Living in Freedom
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well we're back and for the final talk of this retreat the result of all of
this what is the result of Vedanta the the title of the talk says it all living
in freedom Arjuna in the second chapter of the gita asks a question and that's
what we are going to deal
second chattel is probably the most important chapter in the entire Gita which has 18 chapters because in this
chapter whatever krishna has to teach he teaches and then arjuna highest
questions and when krishna provides additional details and fills in the teachings as it failed all the remaining
16 chapters it's a tendency if it's a style of
writing of these ancient masters that they would first give you the highest teaching and then sort of a look at you
did it work no did it okay level will step down and did that work no then
we'll be further details first step down a little bit because they don't want to waste your time you get it you're
enlightened go start up if you not will spend more time with you and until you
are enlightened so all that has to be said up Magana the realization that you
are some pure existence that has been taught in the second chapter at the end
of the second chapter Arjuna asked this question suppose I get enlightened what
will I be like what's it like being enlightened so it's a beautiful question and one of the most famous sections of
the bhagavad-gita Shri Krishna answers that question but before I go there I just remembered a couple of things which
I'll share with you from the last presentation there was a question
yesterday and today also similar subject arose why at all did Brahman create all
of this somebody asked you spoke speak up the shining ocean of existence that
sounds so nice Brahmin could have remained as the shining notion of existence why all these names and forms
why all these men and women and animals and plants and planets and stars what
further purpose is served well one is that Brahman to experience itself
it requires names and forms now what I remembered was a story about the teacher with whom I mentioned in the last
session topo1 Marat was a very austere non duelists wha me living in the
Himalayas he passed there is some time in the fifties or sixties I think so
there's a story about him and Swami chin man and of the chin my mission and so much in man has written his
reminiscences the story answers this when they were reading the Mundaka
Upanishad Tapovan swami was teaching the monks studying under him the Manduca Venetian
which is the most powerful of the Upanishads the smallest only twelve mantras and the most powerful again the
style of teaching is if you get the highest teaching first that's it we don't want to waste your time so there's
the mundo key open Egypt actually it's there the story says van dokkum a Khmer vollum the Mucca Mucca shown on the
mocktail what does it mean for those who are seeking after liberation that one
text mon Dieu competition is enough is enough to give you liberation suppose it
doesn't work and then he gives a list of 108 of initials it doesn't work then you come back here if you have got a whole
library for you so when they are studying this man Tokyo Punisher
at that time it seems the Swami - chin man and they had had a similar doubt I
understand the infinite existence son or pure consciousness Chaitanya or the same
thing which is under searched on and that's perfect but what's all this what's the point served in all of this
and so he asked this question and the Swami the teacher did not reply kept
quiet next did in the class when the class was going on remember it's the Himalayas it's very cold and the Ganges
is flowing about forty fifty feet below in a gorge below them Swami suddenly said to Swami the teacher
said to Swami chinmaya and you go and get me some watering I want some water
to drink the Swami was really taken aback he writes in so many senses that it's so
cold and usually the teacher does not ask for water at this time anyway he takes a glass and goes down to the
river and he scoops up a glass full of Ganges water and comes back and the
teacher topo1 maharaj immediately becomes furious what is this a glass of
water what did I ask you to bring you ask for water yes I asked for water what is this glass
and tinman she says I was thunderstruck
all my questions have been answered at that time about about the formless water
you cannot get it without a container this a pure existence consciousness
bliss which is the pure subject cannot be experienced unless an objective
element is introduced there go back to the story god wants to play hide and
seek but there's nobody to play with now how can God play hide and seek we
will get God get playmates so God decides to pretend not to be caught it pretends to be space and time
and causation and matter and energy and life and evolves into all of us and so
God can play hide and seek with us only problem is God got too good at this game and totally forgot himself and now
God is suffering so now God has to be led back to that's all of us we have to
be led back to our real nature that's one story I had a similar experience I
mean a similar teaching once another teacher in the Himalayas whom I learned
a lot from who passed away few years ago the first time I actually met him one of
our senior Swami's had told me that would you like to meet this teacher I
said fine I'll go with you avoid so much about him
I've heard so much about him sell go with you and we went to meet this teacher who was
a very senior teacher of Vedanta non-dual Vedanta and he was sitting in his ashram I still remember wearing a
only a loincloth and sitting in the corner on the floor when I bent and bowed down without asking a singie
question he said this is it a few things which I noted don't but this is among
them he said this look there is electricity all around in all these
wires that room had electricity and there was a bulb and there was a fan there's electricity in those wires but
how will you know unless the light shines and the fan goes round and round
that's all it was enough for me you see a pure subjective existence
consciousness bliss if ever you want to experience it it has to be reflected in
things that exist pure existence in itself how do you know but things that exist okay we understand your
consciousness how do you know but conscious experience of seeing hearing smelling touching and
thinking okay we experience it so it has
to be reflected in name and form that was the teaching is the same teaching same teaching now Arjuna asked this
question very beautiful question
Arjuna water state approach just jakob asha some artists seok shovel stated he
came proper schita ki meseta projector
Kim how would you define or describe an
enlightened person and the word that Arjuna uses for enlightened person theta
Bragg near literally translates into steady in wisdom steady in knowledge now
connected to what mister yesterday yesterday we studied that the
practice is to continuously to continuously be aware of the isness in
all our experiences remember what we studied Shankar Acharya pointed out in all our experiences there are two
