Video 24

24. Vedantasara | Texts 137-143 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

[Music] i take refuge in the self the indivisible the existence consciousness bliss absolute beyond the reach of words and thought and the substratum of all for the attainment of my cherished desire so we are on text number 137 137 um we're talking about superimposition and d superimposition the sanskrit words for that we remember where uh adhavada superimposition this is a portion which we started long back if you recall in text number thirty two text number thirty two a long time back if you refer back you will see to see the um rope which is not a snake to make a mistake and to see it as a snake that is called adhyaropa superimposition you see what is not there or to think of something which is not that shankaracharya calls what is not there you see there or what is not there you think that is there just like um a movie for example it's you see lots of stuff there and yet there's only light and a screen similarly in a dream you see lots of people and places but all that is there is the dreaming mind and the classic example of a rope which you see is which one makes a mistake and thinks that it's a snake but what is there is the rope only that which is not a snake to see that as a snake to make a mistake about it an error about it that's called superimposition the word for it is adhoba and all of that we did till now was to show how the entire universe which we experience is a superimposition on the reality which is brahman the reality which is a rope is seen as a snake by mistake the reality which is brahman is experienced as the universe by an error there the error is caused by not knowing the rope and we make a mistake about this snake here the error is caused by not knowing brahman the ultimate reality and we all know why that happens all of that we studied maya with its two functions projecting power and availing power and the projecting power leads to the manifestation of the entire universe and so the manifestation of the entire universe up to the 14 worlds and the body and the mind and our samsara which we see this is the limit of superimposition this is what we have seen the whole samsara is superimposed on brahman just as a snake is superimposed on a rope superimpose is just a fancy philosophical way of saying rope is mistaken for a snake brahman is mistaken for this universe now correction they're going to begin a correction why at all are we doing this because this is the method of teaching remember at the very beginning we were told that the master the student goes to the master and says how do i become enlightened how do i become free from the sufferings of samsara and the master teaches vedanta and we were told how does the master teach vedanta the master teaches by the method of superimposition and d superimposition and that's what's going on that's why the method of what what is called superimposition was talked about till now and now they're going to talk about d superimposition the error has been displayed now now the error is going to be corrected we are in the the dream we're in the midst of the dream now going to wake up all right so that is called d superimposition um let us see we shall see d superimposition basically um let's read first and then i'll come back to it text number 137 [Music] as a snake falsely perceived in the rope is ultimately found out to be nothing but the rope similarly the world of unreal things beginning with ignorance superimposed upon the reality is realized at the end to be nothing but brahman this is known as d superimposition apartheid what is going on underneath is that um you can think of it as cause and effect if you think of the rope as a cause of the manifestation of the snake or the rope as a cause of the error which we which is the snake it's not really a snake it's an error and what's the cause of that error what what causes what is it really it's really a rope so the material the substance the reality behind is called the cause in fact it's more specifically material cause in sanskrit karana more specifically upadhanakarana the material cause is the rope and the effect in sanskrit cardium the effect is the snake similarly um brahman is the cause and the effect is this universe now what this up this d super imposition apovada does is this it it negates it removes uh it destroys our ignorance about the reality and negates the effect i'll repeat that it negates the effect it says there is no snake it negates effect there is no snake what you consider to be snake is an is an illusion is an is a mistake is an error there is no universe what you consider to be jagat this universe is an appearance is not the reality this what is it negating it is negating the superimposition it is negating the effect are you with me the universe is the carium effect snake is the cardium um the effect that is negated negated means it's not real we realize it's not real having negated the cardium what happens next is uh that see how do you know how is the cardio negative what do you mean by negating negating here would mean realizing that there is nothing here except the karanam the cause as the cause the rope is only there there is no effect called a snake once you realize that you have negated the snake the cause the dreamer only is there there is no dream world and person and event only the dreaming mind is there so the only the cause is there not the effect the effect is thus negated now when you do that when you negate the effect when you negate the cardium effect what happens to the cause nothing happens to it but its causality is lost you see you cannot call it a cause anymore you're saying that it's a snake then why is it there because of the rope and our ignorance of the rope rope or ignorance of the rope pushes it forward or projects it as a snake fine now next we de-superimpose we correct that we say there is no snake it's not a snake it is nothing but the cause which is the rope it's the rope alone the cause alone is there effect is not there but if the effect is not there why are you calling it a cause if the effect the snake is not there why are you calling the rope a cause the rope is not a cause rope is the reality but it's not a cause anymore what what is it a cause of because it did not actually cause anything so the causality of the cause is lost i will repeat that by this process of correction of the error what happens is first you negate the effect negate the effect means you realize there is no effect it is only the cause there is no snake it is only the rope but having said there is no snake then the rope as a cause of the snake that you have to give up you cannot say that the rope is the cause of the snake why am i going like this and making it complicated because what i'm trying to say is once you negate the