The Unattached Self || असंग अहम् || by Swami Sarvapriyananda

[Music] [Music] lead us from the unreal to the real lead us from darkness unto light lead us from death to immortality om peace peace peace good morning and namaste everybody this morning the subject is very interesting i am unattached i am without attachment the self without attachment this is the subject we are going to talk [Music] about i remember reading about this young man who saw swami vivekananda at his own house swami vivekananda when visiting trivandrum in 1892 before he came to the west so he stayed at the house of this person rama swami ke rama swami shastri so in his remedy senses he says that swami vivekananda came to our house and he stayed with my father i was a young boy at that time one day swami vivekananda said to me you are young yet but i hope one day you will reverentially study the upanishads the as also the puranas the etihasas and the agamas you will not find the like of them anywhere in the world this is these are swine vivekananda's words and then very interesting he said to this young boy the essence of all these sacred books i will tell you always remember them and try to live up to them so so i'm vivek on this head very interesting four a's in his inimitable way he said abhaya fearlessness ahimsa non-violence asanga non-attachment and ananda bliss again fearlessness ahimsa non-violence assange non-attachment and ananda bliss so rama swami shah 3 he says that i don't know how much i understood at that time but i took it to my heart and ever since in my life i've tried to live up to these ideals and practice them in my life but remember notice the word asanga is there among the four the third one is asanga non-attachment that is our theme today i remember when i was a novice at the ashram i joined under there was a very great monk whom i shall not name i'm very very grateful to this wonderful one of the most wonderful monks i have seen in my life because my entire spiritual life has been shaped by him so to say in my initial days as a monk all my training my you know the formation of my monastic life i entirely owe it to him so this wonderful swami one day i asked him what is your spiritual practice what is your spiritual practice and he answered in one word asanga non-attachment detachment he said asanga so this is what we're going to talk about just to get something out of the way first it is not the just the asanga the non-attachment of the monk that we are talking about yes as a monk we walk away from our families from special relationships with human beings from possessing money from um owning property that is true so that is a detachment and definitely it's a characteristic of monastic life but it is a a practice and a principle there's a philosophy to it which is which should be there in everybody's life i remember having this conversation with another very senior swami who visited us swami atma priyandiji and we were talking about how this highest advaita especially the the the practice of asanga is something that actually householders people in the world need more than monks because you see monks cut away the relationships and stay at a distance you're already protected from many of the ups and downs of the world but if you're in the middle of um you own property you have money you hold a job you in the middle with relations with family and community you are subjected to so many pressures pulls and push so there it is there that this practice this principle and this philosophy will come to our help tremendously so so this is something for everybody we are not just talking about the the external detachment that that is of course practiced by monks but something deeper which can be and should be practiced by everybody and we will see today how an investigation of this leads us to the very heart of the non-dual teaching the very heart of advaita vedanta very important this is one take of it and one word take away from the whole thing means i am not attached i am without attachment what does this mean how do we practice it let us follow this thought and see where it leads us specifically today's theme is based on a verse from a astotra a hymn a chant basically which is popular among monks not so well known outside the monastic community it's called the brahma gyana walimala ascribe to shankaracharya as many things are it's just the essence of advaita vedanta non-dual vedanta and and the way and the practice put in sanskrit verses very simple sanskrit verses so today we'll just take up the the first verse is introductory the second verse i am without attachment without attachment am i without attachment am i again and again see this truth consider this truth meditate upon this truth then what am i success existence absolute knowledge absolute bliss absolute and aviaya i am without decay i am immortal without change without death and then ahama i am i verily am so we start with that that aham eva notice your own presence let us notice our own i am indubitable the first fact about ourselves before prior to all facts is this greatest of facts i am it is only when this i am shines forth that the rest of the world shines forth in the words of the upanishads that shining everything else shines after it by its light everything is lit up what is that it is you the i am the i am shining everything else shines by the light of this i am which is shining in all of our hearts i am by the light of this i am everything in our lives is lit up so we start there the i am and then we notice what is the nature of this