aspects one is name and for the other one is isness look around you try to see
the world through this new Vedantic glasses I see people people exist and the
practice was noticed the existence not so much the people you will find the
sameness one unchanging immortal existence everywhere it's like saying
notice the water in the waves not what kind of wave is a big small surf bubbles
no notice the hwachun notice the gold in the ornaments that's the practice and
the word used in that verse in the sixteenth verse of the second chapter was taught to others she talked women's
reality does she mean she'll become a seer of reality become a seer of
existence business that teaching with
the Swami gave us that x-ray vision let your vision penetrate through like
two extra penny trees to skin and the blood inflation to the bones themselves with every bones similarly our vision
gets stuck with the name and form friend anyway good bad nice unpleasant wave and
form penetrate to the name and from focus on the existence business so the
seer of existence literally the seer of existence and nothing impossible is always available to us our mind sort of
skitter away into the names and forms to bring it back to the isness as you bring
it back to the isness the problem there will be it's not so difficult to understand your next question will be I
see what you mean Swami but the real problem is to t-there is to keep your vision there
keep your awareness your focus become steady in it when you become steady as a
seer of business is exactly what Arjuna is asking state abruptio means one who
is steady as the sphere of business that's the precise definition of enlightenment in the path of devotion in
the path of duality one would say one who is accustomed or one who practices seeing God in everything in the path of
duality you worship Christ or Krishna or garden in any form and one tries to see
field existence of God in everything that's the dual path dualistic paths that in a more philosophical form is
what is being said here look at the word steeped approach cos theta established study from your wisdom what wisdom what
wisdom the wisdom of seeing the isness in everything the pure existence
everywhere inside and outside so I want you to appreciate the precision of the
question one who is established in seeing the oneness everywhere what's that person like how does the by
Horace life change for that person what is an enlightened person how is it different from us and the way he asked
the question is I see the enlightened person in two states one is sometimes
they are absorbed in a spiritual ecstasy it seem to forget the world they even their own bodies so that stage
is called Samadhi you see it in the gospel of ramakrishna many times in a
day ramakrishna is absorbed in samadhi and he forgets the external world forgets his own body the existence of people around him so that's one state
where the enlightened person is forgetful of the world and absorbed in the reality in the isness the other
state is when the enlightened person comes out of that state and interacts with us talks with us walks with us eats
and moves around now Arjuna's question is of these two states what's the
enlightened person like in Samadhi one what's the enlightened person like when he is out of that Samadhi and moving
with us how is it different from us so the questions he divides four questions one question about the Samadhi state and
three questions about out of Samadhi interacting with all of us some are
distressed you can shower or Krishna when the enlightened person in Samadhi described that person and when is not in
Samadhi when he's talking compromise yet how does this person converse with us
how is it different from the rest of us c'mon Sita how does he sit
Kimbra Jetta how does he walk basically the idea is how in the daily day-to-day
activities how is this person different from the rest of us what difference will it make to meet men if I become
enlightened on the surface we seem to be the same thing whether Rama DiMaggio
Ramakrishna and Vivekananda they is they walk they laugh they talk they even
appear to get angry and so all that seems to be quite similar to all of us how is it different that is the question
I am reminded of a Zen story you know
the small things in life that makes a difference that one one should notice
the two students who went to a Zen master and they studied under him for
some time and the teacher would not teach them anything he just made them work in the Zen Center Zen studio in the
Hermitage the cleaning and cooking and washing and all that after some time one
of the students got impatient he said where are the same lessons I I don't I
don't like this he is just exploiting us if he doesn't teach us start teaching us I'm going to go and look for a different
master what about you the other student said I'm satisfied how can you be
satisfied you didn't teach us anything I came here to learn Zen and he is not teaching us any no classes in Zen how
would you satisfied what are you getting what did you come here for and the second student says I came here to see
how the master ties his shoelaces
in the little things of life then is more revealed than in lectures on same
so he asked this question how is it different now Krishna answers sri
vallabha bhatta the Blessed Lord said Prajapati yada come on serve on power
monocot on earth money but mana to star state of Rajasthan
Chetty first a person is said to be of
settled or steady wisdom enlightened when that dwelling on the isness has
become fixed permanent effortless when when all the desires rooted in the heart
karma when all of them are totally given up in all desires all seeking after
things of the world you know seeking happiness through pleasure and success and money or through
conventional religion all of those pursuits are given up now if you say all
those pursuits are given up then where does this person gets satisfaction through the satisfaction where does this
person get satisfaction the next line says at mineva manataj Taha that person
gets satisfaction in that inner self which is ever revealed to him to his
vision that inner self Atman such chit Ananda is always available and that is
the mind in the exhaustible mind of satisfaction if you have got the ocean
of nectar - you're in front of you would you turn around and dig a well try to get some water from know the Infinity is
available to you all the time effortlessly why would you seek it here and there there's a verse in the Gita
which says when the floodwaters are everywhere then it's available all
around why would a person go to well on a tap or any good its water or no water or not in the same way when one
realizes Brandon sees such hidden on the inside and outside everywhere all the time available why where would that
person go to seek happiness it's always available to that person so one who is
completely content in this satchitananda does not require other avenues for
satisfaction these are other avenues for satisfaction these are required because
we are not content why are we not content because we find ourselves unfulfilled incomplete vedanta says
actually you are complete you are the infinite existence consciousness bliss you do not know it not knowing it you
