- 11/12/2023
Video Information: 15.01.2022, Rishikesh, India
Context:
~ What work to choose in life?
~ Should one seek social validation while choosing work?
~ How important is money while choosing work?
~ Why do we often underestimate the circumstances?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Context:
~ What work to choose in life?
~ Should one seek social validation while choosing work?
~ How important is money while choosing work?
~ Why do we often underestimate the circumstances?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00:00 [Music]
00:00:17 So, we approach the Chandogya Upanishad today.
00:00:46 It's a very significant journey to begin.
00:01:00 Chandogya Upanishad is one of the earliest and the most expansive Upanishads.
00:01:26 It is supposed to be composed sometime between the 8th and the 6th centuries before Christ.
00:01:55 So, it predates the Buddha.
00:02:08 Therefore, it lacks the razor sharp precision and the absolute clarity of the later Upanishads.
00:02:34 It's a beautiful process from the Vedic Samhitas that started getting composed in the Rig Vedic times.
00:03:03 Many, many centuries before the Buddha.
00:03:07 No estimate is certain.
00:03:12 And the beginning was with nature worship mostly.
00:03:24 An attempt to please the forces of nature, Prakriti.
00:03:32 Indra, Marut, Agni.
00:03:40 The very first verse is dedicated to Agni.
00:03:55 So, the early seer was perceiving something immense and trying to come to terms with it, trying to approach it.
00:04:11 And the beginning was in the outward direction.
00:04:21 That something immense was firstly explored in the outer world, in the realm of Prakriti.
00:04:34 So, all the nature gods were worshipped.
00:04:41 It is not important who was worshipped.
00:04:47 What is important is that the inquiring mind, that beautiful mind, sensed the need to worship.
00:04:57 Sensed the fact that there is something more important and far bigger than the ego and one needs to bow down to it.
00:05:15 So, you had fire, wind, and rain, and thunder, and mountains, and vegetation, all being worshipped as if an immensity is being searched everywhere possible.
00:05:43 Where do I find that? Where do I find that? Where do I find that?
00:05:48 And because it is the beginning, so as happens in the beginning, as is likely to happen in the beginning, the search begins outwardly.
00:06:03 Do I find that in the clouds? Do I find that in the mountains? Do I find that in the rivers? Do I find that in fire?
00:06:15 And all efforts are being made to somehow reach that, or reach there.
00:06:27 So, there are hymns in praise of the gods, elaborate sacrifices.
00:06:37 You see what is coming in the picture. Something is more important than something else, therefore the thing that is smaller needs to be sacrificed.
00:06:54 It would be highly unjust if we do not pay respect to the importance of the initial part of the Vedic literature, the Sankhita part.
00:07:12 Today, standing where we are, mostly on the back of, on the shoulders of rather the Vedas themselves,
00:07:27 it is easy to say that the mantras are all insignificant or an exercise in ignorance.
00:07:41 Many people and scholars say that way.
00:07:48 But when with some empathy you look at the whole process of the development of Vedic literature,
00:07:57 the whole process of the germination, incubation and maturing of wisdom,
00:08:12 then you realize what is happening and that one has to pay respect to how the seed germinated
00:08:25 and not just enjoy the fruit of the fully grown up tree.
00:08:32 Upanishads are the ultimate fruits of the fully grown up tree of the Vedic process.
00:08:43 But the tree could not have come without the initial sprouting.
00:08:50 And it happens in every process worth the name that the beginning is always in uncertainty.
00:09:07 The beginning is always against great odds. The beginning is always in darkness.
00:09:14 And when you begin, you stumble. When you begin, you can't be very certain.
00:09:20 When you begin, you are groping in the dark.
00:09:24 One need not look down upon that.
00:09:28 One has to in fact respect that as the beginning of something immensely significant.
00:09:37 The significance would show up a little later.
00:09:44 The significance shows up most prominently, most strikingly in the later Upanishads.
00:09:53 We are not talking of the Upanishads that came about in the 8th century or the 10th century after Christ.
00:10:05 We are talking of Upanishads like Ishavasya, Kena, Katha, Mandukya.
00:10:14 They are very precise, very succinct, very to the point if one could say.
00:10:21 That kind of a thing we won't find in Chandogya.
00:10:25 But still Chandogya is one of the pramukh Upanishads, the major Upanishads, and not for no reason.
00:10:42 Some of the very seeds, germs of profound Upanishadic wisdom are found in the Chandogya Upanishad.
00:10:55 Without the Chandogya, what happened later on couldn't have been possible.
00:11:02 So there is a lot here in this Upanishad and a lot that is not very significant from where we look at it today.
00:11:13 But still the Upanishad holds great value and that's the reason we would be approaching it with folded hands.
00:11:24 We want to understand what it has in store for us, what it wants to tell and teach us.
00:11:32 In fact, some of the Mahavakyas, the most sacred excerpts from the Upanishadic treasure come from the Chandogya Upanishad.
00:11:54 So it has to be seen as a work in progress.
00:12:04 That feeling that the whole corpus is a work in progress comes to us at several places as we move through the Vedas.
00:12:19 The Nasdiya Sukta, the Purush Sukta, you look at them and you realize that the whole thought process is about to take off.
00:12:41 So from nature worship you are already going into the uncertain, the one who cannot be thought of.
00:12:57 You are already inquiring beyond the mind and beyond the thought.
00:13:03 So that thing is there even before the Upanishads.
00:13:11 And of course when you come to the knowledge part, the Jnana Khand, it becomes even more pronounced.
00:13:24 And in the later Upanishads it displays its full glory.
00:13:35 So the Chandogya Upanishad, as we said, is very expensive, hundreds of verses.
00:13:40 And obviously we will not be taking up every single verse.
00:13:46 We will be taking up verses for discussion that are the most meaningful in today's context.
00:13:55 And there are several beautiful stories, small anecdotes, parables.
00:14:02 We will be going into them.
00:14:05 But we must go through all the verses and I will be taking up those that I select.
00:14:19 And I will request the audience to bring up any verses that they find intriguing.
00:14:28 And that way we will have a broader selection to go into.
00:14:38 And yes, that's the way we will proceed.
00:14:45 But I will again remind, you see, we have not taken up Upanishads chronologically.
00:14:53 So those who have been with me already have the flavor of somebody like Ashtavakra.
00:15:03 Where everything is crystal clear, very sharp, very pointed and very non-dualistic.
00:15:15 Now coming from Ashtavakra or let's say Kena Upanishad, you might find Chandogya Upanishad a bit scattered.
00:15:29 You might find the core Vedantic expression a bit hazy here.
00:15:39 So I said approach the Chandogya Upanishad and also the Brodharanayaka Upanishad when we take it up with more empathy.
00:15:50 These two have 400, 500, 700 verses.
00:15:55 And because you are already exposed to very clear expression of Vedantic principles, you might find things, as we said, a bit hazy here, a bit scattered, a bit amorphous.
00:16:20 If you do that, then you have to remember that the process is as important as the end.
00:16:27 And you have to remember that we all are people on the process.
00:16:33 And if we ourselves are on the process, how do we disrespect a thing in the middle of the process?
00:16:45 Chandogya Upanishad represents a thing that is shaping up, just as we represent consciousnesses that are shaping up.
00:17:02 In that sense, Chandogya Upanishad is closer to where we are.
00:17:09 So we will approach it in good faith and respect.
00:17:17 And here we begin with the Shantipat, beautiful Shantipat.
00:17:27 "Om, let my limbs and speech, prana, eyes, ears, vitality and all the senses grow in strength. All existence is the Brahma of the Upanishads. May I never deny Brahma, nor Brahma deny me.
00:17:47 Let there be no denial at all. Let there be no denial at least from me. May the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads be in me.
00:17:57 Who am devoted to the Atma, may they reside in me. Om, peace, peace, peace."
