Video 13

13. Vedantasara | Texts 57-60 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

[Music] i take refuge in the self which is indivisible the existence consciousness bliss absolute beyond the reach of words and thought the substratum of all for the attainment of my cherished desire so that's the invocation we are studying vedanta sarah and what do we have so far it was told that the way of teaching advaita vedanti is which is uh the method of superimposition and d superimposition and that's what's going on now the first the method of superimposition what does it mean superimposition d superimposition that is first we make an error that uh instead of the rope you see the snake and think it's a snake that's called superimposition it's adhyar why should we make it at all why make an error we're not making an error we already made it that's the problem we're already in the midst of it and we are seeking a way out and the way out is to be shown by advaita vedanta why can't it be told directly because we won't see it because if you say look snake if you say look it's a rope what is a rope where is a rope how is it a rope i am seeing a snake so the only way of showing me the rope would be to show how from a rope we make an error about a snake and how that snake is really a rope there itself where you are making the error where you are seeing a snake look carefully there itself you will see it's not a snake it's a rope so that's called the method of superimposition and de-superimposition it's not really what you think is the world body mind samsara not really body world body mind samsara it is brahman existence consciousness place so that's the process i think everybody has to be muted yes so that's the process and in this process what is going on now is that we have the process of superimposition adhopa is being shown to us first was introduced the reality brahman which is like the rope in the example like the rope brahman brahman is that what is brahman existence awareness and bliss infinite being awareness is-ness awareness is brahman nondual non-dual means other than that there is nothing this is the reality whatever is other than that is an appearance this is the basic uh teaching of advaita vedanta brahma satyam jagat mithya brahman alone is the reality if you are seeing anything other than brahman if you think that there's anything other than brahman what you think or see other than brahman is an appearance it's not real it's ultimately what you are seeing is like the snake and the rope the snake is not real it is actually a rope the world appearance is not real in itself it is actually brahman so we are introduced to brahman and now the question of explaining this appearance if you've introduced this rope you have to show how it is appearing as the snake to introduce brahman how is this brahman appearing as samsara so first we were introduced to maya after brahman maya and what is maya we were told it is made of three um you know sattva rajas and thomas it is neither real like brahman but not totally unreal because it produces this appearance this whole experience of the world is produced by maya then we ever told maya brahman is indivisible there is no hole or part little bits of brahman more brahman less brahman nothing like that it is one and not two but maya can be divided it is divisible so there is a totality and a part and we can divide it into infinite assembly any number of parts now the same brahman associated with maya or limited by maya is called saguna brahman or ishwara or the god of religion so in english will be two terms we have been introduced one is the absolute reality brahman and one is the god of religion so you can already see the god of religion is not the ultimate reality in advaita vedanta so the god of religion is ishvara which is the absolute in association with in association limited by i'm using the term upadhi um which is appearing through now in association with parts of maya the same brahman the same absolute is the jiva like us each of us so this is where the for the first time we can hook into something that all right us but what kind of experience what are they talking about us in deep sleep when we are in deep sleep um we are there in a in a seed form we as individuals our individuality is there in seed form but it's in um it's in a potential form that is called pragya that was introduced same brahman limited by avidya which is a part of maya what else was introduced maya has two kinds of powers the veiling power and the projecting power awareness the wailing power hides brahman from us when we look out into the world we see forms hear sound smell taste touch no brahman anywhere nothing no absolute reality when we look into ourselves person with its body mind and all sorts of problems and issues no brahman i'm not i don't see the sachidanan anywhere whether within myself or outside neither in the subject nor in the object this is called the veiling power of maya because of the veiling power of maya the wailing power of ignorance just like being ignorant of the rope we see the snake so not knowing that it's a rope is wailing power of ignorance and projecting the snake error that is the projecting power of ignorance similarly not knowing brahman one then brahman itself is projected as um this universe as samsara maya is time space and causation de shakala namitta same brahman appearing through maya seems to be extended in space passing through time and connected with through um causation or the law of karma one thing leading to another so this is what's going on all right now let's go ahead what's going to happen from now on the projecting power will have full play and we will see how the whole universe emerges from brahman plus maya because of the projecting power of maya we are given the nice example of the spider which explained how brahman is the cause of the universe remember which brahman is the cause of the universe it's a strange question to ask which brahman isn't there only one swami yes there is only one brahman no doubt but that brahman alone in association with maya is called saguna [Music] means the lower or the inferior brahman and that that lower brahman god is the cause of this universe what kind of cause material cause or you discussed these terms last time according to vedanta brahman is both upadhana and nimit takarana is the