consider yourself to be unfulfilled you see this little body bundle of flesh and bone and see I am this the moment I
think I am this I am tired to the hundred and one demands of the flesh and of the mind and I run after that not
knowing my real nature is not desire nothing at all to do with this this cage which I inhabit now in Shankar Acharya
uses this equation he says I'll be the our karma karma good believe only motion
we've made our choice Shankar Acharya
says this is an equation he often uses this early yeah
what does it mean iridium is ignorance and that leads to desire and that leads
to carnal action what it means is not knowing our infinite nature we see we
experience this very limited body mind identify ourselves with it and there is born desire I want this I want that for
my fulfillment the kid we I want this toy of that toy for my fulfillment if I
get this I am perfectly happy if I get that Xbox or something that's it I don't have anymore desires in life well for
the time being you don't with a very soon you will and then as we grow up money achievement relationships all of
that trying to fill up a hole which will never be filled filled then they're
saying that God shaped hole god-shaped hole can only be filled by God nothing else so which I keep trying to fill it
up because this desire we're trying to fill it up and trying to do that we get into the cycle of karma we set into
motion forces powerful forces cause and effect that gives rise to birth and
death the cycle of birth and death and that's how we are cut in samsara the only way is to go to the root and
destroy ignorance only anyone can destroy ignorance is through knowledge
knowledge of what knowledge of the Infinity already existing within us already available to us once you you
know that then all those pursuits will not be needed a question might come here
so ignorance needs to desire and desire leads to action if ignorance is God and
you become enlightened so will they be no more there's no more desire but there will be no more action then will the
person stop acting there will be no more action born of desire but the person can
still go on acting for the welfare of others if person can go on teaching the
person can go on for the welfare of the world all the great spiritual masters masters of humanity whether it's Krishna
personal game that's absolutely nothing to gain in this car book itself in the Gita Krishna tells Arjuna I have nothing
to gain in the three worlds yet I do not desist from action I go on acting for
the welfare of others so karma can continue after enlightenment but that
karma will be very different it will not be born of karma will not be born of personal desire then Krishna says so
Krishna says all the other pursuits are routed out are left behind by this
person who has realized the infinitude of the self hamamass me I am Brahman because this
person finds complete satisfaction in the reality with him in the title position it is said all of Vedanta is
summed up in this way brahma without Northey param the knower of brahman
attains the ultimate if you have three questions what is Brahman how do you know Brahman and what do you
mean importantly what do you mean by the ultimate what is the cheap button or a problem that's what Arjuna's question here is
what is enlightenment what do you get out of it and the answer is given in the opening shot in the next few lines it
says first question what is Brahman samyama and Thummim Brahman is infinite
existence and consciousness I have a whole talk about this is called defining God so I'll refer you to that is very
interesting the second question is how do we know Brahman Yahweh Donna hitam parami vo woman you mean he thumb GU hai
Amparo me human one who realizes brundin in the sacred space of the heart it's a
poetic way of saying one who realizes Brahman as one's own self inner self I
am Brahman how do you realize Brennaman not as that is brahman or some people in the modern world you know we use
language of physics so Swami is Brahman time or his brother super strings or if
the quark or some or the god particle or something that's an object out there you
have to realize Brahman as I am Brahman that's how you realize Brahman so wash
and then what's the what's the result of all of this so wash Newton serve on come
on saw from one of the first utility that one who's enlightened who realizes
that I am Brahman enjoys the fulfillment of all possible desires at once the
fulfillment of all possible desires at once all the desires of the heart are
completely fulfilled at once you will say wait a minute I want the latest
covet I want the latest iPhone and a vacation in Hawaii and a monster
chocolate-chip cookie so will I get a package all of this all together is that the enlightenment no no no no what is
meant is by all these desires what you are pursuing the happiness that you're pursuing through all of this from
chocolate-chip cookie to the car to the gadget and everything to relationships whatever all that is meant for happiness
that happiness permanent unchanging infinite without limit you will get me
you see our desire is to exist for every task you want to live you'll all say yes
how long do you want to live it theoretically forever I know maybe I cannot but forget what you cannot if you
could how long would you want to live well forever and would you want to live
unconscious or conscious consciously of course I wish want to be aware how much
do you want to be aware well infinitely without limit if I could and would you
want to live aware and living forever but miserable no no no I want to be
happy joyous how much happy well if you give me the option I would be happy
without limit without limit I want to live without limit I want to be aware
without limit and I want to be happy without commit you see sat-chit-ananda a young man became a
monk his friends asked him why do you want to become a monk why do you want to give up everything he said oh no no no I
don't want to give up everything I want to become a monk because precisely because I want everything my little my
desires are not limited I want the entire universe I don't know I want
everything without limit that's why I want I'm going to become a monk it's
only when desires the limited that you pursue specific things but everything I
want to be one with everything so when one gets that and is established in that
then where we once seek satisfaction what all the desires are fulfilled as it
fair because that perfect happiness is available then Krishna goes on do
Kishore not Vigna ma na seuk a Sholay guitars Priya Vita paya growth huh
stated he Munir with Shetty that sage is said to be of settled wisdom steady in
wisdom remember what wisdom we are talking about it's not that he has memorized the Gita and remembers all the
seven hundred verses perfectly not that it means the person realizes I am
brahmana and it's absolute clarity effortlessly available to the person all the time that's enlightenment what happens to him
do case you are not big Nirvana how is it different from us this person will be
unshaken in sorrow sorrow will come because of past karma just as it comes