world it is an appearance it's mithya it's maya then what is the cause of this world brahman the ultimate reality brahman is the cause of the world so we realize it is brahman alone it's not the world but then if it's brahman alone and not the world then you cannot say brahman is the cause of the world so it is brahman brahman and brahman alone existence consciousness place alone not as the cause of anything cardiac a very powerful phrase brahman which transcends both cause and effect brahman transcending causality it all this sounds very abstract and dry it has a tremendous implication what is the implication in this exchange poor ishwara has disappeared god is the cause of the universe saguna brahman the moment you say brahman is not a cause then you have to say brahman is not god you have to say brahman is only brahman existence consciousness place its godhood is lost not that brahman disappears the rope remains the rope but rope as the cause of the snake that is gone rope is not a cause of the snake brahman remains as brahman but a brahmana is the cause of the universe that is lost so this uh this is what is going on underneath all this superimposition and discipline is re-superimposition one more point i want to make here here is introduced the term vivarta so i want to talk about vivarta and parinama two very important terms in vedanta in advaita vedanta it it relates to causality cause and effect so what is the vivart and what is parinabha when the cause is transformed into the effect this is called parinama transformation of the cause into the effect it's one kind of causality transformation of the cause into the effect example the um the milk becomes curd or yogurt it's transformed actually it is a process the milk is no longer milk it becomes yogurt or the seed is transformed into the seedling the sapling seed is gone now it is a sapling that's that's called parinama an actual transformation of cause into effect seed cause effect settling milk cause effect is yogurt and by here by because i mean the material cause in contrast means apparent transformation apparent transformation it means the cause appears as the effect is not actually does not become the effect rope and snake it is not that the rope is actually transformed into a snake not that the rope has gone and there is a snake no rope and a rope and snake the desert and the water in the mirage the water in the mirage is an appearance it's not that the dry desert has suddenly become watery no it's still the desert sand but it's a it's looks like a mirage that is called vivarta dream is vivarta the mind dreamer's mind actually does not become people and places and activities it only appears like that movie cinema vivarta the screen does not actually become people and you know car chases and monsters and no it is just appears like that it's called vivarta so um so this is now brahman as this universe is it parinama or is it is it like milk becoming yogurt seed becoming a sapling this is called parinama is brahman transformed into this universe or is it vivarta is it like rope and snake is brahman appearing as this universe so brahman is appearing as this universe this is big claim it's not that brahman the ultimate reality has been transformed into the universe it is not that god has become the universe if you say god has become the universe it's a bit like spinoza spinoza's pantheism spinoza said that the absolute reality appears as this universe it this is somewhat this is called pantheism that god becomes the universe but advaita vedanta is not that advaita vedanta does not say that brahman becomes the universe advaita vedanta says brahman appears as the universe the rope appears as the snake the desert appears as the mirage water the dreamer appears as all the elements in the dream the movie screen appears as the as the cinema no actual transformation now what difference does it make number of difference first and most important of all if there is no actual transformation then by an act of knowledge by correction you can go back from the effect to the cause i'll repeat if there is no actual transformation by the by knowledge by realizing what it is you can go back from the effect to the cause if there's no actual transformation you can go back from the mirage water to the actual desert you realize oh it's only a mirage knowledge itself will transform that apparent water into the real desert waking up trapped in a dream tiger is chasing you in a forest now how do you go back to the reality wake up just by waking up tiger forest everything will disappear and you sit up in your bed what has happened you've gone back from an appearance to the reality movie you don't even have to go back you always you're always aware that the movie what is appearing is not ultimately real these are all like pictures on a screen so that very act of knowledge knowing that it is a movie takes you back from the tragedy or the comedy and in the movie to the reality that these are pictures in a screen this is possible why this is possible because it is vivata it is an apparent transformation if it was a real transformation for example milk has become curd now however much you say that curd is milk curd is milk curd is milk it will never become milk it is curd it is yogurt seed has germinated into a sapling if you say no it is the seed it is the seed it is not a sapling it will never go back it is a sapling but if it is a snake by mistake you have seen a rope as a snake if you say that no it is not a snake it is a rope you will notice the rope you will go back from the error to the reality you can go back by an act of knowledge by a correction from a dream to the waking you can go back by waking up knowledge can take you back from the effect to the cause knowledge can take you back from the effect to the cause if it is vivarta not if it is parinar no amount of knowledge will take you back from yogurt to the milk or from the settling to the seed it's already actually transformed related to this one more point you know in advaita vedanta we talk about levels of reality so ultimate reality para martha the absolute reality which is only brahman and then there is the transactional reality called vehicle reality which is this you're sitting here and you're listening to vedanta and all of that uh your our bodies and minds the vehicle reality which we talked about the superimposition we saw this entire universe it's a transactional reality where we eat walk and talk we go to jobs and we get covered and suffer and recover all of that is transactional reality and there is a lower level of reality called prativasika reality errors dreams when you mistake a rope for a snake when you see a movie when you see read a fiction like like a storybook when you see a dream or a mirage this is called pratibhasika illusion fiction error so now we