i am it is claimed that it is without attachment now immediately you see when we think about i am the first thing that comes to our attention is the body and we make the first and the fatal error i am the body we are aware of it but we think we are it we don't even con question it but as the body i am the body one cannot be without attachment the body is definitely very attached it is affected by everything in the world outside the food we need food to sustain this body we need air to breathe we need clothes to wear we are subjected to heat and cold everything we can we can't say i'm detached from the world i am the body and i'm detached without attachment to the world impossible you're fully integrated into your physical environment so we go around everywhere people are wearing masks why because the environment around this invisible um viruses are there it will affect the body you cannot say i'm detached go away virus i'm detached no you are not you're very much part of this environment the body gets affected i am as the body will not be without attachment it is not the body when we say i am it's not what not the body that is meant it is not even the mind the mind is very much attached what happens to the body affects the mind sickness affects the mind little weakness in the body little pain in the body affects the mind the behavior of other people affects the mind our own successes and failures affects the mind ups and downs very difficult to say the mind is by itself detached it's not detached it's not unattached asangawa will not apply to the mind or the body it is to the witness consciousness that i am unattached it applies you see i as awareness i am unattached i am aware of the mind i'm aware of the body and through the body and the mind i'm aware of the world but i the awareness which is which is this i am this is awareness it is unattached to the world the body or to the mind how this works first of all this i am this awareness this is where i expend most of my energies trying to explain how am i this awareness i've spoken about on many occasions uh so you i'll refer you back to those drigrish viveka and upper ok and you know the panchakusha viveka the avastatra of the mandukkiya many many methods methodologies to find out how i am awareness how i am consciousness i'm not the body not the mind i'm the witness of the body and mind these are changing i'm unchanging and consciousness these are objects i am senshi and these are insension in all of these ways we are asked to notice and to discern ourselves as awareness apart from the body-mind aware of the body-mind using the body-mind and interacting with the world but detach from all of them awareness is not attached to explain this i will introduce a technical term from advaita vedanta a wonderful term upadhi upadhi it's very difficult to translate into english but the examples are very are simple enough uh ubadhi is something that is present near something else and appears to transfer its qualities onto that other thing the example the classic example in vedanta which is given is a crystal a clear crystal which is colorless and then you put a red flower behind this crystal and once you put the red flower behind the crystal when you watch it from the other side the crystal looks red crystal red flower in sanskrit spatika swatika means colorless clear crystal and rakta japa the the red flower to red china rose for example which is put behind the crystal and from the other side the crystal now looks red put a yellow flower it looks yellow put a pink flower it'll look pink but the crystalline itself is neither yellow nor red not pink even when it looks when it looks color without color it is without color it is clear even when it looks red it's actually clear it's not red at all even when it looks yellow it's actually clear it is not yellow at all so this exactly the same way i the i am the awareness when the body is present and i am not aware of myself as the body when i'm not aware of myself as the uh i'm not aware of myself as consciousness and the body is present just like the gla the crystal becomes identified with the red color i am this awareness becomes identified with uh the body and i feel i am the body thoughts feelings perceptions in the mind they are present but they seem to put themselves in this the clear crystal of awareness and i the i the awareness this i am-ness becomes pervaded by as it were by the mind and i feel i think i am happy i am miserable i am in pain all of these things come the qualities of the upadhi are transferred onto the entity so the quality the red color of the flower it looks as if it is transferred not really transferred it looks as if it is transferred to the red to the crystal the colorless crystal appears red similarly consciousness itself awareness itself which i am you know it appears like i am a body i am a mind so the body and mind appear and they appear to transfer their qualities so i am tall i am thin the tall and thin qualities of the body but i am tall i am the awareness is not tall how can consciousness be tall or thin how can consciousness be overweight or skinny even the qualities of the mind are transferred on to awareness happy sad these are qualities of the mind just like the red color of the flower appearing in the crystal looking as if it's in the crystal similarly when i when the consciousness shines upon the misery in the mind i am miserable this is what happens we are unable to distinguish between the two even when the body and its qualities appear in consciousness even