one indivisible material and efficient cause of this universe from the perspective just like a spider from its own perspective own perspective means what's the spider's perspective of a of an of an individual sentient being a single living being for as an individual sentient being it is the efficient cause of this web from its own body the spider's own body spider itself is the material cause of the web what is the web made of the spider's own body parts of the body secretions and spider is the efficient or intelligent cause of the web the designer of the web or the creator of the web similarly some the perspective of ishwara nimitta karna efficient cause of the universe from the perspective of maya which is the power of ishwara it is the upadhanakara upadhana means the material cause so ultimately if you say what is this world made up from a vedantic perspective you say atoms subatomic particles and energy and you know quarks and super strings fine but what are they made of ultimately it will be they're all made of maya sattva so if every um half educated or maybe even illiterate villager in india will say and it's absolutely right means this actually all of it is made of maya in the same in for example in the sense that in our dreams if you say everything you see in the dream and everybody you see in the dream including your own body there in the dream is made of your mind the dreamer's mind right um what else would i need to say before we go on so now this whole universe how it emerges a cosmology will be given remember this cosmology which will be given it's not unfamiliar the five elements you know space water fire water and all of that space air fire water earth combinations of that producing the body and the mind and all of this an external universe this is an entirely borrowed cosmology borrowed from the prevailing ideas about the universe at that time my point here is we are not going to do a scientific description of the universe what you will see now is a model of the universe which comes up and a very nice model but don't try to compare it with say modern physics modern particle physics or modern cosmology not necessary remember the purpose the purpose here is it's going to give us a way back to our realization to our our self it is superimposition be superimposition is any of this to be taken seriously ultimately in advaita vedanta only brahman is to be taken seriously you are brahman brahmana and this is laying out a path for us to realize that we are brahmana so why i'm saying this is um it's a methodology so why i'm saying this is that if somebody says i don't like all this old obsolete you know fire water air what is all this i have got much better you know physics and cosmology advaita vedanta would be perfectly all right okay go ahead um that's very nice you have a much better understanding of the constituents of this universe fine you take up your cosmology but only one thing one senior swami told me this is my point of view a traditional advaitan will not agree traditional pundit if you say that i'm going to get rid of your akasha why you agree and i'm going to you know fire air water i'm going to plug in super strings string theory traditional pundit will not agree no no why why they will not agree there's a reason also because this cosmology is based on the upanishads and based on the vedas it's a so they will not deviate from that but what allows me to deviate from it why should i as an advaitan agree to modern cosmology because of this escape clause the fine print says don't take it seriously it's part of a methodology so if anything else any other part works well you can plug it in you can take out this part and you know plug and play you can bring in another component and put it in there and it will work only one senior swami warned me he said see these five elements cosmology which is going to begin now this is based on the upanishads so if you get rid of this and try to bring in something else you are deviating from the upper nations and remember vedanta is an interpretation of the upanishad so that one thing you are moving away from that second thing is in this methodology the way back to brahman is very easy it's very clearly seen how you how it comes emerges from brahman and back to brahman you'll see but if you take up a scientific methodology it's basically a materialist methodology materialist cosmology then there is no clear way back to brahman and even there it can be done but you will have to think about it yourself all right this is just an aside from you know a modern perspective i at harvard i met brian greene you know the very famous cosmologist he's well known for his series pbs elegant universe he's a cosmologist here at colombia so he was releasing his new book um the and the until the end of time it's his new book on cosmology it's more philosophy than physics if you read that book and there he mentions vedanta and he says my elder brother is when i came up to you dressed like this he was so happy to see me says my elder brother is a monk and a hindu monk and he says i have to have debates with him he used to bring up these ideas from the vedas from the upanishads and i would debate it from the point of view of science so i said what is your conclusion right so my conclusion is that these are um you didn't tell me this it's in the book these are like poetical echoes of the um discovery or the what has been said in the vedas so there this what the city said in the uh vedas are like political echoes of modern science what you said in the vedas is not mathematics or not physics as we understand it today but certainly it's very compatible they are not they seem to be saying the same thing that much he said so that's interesting to know a traditional pundit would be dismissive would say that look it's all maya don't worry about it swami vivekananda was not dismissive remember he actually wanted to find out a reconciliation between sankey and cosmology and modern physics and he talked about dialogue running dialogue with nikola tesla about it but of course physics was not advanced enough at that time no conclusion came of it okay having said all that let's now get into building up a universe we have a lot of work ahead to build the universe this point ahead i will move fast remember this is what we're going to talk about now is not the central focus