The Two Birds by Swami Sarvapriyananda

[Music] Oh [Music] esatto Mossad gamaya Thomas OMA Joe dear gamma yeah Richard MA um written gamma ohm shanthi shanthi shanthi ohm leaders from the unreal to the real leaders from darkness into light leaders from death to immortality Oh peace peace peace good morning the subject we have this morning before us is a very familiar subject to those who have been in vedanta for a long time it's the metaphor of the two birds the subject is the two birds and how this thing this whole concept of a tree and two birds sitting on it it encapsulates our life as we experience it now the possibility of spiritual freedom and how we can get that spiritual freedom and what we get out of it all of that beautifully the two birds so let's go straight into the subject the reference is to the Mundaka Upanishad so Phoenicians we know are the code texts of Vedanta and in the Mundaka Upanishad in the Mundaka Upanishad one of the most ancient of the Upanishads in the third chapter three point one point one and three point one point two we find this thing described using the metaphor of the two birds and the tree the original verses the mantras go like this I'll chant them out for you in the old Vedic Sanskrit and then I'll translate and then we go into it so it goes something like this dois super nasi you jazakallah Samana Brixham parish's Raja the tire Aniyah people Amjad wotty Anoosh nanano abhishek a shitty Samana Brixham pure Shona magno Anisha associati Mejia mana Huston yada pashutin Yami sham Accio Mahima anima TV Ashoka very poetic what does it mean there's a tree and on this tree there are two birds the lower bird and the higher bird and what the lower bird does is it hops from branch to branch and looks at different fruits and picks that one and finds its wheat eats it up looks for another one picks it that's little bitter it gets a little taken aback tries to eat something else eating bitter and sweet fruits like this until it comes to a particularly bitter fruit and getting the shock of its life it stops eating for a while takes a step back looks up and sees the higher bird the higher bird sitting somewhere up there brightly not hopping around from branch to branch and not chasing the fruits not eating this fruit of that fruit an ashram not consuming it just a bee Chaka she did watches it just shines there the higher bird peaceful calm unchanging and the lower bird looking up at that things that's wonderful and it gets attracted towards it and hops up towards the higher bird but then what happens as it happens it sees another particularly attractive fruit okay higher bird can wait it's there let me just take a look at this and eats it and finds it sweet it's nice and forgets the higher bird and then goes from fruit to fruit until it gets another shock and looks up at the higher word make some more progress towards it and that's the story of our spiritual lives really we are attracted and who wouldn't really want to be a saint you want to be a saint but only without the trouble that goes with it there's a saying in ancient Sanskrit which says that everybody wants the result of good karma but they don't want to do the good karma everybody wants to enjoy the sin but they don't want the bad karma that comes from the sin so this is how the little bird it hops from from fruit to fruit and forgets the higher bird but ultimately it gets such a terrible shock one day maybe something the death of a beloved person or one's own imminent death a fatal disease has come up and such a big shock a particularly really bitter fruit and then it sort of withdraws from that life of pecking and seeking and tasting this or that and now moves deliberately towards the higher bird perfect purposefully and finally when it comes closer to the higher bird something strange happens the lower bird begins to get transformed it sees that it's more and more like the higher bird higher bird which is described as golden and shining super na golden and shining and the lower bird also begins to see itself as that radiant in the light of the higher bird and in the end lo and behold the lower bird sees itself as the higher but there is no lower bird at all and in fact there never was this is the game of Maya there ever never was the lower bird it was the higher bird all along dreaming the life of the lower bird so the higher bird alone alone remains true that as far as the metaphor goes and it's a beautiful way poetic way of explaining life spirituality spiritual seeking the Kuhlman nation of spirituality the path of spiritual progress all of that you find it so beautifully in this example come on up here there there are there are chairs here come come come but today what we will do is we will take a closer look at this let's take the time available to us and go in-depth into this go deeper into this what is the tree and what is the lower bird and what is the higher bird and how does it relate to our lives how does it explain the whole of Vedanta that's what we are going to do this morning menu is very rich in front of freshness so Vedanta is the signs of the human being in depth this is what Swami Ranganath Anand used to say the science of the human being in depth who are we really in our deepest nature in our real nature that's what Vedanta seeks to investigate and it start starts with the most obvious most apparent fact of our our personality the body so the first component that we have to look at is here is the body and in this example in the higher bird lower bird example the two birds example the body is compared to