Tattva Jnana - Knowledge of Ultimate Reality | Swami Sarvapriyananda

Summary

In a profound exploration of ultimate reality, Swami Sarvapriyananda delves into the nature of Brahman, the Sanskrit term for ultimate reality and pure consciousness, according to Vedantic philosophy. He elucidates on the teachings from 'The Nectar of Supreme Knowledge', explaining that all existence is an expression of Brahman, akin to a table being entirely wood – without a separate form or essence. Swami Sarvapriyananda emphasizes that enlightenment involves realizing non-duality and that one’s true self is identical with Brahman, the limitless consciousness that pervades everything. Using anecdotes and traditional texts, he demystifies the concepts of Vedanta, illustrating that while yogic practices can aid in realizing peace and detachment, true understanding goes beyond samadhi—encompassing all aspects of life.

Highlights

• Swami Sarvapriyananda compares the universe to a movie screen; the reality (Brahman) is always there, like the screen behind the movie. 🎥
• He narrates a story about a washerman unknowingly using a diamond—symbolizing the potential of realizing one's ultimate self. 💎
• The discourse discusses how samadhi helps in attaining peace, yet Vedanta seeks realization in both active life and meditation. 🎬
• Citing anecdotes, Swami underscores Vedanta’s call to see oneself as limitless consciousness rather than a limited body or mind. 🤯
• Swami mentions that true Vedantic realization manifests as fearlessness and limitless peace amidst life's challenges. 🌊

Key Takeaways

• Vedanta posits that the ultimate reality, Brahman, is the true essence of all things. 🌟
• Everything in the universe is filled with Brahman, akin to a table being fully made of wood. 🌳
• Realization in Vedanta involves understanding that there's no separation between the self and Brahman, the limitless consciousness. 🧘‍♂️
• The teachings stress that ultimate enlightenment is beyond just meditative absorption (samadhi) and is about seeing the divine in every aspect of life. 🙌
• The discourse encourages seeing the same Brahman in wakes of daily actions as well as in meditative practices. 🕉️

Overview

Swami Sarvapriyananda, in a dynamic and insightful lecture, explores the nature of Brahman, the ultimate reality in Vedantic philosophy. Framed against ancient texts, his discourse elucidates how everything in the universe is intrinsically Brahman, comparing this to a table being fully of wood—one without any separate existence. Through vivid anecdotes and historical references, he elaborates how realizing this oneness with Brahman transcends all spiritual practices, rooting firmly in the understanding that our true self is this limitless consciousness.

The lecture emphasizes how Vedantic enlightenment stretches beyond yogic practices, like attaining samadhi. Swami compares the universe to an ever-present movie screen, underscoring that ultimate truth is inherent in all aspects of life—not just those reserved for meditative states. This realization cultivates a mindset where daily life becomes a spiritual practice as one sees Brahman pervading all.

Swami Sarvapriyananda highlights that true realization of Vedanta is accompanied by a unique fearlessness and deep inner peace, irrespective of external circumstances. This understanding, as he explains, fundamentally alters one’s perception of self—it is not tied to the finite body-mind complex but identified with the expansive and ever-present consciousness that is Brahman.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Opening Prayer and Greetings The chapter titled 'Opening Prayer and Greetings' begins with a musical introduction, setting a peaceful tone for the content that follows. The phrase 'om shant' is mentioned, invoking a sense of tranquility and calmness, which is often associated with peace prayers in spiritual and meditative practices.
• 01:00 - 03:00: Introduction to Ultimate Reality The chapter begins with a chant invoking peace and the transition from the unreal to the real, darkness to light, and death to immortality. It sets a contemplative tone by highlighting the spiritual journey towards understanding Ultimate Reality. The speaker greets the audience warmly and reflects on the meaning of the chant.
• 03:00 - 08:00: Concept of Brahman and Ultimate Reality This chapter delves into the profound concept of Brahman and Ultimate Reality, exploring the philosophical journey from unreality to reality, darkness to light, and mortality to immortality. It emphasizes that the knowledge of Brahman, synonymous with Ultimate Reality, provides answers to these existential transitions. Brahman is depicted as the ultimate light, representing pure consciousness, knowledge, or enlightenment.
• 08:00 - 11:00: Yoga Vashishta and the Nectar of Supreme Knowledge The chapter discusses the concept of 'immortality' in the context of higher knowledge or ultimate reality, referred to as 'Rahman' or Brahman in this chapter. It reflects on the essence of all things being filled with Brahman, indicative of a deeper, all-encompassing spiritual truth. The chant or prayer mentioned aligns with the subject by emphasizing that everything is infused with Brahman, inviting the reader to understand the omnipresence and fullness of divine essence in all aspects of life.
• 11:00 - 16:00: Realization and Enlightenment In the chapter titled 'Realization and Enlightenment,' the discussion revolves around the concept of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality in Indian philosophy. The narrative suggests that everything we perceive is filled with Brahman, implying that Brahman permeates all aspects of existence. This realization challenges the conventional understanding of reality, urging individuals to reconsider their perceptions of the universe. The discourse touches on themes of spiritual enlightenment, prompting a deeper inquiry into the nature of the self and the cosmos. The chapter encourages readers to reflect on the omnipresence of Brahman in everyday life, illustrating that enlightenment stems from understanding this universal truth.
• 16:00 - 24:00: Awareness and Consciousness The chapter 'Awareness and Consciousness' explores the philosophical concept of Brahman, using the analogy of a glass filled with water and a lectern made of wood. It conveys the idea that Brahman is not something that fills the world, but rather, Brahman itself constitutes the essence and existence of everything. The chapter suggests a radical rethinking of perception, emphasizing that everything in the world is essentially Brahman, aligning with the core tenets of Vedanta philosophy.
• 24:00 - 35:00: Critique of Yoga and Meditation The chapter discusses a critique of the teachings about yoga and meditation, particularly focusing on an interaction between Mary H and Swami Vivekananda. Mary H expresses her understanding of Swami Vivekananda's teachings, namely that everything is God, through a poem. Swami Vivekananda responds, clarifying that he never taught such a doctrine, even though he has mentioned that all is God on several occasions. The response highlights a potential misunderstanding of his teachings on the concept of divinity.
• 35:00 - 50:00: Vedantic Path vs. Yogic Path The chapter discusses the concept that God alone is everything, and everything is filled with Brahman. It challenges the perception of seeing other things as separate, suggesting that what we experience is Brahman itself. The focus is on understanding and realizing this truth, with insights drawn from a book referred to as 'the nectar of.'
• 50:00 - 70:00: Nature of Awareness The chapter titled 'Nature of Awareness' delves into the profound philosophical text known as Yoga Vasistha, which is integral to understanding yogic practices and supreme knowledge. The original text is in Sanskrit and is revered as an ancient and expansive work pivotal in the field of non-dual Vedanta philosophy. A translation by Swami Sadananda from the Vedanta Society of Southern California is highlighted, suggesting its accessibility to a broader audience. The translation maintains the essence and the depth of the teachings from the Sanskrit original, focusing on imparting knowledge that transcends typical dualistic views. This book serves as a bridge for contemporary seekers to engage with timeless wisdom, exploring themes around consciousness, awareness, and the essence of yoga as a path to enlightenment. The chapter specifically introduces the historical and philosophical significance of Yoga Vasistha, setting a foundation for deeper exploration in subsequent sections.
• 70:00 - 90:00: Awareness in Waking, Dreaming, and Deep Sleep This chapter discusses the origins and scope of a particular book, comparing it to a larger work consisting of 30,000 verses. The author of the book is unknown, with the original Sanskrit text believed to be written by a monk approximately 400-500 years ago. The discussion highlights the relative size and historical context of the work in relation to other known texts.
• 90:00 - 110:00: Understanding Awareness and the Universe The chapter discusses how 200 verses were selected and extracted from the original 30,000 verses of the Yoga Vasishta to create a new book divided into 10 chapters. It mentions that this book is rich with insights because it includes translations by Swami Dhes Anand, a senior monk, into Bengali, highlighting the significance of these translations in understanding the awareness of the universe.
