The Great Bliss | Swami Sarvapriyananda

good morning just looking forward to see the faces of the brave souls who have braved the sudden cold for Vedanta one of the qualifications for vedantist addiction where you put up with all that the world can throw at you the troubles the physical and mental troubles and still you stick to Vedanta so heat or cold I will go and attend a Vedanta class that is diksha that is the practice of spiritual fortitude today I propose to dwell on one mantra from the Upanishads from the largest of the Upanishads the brihadaranyaka upanishad there is a mantra towards the end of that Upanishad it goes like this mam j8v Jonny I am a smithy purusa ha Kimmy Chen Kazakh Maya Shari Romano Sangha rate this particular mantra I'll tell you what it means it contains the essence of Vedanta and Shankar Acharya news commentary has written a brief commentary on it may be a paragraph or so but with uranium in his punch other she writes his biggest chapter the seventh chapter two hundred and ninety verses on this one short mantra two hundred and ninety verses and that chapter is packed with lot of insights into Vedanta into spiritual life so I'll primarily draw upon that and many other things today with a lot of material lot of ground to cover let's see I'll have to move fast and you'll have to pay attention Atmaram Jade Virginia diamas methi Purusha that's the original language what does it mean when a person realizes the self I to be this I am us me et this sat-chit-ananda I am NOT the body in mind I am existence consciousness bliss when one realizes this the next comedian desiring what Castilla Kamiya for whose satisfaction for whose pleasure shehram Anna Sangha rate will such a person such an enlightened person suffer along with the body suffer along with the body and mind continue to subject oneself to the sufferings of the body and mind so the whole words together means when one becomes enlightened by enlightenment in Vedanta we realized that we are the absolute existence consciousness bliss not this body mind when actually one realizes it directly then desiring what what shall I desire and for whose sake kamichan Kosaka my sharee romanís enjoy it we will one continue to suffer with the body mind for aspects are to be understood here a one is realization that I must work for the first aspect is gone a realization Who am I or what am I really number one the second aspect is what is called negation of worldly enjoyment Hoagy initiator Commission desiring what then nothing in this world becomes an object that is worth pursuing one transcends all of that so the second point we have to will dwell upon is what is to be desired in this world from the point of view of enlightenment and the answer will be nothing hid nothing worldly not none of the be shoddy the sense objects are worthwhile and the third point that we should note is for whose sake am i doing all this we never questioned this so the enjoyer the person who is trying that the entity which is trying to get pleasure and satisfaction enjoyment in this world we must inquire into that for whose sake cassia kottmeier that's the third aspect technically it's a negation of the of the individual enjoyer in sanskrit your terms are very precise doctrine Ishida we think that we are an individual being in Buddha's body and mind and trying to attain certain goals in life that one is dissolved and then finally suffering with the body mind complex that suffering is transcended we no longer suffer with the body mind complex a fourth fourth aspect this is called jeevan mukthi the body is still there you still live living your life continues but in the midst of this this life we have transcended suffering so if this is called Jeevan Mukti living in the body and yet transcending the body so these are the aspects of this this short mantra from debris hedonic Upanishad and I propose to dwell on this today with the help of the material that mind from with uranium in pancha Joshi he takes the help of that story I have told this often the tenth man story the spiritual journey to enlightenment he understands through the tenth man story web story in brief we all know ten friends were going on a journey and then they had to cross a river and across the river and when they went across suddenly talk it to one of them did we all cross or did somebody drown let's count and one of them counts one two three four five six seven eight nine no no that can't be right one two three four five six seven eight nine oh my god the tenth person is drowned it's not here and the other ones others say that no you are not counting right let me count and each of them counts and finds only nine and we know why they are finding only nine but they don't know they find only nine and the thing that the tenth person is drowned and they're crying and then somebody passes by a wise person who says why are you crying well the ten our friend the tenth person is has drowned is dead how did you know we counted and of course this person must have counted and seen that ten people and then this person says to them don't cry the 10th person is there alive where we don't see no just believe me there's an important stage in spiritual life just take it fro on faith that the 10th person is there now I will show you when the person comes down it says count again one two three four five six seven eight nine I told you there online and this wise man takes this man's hand the one who was counting and turns it towards himself I said thou art the tenth - Thomas Thomas EDA at the 10th and this man realizes that oh I am the tenth my god the tenth person has been found and so happy and delighted and it others say let me try it let me try it and they also find one two three four five six seven eight nine ten oh my god the tenth person is found in the everybody is happy alright this is the story now here if you look closely the seven stages of spiritual life according to Vedanta they are all there what are the seven stages iana ignorance number one second is our and availing third big shape error and suffering fourth baroque Shahana indirect knowledge indirect knowledge fifth a parochial Yanna direct knowledge in like enlightenment sixth Dukan everythi transcendence of suffering seventh on the property of Tripti property attainment of bliss the great bliss which is the subject of this morning's talk the seven stages let's look at the story first of all there is ignorant the person doesn't know that he has to count himself so that is the first what's the root of all of this ignorance Vivekananda when he came to this country and he said in Vedanta we do not talk about original sin we talked about ignorant we do not know our true nature we do not know what is what and therefore the problem starts so first ignorant that I have to count myself somehow it suit that that person's attention ignorance and the second problem comes from there is our and availing veiling is of the nature I don't see the tenth person its veiled where is the tenth person it's hidden from me this is the second state and in the same way in our life Atman god brahman immortal soul I don't see it where the first person thing that the skeptic