Video 21

21. Katha Upanishad | Mantras 1.3.2 - 9 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

may the lord protect us both the teacher and the taught together may the lord nourish us by giving us the results of knowledge may we attain vigor together may our study be illuminating may we not cavale at each other home peace peace peace so we are studying the cut open issue as you know this supernatural is divided into uh two chapters each of three sections so we are in the uh third section of the first chapter we have almost come towards the end of the first chapter so we are doing the third section last time we did one mantra and now i'm going to the next one the third section is well known for the analogy of the chariot the famous analogy in the upanishads which we will see now the chariot is is compared to us to the sentient being the body-mind complex then so now the second mantra [Music] reading swami gambiranji's translation we have known that nachiketa fire which is the bridge for the sacrifices as also that which is the undecaying supreme brahman beyond fear for those who want to cross over the world so in this mantra is basically recapitulating whatever we saw in the earlier section the second section and the of the upanishad we learned two things one is karma kanda the other one is gyanakanda basically it covers the whole of the vedic religion and indeed all of religion is sort of in within this encompassed within this what does religion consist of two things one is that the ultimate purpose of religion which is spirituality which is in every religion there is this concept of moksha nirvana you know liberation salvation the final goal of of spirituality so that's the purpose of all religion ultimately religion is meant for that so i'm vivekananda puts it this way the goal of religion is to manifest the divinity already within us that's the goal of religion that's the goal of human life but suppose somebody is not ready for that yet suppose somebody says i don't understand all that it doesn't pull me doesn't attract me tell me this life which i've got how best can i live this life so religion also tells us that um how to make this life this worldly life a more a better life how how to live it more wisely uh how with uh the teachings of ethics a moral life a balanced life you can pursue your worldly goals but within the limits of ethics and decency do good karma so that you will earn what do you call it brownie points so that you you get a better life and not only this life all religions talk about a here and a hereafter that after death we go somewhere so that also is a good place we go to a good place that is assured by this kind of conventional religion so it's conventional religion mainstream religion you will see all of it it tells us in every religion it's there it's it's basically the most common form of religion the mass form of religion which tells us how to live a wiser life in this world one might ask why isn't that enough isn't that all that there is no every religion at the core of it especially here in vedanta vedant is the core of hinduism it tells us that this life is not enough even if you try to live well even if you live a decent moral life it will just be a better version of what is already a bad thing that ultimately death will always be there you will be caught in the cycle of birth and death suffering is inevitable you may reduce it by having a lot of good karma but one cannot get out of it and finally it is disappointing and it is unsatisfying at one point we would like to go beyond this to attain some deep peace deep satisfaction some fulfillment we want that any mature person will want that and then comes the real religion that is the second the core of religion spirituality here it is put in two ways in the cut openership we learn two things one is rajikita the second boon he asked for the best kind of religious rituals because that's what he saw his parents and uncles and aunts all of them they were engaged in that kind of ritualistic religion how do i get to not only a good life here but hereafter get to heaven in this in this world and next world so that the best form of ritual which was taught to him was ultimately named after him by yama and it's called the nachiketa the national fire ritual so that becomes like a bridge that nachiketa fire ritual in the language of this mantra it becomes for a bridge which takes us beyond the limited existence beyond this sorrowful mundane worldly existence to the highest heaven possible so the best possible heavenly existence again impermanent impermanent and bound to come back again into this world but that's the best that can be achieved by conventional religion so that's one thing we learned but the more important thing we learned was it is possible to go beyond sorrow permanently it is possible to attain infinite uh existence infinite life infinite joy our real nature is subject existence consciousness bliss and if we realize ourselves to be that we go beyond sorrow permanently we attain bliss we attain fulfillment permanently so that's the second thing we learned that is the core of religion or core of spirituality or sometimes i call it the lower religion and the higher religion the lower religion is the conventional religion and nothing to uh you know mock at or look down upon because that is the mass immediately one cannot become attracted to advaita vedanta self-realization enlightenment many people don't understand what exactly you guys are spending so much time and energy on what will it give you more money will it ensure that your family is going to be better off than it is now what are you even if it make does it make people a little more moral of better people but that's all conventional religion so conventional religion is good and it is the foundation of you know a moral society but this is the higher religion once people come to conventional religion then they look for ultimate questions you know like so by the blessings of god i have a good life but can i actually experience god can i see god or yes i was not a good person now with the help of conventional religion i've become a moral person a decent person good person to my family and my community i am a much better person thank thank you very much but then who am i who is this better person who is continuously struggling with a change full world and you know everything even the good things in life also disappear finally is what is the meaning to life what is the point to all of it so such a question a question of self-inquiry who am i or the question of is there god can we experience god this is these are the fundamental questions at one time even conventional religion is not enough one needs to you know face these questions and seek and answer for it then higher religion starts for us spirituality starts for us so that's what we're all engaged in here when you come to vedanta vedanta is only spirituality it's we already transcended the