• 110:00 - 125:00: The Goal of Enlightenment and Realizing Brahman The chapter delves into the goal of enlightenment and the realization of Brahman, drawing from translations and notes by Swami Dandi. Swami Dandi not only translated the original verses into Bengali but also added supplementary information about Advaita Vedanta, making it a comprehensive resource. The English translation includes Swami Dandi's notes, which enriches the volume with insights on non-dualism and the teachings of Advaita Vedanta.

Tattva Jnana - Knowledge of Ultimate Reality | Swami Sarvapriyananda Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] om shant
• 00:30 - 01:00 shant shant om lead us from the unreal to the real lead us from Darkness and Light lead us from death to immortality om peace peace peace Namaste and good morning everybody good morning I was just thinking that what but we just chanted now um
• 01:00 - 01:30 lead us from the unreal to the real lead us from Darkness to light lead us from death to immortality and the subject this morning that the knowledge of the Ultimate Reality Tana Ultimate Reality Brahman is what answers to these what is reality Brahman Ultimate Reality what is light in the sense of pure Consciousness in the sense of knowledge or Enlightenment also it is Brahman what is
• 01:30 - 02:00 immortality it is Rahman so the prayer the chant which we did just now um it uh answers to today's subject the knowledge of Ultimate Reality what was the line we were just sing just not things all things are full of Brahman what does it fil Brahman filled full with Brahman oh it's filled full with Brahman are the things we see and it's was is that uh Eric or
• 02:00 - 02:30 John okay Frederick Manchester and Swami prand here filled full with Brahma and other things we see so you may ask this Ultimate Reality Brahman where is it the things we see here filled full with Brahman and so is it like a container a
• 02:30 - 03:00 glass which is filled with water so everything has been filled with Brahman no it's not like that it's like this rather this lecturn which is if I say it's filled full with wood what it means is it is wood it's made of wood and there's nothing here except touchwood so this similarly Brahman alone is that's what we we experience as the things of the world it's a very very radical idea in V vant
• 03:00 - 03:30 when Mary H right here in fact I think uh she asked she wrote to Swami vianda she wrote this poem I I have understood what you have taught that everything is God he wrote back in a poem that I've never taught such a strange doctrine that all is God what I have said or what I meant because he did say that all his God a number of times but he said what I meant
• 03:30 - 04:00 is that God Alone is all is not filled full with Brahman other things we see it means not that the things we see are filled with Brahman Brahman alone is what we are seeing experiencing is Brahman but how do we know that how do we come to realize it that's our subject this morning and the book I'm going to share this Insight from I have been reading verses from this once in a while now this is is called the nectar of
• 04:00 - 04:30 supreme knowledge it original Sanskrit name is Yoga Vish the essence of yoga yoga vashishta the SS of yoga vashishta it's a translation of the Sanskrit original by Swami sadanand G who is the vant Society of Southern California and uh so this book has an interesting background the original book is the yoga visha which is a beloved ancient and beloved and vast Sanskrit original a text of nonu Vidant
• 04:30 - 05:00 the original has 30,000 verses and this has less than 300 less than one person so it's less than that book is over 100 times the size of this book and this is less than 100 of that book of those 30,000 verses some unknown author the author of this book is unknown the Sanskrit original of this book yoga vishara there some original author probably a monk lived about 400 500 years ago EX
• 05:00 - 05:30 extracted just over 200 verses from the original yoga vishas original 30,000 verses and divided those 200 into 10 chapters and so we have this book and I've been reading occasionally from it um the and this book also is supplemented it's Rich because the yoga vishara was translated into Bengali by Swami dhes Anand g a senior monk of our order several decades
• 05:30 - 06:00 ago and what Swami dandi did was he took those verses he translated them into Bengali and added a lot of information about ad vant in that as supplementary information so it becomes a very rich volume about nonel vant D vant and this English translation has a translation of those notes of Swami dianji also so what I'll say also draws upon the information supplied by Swami dhanda there the original book The
• 06:00 - 06:30 original book yoga vashishta the context is the prince Rama who of course an incarnation of God of Vishnu um he is suddenly taken up with the idea of nonu vedant that I am Brahman as we all are and decides not to do anything else in the world and be you know be a monk and become enlightened so he decides I will not you know be the king or do my princely duties and so on and so forth his father of course Very
• 06:30 - 07:00 naturally is worried what will happen to the kingdom uh so he engages the Royal Sage visha to explain things to convince the Young Prince you know to step up and do his duties fulfill his responsibilities and so on and so vashishta speaks to Rama and says it's wonderful that you want to become enlightened and realize that you're Brahman but tell me the world that you want to give up is Brahman something other than this world is the world something other than
• 07:00 - 07:30 Brahman let's put it that way is the world something other than Brahman we all know fill full with Brahman are the things that we see Rah apparently did not know so she had to be basically that's what vashishta tells him the half the line which we heard fill full with Brahma and other things we see bisha tells him that but in 30,000 Sanskrit verses and the idea being that you don't have to run away from this in fact if you do run away from this to something else
• 07:30 - 08:00 you're making some kind of there is a lack of clarity about what what we are seeking Swami vianda put it so powerfully he who runs away to meditate and die in a Himalayan cave has missed the way he who plunges headlong into the foolishness and the vanities the luxuries of life and vanities uh he has missed the way so if you plunge into life you grab life and plunge into life you have missed the way and if you run away from all of these engagements and want to sit in and mount cave and
• 08:00 - 08:30 meditate you have missed the way and what is the way it seems to be a binary there only two things to do viand says this is vant whatand says next the way is to divinize life itself it is to see the Divinity the Ultimate Reality in those we are with in everything that we do in our surroundings and most of most of all within ourselves I'm paraphrasing what viand said again the way is to see filled full with Brahman other things we
• 08:30 - 09:00 see and that's the message of this book and how to realize that the verse that I'm going to take up is from the third chapter is the first verse of the third chapter the name of the third chapter is the knowledge of Ultimate Reality Tana that's the subject this morning the first verse goes like this
• 09:00 - 09:30 the realization of the Oneness with Brahman that Brahman is Atman that is like a burning fire which um which burns up the dried pieces of grass which are the desires of the world all worldly desires are burned up by that pure fire which burns away all the desires of
• 09:30 - 10:00 worldly enjoyments that is verily termed samadhi that's called samadhi not merely sitting in silence Ultimate Reality Brahman at self-realization so that Brahman I am what is the nature of Enlightenment not that there is an Ultimate Reality not that God exists not that there is a Buddha nature
• 10:00 - 10:30 but the the realization Enlightenment is I am that see Until you realize what you are until we realize what we are of what ultimate import is it to know that there is some you know it's as you might as well know that there is a black black hole or that there are super strings good that's very interesting oh so there is a God or there is Brahman or something but I am that that makes all the difference to me that makes all the difference to me one of a very senior swamis Swami
• 10:30 - 11:00 prandi this is one of the anecdotes I heard about him he was a disciple of masara and regarded as enlightened in his own lifetime so this elderly gentleman who was very young at that time but when I met him was elderly he used to go to Swami premesh Anand G and he had this habit of visiting different holy men and he would go and tell Swami prananda about you know he saw this Yogi who has such and such power he met this holy person who does this kind of a special meditation practice and whatnot all these interesting stories and Swami
• 11:00 - 11:30 prish would listen and one day he said um I'll tell you in Bengali and then I'll translate what he said the gentleman's name was badel b badel um which means Cloud so um so he says to him my dear Cloud he would say um to
• 11:30 - 12:00 bakaki if the whole world becomes Sak Krishna why such an Yogi or such a master or such a teacher why that let's go even further let's go the full distance you know and say that let everybody become equal to Sri Rak Krishna everybody all of them are s ramak Krishna except you and me then at the end of the day what good is it to you or to me I must realize I am that and that
• 12:00 - 12:30 makes all the difference to me and it make a difference to others also ultimately this is the only only way of becoming enlightened and going Beyond samsara and saving ourselves only and its result is the destruction the burning to a crisp of all that which ties us to this world our desires which we makes us cling to this world the
• 12:30 - 13:00 Buddha's Insight you remember the four noble truths of the Buddha du all is suffering why are we in this world of suffering why are we suffering he says next Noble Truth trishna this thirst for things in the world I must continue to exist and things must be just so otherwise I'm unhappy well guaranteed you have prescribed yourself unhappiness and then um is there any solution to
• 13:00 - 13:30 this problem Buddha said yes there is a solution he called it Nirvana Nirvana means extinguishing extinguishing what not yourself extinguishing practically it would mean extinguishing this one this uh all that that thirst for worldliness the worldly things in the which we which ties us to samsar the TR means dried grass