have got three levels paramarthika absolute example only one example is there brahman existence consciousness place that's the only reality that's the absolute reality which is really real so to put it that way in between is next to it is transactional reality what we now consider to be our reality this waking world this waking world is transactional realities and then there is the pratibha the apparent world of errors illusions dreams why am i bringing this up now connected to vivata and parinama if causality is parinava effect cause is transformed into effect both are at the same level of reality milk is transformed into yogurt milk and yogurt both are bever hadika transactional reality or a seed is transformed into a plant both at the level of transactional reality we have a harika but if it is a case of vivarta the cause and the effect are not at the same level of reality the cause is a higher reality or a more fundamental reality deeper reality and the effect is a lower reality so for example snake and rope rope snake pratibhasika making and dreaming waking up the objects in the dream the contents of the dream pratibhasika so to repeat again parinama cause and effect both are at the same level of reality and the vivata cause and effect are different levels of reality cause is always of a higher level of reality the desert is a real dessert and the water you see in the desert is an appearance it's a fiction i mean it is an illusion the rope is a real rope and the snake you see is prativasika so so what here because this universe is a vivarta of brahman then brahman is of a higher level of reality than this universe they are not at the same level of uni uh reality brahman is the the the paramarthika satyam the absolute level and its appearance the the vivarta means appearance its appearance is this world that is connected to this idea that it can be corrected by knowledge if the two things are two different levels of reality you can correct it by one act of knowledge the prathibhasika snake can be dissolved back merged back into the bevaharika rope by realizing it is not a snake it's a rope the prati bhasika miraj water can be dissolved back into the desert sand by realizing there is no water the the jagat can be dissolved back into brahman by realizing it is brahman it's not a world so this realization of the effect is nothing but the cause this is called apavada realization that the effect is nothing but the cause just by knowledge you realize this it's possible only for vivata if it is a an appearance say the world is an appearance of brahman if the snake is an appearance of a rope if it's a real snake no no amount of shouting it's a rope will help you better run this is going to bite you then so if it's a real world no amount of vedantic inquiry will help you it's only because the world is said to be an appearance in existence consciousness place then knowledge will help you knowledge will make you realize it is free otherwise by knowledge you cannot become free error if it if the world is an error then knowledge about the reality will set you free from samsara if the world is reality then no knowledge even knowledge about the reality of god or whatever can set you free see how it is all connected the brahma sutra starts with athato brahma hence therefore an inquiry into brahman an inquiry into brahman what is vedanta it's an inquiry into brahman the absolute reality why an inquiry what does an inquiry do an inquiry will only produce knowledge any inquiry any inquiry produces knowledge right inquiry means knowledge what is the product what is the result of any inquiry knowledge any investigation knowledge how will that help if i inquire into brahman how will that help if you inquire into brahman the knowledge of brahman will remove samsara will set you free from suffering the whole goal of spiritual life will be served by knowledge of brahman and knowledge of brahman comes by an enquiry into brahman and therefore hence therefore an inquiry into brahman but notice what is underlying if you open up the box what are the assumptions inside the assumption is that it is vivarta the universe samsara is a vivarta brahman an appearance of brahman if it were not an appearance of brahman no amount of knowledge would help you i mean it would help but then you have to do something about it after that just knowledge itself will not help you and no amount of inquiry will be ultimately useful enquiry knowledge will ultimately have to do something about it maybe the grace of god or something will be necessary then only you can get freedom and things like that or many problems complications will ensure but by knowledge of the reality i am free from suffering and free of samsara is possible only if samsara is an appearance a vivarta of brahman now if you look at what was said in the definition of apavada apavado nama what is upavada apavadha is to be defined the superimposition should be defined as your the serpa snake which is a vivarta at an apparent transformation of the rope see vivarta what is the alternative you can never say yogurt which is the which is the transformation of the milk can be you know you can recover the milk by realizing it is milk it's impossible so yogurt is gone i mean milk is gone yogurt is there now but it is the rope rope is still there even when you are seeing apparently seeing a snake the rope is still there when you are apparently seeing the world brahman is still there what just like the snake is nothing other than the rope raju matra means rope only are you following snake is rope only if it's an apparent snake if it's a false snake then it's a rope only like that it's an example remember it had nothing to do with snakes and ropes it's an example like that that the unreal appearance of astu which is an appearance of the reality was to so what is an unreal vastu what is an unreal appearance entire universe going all the way back to maya prapancha universe what is the universe we read about it 14 worlds multiple universes with all living beings and their objects of experience their sufferings and enjoyments and with with their physical body and the subtle body and the causal body all going back to maya all of it is like the snake appearing in what is the reality just like the rope was only brahman brahma a brahmana is the only reality satchidar and the existence consciousness bliss just as the snake remains as nothing other than the rope the entire universe remains as nothing other than brahman this is called apavada d superimposition this is going to happen now we are going to wipe out the entire universe don't be scared only by an act of knowledge also remember one thing there are examples of different kinds once you correct the error of a snake and see that it's a rope you actually don't see the snake anymore but once an enlightened person