00:18:07 The very first sentence. "Om, let my limbs and speech, prana, eyes, ears, vitality and all the senses grow in strength."
00:18:19 The truth is so dear to me. Om is so dear to me that everything that will lead me to the truth, just as Om does, must be preserved, respected and strengthened.
00:18:42 What is Om? In fact, the first few verses of the Upanishad deal with Om. Om, pranavar, udgita.
00:18:54 Om is the movement from ordinary consciousness to a liberated consciousness.
00:19:03 The movement from ordinary consciousness to a liberated consciousness, that is Om.
00:19:13 A, u and ma, akar, okar and makar, they represent the three forms of our ordinary consciousness that we experience.
00:19:31 And the silence after Om, the tapering off of the vibrating sound, that represents the silence that these three states so much crave for.
00:19:48 So we live in the waking state, in the sleeping state, in the dreaming state, and whatever be the state of the mind, we are restless.
00:20:01 And we are restless to move into the fourth, the turiya, which is just silence.
00:20:07 Irrespective of what shape, what state our consciousness takes, it is actually crying to come to rest.
00:20:18 Om represents that entire process. Om tells us where we are and Om tells us where we must be.
00:20:24 We are in one of the three states always, and three does not necessarily mean three.
00:20:31 Three means thirty, three means three thousand, three simply means a multiplicity.
00:20:38 So here we are in that multiplicity and that multiplicity is no good at all.
00:20:45 And we have to move beyond that, that beyondness is contained in Om.
00:20:51 Om is a continuous reminder that you need to go further and further, that you need to transcend and go beyond and beyond.
00:21:01 Om is nothing but a reminder, continuous reminder of beyondness.
00:21:08 So if beyondness is where you have to go, if Om is what the Upanishad opens with,
00:21:16 if that beyondness is so very precious, then you have to do everything that will enable you to reach there.
00:21:24 The first thing that the Upanishad says is, may your eyes, ears, mind, prana and all the limbs of your body be strong to take you there.
00:21:43 Remember that this is very very different from having a healthy body for the sake of health.
00:21:52 Health not for health's sake, health for liberation's sake.
00:21:59 These are two very different approaches.
00:22:04 The body is not an end, the body is the ammunition that you have to chart your course.
00:22:15 There are so many obstacles in the way.
00:22:18 You must have a strong body to deal with those obstacles.
00:22:25 Otherwise the body is of no use.
00:22:29 The body will be looked after because the body is the crucible of the consciousness.
00:22:38 The body and the consciousness are so very interlinked.
00:22:44 And consciousness is my purpose, liberated consciousness is my aim.
00:22:53 Consciousness is intricately linked to the body, therefore I have to take care of the body.
00:22:59 If I say I have to take care of the body for the body's sake, then it amounts to the usual animalistic pleasure-seeking behavior.
00:23:14 There are so many pleasures that the ego can have through the body.
00:23:24 Food, comfort, sex, sleep.
00:23:29 There are so many pleasures that only a fit, strong and healthy body can give.
00:23:36 And for that reason many people might decide to strengthen, preserve and shine their body.
00:23:43 No, that is not what the Upanishads are saying. It's a very very different approach.
00:23:48 The body is just dirt and dust, but it's useful.
00:23:58 On its own it means nothing. When the body cannot help anymore, I'll go and reduce it to ashes.
00:24:07 I'll not keep the body for even one day after it serves no purpose.
00:24:15 It will be taken to the cremation ground and reduced to ashes.
00:24:26 The seers have repeatedly said, if a part of your body serves no purpose, cut it off.
00:24:38 The body is not useful for its own sake.
00:24:45 In fact, even in the Bible, Jesus says that if your eye is not helping your cause, gouge it out.
00:24:58 And here the Upanishads are saying, may my eyes grow in strength.
00:25:06 Do you see what the entire emphasis is on? Not the eyes, but on something that the eyes can help achieve.
00:25:18 Now you know what is meant by having beautiful eyes.
00:25:26 Beautiful eyes are not those that seduce, not those that are lined well, not those that have a perfect vision either.
00:25:44 Beautiful eyes are the ones that are looking constantly for truth.
00:25:50 A person has beautiful eyes if you can look into his or her eyes and get a glimpse of the truth.
00:26:02 Now you also know what a beautiful body is like.
00:26:09 You also know what a great personality is like.
00:26:15 Now you also know why if you are devoted to a particular cause, then two things happen.
00:26:30 One, the cause starts taking care of your body.
00:26:35 Secondly, you find yourself not very keen to take care of your body.
00:26:42 It's a strange mix.
00:26:45 On one hand, you become kind of negligent or indifferent.
00:26:52 On the other hand, that which you are serving starts taking care of you in very inexplicable ways.
00:27:05 Seers are not particularly known to die young.
00:27:09 Some of them do, but equally some of them live very long.
00:27:15 One thing is certain, most of them are not very concerned about living too long.
00:27:24 That's not really the center or target of their life.
00:27:30 The target is something else.
00:27:32 Yes, sometimes it does happen that the target itself starts taking care of their bodies.
00:27:38 Sometimes the target doesn't take care of their bodies. Both things happen.
00:27:43 You have Acharya Shankar or Swami Vivekananda leaving their bodies quite early.
00:27:53 Equally you have seers who have lived for very long.
00:28:01 In the recent times, Raman Maharshi lived long enough.
00:28:08 Jiddu Krishnamurthy went right into his 90s.
00:28:13 So you have examples from both sides and these are contrasting examples.
00:28:18 However, what they share in common is that neither of these people would say that living long is the purpose of their life.
00:28:31 Sometimes they do live long, sometimes they don't.
00:28:35 The Upanishad specifies very clearly what the role of the body in the spiritual pursuit is.
00:28:43 The role of the body flows from Aum.
00:28:45 Remember Aum and that will tell you the importance of body in the overall scheme of things.
00:28:52 Remember Aum.
00:28:55 The body is not to be allowed to become a drag.
00:29:00 If you are on a mission that requires energy, you require the body.
00:29:05 The body has to be energetic enough.
00:29:09 If a lot of your mental energy is going towards maintaining the body itself, then that distracts you from your mission.
00:29:19 So you better keep the body strong, fit, light, healthy, whatever.
00:29:26 Right?
00:29:28 Hello Sir. Namaste.
00:29:32 Sir, when you were talking about the history of the Upanishads, I was wondering about something.
00:29:40 As you mentioned that it is a process, it's a transition of thought, you know, in depth.
00:29:50 Initially it's nature worship and then you start thinking about deeper things and deeper and then you start inquiring into the non-existent.
00:29:59 So I was thinking that what were the conditions in our historical timeline which fostered the development of Upanishads in relation to the present times in which such have those conditions ceased?
00:30:21 Or is it that we are carrying on with old traditions?
00:30:25 And so why don't we have Upanishads today?
00:30:29 Newer forms, newer versions, if they've been written over a long period of time in our history.
00:30:35 So was it the fostering of certain particular conditions at those times?
00:30:40 Or is it that we don't need new Upanishads anymore?
00:30:43 So that's why they just ceased to develop further.
00:30:47 See, there are many things. All that you require for an Upanishad to come into being is genuine inquiry.
00:30:57 Genuine inquiry without pretense.
00:31:01 I need to know, I need to talk, I need to understand.
00:31:05 It's as simple as that and as difficult as that.
00:31:08 Because to have simple and genuine inquiry requires a very honest life, requires one to have paid the price for that inquiry.
00:31:24 Things that are simple are actually the most expensive in existential terms.
00:31:32 So yes, there's nothing that really bars the Upanishads from taking birth even today.
00:31:47 There were obstacles at that time and there are obstacles today.
00:31:54 It is always against obstacles that an Upanishad is born.
00:31:58 At that time, the biggest obstacle was scientific ignorance.
00:32:06 We did not know enough about the material world and that was a big obstacle.
00:32:13 And that is what, you know, led to nature worship and such things also.