of advaita vedanta it is just world building so that will be comfortable we will understand all right so vedante is talking about us and this world as we see it now how do we find out brahman in our experience that will be the other part of it and remember also remember this is an introductory book it's a book of definitions so too much discussion too much debating too much explanation also will not be given it just gives us the building blocks so that we can go into the actual texts the upanishads themselves later on okay verse number 57 i think we are done up to 56 not verse text number 57 57 translation from consciousness associated with the projecting power of ignorance which has a preponderance of the quality of darkness has evolved akasha which in turn has produced air from air has come fire from fire water and from water earth as in such tricky passages from this self has evolved akasha state theory openation 2.1.1 so i will go to the quotation first the whole thing he has borrowed it from the upanishads um it is not i mean at the risk of repeating myself it's not a scientific investigation into our universe it's he's borrowed it from the upanishads if i quote from the upanishad mata will become clear what is he trying to say here so this is from taither upanishad um the second chapter or only called brahmanandawali so very inspiring wonderful just in one paragraph um the most profound philosophy has been packed into it whole of advaita vedanta can be seen as just unpacking this paragraph one stanza um in fact the first sentence itself is the whole of advaita vedanta what am i talking about brahmana 2.1.1 of traitorous so brahmavida param the knower of brahman attains the highest that is advaita vedanta it's not in the book don't look at the book so i'm quoting from the upanishad the knower of brahmana attains the highest brahmavid abnorth look three things have been introduced already brahman knowing brahman and the final goal attaining the highest brahman reality what is to be done you have to know brahman and what will be the result attains the highest so that is the first line of the criteria financial second chapter then the rest of the passage is explanation of that line so what goes on there [Music] so what does it say the knower of brahman attains the highest what is brahman what is knowing brahman how do you know brahman and what is the highest all those are answered what is brahman satyam gyanam anantam brahma brahman is infinite existence consciousness so i have a full talk on this you know defining god so it's really excellent that one simple definition how you can unpack it to realize to understand what the absolute is and even to realize it brahma brahman is the infinite existence consciousness then how do you know this brahman your vedan you have to find out in the sacred space in the in in your heart basically you have to realize i am brahmana then what what do you get what is the final achievement of all of this exercise one who realizes i am brahmana attains total fulfillment of all desires everything that one could have wanted one will attain not that you will get your christmas list that you are making a long christmas list all these things will i will get um no what we are seeking for in life a child making christmas list of presents he or she wants or even most wise professor at harvard making a list of the award he wants to win and the publication he wants to do all of it whatever we do in human life all the pursuits we have in human life they all are looking for we are all looking for fulfillment through it and that fulfillment is possible not through these pursuits but ultimately through realizing that you are brahman at once all desires of the heart are fulfilled in that sense now suppose at this point somebody says that's fine but um i don't understand how to realize this brahman you said realize this in the sacred space of the heart how so from this point onwards the rest of the chapter um the uh second chapter of ethiopia it launches into a method of showing us how to realize i am brahmana which we shall see all in details when we go to directed upanishad hopefully by the grace of god in the years ahead the method is we all belong to us anybody who has done vedanta we know this method it is called the method of the five sheets panchakosha viveka to begin that it shows how the universe has emerged from brahman the um superimposition from this brahmana which is none other than your atman with brahman satyam gyanam anantam brahma infinite consciousness existence that is your own atman from that has emerged what akasha space why you air from akasha comes air from air comes water a fire from fire comes water from water comes earth from these five elements comes this entire universe and down to our physical bodies us as living beings so that's what will be said and then from this physical body back to brahman from the annamaya pranama mano maya big gyranamide it will upanishad will show that so that's for later that's the titanium punisher he has just used that line that from the atman emerges space suppose somebody asks you just said brahman is existence consciousness bliss being and awareness how does space emerge from that what is the connection so it's very interesting what is space is a matter of investigation not only in modern physics and cosmology but also in um in ancient indian philosophy the wonderful work has been done there all it means is satchida alone being awareness alone with with the help of maya appears as space yeah the appearance is of space of akasha and the name is given space and it is it can be it it gives whatever space does the function that also appears it is actually sachidanan it is actually the rope but now appears as the snake with the name snake with the appearance of a snake with the properties of a snake actually is there a snake is there actually the properties of a snake no actually is there akasha no it is brahmana akasha is brahman alone but appearing in this way that's why in some forms of hindu worship um god or shiva for example is worshipped as space instead of a shiva linga you will find a space there just space that that is that is brahman sometimes it is worshipped as fire so not that fire is being worshipped it is existence consciousness appearing as fire which is being worshipped so aakasha first emergencies of