corrects the error of the universe jagat and realizes it's all brahman still one sees the universe the enlightened person also sees people and objects and animals and plants and sky and earth all of it you correct um the example so so aren't there different examples here there are better examples so for example uh a mirage water once you correct that it's not a mirage it's not water it's a mirage it's the just of sand and the air shimmering uh because of the heat and there's an illusion when you go near it you see it's just sand and air shimmering on it but then what happens when you go a further away from a distance and you look back upon it what does it look like water water swami vivekananda this example in rajasthan in the deserts of rajasthan as he was walking he was very thirsty and he saw this water he rushed towards it to drink it and he saw it as just the desert sand and he realized oh this is the mirage which we have been told about it starts walking and then later when he looks back he sees the same water again but this is a difference it no longer has the same hold on him anymore similarly an enlightened person will still see the same world but it no longer has any hold upon upon the enlightened person it does not exert the power of pain and misery upon the enlightened person neither temptation nor terror from this world of appearance this is what happens in an enlightened person are other examples also blue sky so we thought that the sky is blue but then we go to school and the physics teacher disenchants us by telling us no it's just light being scattered in the atmosphere that's why the sky looks blue but then the the child goes outside the classroom and looks at the sky what does it look like it looks blue similarly but now the child knows it's not blue actually and at no point is any anywhere the space become blue similarly brahman looks as like the world to us and to the enlightened person also but we do not realize what brahman is and we interacted with it as the world as objects and people and good and bad and suffering and pain and misery and pleasure all of that swami vivekananda says things are dead in themselves things are dead in themselves means they are names and forms only there's no reality in them and then he says but we breed life into them then we run away from them or run towards them so this is called um so like it's just like the blue sky even after realizing this it'll still look blue for the enlightened person but the enlightened person knows it's not blue it is it's just sky is colorless similarly it's not a universe it is brahman now he gives a quotation to make his point 138. [Music] [Music] thus it has been said vikar vikara is another name for parinama i just said parinama and vivarta vikar is around the name for parinama there's a there's a footnote as when milk is turned into curd so vikara is the actual modification of a thing altering into another substance while vivarta when the cause actually in reality is transformed into the effect like milk into yogurt means appearance prasa means appearance uh in reality not in reality appearance as anyata means as something else appearance is something else but though not in reality is called vivata so we studied the difference between parinam and vivarta rope appears as a snake but not in reality not in that means the rope has not really become a snake milk appears as yogurt in reality it has been transformed into yogurt all right so now the definition of upper vada the superimposition has been given so what's going to happen we are going to see this universe as it really is what is it really brahman we're going to put this universe through the process of uppavada the superimposition what will emerge at the end of it brahman what are we going to put into that machine of the superimposition universe universe will be processed and brought back to brahman to realize that it is brahmana by the entire process is a process of knowledge you're not actually going to go out and smash the universe into bits and pieces and make brahman out of it or something [Music] see there are schools of vedanta the dualistic schools they say brahman existed in the beginning and then by transformation actually brahman or a part of brahman or the power of brahman actually became this universe that is called parinama so many of the dualistic schools they so if brahman actually becomes the universe then the universe is also real brahman is real brahman is becoming the universe the universe is also real and then at the end of the universe when prahlaya is their dissolution then the universe will be gone and brahman alone will exist that is the dualistic view the non-dualistic view advaitic view is brahman alone existed in the beginning and in the end brahman alone will exist in between brahman alone exists only thing is it appears as this universe why does it appear as this universe why is it experienced as this universe because of superimposition how do we get rid of the superimposition by knowledge by d superimposition now this is the superimposition upper vata which will happen it will happen in stages why in stages remember all the superimposition we went through happened in stages do you remember pure consciousness existence consciousness place the only reality was to reality then what was introduced maya so it became that reality plus maya what is that called reality plus my that that ultimate reality plus maya are limited by maya ishwara saguna and then what happened that maya produced the five subtle elements you know the subtle sky and air and fire and water whatever and then what happened those subtle elements combine to form the subtle bodies what are subtle bodies mind intellect memory all of that the powers of perception the powers of doing life itself the um [Music] and then what happened the subtle elements another stage subtle elements combined with each other to produce the gross elements the five elements which by which this physical universe is made we remember the punchy corona one part of each combining with the other four parts of fire water space the five-fold mixture there's a mixture of the quintiplication we talked we called it so the becoming five fold the four one element mixing with parts of the other four elements and producing the five gross elements and the five gross elements made what the physical bodies anonymia kosher of all of us and these worlds and these objects so multiple stages of superimposition and those will be reversed so he starts from the most obvious where have we come right now here we are with physical bodies living in this physical universe let's start there let's see what will happen we'll see what will happen now but this is much faster um that superimposition building that universe took us months here in a matter of minutes we are going to wake up from the