conventional religion transcended conventional religion again don't mistake me we have not transcended morality or ethics spirituality is based on a moral life and we will see more of that now when the chariot analogy comes along but before that he says say to sayto means bridge this um for those who are fire sacrifices conventionally religious vedic religion for them this is a bridge this nachiketa fire sacrifice is a bridge to the higher life where you attain the best possible heaven we have understood that but more importantly we have understood that there is something even greater than that the highest aksharam brahmayatparam there is a reality called brahma which is pure being pure awareness and complete fulfill fulfillment ananda transcends our senses transcends time and space and transcends causality param aksharam unchanging everything else is changing even what conventional religion gives you even the highest heaven changing you go there when your good karma is exhausted you come back but this brahman attainment of liberation what is that liberation abhayam shatam param it is the abode of fearlessness for whom those who want to cross over this samsara of this ocean of samsara who want to go to the further shore of this ocean of samsara they want to see it through bring the game of life to end this life and death the cycle of life and death to a conclusion to escape from this vicious circle for them the the fearless state is brahman or the fearless reality abhayam is brahman these are the things that we have learned now in order to realize this realize which one brahman in fact in order to realize both by the naji keith of fire you'll go to the higher heaven the conventional religion that and specially enlightenment and freedom for both of these purposes especially for the second purpose for enlightenment for realizing brahman for liberation now the analogy of the chariot is being introduced so that will now be introduced it is called rata kalpana rather kalpana kalpana means imagination but technically kalpana means an example a paradigm uh an analogy that is being introduced for what purpose for giving us a framework for practicing spiritual disciplines and realizing who we are what good does that do we realize somebody asked me um a couple of weeks back all this you're doing in vedanta what good i mean suppose you become enlightened what good does it do what good does it do think about what you are saying when you become enlightened what do you what the enlightened about what not that a light bulb goes off in your head what do you become enlightened about you become enlightened about what you are so you become enlightened to the idea that you are immortal your body may be born and it may die age and die you are not born you don't age and die isn't that a great gain yes you are enlightened to the fact that you are complete you are fulfilled there's nothing in the world that you need nothing that the world can offer that that you need you you don't hanker for anything in the world do not go around with the begging bowl for happiness in this world so isn't that a great game that's a tremendous thing the whole mystery of life is solved what is the reality in this universe in this life you realize that i am that reality the fear of death is overcome the hankering for little pleasures from this world going around with the begging bowl for give me happiness give me happiness you know to this world that goes away forever you become forever fulfilled and over and above that as long as you are here in this body and mind that you're still embodied you you have the means of overcoming suffering physical suffering mental or emotional suffering if the problems will keep coming and yet you will somehow be able to you know like those expert surf riders will be able to um ride above the waves of those problems so isn't this a great gain you overcome suffering you attain peace um you see that you are beyond death what can be greater than this so this is the use of all of this of this pursuit which we are doing now an example will be introduced in the next few verses the first verse verse number three atma namrati namvidhi [Music] know the individual self as the master of the chariot the body is the chariot no the intellect as the charioteer and the mind verily as the brittle really means the reigns all right so what's going on here first let's understand the chariot example and then we'll see how to apply it in spiritual practice uh how it will help us in enlightenment so what is the chariot example and why a chariot because that was um you know the coolest thing that was available at that time today it would be suv or ferrari or something like that but in those days they went around in chariots and chariot example is actually found not only in the and upanishads it is found in buddhism it is found in greek philosophy so the charity example was pretty common in those days although it was used in different ways all right so what is the chariot example like so the chariot uh the chariot itself stands for the body so this body which we have that is the chariot then um a chariot is pulled by horses so in this body we have sense organs so these sense organs are compared to the horses which pull the chariot and then there is a charioteer like a driver so in this body we have the intellect buddhi who is the charioteer who's compared to the charioteer now in a car you control it with the steering wheel but in chariots you had the horses were yoked and you had the rains the brittle or the rains by which you would control pull back the horses or make them run so the brittle or the the reins with which the charioteer controls the horses that's the mind that's compared to the mind and then at the back of the chariot sits the master of the chariot the owner of the chariot a passenger just like you know if you have a shuffle driven car uh you sit in the back or nowadays in uber or something you know lift or uber you sit at the back you're the passenger it's for you the whole thing is going on running for you so at the chariot who is the passenger it is the atma the self and the self has two aspects right now in identification with body and mind it is the one who is the samsari the jivatma the sentient being whom we find ourselves to be that very accurate description of ourselves here is the the chariot is just like our here is the body and that and the horses which pull the chariot here are the five senses and then the mind with which the charioteer controls the chariot uh with the reins with which the charity controls the horses here is the mind the mind with which the intellect which who's like the chariot or the driver the driver controls the chariot the intellect uh controls the senses and the whole body with the help of the mind this is how the keep the example in mind so it's just this is a framework it is meant to help us to understand our present situation what we are and with the help of this framework spiritual