Non-dualism: Being & Manifestation | Swami Sarvapriyananda

Summary

In this enlightening lecture, Swami Sarvapriyananda introduces the intriguing concept of non-dualism, drawing on the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Advaita Vedanta. He explores the age-old philosophical question of how the one becomes the many, delving into discussions on Brahman and Maya, and how perception plays a role in understanding reality. The session also touches on the intersections of science and spirituality, highlighting how Advaita provides a logical framework for modern scientific minds, bridging gaps between diverse religious ideologies and the quest for a universal religion grounded in both heart and intellect.

Highlights

• Swami Sarvapriyananda delves into the concept of non-dualism, focusing on Advaita Vedanta 🕉️.
• The lecture tackles how the One becomes the manifold through Maya, time, space, and causation 🕰️.
• Swami Vivekananda's diagrams and explanations offer insights into abstract spiritual questions 📊.
• An exploration of science’s relationship with spirituality through famous figures like Tesla and Einstein ⚛️.
• The discussion emphasizes the need for a universal religion combining intellect and heart ❤️.

Key Takeaways

• Non-dualism questions the transformation from one entity to many 🌟.
• Advaita Vedanta explains reality through Brahman and Maya 🔮.
• Perception alters reality; what seems true may not be ✨.
• Vedanta offers a logical, spiritual framework modern scientists can appreciate 🌌.
• Harmony of intellect and spirituality can lead to universal understanding 🤝.

Overview

Swami Sarvapriyananda kickstarts the discussion with an exploration of how the concept of non-dualism ties into Advaita Vedanta. He breaks down complex philosophical ideas, like how the one becomes the many, through the lens of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings. This initiates a deep dive into understanding the roles of Brahman and Maya in shaping reality.

Moving forward, the lecture outlines how perception and reality are intertwined, using everyday examples and philosophical analogies. Through his explanations, Swami Sarvapriyananda shows how Advaita Vedanta provides a framework that aligns with scientific principles, making it relevant for modern spiritual seekers and intellectuals.

Finally, Swami Sarvapriyananda discusses the possibility of reconciling diverse religious ideologies under the umbrella of non-dualism. By looking at the teachings of historical figures like Tesla and Einstein, he illustrates how a universal approach, blending the logical rigor of philosophy with the compassion of spirituality, can foster a deeper global understanding.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Opening Invocation The chapter 'Opening Invocation' sets a spiritual tone with a prayerful invocation. It asks for guidance from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality. It closes with a repetition of 'Oh peace, peace,' suggesting a meditative and serene atmosphere.
• 00:30 - 02:30: Introduction and Swami Vivekananda's Lectures The chapter introduces the context of Swami Vivekananda's lectures, specifically focusing on his series on Gani Yoga. It mentions that this particular series of talks started in London in 1896 and constitutes a significant portion of his teachings on this subject. The lectures are aimed at providing an understanding of Gani Yoga, which is a path of self-realization and knowledge.
• 02:30 - 03:30: Swami Vivekananda's Talk: Absolute and Manifestation Swami Vivekananda's talk 'Absolute and Manifestation' delves into the philosophical concepts of the absolute and its relation to manifestation. The discussion begins by metaphorically referencing the English phrase 'going off on the deep end,' likening it to jumping into the deep part of a swimming pool instead of progressing gradually from shallow to deep. This metaphor serves as an introduction to exploring how the absolute, often perceived as a deep, intangible concept, relates to the tangible world of manifestation. The talk encourages reflection on the transition and connection between the ultimate reality and its expressions in the physical world.
• 03:30 - 04:30: The Question of One Becoming Many in Advaita Vedanta Swami Vivekananda discusses the profound question in Advaita Vedanta: how did the one become the many. This question delves into the core philosophy of Advaita, which states that there is one ultimate reality, despite the apparent existence of a world full of differences, multiplicities, and plurality.
• 04:30 - 06:30: Maya and the Concept of Time, Space, and Causation In this chapter, the concept of 'Brahman' from Advaita Vedanta philosophy is explored. The central teaching suggests that Brahman, which is one existence and consciousness, appears as the multitude that exists in the world. This raises the question of how this singular oneness becomes plural. The text hints at a deeper understanding underlining the apparent diversity we observe, emphasizing the unity beneath the surface of differentiation. It also questions the nature of reality, examining what we perceive versus the possibility of a singular consciousness underlying everything.
• 06:30 - 09:00: Vedanta's Explanation of Maya and Reality This chapter explores Vedanta's explanation of the concept of Maya and the nature of reality. It addresses the philosophical question of how the singular, infinite Brahman manifested as the plural, finite universe comprising countless entities. The discourse delves into the transformation of Brahman, the ultimate reality, into various forms such as Jeeva (individual souls), Jagat (the universe), and Ishwara (God or the Lord in Vedantic terms), aiming to elucidate the process of the one ultimate reality appearing as many.
• 09:00 - 12:00: Swami Vivekananda on Enlightenment and Self-Realization Jagat means the universe and Ishwara means God, forming a triangle with sentient beings in religious contexts.
• 12:00 - 15:30: Brahman, Objectification, and Consciousness The speaker recalls a rare moment when they imagined or pictured someone, presumably a teacher or mentor, in a small house in London, possibly during a teaching session. They visualize the person approaching a drawing tool like a blackboard or chart. In the book the speaker is referring to, there's mention of a diagram with a reference to looking at a drawing. The discussion or the drawing itself is indicated to be quite concise, noting only three letters: A, B, and C.
• 15:30 - 19:00: Maya as Cause and Illogical Questions In this chapter, the discussion revolves around the concept of Maya as the cause and addresses illogical questions. The chapter uses a diagram with the 'absolute' at the top and the 'universe' at the bottom. It introduces 'C', which represents time, space, and causation, mediating between the absolute and the universe. The central idea is how the absolute, when perceived through the lens of time, space, and causation, manifests as the universe. Importantly, the universe here denotes not just the physical universe that science explores, but encompasses everything collectively.
• 19:00 - 21:00: Perception and the Nature of Reality The chapter titled 'Perception and the Nature of Reality' explores the concept of different universes, including the mental universe of thoughts, feelings, and ideas, as well as religious heavens and hells. It also touches on the mathematical realm, referred to by mathematicians as the platonic realm of numbers or mathematical truths. The chapter essentially contemplates the existence of various realities, whether physical or abstract, and how they collectively constitute the nature of reality.
• 21:00 - 24:30: The Logical Basis of Vedanta The universe is viewed as an absolute existence of consciousness expressed through the metaphorical prism of time, space, and causation. This prism is described as 'Maya' or illusion, affecting how we perceive the universe.
• 24:30 - 32:00: Comparisons with Scientific Thought and Influence The chapter titled 'Comparisons with Scientific Thought and Influence' explores the concept of 'Maya', often understood in philosophical and spiritual contexts as an illusion or the existence of a perceived reality. The discussion extends to the realm of science, suggesting that since science operates within the framework of cause-and-effect, it too falls under the domain of Maya. The narration implies a comparison between scientific thought and the philosophical idea of Maya, highlighting the temporal separation of past, present, and future as constructs that are also part of this illusion.