akasha then it is value air then it so all of these have their own properties on the forms qualities and names so it says the projecting power viksay pashakti maya with its projecting power using more of tamas so remember maya is made of sattvas qualities of lightness and dynamism and inertness thomas is darkness inertness heaviness because matter is comparatively inert compared to our minds and uh compared to consciousness itself matter is is inert it is does not seem to be aware so he says the cause of matter must be inert must be tamasic so by using the tamasic aspect of maya the projecting power vikre pashakti projects brahman itself caitanya from consciousness itself emerges space if it's difficult to understand how a solid universe including fire water earth space all of it can come from consciousness it's very easy to see how we do it when you know and we all do it in our dreams a dream world where there are chairs and tables and tigers and plants and animals activity all of it's going on all of it has come from mind from the it's an appearance of the mind so so from consciousness alone through maya which part of maya the the projecting power using what the tamasic quality of maya thomas becomes akasha space from akasha comes vayu air from air comes fire from fire comes water from water comes earth and so on and according where did you get all this from the titanium punishables shruti from the text of the thai theory upanishad and this is of course a common cosmology in the ancient world not only in upanishads but also in all forms of indian philosophy in china in greece all most ancient people it's quite easy to see why they would think that if you look out today i was walking in the central park it was very cold um it is from the 30s and uh so i was looking out and then there were there weren't people around and the lake is freezing beginning to freeze slowly so um i noticed i was just thinking about the five elements yes it's very obvious you see the vast sky akasha and the wind blowing across why you and there is water in front of me uh upper just the fire elements seem to be a little less today it's so cold and here i am standing and here is the body it seems to be more earthy more physicals so very simple sketch of the universe is these five elements if you take that just one thing i just described it in that way remember when they are talking about the five elements here they are not talking about the earth and the wind and the fire and the sky which we see not at all they're talking about something very subtle here which will be mentioned later on what we see in the universe that will be produced soon and that will come little later it's not yet what we see as earth and fire and water and so on so forth now let us move ahead 58 text number 58 on account of the preponderance of inertia observed in them their cause also must have an excess of the quality of thomas at that time the qualities of sattva rajas and tavas are reproduced in ether etc in accordance with the law that the qualities of the cause determine the qualities of the effect very simple actually what are they talking about so you just said the material universe has been produced from the thomas aspect of maya why so he says there's a rule whatever you see in the effect must have its root in the cause something we see in the world material world the cause also must be some material thing we see matter and energy so the cause also must be matter and energy you see inertia heaviness inertness in matter so the cause also must be must have inertia or you know like thomas inertness in matter we see more of inertness compared to mind compared to sensory activity mind and of course consciousness matter must also be prepared mostly tamas why mostly because maya is always sattva rajasthan all three must always be present even when there is more tamas there must be a tiny bit of saturn involved there also all the time and then he says now all these five elements are produced uh there also there is sattvas and thomas but in akasha there will be little it's all tamasik but a little more sattva is present in akash a little less in uh air more rajas may be in fire and more tamas in water and much more thomas in earth like that from subtle to gross for more satwik to less satwik to rajasik to tamasik and all of it is mostly tamasic so that's the idea and where do you get all these by the rule that by seeing the effect we can make some inference about the cause effect is material world cause is maya these five they're called subtle matter rudimentary tan mantras are uncompounded upon chikrita elements important point here these are some terms have been introduced we'll keep coming across these terms when we read the upanishads and the commentaries of the upanishads three terms have been introduced sukshma bhuta subtle matter the five elements are called pancha bhuta space air fire water earth but all of them they have their subtler forms which are what what has just been produced the five subtle elements have been produced and so these are called subtle matter subtle elements buddha element five subtle elements another name tanmatra means that much alone so akasha is subtle uh space alone why you a subtle air alone in that sense that's then again and again we will come across this term tan matra tanmatra so this word tanmat has been introduced it means the five subtle elements another name given to the same five elements is uncompounded why uncompounded we will see these five will be mixed up in certain proportions to produce the actual material world which we are seeing right now the material world which we see around us is actually a compound a mixture of these five in the so called space there is one which we are seeing now which we inhabit now there is actually space and air and fire and water and earth all mixed up in certain proportion so so also in the air so also in the fire so in the water and earth since all five are actually mixed up in certain proportions but right now they are not mixed up they are uncompounded so they are called apanji krita just names don't bother too much about it just we are introduced to the names then number 60 from these subtle elements that produce subtle bodies and gross elements so the question will be all right we get all these things but what's the point what are we leading up to what does