Video 34

34. Katha Upanishad | Mantras 2.2.5 - 8 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

foreign [Music] [Music] may the Lord protect us both the teacher and the thought together by revealing knowledge 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 cavel at each other om peace peace peace so we were on the fifth Mantra so this is chapter 2 section 2 fifth Mantra two two five so the fourth Mantra if you remember was I said that when the physical body dies the subtle body with the reflected Consciousness travels to from this body to another body to different locals we will take birth again this is the so-called theory of reincarnation multiple births um Atma as such real nature it doesn't travel it doesn't come it doesn't go but it is reflected on appears to be limited in the subtle body and that travels physical body is destroyed yeah let's try that desk now a question can be raised then why at all talk about Consciousness you know life and death are all matters of Prana of life the life forces you know in Indian languages all Indian languages we say when somebody dies The Prana has gone so when The Prana is there it's a living being and somehow we have conscious experiences and The Prana goes away the body dies and there are no more conscious experiences and that's the end why Dragon Atman Brahman Consciousness isn't Prana enough to explain life isn't Prana the subtle body isn't it enough to explain life do you have a mind-body system and that's it why again bring in something called Consciousness separate from mind separate from body and bring in something called Atman or Brahman now the fifth Mantra takes up this question it says that actually Prana which are the life forces even they are not really responsible for life it is consciousness alone which is responsible for life it is the Atman or Brahman alone which is responsible for life that's the fifth Mantra we'll read that now [Music] mortal lives by Prana or apana but all live by something else due to which these two find Asylum okay are two functions of Prana Prana are the physiological forces which keep this body alive So when you say Prana control of Prana it is meant what is meant is control of these these vital energies but because the only thing that is directly available to us for controlling is the breath so pranayama control of The Prana starts with the control of the breath many people think pranayama means only control of the breast no it is to get control of the physiological forces in this body by starting with the control of The Prana but anyway The Prana has five you know like sub functions or five subaranas Parana is a force that is the life force the vital force and it has five sub forces so there is Prana there is aparna there is bayana udana and Samana and each of them they've performed different physiological functions in this body so those who practice ayurveda they know much more about this he just takes for example two of these functions Prana and upana by which he means all of the pranas Pancha Prana which is called it panchaprana panchaprana means Prana apana udana Samana five functions five subsets of the pranic function now he says actually we don't live because of that that is quite a remarkable statement to make because it seems to be a fact that a body lives because of Prada I mean it is not living in itself this Prana enters into it makes it a living body and when it cannot host The Prana anymore maybe the body is too old too damaged then The Prana leaves it so this is how life and death is usually understood even in ayurveda and other and yoga but here is saying you look a little more deeply it's not even Prana the very experience of Life the experience of living which we have all of us right now it's not really due to Prana it's due to uh Consciousness it's due to the Atman and it's in fact due to the presence of Consciousness due to the presence of the Atman that The Prana and the sense organs and the body they all cooperate to produce this experience of living shankaracharya and explaining this um this Mantra he uses an old sanken principle the sanction principle is this I'll tell you the Sanskrit original then translate sunken principle is this all compound things exist for the sake of something apart from them all compounded things exist for the sake of something independent of that so for example a classic example they give is of a house so house exists and there are doors and windows there's a floor there is a ceiling um there are different rooms with different functions now they don't exist for each other the door doesn't exist for the window the window doesn't exist for the ceiling the living room does not exist for the bedroom No in fact all of that exists for you for you and you are not part of the house so this entire compounded thing this complex thing a house it is it has been set up for the use of some some entity which is distinct from that house similarly here is this living body body senses Prada the Mind memory intellect all of these functions all of these capacities powers and mechanisms this is a compounded thing like a house and it's there because of you the Consciousness it's there to serve your purpose it's been designed to give you experiences and it functions only because you are there otherwise it would fall apart a good example is you know this is the question somebody persists but no I mean you might say Consciousness is important true but you are going too far if you say life exists because of consciousness life can exist without Consciousness also someone might be living and quite unconscious if the brain is damaged for example in coma but you know as long as Prana is there we'll say the person is living when The Prana goes away we say the person is dead so Prana is essential the life forces are essential for life not Consciousness not at one well that's not true it's like say the moon at night if the moon is there we get Moonlight if the moon is not there we don't get Moonlight you know in a new moon night or something so you say it is the moon which is the cause of Illumination see although it satisfies the Criterion of logic if moon is there we get light at night the Moon is not there we don't get light at night moon is not there means it's in the new moon in the phase of the moon bit it does not um you know it's not illumin now that would be obviously wrong because we know that the Moon is not the source of light whenever we get Moonlight it's because of the sunlight being reflected of the Moonlight the sun is the source of the light so