• 13:30 - 14:00 Baka is a fire which burns also literally purifies it burns away these things practically it means that or deeper sense it would mean overcoming the ignorance which ties us to worldliness that will only come according to vanta it will only come by the realization of our true nature and realization of true nature is that it is the Ultimate Reality it is Brahman the next line is interesting it's a at
• 14:00 - 14:30 yogis this is what is meant by samadi we talk about samadi meditative absorption this is what is samadi the realization that I am Brahman not sitting silently not sitting quietly silently and quietly sitting what are you doing samadi sometimes a little rumbling sound come
• 14:30 - 15:00 what happened it happened actually talk was going on in in the foothills of the Himalayas a talk on Vidant there was little rumbling sound in the background um and the Swami was giving a talk and said you know Hindi what happened Mr Mishra he comes to with a start and a little bit of Sam had a little Sam it's a natural consequence of vant if you hear he such high metaphysics on
• 15:00 - 15:30 a Sunday morning samadhi is inevitable it puts you to samadhi Swami sanand G he a disciple of Sri ramakrishna was here in the vanta society used to give talks I think this was probably in um I don't know where it was maybe in the v Society in New York itself and uh Miss josephin McLoud one of the closest Associates of Swami Vive Ananda she would never agree to call herself a disciple she would say I'm a friend of V and so she would after viand pass she
• 15:30 - 16:00 did a tremendous amount of work for um the ramakrishna mission and for India itself so in the here in New York she would attend the talks and she would ask the Swami Swami did you sleep well you know last night did you sleep well and this then one day the Swami was giving a talk and josephin McLoud happened to be in the front row and she dozed off nodded off so after the talk the Swami asked Madame did you sleep
• 16:00 - 16:30 well so there's a little anecdote about this which will illustrate what this uh line is trying to say not sitting silently this is called samadhi the realization that I am Brahman is called samadhi not sitting silently or not merely sitting silently you can come to a realization that you're Brahman when you're sitting silently in meditation let's not knock meditation so I was in the uh Himalayas in the high
• 16:30 - 17:00 Himalayas in gangotri and this young monk I met he was from Nepal his name was I still remember shivah Hariri and he was really young he was like 20 19 20 maybe 21 years old he was practicing yoga meditation in a cave and uh it was very spectacular he sit in the cave was on the ledge and there was a sheer drop below to the bhiti the river rushing by below it very simp and uh and sweet I
• 17:00 - 17:30 asked him oh you sit there and said yes and from the other bank the tourists come and take my picture I like it they think this people think this perfect here is the Himalayas and here is a cave and and they're Yogi too sitting and meditating too but they don't know he's meditating on them taking a picture of him but anyway he was quite sincer um he was trying to attain samadhi uh the yogic samadhi and I asked him with my predilection for
• 17:30 - 18:00 vant I asked him so have you read have you studied vant and he said yes probably his Sanskrit was weak so he had studied it in Hindi he said I've read read the upanishads and the commentaries of Shankar and Hindi so I said what do you think what do you think of vant and his answer was I'll tell you in Hindi and translate they talk a lot there lots of talking you know lots of books and lectures and discussions and arguments
• 18:00 - 18:30 they don't have spiritual experience so this is an ancient um little tiff between the yogis and the ganis yogis means the meditators those on the path of meditation they're all yoga this is G yoga the way of knowledge is also a yoga the way of devotion is also a yoga the way of meditation is also a yoga what does uh the way of meditation say you go to the classic text of
• 18:30 - 19:00 meditation which is the panjali yoga sutras and it says self realization yes self-realization that is the goal but how do you have self-realization it says now people go around with t-shirts which says yog sensation of the movements of the mind is called yoga so in meditation you sit down first you calm down the body cut out the world uh shut the doors of the senses and then turn the Mind Inward
• 19:00 - 19:30 and settle the movements of the Mind the thoughts the memories the random you know chattering away of the Mind settle it focus it how do you settle it not go to sleep you focus it settle by focusing from many thoughts and movements to one thought and then to drop that also so what good does that do um when you if you manage manage that
• 19:30 - 20:00 how would you manage that the whole of the yoga technology is there Danga yoga not the physical part of it the first the ethical practices Yama and Nama you must have an ethical life first then you must know how to sit and then breathing you have to learn how to sit and breathe yes we don't sit well and we don't breathe well either I I remember reading this yoga Master one of the I think it was either bks probably bks anger lights on yoga so he he wrote that when I first
• 20:00 - 20:30 came to the United States I was amazed to find that these people are hardly breathing at all they become so tense shoulders and chest and stomach they only a little bit of upper chest breathing they're doing that diaphragmatic breathing they're not doing so I had to teach them how to breathe properly first and this is a this is not just breathing properly this is a higher science of breathing the pranayama to control the flow of Prana in the body to quieten the mind so this is very speci specific use of the breath
• 20:30 - 21:00 to quieten the mind then you have to withdraw the senses then Focus DH then meditation and then hopefully after a long practice samadi so when you have that samadhi and samadhi is of different grades the ultimate highest in that in that tradition is called ASAT samadi then what happens remember the goal is always self knowledge so this is in that state when
• 21:00 - 21:30 the mind is absolutely still the self is realized in its in its own nature or the self remains in its real nature the self remains in its real nature um that the means the d means the Seer the witness self in its real nature aanam stays and Swami vivea gives the classic
• 21:30 - 22:00 example of a lake imagine a lake where the water is very pure and the water is still and then you can see through to the bottom of the lake imagine glassy pure water and still water you can see through to the bottom of the lake okay this is the basic idea in yoga so you must be quiet we must be very very quiet very very still very very quiet and there's a whole technology uh for Spiritual technology for attaining
• 22:00 - 22:30 that if you don't do it if you are not quiet if your mind breaks out into waves into thoughts memories just random chatter what happens the next Sutra says itra so these are very cryptic statements these are sutras like aphorisms not like aphorisms they are aphorisms so they have to be unpacked means otherwise at other times when you are not meditating when your mind is not stilled in meditation and
• 22:30 - 23:00 samadhi whatever breaks out on the surface of your mind the self becomes identified with that so anger I am angry not that I am the pure Consciousness illumining a movement of the surface of my mind of the form of anger nobody says that I mad at you we say that so we become identified with it our real nature is no longer apparent and what's that real nature according to yoga it is pure Consciousness Sanka yoga they are Allied systems and they say we are pure being pure Consciousness uh so the
• 23:00 - 23:30 purusha awareness itself all right so this is what is being criticized here they're taking a dig at this what could be the problem with this look at two other paradigms before we come to this Ghana Paradigm the Paradigm of knowledge let's look at the bti Paradigm for example what will they say about this they will say no why should we sit like that what silliness I will think I will think about my beloved Krishna for example or my beloved R why
• 23:30 - 24:00 sit quiet when I can think of my beloved Lord why keep silent Yogi say MAA don't talk why keep silent when I can repeat the name of the Lord the Bas the approach of the lover of God is a different Paradigm Al together they will not agree with this they'll say this might be at best it might be a calming device you know calm down and then stop thinking of the world they'll agree with that but but think of the Beloved Lord
• 24:00 - 24:30 my Lord God I will think about that I will pray to God I will visualize God I will repeat the name the Mantra the given by my Guru why should I sit quietly what a waste of time what a waste of life sitting quietly is that what you are born to do sit quietly so the B will disagree on other grounds on the grounds that the right use of our time our mind our body is to serve the Lord is to to pray to the Lord is to love God is to
• 24:30 - 25:00 contemplate on God the best use of the tongue is to repeat the name of God not sit quietly that would be the devotees criticism of this what is the criticism here the criticism here is that even if you sit quietly if all goes well this is the core understanding from Swami D's notes I'm saying if all goes well with your approach you will realize I am the witness
• 25:00 - 25:30 Consciousness but what will not go away is the implicit idea that I'm still somehow limited here is a body here is a mind here is my personal life and quite apart from me there are millions and millions of other beings I'm just one limited being one tiny little being in the in our Horizons about this universe are further and further expanding standing in the vastness in the unimaginable
• 25:30 - 26:00 vastness of space I am this vanishingly small Corner this little being in this Endless Ocean of time I'm a fleeting instantaneous vanishing point you know evanescent transient few years blink of an eye from the for the universe much less than that in time I'm so tiny as an object I'm so tiny in space I'm so tiny in time I'm so so little and my life uh here is seems completely