or an atheist asked where is God I don't see God we're talking about pure consciousness Atman Brundtland there I see a body we look inside I see a mind that's it so it's veiled for us it's there just like the tenth person but veiled for us the thinnest of whales but very powerful nevertheless so the second stage in in in our spiritual journey is our reality is veiled for us just like the tenth percent he says ten percent is not there can I I can't see the tenth person I can't experience God or Brahman or at one second third week shaper ever from this comes error what happened to the in the story 10th person is drowned you see can't see the tenth person so the next immediate conclusions 10th person is drowned and sorrow and wailing all our poor friend how he drowned and then what sufferings that person must have had while drowning and we shall never see him again and tenth persons town exactly like that we ain't fall into error I the so-called pure consciousness Atman or Brahman not seen second stage third stage I am the body mind because what is seen what is experienced the body is experienced the mind is experienced and the world is experienced and hence I am the body-mind I am this little individual interacting with other little individuals in this world called Jeeva Jeeva is an individual being sentient being I am interacting with them trying to make the best of my life trying to overcome suffering mmm from our childhood till now until till our death the whole struggle is somehow to overcome suffering and try to find some kind of joy peace peace bliss satisfaction we engage in various projects for that and so suffering and that is the say stage pick shape error and suffering in our case it is called samsara samsara this whole project of living you might say no it's not all suffering there's some fun in that also I was reading George Orville he said most of us we managed to have a fair bit of fun in our lives but on the whole on the balance life is suffering except for he says except for the very young or the very foolish on the balance life is suffering George Orwell says and another person that I forget a writer here in the United States he says the status she writes the statistics tell us one out of four persons in our country is suffering from some kind of mental illness so if the three of your three best friends or three of your best friends are all right then it must be you [Laughter] all the balance George Orwell says life is suffering that is the third stage we have this endless strife and striving and suffering then the fourth stage comes the wise person comes and tells this not does not reveal the tenth person first of all what does the wise person say relax calm down believe me that the tenth person is there where we don't see wait I'll show you but take it on faith so you you're the Guru comes along the spiritual teacher comes along the spiritual tradition so w you read the books of the different great spiritual traditions of humanity and you see that there is a possibility there is a possibility of overcoming suffering there is God or heaven or the Buddha will not talk about God in heaven but the Buddha will say life is suffering there is a cause of suffering but the third noble truth there is something beyond suffering Nirvana something is there Nirvana moksha salvation something is there beyond suffering where I don't get it wait believe it accept it think about it now dwell with that for the time being you'll get it will show you directly you will experience it directly but for the time being take it on faith why should I take it on faith you take so many things on faith when you go to the classroom in Columbia University maybe mathematics or physics or something or computer science you don't go in there thinking that the professor must be lying to me and the textbooks are full of lies no you take it on faith that I don't get it yet I don't understand it yet but if I persevere I will understand if I listen to this guy the teacher or read these books I will think about it I will get it in time so that kind of faith that's all that that's where we are asking for take it on faith that this possibility is there the possibility of overcoming suffering is there what stage was that stage for this is called baroque Shahana and of the knowledge you get by reading a book by listening to this talk in Vedanta society okay we have been told that I am the absolute existence consciousness bliss I don't even know if I can spell that properly but I must be he says so I guess it must be so one Swami in the Himalayas he was questioned why should we believe this and he said why do you believe that these are your parents your that's your mother well there are records the hospital record shows that and he says well are the hospital records even better than the Upanishads and the Gita and you know all the great scriptures of humanity um no but the nurse sadhus the nurse saw that my mother gave birth to me and the Swami said it works very nicely in Hindi humble Dragutin brahma ho-hum cannot say big I would say hey I am Telling so the nurse tells you that this is your mother I am telling you that you are Brahman am i worse than the nurse am i less believable so take it on on faith that there is this reality this is called parochial Ghana which you get from a book which you get from classes and from teachers and so from your spiritual tradition religious tradition and then comes the final realization the fifth stage where the teacher tells you where the person turns his hand around and thou art the tenth and with a process a spiritual process in in Vedanta we undergo various techniques the method of the seer and the seen we have often discussed this trick drishya Vivica the method of the five sheets the method of the three states waking dreaming and deep sleep by this analysis with these kinds of philosophical analysis we are made to appreciate actually I am the witness of the five sheets I am NOT this body made of five sheets I am the witness consciousness here or I am the witness of the waking and the Dreaming and the deep sleep and the consciousness which alia means all of them I am free of them they come and go or I am the seer the experiencer clearly I am NOT the experienced object so the body and the mind are all experienced and therefore I am the direct experience of this mind and body and so on and by this process along with lot of other spiritual practices I don't get it what are you saying or you don't get it all right in that case sit straight breathe in this way meditate on ohm in your heart I'm feeling sleepy if I try to do that okay feeling sleepy in that case open your eyes don't close your eyes here is an picture here is an icon here are flowers here as a mantra to be chanted chant it loudly so that you don't fall asleep and I find this boring you'll find it boring then go out here are homeless people you go and help them without taking anything in return for you know for your services karma yoga OPA worship bhakti yoga meditation Raja yoga all of these practices are important at this stage to convert this understanding into a direct realization and then what happens in the fifth stage like