00:32:17 So, however, the Vedic Rishis overcame that obstacle.
00:32:24 They overcame that obstacle and in spite of the very rudimentary level of scientific knowledge at that time,
00:32:34 we still had the profound wisdom of Upanishads breaking through.
00:32:41 Today the obstacle is of an opposite nature.
00:32:45 Today the obstacle is of an abundance of knowledge.
00:32:50 We think we know too much, we think we know everything and our mind is very very cluttered with nonsense masquerading as knowledge.
00:33:00 And therefore, that's an impediment to inquiry.
00:33:05 So, ignorance was an impediment to inquiry, today knowledge is an impediment to inquiry.
00:33:10 But Upanishads, we said, always are born in an environment of obstacles.
00:33:17 So, they can take birth even today.
00:33:21 And I'll risk saying they are indeed taking birth even today.
00:33:28 When you, for example, read the dialogues of Ramana Maharshi, how do you say they are any less than an Upanishad?
00:33:41 And there are several other works.
00:33:46 If you, for example, read the Kabir Sakhi Granth, it's not exactly ancient, hardly 600-700 years old,
00:34:01 far more recent than the Upanishads and still it is a profound Upanishad.
00:34:11 So, Upanishads do come into existence time and again.
00:34:17 One could say in every century they are again and again reborn.
00:34:29 So, that process is taking place.
00:34:32 Obviously, there are problems, there are obstacles, but consciousness has the irreverent habit
00:34:43 of ignoring obstacles or fighting against obstacles.
00:34:50 And you have the mighty fountains emerging from, sprouting from, breaking out from,
00:35:04 behind massive rocks or obstacles, just as there are volcanic explosions.
00:35:13 It's not easy for the lava to just throw itself up against gravitation into the sky like that.
00:35:22 You have to break open the mouth of the mountain, but that's the nature of consciousness.
00:35:31 It destroys all material and circumstantial obstacles.
00:35:37 And that keeps happening in every age, every time, probably every century.
00:35:44 Consciousness is not something that can easily accept defeat.
00:35:49 It is the nature of man to attempt his fullest potential, and man will do that again and again.
00:36:06 To extend my question a bit, all our religions are ancient,
00:36:11 especially the religions that we talk about which are based on one primary text,
00:36:16 like Christianity, which is based on the Holy Bible, or now Sikhism, which is based on Guru Granth Sahib,
00:36:25 and the Quran and everything.
00:36:27 So, they don't get updated.
00:36:31 There is no attempt to even interpret them in a newer light.
00:36:40 That needs to happen.
00:36:43 That needs to happen.
00:36:47 And every age requires, according to its time, its condition, its language, its vocabulary,
00:37:02 a new expression of the same old truth.
00:37:08 And in fact, it is when you want to come up with something that is suited to your age,
00:37:17 that's when you discover what all is irrelevant in the old books, because it was time-bound.
00:37:28 You see, the old books were written, or we could say revealed, with an audience in mind.
00:37:40 They were spoken to a certain people in the language and the idiom of those people.
00:37:50 Those people are no more there. They have changed.
00:37:54 That language no more exists.
00:37:56 The mind that was spoken to exists no more.
00:38:03 The truth at the core of the book or the revelation might be timeless.
00:38:12 But a lot about that truth, a lot around that truth, surrounding that truth has totally changed.
00:38:21 So there is always a need to spell it out differently, in a more contemporary way, a more topical way.
00:38:33 If that does not happen, then there is a kind of anachronism.
00:38:44 You start taking things literally.
00:38:52 You forget that a lot in the books is very figurative.
00:38:57 And you forget that a lot in the books refers just to the time and conditions when the book was written or revealed.
00:39:07 So a lot is no more applicable today, a lot is no more useful today.
00:39:13 It might have a historical relevance, but it does not have a contemporary relevance.
00:39:19 Equally, a lot continues to have relevance and would always be relevant because the truth never fades out.
00:39:28 It is timeless.
00:39:30 That distinction needs to be made.
00:39:33 What in any particular book is time bound versus what is timeless in the book.
00:39:44 And therefore, courageous and honest attempts have to be made continuously, always, to focus only on the truth and not on the noise that surrounds it.
00:40:02 And remember, whenever the truth would gain expression, there would always be a certain noise surrounding it.
00:40:10 That is the problem with all expressions and words.
00:40:14 You want to say something, there is a core of what you want to say, and then there are the words in which you say that,
00:40:20 there is the environment in which the expression takes place, so that is noise, that is time bound noise.
00:40:25 That noise is beneficial at the time of expression.
00:40:29 That noise is the carrier of the truth.
00:40:33 But all carriers are time bound.
00:40:37 The thing that acted like a carrier 1500 or 3500 years back will not act as a carrier today.
00:40:47 There were diamonds, then there are diamonds today, but then you carried them in bullock carts.
00:40:53 Today you carry them in jumbo jets.
00:40:56 The diamond may not have changed, the carrier needs to change.
00:41:00 And if you do not change the carrier, then you know what will happen, people will dismiss the diamond along with the bullock cart,
00:41:09 and that is what is happening today.
00:41:11 Because we want to say that the diamond and the bullock cart are inseparable.
00:41:17 People are dismissing the bullock cart and along with that the diamond, which is a great tragedy.
00:41:25 You have to make this distinction.
00:41:29 You have to realize that a lot of it is just the cart.
00:41:34 And you have to realize where the diamonds are.
00:41:36 Pick the diamonds and let the oxen free.
00:41:43 You don't need the bull anymore.
00:41:53 Namaste Acharya ji.
00:41:55 Thanks for explaining Om in such great detail, akar, ukar, makar.
00:42:02 And that reminds me of one of the Mahavakyas of Upanishad, Tamsoma Jyotirgamay.
00:42:10 And the question to that, that I have is that at one end we see that body and mind are separate.
00:42:21 But you have said in the past that there are basically two ends of the same spectrum.
00:42:26 And so the body pains when you are making this flight from the waking state, the sleeping, dreaming state,
00:42:37 the body also experiences the symptoms that we get, the symptoms of pain, for example,
00:42:44 how to interpret them or what to do about them, to ignore them or to work on them.
00:42:54 Please say something about that.
00:42:56 See, it is the mind that experiences it all.
00:43:01 And these are the things that are coming to the mind.
00:43:06 To what extent are they affecting the mind?
00:43:09 Can you carry on in spite of those things?
00:43:14 If you can carry on in spite of those things with a minimal effect on your efficiency, then carry on.
00:43:21 On the other hand, if those things are making you really less effective,
00:43:27 then you have to stop and address those issues related to the body.
00:43:31 It is like the noise that your car makes.
00:43:34 There is no car that is perfect at any point in time, right?
00:43:40 But you cannot just keep sending your car to the garage for every small niggle.
00:43:46 The wiper is making noise against the windshield.
00:43:50 And there are no wipers that make zero noise.
00:43:54 There are no shockers that are perfect at any point in time.
00:43:59 Something or the other in the car is always a little off the center, no?
00:44:07 But you have to make a very balanced, a very conscious, discrete decision.
00:44:13 When to carry on with the car and when has the condition, the point been reached,
00:44:21 when you have to stop and say, well, the thing needs rest for three, four days,
00:44:27 send it to the garage, let it be serviced and I will make do without it for these three days.
00:44:34 There can be no one answer to it.
00:44:37 The one thing is that the car is to be used to reach the destination.
00:44:42 To the extent possible, do not pamper the car.
00:44:46 But you have to also remember that the car is just a car.
00:44:50 The car has no devotion towards the target.
00:44:55 So, if you do not service it ever, it will crumble, it will fall apart.
00:45:03 So, you have to, if not pamper it, at least keep it in working condition.
00:45:18 As you said that our relationship with our body should be as a tool to fulfill the purpose of our life.
00:45:31 So, I feel the same with my tendencies that they are my tools as well.