practices will be taught multiple levels of spiritual practices um who are we we are consciousness we are pure consciousness we are atman brahman but right now we don't know that and we are in association with this whole body mind intellect senses this system no one might question why are you separately talking about senses and mind and intellect if you say body it includes everything right why are you particularly picking out the senses or the intellect or the mind because remember why is this example been given the example is a purpose the purpose to help us in spiritual practice so those aspects of our body mind which are going to be used for spiritual practice they have been pointed out separately so what's being used for spiritual practice first important thing is the senses the second important thing is the mind the third important thing is the intellect so indriya means senses manas means mind buddhi means and the intellect these are the three things which are going to be key for our spiritual practice who is this all meant for the chariot the chariot is running because there's the master of the chariot the passenger chariot is not running for the sake of the horses the horses are not putting the chariot for the sake of the charioteer the whole uber thing is happening because you have called it you don't do anything you just go and sit there but the car is running for you the steering wheel is being used and the driver is driving everything is happening because you want to go somewhere similarly here we want to attain enlightenment that's our goal and the chariot is going on this journey of enlightenment now what is the road the road to enlightenment the road is the horses run on this road the horses of the senses so the road is the sense objects so five senses five horses they run on the roads what are the roads the one sense goes to forms the eyes see forms the ears hear sound and the nose smells the tongue tastes various tastes and the skin touches so the five sense organs have their five objects these are the roads on which the horses run so this is the whole idea now the journey we are undertaking is to the realization of brahman and to the freedom from suffering freedom from samsara attainment of fulfillment that's the goal the spiritual journey so we are imagining like a chariot is running along of course the charity is going from one place to another physically our goal is not to go from one place to another physically then what is our goal what is our journey our journey is from ignorance to knowledge from being in ignorance to becoming enlightened that's our journey but for this we will need and the body the senses the mind and the intellect all of these are going to be where we do our spiritual practice those are the locations those are the instruments also by which we will do our spiritual practice all right now what sort of practice is going to be taught here or what are the multiple levels of practice the example of the chariot is again used see if the horses are not well trained they will go here and there and the chariot will crash and the passenger will not reach his destination so the horses have to be well trained similarly if the rains by which the charioteer holds controls the horses if the rains are not steady then the chariot it's like the steering wheel which has come loose in your hands now you can't unless it's a self-driving car then you're in trouble your you are just holding the steering wheel i heard this story about swami prabhava namdaji who was the founder of the vedanta society of southern california in hollywood so once at one time when he was a young swami he used to drive then he stopped driving because he was involved in a big accident so what happened was in those days i think 1940s or 50s he was driving along in california in southern california and then he lost control of the car and he knew he was going to crash so what did he do instead of struggling he let go of the steering wheel he pulled up his legs in a meditation posture and he drove deep into meditation as the car carried off when plunging up the road and finally i think it hit a big tree and the car was totaled somehow he was completely safe nothing happened to him anyway that's a terrible thing if the steering wheel comes off in your hand so if you can't control the car anymore so the the rains like the steering wheel the range with which the charioteer controls the horses that must be steady and well fixed and then the charioteer the one who's driving you the driver must be well informed where you're supposed to go suppose the driver doesn't know where to go driver is confused gps is not working so then you will never reach the goal even if the car is chariot is good and the horses are well trained and the rains are firm but the driver doesn't know where he's going or driver is drunk or something so the driver has to be very well informed has to know what he is doing so all three these three conditions have to be fulfilled of course the chariot also must be in good good shape um like the car it has to be there has to be enough fuel and it has to run well well serviced and everything the senses that is the the horses have to be well trained the reins have to be firm the charioteer has to be well informed then what will happen so i'm just quickly summarizing what we will all read i'm just running through all of that then what will happen then the passenger will reach his goal the passenger of the chariot will reach his goal now apply to our life what will he say now the senses have to be trained the mind has to be steady mindful and the intellect has to be filled with vedantic understanding then only you the jiva the jivatman you will reach your goal what is your goal to realize actually directly realize me i am brahmana then you will go beyond suffering attain permanent bliss so this is the whole plot i've already told you now we'll go a little deeper into that before i go just read out the verses the mantras first level of practice it goes without saying that health is important the chariot must be in good shape it shouldn't fall apart the moment you start you know the wheel shouldn't come off or things like that so similarly for spiritual life uh physical health is important this is the old sanskrit saying the body is the first and primary means for the practice of dharma so the health of the body it must be well you must you know eat healthy exercise lead a balanced life don't be sleep deprived all of that for you are setting off on the greatest journey spiritual journey the greatest adventure that a human being can take that is the whole purpose of life and the body is meant for that really the human body is not meant for making money enjoying sense pleasures or you know all sorts of um useless activities which we occupy which we fill up our lives with that's not the purpose of the human body the human body is here to take us on a spiritual journey so health is important swami