the tenth person who realized one two three four five six seven eight nine ten oh my god in the same way there is a flash there is a breakthrough there is an moment of overwhelming clarity it comes oh I am free of this body and mind I am the ever free witness consciousness such Eden and then what happens sixth state sorrow goes away the sorrow of the losing our friend the tenth man that goes away how I see that the problems are in the body mind I the witness consciousness I am the witness of the suffering in the body I am the witness of the suffering in the mind quite apart from the body mind I never had any suffering I do not have any suffering there is no possibility of me having in suffering so the question of removing suffering also goes away I have been ever free this becomes very clear this is called Dukan every t transcending suffering and then what I am I beyond suffering this the Bliss that I am such chit Ananda is ever revealed to me and the great joy I have found the tenth person oh my God my our dear friend tenth person has been found that joy which everybody enjoyed that great joy not because you found the tenth person but you realized that you are one with God that your own divine nature searched on and the Atma is ever present ever shining forth ever revealed to you that kind of joy comes the the enlightened person in every tradition one characteristic is that extraordinarily happy and satisfied blissful that's why it's called Brahm Han and the Bliss of the infinite in every tradition it doesn't have to be the knowledge tradition of Advaita Vedanta it could be a devotee you know someone like Meera Bai or Sudha are the devotees in lovers of God in every tradition st. Francis of Assisi they're full of joy even in the midst of what we would consider suffering and deprivation they're full of joy on the property that's the seventh stage so these are the seven stages of the spiritual journey which you see illustrated by the story of the tenth person you see basically what is this journey if you see it from a direct standpoint this journey is a discovery of what we truly are a discovery of what we truly are what am I really here are these three meanings of the word I when I say o'clock when I say a word o'clock the word is o'clock and it refers to this object when I say the word I what does it refer to not this one I mean the vertical I what does the word I refer to instinctively it refers to body and mind if you say I say I it without any hesitation goes this is I and if somebody catches hold of this and say what is this we say this is ah this is me the I what am i this body and what what is this body it's me instantly it it goes goes to this body mind now Vedanta says there are three meanings of this word I one meaning in which we use it the ignorant the persons who are not enlightened they use it in this word this meaning and two meanings in which the enlightened use it so what is the meaning in which the ignorant those who are not yet enlightened those who are on the road to enlightenment in what way do they use the word I the I means for for most of us according to Vedanta it's a combination of Sakshi the witness consciousness and Tschida Abha saw the reflected consciousness chit and jata has a pure consciousness and reflected consciousness what do these terms mean first of all the reflected consciousness what it means is right now we are sitting and listening if I ask you are you aware you ask yourself am i aware and the answer will come from inside yes I'm aware it could be I'm aware of the Swami speaking if you're paying attention it could be I'm aware of how long is this going to last if you're not paying so much attention it could be that I'm aware of my dream if you're completely out of it and sleeping if you're dropping off to sleep you are you're in your dream world but you are aware that awareness is what is called reflected consciousness or reflected awareness it's like it's not the real awareness it's not not the real you the reflected awareness is like when you look at your face in the mirror you see your face in the mirror and supposing you forgotten your original face and you think that's who I am that's not who you are that's a reflection of your face that's not the real face that's a reflection in the mirror that is really nothing to do with your face but suppose I have forgotten my own face and I take the reflection to be my face that's what has happened to us we are really the witness consciousness we don't understand that yet we don't grasp that yet but we see ourselves as the awareness we feel in the mind most grown-up educated sensitive people think of ourselves as the sentient being in this body mind complex right now right now check with your life we're on the works wonderfully if you check with your life right now right now honestly what do I think I am I think I am this person and this away or sentient being this person in this body a person embodied in a body that's what I think I am Swami very kinda said sit quietly and say to yourself I and if any sort of body or mind comes to you you are not enlightened yet if the word I refers to the body and mind see like the word clock refers to this clock if the word I straight away naturally refers to body mind then I am not enlightened yet so for the for the unenlightened the word I refers to the consciousness in this mind and this mind is is directly connected to the body so for the arm for the who are not yet enlightened not yet free not yet Buddhas we think naturally think we are this person body mind so that's one meaning of the word I the primary meaning but the enlightened persons have two meanings for the word I which is different from us what they have been able to do is separate the witness consciousness from the reflected consciousness for them also the mirror is there what's the mirror the mind what's the face in the mirror the reflected consciousness what's the original face the witness consciousness Sakshi the enlightened person is clearly able to distinguish between reflected face real face yes I can do that you can do that for a reflected face in real face but the enlightened person can distinguish between witness consciousness and reflected consciousness so reflected consciousness the awareness which we have right now which is enabling us to hear and talk or not here as you he'll end and dream and the original consciousness this witness consciousness which is being reflected in the in the mirror of the mind this clarity we are aware of the mixture they are able to able to separate it so Ramakrishna put it very very in his sweet metaphor sand add sugar are mixed the ant can separate them water and milk are mixed the Swan can separate them and the last one in Bengali girl Molly malate Goldie but the multi loaded I mean it know the translation comes nowhere close to the punch of the original it says in chaos there is truth leave the chaos behind and take the truth out of it very poor translation now in this mixture of pure consciousness and reflected consciousness the enlightened person is able to separate the two if you ask Ramakrishna who are you truly and Ramakrishna will say I am sat-chit-ananda I am