00:45:37 But my whole persona and my aham is also connected with those tendencies.
00:45:43 So, I have to use those tendencies as a tool as well.
00:45:49 But my whole thought process, my likes, dislikes are coming from those tendencies as well.
00:45:57 So, how to oversee this process to fulfill that purpose?
00:46:03 You have to be cautious when the tendencies are hijacking the ride itself.
00:46:12 You have a car, let us say and the car is very, very suited to highways.
00:46:23 And the car also has an inbuilt navigation system.
00:46:28 And you want to drive your car to your destination.
00:46:33 You tell the car what the destination is and the internal navigation system figures out the way.
00:46:41 Now, here lies the catch, which way, the shortest way or the way suited to the car, the way
00:46:50 suited to you or the way suited to the car.
00:46:53 Now, this is a subtle trap because the car is not actively revolting against you.
00:46:58 The car is saying obviously, I am taking you to your destination.
00:47:02 But you see I am a super car and I have a low ground clearance.
00:47:07 And I can run very speedily on well laid out super highways.
00:47:13 So, what do I do?
00:47:16 Even if a shorter route is available, but that shorter route involves navigating through
00:47:23 a bad road, long rough patches, I will not choose that.
00:47:29 I am not saying I will not take you to destination.
00:47:31 I will take you to your destination, but in a way that suits me.
00:47:37 Now, that is how the ego can hijack your purpose.
00:47:40 That is how your tendencies can hijack your purpose.
00:47:44 Remember, it is a subtle trap.
00:47:46 They are not telling you we do not want you to reach your purpose.
00:47:50 They are telling you obviously, we are helping you reach your purpose, but in our own way.
00:47:55 And you will have to trust them because they are not lying.
00:47:58 They are not lying.
00:48:00 They are saying yes, of course.
00:48:02 For example, my tendency is to be angry and I am devoted to a purpose.
00:48:14 I am devoted to a purpose.
00:48:16 So, I get angry for the sake of that purpose.
00:48:21 Now, anger is not revolting against you or deceiving you.
00:48:29 Anger in its own place is being honest.
00:48:31 The anger is saying, you see, I am being, I am activating myself for the sake of the purpose.
00:48:40 I am not angry for some selfish reason, you see.
00:48:44 I am angry for the sake of the purpose.
00:48:47 And that way your anger gets a clean sheet, a green signal.
00:48:52 I am angry for the sake of that.
00:48:57 But then if you look at things and how they pan out eventually, you might figure out that
00:49:04 it was good old Maya playing herself out in a very subtle way.
00:49:11 Anger expressed itself and the purpose suffered.
00:49:15 Though at the time of the expression of anger, what was the alibi of the anger?
00:49:22 I am not doing it for my own sake.
00:49:24 I am not being selfish.
00:49:26 I am doing it for the sake of something higher than myself.
00:49:30 And having offered this excuse or having offered this reason, anger was allowed to exist and express.
00:49:47 It is a very tight kind of a rope walk.
00:49:53 On the other hand, we have no option except to use our tendencies because that is all we have.
00:50:03 We cannot have a second body.
00:50:05 We cannot have a second brain.
00:50:07 We cannot have a second birth.
00:50:09 And we are born with a lot of things in this body, in this birth.
00:50:14 So, that is all that we have.
00:50:16 So, on one hand, that is what we have to make use of.
00:50:19 On the other hand, we have to remember that these tendencies have a way to hijack the whole ride.
00:50:29 It is a special car that can hijack the journey.
00:50:36 You thought you are using the car to reach your destination.
00:50:39 The car can change the road itself.
00:50:44 Because, the car says, I am made to travel on certain special kinds of roads.
00:50:52 So, I look for that kind of road.
00:50:55 Now, very subtly, the car has brought its own purpose in.
00:51:01 And if we are not attentive enough, we would not know.
00:51:05 The ride has been hijacked.
00:51:13 Caution, you have to use it without allowing it to use you.
00:51:23 And just as you have your intentions, she has her own intentions.
00:51:30 You want to use her, she wants to use you.
00:51:34 Needless to say, who wins more frequently.
00:51:42 Acharya ji, I wanted to ask that, like how to know exactly that those tendencies have hijacked our consciousness.
00:51:50 What is the sign of that?
00:51:53 If you are attentive, you will know whether you are moving closer to your target or drifting away from it.
00:52:02 The car has stolen the ride.
00:52:07 You are not the car, you must know where you want to go.
00:52:12 The car has its own purposes.
00:52:16 You must have your own and remember them.
00:52:22 Namah Chahar ji.
00:52:24 Yes.
00:52:26 So, my question is from what we started the session with in the beginning.
00:52:31 You mentioned that it is not important who was worshipped.
00:52:35 It is more important that the inquiring mind felt the need to worship.
00:52:39 So, I want to ask a little bit regarding that this process.
00:52:46 Was this a process which led a purely physical consciousness from an animalistic consciousness to a point where it needed the felt the need to worship?
00:53:02 Was it a gradual process or was there some kind of a moment, sort of a Eureka moment or something where the mind felt the need to worship?
00:53:12 There are lots of Eureka moments.
00:53:14 There are lots of Eureka moments, not one Eureka moment.
00:53:17 It is almost like the quantum model of the atom.
00:53:23 So, there is one particular orbit the electron is in and then it gains energy, gains speed
00:53:33 and then comes a point when it jumps off to the next orbit.
00:53:38 There is a quantum leap.
00:53:40 That is what you are calling as the Eureka moment.
00:53:42 It is a discontinuity.
00:53:46 It is not something incremental or gradual.
00:53:48 It is a sudden change in orbit.
00:53:53 n is equal to 1 becomes n is equal to 2 and that is not the end.
00:53:57 Then there is a further increase in restlessness and the electron gains more energy and then off to the next one and then the next one.
00:54:14 So, on one hand the gain in energy is a continuous process.
00:54:19 On the other hand, the Eureka moments are definite and discrete.
00:54:26 They are not continuously happening.
00:54:28 There are a lot of them.
00:54:29 They are very frequent, but it is not as if they are happening every moment.
00:54:34 Maybe there can be Eureka moment one every week or one in 7 years or one in 70 years.
00:54:41 But the process of inquiry is continuous just as the electron is constantly orbiting the nucleus.
00:54:53 And then suddenly one day, one moment there is a jump.
00:55:06 I have a small doubt I have with this is, you know, I haven't listened earlier to Vishnu to you.
00:55:13 Also, he talks about that.
00:55:17 This process doesn't happen through time.
00:55:21 He says it is out of time.
00:55:23 But if we try to visualize this process, it sounds like, you know, the consciousness was just waiting to have this moment and then move towards liberation.
00:55:32 So, then it makes it a process in time.
00:55:36 Whereas, you know, we have heard that, you know, it cannot be done through time or liberation cannot be achieved through time.
00:55:44 So, isn't there a sort of a…
00:55:48 I will reply to that and equally, equally the Shantipat itself has a beautiful answer to your question.
00:55:54 What I tell you, you know, these are probabilistic models.
00:55:58 I am trying to reply to you using the same quantum model.
00:56:05 Even if the electron has a certain energy, that does not guarantee that it will be found only in a particular orbit.
00:56:16 If the probability of it being found in a particular orbit increases if a certain range of energy is there.
00:56:24 Are you getting?
00:56:26 There is always chance involved.
00:56:30 That is what the Upanishad is also addressing in the lines that are to follow.
00:56:40 So, you just cannot do it on your own.
00:56:43 That is what Krishnamurthy means when he says it is not within time, that it is not within the scope of your personal effort.
00:56:52 Personal effort is what is time, right?
00:56:55 Linear movement in time.
00:56:57 I am practicing more, I am doing more and I am accumulating my effort over time.
00:57:04 That alone will all suffice.
00:57:07 There is something bigger and higher and more important that is at work.
00:57:13 And one has to give due credit to that, right?
