a very subtle point is general one pointedness towards god realization it will it will color your whole life i want god realization i want enlightenment but there is a certain um subtle very subtle disturbance created in the mind which is eager to say i now want god realization but the problem is the mind cannot get god realization the mind cannot get atma gyana the atman is revealed in the mind because the atman is subprakash the mind can only be put in the right format which is what we did in the vedanta sarah you see brahmacaravity so yes but the distinction is very subtle just right sri says at epiphanies those aha moments not good or truth revealing itself there are fleeting moments certain points in life and even for a brief second once life comes into focus or makes perfect sense while that is not enlightenment is the glimpse of realization those are good insights they are helpful and to the extent that they are retained and they actually change one's life one's perceptions of life so one's growing in wisdom but enlightenment is very specific it is uh the realization that god is real and forever it you know there's a before and after after that the god or the atman brahman is real for you and is continuously accessible for you so that's a much deeper phenomenon otherwise what you're speaking about will happen to everybody as we come become mature as we experience things in life better and better understanding comes as we read the same texts as we practice japa and vihana better and better understanding will come that's good the very thin dividing line between intense desire for enlightenment expecting the result of spiritual practice yes that is the same point intensity for anything need not be accompanied by anxiety or restlessness it can be steady intensity yes as shown in uh one's life study sincere focus on god realization it's a very subtle point but yama thought it important to mention it and then i remember in some of the dharanas mentioned in kashmir shaivism a practice is given and you have to meditate on that and blank out everything else and hold on to that particular practice or thought but at the last moment you're supposed to let go of that practice so the final thing is not something that is accomplished by the mind it is something if you're devotional you'll say it comes from ishvara from bhagavan god if you are an advaitan you will say swap shines forth all right good let us on to the shanti oms [Music]