existence consciousness place and then you ask so do you live in a room in the temple garden of Dakshina sure he will say yep how can pure consciousness live in a room in the temple garden abduction issue are you a priest of the Divine Mother Kali and say yes how can pure consciousness be a priest of divine mother Kali or anything else if you say that do you have a beer deal say yes I have appeared how can pure consciousness have a beard the enlightened person uses the word I in two senses one clearly as the real such Iran and the I am Brahman where with full honesty and conviction he can claim jalan andrew baja shivoham shivoham i am of the nature of bliss and consciousness i am shiva i am shiva can claim honestly can also claim that i have a beard and I live in the temple garden of the Kachina and I'm a priest of Kali what is he talking about then the reflected consciousness the the awareness in that particular body mind clearly I am NOT that it's the face in the mirror but I am also aware of that these two are the senses in which an enlightened person uses the word I sometimes you catch them in the transition when see ramakrishna says when you come here bring something for this this will be worship one day and from you know in households you know is the picture of this when you looked at this - this picture referring to the body mind we normally do not refer to ourselves as this the unenlightened person will not cannot honestly refer to oneself as this Allah always referred to oneself as I the mixture of pure consciousness and with and reflected consciousness so the eye has these three senses anyway how do you to realize this Jade we Johnny the Sanskrit word Virginia means to realize it to know it to know it with great clarity with Johnny yet how do you do that where antecessor we always hear shravana monana needed the husana here these truths think about them meditate upon them here is an insight I will share this quickly with you when we study the Vedanta this truth is told to us that you are the original consciousness the witness consciousness where do we get it from just now we are studying what live from the Upanishads yes we are studying a mantra from the Upanishads the source of spiritual knowledge is the Upanishads Vedanta is based on the Upanishads it's the experience of the sages which they have shared with us that points out this reality to us you require that person wise person to point out thou art the tenth to clarify to remove the error in the mind if somebody has to come and point it out and turn our hand this way so who does that the teacher and the text they do it now the first problem with this is the text say many things if you look at the text open it will tell you the story of nachiket who went to Yama Upanishads will tell you sometimes in dualistic language two birds sitting on a tree dois Suparna say you Joss acquire two birds so dualistic not non-dualistic Upanishads will sometimes the Gita tells you about what to eat and how much to sleep and how much to exercise yoga Taha Ravi Haris so what is it all about this entire body of literature and all these teachings what's the point of it can you tell me straightaway the point of it so the first problem is to know the point of all of this that's why a systematic study is necessary what is the point of it the point of all of this is that thou art you are Brahman that's the point all the other things the story is the practices and everything they're all helpful but that's not of those are not the point of the entire roopa anish it's Gita or Vedanta the point is that you are Brahman to get to this point is the first stage shravana shravana means hearing a systematic study so in technical vedantic language the problem of ascertaining the meaning of Vedanta is called brahmana sambhaavana pramana means source of knowledge assam havana means confusion or impossibility or contradiction in the source of knowledge that is resolved by ravana systematic study and hearing stage 1 stage 2 after this after what after understanding all of a Dante's telling me I am Brahman after understanding this second problem comes technically this is called premiere sambhaavana confusion or a doubt regarding the subject of knowledge what are you studying what is the subject I am Brahman that's the subject I'm studying I have a doubt about this what is the doubt how can I be Brahman I am this body I am this mind I was born in such in such place and this is my life story so this is called this impossibility about the subject the subject being that I am Brahman I don't feel I am Brahman I am this person so this is removed by so much of discussion in vedanta many questions are raised your you are asked to raise your questions answers are given you argue it out till you come to clarity what clarity that Upanishads tell me that I am Brahman stage one and stage two now I get it I get it I'm clear about it now I begin to see what they are talking about and again I'm beginning to understand that that clarity comes this is the second stage it's called monana the problem is called from a sambhaavana premier means the thing to be known what is to be known I am Brahman somehow in a confusion regarding that impossibility I'm not Brahman that is clarified by the second stage mononym which is through logic and argumentation put forward every question that you have any question that you have and the answers are dealt with even after this a problem remains whatever what has been achieved till now till now I have achieved the texts tell me I am Brahman and I understand that I am Brahma I understand here I understand but what's the problem now the problem now is I understand something here but the rest of it they don't obey they go their own way Jonathan hides here who's a well-known psychologist he's written the book the happiness hypothesis he writes he gives the example of the MA who the one who controls the elephant sitting on the elephant and the elephant itself now the one who's sitting on the elephant who controls the elephant he can read a map and he can know him to go from here point A to point B now the elephant is not interested in your Maps the elephant cannot read the map the elephant will go it will take you from point A to point B only the elephant wants but then if elephant wants to go and read somebody's garden and eat the bananas that it's too strong you can't stop it no amount of see that's what happens the intellect gets convinced you know all these Barnes and Nobles you will see full of more big shelves full of self-help books how to meditate how to become thin how to become happy and how to focus how to manage your time and so many wonderful books you see those books you will feel that life can be transformed into something fantastic within a few days in three days seven day course or twenty-one day calls to happiness and then after some time you don't work I bought so many books they don't work they all say nice things and persuasive things what has happened the books speak to the intellect the intellect is convinced the intellect is full of enthusiasm yes I must get up at 4 a.m. in the morning and meditate and do yoga intellect is full of fire and enthusiasm