a tree tree this is a tree in which there is man and there is God there is the lower bird and this is the higher bird Sri Ramakrishna is to say within this there are two there is the divine mother and her child the devotee in this body is to say right here there are two so the physical body that's that's the first component of the human personality in this particular example in the open it is compared to the tree as we go deeper into the physical body as we look inside we find what is called a subtle body physical body in Sanskrit stool a shaadiram subtle body in sanskrit sukshma sharir 'm as we go inside we find a subtle body remember the subtle body is nothing theoretical nothing that you have to believe in no no no theoretical construct now it's something that we experienced physical body here it is subtle body look inside thoughts emotions feelings physical body I can show you here's the hand my thoughts or my memory or my intellect I cannot show it to you physically but for me the subject within it's a first-person experience I can directly experience all of us experience our own thoughts our memories our feelings in fact we experience it most vividly come come there are chairs here up ahead here so the subtle body is something that we experience in Vedanta the subtle body is analyzed into having no less than 17 components none of them something that you have to believe in are theoretical I just point them out to you and you would say yes it's true it's there what are the 17 components the five sense organs our organs of sight the eyes and hearing the ears and taste the tongue and the skin which enables us to touch and feel and the nose which gives us the sense of smell so five sense organs that's five and the five motor organs the organs of up the hands the the legs the organs of locomotion organ of speech reproduction and elimination so the five motor organs that makes ten and the prana the life forces within us that which is responsible for the physiological processes which keep this body alive breathing blood circulation assimilation of food conversion of food into the physical body and into energy all of this the physiological processes going on in this body they are powered by what is called prana in sanskrit prana in chinese they call it G so prana the life forces it's like like a battery pack which keeps the system going the engine the powerhouse and in in Vedanta the prana the life forces are analyzed into five different functions prana apana vyana udana Samana each of them physiological functions which are clearly identified we need not go into the details but five are there five functions of the prana so let us call the punch of prana how many do we have so far 15 the five sense organs the five motor organs the five prAna's remember when we speak about sense organs or motor organs we are not actually speaking of the physical eyes or the physical years because physical eyes in years are parts of the physical body that's already in the sickle bodies to lash Adira in now we are in the subtle body suksham a shanira these are the powers the functions which work through these physical organs so five sense organs five motor organs and the five piranhas punch of prana BR 15 and two more the mind such emotions and the intellect that which we are using to understand all this the intellect the understand capacity for cognition understanding so the intellect and the mind would D and Manas that makes 17 each of these 17 is nothing new Vedanta is not telling us anything new here with ant is just labeling just identifying these 17 components which we all should say yes I have those here in classical Vedanta sometimes you find the the inner instrument unter karana analyzed into four parts the mind the intellect the ego and the memory mana but he hung car and cheetah so if you make four parts then the total becomes 19 if you just make to mind and intellect the total becomes 17 whatever 19 or 17 basically it is a subtle body the difference between the subtle body and the physical body being the physical body is is perceivable we can see it and its public but I can see it you can see it also but the subtle body is experienced by me or by you directly within as a first-person experience nobody else can experience the subtle body unless the person is a telepath you can read your thoughts other than that your subtle body is visible to you the consciousness now that's not the end of the story subtle body is there and Vedanta say is deeper than that belong to speaks of something called the causal body Karan - Adira stole a sharira physical body here sukshma sharir a subtle body inside us first person being directly experience deeper than that Vedanta speaks of another body body within quotes car inertia reader causal body what is this causal body again nothing theoretical it's what we experience in deep sleep when you go to sleep in deep sleep you do not experience your physical body not experience the world outside you do not experience the physical body you do not even experience the mind no thoughts in dreams at least the mind is experienced because the mind creates a dream world but when there are no dreams deep sleep mind is also not experienced even I am sleeping this I the ego that is also not experienced that blankness the state of blankness that is called the causal body the car on a sharira that is actually in vedanta the ignorance the causal ignorance which hides our true nature from us so that is the car inertia reader the causal body what do we have so far so far we have the physical body which is compared