dream the dream may be very complicated but to wake up from it is very easy the movie may be most complicated but to switch up the movie is pretty fast so this is what we will see 139 videos [Music] to illustrate the four kinds of physical bodies which are the seats of enjoyment the different kinds of food and drink etc which are the objects of enjoyment the 14 planes such as bhur etc which can contain them and the universe from honda which contains these planes all these are reduced to their causes the five gross elements that was pretty fast what it does is everything that you see here right now where we are right now this physical universe and the multiple universe is like this all of it is nothing but matter nothing but matter the five elements akasha that's it everything here listen what about space akasha space that's also included all energy all um you know space time energy all of it is just matter so tata he to explain further either these seats of inexperience bhoga means how we experience pleasure and pain what are they bodies and remember chaturveda four kinds of bodies we had a very sketchy and uh sort of bare bones biology it was shown to us four kinds of bodies sula shariram physical bodies jaatam collection i'm just giving you the sanskrit bog and the objects which they experience what what do we experience with these bodies who drink um all of those things the physical things which we we enjoy or suffer from all of them and they are where do they exist they get a diatonic you can call it the multiverse in modern cosmology the entire physical reality containing or containing all of this all space time planets stars galaxies and you know black holes and super strings and whatnot all of that is what it's nothing but its cause its material cause are the five elements so we have gone remember we have gone from the uh effect to the cause the effect is this physical universe and the material cause of all of that is just five elements this itself actually removes most of our problems our entire level of problems is it at our society this physical body its uh illness just look at it from this perspective my physical body and the coronavirus is basically all of them are just matter so for me if i am identified with this physical body then the corona virus is an enemy for me but if you're identified with matter no sky and earth and fire and wind and water you know then corona virus is also you this physical body is also you it shouldn't matter to you so all of this is just matter pancha the five elements all of it that's why it's called prapancha prakrishna the the combinations are the elaborations of five what are the five the five elements the just matter all of it is just an ocean of matter first stage then 140. these five gross elements together with the five objects such as sound etc the subtle bodies all these are reduced to their cause the uncompounded elements next stop in our journey journey journey back from universe to brahman the next stop is this all these five elements which makes this physical universe all these five gross elements plus the subtle bodies our minds intellects remember subtle body has 17 parts we read about it five sense organs the powers the five motor organs the powers associated with them the five pranas and the uh intellect and the mind buddhi and manas are 19 parts if you make mana buddhic i'm moving fast if you are confused just refer back we have done all of this earlier all of these the five gross elements the entire physical universe is nothing but the five gross elements the five gross elements themselves plus the subtle universe subtle universe means life and mind and intellect and memory and all of that is nothing but the five subtle elements [Music] uh wind fire water and earth these are sort of primitive cosmology so that is what it is all of it is just that and he says what are what is that five gross elements five objects each of these gross elements has properties what are the properties rupa rasa gandhi that means form farm is the property of fire element rasa taste is the property of the water element gandha is a smell is a property of the earth element um shabda sound is the property of the um space element and so on so all these properties plus these subtle bodies which with our subtle bodies which we're experiencing right now they're all made of five subtle elements nothing more it's just combinations of those which appear as these five subtle elements next stop so what are these five subtle elements so right now where are we we are now we have reduced the entire universe to its subtle components just the five subtle elements that's it although actually you have not physically done anything to the universe it's still around you if you look at it but it's just five subtle elements and these things can actually be experienced um swami sarvakattan and who was in boston he told this to a friend of mine he said that in in sargachi he had gone to his guru swami akanda namdaji so uh uh and akanda and energy he went to akandanji's room and akananji told him to meditate and um so sarva gatanji so earlier he had already taken mantra diksha from swamiji i had made a mistake many years um many months ago i told the same story i thought he did not take mantra diksha from kandanji but actually he did take mantra diksha but on this occasion um in sargachi ashram swami sarva gatanji who was a young brahmacharya at that time he sat in the room of swami akanda nandiji and akandanji told him to meditate after some time swami akananda asked sarva-gatanji what do you see he said that this i think this entire universe is just ideas he said meditate further after some time he asked what do you what do you see i see that everything is just consciousness now notice physical universe becomes just ideas what has happened from the physical to the subtle from the gross to the subtle and from the subtle to the consciousness level then number 141 text number 141 is the five subtle elements together with sattva rajasthan are nothing but maya with consciousness now what is what has been said here the five elements five subtle elements this is in reverse order of their creation so here is the references to the taitheri upanishad in the brahmana and the valley of the taitheriopanishad it is said how these subtle elements came tasmadwa akasha akasha ultimate reality emerges akasha in between of course is maya which is not mentioned so emerges akasha from akasha akasha space from akasha why you which is wind from agni which is fire from agni apa which is water and from which is earth these have emerged these are the five subtle elements now he's saying for in reverse order earth is nothing but uh water water is nothing but fire fire is nothing but wind wind is nothing but space space itself is nothing but he says is maya basically and what is