• 26:00 - 26:30 insignificant weak helpless fleeting pointless this is what I am now at best you will see that I am an immortal awareness a point of awareness but that's still a tiny part of this whole and not only that it's still subject to the risings the movements of the body The Prana and the mind the moment I come out of sadii again the mind is going to start functioning and I'm going to get mixed up with the mind not that samadi will
• 26:30 - 27:00 not have any effect samadi will definitely train my mind and give give me tremendous peace and quiet a much better state but still it's quite far from what ad vant wants to tell us the at realization I am limitless existence Consciousness Place how would that realization be different there once we have that realization in deep meditation in sadii you will find the same Rahman as we should investigate it more deeply today and then with eyes open in this
• 27:00 - 27:30 world interacting with the world you'll find the same reality what we see hear smell taste touch instead of covering up that reality will reveal that reality see let me ask you this table once we realize it is wood and if it's given the shape of the table do you think the wood has been obscured that you have to really investigate go deep drill into it to find the wood so no Swami this what you're touching is wood the whole bit of it suppose you play a movie on the
• 27:30 - 28:00 screen has the screen been obscured you you don't seem sure no in one sense yes in but another sense since you know what a movie is a movie is pictures playing on a screen so you know whatever movies you play whatever pictures you are shown you know it's the screen only it's always there that's what makes the movie possible similarly the enlightened one one who has got the realization of Brahman I am am Rahman with eyes closed with eyes
• 28:00 - 28:30 open it's without any doubt it's very clear to this person that I am brahan so that is the um objective we are aiming at that's what the criticism here is if at all you have to criticize one vedantic mon put it this way if you think the Ultimate Reality your real nature is available in samadhi and only in samadhi in Hindi he said you have you have thrown your beloved
• 28:30 - 29:00 into the jail of samadhi and locked thrown away the keys also only there it is available however taking a step back before we go into the actual this knowledge of the Ultimate Reality of the self let's uh settle this dispute it's a little unfair to the yogi because the yogi also the goal in yoga is not to sit still the goal there also
• 29:00 - 29:30 is knowledge it's called Viti the knowledge there the knowledge there is of a different kind that I realize I am Consciousness alone different from the material body mind and World material body mind and world is called prri nature physical nature and that's different that's real that's apart from me it's just that because I did not see the distinction of myself as awareness from the physical body I I saw myself as
• 29:30 - 30:00 a bundle of Body Mind know thoughts emotions and yes awareness also that contributed to my problem that that generated this bondage because whatever happens to the body sickness I am sick um wrinkles and old age I am getting old this is so terrible mind unhappiness I am unhappy so this body mind association with that has been has created the problem and seeing that I'm the witness of the body mind I am not affected it's
• 30:00 - 30:30 the world which is changing it's the body which is changing it is the mind which is changing this is the knowledge which arises in meditation in in samadi according to yoga and it's permanent even after you come out of samadi it's also there it's not that you have to stay in samadi all the time that's also you know an unfair criticism of of yoga I remember this great Pandit one of the greatest pandits in Bengal at that time a few decades back
• 30:30 - 31:00 murari the one who is it's like having sapta would mean like having seven phds in vanta and Sanka and all so he was a quite a character I met him two or three times always in public occasions when I was a young Monk and a speaker and there were other speakers and he would be the rever old pundit who would be called for presiding over these sessions and they were all interesting sessions I'll come to the point but a
• 31:00 - 31:30 couple of anecdotes to build up the character so he he um he was famous not so much for his vidanta and sank and all he was famous for his astrology and he was proud of that too so people would go to him to have their Futures foretold and uh he was very proud that uh he had been called by India's greatest Bollywood film fan family for the greatest Bollywood marriage that
• 31:30 - 32:00 took place that was decades ago you know amitab bachan's son and the films all that all of that so he was called for consultation there's some problem astrological problem and he resolved that that was sort of the high point of his career somebody asked him sir you you had to yell because he was hard of hearing he found when I met him he found it difficult to walk yet to be carried up on the stage and he could walk but he
• 32:00 - 32:30 couldn't go upstairs so he would have to be carried on the stage and he had difficulty hard of hearing so you had to yell on his one particular ear somebody asked him sir after studying so much of vidanta and Sanka and all these philosophies why why have you finally settled on astrology he was a simple man actually in in many ways he would what and then you had to yell it back again to him and then he said oh there's no money in vant
• 32:30 - 33:00 so he was like that but very I the papers carried obituaries about him when he passed away he passed away just over a decade ago he had to ear a living he had to earn a living yeah unlike monks yes so uh in fact one of the papers carried a his obituary saying the last Pandit you is the last of the it's not the last pundit but sort of last of the greats
• 33:00 - 33:30 the traditional old pundits anyway the anecdote now so in one of these meetings I thought uh I mean he he arrived early I had arrived early the audience was not there most of them were not there and so the he was carried up to the stage so I took this opportunity to go up to the stage and sit next to him and I yelled out my question I said sir what's the difference between the Sania dualism of Consciousness and matter uh and the vedantic nism of Consciousness only and
• 33:30 - 34:00 that repeated you know what and I said it again and then he said oh in Bali I'll tell you just two words two different points of view me merely he said these are merely two different points of view so he said these are two they are totally opposed philosophies Shankar attacks ADI shankara in his brahmasutra Basha strongly attacks the Sanka philosophy this so This dig is not one of thing there's an ancient debate going on he
• 34:00 - 34:30 strongly attacks this philosophy in fact he um if you ask why is he picking on the Sanka philosophy which is basically the science behind the yoga meditation so why is he picking so much on that and shankara says the it is the the um let's say the the metaphor of the of the champion wrestler so how do you become the world champion wrestler do you have to defeat every wrestler no you have to defeat the
• 34:30 - 35:00 champion wrestler so the champion wrestler is in the world of philosophy the sank philosophy if you defeat that that's done because they have defeated everybody else so to say so to say so it's an ancient debate but as that Pandit said really really if you push it hard and if you're fair to both sides you will see it's the difference is not all that sharp when in sama what you come to appreciate and realize your real nature
• 35:00 - 35:30 is exactly the same Atman Brahman which the non-dualist realizes through inquiry it's the same thing same reality your conception of it later on or before formed by your philosophy might be a little different that's all Swami brahmanand is reading recently he giving instructions to his to some monks and he says look I'm going to give you this teach you this thing he says imagine a pot full of
• 35:30 - 36:00 water and he says now you empty the water out and then take take a look and you see ah that space so there's a pot imagine it's full of water let's say it's full of milk for example which is um not transparent so it's full of milk it just seems full then you empty it on then you see that it's empty you basically appreciate space there now Swami brahmand says that that space was always there even when it was full of milk space was
• 36:00 - 36:30 there but you didn't see and that's how it was full of milk because there was space but you didn't appreciate it because your attention was on the milk or the water it's only when you empty out the pot then you appreciate the space itself for what it is then he says what does it mean this example he says you can realize this through vedantic inquiry more or less but to properly appreciate it you need yogic
• 36:30 - 37:00 samadhi that I think is a fine uh appreciation of the importance of both to understand it to appreciate it to grasp what is being talked about vant is very useful to phenomenologically you know quote unquote experience it carefully I'm using the language yogic samadi is very useful that's why over time if you see traditional vedantic now in the Himalayas and other places they of course study the Vidant
• 37:00 - 37:30 like that monk told me they talk a lot but they study they reason they argue but they also spend more and more time in meditation and as they advance in spiritual life they spend more and more time meditation not simply sitting quietly that's a dig it's a very clear you get clarity about about vidanta and you stay with it after all how does one become enlightened um sh Manas hearing contemplation hearing
• 37:30 - 38:00 reasoning meditation sh is to hear what we are doing right now so so to systematically study these texts the teachings of vanta and after that what happens your ignorance about your real nature is gone in the sense that you know now I am not the body mind you have been informed we have been told now that we are not the body mind that there is this Limitless existence Consciousness now I may have many kinds of doubts many questions philosophical
• 38:00 - 38:30 questions Common Sense questions those have to be resolved through reasoning that's the second stage called Manana argue it out all vant so argue it out and then at the end of the second stage now you not only know what the teaching is you have no more doubts you have clarity now I get it you say the first stage you say I know what the book says I know what the teacher says or I know what the YouTube Talk says but I have many questions in the second stage you say I know what it says and I have no more questions I've got it