to the tree in this mantra and then we have the subtle body of 17 parts and we have the causal body and in this subtle body and causal body there is an awareness there is an awareness right now we feel sentient we feel aware not only do we have thoughts but we are aware of our thoughts we feel an intelligence and awareness a consciousness in this body and mind that awareness sentient which we feel right now that is not pure consciousness which we lanta will speak about but that is the reflected consciousness that is called G da bahasa reflected consciousness so you'll be have one more thing a fourth component called lychee da has a reflected consciousness and if there is a reflected consciousness there must be the original the one which is being reflected which is called the witness consciousness pure consciousness witness consciousness that do come that there is a chair here so now we have five factors five elements what are the five elements one is the physical body one is the subtle body with 17 parts one is the causal body the ignorance of the darkness which hides our real nature from us and one is the awareness reflected in the in the causal and subtle bodies the awareness essentials which we feel right now the cheetah has or reflected consciousness and finally the point of all of this the higher bird is the pure consciousness or what we don t would call the witness consciousness Sakshi in sanskrit stole acharya sukshma sharir a' karana shanira Jadhav wasa Sakshi that's quite a list but at least the first four the first four we should be able to identify straight away right now I'm sitting here we should be able to understand if I here is the physical body look inside yes here is the subtle body my breathing prana my thoughts the mind sense organs motored organs a subtle body beyond that if you try to think beyond hot you run up against a blank wall right now without going into deep sleep that blankness beyond thought is the causal body karan a sharira and the awareness which is shining through all of this Jadhav Haase reflected consciousness and vedanta says right here there is something called a witness consciousness pure consciousness a witness consciousness Sakshi chaitanya that witness consciousness now let's fit it into the example which of the two birds the body is of course the tree and that witness consciousness which we learn to speaks about that is not yet clear to us evident to us are not known to us yet if it is known you're lucky you don't need to attend this talk but that is according to Vedanta that's what we truly are come come come so according to Vedanta that witness consciousness is what we truly are and the lower bird that's the interesting part what is the lower bird in this structure in this five component structure of the human personality the lower bird is the the intermediate three body is the tree and the lower bird is the subtle body the causal body and the reflected consciousness subtle body causal body reflected consciousness remember the moment we speak about the reflected consciousness these witness consciousness is also implied moment you speak about moonlight the presence of the Sun is also implied though we don't see it because without the Sun there is no moonlight the moment you speak about our reflection my reflected face in the mirror the original face is also implied because without the original face nothing would be reflected there so when we speak about a reflected consciousness which we are aware of right now which we are using right now and in Virant it's always helpful to ground what is being said in our personal experience so what we are experiencing right now and what I am saying from here they are not two different things I am just labeling at every step see if it corresponds with with what we are experiencing so the awareness which we have right now in this body and mind that reflected consciousness it means the pure consciousness or witness consciousness is present right in otherwise what is being reflected so the lower bird is this one the subtle body causal body reflected consciousness and witness consciousness implied higher bird is the witness consciousness alone so now the picture is complete now what happens the lower bird feels conscious and has a mind and an intellect and the sense organs and is in this body and fully identified with this body now it sees these fruits hanging all around good and bad and it does not know itself in its perfect nature finds itself in perfect subject to disease and old age and death and so forth and it wants completion by the experience of things it sees itself as an experiencer I have eyes I am consciousness with a mind and eyes and here so I can see things I can hear things I have tongue I can taste things and each of these experiences is giving me some kind of joy or sometimes misery so it becomes what is called in sanskrit bhakta experiencer who becomes the bhakta experiencer the lower bird because it is that reflected consciousness with these sense organs it also becomes kata the doer the lower bird becomes a doer an agent of action because it has got hands and legs and tongue I can grasp things I can use my legs to walk around I've all done to speak so I do actions so the lower bird is a curtain bhakta a doer and an experiencer sometimes broke ties transfer is translated as enjoyer but enjoyed is not does not quite capture the whole thing most of our experiences are not very enjoyable usually it's a mixture of enjoyment and misery so here is what do I find myself as here is the world and I am seeing the world