to us to that person also to that particular body and mind also sorry will come all enlightened persons do seem to
suffer more than others so suffering
will come whether physical problems or people will insult them or whatever all
kinds of problems may come and will come but the difference is this person has come
lately unshaken completely untouched by sorrow because this person is rooted in
something which cannot be shaken anymore due case you are not Vic nominal
realising oneself to be the infinite self the problems of the world sweep over the surface the ten thousand feet
of water of an ocean bin beneath is undisturbed stomps around the surface I
told you the story of the camel and the old woman was beating a tin box to scare
away the candle and the camel said so many big war drums were beaten on my back and in my youth when I was a war
camel and this little box is not going to scare me similarly the Swami said and that infinite existence on which
universes are created and destroyed with a tummyache scare me no - were not big
Naaman are so many stories I've seen you don't have to go up to the level of
being an enlightened person even a little practice of spirituality saves you from sorrow
so Alfama pious children must you try a team AHA - oh my god this transcript saying even a little practice of the
spiritual path saves you from great fear protects you from great fear and I can
be serving example session I remember Swami possession and dizzy mirage was the 12th president of the
order and I had the chance to for one year to be to watch him closely because
every day has to go to offer it pronounce the salutations to him and they will be quite Q&A question answers
and those Q&A they have been published recently in Bengali and somebody's translating into English - I think I see
Marathi yes so I was privileged to be present in those question answers and we
had the sense that this person is an enlightened person so there were so many funny and profound moments once he is
saying once he was even old he was 98 years old but the minds so clear once
somebody asked him he would ask how are you today Swami once you had a high fever so somebody
asked how are you today Sami and his reply was very interesting he said and here a long draws you would speak it was
very very slow and everything he would say why do you talk about the body so
much another time somebody asked him how are you today Swami and this does not work
in English but it's in Bengali he said in my whole litany of a list of problems
how his forehead is throbbing how the eyes are itching and and the shoulder
aches are are aching and then under and the the elbows are you know the tingling
and and the knees are and and so on there are specific Bengali words for
each kind of pain being on it's a bit of a hypochondriac you know sir there are Bengali words for the
different kinds of pain you get in different different joints of the body and he was a master of the language so
he recited the whole series and with absolutely the precise word the kind of
pain you get in this joint and that joint and so and so we're listening to it and he finished and then he said but
I am not complaining I am happy with all
of this is so touching it such a wonderful reminder one transcends sorrow
the case you are not doing dimana tsukushi we got as Priya in pleasure in
when when we have good situation happy with friends and prosperity and health
our tendency is amount to hold on to that because that's what we want and
that should remain as long as possible impossible nothing will remain there is
the story of a Buddhist monk who came to a kingdom the King was said or venerable
sir let me when were happy you're visiting but my life is full of sorrow you see the rains
have failed and the people are starving and the hour the minister is incompetent
and the enemies gather on my borders and the prints are upon whom I had so much
hope is turned out to be a wastrel he is not interested in being a responsible King this means his time hunting and
things like that and the Buddhist monk said o king o king this too shall pass
okay years and years later the monk was again on his wanderings he passed to
that Kingdom and the King called him to the court much older now and the king said and Buddhist monks said how are you
your majesty and the king said Oh much better since we last met there will be plentiful rains by your
grace and there's plentiful harvest people are happy the enemies I have you
have got made treaties with enemies and there are our friends now and we have replaced the ministers they're competent
people now and the prince oh the princess turned out to be such a fine young man I'm sure he's going to be good
king after after after me so things are good and the Buddhist once said O king
this too shall pass all things which
come together will at one time fall apart again so even the most pleasant
circumstances we tend to cling to them the enlightened person does not William
Blake the beautiful poetry he who kisses the winged joy as it flies lives in
eternity sunrise the joy the pleasure the happiness it flies you cannot hold
it on if you try to hold it it will die it will no longer remain a pleasure or joy it comes gives you happiness and
disappears it and he lets it go his the kisses that is as it flies that person
lives in eternity sunrise living in Sunrise William Blake the
enlightened person suqiu regattas Priya does not hold on door Juna like you
cling to things nice things you know he does not clean swami Brahma Harlan the
sitting in meditation I think it was in Kashi Banaras he was wandering as an incognito monk like many in India even
today somebody saw him and felt this is a really holy person it's cold there so
they he came and put a shawl around Swami Rama Swami Ramananda did not react
said quietly after some time this this
petty thief was sort of hanging around and saw this monk who seemed to be in deep meditation sneaked up and there is
expensive shot pulled it off his body and it made goodies which escaped and some drama and quietly watched I heard
the story about another wandering monk in our Banaras ashram our Russian he used to come to the National our monks
would like him very much he would mostly be naked and most people thought he was crazy crazy or insane but he was a very
evolved spiritual soul now the story goes in people from all over India visit
Banaras so one rani a queen was visiting Banaras and she was being taken in a palanquin i
don't know if you've seen a palanquin there like a box and people there are people who carry you if you are a
highborn woman especially you are not supposed to be in public so you are carried around in this box and there are
bearers the people who will lift you and carry you along the noble men and also they would go in that way she was being
carried along in the palanquin and she sees this holy man and she has heard about this holy man and she tells one of
her attendants go and cover him with a expensive shawl and this person
attendant goes and says the Queen Mother she has sent his shawl as a gift to your holiness and he covers him this Swami