00:57:18 Otherwise merely slogging in a mechanical way will not take you up the liberation ladder.
00:57:26 That is not happening.
00:57:31 Time is an expanse you could say in the horizontal direction along the x-axis.
00:57:39 You can keep running about on that axis all your life and you get nothing.
00:57:46 What you require is depth.
00:57:48 You can take that as the y-axis.
00:57:50 That is attention and that is not really in time because it is perpendicular to the time axis.
00:57:56 It is orthogonal to the time axis.
00:57:59 So, it is not really in time.
00:58:01 You require that attention, you require that love, that depth and then things happen.
00:58:09 And that depth is not something to be attained through all your efforts on the effort axis,
00:58:20 on the x-axis and such things.
00:58:22 Irrespective of how much you move on the x-axis and how far you go, you would not have moved
00:58:31 even an bit, even an iota on the y-axis, right?
00:58:37 Irrespective of how much you, how long you move on the earth, you would not start rising
00:58:43 into the sky.
00:58:45 That is a different dimension.
00:58:46 That is what is being referred to.
00:58:49 That is being put in that way to drill some humility into us.
00:58:53 Otherwise we will think of liberation as some kind of material project that you can plan
00:59:02 and achieve in stipulated conditions of time and effort.
00:59:06 You could say these many units of work needed, these many laborers needed, these many books
00:59:11 to be read, these many hours to be spent in meditation and together all this will lead
00:59:16 to liberation.
00:59:17 It cannot be formulaic like this.
00:59:20 It cannot be time bound like this.
00:59:22 That's what Krishnamurti is saying.
00:59:24 Is that where, Guruji, grace also comes in when you say that?
00:59:35 That exactly is grace and that's what the lines are waiting for.
00:59:40 Thank you very much, Guruji.
00:59:45 [Music]
00:59:57 All existence is the Braham of the Upanishads.
01:00:01 You see, why does this line need to be said?
01:00:06 All existence is the Braham of the Upanishads.
01:00:09 Because that's not what we feel like saying.
01:00:14 Nobody feels like saying that the tasty delicious thing in front of him is just Braham.
01:00:22 It's so anticlimactic, it's so disappointing, it's so discouraging to the ego itself.
01:00:34 The senses will say you are being so tasteless, something alluring, something tempting, something
01:00:41 beautiful or something frightening is there and you are just saying it's the Braham of
01:00:45 the Upanishads.
01:00:46 Because we cannot say that, that's why the Upanishads are saying that.
01:00:51 Because we do not say that and because we suffer because of not saying that, so the
01:00:57 Upanishads are reminding us to say that.
01:00:59 All this that you are seeing is not what you think it is.
01:01:02 Forget the attraction, forget the scare, forget the temptation or the fright, forget your
01:01:09 opinions, likes, dislikes, that's what Braham stands for.
01:01:13 Forget what you think about things, forget what you think about yourself.
01:01:19 All this is not what you take it to be and that is euphemistically stated as all being Braham.
01:01:30 So, Braham is just a euphemism for things not being what they appear to be.
01:01:37 So, when you want to say this is not what I think it to be, you could in other words
01:01:44 put it as this is Braham.
01:01:49 When you are cheated by the world, you could just say Braham because it has just been exposed
01:01:55 to you that things were not what you thought them to be.
01:01:58 So, in that moment of candid realization, you just say Braham.
01:02:03 What does that denote?
01:02:04 It was not what I took it to be, Braham.
01:02:07 Braham is a humble acceptance of the limitations of the ego.
01:02:12 Braham is a humble acknowledgement that you have been deceived by yourself once again.
01:02:18 So, that's what is being said here.
01:02:21 All existence is the Braham of the Upanishads.
01:02:24 Somebody really wise, somebody really mature, somebody really brazen could have uttered
01:02:37 these words.
01:02:39 This is not what it pretends to be.
01:02:49 Why say so many words?
01:02:52 Just say Braham.
01:02:53 Braham is some kind of an acronym.
01:02:59 Braham.
01:03:01 Braham.
01:03:04 The wise mind, the attentive mind comes upon the futility of it all, the inconsequentiality
01:03:14 of it all and just says Braham.
01:03:19 Braham.
01:03:21 Braham simply means not what I take it to be.
01:03:27 I am not real, how can my perception be real?
01:03:30 Why say so much?
01:03:32 Simply say Braham.
01:03:35 Braham.
01:03:37 So, all existence is the Braham of Upanishads.
01:03:44 Existence is not intent on cheating you.
01:03:49 Existence is your own creation and you are your own enemy.
01:03:53 Therefore, existence hurts you time and again.
01:03:57 Braham.
01:03:58 Braham.
01:03:59 Braham.
01:04:00 Look at your own face in the mirror and just utter Braham.
01:04:05 You are not what you think you are.
01:04:08 Braham.
01:04:09 May I never deny Braham nor Braham deny me.
01:04:15 So, Anupam, you see grace kicking in.
01:04:19 May I never deny Braham nor Braham deny me.
01:04:24 On my side I will do the utmost possible.
01:04:29 I will never deny Braham, which means I will never patronize myself.
01:04:33 I will never be too fond of myself.
01:04:37 I will never say it exists because I think it does.
01:04:41 It is true because I insist it is.
01:04:45 No, none of that.
01:04:47 All that is just too ludicrous.
01:04:49 All that vanity has never helped me in the past, never helped anybody, is unlikely to
01:04:54 help ever again.
01:04:58 So, may I never deny Braham because I have a deep-seated tendency to deny Braham.
01:05:06 Had that tendency not been there, there was no need to pray against Braham denial.
01:05:13 But everything within me wants to deny Braham.
01:05:16 What does that mean?
01:05:17 Everything within me is actually in support of, in very active, very vocal support of
01:05:27 itself.
01:05:28 The eyes are saying the things exist as they look because we look at them that way.
01:05:38 Things exist as they look because we look at them that way.
01:05:45 When I say eyes, I mean eyes plus the mind.
01:05:49 The eyes by themselves do not say anything.
01:05:52 The ears say, but the voice was many fluors.
01:05:57 The singer has to be good.
01:05:58 I love the singer.
01:06:03 Every bit in our being has a tendency to construct manufactured truths of its own.
01:06:13 We are ultra-confident people never in doubt.
01:06:19 We think we know it all.
01:06:23 The moment we say we know it, we are actually denying Braham.
01:06:30 That's why the sage prays, may I never deny Braham because that's what I anyway do every time.
01:06:37 I deny Braham.
01:06:39 I don't want to do that.
01:06:40 I don't want to deny Braham.
01:06:45 Then comes the prayer in absolute helplessness and may Braham never deny me because I know
01:06:52 my limits.
01:06:54 I may say I do not want to deny Braham, but I know how powerless I am.
01:06:58 I also know, truth be told, how cunning I am.
01:07:07 I work against my own prayers.
01:07:10 Even when I am praying to always acknowledge Braham, I am actively at work to just keep
01:07:26 acknowledging myself.
01:07:29 I know the kind of funny chap I am.
01:07:33 Therefore, I leave it to Braham to save me, but that is after I have done the utmost I can.
01:07:43 I am not being fatalistic.
01:07:45 I am not trying to evade my responsibility.
01:07:51 I am not trying to just have a free ride.
01:07:57 I will do the maximum I can and I acknowledge that even the maximum that I can do will not suffice.
01:08:03 Therefore, I am saying having done the maximum I can that now it's up to Braham.
01:08:09 I have done my best, not that I have evaded work, not that I have been dishonest, not
01:08:14 that I have cut corners.
01:08:17 I have gone to the maximum extent I could, but I know I am dishonest.
01:08:22 I know I am limited.
01:08:24 Therefore, I know that I won't suffice.
01:08:29 I know that when it comes to the grand and final project, my own particular personal
01:08:35 efforts are bound to fail.
01:08:37 So, I pray may Braham never deny me or disown me.