pavitra anandiji who was here in the vedanta society of new york it seems used to say that do not abuse the horse you cannot dismount from you cannot get down from the horse and but don't don't abuse of course don't abuse a horse anyway but especially if you are on a horse and you can't get down from it it's so easy to say i'm not the body not the mind but as long as you haven't realized it you don't see it very clearly till that point you have to take care of the body don't indulge the body but don't um destroy or damage the body also sometimes people neglect the body either out of neglect or out of excessive strain and you know misuse or abuse of the body in the sense of too much austerities for example so the buddha realized this this is a great lesson the middle path buddha said between austerity and luxury overdoing austerities buddha nearly starved himself to death and he found the body had become weak the mind had become weak it was impossible to meditate then you know the story sujata she came and gave that rice pudding and then he recovered his strength and he sat for meditation that's the final when he just before he attained bodhi the awakening and became enlightened became the buddha the prince siddhartha became buddha the enlightened one but the big lesson he learned was one of the lessons he learnt was the middle path between the extremes of hardship and luxury and the beautiful example he gave was the stringed instrument the veena he says if you tighten the string too much what will happen it'll snap if you if you relax the strings too much what will happen there will be no music so tightening this string too much is too much austerity and relaxing this thing too much is luxury softness then if you tighten it too much what happens is health breaks down there is exhaustion in the body mind then you can't meditate you can't do vedantic inquiry nothing will work i've seen people go mad sometimes young monks you know novices they are over enthusiastic that we become enlightened within by this weekend or something like that that doesn't work it's a marathon it's not a sprint we have been at it for lifetimes so give it some time give it a few years so sometimes they do excessive austerities you know working throughout the day trying to meditate throughout the night you're not ready for that yet and then there's a physical or nervous breakdown i have seen a few cases like that very sad they're all sincere young men but overdoing it the opposite is also is equally bad lazy and that's because getting used to a comfortable luxurious lifestyle then you know getting up early in the morning is difficult sitting for long hours in meditation is difficult vedantic study is boring devotion to god is not coming it feels mechanical but the interest in the world is very much there so that that comes from a soft or over comfortable luxurious life lazy lifestyle both are to be avoided so that's the at the physical level now the sensory level the senses are very powerful here i just want to say you know why is it so difficult to change ourselves we know the story of krishna going to teach the villain of mahaba bharata duryadhana about you know spiritual knowledge and knowledge of dharma and the villain the villain duryodhana the prince evil prince he says don't teach me about dharma don't teach me about adharma i know what is dharma and what is harm i know what is right and what is wrong my problem is not that my problem is i don't want to do what is right and i can't stop myself from doing what is wrong well why don't you change it then if you know it's right and wrong and why don't you change it he says i can't change it there is a great force within me which is pushing me along this path and i can't do anything now he's honest he gives us this this fundamental human problem you know now the question is what is this force which is not which which doesn't enable us to change or makes change in our lives so difficult it is the power of this sensory system recently jonathan heights who is a psychologist who works right here in new york i think he's in cuny city university i think or sunni maybe one of his early works he tackled this problem why change is so difficult you know so many wonderful books are available seminars and in america especially it's very popular self-help is a huge huge industry we go to barnes and noble entire shelves will be filled with these self-help books all sorts of things how to meditate better how to make friends how to communicate better how to lose weight out what not um how to become the super salesman how to be exceptionally creative all sorts of things are promised and they are not all wrong most of these books do contain quite a bit of wisdom and now it's an academic discipline it's called positive psychology it's rigorously researched it's a it's a already a pretty prestigious and uh beloved branch of psychology which is taught in many universities and these courses are very popular in fact just today i was reading one of the most popular courses in harvard business school right now this time this session is a course by arthur brooks on happiness in corporate life how to be happy in the midst of work and it's just every time he gives the course it's all fully signed up he i attended his uh one of his talks when he first joined i think he he had already joined harvard business school um yeah i attended his talking is a very charismatic speaker and he is very influenced by vedanta and he is to come to india he said before the covet he used to come every year to india and he would especially interest interested in classical indian music anyway so it's a beloved field of psychology now there is a lot of information which is very useful in positive psychology there's no doubt about it but why doesn't it work jonathan hyde took up this question why doesn't it work if it delivered as promised our lives would have been revolutionized but not that it doesn't help but doesn't help much so he says imagine a man riding an elephant so the mahout is riding the elephant and the mouth wants to knows where he wants to go and he directs the elephant to take him there but and here is the big thing the it will work only if the elephant listens to the mouth but the elephant wants to go left and the mouth wants to go right then the mouth can't force the elephant to go right because the elephant is much stronger than the mouth physically much stronger you can't stop the elephant now that is exactly the problem with us our you know books vedanta positive psychology um you know management seminars and coach management coaches all of these they all work at the level of the intellect you hear a nice ted talk you read a nice book or attend a nice vedanta class or yoga class and you you're convinced it's great yes i should get up early before sunrise and i should do yoga or i should chant the gita but then what happens what happens is the intellect has been convinced but the elephant what is the