was standing there and sort of shivering the court didn't acknowledge it the next few days later
again when the Queen was being taken along in a palanquin and she sees again standing naked in the cold she says
maybe somebody stole it or something you know Jesus told the her guards to go and inquire what happened the guards go and
inquire the clean mother is asking holy servants your where is your shawl whether the shawl which we put up upon
you a few days back and the Swami snapped back at him in rustic and it
works best but in English also he said to the guards am i a policeman I'm going
to guard your shawl he never even had
the feeling that it's mine it's been given to me somebody here is the body somebody came and put something on this
body somebody came and took something away from this body that's it what's it to me
so KSU we got as Priya there is no sprea no hunger for hanging
on to what is nice and pleasant absolutely untouched therefore we turaga buyer Crowther
transcends there is no fear there is no hankering there is no anxiety anger you
know progress and is hankering fire is fear anxiety Crowther is angered this
person has transcended all fear all anxiety all anger all hankering there's
nothing in the world which he wants nothing that the world can provide him which he wants such a person is called
is said to be a established wisdom the next krishna says yes sir what rather be
Sneha that propwash oh gosh oh come now the nun dirty not to HT toss your proper
dish data when is a continuation of the earlier thought by the stream of karma
good things are happen to you and bad things will also happen to you it'll come whatever we have done the effects
are sure to come in the stream of time the effects of the causes we have set in motion in ancient lights long forgotten
they are coming to us even now they're coming to don't think that you're just here just
like that you chose to be in Avalon to retreat you are here because you deserve it
even something like reading a book when I came to the United States I was packing all the books I had in the
monastery and shipping them over to the United States and then I had to drag them all out all the way again from
California to New York now when I was packing all those books I was reading
Swami Vivekananda my daily reading I came across this line so I mean favicon the says a fool may buy all the books in
a library but he will read only the ones he deserves to what our karma is only
that much we will get in the stream of times our results of our karma keep coming to us but this person we get
elated when something nice happens we get depressed and angry when something bad happens when we ask why me notice
how we always ask when something bad happens why even something nice happens we never asked why me somebody wins the
lottery and nobody asked oh it's a tragedy why did what did I do to deserve this I mean no I never asked
so this person now he not nutty not wish
to HT when something bad happens doesn't say why me when something good happens
is not overjoyed or excited okay good
something bad happened acknowledges yes it's unpleasant fine there's nothing
wrong in it that person how is it possible how is it possible something
mildly banned we can we can put up with it something serious like shapes Ramakrishna gets sawed cancer or
something bad happens power anymore I think was bitten by a cobra and he said if the Cobra is a messenger from my beloved how can you do that actually
it's difficult you can do it because this person he is seeing the same
existence everywhere this person is seeing the same oneness
everywhere that's why one sees one does not react
to the pleasant by hankering one does not react to the unpleasant by why me
because the reality behind the pleasant and unpleasant is the same existence consciousness place now in under t not
tht such a person's such a person's wisdom is well established
there's a tract here my Shri Krishna says how are we shaken from our wisdom
which it does not happen to the enlightened person so how are we shaking from our wisdom he gives a several
verses here I just recite a little bit to that about that and then we bring it
to a conclusion and going to the Q&A Krishna says yoga song heritage I am
cool mom Ghani reservation in Riyadh in Riyadh tibia the Supraja pradesh tea
table when a total eyes and a lot of
these little tato is is in the central part in the lake there so if you try to touch them they'll be draw the limbs
inside into the shell in the same way the yogi of perfect wisdom in the midst
of temptations also completely unaffected can easily withdrawn he's not
aware it just like a dot always withdrawing its limbs just withdraw it can't do that we get entangled and he
said temptation with a capital T oh my god that person is just withdraws and is
nothing to him because the person is fully established in the existence within remember the
what Krishna taught Arjuna we read that earlier fully established in the Atman
the pure consciousness within now you can control the the intellect the mind
and the senses those can be withdrawn from the respective objects we cannot we
cannot we are so entangled with the mind and the senses that whatever the senses and them they bring in whatever the mind
thinks we immediately become entitled with that as if that's the reality forgetting our own reality so this
person can be drawn be shy of in eva
dante nirahara sadena Robert John Rizzo
yes you're born rich 21:30 Krishna means Arisa subtle psychological
point here it's the difference between this person the enlightened person and
the yogi use a practitioner as a discipline one may read one may abstain
I wanted but I'm controlling myself that's a discipline this enlightened
person is not like that what's the difference krishna says in the case of a person who's disciplined the desire still
remains with him but that person does not put it into breath in in tune into effect so what the desire for sense
organs is since objects is there but the person does not act on it on the basis
of willpower holds himself back on the basis of willpower but inside he says a
toss up taste is there the taste for those things an often that leads to lapses of
willpower and we call that person has had a fall because he was restraining himself by force and then when the
restraint breaks down sometimes it's greater than what it was earlier so people were say who are going into
the a the Alcoholics Anonymous they're trying to practice that and we told them self and you have so many stories of
sliding back and how to prevent that sliding back whereas the difference
between that and the invited person is Russell Pearce here barong reached one about the day literally it means having
one seen that ultimate reality the pure consciousness existence bliss within
even the taste for worldly objects disappears so this person is no longer
in any danger of slipping back into entanglement a person who's doing it by
force of will is always perpetually has to be alert and one passes through a
stress at a stretch of spirit stretch like that in spiritual life but this
person is not like that enlightened person even the subtle taste within the mind has disappeared having seen the