sunlight is the cause of Illumination at night and it uses the moon and if the moon is rightly positioned it can reflect light back to the Earth and illumine the Earth at night similarly if the piranha is functioning in the body it reflects Consciousness it means subtle body in which Prana is plays a primary role the subtle body reflects Consciousness and therefore all the activities of the subtle Body Mind things intellect understands memory remembers the ego does its thing by saying I I I and um Prana is like the engine which function which you know energizes the entire living system all of it is lit up by the reflected consciousness like the moon reflecting light onto the dark Earth at night the subtle body including The pranabit Prana is Central it reflects Consciousness back into this body mind system and we illumines it but Prana is not Central even subtle body is not Central we have the experience of Light of Life we have this experience of living all these living experiences because of Consciousness not really because of Prana now can you then Consciousness give you the experiences without Prana without mind without intellect no it cannot it cannot just as the sun cannot directly loom in the Earth at night it needs when the face of the earth is turned away from the Sun you know then the face of the Earth which is turned away from the Sun it needs the moon to reflect moonlight so at night when the sunlight is not directly illumining the Earth it you need moonlight and Moonlight is it needs the moon in the proper position similarly subtle body is needed in order to illumine these objects we have the external world and our internal world of thoughts so that is what is now here being being said that even Prana because in all the systems of thought Brown is supposed to be the source of life he says if you look closely Prana is not the source of um the light by which we have experiences of living no mortal being actually is alive because of Prana upana all these functions of Prana you know they're all alive because of consciousness by something else it doesn't mean something else there is something else because of which these bodies are living yes and in that something else even Prana and upana and all these functions the senses they all have their existence because of that and they all are illumined and they all function because of the presence of that that's the point he wants to make here now back to the actual topic what was the actual topic the actual topic was Atman Brahman that's what nachiketa asked what happens at the point of death and what is the real nature of this self and this is this is the actual question the third Boon which he asked and later on he sharpened it to make a precise question about itself so back to the question about Atma Brahma and death the sixth mantra Hunter yeah [Music] well oh Gautama I shall tell you of this secret Eternal Brahman and also how the self fares after death so the two Central themes of the third the Boon which nutriate a little boy asked Yama what happens after death and basically what's the what's my real nature so he's coming back to that topic he says Hunter so once again let us now again discourse on Brahman and Atman and the commentator says that because the matter is so subtle it needs repetition in various ways so Yama the Lord of death is again going to go over the same point who are we our real nature in the following very important mantras a very poetic very powerful mantras is some of the best in the entire upanishadic literature which talk about our our essential nature our real nature who we are what am I going to tell you I will teach you I'll talk to you about it one topic is I will talk you about Brahman the Ultimate Reality which you asked and uh the notice the the adjectives which he uses this Brahman is sanatana eternal and it is guiim it's Secret now it's interesting the juxtaposition of these two things this Ultimate Reality we are going to talk about uh is eternal it's always there it was there you you your real nature was always there in the past it's there right now it will continue to be there forever bodies will come and go lives will come birth and death will come and go even civilizations will rise and fall the Earth will revolve around the Sun so many times but Brahman the ultimate nature of the universe will continue and we might say what good is that to me well it is your nature it's you you will continue forever it's Eternal not only is it Eternal there's also science science not only that it's not limited in time sanatana means uh Eternal not limited in time but not limited in space also it's everywhere it is the only reality that there is here and there wherever right here that reality is there and it's every everybody and everything whatever we experience wherever we see and we ourselves we are that and yet and yet it's secret it's uh Graham it's hidden it's Secret um the juxtaposition of these two is is interesting something that is forever and right now something that is everywhere and here something that is everything including you yourself it's really you it's you here now and forever everywhere and everything and yet it's secret because it's we don't see it at all if it's right now and right here it's me or I some in some way I shouldn't know it it should be the first thing that I'm aware of it should be the first thing that's clear no it's Secret so Graham and sanatana together I was just thinking a few days back I was walking in Central Park and I see these guides who show people around and say this is the Bow Bridge this is the Bethesda Fountain and this is the literary walk in this show the groups of people are telling them showing them and thinking there are different categories of people there are those who come into the park tourists I see so many of them they come into the park they walk around and they see these places yes he did they're taking pictures they don't know what they're seeing but they're seeing they're so beautiful they take pictures um and then there so they have seen it they have seen these places but they don't know what they have seen and then there are those who have read about it in a brochure or maybe on a website but they haven't seen the places but they know about these places and there are those who come with a guide and they see the places and they know what they are seeing so the upanishad is like the guide the guru and the upanishad the text the vedanta's teaching tradition is like the guide it tells us the Brahman is continuously available to us but it tells us