01:08:44 Beautiful.
01:08:45 People talk of Upanishads as belonging to the Gyan Khand or Gyan Mag, the way or path
01:08:54 of knowledge.
01:08:55 You see how beautifully devotion and surrender are appearing even in the earliest of Upanishads
01:09:04 and we talk of Bhakti as something disjointed from Gyan.
01:09:09 Bhakti and Gyan I have always maintained are inseparable.
01:09:12 See, see how they are.
01:09:16 May I never deny Braham, may Braham never deny me.
01:09:20 What else is Bhakti?
01:09:23 An admission of your own insignificance, an admission of your powerlessness and therefore
01:09:33 a desperate cry, "Come save me.
01:09:40 If you appeal to me so much, if you mean to me so much, then it is upon you to rescue
01:09:48 me.
01:09:50 Else why do you call me with such intensity?"
01:09:59 Let there be no denial at all.
01:10:08 Let there be no denial at least for me.
01:10:11 Beautiful.
01:10:12 So poetic.
01:10:13 The sage says, "Let there be no denial" and then realizes, "Oh, it's a bit of a slip of
01:10:19 the tongue."
01:10:20 Says, "How do I control what Brahma does?
01:10:24 How do I control the Almighty?"
01:10:27 So I'll just limit myself to my province and I'm saying, "Let there be no denial at least
01:10:34 from me."
01:10:35 Who am I to decide what will happen from the other side?
01:10:42 Let the other side take care of itself because the other side is anyway wiser than me.
01:10:49 Who am I to dictate terms to that?
01:10:55 "May the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads be in me."
01:11:02 There is a lot that you need to have if you want to really conquer yourself.
01:11:14 Later on, Acharya Shankar put that in a very systemic way.
01:11:23 But even before he did that, a thousand years later, those virtues are found scattered all
01:11:33 over the Upanishads.
01:11:35 "Sham, dham, titiksa, uparati, vairagya, umuksha."
01:11:45 This is what one needs to tread on the path of liberation.
01:11:51 The seeker is asking for those qualities, those virtues.
01:11:58 "Let them be in me.
01:12:00 May I know how to fight against myself.
01:12:03 May I know how to douse my inner fire, sham and dham.
01:12:10 May I be detached from the external world, titiksha and vairagya.
01:12:18 May I be able to survive in whatever conditions the world throws at me, titiksha.
01:12:29 May I be inward looking, uparati.
01:12:40 May I not fall to the lure of the world, vairagya.
01:12:45 May I have a deep burning inquiry within.
01:12:49 Let that be my spirit, umuksha.
01:12:54 May I settle for nothing less than liberation, umuksha."
01:13:00 So these are the qualities that the seeker requires.
01:13:03 The Shantipat is a prayer here for these qualities.
01:13:13 "May the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads be in me, who am devoted to the Atman."
01:13:18 What does it mean to be devoted to the Atman, to Atma?
01:13:22 It means to be devoted only to the best within you.
01:13:26 It's great to support yourself, to patronize yourself, to love yourself.
01:13:32 But which part of you are you exactly devoted to?
01:13:35 Because you are not one, you are many.
01:13:38 What within you deserves your patronage, your support, your friendliness, your encouragement and energy?
01:13:45 Not every bit of you is worthy of your patronage.
01:13:50 Not every part of you deserves your support.
01:13:53 Mostly, your parts deserve discouragement.
01:13:59 In fact, they deserve to be disowned.
01:14:02 But there is some bit of you that you need to strongly back.
01:14:09 There is something within you that you need to very strongly assist.
01:14:15 That's the closest to Atma.
01:14:20 That's what would take you to Atma.
01:14:23 So, you need to have Vivek here.
01:14:26 And by the way, Vivek is one of the qualities that Acharya Shankar very strongly talks of as a qualifier in the seeker.
01:14:45 You need to have Vivek.
01:14:47 So, Vivek is needed not only with respect to the external world, what is it to be chosen, what is to be discarded.
01:14:56 Equally, you require Vivek when it comes to your inner world.
01:15:02 Which thoughts do you energize?
01:15:05 What do you put down?
01:15:07 What feelings are worthy of protection?
01:15:12 Which feelings are just worthless?
01:15:16 What in your life is to be preserved at all costs?
01:15:22 And what else is there, useless, needless drain of energy and resources?
01:15:35 Why not just throw it away?
01:15:37 Figure out the diamonds in your life.
01:15:42 Secure them, preserve them, patronize them, worship them.
01:15:47 And you can do that only when you conserve your energy from all other places.
01:15:54 If you keep dissipating yourself at a thousand places, obviously you will have very little left to devote to the right thing, to the diamond I am talking of.
01:16:05 Me, who am devoted to the Atma, to the ultimate, to the best possible, may they reside in me, may all those virtues reside in me.
01:16:18 Om Shantih Shantih Shantih.
01:16:22 Om we have already talked of.
01:16:29 Then Shantih Shantih Shantih.
01:16:32 Three kinds of inner restlessness or turmoil or inner feverishness, the Upanishads refer to.
01:16:47 Adhivatak, Adhidavik and Adhyatmik.
01:16:52 They say we are restless for three reasons and therefore the threefold recital of Shanti.
01:17:04 Shanti is uttered three times, not without reason.
01:17:09 Adhivatak troubles are material troubles that you know to be material.
01:17:16 For example, you could not win a particular contract and therefore you are unhappy.
01:17:24 You very well know why you are unhappy because you could not win the money that was involved there.
01:17:31 So, this is an Adhivatak problem, purely material, purely material.
01:17:37 You wanted something, you didn't get it, you are upset.
01:17:40 That's Adhivatak Taap, Adhivatak Jor, Adhivatak Fearishness.
01:17:48 And then there is Adhidavik.
01:17:53 Adhidavik troubles are material too, except that here you do not know that they are material troubles.
01:18:01 You take them to be emotional or you take them as mystical or something.
01:18:10 You are upset for a material reason, but in absence of self-knowledge,
01:18:16 you do not know exactly what the material reason is.
01:18:20 Your mood is off, you are feeling a certain anxiety or you are depressed or whatever.
01:18:27 And somebody asks you what exactly are you so anxious for?
01:18:33 And you cannot put your finger on it, you do not really know.
01:18:37 So, then you call it as Adhidavik Taap, Adhidavik.
01:18:44 Oh, it is circumstantial, it has been sent down from the gods as a curse, Adhidavik.
01:18:50 It's coming down from there.
01:18:52 It's not really coming down from there, it's a very material thing.
01:18:58 In the Upanishadic times, Adhidavik troubles also referred to prakritic things like excess rain or drought or let's say an earthquake.
01:19:10 So, these are the things you can find no possible reason for, but they are there.
01:19:17 There could be things like earthquakes or droughts or there could be things like an inner depression.
01:19:24 You do not know the reason of.
01:19:27 But however, whatever it is, it is still material.
01:19:34 So, the Shantipatit saying may I be relieved from Adhidavik troubles as well.
01:19:43 And then comes the third prayer for Shanti and this one is for peace against Adhyatmik Taap, Adhyatmik troubles.
01:20:01 Now, this is interesting and important because this indicates the qualifying criteria as well.
01:20:16 Qualifying criteria for being worthy enough to go into the Upanishads.
01:20:24 So, when you have Adhibhautik trouble, then it's for some material reason.
01:20:31 When you have Adhidavik trouble, it is for some unknown material reason.
01:20:37 And when you have Adhyatmik trouble, it is for an existential reason.
01:20:45 There is really no particular material reason.
01:20:48 There really is no reason.
01:20:51 It's just that you are not okay with being as you are.
01:20:55 You are not okay with existence itself.
01:20:58 It's not that you are upset with something particular in existence.
01:21:02 You are not alright with existence itself and that is Adhyatmik trouble.
01:21:07 This is the kind of trouble that a Gautam Buddha would have faced in his palace.