maya will be red remember maya is becoming so sattva thomas has manifested as all these five elements all of these five elements are reduced to nothing but maya but maya has no existence apart from existence brahman is existence itself so maya plus brahman which is god ishwara saguna brahman we have merged it back into the cause of the universe look at the three stops we have made on the way first stop was this physical take everything in this physical universe and see that they are all just matter five elements the second stop was take those five gross elements and also notice that the mind and intellect and all and life prana and all of that is nothing but the five subtle elements then take those five subtle elements and see that there's nothing but maya and maya of course does not exist without brahman so maya and brahman together which is nothing other than ishwara god the entire universe is nothing other than god again consciousness associated with ignorance this ignorance is maya then i'm moving very fast they're going we are on on a fast track to brahman then what about god so this is what what is it's all come down to that everything is god no now we're going to let go of poor god also god is going to be sacrificed next 142. wonderful this ignorance and the consciousness associated with it such as ishwar etc are dissolved into the transcendent brahman unassociated with ignorance which is the substratum of them all so eight of this this which maya which consciousness is god is nothing other than the ultimate reality brahman consciousness associated with maya is called ishwara god consciousness associated with maya and the subtle universe is called hiranyakarbha the cosmic mind consciousness associated with maya and the subtle universe and the physical universe is called virat the cosmic person which is what arjuna saw in the 11th chapter of the bhagavad-gita so this this consciousness we call it reflected consciousness or or consciousness with upadhy's with association is not consciousness in itself consciousness limited by maya consciousness limited by maya plus subtle universe consciousness limited by maya plus subtle universe plus gross universe the first one is ishwara second one is hiranyagarbha the third one is virat at the cosmic level and also you can put in at the individual level consciousness associated with the causal body pragya remember mandu kyo panishad manduka karika consciousness associated with subtle body pragya you say what is all this they're talking about our deep sleep experience what you are in your deep sleep that is consciousness associated with individual ignorance causal body consciousness are in the terms of koshers consciousness associated with anandamaya then consciousness associated with causal body and subtle body what you experience in your dreams what is that called yourself consciousness associated with the causal body subtle body and this physical body what you are right now what is it called vishwa in the manduka terms vishwa taijasa pragya at the individual level and virat hiranya garbha ishwara at the cosmic level what are they they are nothing other than pure consciousness itself chaitanya matram this snake is nothing other than the rope there's nothing other going nothing else going on there except that existence consciousness place that is what is called it is saying that um the foundation this the reality of all of them consciousness not associated with maya that consciousness what is that turiyam forth why forth ishwara is the fourth turiya is the ultimate reality what is that turya brahma matram existence alone consciousness alone bliss alone unlimited existence consciousness please satyam gyanam anandam brahma bhavati that is the only reality you say oh yeah then it will be the only reality not then right now just as right now the so-called snake is nothing but the rope right now the so called universe is nothing but brahman and that brahman is you you are that problem said oh the universe is brahman fine it's like a physics lesson cosmology lesson no no not at all like that it's you you are that brahmana aham brahmasmi in vivek is you know the instruction is given to the student so what do i do now with this knowledge there is [Music] [Music] [Music] that which is beyond time beyond space beyond object beyond time space and object that means not limited by time not limited by space not limited to being particular objects what is that only existence awareness only that brahma brahmatakumasi you are that brahman meditate on this this is the end of d superimposition so we have done adhan superimposition d superimposition there is one existence consciousness place because of maya it appears as the subtle universe our thoughts feelings emotions all of that and appears further as this physical universe when you dismiss the physical universe and the subtle universe and the causal maya what remains was what was there at the beginning existence consciousness place that dawah brahma say you are that brahman not only the reality of this particular body and mind you're the reality of the entire universe that brahman you are um so this is the end of superimposition d superimposition now what now vedanta can start all of this was just preliminary to get you ready for the actual vedanta which is going to start next what is what is that that thou art advaita vedanta can be summarized in one sentence that thou art he will say now now you are ready to understand that thou art with all this background whatever we have done till now you have to keep it in um in you know like at the ready as we now dive into trying to understand that little sentence that thou art you see we'll say no text number one hundred forty forty three i'll just read that and stop bhavati by this process of superimposition and d superimposition the precise significance of that and thou is clearly determined that's what's going to happen now um by whatever we have done we'll see next the next class by whatever we have done till now in vedanta it's all this is a traditional way of teaching what is vedanta that thou art i don't understand all right let us start then these are the qualifications of the student this is the purpose of vedanta these are the texts and this is the goal the result of vedanta remember fourfold qualifications before that was the fourfold preliminaries time then the sadhana was there then the student goes to the teacher the teacher says i'm going to teach you by the method of superimposition and the superimposition so from superimposition he starts with brahman and works his way up to this entire universe and the superimposition today what we did starting with this entire universe he goes works his way back to brahman so what so now we will we will go back to tatwa masih that thou art then you will begin to see the the great the grand picture