elephant the lower mind and the sensory system especially the sensory system is it's the pranamaya kosher annamaya kosha the physical body and the vital body they are not they don't respond to books and ted talks and you know vedanta classes they are like the elephant so you're convinced i want to jump out of bed tomorrow early in the morning i'm going to change my life i'm going to lead a monk-like meditative life next morning what happens when it's time to jump out of bed suddenly you don't feel like doing it you want to do it but the body rebels the body says i didn't sign up for this you go oh intellect you're convinced you go and do yoga and you do meditation i'm going to sleep under the covers it's the this is a problem it's the intellect which understands things which makes decisions but the work actual work has to be done by the body and the poor body says you didn't ask me whether i want to get up in the cold morning out of on from under the bed sheets and do your silly yoga exercises and no i'd rather be much comfortable sleeping here i'm tired let me sleep so the body the sensory system is like the elephant and the intellect is like the mouth the mouth cannot convince a mouth is convinced by you know lectures i mean intellect understands the lectures and books but the sensory system is not convinced you can't give it a lecture you can't give the elephant a lecture the elephant is not interested in your lectures so what happens like duryodhana said that the villain in mahabharata said there's a force within me i understand see the mahout is convinced that what is right and what is wrong i get it but at no point am i interested so the desire which is coming not there actual actions you are not following what is right and not avoiding what is wrong that is the elephant is not responding the elephant is going its own way he says there is a force yes there is a force and interestingly jonathan hyde points it out why doesn't it work because the body is like our personality is like mouth and elephant it's not a machine it's not a computer you give a command to a machine a machine will execute it you have a command to a computer computer will execute it whatever the cpu says to the rest of the computer computer will do it but we our body does not work like that our senses do not work like that why not our senses rebel our mind rebels our emotions rebel why because he points out it's because our intelligence is actually distributed these systems have their own autonomous intelligence and he shows actually even neuroscience supports that you know when we say gut feeling actually it is true the gut actually has a lot of nerve endings and the nerve centers there so our sense organs whether it's the tongue or the skin there are vast amounts of neurons which are the connectivity is there and a lot of mental energy nervous energy is channeled through that it is not easy it's a huge it's a subtle force but it's a huge force compared to which the intellect is a very weak thing and this has to be tackled if it's not tackled we'll be like duryodhana saying i know what's right and wrong i don't feel like it see this is a very big thing i may decide this is the way i'm going to lead my life this is when i will get up this is how much i will meditate this is how much i will repeat the name of the of the lord the mantra what happens no enthusiasm is there the feeling does not come the excitement does not come why because the intellect is not in charge of your emotions emotions are connected to the lower mind and they're controlled by our vasanas and our tendencies so what can be done think again what does the elephant respond to elephant does not respond to lectures books classes persuasion no the elephant responds to training what do the what does the mouth do with elephant training and training basically means repetition the core of training is repetition not arguments not logic repetition character is formed by a cluster of habits and habits are formed by repetition the senses can be trained we can clearly see some people are so disciplined some are not so disciplined that means the senses can be trained it is it can be pretty easy to wake up at 4am in the morning it can be it can be intolerable to sleep beyond 4am i've seen so many uh our monastic brothers who lived in you know in those they trained themselves in the ashrams i've seen a monk once i was in the hospital and i was a novice i was sick i was very sick i was on the iv and i thought so i'm very sick i can be excused for not getting up early in the morning and meditating tomorrow on the bed so i lay down and in the early in the morning i saw there was this old monk more than 80 years old he just had an operation next morning it was dark in the hospital ward i saw him sit up on his bed and face the wall ramrod straight for two more than two hours straight and d in deep meditation that was a lesson to me how does he manage it it's it's a lifetime's practice it's a lifetime's practice it's not a decision even i want to do that but he wants to do it and he can do it i want to do it and immediately make excuses i'm too sick to do it now so i won't do it now [Music] uh so that comes from from practice what is so difficult without practice it's pretty easy with practice this becomes natural becomes like second thought which practice with practice habits clusters of habits are formed or habits can be changed with repetition and now there is a huge amount of work in positive psychology to show how habits work and how habits can be changed power of habit charles duhigg this is a huge big bestseller which shows you how habits work and how they can be short-circuited and changed and to your advantage so the sensors have to be trained what they should which road they should run on what the eyes should see what they should not see what the ears should hear or they should not hear to cultivate the tastes they all have their autonomous intelligence you can cultivate then what happens is what is good for us that the senses will want instead of looking at the latest in gossip and news it will want to read vedanta books so the senses can be trained up that way the wanting will come then from within it will become a habit then and character is nothing but a cluster of habits all these habits taken together good habits taken together go to form our character all right one point here couple of points first of all this is what is was meant by shreya and prayer in the earlier section there's a big deal about what is good for us and what is pleasant so what is present for us an untrained elephant goes that way where the bananas are so the elephant will go and try to snatch the bananas the trained elephant will not do that similarly if the present pleasant and the good are come they present themselves all the time moment to moment it is the trained senses which will automatically pick up what is good and avoid the pleasant the untrained senses will automatically run run to