when the mind and its attributes appear in consciousness i the consciousness the i am is asanga unattached at no time is the crystal red at no time am i the the i am am i a body am i the sickness of the body or the pain in the in the body or the unhappiness in the mind none of them though they appear though they appear an eminent buddhist teacher teacher of tibetan buddhism jackson peterson he sent me a picture a photo recently a few weeks ago he just i think he was having breakfast and he saw this and he took a picture and he sent it to me it's a wonderful example of upadhi what was the picture here a glass of clear water a glass of water and behind it was a glass of orange juice yellow the glass of clear water colorless the glass of orange juice yellow now when you look at the glass of water with the oranges behind it outside in another glass the glass of water now looks like orange juice because it's yellow there and here's the glass of water it looks the photograph was taken so beautifully it just looks like two glasses of orange juice but it's not the glass of clear water is clear water there's no color to it similarly the i am which is not a body now looks like feels like indubitably seems like a body it's not a mind now it feels like internally like a mind i say with confidence i am tall or skinny or i am happy or miserable i know so much i do not know much i am forgetting it is awareness which is aware of all of these things shining upon them so bill was here here a few months ago he was saying my memory is not what it used to be so he's 96 i'm forgetting don't be unhappy you are the one who was aware of the keen memory and you are the same awareness javed of the failing of the memory you are perfectly all right he chuckled i don't think he was convinced but yes i am unattached and then only you can say asang notice this first of all of course you have to go through the process of realizing that i am awareness this sense of presence which i this feeling of i am start with that notice that it is awareness and this awareness is uh in the presence of upadhis upadhis those in english sometimes it's translated as incidental adjunct it makes nothing clearer i i think the crystal and the red flower example makes it clearer or the orange juice glass and the clear water glass that example makes it clearer the presence of the body mind when we are not aware of ourselves as awareness we begin to think of ourselves as body mind and then then we don't think about it it becomes indebtable then we cannot say we are unattached but as awareness the i am which is just awareness even in the presence of these upadhis which are not me but they seem to transfer their qualities upon me i am still unattached even when the glass of water looks orange like orange juice it is not at all attached to orange juice no orange juice is present there in the glass of clear water though it looks exactly like orange juice not a little bit of the red color is present in the clear crystal though it looks completely stark red but there's no red color present there it is unattached to the redness or to the flower and the orange the glass of water is unattached to the orange juice or the yellow color you the i am the i am within us in us is unattached to the body and its troubles is unattached to the mind and its ups and downs forever this is the meaning of asangoham consider light how light the sunlight brilliant day out there its sunlight is illumining everything buildings and roads and people and dogs and trees everything flowers everything is illumine the brilliant fall colors out there the water everything is illumined by sunlight but the sunlight is not sticky sunlight doesn't stick to anything light doesn't stick to anything here the light illumines everything in the room the room was empty now a few of us have come into the room the empty room was illumined by this light now we are here we are being illumined by this light but when we leave the light will not stick to us whatever is present is illumined by light and the light does not stick to it light does not go away with it similarly i am this awareness whatever comes which whatever appears in awareness we illumine i know i see i smell i hear i touch i think i remember i perceive all of this is illumination by i am the awareness just like light just as light is not attached to the objects it illumines nor is light affected by the objects it illuminates if it illumines a clean vessel it's not that the light has become clean if a light illuminates a dirty vessel is the classic example in vedanta a dirty pot light illumines shines upon a dirty pot the light doesn't become dirty similarly when i am i shine upon a healthy body i am is the same thing i am not more healthy because the body is healthy when i shine upon a diseased body i am and the body appearing is diseased i am not diseased thereby same with the mind the ups and downs of the mind i the i am is the witness i am is the witness of what everything and this witness is like light and sakshi because it is sakshi sakshi means witness because it is sakshi it is asanga unattached i am an unattached to everything because i am like light awareness is like light a hum eva i am this presence which i am is like light unattached to its objects whatever it illumines good or bad it does not become good or bad yeah because light illumines a glass of water does light become a glass of water no because i am i illumine a reveal the unhappiness in the mind why should i say i am unhappy no i reveal the unhappiness in the mind and