what good do these things do us so two things two kinds of things will be produced from this we are leading up to the production of subtle bodies what what are subtle bodies nothing occurred here nothing very strange or spooky subtle bodies we are always experiencing subtle bodies what are subtle bodies thoughts feelings perceptions emotions ideas our whole personality and the physiological activity which keeps the physical body alive so prana and karana this is called subtle body the vitality and also the mind and its activities why do you call them subtle body notice in our experience of the body we have two kinds of experiences one is of a physical body here i can see the physical body when you count the 61 people here 61 physical bodies can be counted but in each of these physical bodies there is a subtle aspect a first person experienced aspect which is available only to you the consciousness no doctor not a scientist can discover that if a scientist if a doctor or a physiologist explores your physical body what will they find they will find more of the physical body only they will find skin and bones and muscles and tissue and organs and electrical activity in the brains and biochemical activity and throughout the body that's all they will find more and more physical matter and physical processes this is so where is the person where are the thoughts feelings emotions whether there is what what we all experience as ourselves our own personality constituents this is what is being called a subtle body mind and life let's put it in a very broad sense prana antakarana all of it put together we will see so those ones will be built out of the five subtle elements that's where this is leading this one very important thing another important thing is the five subtle elements will be used to build up the five physical or gross elements out of which the entire physical universe will be built so two kinds of products are going to emerge from this process it's still very much work in process one product will be our own internal bodies our subtle bodies and the second product will be the physical elements out of which physical universe and our physical bodies also will be built up eventually okay let me quickly see the activity in the chat and answer any questions which have come pranav says oh what kind of student were you at uh harvard and this is my comment my first question at the beginning i guess front venture and asking lots of questions you are absolutely right so the professors had to tell me to stop let's hear from others and then i would had i had something to say but mostly in the classes dealing with the gita or with the open issues which i took in many of the other classes um even in other classes i did tend to talk a lot then sometimes it's hard not to be shy or intimidated with so many intellectuals in the class don't be intimidated it's we are all talking about what is real and present to all of us it's not about anything abstract it's talking about your own reality you are brahmana you are the absolute reality of the universe we're talking about that making a self-discovery it doesn't matter who else is in the class regarding brahman krishnamurti says regarding brahman limited by a part of maya is the jiva is the part of my the same as the subtle body of a human no maya the causal body so three kinds of bodies physical body here this one subtle body look inside immediately you will feel thoughts feelings emotion subtle body beyond that what do you experience in deep sleep neither physical body nor subtle body but there is something some limiting factor you don't realize that i am brahmana in deep sleep that limiting factor is called the anandamaya kosha it is the causal body not casual body causal body uh a car and a sharira and that's part of maya that's the tiny part of maya which makes brahman into each of us separate as if appearing as separate little jivas girish spider web analogy sounds more like the shishtandwa the spinoza like um yes but actually you have to see that here the point is every example has a point so here the point is that give me an example where the cause is both efficient cause and material cost at the same time see the classic example in ancient times would be a potter and clay so the potter is different the clay is different and the potter shapes the clay into a pot the product part so the material cause of the part is clay and the efficient cause of the pot is potter and potter and clay are not the same thing water doesn't turn into a pot thank god and carpenter doesn't turn into a table so usually they are different now when you ask what is the cause of this universe so one ancient cosmology was the niya cosmology actually pretty modern in the way they think about it they're saying that eternally space exists and what exists are flee free floating atoms that's the exact language free floating atoms imagine thousands of years ago free floating atoms and space exists and ishwara god is there so by the will of god these these atoms combine together into the physical universe which in principle is a pretty modern cosmology uh anyway i mean of course god is not part of modern cosmology but the idea of matter and energy existing of space existing and then combining to form this entire universe is pretty modern actually but there notice the atoms are separate god is separate so efficient caused material causes separate vedanta does not agree vedanta says material cause and efficient cause are the same brahman so give me an example so the example is spider example vishistar dwight would use that example in a different way notice this the web emerges from the body of the spider you can say it's a part of the spider in that sense the entire universe emerges from brahman is a modification of a part of of brahman so that is vishishta but advaitha uses only to show that the one thing can be both nimitz together so rick has shared a youtube uh presentation five elements with modern physics trying to reconcile okay so i also mentioned john dobson who was an astronomer whose astrophysicist astronomer who's to stay in our in his last years in our vedanta society at hollywood um he was a disciple of swami ashokan energy he actually wrote books about trying to reconcile the five elements with you know map it on to modern cosmology as i said my perspective is don't try to