with my eyes I here is my body with my eyes and sense organs I'm experiencing the body and sense organs with my mind and and this consciousness in the mind which experiences the mind directly this creature what we see ourselves normally we see ourselves as this this is what is called the lower bird and Shankaracharya and his commentary uses this phrase a with dr karma karma not knowing ourselves as the higher bird that is just something theoretical or we don't even we are not even aware of it we think this is the reality and then desire is born I want this I don't want that and from this desire is born action I what I want I desperately work to get it what I don't want I desperately work to avoid it and from action is born the result of action karma Fela karma and from the result of action comes our life and death you know because we have results of action we must get these results of action in this body once this body is exhausted this body dies the lower bird flies off to another body gets another body for what for getting the results of the actions which is done in previous bodies so it's trapped in this cycle of birth and death that's what happens to it the second verse some Arnim rick Shum guru Shona magna it explains the human predicament what happens to us first of all new Magne we are we are immersed in this body new McGlinn literally means immersed which is holding on tightly we think we are this body immersed means identified our whatever philosophy we read with whatever with onthe we practice in the state of ignorance our our statuses I am this body yes I have a mind I'm a body with a mind I have consciousness I'm a body with the mind and consciousness but I am this body I think that I feel that and I act like that that's how I arrange my life this is called 'no magna being identified holding on to the body as me this is who I am as a result of that what happens every problem of the body becomes my problem pain in the body it's hurting my pain you know as the thinking that we are concerned about the great issues of the day the war in the Middle East or environmental degradation we are concerned and we ought to be concerned about the problems the big problems the big questions in the world today but you know a single pinprick in my big toe draws more attention immediately causes more misery to me without any kind of thought then even the biggest ethnic massacre thousands of miles away in the Middle East or somewhere it's because our attention our whole conception about ourselves is is completely body centric so every problem of the body becomes my problem the body is subject to birth and growth existence growth the six six fold changes Vedanta speaks about jayati burn us the comes into existence were dirty grows develops child and teenager a young person so far so good all good news then vapour in Amethi you hit as have having some physical problems I went to the doctor you know dummy problems and all the doctor said you are fine so um you just hit the forties welcome to the 40s and then the 50s and then comes EPOXI at a deterioration in an up to the teenagers whether this eight or not they feel it's just going to be like this and it's going to get better or it's not in a medical conference the doctor said nowadays we have come to the level where we can ensure that you live long but we cannot ensure that you live well can live long you can suffer longer than usual so a berkshire thick body deteriorates you can manage the deterioration surely you can manage the deterioration if you live healthily and gluten-free and then then yes it's not a bad thing you do a lot of exercise and eat a lot of greens and be gluten-free and whatnot and then once one person told me you're going to California Swami in India this person is an American so they are very fond of health food there and you have to eat healthy I said how do I know what's healthy say the one very simple criterion if it's tasteless it's healthy if it tastes good it's bad for you and what are you trying to manage by all this all this big effort what are we trying to manage the inevitable unavoidable decay degeneration and destruction of the tree the body yes it's good for you to lead or lead a healthy life you know the slogan gluten free is good for you I was driving down here Hollywood Boulevard back to the center here and I saw this big billboard which says gluten-free vodka and I thought yeah that's good for you but the point is this we are trying to manage the inevitable destruction of the body so this is what happens when you are holding on to the body and we hold on to the subtle body this is just the gross body the physical body the subtle body is there every problem of the subtle body becomes my problem somebody said a word which insulting me I feel insulted the feeling of insult and hurt and humiliation in the mind I am insulted humiliated and hurt and I rage throughout the day but it's the mind it's not you if that's not clear just think about it the moment you go to sleep moment the mind switches off where is the hurt where is the humiliation it was in the mind I identified with the mind it's my problem and I on and on and on single blow to the head amnesia forgotten all problems so identified with the mind it becomes minds problems become my problem there's a by standing in the drain do you don't have open drains here luckily but in some old cities in India there are still open drains and boy standing in the open drain says it's so smelly here dirty and smelly it just come out of the dream you can't complain standing in the drain that