• 38:30 - 39:00 now yet it's not real if you complain yet it's I I can't really say I'm enlightened it's not a living reality for me then vedantic meditation called Nas in a special kind of meditation where you stay with the clarity already obtained in a certain sense you already know but you're being asked to stay with what you know get rid of this distractions of the world you see how yogic meditation becomes useful there the whole whole technology of yoga of shutting down engagement with the world of stealing
• 39:00 - 39:30 the body making the breath rhythmic and per and conscious and then turning inwards all of that is useful in order to enable us to stay with what has already been understood or has been grasped we are still complaining it's intellectual it's not real for us or we are we are complaining that we are unable to live accordingly you see uh then this vedantic meditation so technically there are three terms
• 39:30 - 40:00 three kinds of obstacles a um a Sam aana means ignorance just a plain kind of ignorance we didn't know this that I am Brahman now you know you've been told this you have read it in the books you have heard the talks you have attended the classes you've gone through the books so now you know it that's the first stage the second one is called samay doubt I have multiple doubts Consciousness is produced by the brain it's not Limitless so that's a
• 40:00 - 40:30 doubt our Consciousness is instantaneous flashes of cons Consciousness the Buddhist mind only School says that that's another doubt or Consciousness goes away in deep Sleep that's another doubt all of these doubts are clarified and many many more as many as you would like to come up with they they are clarified in the second stage samay doubt is removed then the third problem which will remain is via VIA means contrary tendencies so I have programmed myself over lifetimes to
• 40:30 - 41:00 behave and act as if I am the body even now when Clarity Dawns upon me I still tend to live and act as Americans would say same old dude same old dude so that has to be reversed the clarity that has been attained you must we must immerse ourselves in that Clarity and then uh we have it you are Brahman and it is directly available aable to us it is choicelessly available to us just like
• 41:00 - 41:30 this uh wood in the in this table even the language not the language is tricky wood in this table is there wood in this table or is the table itself wood it is yes that realization comes with eyes closed with eyes open yes like the poor Yogi sitting quietly there there too the same r with eyes open in the midst of action like Arjun and the battlefield there to is Brahman exactly the same Brahman somebody gave a beautiful
• 41:30 - 42:00 example the ocean it itself Rises up into the sky as clouds and then it rains and the clouds again come down as rain and merge back into the ocean all throughout ocean water vapor rainfall ocean again it's water water water all throughout whatever happens in the same way that Limitless ocean of Brahman arises as this world arises as subject object you
• 42:00 - 42:30 the experiencer and the world that we see hear smell taste touch which we engage with which we love and hate people um objects actions life itself all throughout it is basically water going up as water vapor forming clouds and raining back again and then again death and merging back into the ocean of life so this one conscious and vant says you are this is not a drop of water you
• 42:30 - 43:00 are this whole ocean there's no whole and part relationship here you are it this Limitless being itself all right all that was background now but I promise to be quick about it so what is this realization that I am Brahman how do you get it how do you attain it let's investigate the Core teaching if it's
• 43:00 - 43:30 not sitting silently then what is it well the first instruction is sit silently no we draw our attention to the fact that we are aware that we are conscious that we know I'm using these words interchangeably the knowingness the Consciousness the awareness which is always there notice when we were all busy you are all busy outside work
• 43:30 - 44:00 coming busily to attend this talk you are aware by that I do not mean we are always self-aware we are always reflecting back on ourselves no we are not that's a function of the mind sometimes we might if I ask you are you aware now you check yes I am aware that checking is not something that we do all the time but regardless of whether we selfcheck or not we are aware choicelessly so Vidant would say you are aware as choicelessly as this table is
• 44:00 - 44:30 would you don't have to make an effort for it you don't have to do anything about it you are aware when you are busily coming here you're aware and now that we are all sitting here we are here still listening intently aware and it's the same awareness when there is action physical action same awareness now also sitting here quietly body is still same awareness when we are breathing in so it's a
• 44:30 - 45:00 procedure we going through right so follow carefully when we are breathing in we are aware and when we breathing out we aware choicelessly we may not if you attend to it then say you're doing mindfulness meditation but even if you're not attending to it I can guarantee you are breathing B anger may not be satisfied with your breathing but you are breathing anyway just by the fact that you are alive and you have a pulse I'm sure you're breathing so you are aware and in the middle of breathing
• 45:00 - 45:30 when there are gaps if you do yogic breathing and then you withhold the breath for a while in when you're withholding the breath also you're still aware this selfawareness checking whether I'm aware or not that can come and go that if you try to do yes you can if you don't try to do you're not checking anyway you're just going with through with your life somebody said that's like a refrigerator when you open a refrigerator like comes on and you close the refrigerator the question is when the light refrigerator is closed is
• 45:30 - 46:00 the light on or not there's no way of checking but awareness is there all the time even breathing breathing in you're aware breathing out you're aware holding the breath you're aware in fact if you hold the breath a little longer a few seconds you become very aware un aable to breathe then uh emotions if you're happy you're aware if you're unhappy you're aware we Grumble and complain how
• 46:00 - 46:30 unhappy we are we are aware if you are delighted or depressed if we are delighted or depressed we are aware if we want something we are aware if we dislike something we are aware if we are irritated we are aware if we are peaceful we are aware whatever our emotional state Pleasant unpleasant mixed we are aware and it's the same awareness Pleasant Pleasant States unpleasant States mixed States awareness
• 46:30 - 47:00 is the Same awar by that I mean it gets colored by these states but by awareness I mean just the common fact that I'm experiencing when you are unhappy you're exp if I ask if are you experiencing unhappiness yes so you are aware if you're not happy are experiencing happiness of course so you are aware and is that awareness different happiness and unhappiness are different the emotional effect is different but the awareness which illumines and gives us the experience of that emotion
• 47:00 - 47:30 that awareness is not different our attention is being drawn to that awareness now make it even more subtle come to thoughts ideas thoughts just the random chattering of the Mind aware when thoughts come and go you're aware just think ABCD right now you're aware just think om right now you're aware and it's the same awareness which thought of something as mundane as ABCD as profound and deep and holy as om same
• 47:30 - 48:00 awareness and when we understand something we are aware when we try to understand something and we don't get it what is this guy going on and on about you're aware awareness is there memory when we remember things we are aware when we try to remember and we can't recall you say tip of the tongue it's on the tip of the we are aware whether the memory works or memory fails awareness is the same it hasn't stopped working and thus our days roll into
• 48:00 - 48:30 nights and we fall asleep and we dream we are aware that awareness which illumined the entire waking world and our bodies and minds and thoughts and memories now the same awareness is illumining the world of dreams we don't not aware that we are dream we don't know that we dreaming but awareness continues because how do you know experience continues dream is an experience so there must be awareness is there and vant goes on to say when you
• 48:30 - 49:00 shut down the dreams also there is no way of saying there is no logical reason to say that awareness has been shut down Swami we don't experience anything if awareness there we must experience well we do experience in a certain sense we just experience our just the bare being just the bare being without any distinguishing features that's a new and strange way of describing deep sleep the usual ways to say that there's no awareness blankness no consciousness no awareness that's
• 49:00 - 49:30 deep sleep that's anesthesia no when you lose all awareness of particulars of people places thoughts feelings ideas memories Sensations all the knowledge of progression of time awareness is still there just it's not aware of anything in particular deep sleep deep is a is an absence of the objects of
• 49:30 - 50:00 awareness it's not an absence of awareness it's an experience of absence not an absence of experience that's the beautiful way of putting it so in waking dreaming deep sleep and again the next weaking awareness is now note this awareness we are not talking about something extra ordinary we're talking about something everybody has right now all of us have
• 50:00 - 50:30 right now all the time something that note it doesn't change when we when we see different things when we hear smell taste touch the objects of our experience keep changing so much and our experiences are so different when our feelings change from happy to sad from liking to disliking from excitement to boredom feelings are very very different the awareness has not changed it's the object of awareness