what you need to know what you are seeing then only the result will come see the people who have walked through the park and they have actually seen But afterwards it doesn't do them any benefit because when they hear about these wonderful places in Central Park they are not very sure whether they know it or not whether they have seen it or not you know and there are those who have read it but they have actually not visited the place so they have they are clear they these are certain things which the book tells me about but I have not seen it yet it is the one with the guide who actually visits who sees and also knows now this corresponds to there are mistakes yeah who who may stumble upon these things and they have certain experiences but they don't know what it is and then they don't get the benefit from it they either keep seeking or you know it's like a person who upanishad says this a person who passes over buried treasure so there's gold or jewelry buried underground and you pass over it again and again in search of that treasure but you never find it but you're passing over it right there and so people we we pass over that reality all the time but we don't we don't notice it we are uh like the people who are wandering around in Central Park without a guide and there are people who have not even noticed it and they have read read about it in books um so there are people who have read philosophy who have attended classes taken extensive notes but they always have the feeling that there's something to be experienced further it is the one with the guide who knows I have seen it and I know what it is why am I saying this you know what our condition is like most here's a crucial thing most of us would say I have attended the classes I have read the books and I have yet to experience it I am like that person who the Swami said who has read a brochure or seen a website about Central Park but actually hasn't visited Central Park well known most of us we are actually like that other group who are continuously wandering around in Central Park but they don't know what they are seeing all that you need is the guide to tell you here it is this is what advaita vedanta says the path of mysticism extraordinary yogic experiences visions of cardinal that will be the kind where you need to actually visit the place you have read about it but you need to visit the place and that requires sadhana and you'll have this extraordinary experiences advaita vedanta says not even that not even that you just need to pay attention to the experience you are already having um I was part of a discussion today with a couple of neuroscientists um you know from different universities Buddhists practitioners and the whole discussion was how can we make these spiritual experiences acceptable to modern science Neuroscience cognitive science and all and when I said see the huge problem with this is um it is you know you're living immediately reduce it to brain function um you know a neuroscientist might say that I don't doubt that you are experiencing Oneness or you're experiencing light you are experiencing it but that does not mean that there is really Oneness or there is any really any lighter anything like that so that is one problem and that is the materialist basis the other problem is you are continuously talking about extraordinary experience you means we spiritual practitioners we talk about extraordinary experience I had this vision of God I had that experience of light I saw these Visions you know or I felt like that all of that makes scientists skeptical they say that maybe there is is something wrong with your brain or maybe you were high on weed or marijuana or something or nowadays what is it psilocybin something like the some drug is there is very popular among neuroscientists now um so they are all taking the drug and not all some are taking the drug and seeing its effects and studying it and they will not take the experiences seriously but advaita vedanta doesn't do that otherwise is just take the experience which you are having already if you are awake if you dream and if you fall asleep then you are already in Central Park you're already seeing those sites but now we just need to introduce you to the the sites there you know then upanishad will come and say so this is what is called The Waker and the waking world this is what is called the dreamer and the dream world this is the experience of deep sleep and you to whom all these experiences are happening you are the untouched awareness in which these experiences come and go and then notice the nature of this awareness and you'll get the results of spiritual what is promised to another this is the method of advice I tried to point it out to them I don't think cut much I said it's difficult to get this is a subtle point but it makes it so direct and so powerful and gives you a huge relief otherwise what happens is you're either to take it on belief religion says so Guru says so there is some God some kind of thing is there and I have to believe it and someday it will happen or you have to take it on this certain amount of very strenuous practices which will lead to some mystical experiences then only but why not the experience we're having right now you're already walking around in Central Park and the upanishad is pointing on anyway that's right Secret it's like the the tourist who's clueless and wandering around in Central Park and seeing the places he wants to see but doesn't know what it is that's why you can say here it is eternally present the Bow Bridge and the Bethesda Fountain and yet Secret secret because it's nobody's pointed it out to you then this is I will tell you that um Yama says I I will be your central part guy now your guide to an Enlightenment I will point it out to you in your experience in your experience straight away right now you'll be enlightened about Brahman the question you asked I'll say this is it I'll point it out and also the mystery of death I will comment on that he says and for those who are not enlightened the second point he will raise is for those who are not enlightened what happens at death what what goes on at death for the unenlighted that also I will tell you so he's going to tell us in the next uh couple of mantras what happens at death for the unenlightened he will talk about that first and if you fortunate enough to become enlightened then what is Brahman what is what happens to you or what are you then how do you become enlightened he will point that out to these two subjects will come up next seven Mantra