it's dirty and smelly there so standing in this body and mind I say oh there is physical problems and disease and I have to go to the doctor and my Medicare doesn't cover this and there are problems of the mind he or she said such things to me and I'll hold that on the most precious thing in the world my insult person has insulted me yeah we love our friends but we love our enemies also we we hold on to them with great with such great effort so all of this new Magna associated I am this good the bad the ugly all of it is me and as a result of that Sogeti suffering comes depression fear anxiety what's going to happen next regret why did I say that why did I do that past and a future anxiety or expectation something good will happen all of that comes because of this this is soceity means suffering a result of identification with the body and it says Anisha are helpless we very soon realize how helpless we are our desires far outstrip our capacity in fact the first lesson we learn when we start studying start studying economics I remember the first thing they taught us in the economics class is what is economics it's trying to match the limited resources scarce resources with unlimited wants so we have unlimited wants and scarce resources and how do you allocate that the whole subject of economics and they called it the decimal science that is born there and so this problem comes helplessness we are physically helpless we don't know how vulnerable the our bodies are I remember many many years ago sitting at a breakfast table with a martial arts master one of the most impressive persons I have ever seen physically in the sense of very ordinary quiet calm looking person very ordinary looking person and extra extremely deadly person he was sitting there and he says to me you know just here from this position without getting up as a thinking there are four ways I can kill you right now and you make the hair the back of your neck across with when you look at look at him he had very strange eyes you know like the like a kind of golden brown eyes and very interesting but so delicate our bodies are so delicate helpless physically helpless and then much more so when it comes to mind our minds are so prone so I'm Vivekananda said slaves that's what we are all slave to a good word slave to a bad word just one singly something from the world outside and it throws our minds into the greatest turmoil little world of praise and we are floating in the clouds little word of criticism and we burn up with fury and resentment slave helplessness even more so when you come to relationships when you extend it beyond yourself imagine one person was telling me Swami we are you are lucky at the most suffering that can affect you is the suffering of your own body or a monk but imagine the truth imagine the condition of a father or a mother whose child is suffering and if it's a congenital problem a chronic problem we cannot do anything about the child's suffering you cannot do anything you can only make it little better but it again become worse and so it becomes a lifelong struggle I know such parents who have children who have problems who cannot take care of themselves and the parents struggle then struggle then suffer and suffer maybe they are suffering more than the children themselves and they are worried after we are gone who will take care of this boy this boy or girl so the suffering of another helpless completely helpless hmm so our life Anish our helplessness and deluded mu Humana it says we are deluded deluded how what we do is we try to make things but better by changing things first of all we try to okay we are suffering we are in trouble let us see how do we get out of trouble in our delusion we think by making a change in our life things will be actually will solve the problem iPhone 6 iPhone 7 make a change yes I'll replace the Honda with with Tesla and all the problems will be solved my problems the problems of environment problems of the world it will be solved this naive belief that technology will solve our probably does but not the fundamental problem of human existence that this deep perpetual dissatisfaction in people leading lives of quiet desperation that has never been solved you see we have come a long way why only a Honda a Tesla we have come a long way in 100 years from the Ford Model T to the Tesla and what problem has it solve it just solved I mean it made Ford rich it's making Elon Musk rich but ultimately does it solve the fundamental problem of human nature no by making external changes you change the house go from from from the suburbs to a seafront view go from are you move from say New York to California nice weather so you make a change external life does it solve the problem no so ok it doesn't solve the problem but we really must change ourselves then only the problem will be solved better idea so you try to change family members husband wife children very difficult impossible it was so difficult to change ourselves how can we expect to change anybody else children are are a headache a doctor told me recently that he is at this problem with lot of grown-ups sitting quietly in the bathroom and he asked them why and they said they are hiding from the children the little terrors now it is all it's almost impossible to change others we have an enormous weight of earlier life the samskaras it's very difficult to change our selves how can you change anybody else very difficult you must try you must set a good example say what is necessary to say but otherwise you cannot the old story of the dogs curly tail