but next day in the morning when it is cold when it is in the 20s and it's really really cold and 4:00 a.m. the alarm goes off the body says and the one who's going to get up and feel cold not you intellect said but what about all the resolutions what about all the all the decisions that I have to do this the body says those were your resolutions did you ask me I like sleeping hmm I like remaining under covers and who's stronger usually the body stronger it's like a committee where the intellect is one member but the emotions are another member the likes and dislikes are the the past conditioning is another member the physical body with this nervous system is another member of the committee those members did not sign on for your program of self self-improvement so what does the elephant respond to the elephant respite I'll just think about it what do the mouths do they don't give inspiring talks to the elephant they train the elephant and training is basically repetition repetition a program of training is given so once I have understood this once I have I have grasped this particular truth that I am Brahman then I have to dwell on it I had to dwell on it this dwelling on what you have understood from the texts what you have clear about intellectually this continuous dwelling on it and trying to bring it into life taking it for a test-drive trying to struggle to manifest it in life this is called needed a asana Vedantic meditation it can be done sit quietly and feel that your Brahman what you have understood feel it as a reality but it also can be done in action every day we chant when when we go when you eat here Brahma Hart penumbra Mohave Brahma hog no Brahman autumn Brahma hey Betina Kentuckian Brahma karma Samadhi 'no that's not a prayer for eating that's a prayer for needed the asana they had the final stage of vedantic practice that where you see the instruments of action as brahman the you know the like where you are eating the food itself is Brahman the one who is eating is from and the act of eating is prominent in fact in any action one who sees all the factors of action as Brahman that one attains to Brahman that is needed the US and its dwelling on that before that you must have understood Vedanta and you do must get clarity about Vedanta then try to manifest it in everyday life the persons you interact with are brahmana this person this body and mind is Brahman the consciousness with which I do this work is Brahman the instruments of action adrenaline all factors involved in my life are Brahman deal with it like that person who can rule Don to this awareness that person realizes from Hayati Nagant opium this practice it strenuous soup day Amrit a calm night vedanta cynthia till you fall asleep and till you die till that point continue with vida and immerse yourself in Vedantic thought first the thought then only practice immerse yourself in this clarity of understanding then it will automatically get expressed in action usually we put the cart before the horse Swami I understood I listened to your talk but doesn't work in real life what you're trying to do is I think I'm body and mind but I'll try to behave like I am Brahman no first you must be clear about how you are Brahman then only try to behave like your Brahman in in in this in the world of action so this is the region yacht when you realize yourself how do you realize shravana manon and Aditya sana this third third part needed the asana removes a problem technical name we Purita Bhavana we put it up havana means opposite tendency life after life we have conditioned ourselves to behave as if we are this body mind so even when clarity comes into the mind that I am the witness consciousness I tend to behave as a body mind that tendency has to be reversed by dwelling on it needed the asana three problems three practices first problem I do this is brahmana somehow and I don't know what the mean so shravana study and listen again and again and again till you get a clarity about the text the teaching now you know what the teaching says second problem that premier Assam Bhavana I know the texts tell me I'm Brahmin but I don't get it how am i prominent what is Brahman and Wow implement so that is resolved by mononym the second practice and third is even after attaining clarity that I am Brahman now I know that dopant shots teach I am Brahman I am clear about it I've got clarity that I am Brahman but I can't put it into practice in life my the elephant still tends to go its own way so the training the drilling into it Vivekananda says tell yourself again and again I am that till it tingles with every drop of your blood that is needed the asana that's the final stage we Purita Bhavana opposite tendencies are erased by this understanding realization this is realization we Johnny are atmanam JP janya then what comes kamichan desiring what I'm not even halfway through my talk and this time is almost up no but we'll go on a little more kamichan desiring what what do you desire in life power sense pleasures power learning status what do we desire in life kamichan desiring what do we lead our lives here consider for a moment from the enlighten person's point of view of course but even now we can see all our efforts till now to overcome suffering and to be happy what have the healed it at this moment some of us the little children here you've lived lived nine years or ten years or eleven years the senior citizens I know bill has lived 94 years so till now all our lives spent in this project what do we have to show for it are we happy have we a something permanent the first first great fault of all worldly pursuits impermanence it comes and goes flash-in-the-pan any sense pleasure for example is very impermanent and somebody said cookie chocolate chip cookie or something like the motif or whatever you you you want to know your favorite food put it on you on the same two seconds on the lips and twenty years on the hips somebody said you have to work so hard at Pilates to will get rid of that extra fat but the pleasure you get out of it two seconds only so impermanent every joy sense pleasures very much impermanent and then all other pleasures also even the things that we cultivate in art and science after ten years twenty years there are other people who exceed you you yourself begin to lose those capacities whether it's music or art or writing or science one mathematician told me at a university and I feel so depressed at seeing my seniors or we are so inspired by them but mathematics pure mathematics is a young person's game and these people who are our seniors in the 60s and 70s they still think they can make do cutting-edge work because that's what they have been pursuing all their life and they write but we know that they're writing trash but it's so sad that invested totally invested in that that's their source of happiness it goes away impermanent the Buddha said on it your money come serve a manikyam impermanent impermanent all is impermanent you see yeah we know that all is impermanent but I am born and I have to die but in between I can have my fun a lot of life a lot of time you know and the Buddha says Shani come Shani comes sarvam