number seven [Music] some Souls enter the womb for acquiring bodies and others follow the Motionless In accordance with their work and in Conformity with their knowledge all right that needs some decoding who are these or what what are we talking about we're talking about the unenlightened um those who have not realized their true nature what will happen to them at the point of death he gives two options here one is not realizing that they are the unchangeable Atman the secret Eternal Brahman they think I am this person and now I'm dying well he will not die he will not die that's the first good news the physical body will die and when the physical body the gross body dies the subtle body which includes The Prana is set free from the physical body and then what will happen to it it will not die it continues um it will carry forward it will be propelled by its past Karma and some form of past Karma will fructify giving giving it a new birth a new set of experiences and that birth so to have experiences you need a body the subtle body is not enough physical body is needed to get experiences in this world but that body need not be a human body often it is but it need not be so the first one is he gets a human birth or even an animal birth um because of past past Karma enters it to the womb of the mother for what purpose in order to acquire a party why would it acquire a body in order to get the experiences why would it get experiences because past karmas are for powerful they are about to give results causes are there consequences must follow causes of their effects must come the effect will be experience for us Good Karma happiness Bad Karma unhappiness happiness unhappiness Pleasure and Pain that requires the body so the subtle body will now become active when the physical body is acquired for that purpose this um being the subtle body is thrust into the womb of the mother and born in an animal body need not be human body could be some other animal body also and shankaracharya comments there he says these fools ignorant Foods ignorant in the sense they do not realize who they are or what their true nature and so they are swept along because in the Stream of past Karma even worse there are those who are the worst verse means they have got very bad karma coming up and that bad karma thrusts them into says the motionless thanu means the motionless not rocks and stones but trees and creepers and all in that sense motionless so the lowest of births where they have the minimum chance of in doing any anything at all just experience some kind of dull existence for a while and maybe for a long time and then when that body is destroyed come back again in some other form so these two ah you know firms one is a human birth or Worse an animal birth and the other one is even worse the worst of all possibilities um you know some very low birth maybe like a plant or a creeper or something why not a stone or a rock in general that rock or stone and all of this you know table and chair they are not regarded as jivas they don't have subtle bodies you cannot have experiences of um Pleasure and Pain in in a what is called a jarah body that means a non-living body living body means Prada must be there Prana is there means that must be a subtle body subtle body which gives you sense organs and a mind you have some kind of experience in a human body the sense organs and mind become very active and very capable so we have multiplicity of experiences and capacity to reflect on those experiences learn and change become better or worse in animal bodies you just have experiences you cannot become better or worse and plant bodies even even the experiences become very limited but all of those are temporary and then one will again come back to a human form and work out their karma now this going to different births after the physical death then unenlightened person the ignorant person goes to different births is there any any Rhyme or Reason behind it is there any guiding rule some principle behind it and the upanishad says as their past karma is number one but mysteriously it also adds as their knowledge or understanding is now there's a technical meaning of yatashratam uh it's like this this term literally if you translate depending on the ritual The Vedic rituals performed and The Vedic meditations performed I'll repeat again that sounds mysterious you are thrust into new lives depending on your fund of Vedic rituals performed and Vedic upasana or meditations performed here means Vedic rituals also of course our secular Karma and also Vedic meditations that is what is meant by according to their knowledge um this is a term that comes up again and again in upanishads and in The Vedas what happens to us in our future lives well depending upon the amount of religious Merit you have accumulated you will go to different heavens and you will be born in um you know in a more favorable human birth afterwards to work out your enlightenment what do you mean the accumulation of religious Merit well it will have two kinds Karma and upasana Karma means The Vedic rituals the karmakanda upasana means The Vedic meditations which were used to be done in those days mostly now obsolete but there's a problem here the problem is it does not talk about this is not talking about going to heaven and getting favorable human births because we've done Vedic rituals and Vedic meditations it's talking about going to basically animal birds or plant Birds so here Karma might just mean your past Karma and yata shrutam it might not mean meditations it might mean like the commentator also gives leaves it rather vague vigyanam the the level of understanding let's put it this way I was thinking what it could mean just our level of spiritual evolution what stage we are in our journey to enlightenment and we might get different bodies according to that but anyway that doesn't concern us because why doesn't it concern us because we are all going to be enlightened right so we are not going to go down that path we are all going to become enlightened no really even if we do not become enlightened in this life the very fact that we have engaged in a pursuit of Enlightenment SRI Krishna says to Arjuna those who have started on this path with conviction and seriousness there is no backsliding for them they will they are protected and they will go on they will maybe it might take time but whatever they have practiced whatever they have attained is stored up for them and that will come in the very next life and take over and Propel you further it's not like