you know the amazing thing is moment you think like this not a kind of trying to convince yourself try to see that it is a fact when you see this is a fact the unhappiness in the mind actually calms down it sort of disappears dissipates even the body it becomes healthier when we stop clinging to the miseries and the pains of the body let the pains and aches and little to dates well tomorrow it's not well today energetic tomorrow tired on the same day energetic tired not so well well not attached i reveal all of it let these things come and go i don't stick to it just like light doesn't stick to its objects just because the body is feeling sick why should i say i am sick just because the light reveals um say a puddle of dirty water does the light say i am a puddle of dirty water no that's silly i am the light which reveals the little problem in the body little problem in the ups and downs in the mind no matter notice another thing the light is open it doesn't resist anything whatever comes in the light is illumined by the light whatever comes to you to us the i am is revealed by this i am we don't resist the opposite of detachment there is at the attachment an attachment comes with attraction and repulsion we try to stick on to things which we like we try to resist and run away from things which we dislike but light is not like that whatever comes within its purview is illumined by it whatever goes it goes light does not try to hold on to something the poet william blake says whoever holds on to a joy death killed the winged life but he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity sunrise so when things come welcome come and say have a cup stay have a cup of tea people come you know health comes illness comes pleasure comes pain comes success comes failure comes good i'm like the light come welcome take a have a seat have a cup of tea i have to go you have to go all right namaste tata we don't hold on to it nor do you resist it by our very nature the i am is like that but remember asanga because it is detached it's fine with what comes and goes at no point is it attached to anything therefore it is not affected just because i am aware of a glass of water do i become a glass of water that's silly similarly the i am it shines on everything it does not become that because it is sakshi so because you are sakshi this i am the sakshi the witness therefore asanga say to yourself i am unattached unattached i am another approach is the adhesion means the ground of this universe see the light example is limited one must know how to use these examples in non-dual vedanta the light example is limited light shines on everything but the light is not everything it reveals all these things light is revealing chairs and people and carpets the altar but the light is not a carpet or a chair or people it reveals everything that's all but it's different from them but this i am the presence this is also the underlying reality of whatever it reveals that's very interesting it's like a movie screen on a screen a cinema plays there is the hero and the villain and the fights and car chases and explosions and floods and earthquakes and space battles all of that is taking place but the screen of the movie is completely unattached it is like we say i am the screen is but it is unattached to the movie in fact because it is unattached to the movie the movie can play imagine if the screen becomes attached i like this character bugs bunny or mickey mouse i'm going to hold on to that character then the movie cannot work the character cannot come and go the screen holds on to a character the screen dislikes a character won't let it enter then the movie cannot work it has to be completely open to everything allowing everything to happen and yet completely detached from everything that's the movie screen the movie screen is absolutely unconcerned you play a horror movie you play a tragedy you play a comedy a war movie whatever you play one after another you play the movie the screen is completely unattached to any of them is completely open to all of them whatever comes and goes completely non-resistant whatever comes i'm open to it welcome and when it goes good not good riddance good goodbye take care you're welcome to come and play the movie again tomorrow and it's perfectly all right with no movie also it can be a blank screen at every point the screen is exactly the same notice the difference between the screen and the light example the screen gives existence to the movie it is on the ground of the screen on the reality of the screen that the movies can play similarly the i am the atman the brahman which we are is not only like a light but it is also existence it gives reality to everything that we experience everything in our lives everything in your life is built upon constituted on standing on the ground i am you are the reality of everything in your life and therefore you are without attachment just like the movie screen to the people who come to your life to the objects your property and thoughts and ideas and feelings and opinions political affiliations you are unattached i am they were not there earlier they are there now they will not be there later i make it all possible because i am i reveal all of it because i am i shine but i am unattached asang goham without attachment i am this is called adishtana the ground of reality it is the ground of the universe what is the ground of the universe you that presence i am [Music] how is this possible how is it that if you are the ground of that a light can be