Shani come not only impermanent momentary it doesn't last for very long also it lasts just a moment because there are many moments one after another in the cities we think it lasts for a long time they say Allah the chakra but like whirling a firebrand it looks like a circle of fire but it's just one dot moving very fast in the same way life is not only impermanent but also momentary Shaniqua not only a momentary he goes further zunium zunium sarvam shown 'i'm wide void mt mt all his empty and finally do come to come serve him to come hence suffering because impermanent momentary and empty and therefore suffering say oh boy what a pessimist impermanence of all kinds of enjoyments that's one great great defect comedian what will you decide everything is impermanent but three hurry he writes everything was momentary I'm now old when I look back when I look back upon my childhood school and college and all of that it seems to have passed in a moment just look back and see just gone when you were there it seemed to be forever when will I grow up but now that you look back upon it it's mo mentally and he says youth in its vigour and and desire to taste the world and enjoy life momentary it seems to have gone in a moment and middle aged beset with so many cares financial worries for family worries and projects for life life is passing me by how to do this had to do that gone in a moment it's gone he says now I am old I walked tottering out with the help of a stick my hair is gray my teeth have fallen out and in front of me there is only death so momentary Hall of life has gone by that way Shaniqua momentary impermanent that's one great problem of any kind of worldly acquisition the next problem is even the pleasures and mixed with suffering even the pleasures are mixed with suffering whatever you want to get yeah so much effort is been required to get it imagine I want to be a multi-millionaire on Wall Street well first you have to go to an Ivy League college and getting in there you so many percentiles on your set and so much of a tremendous effort to write your what do you call it the the thesis or the why you should be admitted there why should we take yes the essays and so much so much effort when I hear about it just hearing makes me tired and after you get your degree you have to get to work and somebody was telling me my kid is working 100-hour weeks in an investment first firm earning a lot of money by hundred hour weeks if you put in a hundred hour week 100-hour week you'll be enlightened well maybe two two hundred that kind of commitment will definitely give you God realization enlightenment you can become a Buddha with that kind of effort huh doctors also yes doctor then and sometimes housewives work hundred how weeks also but they're never appreciated it's only the glamorous Wall Street brokers who are appreciated no but it's true I've stayed in these two interesting places last year I was in Hollywood and now Manhattan close to Wall Street two kinds of places there the goal is glamour and the movie industry and making it there that takes a lot of talent and work very few people make it here is the goal is to be good to Wall Street and become a multi-millionaire you know in your stocks and shares and investment and so on be a financial wizard that also takes a lot of hard work a lot of effort is put into that dukkha suffering and and strife is put into all our acquisitions it's surrounded by suffering and the Buddhists say they're masters at this they call it raining on your parade the head leading up to the pleasure is acquisition of the pleasure is suffering and when you acquire that pleasure there is the suffering knowing that it will going to come to an end it's going to go away not only go of it it will leave traces in my mind wanting more that is suffering when it goes away it is suffering and that the traces it has left the addiction for more and more and more more variety that is suffering suffer is surrounded by suffering the thesis is life is suffering and pleasure is disguised suffering is suffering in mufti so the second great problem with worldly pleasures is it's surrounded by suffering second the third one is it is unserved unsatisfying it is a deeply unsatisfying as I said all of us we've been trying to be happy with all these projects in life and how many of us can claim after 20 30 40 50 60 years of trying at this moment right now sitting here can I claim that I have achieved it nobody but there is a class of people who can claim that and that class is the people who are spiritual who are enlightened they can claim satisfaction the great bliss which we are talking about that's coming next so Kimmy Chen desiring what and the next the fourth great then the greatest of it a problem with worldly satisfaction is Advaita Vedanta says mithya they are not real and they are not real that's the deepest Fault in the issue open Ishod one of the greatest Upanishads at the end it says know the famous mantra the first mantra ishavasya madam sarvam yet King judge Agatha on jagat everything in the world is to be covered with God covered with God means you have to discover God in everything Dana tucked a nap on jito live your life based on this renunciation holding on to God and renouncing the quest for worldly pleasures margarita cautious with Dunham do not covet anybody else's wealth it's a literal translation what it means is all your joy should be in in God or in spirituality not in worldly pursuits that's the first meaning the first layer the second layer of the meaning do not covet any any anybody's wealth or any wealth the second layer is Shankaracharya comments the deeper meaning is what wealth is there to covet what is there actually in the world to covet because it's not real if there was something real apart from that such Adan and absolute then you could say I want that I want to add that to myself but there is no such thing everything in the world is a manifestation of the same Brahman why is it that when you see things in in in a movie I remember there was a first and only three-dimensional movie I saw when I was a kid that had come to the cinema hall and you to put on these glasses and you could see it in 3d it was a now you can looking back about it was very very silly movie but they had some these funny special effects where somebody has a plate of sweets Indian sweets ladoo mitai and suddenly the plate comes out of the screen and comes in front hovers in front of your face now you don't the kids had a great deal of fun trying to grab it you know you can see people in there as movie hall swinging their arms trying to grab it but you know it's all in fun you really are not trying to grab it even if you are hungry because you know it's not there though it's in front of you it's hovering right before your nose it's not there exactly in the same way Vedanta says all the so-called pleasures of the world they are appearances in the one consciousness that you are just like a movie no different in fact with the irony suggest an interesting exercise when you wake up sometimes we wake up from our dreams and we have a vivid though temporary memory of our dreams we just feel we are seeing