which will emerge the real meaning of first of all we will understand it in our you know like philosophically what is what it what is it saying a clear understanding of that and then we will see how to take that to realization to become enlightened it sounds very complicated but actually it's pretty pretty straightforward it's all about you nothing except you it's the entire thing is directed towards the real you okay let me just quickly take a look at the activity in the chat and then we'll stop um prabhupada says clay part example in a production with excellent that is the classic example of superimposition d superimposition i'm not going into that but at the end of upper okay the clay pot example shankaracharya talks about there is exactly superimposition d superimposition patrick is saying what is it about the mind that causes it to get impure by contemplating impermanent and causes to get pure and contemplating the eternal the purification of the mind is accomplished first by karma yoga purification of the mind concentration which is meditation and then by removal of ignorance through knowledge so three-fold purification one is purification of the vasanas the likes and dislikes one is concentration of mind there is removal of the distractions and finally removal of ignorance what is the difference between uh vikar and parinama no difference the same thing here it means the same thing peter says doesn't advaita vedanta claim that brahman creates the universe out of brahman itself like a spider spin subweb doesn't this contradict the way what the claim are these different versions of advaita vedanta no so the upanishad itself uses terms like like a spider spin sits web like from the earth herbs and shrubs emerge like from the living body uh hair emerges this is from the munda kopanishad and that's just a poetic device of trying to explain what's going on so if you investigate that further this is the the final philosophical position so so why does it claim that it's like a spider spinning a web because only for pointing out one thing there the point in that example is just as the web is nothing other than the spider there was no external material out of which the spider created a web there's nothing other than brahman from which brahman creates the universe brahman from itself creates the universe now is that creation real like the spider is it like really spinning a web no it's more like a dream so yeah so that is the source of advaitha but to explain it further it doesn't stop with the mundocopanisha there are commentary subcommentaries down to this all this detail worked out this is the final form in which advaita is limit three knowledge operates on objects how how brahman can be known wait that's the last question to be asked how do we know this all this then how can we realize ourselves as brahman how will that thou art that thomas actually work we will see but they have to wait till the end of almost the end of this this course and this this text punita ji asks god can be seen but not brahman because one is at our jiva level of reality other is not god can be seen because name and form are associated with god brahman is there is no name and brahman is not an object if you see anything then that is an object to the consciousness itself brahman is that consciousness even better let me put it this way swami bhutishanji says in one what we're looking for is knowledge of brahman or realization of brahman brahma darshan means seeing of brahman seeing of brahman is not possible you can see things you can see the world or if you are a mystic if you are a very pure mind and a lot of spiritual practice then you will see divine forms if you it may not be a form you cannot maybe i will not see an actual form but you can feel a divine presence the presence of god for example all of those are mystic experience so it's that still seeing notice you are still the experiencer who felt the presence of god blood brother lawrence felt the presence of god who sees the divine form of the mother srama krsna sees but all of them is consciousness which is experiencing that that consciousness cannot be experienced as an object so brahma ghana not brahma darshan but here brahman means ultimate reality ultimate reality can be known how that as dimitri asked that's also a very specialized form of knowledge only known as yourself your real self capitalist and that we will see later detailed descriptions um yeah the wonderful discussions of the very psychology of enlightenment what exactly happens in advaithic enlightenment those things will be discussed later on rick says aside from offering the veiling and projecting qualities of maya does vedanta elaborate on the mechanics of apparent manifestation yes all the mechanics we discussed from the the projection of the five elements to the combination of the five elements the creation of the the vigna maya the manomaya the um pranamaya so life and mind and intellect are created then the physical universe is created creation of physical bodies and the so that is the and remember all of this vedanta does not take it seriously even the cause of this god that also vedanta does not take seriously ultimately it is all dissolved back to one absolute reality so the mechanics of this vedanta borrows from existing cosmology at that time some can mostly the sunken cosmology if you say all that is outdated i am going to depend more on on modern cosmology advaita vedanta would be the only of one of the ancient systems which would be comfortable with it which would say fine explain it whichever way you like explain it we can give a better explanation by modern cosmology um does maya itself possess if maya is an inherent quality of brahman maya is not an inherent quality of brahman maya's an appearance in brahman it may have an inherent quality of brahman then brahman would be qualified saguna brahman which is ramanuja's perspective the shishta dwight so all these quotations you have given here so those are um in advaita vedanta those would be taken at the level of the apparent the transactional reality they're there they apply to saguna brahman ishwara not to need gunabram the ultimate reality alpana chatterjee says knowledge will remove the ignorance with within transactional reality maybe that explains why one is not realized even after intellectual understanding now these things will be cleared up later on knowledge will remove ignorance in transactional reality absolutely ignorance and knowledge both are within transactional reality we have a harika absolute level there is neither ignorance nor knowledge only brahman is there so real enlightenment realization all of that is possible only at the transactional level the problem is at this level solution is also at this level girish is spinoza's pantheism similar to vishishtadvaita in um in a very