other past government one might say that well that's no big deal all past karma is is retained and it's all there so if I do some spiritual reading and meditation and prayer what what's that wonder and that will be there also but no this is different Krishna says in the very next life when you are born again this karma not all the other past Karma this Karma the spiritual seeking this will come to your health and you will start your spiritual journey again from wherever you left up and this is the worst case the best cases you become enlightened In This Very life itself here and now the next best case is what is called Kramer mukti sequential Liberation you don't become enlightened here but you're sufficiently Advanced enough that you go to brahmaloka and from there itself you get Moksha or as Krishna says you have an extraordinary birth as a yogi there are people like that who are highly spiritual from their childhood onwards so you you get a birth like that your Yogi in your past birth so those are very fortunate and these are the Alternatives open to us that's what that's the path we are going down not what he just said in the uh six we are not going to become a rabbit or a pumpkin plant or something like that then more to the point eight the eight Mantra will talk about are real nature Yama had told um an educator that I'm going to tell you these two things what happens to the unenlightened at death and he is pretty harsh he'll become a plant or an animal all right and what happens is then we'll immediately say all right I'd rather be enlightened I don't want to become an animal or a plant good how do you become enlightened you realize that you're Brahman what's Brahman it's right here just like showing showing you Central Park right here I'll tell you about it listen eighth mantra that purusha indeed who keeps awake and goes on creating desirable things even when the senses fall asleep it is pure and he is Brahman and he is called Immortal all the worlds are fixed on him none can transcend him this indeed is that powerful mantra first of all he is going to point out Brahman in our own experience like the guide points out look here is Bow Bridge in Central Park and you're seeing it again taking pictures and selfies and whatnot so he's going to point out Brahman like that says what he says is but then you fall asleep the body goes to sleep you can see the guy is on the bed and snoring and the senses fall asleep you don't see you don't hear don't smell taste touch nothing the motor organs are asleep you don't walk around unless you're a sleepwalker but you don't walk you don't talk you don't grab things all your sensor the motor organs are also inactive so the senses and the mind they become Christian they quieten down they stop functioning for a while and um I mean the mind is not engaged with the external world and yet you are not asleep you the consciousness which experience the world when the senses were working you now experience a world um created by the dreaming mind he says the desirable objects whatever I wanted to get whatever I was tempted by in the waking world but I could not get and the mind projects that in the dream world whatever I was terrified by anxious about in The Waking World those Terrors come to me in the dream world so the the dreaming mind it takes up materials and experiences from The Waking world and Designs a virtual world a dream world for me and I the same Consciousness which experienced the waking world through the senses now experiences a dream world generated by the Mind based on what material material drawn from The Waking experiences and he says desirable things in the world whatever enjoyments I wanted I could not get those I project in the dream but equally the opposite whatever Terrors and anxieties and fears are there which I did in the waking World they become real in the dream world few days ago I was dreaming that there was a zoom class and I was unable to connect to zoom and the class had started and so that is the anxiety that is uh coming from the waking world and projected to whom to the same consciousness and when that dreaming World mind also goes to sleep she senses the body has gone to sleep senses have gone to sleep mind also goes to sleep mind cannot generate any more dreams you are still awake you are the one Waker with who has no sleep at all and say insomnia not insomnia you are the one Consciousness which Knows No Sleep you are the one that light which has no night you live in the world of Eternal daylight and Eternal Sunshine what is that Eternal Sunshine Consciousness you yourself it's very simple to see I mean a simple experiment eyes eyes are open and I am having the experience of seeing Consciousness illuminous experience of seeing these forms now close your eyes now there is no experience of seeing but that itself is an experience an experience of not seeing the absence of these forms that's also revealed by Consciousness I was conscious when the eyes were open and getting all these experiences of seeing many things now when the eyes are closed I don't see anything and that is also a kind of seeing that's also kind of experience you try it yourself you see you as a conscious entity you don't change at all if your eyes are open if your eyes are closed just the objects presented to you change a variety of forms and colors and shapes were presented for you and your mind starts working on that churning up you know collating classifying calling up memories based on the forms presented to you the Consciousness shut your eyes those forms will disappear and the mind May calm down but you the Consciousness remain the same you are ever awake in deep Sleep that which is awake in dreams that which creates a virtual world based on waking experiences and making we know that which engages with an apparently external world through sense of mind and sense organs that Eternal Waker that unflickering light you are that right now you are that this is that's pure that's pure light that's pure Consciousness which literally means white that's like white light like white radiance I had coated the white glare of a um Immortal gaze white glare of an immortal gauge that white glare of immortal gaze which is the immortal gaze you the Atman you are always awake always shining forth if the world is presented to you the senses good that you call it a waking experience if the senses shut down and the mind generates dreams good you call it a dream if the Mind shuts down senses are shut down deep sleep falls upon you blank quiet calm good you are still