that when you wake up he says stop there I found this exercise very good stop there sit quietly don't jump jump out of bed sit quietly look at the world around you that means your bedroom and whatever you see close your eyes imagine what you just saw and imagine the dream that you saw just before that a minute before that in your mind the world that you see by opening your eyes and the world that you see in your dreams if you compare the two you will see how alike they are there are things and people and colors and sounds and experiences their experiences here that's all that there is to it if you open your eyes the sense impressions are so vivid they will make you feel this world is real that was a dream but if you see this and then close like taking a picture and then close your eyes and imagine what you saw and then remember what you saw in the dream and would bring them close together you will see how dreamlike this worldly experiences right after a vivid dream it's a very powerful technique I found it useful the Holy Mother said once to Swami or upin under my child this world is also a dream and he protested he said no no this is stable every night we go into a different dream but we wake up into the same world so it this can't be a dream she didn't give any Vedantic talk or argument she just laughed she said even so my child this is nothing more than a dream this waking world so the fourth great problem with worldly desires is that it is dreamlike mithya and appearance of false it's not a reality it's an appearance and arising within our awareness just like watching a movie so forth what were the first three somebody has screwed up the face trying to remember he told us the first three what were the three problems with worldly enjoyment one is temporary yes it's temporary the second one is its temporary in momentary of the same thing the first one it is it is an idiom the second one is suffering it is pervaded all through by suffering it's mixed it's like a sweet your favorite cookie but mixed with poison even a little bit of poison that spoils the fun for the whole thing and the third problem is that unsatisfactory nothing yet we haven't learned our lesson we keep pursuing the same thing somebody said the definition of insanity is if you keep doing the same thing and expect different results that's a very definition of insanity so we keep doing that trying to get happiness from this these pursuits and the last one the greatest effect but it's a very metaphysical and philosophical defect that it's an appearance it's false it's not real out there it's like trying to grab something from a movie and enjoy it it's not there Timmy Chan and then even more cassia Kamiya for whose sake for whose sake are you doing this I will not go into the depth of this discussion there's a long discussion on this but I'll briefly touch upon it all the pleasures of the waking world all that you enjoy and suffer in the dream world and the peace and restfulness of the deep sleep they remain where they are you move smoothly between them faking you understand what I'm referring to waking dream deep sleep we move smoothly between these three states when you move from waking this waking world Manhattan your job your apartment your relatives your children and spouse and community your your dog hey all of it is left behind including your body it's left out of your consciousness and you may go into a dream world with its pleasures and its terrors and when you move out of the dream in to fall into a deep slumber all the nice dreams and the nightmares are left there you move away from them into deep nothingness a blankness peacefulness enjoyments of the external world enjoyments of the dream world and the peace and they say onon the book the enjoyment of the restfulness of the deep sleep all of them remain in waking dreaming and deep sleep you move easily between them the Upanishad gives the example of mohammed seer the great fish on the two banks of the river Ganges there's a great fish which goes sometimes on the left bank and sometimes on the right bank it moves easily between them or sometimes in between underneath the water that's the way we move easily and freely between waking world dream world and deep sleep world actually have seen this in our ministry near Calcutta the river Ganges is there the Ganga and there are there are river dolphins river dolphins - the Ganges Dolphin is there and that sometimes you sometimes comes up for air so sometimes you see it coming up for air on the other side on or near Calcutta sometimes on this side near below sometimes in the middle of the river maybe the Rishi saw this thing and they gave this example we move like that freely between all of these states therefore we are free of these enjoyments and sufferings for whose sake the enjoyer in the waking State mr. science or Swami so-and-so is left behind when you the witness consciousness transit into the deep sleep actually you don't transit those states transit in front of you they arise in front of you and you this sufferer or the enjoyer in the nightmares or the pleasant dreams of the dream state that one is left behind and you the witness consciousness now you experience the blankness and restfulness of deep sleep which is left behind when again the waking state comes back the booked and Bhagya they enjoy or suffer and the objects of enjoyment of suffering they are separate from you for whose sake are you chasing those particular pleasures for the Waker for the dreamer for the deep sleeper none of them are you you are apart from all of them I'll just say this the whole discussion on how to attain this Castilla Karma for whose sake then shaadiram Manu Sangha read the enlightened one once you realize this why should I suffer along with the body why should I identify myself with the body and mind suffer along with it see the body three bodies according to Vedanta physical body so no I have only one body this one but if you look closely this body has three aspects one is the physical body which is public which the doctor can examine that's the physical body stool a shoddy eater gross body then subtle body when you look inside thoughts feelings memories ideas the person inside subtle body suksham sharir and beyond that it might seem theoretical but we experience it and for the sake of completion we must account for it the deep sleep experience where we do not experience a physical body we do not experience thoughts and memories that deep sleep experience that is caused by the causal body they call it car inertia IRA stoolie sharira physical body sukshma sharir subtle body and car inertia era causal body it is the causal body in the subtle body which go away after death when the physical body dies it's the causal body in the subtle body which we identify as the person the the individual person so each of them have sufferings oh there is pain here or I am am so Obi's I have to lose weight I don't look like the way I look I means there the physical body you are not that yes you can take steps and and enroll in a gym to lose weight but remember the problem of the problem is in the physical body and is solved at the level of the physical body