ultimate reality somebody brought down to Swami Brahma Hahn and I said Oh Swami
you are great you have given up all the temptations of life in your pursuit of
God realization and he bowed down to him and sony brahman and immediately about even lower to that person you are
greater than me you have given up God for the students for three temptations of the world I actually said you have
given up a diamond for shards of glass so you have to rely your initiation is
far greater than mine if we do not give
up the subtle taste what happens yet Auto here becomes a ferocious your
beeper indriyani promote any current oppressive amana even if a
person is trying in spiritual life with trying but what happens is if the senses
are not controlled if the mind is not controlled then the desires they will sweep us away like a boat helplessly
being swept away in storm waters even if a person he says we push it a 1 / a
person well learned it in Vedanta still makes mistakes still slips and falls
into entanglement why does something that is quite against his or her
spiritual goal why this happens all the time because the problem is not in the level of Vedanta the problem is not even
at the level of the intellect the problem is that senses have not been controlled this sweeper be such a person
taani ceremonies and young yah-yah-yah see too much butter washy
he is chained rioni the ship raja pradesh Teta exactly what he told Arjuna
later on in third chapter here also Krishna says first of all control the sense organs then the mind settle the
mind upon me the inner self the same pure existence consciousness place then
only your wisdom will be steady how is
this wisdom lost a artificial yarn from Sir Sangha stay super junior-t
sang god's and joy at Aqaba comedy Jyoti crowed odd
but the Sun moja some more hearts pretty big promise pretty long shot but Dino
sure but Dino short ran a shitty we
sometimes hear of the Eightfold step of yoga yama niyama asana pranayama
pratyahara dharana dhyana samadhi Eightfold steps towards enlightenment these are the eight footsteps to disturb
more than eight steps I think the steps to destruction but the downward spiral what happens
di o to each ion if you continuously dwell on sense objects what happens son
Crustacea piety our taste for them develops in the mind what color you dip
the mind in up what color you dip the cloth in the cloth will take that color so the senses are revealing something to
you and you continuously let the mind dwell in that what the senses are bringing home then the mind takes on
that color when the mind takes on that color the next step is some guards and
joy at Aqaba that taste which develops in the mind it's nice the next step is I
want it first of all you do not know about it now you know about it now you
know about it and you keep thinking about it our tastes develops it's nice after it's nice comes I want it
advertisers know all about this this is a very psychology of advertisement they
repeated I ad nauseum to you again and again and again in the middle of your favorite sports programs or news
programs or whatever thousand times repeated and yet they are making you
meditate not on God or not on Brahman
you meditating on Pepsi or something and the taste for that develops in the mind
and as it develops in the mind our desire arises I want it and then if the
desire is frustrated in any way oh no I am a spiritual seeker stop it I won't do that at that level what happens
karma growth Hovey Jyoti the desire is converted into
irritation often you will find sometimes spiritual seekers are very irritable
people this guy was nice and relaxed and fun to be with and now that we have
taken up Vedanta and yoga or whatnot is snapchat as a snaps at me what has
happened this person is restraining himself in one front and that restrained
if it is not on a spiritual basis if it's a you know like a bullheaded discipline it immediately converts
desire into anger and where will the anger go to lash out at people next to
him people have nothing to do it the problem is internal but the people who bear the brunt of that anger of people
around the finger lead is a funny story why did the little girl kick the cat
because her mom spanked her why didn't mom spank her because a mom who works as
a maidservant in some rich person's house and her the owner of the house the
lady of the house scolded her what did the lady of the house call her because her husband misbehave with her after
coming back from office why did the husband miss be a litter because his boss called it in so the poor cat got a
kick because at one point but boss scolded somebody else in the same way comma growth of
each IOT flashes of anger come when this forceful discipline and then what
happens anger grows hard property some Moho anger creates a veil of delusion
availab delusion and that veil of delusion leads to split Ibrahim Brahma
memory the memory of spiritual teaching you study well on the retreat yoga
practice this book and that book so many things have attended so many symposium workshop nothing works for me when I'm angry
obviously because anger dilute it it creates a cloud which obscures your
memory and when memory is lost what happens with Dina she'll be inside the
spiritual insight you got you cannot put it into practice anymore it's lost to you for the moment at least but Dean
Asha pronounciating literally it means destroyed you not destroyed but your spiritual progress is obstructed you
lose that much of spiritual progress so this is the causality the links one after another what happens it leads to
you know delay or loss in spiritual process a very nice chain you see what
sri krishna's setup and he says in conclusion jhagadu ashabi you taste o
vishaya on injury a stern art Mishael be they Atma prasad adam adocus Shetty
so what happens is this person who has got a disciplined mind who restrains the
sense organs and a mind from the beginning does not fall into this cycle
of deliberating about sense or sense objects then developing a taste for them
they're blooming into desire desire being obstructed then anger flashing and then anger obscuring your the teachings
which have gone and so on who who prevents this chain and with this
balanced mind with a silly mind interacts with objects of the senses
Arjuna has asked how does this person talk how does this person walk how does this person sit
that's what's being answered now exactly like us he also eats drinks talks with
people now the nice people with annoying people he walks in and talks in the same
world which we inhabit but is not disturbed by that world because of being
established in the self and from that vantage point controlling the senses the
mind and intellect art mahashiv EDRs
automatically attains serenity prasada he had been serenity or tranquility but
prasada also means the food which is offered to the lord and i see that the
food has already arrived I think Prasad has already arrived so I'll bring the talk to your clothes
here and we'll go into Q&A we'll go into missional should we go into question answers yes yes this is from Geeta
second chapter 54 I read up to 64 all
right I'll split that question into two parts one is the question of creativity itself