person was doing great meditation in order to fulfill it desires and ghosts appeared before him and said Aurora's guru gave him a mantra if you will use this month to the ghosts will appear but remember you have to keep the ghost engaged otherwise you'll be in danger basically the ghost is our mind so the ghost appears before this man and says I will fulfill all your desires tell me what you have what do you want oh great I want some nice food immediate it's done quick tell me what you want if you don't tell me I'll kill you it's the mind basically you know you keep it engaged in a right pursuit it will do something for you if you don't keep it engaged in the right pursuit it will just try you so and this is okay build me a house that will keep it engaged seconds later the house was made Oh build me a big business minutes later the business was made now this guy's getting scared a ghost comes up tell me tell me tell me quick quick otherwise I'm going to wring your neck and this person went running to his guru and fell it's gurus feet and said oh what a terrible trouble I am in I'm sorry I asked you for that mantra but this ghost the ghost is chasing him and arriving at the ashram helped me it's going to kill me I can't think of anything else that I want and the Guru said there is that dog tell the ghost to straighten out the dogs curly tail and the man said you straighten out the dog curly tail and the ghost went and carefully straightened it out that's easy moment did let go the curly tail became like this again the ghost went and tried it again and then it again became like this and the coast was taken aback I am the most powerful ghost in the universe and I can do anything but this is this is what terrible trouble I mean I've never found such a task like this and kept on straightening it out so again the dogs curly tail became curled up and that's what it's still doing and the man is safe that's what it is trying to change the world it won't and then this is how life goes on until says yeah ha until by some great good fortune maybe group our past karma maybe the blessings of the Guru or whatever we come across spiritual life a real solution to the human problem comes you schtum yah pasyati animation that the mantra says maybe the Guru comes and tells us about spiritual life you are you come across somebody said I was here for so many years and I didn't know about this place way down to society this will become for the entertain the class attend the talk so until that point comes and the possibility reveals itself what is the possibility the spiritual teacher the Guru or the open Ishod it comes and tells you something very interesting it says all this trouble you are in the mess you are in right here in this body there is one who is above all this trouble eternally try to find that out there is this higher bird the existence of this higher bird is pointed out by the Guru initially it may be in the terms of dualistic religion you know the non-dualistic religion at the weight of Atlantis says you are God you are one with Brahman you are pure consciousness you are the higher bird but one may not start there one may start with there is an untroubled existence I will call it God Nirvana heaven vishnu shiva kali something different from me see this verse is very popular with the dualistic school of Alanta why dois super na sai yok ayah there are two in this plan in this body there are two the lower bird and the higher birth the dualistic school immediately points that outlook to not one so God and and I am the living creature individual being the Jiva we are different so you can start like that the word used here is douche term the adorable one the higher consciousness the higher birth the witness consciousness within us instead of straightaway trying to say I am that we can conceive of it as God right here we can adorn it we can worship it we can meditate upon it and the whole of dualistic religion in the Vedanta conception of things is based upon this idea our own reality the higher bird start by noticing it by believing in it by worshipping it by thinking about it and this is how spiritual life starts as we go a little deeper we begin to realize the Guru shows us Vedanta shows us you are not the body you are not even the mind not even the sense organs not even the intellect not even the consciousness reflected in this you are the pure consciousness which is being reflected which is working through this body and mind you are not the lower bird you are the higher bird and as we go through this process the different techniques and entire range of spiritual practice comes before us directly we cannot realize ourselves as the higher bird is very difficult you see even though we may get an inkling of it in the Vedanta talk the moment you leave this hall and go back into the freeway the higher bird has disappeared it's all lower bird this is Swami what happened to me I think I am a bird brain it's because the mind is not prepared the lower bird must be prepared for the understanding one preparation comes through work through experience by pecking the different fruits of the world Vedanta is very relaxed about it doesn't say you have to believe in anything doesn't even say you have to follow this you have to do this otherwise doesn't threaten you with hell or punishment nothing like that you want the world and want to experience the world go ahead it's there it's meant for your experience go right ahead we have got lots of time there are the tongue-in-cheek Swami Vivekananda says take all the time that you want take