• 50:30 - 51:00 which has changed these are simple but profound insights so this awareness which we have is always there effortlessly there you're not working at it to sit quietly also you have to do a little bit of work because the body has a tendency to move and you get Restless to sit quietly you have to put some effort but to be aware you don't have to put any effort that awareness to attend to something give attention pay attention to what the Swami is saying effort is required but just to be aware
• 51:00 - 51:30 I'm aware of not paying attention I'm aware that mind is floating around here and there awareness is the same awareness is always there effortlessly changeless effortlessly awareness is always there constantly through our waking through our dreams through our deep sleep awareness is constantly there not only is it there it is what makes all of this possible think about it seeing hearing smelling tasting touching think about it
• 51:30 - 52:00 without awareness if that awareness disappears if I ask you are you seeing right now say yes Swami close your eyes are you seeing no not really Swami but are you aware yes when you open eyes are you aware yes when you close eyes are you aware yes awareness is that which makes all this possible now now imagine a mind experiment thought experiment imagine that someone how that awareness is not there you can't do it but suppose that awareness is not there would seeing be
• 52:00 - 52:30 possible if your eyes are open and there are a lot of things to see would seeing be possible if awareness was not there no would hearing be possible tasting touching um would it be possible no would enjoyment be possible no would pain and suffering be possible no that's the whole point of trying to give Anastasia so um by the way little something worth thinking about what people think or the
• 52:30 - 53:00 doctors think when they give anesthesia anesthesiologist thinks is that I'm taking away your awareness so that you won't feel the pain what vant will say is you're taking away the objects of awareness awareness is there you're shutting down my senses you're shutting down the activity of the mind so that I don't experience the object called pain or the experience of pain I don't have that but awareness is still there but if that awareness were not there
• 53:00 - 53:30 seeing hearing smelling tasting touching enjoying suffering waking dreaming deep sleep life itself wouldn't be there our samsara which we complaining about vanta which we looking forward to Enlightenment which we looking forward none of this would be there if there's no awareness I say God realization vision of God is the but let me ask you if you have the vision of God wouldn't you be aware of
• 53:30 - 54:00 course otherwise you wouldn't have the vision of God and would it be the same awareness which is there now it has to be this is the one who wants the vision of God even the most extraordinary experience of Life s vision of God same awareness not only that without that awareness it's not possible this is what vant is drawing our attention to S ramakrishna said that there was a washer man who found a diamond and you know the Indian washerman he cleans his clothes the your laundry
• 54:00 - 54:30 scrubs it and beats it on the bank of the River on the stone and then dries it out cleans it but he ruins your laundry also but now this poor washerman he used that stone that amazing Diamond he didn't know what it was he used it to scrub dirty laundry but one day he went and asked his friend the vegetable seller what do you think this is the vegetable seller said it's a fancy Stone I'll give you 10 Rupees for it luckily didn't sell it he took it to finally one
• 54:30 - 55:00 person to another to finally the a diamond Merchant who said this is the biggest most amazing Diamond that I've have seen I'll give you millions of rupees for it and then he cashed it in and all his wands were removed now see he had the diamond not only did he had the diamond he was using it all the time he was using it to scrub laundry we have the diamond this awareness which is very common for us we are using it to see hear smell taste touch we are using it to remember uh forget we are using it to
• 55:00 - 55:30 for our worldly projects we are using it to enjoy we are using it to suffer we are using it for worldliness we using it for spirituality but we don't know what it is we don't know its real depth its real value Vidant introduces us it's a diamond Merchant so you have come now finally to Diamond Merchant with the you're asking what is this thing this I've got a little Stone to show you and the diamond Merchant goes that's me
• 55:30 - 56:00 it goes wow you have the best thing in the world the greatest thing in the world are you rich good for you are you poor doesn't matter are you learned are you ignorant are you really really successful are you miserable and down and out none of it matters because you have the most amazing thing in the world this awareness this Consciousness what vant tells us is your to realize that this awareness is the fundamental reality of the
• 56:00 - 56:30 universe it is not subject to coming and going everything else is subject to coming and going it is always shining everything else is revealed by this awareness and it itself is also self revealed that shining everything else shines by its light everything here is lit up in the that shining everything else shines everything else means the Mind shines
• 56:30 - 57:00 and the senses shine and the body shines means not literally right now I'm shining but awareness you're aware and by that awareness the mind the senses and the body and the external world is also revealed the awareness itself that shining everything shines by its light everything here is is lit up it is unchangeable indestructible bodies come and go they're born and they age and they they
• 57:00 - 57:30 fall sick and they die PR the life forces they surge like the tides of the ocean energy hunger youthfulness zest tiredness exhausted easily stomach upset headache um feel all the while feeling tired what happened you've crossed 40 that's what happened that's Prana it surges back and forth in
• 57:30 - 58:00 your in your body then mind thoughts feelings good bad mixed intellect I get it I don't get it this is a puzzle I've changed my ideas completely so this is intellect that keeps changing all of these waking dreaming deep sleep all of these keep changing it doesn't change it is not subject to birth it's not subject to death congratulations this awar you are you are Immortal lead us from death to
• 58:00 - 58:30 immortality we chanted that at the beginning congratulations you are Immortal you have been introduced to your Immortal self you are that already you are not subject to disease yes body is The Prana is you're always healthy Consciousness is always healthy it doesn't increase or decrease more conscious less conscious wrong use of words from a vtic perspective it's a mind which becomes becomes more alert or less alert even in the most non-alert
• 58:30 - 59:00 scattered tired mind you're fully conscious you're just conscious of that tired mind it became clear to me once about nearly 30 years ago I was almost dying and I wasn't actually but it felt like that the doctors called it hypoglycemia I was on the IV and then the IV had been taken out then I forgot I didn't want to eat and so immediately the sugar levels plunged all this was explained to me later but at that point
• 59:00 - 59:30 I felt I was falling into a deep dark well everything is shutting down but I was aware and as we all are what happens is the typical patient will be so focused on the awfulness of it all forgets the fact you're aware of the awfulness of it all and the awareness is not awful at all and when they again um put a needle into you and pump you full of the what do you call it the uh this the IV fluids
• 59:30 - 60:00 and all that you feel stronger immediately within minutes same Consciousness you are not subject to sickness and death you are not subject to frustration not depression even in the most depressed state I remember this person who had a psychotic breakdown it's very difficult but psychotic breakdown he was taken to an ad teacher and the teacher said in one of the moments of the Lucidity of this p patient the teacher said in all these storms you are remember you are the vast
• 60:00 - 60:30 space unaffected by the storm that's all what is a storm what's W Place didn't even explain all of that and that man somehow got it what what happened did the psychotic episodes come it came but before and after he felt fine even he said there was an there was a an island of Cal in the middle of the storm which is true so whether physical illness
• 60:30 - 61:00 problems mental even social relationship societal Community you'll be much better equipped to deal with all of this when you realize I am this aware but this awareness is not one awareness among many goes further it's much more radical it says this awareness is the only awareness that there is it shines through this body and mind as Ser priyananda it shines through that body and mind as Mr so and so as Miss so and so and so on it shines to those bodies
• 61:00 - 61:30 and Minds as this dog and this cat and this bird in every sentient being this awareness is peing it's one Consciousness we are all one being literally not all Universal Brotherhood or Sisterhood that's all fine but literally We Are One adant says this and this one Consciousness shining through all bodies and Minds is what considers to be God in
• 61:30 - 62:00 bhagavat Gita Krishna says know me to be alone to be the one knower in all these fields of knowledge fields of knowledge all bodies and Minds these billions of people friends enemies fighting against each other love love hate hate and behind all of them is that one Consciousness shining through what a radical tremendous what Vidant says it's
• 62:00 - 62:30 completely counterintuitive but if you plunge a little bit into it it's first of all extremely logical and rational one skeptic told me Swami I'm not convinced by what you are saying very smart lady she's a neuroscientist I explained Vidant to her once she got it she said I'm not at all convinced by what you are saying Swami but I can't find a way to refute your arguments arguments are tight so first we see there a logical it makes sense not only that as our understanding Deens I'm just
• 62:30 - 63:00 saying understanding as our understanding Deens we say that it's not only logical but it's just a description of facts the more and more I study adant I see that it's not really a philosophical system it's just a faithful description of the most fundamental reality of all existence what's fundamentally here before everything else before everything else in your life you are aware awareness is it's not even you are aware you are awareness