creativity will will flower and prospered remember before our present
age the last 200 years most of creativity in the world was born of
religion think about it books art architecture song it was
somehow related to religion in different book parts of the world so religion does
not stifle creativity properly done so spirituality when a person is free of
the thralls of the body and mind the body and mind still exists emotions are still there than the intellect is still
there the mind doesn't disappear the intellect doesn't disappear the feelings don't disappear they're all there and in
fact now they can be channeled into properly in fact many spiritual people are very creative extraordinarily
creative people one the second thing is often creativity especially in our age
creativity also comes from the dark places of the human psyche if those are cleaned up something like I said the
creativity which comes from William Styron's service choice you mentioned that that comes from his depression he's talented
and a depressive so he uses these two to write a book like Sophie's Choice good
deal of art if you go to the museum the San Diego Museum of Art and you see not
all of it is coming out of spiritual ecstasy somewhere - if it is coming out of suffering some of it is coming out of
agony or depression and it's still great art what will happen to that don't worry
the number of enlightened persons is always going to be very very few and number I am number of depressives
unfortunately is going to always outnumber the number of so all that will
still be there yes yes yes to come out
fully enlightened which is my goal seems
incredibly difficult it's as if you're asking me to jump in the ocean and not
get wet it's
it impinges even though I don't want it to on my life at times yes this is where
valent is particularly suitable non dual path why that seems difficult is when in
a dualistic plan for example you are expected to believe in a God which you
do not experience right now as a matter of faith God exists and here is this
word apart from God because dualism basically says here is a word and there is some God somewhere there and your
attention in your prayer and your belief must be in that invisible God while struggling with the world that's why it
seems so difficult but the non-dualistic path you know what it sees in a sense if I were to sum up non-dualism Advaita
today what is that weight is saying this word is a household you have to deal
with this world where on the non-dual vedanta says Brahman miss understood is
the world you are dealing with this world which you are dealing with properly understood is Brahman there are
not two different things you don't have to abandon this and look for some
brahman elsewhere in fact the householder you are in the middle of life that's where you have to find
Brahman as where they can't I said he who runs away from life to meditate and die in a Himalayan cave has missed the
way he who plunges into life to embrace the vanities of life as missed away - then what is the life and what is the
way the way is to defy life to find God wherever you are with whomever you are
doing whatever you are doing is it possible it must be possible what is
difficult is like saying there is there
are golden ornaments and the reality somebody comes and tells you the reality is gold and then you say okay so if I
can throw in the world in ornaments and look for gold never work so in the midst of life in fact we can
find Brahman we can't find find God yesterday we saw how do we do that
chuckle italia points out in every experience of life he does not mean
spiritual experiences prayer and meditation when you are cooking when you're cleaning when you are discussing
something with your bank manager those are the experiences of life when you're talking with people those are the
experiences of life in those experiences what did what we did we learned there are two aspects the isness in all of
that and the name and form which keeps changing focus on the isness to focus on
the isness you must be in the midst of those activities to find the gold you must have a gold ornament right there's
a when in this book we are studying
where was this book taught in what way not the century in which which mountain
retreat where in the battlefield in the
most worldly most horrible of all the activities in the midst of that who was the student or Juna was he a monk which
order of monks did he belong to he was a householder who was the teacher Krishna
he was a householder person in the middle of life Vedanta is meant for them
volantis / meant for a person in the midst of the battlefield of life it
gives you strength it gives you peace of mind it gives you security it gives you light in your in life what am I trying
to do in life and how do I do it the
life that you lead is important it's not something that's diverting you away from spirituality I like this you know when
when I think the Socrates who said faith is attributed to him that the importance of philosophy the unexamined life is not
worth living Socrates or Plato why why
do we need philosophy philosophy examines life so unexamined life is not what living it's a famous saying and I
attributed to Socrates I think to which starts the famous existentialist replied
the unlived life is not worth examining
the unlived life is not worth examining you're living a life where will you find
Brahman there itself Schopenhauer he says he makes a
distinction between a genuine philosopher and an academic philosopher with apologies to all academic
philosophers here he makes a distinction the distinction is this beautiful he says a genuine philosopher is a person
who is puzzled by life those questions about life is puzzled by life and an
academic philosopher is one who is puzzled by his books all genuine
philosophy Vedanta included has come up with contact from life with life
Vivekananda says we don't win writes about practical Vedanta speaks about practical Vedanta he says Vedanta has
been practical first and philosophy next all the commentaries including shankar
raja gives such subtle discussions on easiness and all that that came later
first came this talk this dialogue in the battlefield Shankar Acharya the
philosopher Saint comes much later to comment on this dialogue the most practical of dialogues in the middle of
the battlefield Zen Buddhism somebody brought beautifully it became very
popular in Japan among the samurai he says it's popular because see the
samurai will imitate their warriors they were intensely practical people if something did not work they would not
use it they would have no time for that where they turn the points out this
Vedanta was developed not only by sages in forests but by kings and emperors who
was the busiest of people he writes they're not like the kings of
today who are mere figurehead but emperors of old who are absolute monarchs who had the weight of Empires
on their shoulders who had real decisions of enormous consequence to make they found time for Vedanta how
much more time should be fine I made a social for power once when I
was talking I went to this place in in in Calcutta called Calcutta club it's a