your life take many lives that's what we have been doing and if you feel that it's not working out it's just more of the same thing variations of the same theme that's what life is then we say we are there every Sunday we are open until heaven come and we are we are shown step by step first work how you transform work done with desire for my own experience and enjoyment into work done as service as worship karma yoga how we prepare the mind for this higher knowledge through worship through ritual through prayer and through meditation Sanskrit name for this is uber asana how we conceive of the higher bird in our imagination and meditate upon it with the help of mantras visualization and so many things and as the mind becomes prepared then comes the Vedantic teaching itself that thou art that higher bird which you are worshipping which you are believed in so far which you are trying to meditate upon you are that you are that you see it's like when I look at my face in the mirror what I see is the mirror and a reflected face I do not see my original face and suppose I have forgotten my original face I think that's who I am the face in the mirror what Vedanta is trying to do is carefully trying to take me from the face in the mirror back to my original face the problem there is I cannot see my original face directly I can see it only in the mirror the reflected face is the reflected consciousness witness consciousness original face and open assured says Sakai are the two are friends that higher burden lower but a friends they help each other how do they help each other is something worth understanding here higher bird pure consciousness is existence consciousness bliss what does it do it lends existence and consciousness to the whole of creation so it's here with that the metaphor breaks down you can't extend the metaphor too far it's the pure consciousness the higher but the witness Sakshi chaitanya because of this we have awareness because of that pure consciousness you are able to hear what I am saying you are able to see all this you are able to think you are able to feel you are able to remember you are able to enjoy and you're able to suffer because of that pure consciousness that alone is shining through percolating through the mind and the intellect and enabling all this experience and what does the lower bird do for the higher bird the load but also does something for the higher bird the mirror example is very interesting the reflected face can exist only because of the original face original face gives the reflected face its existence but what does the reflected face do for the original face it makes it manifest I am able to see as an object what is not an object that is objectified enabling me to experience it as oh I am like this as long as I think I am like this perfectly alright this is equal to me saying the lower Birds realizing I am the higher bird I was reflected as the lower bird I am existence consciousness bliss functioning through body and mind as this individual person then it is alright enlightened but when I do not realize the higher bird at all when I do not realize the pure consciousness witness consciousness at all and I think I am the body and mind consciousness inner body and mind it's like thinking oh I am this face in the mirror I am NOT this face in the mirror this face in the mirror is a reflection is given existence by my original face just as the consciousness which we feel right now is a reflection of who you are if this little step you can take mirror to original face right now if you can take the little step from consciousness in the mind to you yourself that would be enlightenment it's what meditating upon one Swami how he told me how he practiced in Himalayas was regarded as an enlightened person he says used to in the morning walk he would go and mentally as he would vigorously walk back and forth on the bank of the Ganges he would chant mentally a schmuck drooper Chi dog no Atma droop a dog no vishwam Juho me swaahaa what does that mean in the Indian fire sacrifice of the Hindus you would pour some ablation into the fire is a fire and you pour oblation you are giving offerings to the fire - to the fire so swaha is the word by which you say I offered thus this offering into the fire it's usually clarified butter or something now that paradigm is taking and he is saying in the fire of consciousness that I am I offered the oblation of the universe whatever I experienced the world out there the body other people all these experiences I am continuously offering as an ablation into the country fire of consciousness which I am think about it what a thrilling way of of looking at the experience of the world whatever you do whatever you see whatever you eat whatever experience you have good bad and ugly it's an oblation into the fire of consciousness you are pouring it into the literally it's being poured into you isn't it Here I am the fire of consciousness and every experience is something that is being poured into me it needs to practice like that until the realization comes I am that consciousness so the the mirror makes that conscious makes the invisible face visible the reflected consciousness the little being makes that pure consciousness tangible experience able transactional you can actually do something in the world but you are not it what does the original consciousness do for the reflected consciousness it gives it its very existence without it without the original the witness consciousness the reflected consciousness would not exist at all the little person would not