unaffected by what it illumines but if you are the reality of something then whatever happens that should affect you so for example it's no use saying that the wood is the reality of the altar and the wood is the ground of the altar but if i scratch the altar i'm scratching the wood also if i pollute the waves in the ocean i'm polluting the water also so it gets affected how can you say that if you are the ground of everything that that we are experiencing then how can i be unaffected by it how can i be unattached because what happens in the world if i'm the ground of it it's affecting me notice something interesting about the movie and the screen example the screen and the movie are not at the same level of reality compared to the screen the movie is fiction at the level of the screen there is only light and sound but the characters in the movie the activity in the movie the explosions and the earthquakes they are not real like the screen they are an appearance so here i'll introduce one more important term crucial term in non-dual vedanta this is called vivarta vivarta means appearance the theory of appearance without actually being transformed into anything all those things can appear the screen does not get transformed into the hero or the villain it does not get transformed into a volcanic explosion it does not get transformed into cars and roads and yet the village hero can chase the villain in on a car on a road all of those appear on the screen they are not as real as the screen the reality and the appearance are not at the same level of truth and therefore the reality can remain unattached with the appearance the rope and the snake in our classic example are not at the same level of reality the rope appears as the snake in sanskrit in in vedanta it is said snake is the vivarta of the rope the vivata term the movie is the vivarta of the screen vivata means appearance not real transformation a seed is really transformed into a tree milk is really transformed into yogurt but the rope is not really transformed into a snake the screen is not really transformed into the characters of the movie no those things just appear in fiction like a movie or an error like a snake mirage the water in the mirage cannot wet even a grain of the sand of the desert repeat that the water all the water which appears in a mirage cannot wet is not enough to wet a single grain of sand in that desert in which it appears because it is not real like the desert in which the mirage appears it is called vivarta that's why these examples are favorites of non-dualist teachers is it possible that this whole universe which is appearing is like a movie like a snake and a rope like the mirage in the desert a good example is our dreams the mind by itself when we fall asleep the mind by itself can project an entire world there are people and places and activities and good and bad and you are yourself there in your own dreams you are yourself enjoying or mostly suffering all of that is projected by you the mind the mind of the dreamer notice that the mind does not become any of those things it only appears as those things not that you become a tree or a house or a place you just it's imagined in the mind very vividly so and so therefore you can say i the dreamer i'm completely unaffected by my dream terrible financial loss in the dream you're none the worst stuff when you wake up wake up being chased by a lion in the dream you are not scared at all when you wake up because those things are not real they appear in you you are the ground of that dream because of vivarta you can be the reality and not be affected by what is happening in the appearance the reality is not affected by appearance so this is an important uh concept in advaita vedanta whatever appears in consciousness is vivarta and appearance in consciousness not that consciousness has become those things whatever appears to you the presence i am your world people events whatever is happening in the body whatever is happening in the mind they are all appearances to you that i am and they are appearances they are not as real as the i am because they are viverta of the i am their appearances of the i am the i am is unaffected by it all very crucial it's important for the peace of our mind if one has grasped this even in understanding even before it becomes a vivid reality it is a vivid reality it's our misfortune that we don't see it but once you grasp it you can really enjoy life nothing in life really it will not bother you it will not um upset you you can enjoy life and you can contribute your best to life you can live life to the fullest advaita vedanta nondual vedanta is not for wiping out the experience of life you don't have to switch up the movie if the movie upsets you you don't have to switch up the movie you just have to realize oh it's a movie after all similarly in life i am a hum eva but i am not attached to anything because of this because why because of upadhi because of sakshi witness because of adishan it is the ground of all reality and because of vivarta that it is an everything is an appearance in consciousness everything is an appearance of you the i am to you in you and therefore it cannot affect you you can say i'm open to it all everything will come i resist nothing nor do i stick to anything nor do i pursue anything i enjoy it all as it comes and goes in deep serenity and peace i can honestly say asang unattached i'm i asango hamas again and again i can say i can notice this about it's a fact about me advaita vedanta is not about wiping out the