• 32:00 - 37:00: Advaita Vedanta's Relevance Today The chapter delves into the concept of Maya in Advaita Vedanta, illustrating its relevance in modern times through Swami Vivekananda's thoughts. It discusses the paradoxical nature of the universe as described by Vivekananda, portraying it as the 'wreckage of the infinite on the shores of time, space, and causation.' The chapter further explores the intriguing question of how the infinite becomes finite and challenges the necessity of the infinite remaining infinite, thus saving us the complexities of our current temporal existence.
• 37:00 - 45:00: The Role of Buddhism and Vedanta in Spirituality The chapter explores the intersection of Buddhism and Vedanta in spirituality, focusing on abstract concepts such as the infinite and finite. It questions the transformation of existence consciousness into our universe. Somerset Maugham's visit to India and his meeting with Ramana Maharshi is highlighted, emphasizing the idea of Brahman appearing as the universe and the singular reality manifesting as multiplicity.
• 45:00 - 50:00: The Integrative Approach of Vedanta The Integrative Approach of Vedanta explores the philosophical concept of Brahman and its role in creation. The text humorously suggests that Brahman could have remained in its original state, avoiding the complexities of existence. However, Vedanta teaches that creation, or the transformation from one to many, has not truly occurred. This contrasts with religious interpretations where God is seen as the Creator, who brings forth the universe as an expression of divine sovereignty.
• 50:00 - 53:00: Conclusion: The Future of Religion and Spirituality The chapter delves into the philosophical and theological explanations of the universe's creation across different religions and spiritual beliefs. It explores the dualistic bhakti tradition in India, referring to 'Leela' or the divine play of God as one explanation for the existence of the universe. The chapter contrasts this with the scientific explanation, which involves the Big Bang theory and concepts like the quantum vacuum that precede it. The text introduces Vedanta as a perspective that offers different insights into the origins and meaning of the universe, emphasizing the differences in approach and understanding between spiritual and scientific viewpoints.
• 53:00 - 55:00: Final Prayer and Closing The chapter explores the concept of Brahman and the absolute truth in the context of existence and consciousness. It discusses the idea that Brahman, or the absolute, has not changed and remains true to its nature. Despite the appearance of multiplicity in the universe (jagat) and individual beings (Jeeva), Brahman remains unchanged. The teachings of Buddha are referenced, emphasizing the illusory nature of perceived changes in existence.

Non-dualism: Being & Manifestation | Swami Sarvapriyananda Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Oh lead us from the unreal to the real lead us from darkness unto light lead us from death to immortality Oh peace peace
• 00:30 - 01:00 peace good morning in our series of lectures on Swami Vivekananda's Gani yoga this is the third in that series so I began to deliver the series of talks in London in 1896 which became the bulk
• 01:00 - 01:30 of the book Ghana yoga today the texts were going to reflect upon is a talk called absolute and manifestation there is a phrase in English going off on the deep end so I think it refers to in a swimming pool if you go to the deepest part and jump into the deepest instead of going from the shallow to the deeper
• 01:30 - 02:00 swami vivekananda starts this talk with the most difficult and most profound of all questions in advaitha vedanta how did the one become the many and he says the most difficult question in the philosophy of advaitha is how did the one become the many what is this question but greater Vedanta says that there is one reality though it appears to be a world of difference and multiplicity and plurality behind all
• 02:00 - 02:30 this plurality underneath this differentiation there is oneness one existence consciousness place so Brahman alone appearing as the many though that is the central teaching of Advaita Vedanta but then that begs the question that how did this one become the many maybe there is Brahman maybe there is existence consciousness place not know but what we do know is this world here look a hundred people more
• 02:30 - 03:00 than hundred people here outside seven billion people and all the animals and plants and all the quasars and quarks and trillions of entities in this universe so how did this one Brahmin become the many how did the infinite become the finite how did Brahman the ultimate reality become Jeeva Jagat Ishwara to put it in vedantic terms Jeeva means us
• 03:00 - 03:30 Jagat means this universe and Ishwara means God so the triangle of God sentient beings and the world which religions different T's decree legions talk about how did that one absolute become the universe so he starts with this grand question most difficult of questions and the answer of course we know Maya so he says swami vivekananda gram there
• 03:30 - 04:00 was one of the rare times i imagined or picture him in that little house in london they are going up to a maybe a blackboard with a chalk or I don't know if he had a chart or paper I don't know what how he did it but in the book you see a diagram he and he says look at this drawing he actually says that so that means there must have been actually a drawing in that and the talk and the drawing is it just says ABC so a on the
• 04:00 - 04:30 top it's written the absolute and B at the bottom is written the universe so the universe here absolute in between his see and he says and see it says time space causation time space causation so the absolute passing through time space causation appears as the universe and by the way he goes on since by universe we mean all of it not just the physical universe which science talks about but
• 04:30 - 05:00 also the mental universe the universe of our thoughts and feelings and ideas even the religious universe religions talk about heavens and hell's and other words if all those are there whatever they are all of it together the physical and the I mean mathematicians would talk about a mathematical realm of a platonic realm of numbers mathematical truths all of that whatever whatever exists you put it
• 05:00 - 05:30 all together call it the universe it is the absolute existence consciousness plays through the prism he calls it the glass through the prism of the glass of time space and causation appears as our universe this universe time space and causation are together known as Maya deja call and emit causation is car yo car and a cause and effect whatever is there and not here in
• 05:30 - 06:00 say Hindi Yamaha here and there that is Maya it's in space whatever its then and not now separated by time a past a present and a future that is Maya whatever is cause and effect different this has because it's the cause of that that is within Maya so immediately you see science will also be within Maya because cause-and-effect causality is
• 06:00 - 06:30 within Maya swami vivekananda elsewhere has said the universe is the wreckage of the infinite on the shores of time space and causation if you put this question in a different way the question was how has the infinite become the finite if you put it in a different way why the infinite could have remained the infinite saved us all this trouble on a Sunday morning of coming all the way to
• 06:30 - 07:00 a pedantic class to listen to abstract dry talks about infinite and finite it could have remained ends when it could have remain an ocean of existence consciousness plays no problem at all why has it become this year this universe I have earlier had occasion to refer to Somerset mom on his visit to India he made he met Ramana Maharshi he when he learns about Brahman appearing as the universe the one reality appearing as the many he
• 07:00 - 07:30 writes with dry humor he writes I felt Brahman could have let well enough alone could have remained as Brahman you know and saved us all this trouble the question is why has the one become the many and the answer in Vedanta is it hasn't it hasn't see the answer in religion is that God created the universe God is a creator so creator will create has created it's the display of the absolute sovereign
• 07:30 - 08:00 might of God or another explanation is in some of the religions dualistic bhakti tradition in India is Leela it is the sport the divine play of God whatever it is some explanation why God has created this universe but and science says how from the Big Bang before the Big Bang they're talking about a quantum vacuum or something like that I don't understand but something has become something else and Vedanta comes here note the difference we ran toward right away tanta comes
• 08:00 - 08:30 here and says it has not it hasn't become something else the absolute is exactly the absolute Brahman is exactly Brahman existence consciousness place right now nothing really has happened there then why is disappearing in this way exactly look at the Buddha term appearance without changing at all Brahman is appearing as this multiplicity as jagat universe as Jeeva