play started by the British even though it continues it's a place for the elite people in the
wrote Rotary Club invited me to give a talk there so I arrived and they still have a dress code you cannot enter like
this you have to be properly dressed in in couches and shares and live in them
and I could see the manager sort of looking at me acting it from the side of his eyes and came up to me politely and
said can I help you so me I you want something I said no I've been invited for a talk so I went in for the top what
I'm leading up to is this I was early so there was this lady sitting there in the
hall very regal looking person impressive personality she was in her
60s maybe she said Oh Swami you're early come let me treat you to something let's talk until the audience comes and I I
was talking to her I told her that the last week had gone to this place in Bengal called bird one bird one and
there's a cell it's a district and there's a bird one University I was giving a talk in but one University and
it's actually a huge old building and that this lady asked where did you get
the talk in which particular hall I mentioned this particular lecture hall big hall where I give a talk and she
smiled and said oh that was my room in your room how can we room it it's a
university lecture hall he said oh no no you see and the princess a bird won that
that was the palace of my father and in winter that was a little girl in his
enormous room so she was actually the first real-life
princess at MIT and so when I started my talk I was talking about practical
Valentin people is there she was sitting there - I forgot and and I said the
Vivekananda said they've ancient monarchs my real kings and emperors not like the kings of today who are mere
figurehead and I and I saw the person
sitting next to her poking her with his elbow and saying talking about you I
hope she was not offended so it is meant for people who are busy in the midst of
life yes
the conclusions
all right if I understand your question correctly first of all word about the term Maya
wasn't that became more popular later on when the wise novice theologies began to develop remember Shankar Acharya dates
to about 1400 years ago from now mad madhvacharya to about eight hundred nine
hundred years ago eight hundred years ago and Romano chalte chalte overt about a thousand years ago from now so first
was Shankar Acharya they were probably earlier commentaries on the Gita we find certain references
Shankara Cheney himself refers to one or two do old commentaries but they are not available now what is available now is
Shankar Acharya commentary and ramanuja's commentary and Matt was commentary and many more commentaries
and Gita is a book which has been commented on down to already our our very time right now in fact in an hour
order you will find Swami a villain on the ji design philosophy Ramakrishna was commented on the entire Gita in two
volumes it's published in English even down to our time Swami Ranganath are indeed he has committed of the entire
Gita so it was not published so there are different commentaries now the term
Maharaja was became famous to vogue when the wife's novel commentators were
criticizing non-dualism from the point of view of Western abysm mud watch re
and later on the attentively the veil of Shaitan America and all Maya bother is a
term applied to two kinds of philosophies chaitanya of speaks of the maya wad of
bananas and the maya wada off of my water off what's the place where Buddha
taught Sarna Sarna to Maya okay uh he
says gaya so what he means is it's a derogatory term it if you see that exact meaning of
the two terms dr. octo means reality philosophy based on reality an Iowa the
philosophy based on illusion so he was very critical of Buddhism and non-dualism often that non-dualism of
Shankara cherry has been criticized by Orthodox Hindus as fraction of all data as a crypto Buddhist is ballistic
philosophy in Hindu terms that's the criticism I think that's an unfair
criticism there is very little doubt today if you look at it neutrally
philosophically speaking on its own merits Advaita Vedanta is pure
philosophy the rest of them all the other teachers I'm afraid they are more
theology than philosophy they take certain things for granted axioms that
say for example God exists and God is Vishnu and then everything else follows from there but that very thing can be
disputed the advantage of this approach of the non-dualistic approach Shankar
Acharya says proaches it's highly impersonal do you not see he never
mentions any God any particular faith it's highly impersonal you just look at
your own experience and discover the reality hidden in that experience every
experience what did we see yesterday every experiences two aspects it does
not matter whether you will believe in Vishnu or Krishna or Christ or you don't believe in any God at all your complete
atheist it does not matter just look at it you see isn't it true it talks about
something that's available to everybody it talks about something that's not subject to a particular culture or a
particular religion suppose people don't want that God talks then in in that in
that very step you have dispensed with all the dualistic laws of this none of them can survive that you say I'm not
interested in that when can you say I'm not interested in myself can you say I'm not interested in
experience I am NOT interested in consciousness I am consciousness after
all completely dispensed with God and belief in God forget it
Advaita will survive without any problem but the dualistic philosophies will disappear there itself
sam harris who is one of the most I
would say outspoken of the New Atheists he displayed he is completely anti
religion strongly speaks out against religion of all sorts and all types but in his book for example in the book
waking up he says there are these two traditions one is advaita vedanta
clearly mentions it and the other one is the soap chain Buddhism of Tibetan Buddhism there are these two traditions
which have a core of truth even I cannot deny it it has to be true this it's
undeniable so I committed a thesis out to attack
religion today even that person has to admit that there is truth here that's
the power of non-dual philosophy so
chill it's what the dalai lama teaches they have different streams of thought the core of the teaching that you see
there on a co-teaching might be non dual with a third weight of ananka in their lineage one teaching the central the
most esoteric teaching which begin is called sub chain Buddhism it's a very
much like non dual Vedanta or they will claim that non dual means honor is very much like their and
they almost seem to be speaking about the same thing but the approach is a little different happy time alright
thank you very much I pray to sri ramakrishna to bless all of us so that
we may get this intuition in this very life and make our lives blessed fulfill
the purpose of human life Oh Shawn hey
Shawn hey Shawn T hurry
Shri Krishna thank you
these ones will be available right on people can see them
and just give me one moment let's make sure you
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