do that it's an interesting exercise but maybe you need not do that if you are interested in doing a getting a better understanding of the modern cosmos just go into modern cosmology just read and read modern physics and cosmology rodrigo what is the correspondence ishwar and the five elements that you'll have to ask a tantra expert you're very sophisticated then the example you gave about dreaming and seeing the chair table is similar to vishnu dreaming applause exactly that's the whole idea of vishnu who's a bit of a couch potato lying down and dreaming and the dream of vishnu is this entire universe if maya and injuries asking doesn't have maya doesn't have its own character without drama character means existence why how would brahman use the kamasic power of maya to project the universe i'm not very sure new jerry would you like to unmute yourself and ask this question swamiji um i i wasn't sure if maya by itself is uh it doesn't exist without brahman right yes yes yes right and maybe i misheard but i thought you said brahman takes the tamasik character or power of maya to project akash you can put it that way what the exact text was the tamasik aspect of the projecting power of maya is the source of akasha yes but yes saguna brahman does that ishwara are you referring to brahman as ishwara here yes whenever you are talking about creation of the universe you are always talking about ishwara saguna brahman okay okay remember that always saguna brahman ishwara god is the creator preserver destroyer of the universe the absolute has no connection with the universe there's no universe there at all because it's an appearance pranav is saying maharaja it's been a very recent observation for me but i've amazed how important private fundamental the five element cosmology is in hindu teaching across subject areas in philosophy ayurveda was vastu shastra so he even stumbled upon a was to sutra punished correct you're right that is why that one senior swami warned me against abandoning the five element cosmology you you're abandoning a very key component of trying to explain how one comes from the many comes from the one and also the way back from the many to the one so let's just keep it as it is and learn the way it is being taught i'm just saying from a from a very modern scientific perspective so if if you have to go to a scientist you couldn't persuade him to accept five elements and things like that the advantage of advaita vedante is you can still accept advaita vedanta and pursue it as a spiritual path without having to accept five elements in the universe made from five elements not necessary because it's it's just explanatory it's a way of explaining things rama is saying through the matras created from consciousness though this created from consciousness settled in nature are they pradhanam or only the gross elements of thomas the subtle methods are also thomas but there are variations there are variations so the parts which will be used to create our minds are more satwik than the parts which are used to create say uh other components of the subtle body and so on prabhupada is asking ishwara is not the ultimate reality but one doesn't have advaita knowledge and that's what you mean without the grace of ishwara correct that is true within this world of uh of maya is entirely dependent on ishwara this we must realize if as long as you stick to your jiva identity you must accept ishwara i was reading in the gospel of sri ramakrishna that sri ramakrishna asks kesha keshav is it true that your people of calcutta educated people you know they don't believe in god and then he gives a very telling example it's little story the gentleman in bengali says babu is coming back home and he's going up the stairs and suddenly he feels a pain in the side and he says oh what is this call the doctor call the doctor and by the time the doctor comes the story is over the babu has died and these are the people who do not believe in god this is what sri lanka says these are the people who dare to doubt the existence of god what he means thereby is we have really no idea how helpless we are we are totally helpless in this samsara for our very existence for our very normal frame of mind for our ability to function in this world [Music] so what happens in samsara in family in job and income in the world as you see corona virus and everything but at one moment everything can collapse for us we are totally and completely dependent on god we just don't realize it so as far as your jiva nature is concerned you're dependent on god and you one would one should natura recognize that just like brahman each three in an individual at three gunas no i will not go into that we are creating our own universe all right that's something called jiva srishti but it's not right now not relevant i am curious how sriracha krishna's teachings eventually led us to studying advaita vedanta even though srinam krishna was so bhakti focused not necessarily that he was bhakti focused he also if you look at the gospel of ramakrishna itself he talks so much about vedanta and remember so this is this is a tradition coming down to us from vivekananda and the other direct disciples who are all vedantic monks sri ramakrishna himself was initiated into advaita vedanta by tortapuri so advaita vedanta in fact is a central stream of thought flowing through sudama krishna if you ask so what tradition do you belong to i belong to the 10 orders of uh vedantic monks initiated by shankaracharya started by adi shankaracharya the great commentator non-dualistic commentator on the upanishads gita brahmasutras and that comes to us through vivekananda through sri ramakrishna himself his guru vedanti guru was total so there's a non-dualistic lineage running through us remember it's the vedanta new york so yes suchitra says sankhya says that the tanmatras come from rajas as dynamic element along with thomas it has just also implied it sattvas are all part of maya and they're all part of the five elements which are produced from maya all right i think there's a hand up anandi is asking a question namaste so the question is somebody else also asked if the qualities of the cause are reflected in the qualities of the effect yes and we say satyam gyana manantam yes why is it that brahman is so full of thomasic qualities in this universe why is there not a preponderance