what is pleasant the eyes will want to see what they like to see their ears will want to hear what they want to hear and one to hear means what do they want to hear we want to hear our praise for example we also want to hear our criticism we are very worried about what people are saying about us maybe more than praise we are very happy with the moment we are happy with praise we will be very troubled by criticism senses the trained senses will be not interested in your praise will not be interested in your your um in criticism also i remember walking with this very senior monk in ashram where i joined the order one day the usual path in which we were walking the senior monk suddenly said let's take the other path and we switched paths and i asked why didn't you go down that path he said there were this group of students standing and i overheard they were talking about me i don't want to hear so immediately he changed the path now see i would have wanted to hear oh what are they saying about me surely something good or maybe even even more important something bad oh god what are they saying about me no he doesn't want to hear once i remember all right let it be it's uh okay without telling the names i can tell when i was a novice i learned a very big lesson in my monastic life in the first few weeks or months i heard a monk criticizing the head of our ashram i was so troubled by it because i felt the head of our ashram the senior monk was so such a saintly person so i told another senior monk and that monk was furious oh is this what he's going around saying we must immediately go and tell the head the head monk about this so he took me there i wasn't willing to go and tell the head monk about these things but anyway i couldn't help it now it was the cat was out of the bag so he said to me tell him what you heard i said swami that swami was saying about you i had gone up to that and immediately the head monks talked me right there said i don't want to hear another word if he's criticizing then it is your fault why did you listen i was so stunned and then he said is this why you have come to become a monk never do that again never you know like repeat criticisms of somebody to an another person don't hear it and don't repeat it certainly not don't repeat it back to anybody else never and luckily the other senior monk came to my defense he said oh the boy didn't want to say anything i i actually asked him to come and say and then he'd motion me get out of here quick quick you know like you don't never know one on this fault you can be thrown out of the monastery also and i was a newcomer but it was a great lesson to me and so i learned never to do that again in my life um what the ear wants to hear what the tongue wants to eat delicious food or healthy food what the skin wants to touch the nose wants to smell especially here hearing and so so delighted about reading the newspaper the same delight is not there in reading vedanta texts why not it has not been trained the mind and the senses have not been trained the trained mind and senses will take you on the right path on the the path which is the good shraya and will automatically habitually avoid the path which is pleasant and leads away from your goal and what's wrong with picking the pleasant path often the pleasant path does not take you towards your goal so that's the problem so training of the senses that's the first stage the second stage is even the training of the senses will not work until that which controls the senses what is that the mind the problem with the mind is attention attention must be trained we are especially in this day and age huge problem and lack of focus lack of concentration the flickering mind so the mind must be trained to attend we must be able to direct our attention to what we want to i want to focus on vedanta i want to focus on the object of meditation i want to follow the breath i want to repeat the mantra mindfully i can't my mind goes here and there it's like the reigns of the chariot which are loose and which are not which are not responsive then how can the charioteer control the senses so the mind has to be mindful literally that's the word you will see used in the upanishad mindful now you see how important mindfulness is and it's especially relevant now just now the pioneer in mindfulness in the west the vietnamese monk sikh nathan he passed away just a few weeks ago he was the one who really kick-started the whole mindfulness movement with his classic book the miracle of mindfulness those of you have not read it please do read it it's not very expensive a slim volume he's written many books afterwards and now of course there's a huge literature and mindfulness but the original classic is good enough we just read that much it's a practice for all of us whether you're buddhist hindu whatever you practice mindfulness is important it is the range with which you control the body mind system the body and the senses the brains are the mind the mind has to be mindful mindful means training of attention [Music] otherwise nothing will work no amount of philosophy will work um it's the the mindful um in the mind which is mindful then only it can translate all your goals all your projects into actual life so mindfulness mindful mind then more inward more important the charioteer the driver has to be well informed about where you're going the intellect has to be very clear what is my goal in life my goal is moksha liberation going beyond sorrow what buddha wanted what vivekananda wanted i want that too i must be very clear i may not tell anybody else but that's my goal enlightenment nothing short of that that is the human goal so the mind has to be very the intellect has to be very clear about this buddhi the intellect has to be very clear this is my goal this is what is to be done the senses are to be trained the mind has to be mindful and i must be steady on the path of vedanta to realize i am brahman what am i why am i like this how am i brahmana all this must be understood by the intellect that is intellect must be filled with vedantic understanding then only the intellect filled with vedantic understanding the mind which is mindful and the senses which are well trained the senses become like trained horses the mindful mind is like the reins firmly in the hand of a informed charioteer which is equal to the vedantic intellect then the master of the chariot the passenger of the chariot will reach his goal the goal from which there is no return that is moksha liberation salvation the realization of the unlimited um brahman in the language of the upanishad the state of vishnu the transcendent state of vishnu that is the spiritual journey now i will read the verses the mantras and we'll see we've done mantra number three then mantra number four mantra number three told us that um the body is the chariot and you are the passenger in the chariot the intellect is the driver and the mind is the reigns and then the next