shining without any flicker that one right now it is pure Consciousness that alone is pure pure in what sense in two senses the Deep philosophical meaning of it is pure Consciousness Consciousness itself without any content right now Consciousness has contents it has forms and smell and touch and taste and sound not only that even more Insidious it has thoughts and ideas and opinions and memories identifications these are the contents of Consciousness and some of those contents are pure many are impure impure means worldly contaminated by anger and lust and greed come across the love Spite and jealousy regret and unhappiness and anxiety all kinds of impurities contaminate in dream also the same thing happens but Consciousness in itself has none of these contaminants good example is light the same sunlight shines upon the ganga the pure water of the ganga flowing by and it also shines upon the drain water which is polluted [Music] but the light shining on the ganga is not made more pure by shining on the ganga it's not made impure by shining on the drain water the light is pure in itself it is consciousness is pure in the sense of that light the light illumines what it shines upon but is not affected by what it shines upon similarly Consciousness reveals whatever it whatever is presented to it whether it be forms or sounds or smells or taste or touch or thought or idea opinion memory emotion feelings whatever comes to it it illumines but it's not affected by any of it just like light shining on the objects not affected by the objects it really means it illumines but not affected just like space is expansive and gives space space gives space to everything all physical objects exist in space but space is not affected by those physical objects now I know I mean I'm given example immediately you'll say you are very Newtonian you have not you have no idea of einsteinian Relativity you know the supermassive objects they can bend space and okay okay that's that's fine but I'm just giving an example in general you don't see that space is not is not it's not it is not touched by the actions and items and objects within it so in that sense space like that there are examples light is an example space is an example like that you are not at all touched you are not made impure by the contents in that sense it is pure I said in two senses it is pure one is it's not affected At All by the contents it's pure in itself the second sense in which it's pure is a common sense understanding of purity Purity Common Sense understanding is that which is um holy and sacred that which has is free of negativity is in you know anger lust greed uh you know guilt all those things negativities it's free Consciousness is in that very common sense way of Purity Consciousness is actually is completely pure always right now it's pure you are pure and in fact it is the only thing that is pure no object can ever be pure objects always interact with each other even the purest of states can deteriorate into an impure State and impure states can become purified into a more highly pure States and they keep changing but you the Consciousness you're completely unaffected by the uh changes so you are pure in that second sense the common sense idea of pure that it is good that it is uh you know not colored by greed or lust or anger yes in that sense also it's pure foreign it is immortal Immortal in a sense Beyond Death it is beyond birth Beyond Death Beyond production Beyond destruction Beyond causality yeah birth and death due to what Karma what is karma nothing but causality cause and effect the moment you say it is amritam beyond death that means it's beyond birth also Beyond birth and beyond that Beyond production Beyond destruction it means it is not touched by cause and effect cause and effect are the magic show of Brahman it's your magic show by which the world the the web of the world is spun out the the film is projected upon you the movie is projected in the movie there is causality there are reasons why the you know quote unquote reasons why the hero has to undergo so much suffering why the villain behaves in such and such dark ways there are reasons but it's a movie that's the important thing you the screen on which the movie is playing you the radiance on which the movie is shining you are Untouched by the causality of the movie the good and the bad of the movie do not touch you but they are entirely dependent on you without you they wouldn't exist it's your show congratulations you are the producer director a hero and the villain and yet none of it none of it so Amrita means immortal Beyond birth and death Beyond production and destruction Beyond change beyond causality beyond cause and effect Beyond Karma Swami Vivekananda says good good bad bad none escaped Allah but whosoever wears a form must wear the chain to that was the message of the um seventh mantra what will happen to the unenlightened to animal booms they go to Plants and creepers they go but what will happen to the enlightened Swami Vivekananda says far beyond name and form is Atman ever free so Atma never free of what three of the bonds of karma three of the bonds of causality and therefore amritam immortal nothing in this world can be mortal no body physical body can ever be immortal no thought mind can ever be mortal because mind is continuously changing body is continuously changing no physical state can ever be immortal no subtle State can ever be immortal even the causal state of Maya which is eternal but it's always changing but Atman is it static unchanging actually not even that you know the concept of change doesn't apply to it's not a changing or unchanging it's that upon which this change and no change they play their you know roles in the movie what is that then what are we talking about Brahma means the vast that is the fast and this has to be pointed out this is you are that reality see when you say you are the one Consciousness which in the waking State engages with the mind and the body and experiences the world the same Consciousness completely Untouched by the problems coming and going of the waking State you now experience dreams and now with the same Consciousness you know experience the calmness quietness darkness of deep sleep and again the waking State you are that one Consciousness you say great that sounds wonderful but insidiously in our mind there will be the suggestion I am that Consciousness but look there are so many people here so that means they also must be like a Consciousness like that so there are many consciousnesses but