experiences of life sitting quietly in meditation i don't want to confront life no there's a new term for it spiritual bypassing you can confront all the problems of life with the clear feeling i am completely unattached with this little pesky little problem now let me deal with it to the extent possible we'll deal with it we can deal with illness we can deal with economic problems we can deal with our academic problems our relationship problems whatever problems are there in life you can deal with it things will be slightly better or slightly worse fine as long as asango i am not really affected by any of this i was there before all of this i am exactly the same during its existence and i will remain exactly the same i am this presence after it has gone now one more observation notice that not only are you the i am not attached to anything but but nothing is attached to you either that's an amazing thing in life quite apart from philosophy quite apart from all of this vedanta and vedanta just look at the facts of life who is attached to you which person is permanently tied to nobody parents they and grandparents they grow old and they die and pass away children grow up and go away husbands wives spouses partners they come and go your bosses co-workers your juniors they come and go and float around in your life they were not there at one time what was not there to begin with it may be there now but be assured it will not be there good or bad does not matter whether you like it or dislike it they will go one day objects how much how many things have passed through our lives you know gadgets and furniture and artwork and so on many things have come and gone in our lives food a buddhist meditation exercise very interesting he says imagine the amount of food that food that you had for breakfast and for lunch put it all your breakfast and your lunch in front of you and your dinner in front of you and then add yesterday's lunch uh breakfast lunch and dinner on the same table and then day for yesterdays imagine the pile of food growing soon it'll be bigger than the table just your lunch and dinner and breakfast bigger than the whole table and then shift it out to your floor within if you put a few days worth of food which we have eaten ourselves in and it'll overflow your carpet space you have to take it out to your lawn very soon if you imagine the amount of food i have eaten the description is buckets of rice and entire cauldrons of dal and huge cauldrons of vegetables all on the lawn arranged you think which demon ate all that that's me i did imagine the food that we have eaten in one year mountains and lakes of soup and vegetables and rice and whatnot and the amount of food that we have con consumed in 30 40 50 years 80 years of life that has all come and flowed through this body none of it stays nothing in this world objects and people and relationships the places that we have been to they all come and go none of it sticks not only am i unattached to the world the world is also unattached to me it's my foolishness that i try to hold on to it you may say in all of this swami it is all good philosophy but we are ignoring one thing maybe because you are a monk you are mentally not attached to things but we are people in the world we are attached to people we are attached to places we are attached to little objects and things you know so many attachments you are not you think you are considered the greatest attachment and my monk said this a mother with her child a young mother with her baby the greatest attachment in the world that has to be because that's how the baby is taken care of but when that mother finally falls asleep i am told that mother's young mothers hardly get much sleep so when she finally falls asleep at night she forgets the most precious thing in her own life the baby and she happily goes into deep sleep she forgets the world the baby her own body everything and goes into deep sleep not attached if you're really that attached you would be desperately unhappy going off to sleep i'm losing contact with the baby no you're not condo we don't think in this way it's a weird way of thinking but it's true even the greatest of attachments how long do you think about it once in a while whether it's money or possessions or gadgets or dog or whatever it is you it comes and goes you are not really attached to you think you are attached you are not attached every night you lose sight of everything that you think you're so attached to all gone and no guarantee that you'll ever wake up so nothing in the world even this precious body is attached to us it changes youth and middle age and old age death body also goes body is not attached to me my most precious memories my knowledge all the knowledge i've accumulated reading books over years and years it fades away and then one little stroke or alzheimer's or something it'll simply go all my skills abilities my health all goes nothing in the world is attached to us money money is the least attached to you in india they say lakshmi the goddess of wealth is restless she doesn't stay with you it comes and goes it circulates and that's good you know why it's good when we hold on to something when we are attached to something we hold on we think i am holding on to money to people um to places to gadgets i'm holding on to it it's mine when you're holding on to see notice something i'm also trapped here i'm not free anymore i'm caught i cannot go anywhere i'm caught if more we hold on to something the more we are caught sriram krishna gave the example