01:21:13 Not that the wife is not beautiful enough or mannered enough or devoted enough.
01:21:23 Not that he wanted a daughter and got a son.
01:21:26 Not that the palace is not big enough.
01:21:28 Not that the kingdom is not wide enough.
01:21:31 None of these problems.
01:21:33 Everything is alright.
01:21:34 Still there is a restlessness.
01:21:36 Now, that is Adhyatmik trouble.
01:21:42 There are very few people who really have Adhyatmik Taap.
01:21:47 Mostly we have Adhibhautik and Adhidavik.
01:21:50 Blessed are the ones who start having Adhyatmik Taap.
01:21:57 Everything is alright.
01:21:59 Not that everything is at the maximum.
01:22:02 Everything is alright in the sense that things are not troubling you anymore.
01:22:07 There is something else that is troubling and that something else is very difficult to take care of.
01:22:14 You have tried everything and things don't work when it comes to that particular kind of trouble.
01:22:21 That is Adhyatmik restlessness.
01:22:23 Only when there is Adhyatmik restlessness do the Upanishads become meaningful to you.
01:22:28 Because if your restlessness has to do with the material,
01:22:32 then you may go and obtain the desired kind of material and your restlessness would be taken care of for a while.
01:22:43 Only when your restlessness has nothing to do with material that you realize that further material pursuit would be of no help.
01:22:51 That is when you are forced to turn to Vedanta and wisdom.
01:22:57 Om Shanti Shanti Shanti He.
01:23:01 It is the third Shanti that is the real one and most elusive one.
01:23:12 It has become fashionable these days to just say Om Shanti,
01:23:18 which is a thing of a comedy
01:23:29 and to make it not been so tragic.
01:23:35 It is not without reason that the Upanishads utter Shanti three times.
01:23:41 If you just say Om Shanti, you are limiting yourself to the material.
01:23:47 You are saying may all my material grievances be redressed.
01:23:51 Om Shanti.
01:23:53 And what about Shanti and Shanti, the other two?
01:23:57 The really higher kind of troubles, you have totally overlooked them.
01:24:03 Is that purely a coincidence or is it by design?
01:24:09 So do not try to take shortcuts when it comes to the Upanishads at least.
01:24:16 If something is uttered three times, the number three has some significance.
01:24:23 Without understanding Vedanta, do not try to appropriate Vedantic parlance.
01:24:28 Otherwise, you will be making a joker of yourself.
01:24:33 Don't become an existential clown.
01:24:37 It is Om Shanti Shanti Shanti and for good reason.
01:24:49 Yes.
01:24:53 Namaskar Chalaji. Am I audible?
01:24:56 Yes, you are.
01:24:59 So when you mentioned that Brahm is a thing but when you mistake something for something else,
01:25:06 so it is not that thing and you got mistaken.
01:25:09 Sounds like it isn't some kind of an entity which can feel, do or act out.
01:25:14 It isn't some kind of an entity which can act out something.
01:25:17 It is just a mistake.
01:25:19 So if it is not an entity like a God or something, then why is in the next line it is being mentioned,
01:25:24 let not Brahman forget me as if because deny me.
01:25:28 Deny is an action verb denoting action.
01:25:31 Is it just a poetic expression of the Rishi or something else?
01:25:37 Just as you use Brahm in the first place to indicate and remember your own helplessness.
01:25:48 Similarly, Brahm has been used in the second expression too.
01:25:53 When it is said, let Brahman not deny me, what it means is I remember that the entire strength of my effort will not suffice.
01:26:04 Just read it as saying I will not suffice because I will not suffice, so I am praying somebody else to take care of me.
01:26:13 Now that somebody else is obviously not an active entity.
01:26:17 But when you say let Brahm take care of me, what you are saying is I am not sufficient to take care of myself.
01:26:25 It has to be read that way.
01:26:28 The Upanishads have to be read in a very special way, the way of denial, the denial of the ego.
01:26:35 But because the ego does not like to hear itself being denied again and again,
01:26:42 therefore Brahm has been used some kind of a method to deny the ego.
01:26:49 Instead of saying not ego, you say Brahm.
01:26:55 Because who is the recipient of these words? The ego itself.
01:27:01 If you repeatedly tell the ego not ego, not ego, not ego, it will get infuriated and bored and run away.
01:27:09 So, instead of saying not ego, you say Brahm.
01:27:14 But however that is not to be taken as Brahm being some kind of a formed or active entity with a will, with a choice or anything.
01:27:26 Brahm is just something figurative.
01:27:30 Brahm is not something that exists.
01:27:33 So, when it is said all existence is Brahm, what does that mean?
01:27:37 All existence is not ego, meaning it is not what I take it to be.
01:27:42 That does not mean that it is something in particular.
01:27:46 That does not mean that Brahm is something you can conceptualize or think of,
01:27:51 or Brahm has something name, form, or Brahm is unable, or Brahm is amenable to description, none of that.
01:28:02 So, aren't we moving very close to atheism here once we say that Brahm is not an entity or is not a God?
01:28:10 Aren't we moving very close to atheism here then?
01:28:14 You are moving close to the true self.
01:28:17 You are denying the ego.
01:28:20 What are you denying?
01:28:22 Ego.
01:28:23 Now, if your God comes from your ego, then you are denying God as well.
01:28:26 But do you want to take ego denial as atheism?
01:28:31 No, you are denying the ego to affirm the truth.
01:28:38 However, you are very right in a very ironic way.
01:28:43 Most of the Gods that we worship as human beings are nothing but reflections of our ego.
01:28:52 So, it is not incidental that when we deny the ego, we end up denying the Gods also,
01:28:58 because those Gods are anyway just a reflection of the ego.
01:29:01 So, true theism will look very much like atheism, because true theism will involve denying everything false.
01:29:13 You will have to deny the ego and therefore you will have to deny all the Gods that man worships.
01:29:18 It is irrespective of whether you worship one God or many Gods, there are streams that say we worship just one God,
01:29:25 there are people who say, oh, we worship many Gods.
01:29:28 So, all those things, irrespective of the number of Gods, the fact is our Gods are just reflections of who we are.
01:29:36 And when you want to negate the ego, all your Gods also disappear.
01:29:42 But that does not mean you are being atheistic or nihilistic.
01:29:48 In fact, you are now being just truthful.
01:29:54 You are negating and denying something which anyway is a myth.
01:29:59 You are denying the ego, you are denying ahankar.
01:30:03 Why? Because you love the truth.
01:30:07 You want to just talk of the, or be in the atma, and that is the highest act of theism or astikta.
01:30:22 True astikta, it is ironical, it is a reflection of the way we are, looks so much like nastikta.
01:30:33 Thank you sir.
01:30:38 Last question from myself would be, it is a mention of shanti three times,
01:30:43 but like after I started listening to you and reading this wisdom texture,
01:30:48 the process is not full of peace and it is quite frictionful process and we keep on questioning ourself and it is not anywhere close to being a peaceful process.
01:30:59 So, is peace an end state kind of a thing or and the most important is a process which is frictionful most of the times?
01:31:10 Work in process, you can never have absolute peace.
01:31:14 In the context of the person, absolute peace is just a movement towards the absolute.
01:31:24 So, you can have absolute peace, at the same time you can never have it.
01:31:30 Absolute means the utter maximum possible.
01:31:34 To the ego, the utter maximum possible is just movement, movement in the right direction.
01:31:40 And a final arrival, a conclusion and ending, that is just a utopia.
01:31:49 Do not hope of that.
01:31:52 Just keep moving endlessly, pauselessly and revel in the process.
01:32:03 Be joyful, be grateful that you could move in spite of the adversities.
01:32:11 That itself is the absolute.
01:32:13 Arrival is not the absolute.
01:32:16 The journey is the absolute.
01:32:18 When we say that we are not seeing the things as they are, like the way they were meant to be and then we have to say it as a Brahma.