be there at all so this shifting of who am i from the consciousness trapped in this body and mind to the original consciousness the witness consciousness that which is being reflected in the mirror of the consciousness the other original this shifting is Vedanta this is the thing the shifting of the eye from the lower bird to the higher bird then what happens asiye Mahima anima TV the show car they're very beautiful in our whole view of the world changes earlier world life was a struggle and strife somehow trying to stay up you know make do in this world trying not to be a bad person trying to be a good person trying not to be a failure and a loser trying to be successful in this life all defining ourselves as the lower bird and the perpetual struggle doomed to death and repeat next life and repeat next life that is transformed the tree and the lower bird and the fruits and the entire forest in fact is seen as the glory of the higher bird it all belongs to the higher word it's the field of experience of the higher bird you as the higher bird you as pure consciousness you are not subject to death the body dies you are not subject to it nothing of you dies when the body dies you are not subject to disappointment frustration none of that all of those things come and go in the mind and the moment you realize yourself as the unchanging consciousness Chidananda rupa ha shivoham i am of the nature of bliss and unconsciousness of the nature of shiva the moment we realize ourselves as that then the mind itself also will not be subject to frustrations and disappointments life becomes a joy this entire universe is seen as the glory of the Atman above the witness consciousness that itself is shining forth as this entire universe it becomes a joy enjoyment is joyful even the so-called suffering of the world is joyful ceramic Krishna in cancer harima Raja says that sir how are you today oh I am suffering so much pain is there and then hurry Maha says but I see sir that you are in great bliss what a cruel thing to say to a cancer patient and sri ramakrishna bursts out into laughter and he says oh the rascal has caught me hot the rascal has caught me out the Shalimar Corinthians the rascal has caught me out cut me out means it's true that I actually I am in bliss even in the midst of cancer when the body is deteriorating and going to die and there is actually pain when the there is the body is deteriorating and there is disease they will pain there also pain will be there but I am beyond it all I experienced it yet transcended that's the mystery and it's not that we we do not understand it we intuitively get a feel for it yes it's possible it's like here is the mirror and I am reflected in this mirror and the mirror gets dirty or cracked the reflection also gets dirty or tract obscured but that is nothing to me the original face which is being reflected there exactly like that the idea the feeling becomes very strong in all of this it's a passing show in the consciousness which I am so this very world world of suffering and struggle which the lower bird was engaged in it now becomes a kingdom of heaven a place of glory and joy and light that's the true nature of our experience it's because of ignorance the distance between the lower bird in the higher bird it is shown as the bird is hopping from tree to tree but the distance is not a physical distance you don't have to go anywhere to find the higher bird right here it's it's you you don't have to wait to find the higher bird you believe this you keep coming every Sunday to Vedanta after you die you will find Brahman no no no no there is no gap of time there's no gap of space it's right here you yourself it's right now you yourself the difference then what is the difference if that is so then why are we in this state the difference is the journey is only from ignorance to knowledge from not knowing to knowing from not realizing to realizing that's the journey and once we do that the result comes we see ourselves as infinite and immortal above beyond human suffering life will continue but life will be then we will be Jeevan Muktha enlightened free or liberated while living it's a whole scope of Padang to the entire range of Iran to bear Spock and speaking about in these two verses we have a question answer session coming up Q&A session where we can dwell more deeply about these and other questions so let me conclude here I'll end with a chant my favorite piece chant pull number the funa with them and let's see if we can understand it in terms of the two birds that's not usually how it is understood but you can actually open Amida Poonam a dumb poor not pounamu Datchet a poorness your poon ahmad oh yeah ooh Meher Baba shisha tea gone - Shanti Shanti literally it means that brahman is infinite this manifestation is also infinite this infinite has come from that infinite in this infinite if you can recognize that infinite that infinite alone remains but if you see it this way you see is how beautifully twits the two words that higher bird is infinite and this lower bird is in reality that higher bird this lower bird is an appearance of that higher bird in this lower bird here and now if you recognize the higher bird the higher bird alone remains o peace peace peace it's really wonderful you

Channel: Vedanta Society of Southern California

Views: 145,791

Keywords: vedanta, advaita, Swami Sarvapriyananda, The Two Birds, Vedanta Society of Southern California, Hollywood Temple

Id: 89OsBaixqnM

Length: 57min 4sec (3424 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 26 2016