verse mantra number four indriyani vishwayang stay shina they call the organs the horses the organs having been imagined as sources they know the objects as the roads the objects of the organs are the roads the discriminating people call that self the enjoyer when it is associated with body organs and mind and joy means that the the um [Music] us the sentient being in sanskrit bhokta you the pure consciousness in association with intellect what do you become you become the knower in association with um the mind become the thinker in association with the senses you become the seer and the hearer and the touch so like that the all the functions you are the one who is experiencing it all it's called bhokta you experience experience pleasure and pain you the consciousness in association with intellect mind and senses then the spiritual journey importance of training the senses mind and intellect training the senses focusing the mind and informing the intellect or educating the intellect number five yes but the organs of that intellect which being ever associated with an uncontrolled mind becomes devoid of discrimination or truly or unruly like the vicious forces of the charioteer so disastrous the intellect loses its discrimination it's it may have read vedanta but now nothing comes to mind and gets swept away swept away why the mind is not focused and the sense organs are running wild like uh says like wicked horses like the vicious horses which are untrained what the senses want the mind is pulling you along in that direction the rains like i said the horses are running are being pulled along in that direction and the intellect which is supposed to tell us no this is not going to take us to our goal the intellect also says it's all right i can do it this time next time we will we will take a different path so intellect also gives him so there's a sanskrit saying about this um alas by the servant of my servants i have been made a servant i the sentient being the jeevatha sitting in this chariot body mind chariot so the the intellect is my servant the mind is the servant of the intellect and the senses of the servant of the mind but i have now become the servant of the senses eyes want to see that and everything else runs after that mind and consciousness and the intellect all run in service of the eyes to provide what the eyes on the tongue wants to taste that and we run after that and this is how life is going on from one thing to another thing the senses are running after their objects the mind is unfocused flickering from one thing to another the intellect is busy not with vedanta with endless projects one thing after another endless useless projects which it thinks it will make it make us happy no one thing to another we are going from one thing to another time is passing age is coming on death is ever coming closer and we are no closer to the goal of enlightenment then number six yesterday [Applause] in contrast what is the situation for a spiritual seeker a good vedanta student but of that intellect which being ever associated with restrained mind is endowed with discrimination the organs are controllable like the good horses of the charioteer the organs are controlled because they're well trained the mind is focused and the intellect is filled with vedantic discrimination or this discernment what is discernment remember viveka the eternal and the non-eternal there is a goal of human life which is enlightenment god brahman whatever you call it there is a high glorious purpose to human life that's what i'm chasing and the mind should fall in line with that the senses should fall in line with that so that moment to moment we can take the right decision then number seven what is the result of um trained um senses focused mind and educated intellect and what is the result of the uneducated intellect and unfocused mind and untrained senses but he that master of the chariot does not attain that goal through that intellect who being associated with the non-discriminating intellect and an uncontrollable mind is ever impure and he attains worldly existence so the senses are ever running to impure ends just for sense enjoyment and i know that those are not not what i should be doing like duryadhana i know that is wrong and yet the senses are running there the mind is flickering and the intellect is vedantic knowledge is shaky and it is unable to resist the power of the senses and the mind see what happens is the intellect the more subtle it is more powerful who is more powerful than the senses mind because mind controls the senses who is more powerful than the mind intellect but in most cases if they are not controlled and if they are not trained what will happen is the sensory system is so powerful it overcomes overcomes the mind it takes over the mind the mind is filled with sensory desires and that mind filled with sensitive desires leads the intellect astray leads the intellect astray means there may be information in the intellect intellect may know this is my goal this is right this will take me towards my goal that will take me away from my goal and yet the intellect is helpless it is pulled along i can't resist that is the lament of every addict i can't resist i want to but i am helpless one more point just additional point here elephant and the mahout remember not everybody has the same elephant some elephants are much more easily trained and some are very difficult to train what is the difference between the elephants it is the constitution of our our senses mind our samskaras some have a more satwik personality less of rajas and thomas that is more conducive to spiritual life some have a more rajasic personality they have all the enthusiasm but they are not steady in their enthusiasm they take up one thing after another and jump on from one you know one goal to another goal and then some have a primarily thomasic uh constitution constituent of the mind of the personality and there neither enthusiasm is there nor discipline is there but the satwik person krishna says in the gita drityutsa is endowed with determination grit and enthusiasm so jumps into spiritual life because i love to meditate i love to study vedanta i'm filled with devotion for krishna or for and i love to do good to others to serve others that feeling is there the liking is there and the disciplined life is there so that is that shows a satwik personality that person has a good elephant easily trained others elephant may not be so easily trained where do we get these elephants from we have we have earned it in many lives many past lives so it's no good if my constituents my makeup is thomas sick then spiritual life is not possible for me this discussion will come later on no it is possible for everybody but one must be a little honest and look into our own constitution the constituents the constitution of my mind and sensory system my samskaras and be honest and admit to myself where i am then the discussion is there later