• 08:30 - 09:00 uni and as God so Jeeva jagat eeshwar is a triangle which is an appearance the rope has not become a snake if you're asking why and how did the Rope become a snake dancer the correct answer is it has not the rope has not become a snake it only looks like a snake it only appears to be a snake to whom to a person who does not know the rope for the sky is not blue
• 09:00 - 09:30 today it's gray but the sky is not blue it only appears to be blue for because of an optical illusion because of the laws of optics and once you know that it will still look blue to you but you know it is not blue it's because of a scattering of light in a particular way so it's an appearance that's another characteristic of Maya it's not that Brahman has become the universe it's not that the one has become the many it's not the infinite
• 09:30 - 10:00 has become finite infinite appears to be finite is experienced as the finite the one is experienced as the many that is Maya nothing has happened it looks like that but one can persist like a little schoolboy why you can ask you can ask why and the answer here in Vedanta and Swami Vivekananda is this is a contradiction the question itself is
• 10:00 - 10:30 wrong and he leaves it at that actually in this talk he does not leave it at that he goes deeper into it but at other places he leaves it at - we're done - seems to say this question is wrong but it seemed to me a cop-out you know why why can't you ask this question you can still ask ok the question is wrong but why is the question wrong I feel I can ask why is Brahman all right Brahman has not become this universe Brahman is appearing as this universe but why say Maya but why Maya means the question is
• 10:30 - 11:00 wrong why is the question wrong it can ask we really feel we can ask and it took me some time to understand several years in fact let us reflect on what are we asking when we asked why Maya now put them put these two questions together why Maya and what did we see Maya is time space and causation so why Maya means why time space and causation y x P exactly what are we
• 11:00 - 11:30 expecting when we ask why think about it what kind of answer are we expecting what will satisfy us when we ask why any why any time we ask why what kind of will satisfy us an explanation is it not so why is the grass wet what kind of answer will satisfy you don't say Maya if the grass is wet because it rained why did it rain because they were clouds
• 11:30 - 12:00 why there they're clouds because of the evaporation of water because I need for my why I need a because when I ask a question about why I am asking for a cause now what are we asking here when we asked why Maya we are asking for a cause and explanation of Maya but didn't imagine what are you asking you are asking for a cause of causation because
• 12:00 - 12:30 my eyes time-space Inquisition we're asking for a cause of causation causation is a fancy way of saying why when you say why causation you're literally asking why why and let's go a little deeper why is this question meaningless this question is meaningless because it's like this Maya is tying space and causation suppose somebody asks time okay what was there before time but before and after
• 12:30 - 13:00 are tying words only when you're talking about time you can ask a question before and after and past present and future when there is a time word suppose we asked a question Oh Maya is space-time space and causation what is outside space but outside and inside our space words only then there is space you can talk about outside the Hall and inside the hall outside the
• 13:00 - 13:30 Vedanta Society and inside only when space is existing but before but without space how can you say outside and inside it's a logically a wrong question to ask what is outside space it's logically a wrong question to ask what is before time you get me and exactly like that it's logically wrong to ask what is the cause of causation because
• 13:30 - 14:00 only after you have causation you can ask what is the cause of this in the universe in this universe everything has a cause everything is causally linked so what is the cause of this thing you expect an answer and you are right to do so but for causation itself you cannot ask that question so this is the answer that I found why is this question wrong it's a it's an illogical question to ask it may not be very satisfying but this is logically disease the answer to the
• 14:00 - 14:30 question why my I cannot be asked but in a more satisfying way I found the answer from a monk in the Himalayas in in Vrindavan actually he puts it this way imagine a little little boy looking up at the sky the nature of the eye is to see is to see but the nature of empty
• 14:30 - 15:00 space is to remain unseen we think we can see space actually we don't see space we see objects in space and then we our mind our brain actually generates this the concept of space or the approximation of space what we see at people imagine if nothing that there no entity at all no physical object at all we would have no estimation of space also it's only when two things are there we begin to get an understanding of space anyway so the little child is
• 15:00 - 15:30 looking up into the sky the nature of the eye is to see the nature of the sky is to remain unseen you will see the sky will remain unseen when the seeing meets the unseeable what will happen appearance yes you're right and error will happen if you're the nature of the eye is to see the nature of the skies to
• 15:30 - 16:00 remain unseen and what will the child see an inverted blue bowl like a surfaced in the sky covering and children is a team to think that there is a like a some bowl is covering the earth like a blue surface it look if you look up there it looks like there is something there yeah so it's a mistake exactly like that imagine such a dawn on the pure consciousness Brahman is consciousness the very nature of consciousness is to
• 16:00 - 16:30 experience is to experience is to illumine is to reveal but there is nothing else to reveal just imagine the absolute existence consciousness bliss its very nature is to shine forth and reveal but there's nothing else to reveal there's only the absolute it will reveal there is no other to reveal because Brahman is the only thing that exists then what will happen an error will happen an error or error is a very
• 16:30 - 17:00 mild way of putting it what happens is then the when that absolute experiences itself which cannot be experienced as an object it will experience itself the pure being infinite unbroken expanse of being experiences itself as existing things broken many things the one experiences itself as the many the pure consciousness experiences itself has
• 17:00 - 17:30 many conscious experiences seeing hearing smelling tasting touching thinking remembering desiring hating behind it all is one unbroken consciousness the one Anand the unbroken bliss undivided bliss experiences itself as a mixture of joy and sorrow suka dukkha basically Brahman experiences itself as samsara the unchanging experiences itself as the changing the infinite experiences itself as the
• 17:30 - 18:00 finite this is as good as an explanation as far as I found if you are not an object then you the pure consciousness the only way you can experience yourself is projecting yourself as an object but which is not really you so that is how brahman experiences itself as this universe somebody said but it need not experience suppose it does not experience this remains as Brahman
• 18:00 - 18:30 that too is possible look at our our daily experience how do we see our so do we experience the world as waking dreaming and deep sleep notice waking and dreaming is subject-object experience in waking also subject-object right now in dreaming also subject object but in deep sleep blank so Brahman also experiences itself as this created universe and also at the end of the universe as the unmanifested the app track like the before creation
• 18:30 - 19:00 what in in Vedanta we call it pralaya at the end of creation bra layer has no no manifested object at all so both are there from the unmanifest the manifested universe comes and goes back to the unmanifest so this is another way of thinking about the question why Maya and the other one which I found a very beautiful little answer by one of our early Swami's he said actually on this
• 19:00 - 19:30 side of enlightenment there is only the question and no answer on that side of enlightenment they had the answer but no question it's only we who asked this question why very interesting those who are supposed to have the Quai answer they don't seem to ask the question at all they seem to be perfectly satisfied they've got something which they cannot express to us but that which seems to have solved their problem but this brings us to the