no not many consciousnesses he says that Brahma it's one it is the one vast vast means all of these consciousnesses are one Consciousness many bodies many Minds worlds are many not only the objects in the world are many words also are many there are many words here yeah but all of them are objects to you the Consciousness and it's one consciousness not one person persons are many whether one Consciousness appears as many persons not only that one Consciousness uh is there but you'll say all right I'm one Consciousness but to me many things are appearing there is a vast vast Universe out there and I am this Consciousness okay fine I'm one Consciousness in all beings but there is a vast physical universe and there's a universe of Mind thoughts feelings emotions ideas all of these are there and he says no they are all appearances in you they are nothing apart from you the entire universe including galaxies and stars and planets and the subtle Universe of thoughts and ideas not just your thoughts and ideas all thoughts and ideas in all Minds forever including the mind of God in all thoughts and ideas and knowledge and ignorance all of that they all are set in you the Consciousness they are appearances in you they have no existence apart from you they could not exist apart from you because you are Consciousness Your Existence itself that's the meaning of the vast Brahman you are the vast you are Brahman that's why the next line is so thrilling does mean in that Brahman in that vastness are set all the worlds all the universes they float in that fastness and none can exist for a moment without that none exceed that by even a millimeter none can have any activity any existence without that vast that Brahman and that you are he says this is what you asked for oh nachiketa this is what you're talking about see all of the vedanta advaita vedanta steps are included here first of all I am pure Consciousness and how do I know that you have to first of all most important you have to know that like the Central Park guide pointing out the the sites of Central Park to you here is the sea see he's pointing it out here it is you are that right now not the body of the waking State not the mind of the waking State not even the body of the dream state there's a body in the dream state in your in your dream you have a party I mean it's an appearance in the dream but it's there not even the mind of the dream dreamer not even the darkness of the deep sleep that light he says that shukran that white light to which all of these appear and despair what what appears and disappears the world of the Waker and the waking person the dream world and the dreamer the dreaming person and you can't say the sleeping person in the world of deep sleeper because they are all merged into one Darkness that's basically a blank a potential State the potential seed state of deep sleep all these states come and go what we are talking about here Brahman that one Consciousness it's not a state oh I have today I attained in the class I attained the state of Brahman you didn't understand anything at all it's not a state it is that to which all states come and go isn't it are you a waking state are you a state if you wear a state like a waking state then you'd be gone when the dream comes yet you are there you are the one who's experienced the dream and when the dream goes away and deep sleep comes you would be gone if you're at the dream state no you are none of these states oh so these states waking dreaming and deep sleep are separate I'm separate no you are separate from them but they are not separate from you the waking and the dreaming and the Deep Sleep are all appearances and disappearances in you they are not one thing other than you and then it upanishad goes on to say and this is not individual it's happening at a cosmic level in all wakers dreamers and deep sleepers Across the Universe all universes physical universe and subtle universes and the causal seed Universe all of these appear in one Consciousness and that you are that is Brahman all the worlds he says the universes are set in you they float in you like dreams not one dares to exceed You by one millimeter or one millisecond uh no one can exceed you it's like saying you know it's like this if um all the ornaments are made by made of gold so you can say all the ornaments necklaces bracelets Tiaras and rings they're all set in gold if I use this language and none of those ornaments can exceed the gold by even one millimeter if it's a golden necklace can you say the gold exists only up to this and after this the gold doesn't exist I mean presuming it is a necklace at all I'm presuming it exists and there's no other metal involved it cannot what is its reality the appearance must be limited to that reality right so the reality is you the universe is your appearance but that also means that everything in the universe is one with you everybody including all those are beloved to you all those who are beloved whom we have lost recently or in the past they are all one with you actually they they uh they appeared in you they prayed about in you and they disappeared back into you which also means all those you don't like the annoying people in your life and the ones who drive you wild they are exactly one with you they're none other than you and they are as close to you as the as your most beloved person they are the Beloved the good and the bad and the Annoying and all of them what a tremendous vision normally we think of I am a tiny being yeah even if you tell me I'm Consciousness yeah I'm a spark of Consciousness such a big universe and there's so many people and history is so fast forget the universe history of the universe even human history is so vast and we had gone to the Museum of Natural History um you know some time back there was a display of dinosaurs here in what is now Manhattan this place used to be underwater and this huge sea monsters dinosaurs who lived under the sea would swim around here and that was a fact a few million years ago right here there were dinosaurs walking around there is no Upper West upper east and downtown nothing no human beings in sight at all right here so we think this universe is so vast light years and light years and it's so so ancient millions and millions of years and I'm so tiny advaita vedanta reverses it it says the universe is an appearance in you you are the vast the universe no matter how enormous it seems does not exceed You by even the least literally literally that's the language does not nothing none of these words exceed