• 63:00 - 63:30 Consciousness this knowingness it's blazing forth all the time and this world we go further one more verse it's very beautiful I'll do that and stop just a few minutes the second verse all right I'm awareness but what about this world this table chair these people ex I am even willing to admit that in all beings ultimately the background awareness is the same but what are these Minds this
• 63:30 - 64:00 Prana this body this table this vast world of sky and Earth and stars and planets and whales and um starfish what is all this second verse
• 64:00 - 64:30 all of this this universe which you experience this is consciousness appearing through many forms that same Consciousness which you are you are this universe as much as the entire world of your dreams when we dream and we are not aware we are dreaming whatever we dreaming about whoever we dreaming about however good and bad all of that is I the dreamer and I realized this the instant a wake up all of that was me
• 64:30 - 65:00 similarly here in this waking World also all of that all of this is you a question here might be wait a minute there is so much here that I understand I am seeing all this and it might be appearing in my Consciousness but there's so much I don't see there's a vast World out you can't deny that there's a vast world out there there's whole Central Park and whole of New York and the United States and the Atlantic Ocean and the Earth and the moon and the solar system and the galaxies countless I don't know any of them how can you say they are in my Consciousness
• 65:00 - 65:30 or in Consciousness they are completely unknown Beyond and not only so far why do you have to go so far right here in this body in this body at organic levels at tissue levels at cellular levels at particle levels so much of activity tremendous activi is going on I'm not aware of anything I don't know anything doctors might know a little bit about if this probe and find out I don't know how do you know how do you say all of this is in my awareness remember in your awareness follow this carefully if you
• 65:30 - 66:00 have the question the answer will be very interesting vant does not say that you know everything in the sense of Encyclopedia britanica in the sense of a know it all there's only one know it all that's God ishwar bhagan but the sentian being doesn't know it all you are this one Consciousness in which everything in the universe is there appearing as the known little bit of it and rest of it as unknown and as we deploy our instruments of knowledge ears eyes um tongue I mean
• 66:00 - 66:30 um the um skin and so on as we deploy our mind and intellect we keep knowing little bits of it here and there rest of it is in ignorance right now what's behind me you can see I can't see it so it's not something seen but it's in my Consciousness as the unknown and say that's a cop out Swami I'm not very clear what you are saying this example will make it clear in our dreams suppose you are you don't remember you don't know that you're are
• 66:30 - 67:00 dreaming you are walking somewhere the people around you in a street and big buildings and all you're also aware that there's a vast City around you which you are not seeing isn't it in a dream it feels like the waking state but when we wake up we realize all of that I saw in the dream and all of that I felt was all around me a vast Universe all of that was in my dream it was my mind which generated the known and the unknown right now it is is our cons it is consciousness alone in which the whole thing is appearing more
• 67:00 - 67:30 of this if you are interested how to dissolve the universe back into Consciousness or how to realize the Consciousness chit pure Consciousness nature of everything everything is consciousness and it's you there see the interesting thing is right now if you are asked catch hold of Consciousness or point to Consciousness or detect Consciousness you cannot objectively but the only place you can find it is you right now if I say chair you say yeah I'm
• 67:30 - 68:00 surrounded by chairs if I say people yeah I'm surrounded by people if you say Consciousness only I only I so this only eye Consciousness is actually everything that we see is nothing other than this only eye Consciousness if you are interested in knowing how to do this 7th April first weekend of April Greg good is coming he is uh teach of the direct path of how whatever we experience is
• 68:00 - 68:30 nothing other than the experiencing Consciousness and he will guide us step by step into it so this is what he's saying what he's just saying here the whole session will be an expansion of this one word all of this is nothing but Consciousness this is what you stay with this he says bat means meditate upon this or stay with this it's a fact stay with the fact see other meditations take effort
• 68:30 - 69:00 your meditation on say the breath well you have to keep getting your attention back to the breath breath is always there but you keep to get attention back to the breath your meditation on Shiva for example well you have to sit quietly and visualize Shiva in your heart it's quite a lot of work and stay there or meditation on om or a mantra you have to keep chanting the Mantra in your mind and then stay with that all of it takes effort all of it the Mind flickers and all of it is difficult because you have to keep coming back to one thing the breath or
• 69:00 - 69:30 Shiva or the Mantra but here anything and everything that we experience is an occasion is a doorway to back into this Consciousness because it is this Consciousness it's just looking at a a row of pottery clay pottery and say that notice the clay there yeah any pot that you see any jar that you see is Clay it's available to us all the time the only way you know in dualistic religions we told always think about God but you see always thinking about God is
• 69:30 - 70:00 impossible except in two ways one way is when that God you're supposed to think about is you yourself because you are always constantly available to yourself the second way is the God that you are supposed to think about always is everything then no matter where you are with whom you are whatever the time is whatever the place is in space time and object you always immersed in God in that case in only these two ways it's possible to always think about God
• 70:00 - 70:30 otherwise it no no mind can hold on to one thought all the time one Mantra one deity it can't and this is what has is being done in the first verse we were told that you are this Consciousness always the diamond is always there with you and the second verse we are being told everything that you experience is the same Consciousness which you are and then next stay there aanta means quietude quence calm
• 70:30 - 71:00 down stay there calm down the only thing that can take you away it will never take you away but apparently it's taking you away from that Limitless Radiance that the radiance within it's taking us away is activity of the mind and self forgetfulness so calm down aanta aanta means uh Serenity quietness literally means qu The Silence of the universe there is a term used in
• 71:00 - 71:30 manduk The Silence of the universe once you have detected this once you know everything that you see is this one Limitless Radiance stay dogs you say stay tell the Mind stay aant what is this aant very important this is cashing in the diamond see there are two stages for the poor washer man first of all you has to recognize the diamond for what it is and then the diamond Merchant told him but then he has to cash in the diamond also and get
• 71:30 - 72:00 the benefit from it cashing in the diamond is what we have got now get the benefit from it I've just shown you we have just realized oh it is changeless it's birthless it's deathless I am birthless I am deathless I am not subject to illness I am not subject to Poverty depression I'm not subject to ignorance none of that those are all the level of the society body mind but I am not and even the so-called Society body
• 72:00 - 72:30 mind is nothing other than ultimately this one Radiance which I am this is cashing it in and stay there with once you have cashed it in you will enjoy Limitless peace Limitless um joy and fulfillment the desires which bound us to this world will be seen as pieces of straw this is the burning up of the desires of not worth pursuing at all it makes no difference to me I can pursue it as a project then you see the only desires
• 72:30 - 73:00 such people have because of their vastness because now they identify with all of us one Swami said to me oh you know I'm writing about this enlightened person who is enlightened but other people don't know he's enlightened I don't know if he's talking about himself other people don't know he's enlightened uh he internally is just contemptuous of the common her I was thinking that's not sign of Enlightenment that's just arrogance that's just no no no there will be no trace of
• 73:00 - 73:30 arrogance that person becomes the most ordinary of persons most ordinary there is no desire at all to be become anything extraordinary why become extraordinary as one tiny little body mind when you are the vast Limitless reality of this universe itself everything in this universe is your expression whether you know it through this particular body mind or not imagine the Limitless peace the
• 73:30 - 74:00 Limitless the fearlessness one sign of Enlightenment is fearlessness what will you be afraid of why will you be afraid of yourself you're not afraid of anybody or anything in this universe or tall talk said an ounce of practice is better than 20 tons of tall talk so but all of this has to be cashed in and this word settle down in calmness brah very nice it says this one is happy
• 74:00 - 74:30 because he's wearing the Amulet of Brahman now this is an old Warrior myth in India I don't know if it's a myth but the idea was that there are these magical amulets which you put around your uh arm and they're supposed to be ca means armor they armor you against arrows and swords and all of that so in a battle you protected against it magically now that's an example a metaphor now you are magically protected against the arrows and slingshots of of
• 74:30 - 75:00 time and Circumstance of samsar therefore sukki you're truly for the first time fearlessly changeless without any anxiety happy this happiness is not the happiness dependent on the ever shifting Sands of Fortune in the world it's not dependent on the undependable body especially after 40 it's not dependent on the even more shaky mind always subject to anxiety and