superficial way i would say from from this from a distance painting in broad stocks um on the whole let us say yes similar to vishishtadvaita but i'm sure vishishta dweta scholars and spinoza scholars will immediately object but definitely there's a clear difference between spinoza's pantheism and advaita the closest we have in in modern western terminology is pan-enthusiasm panontheism where the universe is an appearance in that absolute reality michael byrd says once i realize my true absolute nature i feel as if i could meditate on the bliss of that knowledge for the rest of my life without the need to pursue an action transaction illusional world so is there any greater expectation or purpose behind the purpose i define for myself for realized g when the transaction illusion for example does the want to help others in pain come from an absolute perspective because all is brahman or is not and only brahman is or is it coming from a transactional perspective because i'm getting lost in illusion play of suffering due to my ignorance whichever way you want to put it see what happens is um this these concepts are set up jivan mukti and video mukti we want to get become enlightened and advaita vedanta says here not after death here in this life you can become enlightened and still be living in this body you can inhabit this world of appearance and you can be an enlightened and free person and that's called a jivan mukta at the end of the body because of prada the karma as part of the karma is exhausted this body dies and you attain what is called videja mukti the freedom after the dissolution of the body but even these are not ultimate concepts these are also steps this is not ultimately true one sadhu in uttarakhand he was asked so isn't it true that jivan mukti is the goal the freedom while living is the goal and not video mukti video mukti is of course it will come by itself but right now we must try to attain that we are free we are brahmana this this realization should come and we should live like that and that sadhu said very interestingly in hindi he said um both are not auspicious both are not useful now you should let go of both concepts what does it mean that's the highest goal in advaitha what do you mean give them up give them up means from say for example from shankaracharya's perspective what does he sing nirvana moksha not even moksha what kind of moksha what what kind of mukti or realization does he want does he want realization in his very life does he want realization after death i mean the liberation after death liberation in life nothing he is ever liberated because he says i am of the nature of existence consciousness place i am the nature of shiva is shiva jivan mukta or video neither so those are um very useful concepts and targets to prac to pursue at the the way we are moving but remember even now itself you should remember you are brahmana and from from brahman from an absolute perspective there is neither given mukti nor the video mukti the body is an appearance so freedom in the body freedom after the death of the body obviously these are constructs and then how do you what so what do you do from the perspective of the body you can live your life a life of blessedness and helpfulness you know people around you you can engage in multivarious social action you can engage in spiritual teaching or you may not you may simply withdraw and there were great masters even now there are i'm quite sure who remain who choose to remain completely incognito and remain absorbed in in the contemplation of brahman that's what vivekantha first did you know when salaam krishna asked him what do you want he said i just want to remain absorbed in that ultimate reality once in a while i might come down for a snack but otherwise i'll not remain and sriram krishna scolded him luckily for us so that we get all this benefit but what he said initially that's not wrong if somebody wants to remain absorbed in the bliss of god what could be higher that's all that's also fine what's the composition of time with respect to the five elements you know i was thinking about that rodrigo is asking from a modern perspective if you are talking about space akasha my very vague knowledge of physics tells me that space and time are the same thing right so if you're talking about akasha you're already including kala though space is time is not distinctly mentioned here in this list so chitra is asking swamiji you have mentioned that in viva brahman the world are the same level of reality no they are not they're not in vivert they are of different levels of reality right so same level of reality is parinama milk converted into yogurt seed becomes a settling same level of reality but um snake the rope appearing is the snake rope is of the maharika reality and the snake is of prativasika brahman appearing as the world brahman is of paramatic reality the absolute level of reality the world is transactional reality there are different levels of reality and therefore knowledge works can you connect the two why knowledge will work if there are different levels of reality you can correct it go from a lower level of reality to a higher level of reality or deeper level of reality whichever way you put it by an act of knowledge one can move from prativasika to you can wake up from a dream dream is practical you can wake up to the waking world you can you can correct the illusory snake and find the rope by knowledge from prativasika to verba and by vedantic knowledge one can move from baba harika to the param article to brahman there are different levels of reality srinivas says uriabhava said this about both being inauspicious correct correct this uribab actually who was the guru of not guru but he inspired akanan saraswati very much so i went to uriabhava's ashram in in in vrindavan and no there are very few people left there just a small group few brahmacharis and so he was a great great traditional monk in those days he used to live in brindavan but a very staunch non-dualist so some sometimes many of the stories i tell you in hindi are actually trans are actually from from this monk because he was from orissa he was called uh so both being inauspicious the jivan mukti and video mukti does not mean they are wrong remember both being inauspicious from the perspective of what perspective of the ultimate truth brahman which is nitya mukta ever free so free while living free after death all these are with respect to the body and fine as far as we are concerned we we should move forward in that way and our goal should be to become juvenile but but when we do that we will realize we are we are brahman which is always free so both jeevan mukhta and vidhyamukta ultimately have no meaning for us from the perspective of ahamram has me i am brahman all right let us conclude here [Music] namaste [Music]