• 19:30 - 20:00 next interesting thing Brahman itself cannot be objectified think about it if you objectify Brahman if you bring if you know Brahman knowing Brahman means knowing means objectification after all what is knowledge knowledge is objectification by our minds I see something this is an object to mind through the eyes I hear something it's an object to mind through the ears I conceived of something it's an object to
• 20:00 - 20:30 the intellect so objectification is essential to knowledge and yet drummond cannot be objectified it is samsara which is an object Brahman cannot be objectified it is the pure subject it is you yourself their very essence of ourselves Brahman cannot be known in the sense we think of knowledge I mean very kinda says I'm thing he must have seen their expressions in the faces of people there in you know in London in 1896 says but you must not go away with
• 20:30 - 21:00 the feeling that it is unknown and unknowable it is more than known in the cane open assured when it talks about the Atman the consciousness within the ultimate reality Brahman immediately the question will come to the student how can I know this how can I realize this and the teacher delivers her a shocker he says the third month of the open assured he says not attract gotcha T not
• 21:00 - 21:30 attract sure gotcha T Nava got Chucky no mana ha na with Mona Navid MonaVie Johnny more yo theta Anoosh Ishod it cannot be objectified because it's that that ultimate reality the absolute is not an object to the eyes you can't see it or hear it or smell it or taste it or touch it all right but I can at least describe it with words right now what gotcha the even speech does not express it if you describe it with words know that what you have described is limited and not
• 21:30 - 22:00 correct off the mark but at least I can understand it with the mind Naaman aha it's beyond the mind it's it's it's not an object to the mind either but you can teach us right that's why we are here after we took all the trouble now with MonaVie Johnny more your theater than Russia says we have no idea how to teach it to you let me say I want my fees back
• 22:00 - 22:30 you should have told me this earlier but wait a minute you might not be able to teach us but you are enlightened right you know it you know it at least we want at least even if I cannot know it even I cannot be taught at least they somebody who knows somebody who's enlightened you know it right now with Maha we do not know you can imagine the horrified look in the students face and maybe getting ready to pack up and leave in disgust and then the teacher says wait a minute
• 22:30 - 23:00 there is a way there's a way in which our ancient masters have taught us and we have become enlightened in that way let me try that upon you experiment a spiritual guinea pig and let's see if it works let's see if it works do you become enlightened do you realize that absolute that I am that you do you realize that what is that way Anja David we did our tour we did our that he it issues shroom a perv a shaman
• 23:00 - 23:30 a stud essentially I'm quoting from the cane opening shot one of the most ancient Upanishads what does it say that which we are searching for the absolute it is other than everything that you know whatever we know anybody knows whatever we know it's other than that and so they know it's unknown okay I know there are many things that I know and there are many things that I do not know go to the University and look at
• 23:30 - 24:00 the syllabus okay I know one subject and there are so many other subjects I do not know this is the known and that's the unknown one great scientists said the more we expand out the horizons of our knowledge more we feel the vast sea of the unknown surrounding us so what is there known and unknown the entire universe is divided into known and unknown different from each of us so Brahman the ultimate reality is not within what we know so it's unknown
• 24:00 - 24:30 already thar that he it is it is beyond the unknown what we are talking about is neither known nor unknown what is the one thing which is neither known or unknown there's only one thing and you know that the knower yes you the knower you are neither the known nor the unknown you are not the unknown because the knower the knowing consciousness the
• 24:30 - 25:00 subject never becomes the object and remember knowledge is objectification you never become an object of knowledge and yet who is more known to you than you yourself you are you after all you cannot objectify it in language you cannot make it an object of instruments but you are whatever you are that being that spiritual being that consciousness you are it's not an object and you yet
• 25:00 - 25:30 you know yourself what is more known to us then I I mean myself so this is the teaching the core of the teaching and it seems very simplistic but actually when you apply it it's a knife by which you can see now when I look upon myself there whatever I thought I was this was this is me I begin to see if I know it then it's not really me what is the rule it is other than the known each other than the unknown not be known whatever
• 25:30 - 26:00 it is the body do I know it yeah then it cannot be this native not this the life forces life itself is it known yes I can feel it scientists study it Nathan because it's known the mind thoughts memories are they known yes when I remember something
• 26:00 - 26:30 Anjali I know that I remember it which I cannot remember something I feel that I cannot remember it so the memory or the lack of it is is known then natey because the known cannot be the self then this very intellect which I'm using right now please follow me carefully what I'm using right now the intellect trying to understand trying to follow this carefully that intellect is it known or unknown it's known because I can experience it right now we each of us we are experiencing it hopefully we
• 26:30 - 27:00 are experiencing it therefore if it is known it's an object of my awareness nati not this then unknown no not even unknown not that in 1880 this may be a driven back into the witness consciousness which I'm calling it a bit miss consciousness the Upanishad does not do so the openness of the user is very elliptical language that which is which is the eye of the eye the ear of the
• 27:00 - 27:30 short rest a short Romana so mono you have to mind up the mind instead of saying it is d witness consciousness but the moment to be that it says it's the witness consciousness what do we do our incorrigible tendency to objectify okay there is a witness consciousness let me find it now it is the very one which is doing the searching so you cannot do that you cannot objectify it but you can do something much better what is that you can be it or more accurately we can recognize that we are
• 27:30 - 28:00 it and once you recognize that once we recognize that ultimate cheer here are the opening shot says one transcends all human limitations and sorrows because that con with Ness consciousness our real nature is one with the absolute a hum Brom has me I am Brahman it actually becomes a living experience our first reaction is Wow and the second reaction is why did I not know this earlier it
• 28:00 - 28:30 was there all the time and for everybody so all the methods in do punishments they are all meant for this we have studied Rick tree Chevy Vega the seer and the seen are separate so whatever you can experience the forms are separate from the eyes the eyes see the forms and eyes and the forms are separate if you have studied to agree Chevy Vega the eyes themselves become the object to the mind so the mind and
• 28:30 - 29:00 the eyes are separate the mind itself becomes an object to awareness so the awareness and the mind are separate and I am that awareness can never be objectified three gave Ana to drishya t the the witness consciousness can never be objectified so it's this very thing we're trying to find out and that is the ultimate reality the Upanishad says young man asana minuti a na hermano madam today eva Bromham within a damn you didn't opacity
• 29:00 - 29:30 by which the which the mind cannot reach which the mind cannot reach that means the mind cannot objectify it the mind objectifies everything else everything that you know in your life is objectified by objectified means the mind can think about it but then what is the relationship between the mind and that witness consciousness the witness consciousness Allu means the mind that by which the mind functions the mind cannot reach it but the mind functions
• 29:30 - 30:00 because of that you are the awareness which lights up the mind from within and therefore the thoughts feelings emotions desires all of that they start functioning and they objectify the world so that by which the mind functions and which the mind cannot objectify know that to be Brahman you see but that's me yes you are Brahman needham you're the dumb opacity what a stunning thing not Brahman the ultimate reality is not what