• 75:00 - 75:30 fear and hopes and desires and you know unhappiness is shaky this happiness is not subject to any of them it's natural it's spontaneous it's choicelessly present you can't help being happy that's why I'm saying that you know don't be in a hurry to become enlightened you lose all all all right to Grumble about anything if you're enlightened and you can not be happy you
• 75:30 - 76:00 you not not be not happy very difficult for you to explain experience misery no that's not true as long as the mind is there the enlightened one also can experience misery and will experience misery unhappiness uh shock even anxiety even Fear One enlightened person told me that person loses fear of being afraid also then what if that person enlightened one also experiences fear and unhappiness
• 76:00 - 76:30 and desire and yes but all the time the gates to Freedom are continuously open it's like watching a movie you can appreciate you can cry with the movie you can feel scared in a horror movie you can feel excited you can laugh with a comedy and that's a sign of a good comedy or good horror movie and a good tragedy it'll make you cry scream in fear and laugh in Delight if it's not it's not much of a good movie so this is the best movie that is and the enlightened one also will get affected by it but all the time instantaneously
• 76:30 - 77:00 can drop it which we can't drop which we can't drop even this most severe illness meditation what will it do I'm telling you the body is sick you're unable to control the body unable to control the next thought which comes in your mind how will you practice meditation I seen senior devotees unhappily saying I can't I can't think about so all these things I read I was taught it's not coming anymore Swami two two things one is in a
• 77:00 - 77:30 devotional sense I always tell them don't worry because see our spiritual practice is it doesn't depend on us really it depends on God and God is the sure support of everything even when we are unable to do anything at all suppose I'm in coma what Mantra will I repeat what deity will I meditate upon then am I lost not at all because God is ever awake so that's the devotional way of putting it the Gana this this one will say doesn't matter you are blazing Consciousness all the time all the time
• 77:30 - 78:00 no matter what the state of the body what the state of the mind you're free of it I pray to Sri ramak Krishna holy mother Shara Davi Swami vianda to bless us and in this very life let this Insight uh arise and free us forever from samsara let us awaken to our own spiritual Birthright it's ours why should we not have it om
• 78:00 - 78:30 sh shant shant so her question is uh it seems that the Swami here the commentator here said that even if you attain samadhi in the yogic path and you come out of it you will know that you are Limitless Consciousness but you're still aware
• 78:30 - 79:00 that there is a separate world and other people limiting circumstances outside you and that for example the state of samadhi and coming out of samadhi these are two different states one is better yogis think that actually a friend of mine who is a great practitioner for many many years and very well known when I put this vedantic um criticis ISM to him he responded and he said no no no you're misunderstanding see what yoga does you realize in samadi you realize
• 79:00 - 79:30 your Limitless pure Consciousness nature and it's wrong to think that after you come back out of samadhi the yoga is not useful in the middle of action no yoga is very useful in the middle of action your mind is peaceful it is balanced it is trained um it is centered and you are not easily thrown off by problems all good qualities will be there because of this yogic samadi I said exactly you're not getting the
• 79:30 - 80:00 criticism the criticism is not that in ad criticism is that in yogic samadi you are pure Consciousness and notice what you said when you come out of samadi your mind is really great in good shape and you can deal with the world that's not what ad wants to say Ad wants to say that the pure Consciousness Brahman Atman purusha which you saw which you realized yourself in the deepest samadi is exactly the same thing with eyes open in the midst of your office work when you are cooking walking talking
• 80:00 - 80:30 quarreling don't quarrel quarreling and I'm practicing vant Swami told me to quarr in the midst of all literally I I I'm saying in the midst of sickness and unhappiness when you cannot concentrate your mind in meditation it's exactly the same Brahman and you should be able to say yeah it's a fact that is a vant notice the push back from the yogi who said the whole mindset is I access the Ultimate Reality in um deepest
• 80:30 - 81:00 meditation samadi and then I bring back the fruits of it into this this is little low grid and bring it back well ad says it's not low great it's the same thing whether it's the ocean or the clouds the water vapor or the raindrops it's still the same water yes experiencing my awareness is in what happens am I robbed of yes Jo
• 81:00 - 81:30 of experiencing experiencing my own awareness what happens in death will I be um robbed of that but what happens in deep sleep today when you'll fall asleep and enjoy deep sleep are you experiencing your own awareness you Swami I maybe I am but in death it'll all go away no it won't what happens in death only the body goes vant is says a body goes away in death the subtle body the mind the personality still continues and that's what migrates
• 81:30 - 82:00 to other bodies and minds but even that is not your real nature that Cycles through birth and death that that personality that the individual sentient being that Cycles through births and deaths and that everyday Cycles through waking dreaming deep sleep but none of that you are all those are movies playing on the screen which you are or in another sense all of it you are both life and death you are life and death are movies playing out in front of you the pure Consciousness in that
• 82:00 - 82:30 sense you know what death is like life is you say I am experiencing my own awareness it's like looking at my face in the mirror and then the mirror is taken away oh god I've been deprived of my face no you haven't you're unable to see it anymore but if you want want to see your face all the time that's narcissism that's not spirituality you can if you want to see the face if you don't want to see the even if you don't see the face nothing is lost that's what happens in deep Sleep it
• 82:30 - 83:00 happens in death also two questions the gentleman there but the lady there she raised her hand first I'll come back same question all right the gentleman there and we'll end with this from your listening to you it felt that awareness Consciousness and soul are they same or are they different these are words awareness Consciousness Soul are the same or different first of all first of all you have to distinguish
• 83:00 - 83:30 carefully the upanishad says like pulling out a stock of grass from you know pulling out the blade of grass from the stock it separates like this so grass separates like this and you carefully pull out the stock from in between there's a kind of sharp grass if you're not careful it might cut your actually cut your um hand and that grass is used for in the part of the worship so the worshipper goes and collects that but has to carefully pull it out in the same way not that you have to pull the
• 83:30 - 84:00 pure Consciousness out of the body mind with a pencil you have to understand what's being talked about here discern it within yourself and you cannot also the interesting thing is it's it's not an object you can be aware of the body then you can be aware of the breath in breath and out breath follow it carefully you can be aware of the feelings coming and going you can be aware of the thoughts you can be aware of the memories you can be aware of the intellect which is doing all this work you can be aware of the
• 84:00 - 84:30 blankness also after everything but that which is illumining the blankness and the intellect and the mind and the emotions and the breath and the body and the world that one is consciousness you have to grasp it by being it once you realize what it is then you will see what we call Consciousness awareness these words are used differently those who read n they get keep getting confused they talk about Consciousness arising in Awareness so and he says at death
• 84:30 - 85:00 Consciousness is gone you'll get confused but vant Swami said it's there the next sentence will say but awareness is always there so one must understand in what senses these words are used so our what is called V in vant the movements of our mind and senses this is what we normally mean by Consciousness you see that that that comes and goes along with waking dreaming along with sensory activity these things come and go along with
• 85:00 - 85:30 brain activity these things come and go but the background Radiance which you are not even background that's what you are is the wood the background here to the table no no no it's foreground background it's everything it is the ground of the table and it is the table pure Consciousness is it the soul is it awareness it is the ground of all of that and it is all of that also conceive of this or understand this and
• 85:30 - 86:00 stay with this that all of this including Body Soul all of that Soul means all of that is also nothing other than I the Limitless Consciousness if anything is there other than the Limitless Consciousness then the Limitless becomes a limited thing here it comes and here it stops and then something else starts after this that is not so this is subtle but very profound thing to understand once you understand this it's done you'll heave a huge sigh of relief because there then you
• 86:00 - 86:30 suddenly see there's nothing else besides you you have attained to limitlessness you have attained to fearlessness but the game of limited life is over for you then one song of Enlightenment it says that the the the festival nears its end the market is about to be wrapped up the market of life the storm is over there are Akash Ramona there is a festival of rainbows in the
• 86:30 - 87:00 sky Festival of rainbows in the sky means when does rainbow come when the storms have know rain has stopped and the storms are over then the Rainbows are there so this is a sign of Enlightenment the storms of life are finally over of uh of multiple lifetimes and that also sounds scary for some people no I want this to go on all right go on take your time take your time we'll uh stop here thank you sir so much [Music]
• 87:00 - 87:30 thank