you even in the least so they are all contained you're so vast the universe is contained in you and all of time is contained in you sings I am this infinite ocean in which the universe comes up like a wave let the waves arise let the waves subside I gain nothing thereby nor do I lose anything let Birth come I gain Nothing by that that old age disease and death come I don't lose the least by that let people Acclaim me and Surround Me In Joy I have not gained anything by that it's a wave arising and that people abandon me and let me die in loneliness I have not lost anything by that that's just the way of subsiding back into the formless ocean which I always was so I am the vast ocean you the universe is a wave in me we think about it just the other way around even if we are one reality it's a vast reality I'm just one wave in this ocean of reality no um here Yama is a lot of death is telling an educator you are the ocean itself the universe is is a way with you eighth Advantage this is the answer to the question you asked what is your innermost reality so this is this incredible you know one Mantra so powerful so sorry and every month almost every month after this will reiterate this truth all right an answer Ramya has this question why do we not say that the body also reflects Consciousness pranic functions being an indicator of this why only my certainly body reflects the living body it is the mind the buddhi which catches the first reflection of Consciousness that's when the chidahabha sails and because when the subtle body when the the buddhi is lit up the whole subtle body is lit up and when subtle body is lit up the subtle body is connected to the physical body so physical body um carries that reflection that's why that's why this physical body feels conscious it's not that only I feel aware in my mind the body itself feels aware upanishad says to the tips of my nails I feel the spread of this Consciousness you see that but Consciousness is all pervasive why would you feel it up to the tips of your nails well because this is not that all pervasive Consciousness this is the reflected Consciousness and the body which feels conscious has borrowed it from the subtle body from The Prana from the senses and the senses have borrowed it from the mind and the mind actually is a place where it becomes conscious first the reflected Consciousness is in the buddhi the reflection of pure consciousness yeah certainly sudhir ji says latest research and Consciousness from Boston University Medical School says all decisions made by Consciousness if you made Bound consciously half second prior if so this may prove that a body you think you have free will however looking deeper the higher level no free will last decisions are appearing as bubbles correct but remember again as vedanta students we will say decisions are made by the Mind by the intellect buddhi decisions are not made by consciousness Krishna says this he says I think this is in the 13th chapter um material nature does everything in this world from the vast material actions in the world outside to decision making in the brain I'm saying brain and krsna says that material nature does everything Consciousness is the witness it does nothing one who realizes that realizes I am the non-active Consciousness non-doer Consciousness that is freedom on this one he is talking about our situation that even if we know that um we are Brahman and siddha hone parvi began right so all the time we have to listen listen listen right and that's why that's actually not the last portion of the bhasha that's something that's that's another version no no that's the introduction to the next mantra oh number nine no but it's it's right such a powerful statement by Yama so are you enlightened we'll say well um maybe next class and that's why shankaracharya says again and again you hear and yet our intellects are shaken and then he says um numerous logicians start Kika I think he will use that term so but another kind of reasoning and you listen to other opinions other reason reasoning um Harvard University Yale Cambridge has said this oh now I get confused now you will not get confused if the Breakthrough is there once the guide has pointed out to you this is the Bow Bridge this is the San Remo building you know and you will never think that that is now the what is the other one El Dorado building or something like that you know that now you will not be confused about it but you have to come back to that right no you don't have to come back anymore once I mean to get that Clarity you have to come back but once you have got that Clarity you may come back to it because you'll enjoy it but you you will not need it anymore it because you know why you don't depend on the text or the guide anymore because um this Atman Brahman is continuously available to you it's all once you have recognized it how will you miss it because all the time it's available to you even your eyes are open it's available with eyes closed it's available to you as this one consciousness so um once you get it you will not miss it but then he says it is difficult it's difficult because our minds are shaken and swayed by various kinds of reasoning um various impurities in the mind which I see the two main impurities are desire worldliness which keeps forcing us outwards into the world and there are two ways one is Temptation one is Terror so Temptation means I want something and therefore my attention is focused on that Terror means anxiety fear nagging you know kind of kind of anxiety I'm afraid of something out there again attention is focused in the world no temptation no fear about the world that is a sign of a purified mind and the second level of Purity required is stillness of the Mind unless the mind is still this teaching will not be absorbed see ramakrishna his words are very simple he hears all this discussion going on then he comments you know his simple comment in Bengali he said his words are good they're wise words but it must be absorbed this must be assimilated these teachings sudam Krishna says this assimilation requires a very strong and steady mind that I am going to hold on to this a laser focus and I will not be shifted from this we easily get shifted from this and our laser focus and steadiness is with the world I'm holding on to the world I will not be shifted from the world no reverse it I'm holding on to vedanta I am Brahman I will not be shifted from that whatever the world does it come can come and go as it pleases all right let us slap it up now oh um [Music] thank you