• 30:00 - 30:30 you worship as this imagine what a stunning thing this is in the Hindu context where thousands of wonderful names and forms of gods and goddesses and mythologies profusion of divinities and he says this what you worship as this is not that of course the Hindu understands it because in all Hindu worship if you actually look at the mantras when the priest chants it and
• 30:30 - 31:00 that which is formless I have worshipped it with a form forgive me that which is infinite I worshiped it in the finite that which is not an object I worshiped it as an object please forgive me because it's a methodology of in any worship Durga Puja for example there's something called prana pratishta where you establish the living divinity in the image or the object by bringing it out is it from your own heart the mantra says that from your own heart heart means from your own consciousness so
• 31:00 - 31:30 it's a methodology of worship because the pure consciousness of the pure subject you cannot do anything with it because it's not an it but the Punisher is very clear near them yet in ammo paucity what you express as different from yourself as this is not that ultimate reality as an aside so the great Abrahamic traditions starting with Judaism which said that you will not worship a graven image and it became a very big thing especially in
• 31:30 - 32:00 Jewish religion and later in Islam this is the core idea but it is not understood in that way it was understood in a very crude way it was understood in the crude way that all right these people have an image oh they're worshipping a graven image just try the image and this is false this is the view people are unbelievers murder them destroy their temples and images no no that was not the original idea the original idea of the prophets was correct that the ultimate reality is not
• 32:00 - 32:30 an object but when they come see the Hindus were a very ancient very sophisticated civilization so they understood this very well Swami Vivekananda said in another place not in this lecture talking to Christian audiences here I am sorry but I must say that your that your vaunt much vaunted monotheism is but halfway house that oh they are not many gods but there is one reality and that is the god of religion
• 32:30 - 33:00 but Vedanta just begins there advaita vedanta begins there and goes further that one reality is not something separate from you we are all part of it we should start with and then we are it that and I am that that is Advaita so it goes much further from polytheism to monotheism to the absolute of did good on Rahman we said your much vaunted monotheism is but halfway house so this
• 33:00 - 33:30 is the core idea that Brahman in itself unknowable but it is our own inner reality still a question remains you just mentioned Maya so ultimately there are two right Brahman and Maya Brahman through myopic eye piers I alright I'll correct myself appears as the universe but still there must be Maya then so ultimately there are two things it appears to be so there
• 33:30 - 34:00 are two things Brahman and Maya the absolute reality and time space and causation but no so havoc on the dwells upon this Advaita Vedanta makes it clear time space and causation are not independent realities when you say to two things means they should be able to exist and be experienced separately so this clock I am cognizant of the time don't worry
• 34:00 - 34:30 so this clock and this piece of paper these are two realities because here you can see the paper apart from the clock you can see the clock apart from the paper in this way our Brahman and Maya two realities know why not well you can understand it in different ways one simple way of understanding is what is Brahman existence being isness so if something is other than bruh man other
• 34:30 - 35:00 than existence what what does it become non-existence if something is a other than a not it if something is existence other than existence non-existence if Maya is something apart from Brahman a separate reality you're literally saying it's it's something apart from reality becomes non real so Maya does not exist apart from Brahman Swami Vivekananda dwells on this he says time space and causation and not independent realities
• 35:00 - 35:30 he puts it more directly they do not even have their reality which this chair has so they exist only in relation to each other notice our own experience of time when you are awake right now time is moving or sometimes in Vedanta lectures time does not seem to move in how long is this going to go home but even in dreams time moves but when we are in deep sleep
• 35:30 - 36:00 time does not does not experience of time as long and when the mind is not functioning when there is no gap between thought in the next you have no experience of time it's only after you wake up and you say oh so much time has passed I slipped similarly with causation similarly with space when we dream I am out there walking in Central Park and suddenly I wake up and sit I'm seeing sit I'm sitting and on the bed so that entire Central Park which I've experienced I'm walking through that and
• 36:00 - 36:30 in space and trees and and lakes all of that space was where was in the dreamers mind it's not that I was in space that it's that experience space rather the space was in me this is an example of a dream exactly like that in Advaita Vedanta they say time space and causation appear function and disappear in Brahman so Maya has no existence apart from Brahman the story of Narada
• 36:30 - 37:00 you know how the sage Narada wanted to know what Maya was and Krishna says fetch me some water I'll tell you and then our other goes and then he in the village to get a pail of water he meets this girl and falls in love with heard marries settles down has a samsara with wife and children and 12 years have passed and there's a great flood and in that flood his wife and children a swept away and his heartbroken weeping piteously and then he sees Krishna
• 37:00 - 37:30 standing in front of him and saying o Narada where were you I've been be waiting for nearly a half an hour 12 years passed in a flash a half an hour now tell me that which is more powerful those 12 years of experience or that one moment of seeing Krishna that one moment of seeing Krishna in our own experience when we travel are you flying to you
• 37:30 - 38:00 from here to Mumbai and you come back so days have passed and your travel thousands and thousands of miles across oceans and continents one moment you sit up on your bed oh I'm here which is more powerful all that long journey across oceans and continents all those hours and days you have traveled and spent all the time and all that space is that more powerful or this one instant of sitting on this little
• 38:00 - 38:30 bed which is more powerful this is more powerful you realize all of that was an appearance this some knowledge when we realized the Brahman this entire display of Maya vanishes before us so time space and causation and yet Swamiji says I am the way Condor says we cannot say that they do not exist why because we are seeing all this so time space and causation Maya we cannot say that it is
• 38:30 - 39:00 an independent existence apart from Raman we cannot say that it does not exist at all in Sanskrit it is it is phrased this way Sud Assad beyond a near version iam neither pure being nor non-being this is the very definition of Maya the Duellists would attack and say that how can it be neither this nor that it has to be one of the two true or false what is this in between true and
• 39:00 - 39:30 true or false but nowadays I hear there are multi valued logics math mathematics is developed over the last two three hundred years logic with not just two values yes and no true and falls on enough but multi valued they can be other values too so that is what advaitha was talking about so the sub-dominant Virginia neither being itself not non being itself in between our dreams the people you met in your
• 39:30 - 40:00 dreams the places you visited those people the food that you ate it doesn't exist true because it doesn't happen here but you can't sit with nothing because you experienced it so that in between state that is the nature of time space and causation this approach of the impersonal brahman it's something that is that is very relevant today Swami Vivekananda more than 100 years ago he said this is
• 40:00 - 40:30 the one approach which is acceptable to a modern scientific mind he was in the world Parliament of Religions then he went to Europe and came back here again in the world Parliament of Religions when he would give his talks Nikola Tesla so nowadays he's become more popular car I mean the inventor not the car Elon Musk and his Tesla car but because of that name has become more popular now people have sort
• 40:30 - 41:00 of forgotten about him brilliant man at least as brilliant as Edison only Edison had more commercial sense and Tesla didn't but testa was probably more brilliant but a little eccentric Tesla is to stand and listen he would Chloe had his own pavilion Edison too had his own pavilion in in the world Parliament in the Universal Exposition in Chicago he would close his own pavilion and come and listen to him who stand at the back listen to Vivekananda stops and then leave right after that and then they met