01:32:33 But I am little confused, we should call it Brahma or we should call it Maya because projection is the work of Maya.
01:32:40 Maya is what you think of things, that is Maya.
01:32:46 Maya is everything that you are, everything that you see, feel, think, say, all that is Maya.
01:32:57 And all that is false because all that deceives you so much and all that is so impermanent.
01:33:04 That is Maya.
01:33:07 And Maya, remember, is a choice.
01:33:11 When you decide that you have had enough of it, then you stop believing in her and that kind of negation of Maya, that kind of cessation of Maya, you euphemistically denote by the word Brahma.
01:33:37 And Acharya ji, one more thing, as we have heard that the whole spirituality is about distancing ourselves from the doer, that is ego, I think.
01:33:47 So, how to practice that in our day to day life?
01:33:51 Be more assertive against the doer.
01:33:57 The doer does not seek your permission, does it?
01:34:00 Tears just well up, your eyes are flooded, anger arises and your cheeks are flushed with blood.
01:34:15 There are instinctive reactions, one falls in love as well.
01:34:22 So many things happen without your permission.
01:34:27 Learn to be more assertive against yourself.
01:34:31 Ask yourself, such a thing is happening in my inner world.
01:34:36 Is it happening with my consent?
01:34:38 Why can't I be the ruler of my inner universe?
01:34:43 All right, I cannot be the queen of the world, but why can't I rule even my inner world?
01:34:49 Why must I have feelings I have not sanctioned?
01:34:54 Why must uninvited thoughts rule over me?
01:34:59 They may come, I may find I have no control over their arrival, but why must I allow them to lord over me?
01:35:10 Moods, thoughts, impressions, aversions, all these things, that's what we live in.
01:35:25 And the body is aching at some point and the mind is saying, oh that ache is so important.
01:35:33 Some prospect is luring me, so much money can be had.
01:35:41 If I go to that place, I'll probably win the respect and sanction of some people.
01:35:47 All these things are there.
01:35:49 Ask yourself, have I really allowed them to exist within me?
01:35:54 Or are they just coming and trespassing and then occupying my entire inner space?
01:36:08 Why must I allow that to happen?
01:36:13 They are trespassing in such an indecent way that they are occupying not only inner space, but also my name.
01:36:27 They have hijacked even my core.
01:36:34 Somebody has barged into your house and not only has he stolen the things inside your house,
01:36:46 the scary thing is he has stolen away even your name.
01:36:57 He came in, he occupied your kitchen, your bed, your things, your money, your thoughts, your emotions and also your name.
01:37:11 You start saying, I am angry.
01:37:14 But anger never took your permission, how come you are angry?
01:37:19 I am sad, but sadness never asked for your permission, how come you are sad?
01:37:25 Such an intruder this sadness is and very, very sly intruder.
01:37:36 You do not say, oh, I am Chitra and sadness is trying to barge in.
01:37:49 Sadness becomes Chitra.
01:37:53 Look at her slyness and she never remember again asked for your permission.
01:38:06 So, practice this, practice this.
01:38:09 We are so touchy about our freedom when it comes to the world.
01:38:20 Somebody comes and tries to dictate a few things to you and you just react.
01:38:27 How can you tell me what to do?
01:38:30 Your neighbor comes and he tells you, you should paint your gate blue and you are not like that.
01:38:43 Who are you to tell me how I should paint my gate?
01:38:50 But when it comes to the inner world, we are not at all sensitive to freedom.
01:38:58 We are utter slaves in our inner world and we have no spine to rebel against this sorry state.
01:39:08 So, practice that, practice that.
01:39:18 So earlier we were talking that you said in the context of worshipping the Atma that it's about worshipping the highest in ourselves.
01:39:29 And in that context you said that there are certain tendencies in ourselves that we have to like not empower or side with and something that we have to empower.
01:39:43 And I was reminded that there was some session earlier where you said that the false survives by calling a part of itself as the truth.
01:39:56 And I was thinking that how to reconcile this kind of a contradiction because I see that there's a difference in context, but I think I'm not getting the exact, you know.
01:40:13 There's a gang of very accomplished robbers in the town. What do they do?
01:40:28 They dress up as policemen and they knock at your door and they say police, right?
01:40:38 The false dressing up as the truth, right?
01:40:43 So, these robbers they dress up as cops and they knock and they say, they also show you some kind of forged I cards, police.
01:40:53 And then you look at them and then you say, okay fine I have to answer the doorbell, it's the police.
01:41:00 Now once they are in, what do you do? Once they are in and they start showing their true colors, what do you do?
01:41:08 Do you say, well you know the police is the robbers, so well there is nobody to go to seek help.
01:41:20 No, you don't do that, you dial 100 or whichever number you dial in your country, you dial some number, right?
01:41:31 You don't start saying, well the police is already here, so there is nobody to go to.
01:41:37 The true police too does exist, the false can masquerade as the truth, but that does not mean that no truth exists apart from the false.
01:41:50 But that is something you have to be very discreet about.
01:42:00 Maybe you should look more closely at their I cards before answering the doorbell.
01:42:08 Maybe you should be, I don't know, whatever precautions that can be taken to differentiate the real thing from the false thing.
01:42:22 But it would be a mistake, it would be a tragedy to think that there is nothing within you that can assist you in your journey to the truth.
01:42:37 At different points in time, you will find that there are different qualities that you have that can be discreetly used to your advantage.
01:42:53 In fact, if you are devoted enough and loving enough and discreet enough, you may find that practically everything that you have is useful at some point or the other.
01:43:06 Some point or the other, not everything all at once, not everything at the same point.
01:43:12 Most of what we have deserves condemnation or indifference most of the times.
01:43:20 But equally, I am saying everything that we have can be constructively used at some point.
01:43:29 And that's your best reply to Maya.
01:43:32 She filled you up with stuff that stinks so bad.
01:43:38 And yet, with your love and with your creativity, you can use every bit of yourself very discreetly, not at all times, I repeat, and not on all occasions, sometimes.
01:43:52 You can use everything to your advantage.
01:43:56 But even as I say these things to you, I realize the dangers inherent in these words.
01:44:06 One can very well use these words to start patronizing all the nonsense and the filth within and argue that this nonsense is not without use.
01:44:23 At some point, I know I will be using these things to my advantage.
01:44:27 So, currently, I am preserving them and securing them so that they are available for future use.
01:44:35 If one does that, there is no answer to that.
01:44:43 The only answer can be your own inner honesty and discretion.
01:44:53 So, you see, it is not without reason that liberation is such a complicated affair, right?
01:45:01 You have to use your own inner enemies to your advantage.
01:45:08 And it is so, so easy to be deceived and fall flat and discover that in your attempt to be clever, you have been made a fool of.
01:45:23 And that happens even with the most sincere of seekers.
01:45:28 And it is through a series of these defeats and disappointments that one has to make his way.
01:45:36 And do not be surprised if a lot of things do not turn out the way you expected them to in spite of your utmost sincerity and honesty.
01:45:47 I am saying in spite of your utmost sincerity.
01:45:50 If you are not sincere, then the result is foretold.
01:45:53 But even if you are sincere, be ready for setbacks.
01:45:58 And just keep getting up and trying all your life.
01:46:03 By the way, this is probably the first time I am watching you on screen.
01:46:12 I have some courage throughout these, what, four years.
01:46:23 Good to see you. Good to see you.
01:46:27 Thank you. Thank you as well.
01:46:36 Acharya ji, may I ask my question? Yes, please.
01:46:45 Knowing Brahma is only a journey which does not have any, means the destination is at infinity and we cannot reach the destination, but we have to follow the journey.
01:46:57 You reach the destination through your disappearance.
01:47:02 But that's just a heavy word.
01:47:07 You could say the purpose of life is to keep approaching Brahma.
01:47:13 Without ever claiming that you have arrived.
01:47:17 Thank you.
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