on in the gita where the three gunas are talked about it's only this that the point is that if you have a satwik constitution your spiritual life will be easier smoother faster if you have a rajasik or thomas constituent constitution then the struggle will be that much more it will take more time and more struggle that's all spiritual life is possible for everybody and one should embark on that journey the moment you're inspired to do so it doesn't matter what kind of elephant you have been issued then so this person does not attain that goal not at padama but what happens samsara continues to be whirled around in samsara from birth to birth this person goes around because personally just following one's own desires if that person is a decent moral that person will lead a religious moral life life and have a better kind of samsara the person is completely uncontrolled then the person will have a terrible kind of samsara a hellish kind of one life to another then next eight yes that master of the chariot however who is associated with a discriminating intellect and being endowed with a controlled mind is ever pure attains that goal from which he is not born again this is the result for a person who has trained the senses who has focused the mind and filled the intellect with vedantic understanding that person will become enlightened and realize the goal then number nine the glorious verse which tells us what will he attain what goal is attained the man however who has his charioteer a discriminating intellect and who has under control the reins of the mind attains the end of the road and that is the highest place of vishnu that the highest place of vishnu is basically realization of your own nature shankaracharya says that it is the realization that all pervading brahman which is the supreme self supreme self means your own supreme self you you are that reality that you will realize it's not a physical journey that not that you go in a chariot from a place to place all right now the core secret of how to deploy vedantic knowledge to focus the mind and control the senses and that will be taken up next few mantras are very vital the whole the secret of the chariot will be revealed to us that we will take up next time now let me quickly look at the questions can you recommend a text with the sanskrit commentary of shankaracharya yes the a2 punishables has the english translational sanskrit commentary and if you want the original sanskrit commentary i always use the gita press version and there are nine upanishads here which including the cut open so you have it's like this mantra is there and then hindi translation and then there is the original sanskrit text of the commentary by shankaracharya and the hindi translation of the commentary so if hindi is not difficult for you you can always read the english translation and in all the regional languages in india these are now translated there are very good bengali translations of shankara's commentary i know that rick says please explain the mechanics of how a nachiketa power sacrifice or any such thing would earn heaven for a person does it somehow neutralize that karma how does it help the davos so that they reward you with heaven how well it doesn't really concern us it is vedic ritualism the karma khan of the vedas these are prescribed they work by generating very good karma a very good merit the offerings are they was nourished by these offerings they say and you earn great merit and by that merit you go to heaven so that's the basic idea of vedic sacrifices there are certain rituals um and what is the authority why does why do you think it would work the vedas are the authority isn't that faith yes that's faith definitely as against that is what we are studying upanishads which are knowledge based on understanding patrick says is the word self a good translation for atman what does it mean literally in sanskrit self like brahman is vast atman means self literally it means itself but then so atman could stand for many things in vedanta of course ultimately utman stands for pure consciousness awareness consciousness but the atman is used in many senses if you refer to the body as the self here is the here is the self then the body is the atman often you will find in upanishad's body is called atma mind is called the atman and finally uh consciousness the real atman is called the atmosphere just means the self and it could be used in other ways also what is the self the atman of uh of a clay pot it's clay what is the atman of um uh of a gold ornament it is gold subrama mukherjee says does buddhi and shakti have the same meaning dhi shakti and medha these are spiritual developments of the buddhi buddhists generally intellect by the way this is an interesting thing to note the uh senses the the chariot the horses the reins and the the charioteer notice they are actually talking about the annamaya kosha pranamayakosha manomaya kosher vigyaname ocean the the chariot is compared to the physical body which is the annamay kosher the food sheath the senses are one component of the the horses are compared to the senses which is one component of the pranamaya quotient actually later on if you see vedanta the senses are counted in the manoma or began my kosher because they give knowledge but you can take the prana my kosher there so and then uh beyond that is the mind the manomaya kosher that is compared to the rains and then the intellect the driver is compared to the buddhi the intellect that is began in my question so now you know what kind of teaching will be given it's a kind of proto pancha koshavik the analysis of the five sheets of the human personality to distinguish to find out who is the the who we really are apart from body mind apart from these five um sheets tamiko says how can a person whose intellect buddhist compromise still attain enlightenment such a person with dementia and a coma or with a mental impairment no not possible if the person is already enlightened that person will not be affected by the damage of body mind intellect but if not enlightened if i'm mixed up with body mind and if there's dementia or coma either i will recover and then carry on with the samsara life or not recover and die and then next life when i get a fresh body again i'll pick up where i left off with a damaged equipment if the horses are not if the horses are lazy if the rains are loose if the driver is unconscious you can't get to your destination and that's why good health is necessary but we have endless opportunities if if not in this life then in next life and nothing is lost uh deepa says mana and buddhi are mentioned however they are included you will see interestingly in vedanta sarah the division of manabu digital mind intellect memory and ego and then they say it can be divided into two where they're grouped together mind and memory are in one and ego and intellect in another group so you can they are implied sort of good om john namaste [Music] you