of satwa or ananda wait satsidananda satyam gyanam anantam ramada those are not the qualities of brahman they are brahman they are they are yes and sattva rajas and thomas are the constituents of maya but why is maya full of tamils are not full of supper no but it is there surprise there we will see satwa will be there in our minds in our perceptions more satwa will be there physical bodies more tamas is there exactly as we experience the world we experience part of it as being solid inert matter part of it as being aware thought feeling emotion so you have to make those distinctions but then what about brahman what about existence consciousness place that also should be available to us because this universe is after all nothing other than brahma and that is available to us i exist you exist all this exists all our experience is possible because of consciousness and our entire life is a drive towards fulfillment which is which shows the aaron aspect so we do not want to die because we it shows that we are sat we want to know we don't want to be ignorant it shows that we are chit and we want fulfillment above all things in life that shows our ananda nature so sachitan is shining through just imagine snake and the rope so certain aspects of the rope are still visible in the snake rope exists we feel snake is but the easiness belongs to rope not to the snake but why is there still more thomas than satwik in the world in the universe that we see we tend to see more than sick by all these texts that there is more music why is there not more there is depending on what we see actually what we are seeing is exactly in right proportion we see matter is more tamasik we see mind as more satwik we see a dull person little traumatic person but we see someone like um krishna or you know the vivekananda full of sattva so all the varieties are seen and everything has its own use you said we don't think that thomas is bad actually without thomas physical matter would not exist from the cosmology such that inert dull dead matter would not exist without thomas so that is the limit of creation from consciousness through sattva through rajasthan thomas we have come down to absolutely solid material creation so there is inertness there is dynamism and there is awareness all of it is there but if you push the question too far there are interesting stories so when the universe was first created little stories from the puranas sir first universe was created brahma who is given vishnu is dream setup but vishnu gives the contract to brahma brahma is the subcontractor so brahma will now create the universe and brahma thought let's do a good job let's create as on this side very satwik universe let's create a satwik universe the first creations he created the rishi putras who were very satwik they were manifested straight away the moment they came into being as persons these first perfect beings they thought what is this who are we where are we oh this is brahman i am brahman let's sit in meditation realize we are brahman finished universe was finished in one cycle itself brahma thought this did not work i need more you need more spices more rajas more tamas then only it will be tasty otherwise within the satwik food is among the most tasteless food will be satwik food i mean i'm joking only but so you need more spices to make the once you put in thomas more thomas more rajas the universe is continuing from that time onwards now nicely humming along is there a sequence kishore raja is an interesting question the way it is going it seems there's a sequence brahman maya ishwara and then the five elements are being produced g was produced the five elements are produced and subtle body then physical body yeah causal body subtle body physical body there seems to be a sequence krama from subtle to gross one after another so is it like that two answers are there from the upanishads if you see it will seem that yes that there is a there is a sequence first this will happen then this will happen then this will happen one after another and that's the way this book has been written also just wait to start but there is a more radical presentation on non-dualism uh there which is drishti shrivada which says it all happens at once and holy mother mashallah there was once asked this and quite interestingly maharashtra said it is not like that my son it all happens at once how do you understand that how is that it's that sounds so strange even in the world we see in this universe we see evolution science gives us a krama a sequence from big bang till now over billions of years so many things have happened in a particular sequence it didn't just come like that so the waking world will not help us but the dream world helps us to understand how if you look at our dream world the view suddenly i dream that i'm you know going to walking down the street and i meet you and we talk and so in the dream world was there first big bang and the universe was created and then the earth and then life evolved and then new york was created then we were born and then i walked down the street and then i met you what did that happen or the whole thing appeared at once in the dream so the whole thing appeared at once that's uh another way of looking at it but anyway that's a different approach this approach is sequential one after another sky has least tamas descending order and earth has most thomas correct one i just said all right right so this is from the text itself shaker and kiran yeah namaste swamiji yesterday uh so have a question related to the observer and the observed so can we say like that from the point of view of jiva and there is an observer so there is the observed universe but from brahman point of view there is no such thing as observation so brahman only remains there is no universal word yes you can say that the observer and observed is there only when you're talking about subject object when there is already a split i am experiencing something separately so one uttarakhand sadhu put it so beautifully huh what is sachidananda i will tell you in hindi and translate into english supported and supported container and contained i'll explain later the container and contain that one supporter supported at one that is sat here where the knower and the known observer and observed are one that is called consciousness what does it mean see