• 41:00 - 41:30 in Swami Vivekananda's letters you say we I met this great scientist of the West and we have very intense discussions about Sankey and cosmology and the latest discoveries of physics at that time unfortunately physics was not all that advanced so they couldn't really come to and I don't think anything much came out of it but they are very interested in each other and there are letters from Vivekananda to Tesla Tesla to be awakened and the discussing the sang-hyun concepts of
• 41:30 - 42:00 consciousness of prakruti nature one of our Swami's here there's a Tesla Museum test lovers from which countries tune European country Serbia so they have a museum in his hometown about Tesla so our Swami we got a letter from the vikander to test our victim yeah from the vegan to Tesla so he wrote to that Museum did would you like to have a copy
• 42:00 - 42:30 because you have a Museum of Tesla and they wrote back saying we have the entire set here the correspondence between Vivica and and Tesla in fact I was reading a new biography has come out it's called Wizard life and times of Nikola Tesla so I was interested in does it mention we'd intend way vacant at all because Tesla used to come here to the Vedanta Society of New York even after we back on the left he would come and attend the lectures of Swami Abaddon and in the lists of people who is to come well known people at that time Nikola
• 42:30 - 43:00 Tesla's name is there Abaddon she also met Edison he writes in his reminiscences today I met this well-known American inventor who took me to his laboratory and showed me his experiments and asked about India and presented him with the gramophone anyway so Tesla in that book it's mentioned and Wizard life and times of Nikola Tesla it's an absolutely new biography and obviously the author does not know much
• 43:00 - 43:30 about Vedanta expels it went on tout something like that but he says Tesla was greatly influenced by the Hindu mystic and yogi Vivekananda and that some things which I did not know for example it says Tesla became a lifelong celibate a brahmacari after his conversations with Vivekananda many years afterwards when he would write his scientific papers for scientific journals editors would be exasperated
• 43:30 - 44:00 because of his frequent use of Akasha and prana this is the plight of the editor how can you contradict Tesla Nikola Tesla and yet he says this cannot be published in scientific journals but he would insist no this is this is the most advanced cosmology Vivekananda says in the modern age this dualistic religions no longer hold ground it is this input idea of an impersonal non
• 44:00 - 44:30 dual reality an impersonal God which is which holds appeal to modern scientific minds in this age he goes so far as to say in this age the only religion that can have any hold that can have any acceptance is Advaita he says by Advaita does not mean just Advaita Vedanta off in the in Hinduism but this is non dual impersonal idea of of a reality I was just reading a letter written by Albert Einstein - one good
• 44:30 - 45:00 kind-- it was sold last year in 2018 auction for 2.9 million dollars one letter he wrote it here in Princeton one of his colleagues had given him a book about the Jewish religion he was Jewish and he was not at all fond of conventional religion so they thought maybe at least he will support the Jewish religion he read the book and book book was written by one Eric good
• 45:00 - 45:30 kind or good kind and after reading that he wrote this letter he said that I considered the Jewish religion along with all other religions to be superstitions childish and naive to me the Word of God is just human weakness he says so that was his idea of the dualistic religions the theistic religions he said all religions not just Jewish religion Christianity Islam Hinduism whatever so what was Einstein's
• 45:30 - 46:00 position on spirituality and Gandhi was completed hist not at all he clearly says in more than once I believe in Spinoza's God in this one impersonal being which reveals itself as this universe a pantheistic God he says it what might be called in common parlance pantheism a divinity which reveals itself in the workings in impersonal workings of the universe not a God who is concerned with the personalities of human beings that I
• 46:00 - 46:30 considered to be anthropomorphic if you look at Spinoza's work from a vedantic perspective it's very close to what we call wished Advaita one reality of encompassing the sentient and in sentient universe cheat a cheat vashisht a Brahma Brahman is the absolute which is comprised of parts what parts us living sentient beings and the entire physical universe including
• 46:30 - 47:00 our bodies also so cheat a cheat cheat means conscious H it means non conscious now in sentient and the entirety he writes he actually wrote a poem to here itself he wrote a poem to Espinosa crawling in this holy man he believed he was spiritual this is so much like what Vivekananda said that for modern mind this impersonal idea of God is acceptable but not the personal dualistic ideas of religion for for a
• 47:00 - 47:30 scientific mind and I've seen this again and again in this country and in India when I talk to people trained scientists mathematicians they are uneasy with this with the old dualistic form of religion but they are at least if they don't if they are not convinced they're at least intrigued by this idiotic idea yeah the advaithic conception of God I remember
• 47:30 - 48:00 once I was sitting next to this lady who was a neuroscientist we're travelling from Portugal to Germany I mean I was a transit passenger and she'll be on her way back to India and she was also going to India for a conference neuroscientist and she was from England and she said I was born and raised a Catholic born and raised in Anglican but not a non believing one so obviously I was wearing this dress she said tell me about your beliefs so I talked about at the weight
• 48:00 - 48:30 of a Toronto you just you have to don't have to ask me twice so it was not a very long flight one hour one and half or something like that to Munich and after landing oh and so after I finished it was very sharp very very very intelligent and and she had not heard this earlier she became very intrigued and she said well you have not convinced me but I can't find a flaw in your arguments that's the interesting thing
• 48:30 - 49:00 even the most hardcore Pithom even if you're sharp enough to understand what is being said people become intrigued I was in the shivanand ashram Bahamas just a couple of months or last month February yeah and there was this mathematician from Oxford University Marcus dousset I it's a very well-known scientist a mathematician in fact he occupies the position which Richard Dawkins Selfish Gene there's a British government position for the popularization of science so Richard
• 49:00 - 49:30 Dawkins has just vacated that one and Marcus two sisters the toy is coming there very interesting this mathematician pure mathematics I was talking about upper auction Oh booty and he would come and sit on each of those sessions and then he was full he had so many questions in breakfast and and in supper and we would talk so intensely and his wife was sitting next to and she said rather it was a slight bit of
• 49:30 - 50:00 annoyance she said to me you are his best new best friend but scientists become intrigued by this this this approach this approach to consciousness in modern interest in consciousness studies for the first time the right questions are being asked here David Chalmers what he calls the hard problem of consciousness the right questions are being asked what is consciousness
• 50:00 - 50:30 Evan Thompson in his book waking dreaming and being he writes that the science of consciousness is not modern it's not that we just started asking this question now it's more than 5,000 years old it goes back to the texts called the Upanishads he writes and then he goes on to say these opening shots are so profound so key to human civilization that we should date our history not as ad and BC but before Rupa
• 50:30 - 51:00 Nisha then after Upanishad Evan Thompson says that Swami Vivekananda says what is the importance of Advaita Vedanta to modern civilization not that just it is acceptable to scientists noticed one thing as an aside again the tremendous attacks on dualistic religion the New Atheists Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett and Sam Harris if you
• 51:00 - 51:30 look at the debates there between them and the whole range of rabbis or pastors or theologians and always you will see those who are advocating the side of religion seemed to come off worse but I enjoyed those debates greatly because not one thing that is said here impinges or has any problem for Advaita Vedanta or even say the core of Buddhism Robert Wright recently who