you have nothing to do with it experiencing it does not make make you the possessor of something when I experienced a table I don't become a table I mean I experience the cream or the yellow or the grey or something I don't become cream or yellow or gray similarly experiencing a body and its troubles does not make me the possession of those troubles that's the insight similarly come to the subtle body desire humiliation anger misery depression all the problems not denying it they are there but they are there in the subtle body you are the experience of the illuminator of all of that experiencing the misery of the subtle body correct Vedanta does not say that's wrong but from there when you jump to say I am misery oh I am so unhappy volantis is wrong you are the experience of the witness of the unhappiness in the mind you are not unhappy think about that in fact when you do think about it the unhappiness or the depression of the mind goes down I could go on actually I'm going to take one more hour I think I don't don't further I won't so the problem of the subtle body remains in the subtle body and the deep sleep use a deep sleep there is no problem sick person is not sick in deep sleep the miserable person is not miserable in deep sleep because we do not experience the sick body or the miserable mind in deep sleep true but all the seeds are there they say BG hasta in in mundo co-op initial that the the this seed of all sufferings in waking and dreaming are there because when you wake up from deep sleep you're still the same person with the same limitations and desires and problems so that means in deep sleep when I was not aware of the problems the problems were still there in seed state so deep sleep the causal body has the problem of having everything in a potential seed state none of them I am though I experienced all of them I am free of all of them they come and go in media unchanging awareness this is called shehram unshunned Jerrod for what should I suffer with the three bodies and the threefold problems I am the witness free of all of them moment I realized this i transcend suffering this is the sixth stage that Dukan everythi transcending suffering i realized that i always was beyond suffering it is a form it's out of my own foolishness that i was hugging the physical body I was hugging the subtle body I was hugging the causal body and bringing their suffering unto me this hugging it in sanskrit in in a philosophy it is called a deus a super imposition and superimposing the whole deal upon me and my qualities of existence and reality upon them so why should I suffer along with them the moment I'm free of this simultaneously the freedom and the joy of my own nature Ananda suru becomes revealed to me the great satisfaction what I meant at the great bliss the subject which we have today we have just started the subject now the great bliss now we are beginning to understand what the great bliss is once you reach that why ask yourself why is the enlightened person so happy why are spiritually advanced people so happy they're happy because they have the experience that my Brahman nature is ever revealed to me Brahmanandam Sparta Marathi me the Bliss of Brahman is spectacularly clearly ever shining before me why should I not be happy compared to that person this is a song which says the people of the world sitting on the banks of an ocean of nectar they die of thirst what are they doing sitting on the bank the poet said I think it's no Rajinikanth or something I think he says he's sitting on the bank of the river or a tool Prasad sitting on the bank of the river of nectar is flowing past but does not look there he's digging in the sand for a hope hoping little bit of water dragging in the dry sand hoping for a little bit of water to slake this unquenchable thirst which we experience in the world all throughout our lives while the river the ocean of nectar flows past silently within us all you have to do is turn turn inwards it's there Vedanta clearly takes you there by the hand step by step baby step by baby step and shows you that Honda property now what is the cause of this bliss Vedanta says three things Krita Ricci area proper near proper attire and gotta be aganetha yeah what does that mean you finally realize at that point that you have done what is to be done in human life that attainment of that the ultimate peace and bliss and satisfaction you've got it you have done it you know in you have realized God you have found God you have found your true self imagine if you're no longer haunted by a sense of why did I not do these things a nurse who was in terms of taking care of terminally ill patients she talked with them and she has written down her recollections very interesting she said the greatest regret that dying people had the greatest regret was that they never tried to do the things they really wanted in their lives now life is gone they all been always had a dream of doing something or the other which they could not get around to for some reason they never even not even that they did not do it that they did not try that is the greatest regret at the point of death imagine then fear knowing that you have done it all there is nothing that remains for you to be done in in life so critical detail it is accomplished it's done imagine the peace second proper near problem that which is to be attained in life what is to be got in life you've got it you've got God you have got the infinite you have got what all of life is meant is searching to get you've got it imagine the satisfaction and the bliss and third one Jia Bao saya what is to be known in life what people are searching for in life in science and art in in social political causes that search is over you have you have known it now having known the absolute having God the absolute having attained the absolute you get this great bliss on on the property Tripti property so these are the stages in spiritual life let me repeat that mantra you think there was a long journey actually it was not it as short as I could make it that mantra atmanam Jade vegan yacht I am a smithy Purusha ha Kimmy Chen Cassie Akamai sharee Romano Sangha right having known oneself as this sat-chit-ananda desiring what and for whose sake should I suffer along with the body I pray to the Lord that may the blessings of the Lord descend upon us so that in this very life we can realize that and attain that great place Oh Shante Shante Shante hurry he owned that sat sri ramakrishna Aparna must

Channel: Vedanta New York

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Keywords: sarvapriyananda, swami sarvapriyananda, sarvapriyananda latest, sarvapriyananda new york, sarvapriyananda lectures, swami vivekananda, vivekananda, vivekananda teachings, swami vivekananda teachings, vedanta ny, vedantany, vedanta, vedanta lectures, vedanta society of new york, jnana yoga, advaita, upanishads, upanishad (religious text), hinduism, philosophy, spirituality, meditation, guided meditation, wisdom, enlightenment, consciousness, higher consciousness, great bliss sarvapriyananda

Id: xTQ3yyq2Mgk

Length: 69min 39sec (4179 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 12 2017