usually first one here basically means support ground adhere means that which is put on the ground one on top of the other or pot in which water is kept part is the adhara and water is the other here usually they are different usually they are different this is no other are they are actually one same thing how it is possible when you look at something like clay and pot water and wave what is the aadhaar there the basis clay and what is there in that clay pot but there in the clay does not mean the clay is there and that one part is kept in the part is a name and a form and a function imposed on superimposed on same superimposition superimposed on clay wave is a name and a form and a function superimposed on water without the clay no pot without the water no no wave now notice in this case clay and pot are one reality water and wave are one reality it's not that one thing has been kept in another though they seem to be different part is because we have two names play is one name part is another name so you think that part is something in the player made out of clay no clay is the only reality there so in that sense if you look at the universe such is the only reality what do we normally see everything exists so you say existence is the ground and everything is there are things which exist but here things which exist in existence are one reality what is that one reality existence that is sat so every existing thing is an appearance in existence existence with a capital e just like every part you can say is a name and a form and a function imposed upon clay every being in this universe whatever exists in this universe is a name and a form and a function imposed upon existence and that existence you are that is suck what is chit consciousness normally what do you think about consciousness no one unknown as she said yes experience and experience observe and observed i am the reader book is the red i'm the knower this is this is known you are the knower and i am what i'm saying is known you're looking at me and hearing my voice what you are seeing and what you're hearing is the known and you are the knower two are different usually the two are different or knowledge works when no one and no one are different and no one knows not the same and yet imagine dreams in the dream walking along and looking at people enjoying a cup of coffee but when you wake up the people you met the cup of coffee you enjoyed and the body which you had in the dream they're all nothing apart from you the dreamer the dreamer's mind the noah the actual knower and what it knew in the dream what it knew in the dream is nothing other than the knower objects in the dream nothing other than the dreaming mind are all superimpositions name form and function superimposed upon one mind which is the dreamer's mind similarly that's the dream example similarly in this case there's one consciousness you and in you whatever you know they are appearing in you they are not different from you nowhere unknown are one whatever you know it seems that i am the knower this is something known and they're different from me they exist apart from me no they don't they exist in you the consciousness they are appearing in you the consciousness lamp a computer table names lamp computer table forms and activities lamp illumines computer connects me to you table supports the computer but they are all in my conscious they appear to my consciousness they are in my consciousness they are nothing different from my consciousness that is called chit gyat see all this i'm explaining he just said in one sentence and that that consciousness you are what is the mistake we make we think that there are existing things and i am one existing thing but vedanta tells you there is existence in which appears all existing things and you are that existence what mistake do we make we think we are the knower and there are many things we know vedanta says no no you are consciousness itself in which appears nowhere and known and that consciousness you are normally when we enjoy bliss happiness fulfillment what do we think here are the things we enjoy my favorite food my favorite book my favorite person activity hobby all of these things are i enjoy i am the enjoyer this is what we think they are separate because they are separate i have spent my lifetime pursuing those things and trying to get them and trying to keep them i am eager to get them scared of losing them and working hard to maintain them and what vedanta says is that you the enjoyer and what you enjoy you are one and the same thing um example the story of princess of kashi i will not repeat it here the prince thought that the princess of kashi was a separate person he wanted to marry her but he realized the picture he had seen was his own picture he had forgotten it as a kid he had been painted uh he had worn the dress of a princess and he had he had been painted at that you know the story i have told the story so there they enjoy and they enjoy it the lover and the beloved are one reality what he loves is not different from him is he himself in another form similarly ananda is that not where one enjoys another thing where the enjoyer and enjoyed the lover and the beloved are one reality that is ananda one more clue the clue for this understanding this is one and that is sat that understanding we get from the waking world jagrat it's a clue that the seer and the scene the knower and the known are one reality and that is chit that understanding we get from our dream experience that they enjoy and they enjoyed bhokta bhokar one and that is ananda that experience we get from the understanding we get from deep sleep experience what the baking experience teaches us is it's an ocean of existence what the dream experience teaches us is it is just one awareness and what the deep sleep experience teaches us is it is obvious that there is no difference it is the same one uniform sameness everywhere the delight is it appears as different now you can enjoy it after understanding this also come back see husband wife house father mother children um world problems disease co-weight pain suffering hospital recovery death all of it is appearing and disappearing in you the limitless satyam you are that okay that's a good very high and nice theme to end up all this i explained and that sadhu just said my just one sentence [Music] too