• 51:30 - 52:00 lives in Princeton he's written a book why Buddhism is true and it's important because he's an atheist he is a staunch neo-darwinian so here is this person writing why Buddhism is true now what is the what is the implication of this I also mentioned earlier how sam harris has written a book waking up he's no friend of religion absolutely against religion just as Einstein said they are all superstitions he also says they're all superstitions but he says these two
• 52:00 - 52:30 traditions have investigated Tibetan Buddhism and a traitor Vedanta he says I cannot deny that there is a core of truth he's very careful to this word there's a core of truth in both of them very valuable truth is there in both of them so that much he says so as we become the more than a hundred years ago said the only form of religion and spirituality acceptable to the modern scientific man mind will be Advaita Vedanta and this idea of an impersonal
• 52:30 - 53:00 reality what we what Einstein called Spinoza God what is the relevance to civilization as a whole this idea of being and manifestation Swami Vivekananda says powerfully this Advaita has saved India from materialism twice he says first during the time of the Buddha imagine what a remarkable claim he's saying Buddha preached Advaita
• 53:00 - 53:30 which is which is quite shocking to a lot of modern scholarship and well I'll touch upon that little later but he says twice it has saved India one is during the time of the Buddha when there was a rampant accrued materialism he means the charvak I'd he did not he says very popular among the masses the Sanskrit term is loci loci at the philosophy spread among the masses even now it's there no more so than here in Manhattan but he says at
• 53:30 - 54:00 that time the Buddha came the philosophy of the Upanishads was there but it was poetry I'm confined to a few a few monks and scholars amongst in there forests and mountains and in the hands of a few Sanskrit scholars not with the masses the Buddha this is Vivek and this language whenever he speaks about the Buddha is glowing so Buddha which is infinite heart and mercy he made true religion the core of religion spirituality opened to the
• 54:00 - 54:30 masses he made it practical not hidden not you must be a Brahmin male in order to have access to this know know everybody ramen and chandala the outcast a man and woman everybody across the world it is he says I do not teach with hands fists closed what is here the truth is before you so Buddha he says revive this ancient spirituality of the Upanishads and then once again when
• 54:30 - 55:00 Buddhism declined over up over a millennia and again materialism rose again in India this is the great Shankar Acharya comes and takes the same philosophy open issues which was poetic but not rational and philosophical he systematizes it into he says the most grandest philosophy ever truly speaking now I'm speaking about the weight of a rant of Shankar Acharya the grandest philosophy people have across the world
• 55:00 - 55:30 whoever has touched it and investigated in depth you can't find anything for the rational rigour of it the intellectual elegance of it and the direct spiritual applicability of it it's talks to us straight away if you approach the Upanishads directly it seems to be an incomprehensible mass if you approach it through Shankara there's a light through that forest so Shankara comes the second time and rescues spirituality in fact I remember
• 55:30 - 56:00 listening to a talk by a great vashisht a great a scholar dr. Lakshmi Tata area who had studied which waita Vedanta not shankara's Vedanta registered waiter valent Oh for 40 years and he gives gives this talk to our in our monastery remember which is that waiter no friend of Shankara no friend of a Drayton he says we have great respect for Shankara why because he rescued this idea of the Atman and based
• 56:00 - 56:30 on this idea then later on Ramanujan others have built up the structures so Buddhism not in this lecture but somewhere else Swami Vivekanand to this team that twice in the past once by Buddha the second time Shankara and he says this time again what Sri Ramakrishna and I have done he says actually says the same spirituality now spread across the world so he opened the
• 56:30 - 57:00 doors to it but remember here is not speaking exclusively about the Advaita Vedanta of the Hindus he's talking about something which is it has in common with Buddhism it has in common with all the great spiritual traditions of the world in Christianity in Islam in the Jewish mysticism the Kabbalah you will find this code truth everywhere and that is what is rescuing and bringing forth to the center stage so this is the one which can have sway over the minds of modern humanity before I go ahead just
• 57:00 - 57:30 because I brought up a big problematic thing and so I'm very kind the dwells or not on it just glancingly how did you say that Buddhism and Advaita teach the same thing because apparently on paper they do not add water seems to speak of like Hindus speak of an immortal soul of God a Brahman which is an impermanent reality and Buddhism seems to say just the opposite there is no permanent
• 57:30 - 58:00 reality literally Advaita is Atma Atma vada Atma Buddhism is an Atma Advaita says you discovered in your your eternal unchanging nature existence consciousness please your problems are solved Buddhism says realize that there is no eternal and unchanging nature there's no Atman your problems are solved how can you say that to add the same thing it seemed and traditionally for more than a thousand years the Buddhists and ancient Hindus they carried on a
• 58:00 - 58:30 fierce debate fierce debate it was good in a way because it led to the flowering of philosophy so many texts were written philosophy lot logic and linguistics became sharpened wonderful development but they don't seem to get along they don't seem to agree at all we seem to be mirror images but often what seemed to be mirror images are images of the same thing this is saying the opposite of a petty truth is falsehood but the
• 58:30 - 59:00 opposite of a great truth often is another great truth swami vivekananda sway notice one thing that the debates of the buddhists where with the hindu duelists the actual debates we look at the texts on one side of the Buddhist schools so taranta Kawhi bow chika boom began about the Shu Nevada on the other side of the Hindu schools in Iowa shaker Sankhya mimamsa puto mimamsa but not
• 59:00 - 59:30 non-dualism non-dualism Advaita Vedanta shankara's at what you might call a johnny-come-lately so much later development in this form it was there in the open issues but in this pub Shankar Acharya is form that comes much later what Shankara is talking about is not what the Buddha denied or the Buddhists denied it works like this the Buddhists
• 59:30 - 60:00 come and attack the Hindu do Ellison say here is the body inside is the mind admitted but other than this body and mind where is this in eternal Atman you are talking about where here is the world it's a mass of whirling mass of changes Shani kamsani comes albums Anakim momentary momentary all his momentary soon iam shown iam sarvam zunium void void all is the void where is this eternal God you're talking about where it's just something you believe it's a superstition the Buddhist attacks the
• 60:00 - 60:30 dualist and the dualist try to prove so blong debate but what Advaita says is not what Buddhism is denying what our data says is this the snake and the rope we are not saying that there is a snake and underneath there is a rope what you think is the snake is in reality the rope so it's not that there is a world and there is a separate card it's not
• 60:30 - 61:00 that there is a body mind and there is something else separate called the Atman or Brahman what we regard as samsara the Advaita is realized if you realize the truth about it it is Brahman we are seeing it as a snake if you would see truly it is a rope is seeing it as samsara if you'd see truly it is Brahman and here you find amazingly the great Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna he says
• 61:00 - 61:30 shocking to many Buddhists also samsara and Nirvana are exactly the same what the ignorant called samsara the enlightened ones calling it one how is it possible because there are traditional Buddhist idea this is samsara have to give it up and reach nirvana here itself what in ignorance you are seeing as samsara in enlightenment you will see as Nirvana what in ignorance we see as a multiplicity in enlightenment you see
• 61:30 - 62:00 the underlying oneness what in ignorance we see as Jarra object in enlightenment we see as pure awareness what in ignorance we see a suffering Dec death disease decay and the suffering generated by that in enlightenment we see it all as a play of our and of bliss this one itself not a separate thing the reality of the pot is clay see the problem is when it's introduced it's a pot and the teacher comes and says no no
• 62:00 - 62:30 there is a reality called clay if you stop at that point then you have got in your idea my this idea there is a pot and there's clay there's a pattern there's clay two things but actually they are not two Allan Allan what says he calls it the crackpot theory if you stop at this point you have the problem of the dualistic religions the problem of trying to prove that there is a God and a soul apart from this universe Einstein says why I
• 62:30 - 63:00 believe in Spinoza Scott he says he was the first great philosopher who says this body mind he calls the body is actually the soul itself is is right here he says this is the reality which is appearing as this universe he says that I don't think was aware of Advaita Vedanta or and it requires a good teacher to make it clear but if somebody somebody is fond of Spinoza as God it's
• 63:00 - 63:30 just one step to the non-dualistic idea so here is the reconciliation between Buddhism and Advait Vedanta see when Buddhism says if you look closely it will seem to say just the opposite of Vedanta it says that it says even the Atman is not the Kon it's not consciousness also not the body not the feelings not the mind Nava gana not consciousness also so isn't it saying just the opposite you just said pure consciousness is they our reality which is just a problem with words what this
• 63:30 - 64:00 means by consciousness is what we call the reflected consciousness the consciousness the awareness which we have in these mind in the mind right now and that comes and goes but Vedanta calls Chaitanya is not this this is the Tschida Abaza the reflection of Chaitanya this is not the self their word ant agrees also with the despotism this this is not the Atman Robert right in his book why Buddhism is true when he says that Buddhism seems to deny the existence of consciousness also but is
• 64:00 - 64:30 there a greater consciousness beyond this consciousness which is denied and he says I dare not speculate I will not go into that but yes if you had gone into that next step is Advaita Vedanta it's there in this book so anyway we'll leave it at that swami vivekananda he has saved india twice in the past and then he says Europe is in England talking in England how sad brexit he says the and it will save Europe from
• 64:30 - 65:00 materialism this philosophy of an impersonal spirituality is going to save Europe from météo behavior by Europe let's say today the entire world the answer to the spiritual answer to materialism lies in that unit right of Iran not in the dualistic religions because those very difficult to believe I was reading a modern French philosopher Luc ferry who says the great movements of Western thought Greek
• 65:00 - 65:30 thought he says four phases of Western thought Greek thought then Christianity then modernism and then post-modernism now and then at the end he asks gives a personal reflection if you ask me which which phrase do you identify with most which would you like most he said undoubtedly I would want Christianity except I don't believe in it Advaita Vedanta makes it possible for us to believe in religion once again this is the next thing that's why we awaken
• 65:30 - 66:00 the brings up our veero the non destructiveness he says Advaita Vedanta is not destructive it's not that now we have adroit of a tanto so we'll discard all religion no Advaita is not unfriendly to religion Advaita provides the logical basis of religion enabling modern man for us to believe in religion again in the 21st century better not waiting on dualist foundation I personally I worship God I I can love and adore God in all forms because the
• 66:00 - 66:30 basis is non duality I know there is an underlying reality which I can choose to express worship and adore in particular forms whether it's Krishna or Christ it's up to your culture and your personal preference but Advaita Vedanta makes it possible and I'm not alone in saying this I have mentioned earlier David Bentley Hart a Christian theologian who has written a book God as being consciousness bliss and he says
• 66:30 - 67:00 the highest philosophy of all religions he says is this one and there in the names of the chapters if you open the book chapter sat-chit-ananda he says most clearly expressed in the Vedanta of India but it is there as the highest philosophy of all religions this is what is needed now and this has no conflict with dualistic religions go to pada we have been studying Manduca karika gora pada Aria
• 67:00 - 67:30 says so acid on Taveras Tahu Dwight in honesty tawdry raha Paris Paramveer identity I am Nibiru deity the dualistic religions are firmly set in their own belief systems and they fight with each other so I'm living under says I challenge you to show one dualistic religion which does not have more or less of this exclusiveness moment you have a dualistic religion this is the book this is the prophet or the teacher
• 67:30 - 68:00 this is the revelation this is the way I will understand God immediately it is against everything else immediately and then if your unenlightened come or the old form was to fight against others convert them kill them speak badly of them if you are more modern and more enlightened person good person you will worry about interfaith dialogue how to have peace with recently I was at an interfaith dialogue in Seton Hall just a couple of days ago and I said let me
• 68:00 - 68:30 share something from within that I really do not you might be shocked but I really do not see the need for this in India we know that the truth is one it says their truth is one say just call it variously so there is one truth which is expressed in so many ways what is really the need for you know dialogues and and papers and resolutions because to begin with we do not hate each other so so I
• 68:30 - 69:00 have a kind of said I do not believe in tolerance I believe in acceptance because inside tolerance is the seed of intolerance and violence and rejection I know you are wrong I'm just allowing you to live that's tolerance I remember speaking with a very staunch evangelist minister on a plane so you're on a plane for three hours and we amicably call it for three hours at the end of it he said something interesting this shows the problem with dualism and
• 69:00 - 69:30 the advantage of non-dualism he got up and he said Swamy and by the time taught him to say Swamy so he said Swamy if I did not know that I was right I would say you are talking sense and I met once a French monk Hindu French French man French man was a Hindu
• 69:30 - 70:00 monk who's from one of the Hindu cults you just have to replace Christ with Krishna and we squad in Mumbai Airport me again quarreled amicably for three hours same thing the dualistic approach this is right and everything else is wrong and at the say after at when he left the time for his flight he said it has been an education speaking with you so this is the power of the non-dualistic approach are the road there is no contradiction whatsoever Swami Vivekananda ends his talk in a
• 70:00 - 70:30 very grand way the time has come for combining the heart of Buddha with the intellect of Shankara with this all embracing love with this acceptance of everybody the Buddha and this magnificent extremely rational logical rigorously rational philosophy of Shankar Acharya and if we can do that he says then we will have a universal
• 70:30 - 71:00 religion which will be for all times and all places which will be he says science and religion will meet and shake hands as friends poetry and philosophy will become friends he says his language this glorious consummation of the development of religion in human history this is upon us now now is the time when masses of people are highly educated our intellectual find it difficult to
• 71:00 - 71:30 believe in the old forms Richard Dawkins he was once asked you are an atheist only 1% of people in the world are it is 99% they believe in something you are minority absolutely tiny and his answer was very cutting and sarcastic very British humor he said that's true less than 1% of the world's population is atheist but if you look at the the Nobel Prize when there was actually a survey the living Nobel Prize winners today do you believe in
• 71:30 - 72:00 God more than 90% of them said no Richard Dawkins I rest my case the smarter you are the more sophisticated the deeper you think the less likely you are to believe in God that's what he wanted to say so what is the what is the scope for spirituality in today's world it lies in this non this non-dualistic philosophy which is beautifully expressed in that great of a rant but also found in the heart of buddhism and jainism
• 72:00 - 72:30 and in in Christianity and in Islam and in joy in Judaism and Sikhism in all the great religious traditions of the world addict or especially the Mystics look at the Mystics but if you want a rational clear framework you find it in the Advaita Vedanta framework I'll end with the prayer with which we awakened and ended let us pray then to have that we member we might combine in our lives today that great heart a tremendous
• 72:30 - 73:00 moral sense of the Buddha with that clear thinking that that logical rational approach to religion of Shankara and fulfill our lives o shantih shantih shantih he hurry he own that shri ramakrishna eponymous too [Music]