of a river in full space there's a flood flood flood tide is going on and things are being swept away and the villages poor villages looking at all those nice things being swept away and one man couldn't take it anymore he saw the fine rug being swept away so he jumped into the river and mightily swam up to the rug when he went up there he saw it was a bear being washed away and of course the bear caught hold of bear hug hold of the man and the people on the bank shouted let go of the rug you will drown and the man shouted back i let go of the rug the rug doesn't let go of me that's the nature of attachment when we mentally attach we become stuck to it say asang not only am i detached from everything everything is nothing is attached to me at all nature is ever in change the buddhist monk who said this too shall pass o king you know the story the buddhist monk came to visit a royal court and the king complained said oh revered sir my troubles are endless the kingdom is surrounded by enemies and we haven't had a good harvest in years and people are in in poverty and my ministers are corrupt and my young son the prince is incomp i mean he's not doesn't seem to be interested in learning how to rule the kingdom oh what will i do and the monk said this too shall pass o king and then he went away 20 years later he came to the same kingdom and the king was very old by the time and the monk was also old and he came and the king recognized him he said oh monk you had visited us 20 years ago well i'm glad and he said how are things soaking oh i'm glad to report things are much better we have made peace with the enemies and there have been bountiful harvests and the people are happy and the corrupt ministers have been replaced and the the prince oh how wonderful he has come up to be a most upstanding young man and i'm so glad i can leave the kingdom to him with peace of mind and the monk said this too shall pass okay every situation passes away so asang goham say asang goham that is a fact of life it is it seems to be something that monks practice it seems to be a spiritual practice it seems to be a philosophy but ultimately it's just a fact of life it's good to recognize it you'll be happy that way our mistake is to think that by catching hold of things and being attached we'll be happy and we'd take a lifetime to learn the lesson that's not the way to be happy the way to be happy is to be asanga unattached and enjoy everything that comes by that i am but i am unattached then what is the nature of this i am the standard vedantic teaching this unattached i am what is this i am this presence notice it is sat chit ananda what does it mean i am i exist the very meaning of i am is i exist this isness this existence not body not mind by itself is sat just being just this is-ness just this presence i'm not talking about anything mystical you can all feel it right now that is the first fact the primordial fact about ourselves that i am this is called sat but this i am is normally we think i am this body it's a limited existence how i am here not there i'm limited in space i was born in such and such time and i will die at such and such time this body that's also limited in time i am this one and not that one this is called limitation in object all these limitations if you remove these limitations if you look at i am by itself the easiness is not limited anywhere that easiness is not only here it's there and there and there it's everywhere so that easiness unlimited is-ness is called sat not the is-ness of one body the unlimited existence is the unlimited awareness that awareness which is behind all thoughts and all perceptions good and bad thoughts intelligent and foolish thoughts all these fleeting thoughts come and go in the background is one awareness that's also part of the i am part means it's one aspect of the i am that is called chit unlimited awareness unlimited existence sat unlimited awareness chit and anand the bliss is this very unlimited nature of existence awareness see bliss ananda is not a particular kind of pleasure not a particular kind of joy it is that unlimited nature of existence and awareness that itself is called bliss in sanskrit pundatwa or ananta infinite infinitude not a limited existence not a limited awareness but unlimited awareness existence itself is bliss you see now bring the two other concepts which we talked about import them into this concept the two concepts are upadhi and vivarta upadhi remember like the orange juice present near the clear water making the clear water look yellow or the red flower present near the crystal making the crystal look red upadhi bring it here what is upadhi here this very existence awareness existence awareness satchit it appears as existing bodies and existing minds so these are ubadis body mind they appear and they appear to put their qualities like the red flower making the crystal look red like the orange juice making the clear water look like orange juice similarly the body makes the i am look like i am a body the mind thoughts and feelings makes the i am look like i think i feel i am happy i am unhappy no no no you are and in your light this these upadhis are shining they are appearing to put their qualities on you be careful you are not happy or sad you are the i am in which the happiness and sadness are appearing just like the red color of the flower in a crystal or the orange color of the orange juice in the yellow color of the orange juice in the clear water so this is upadhi and so you say so the i am the is-ness awareness is there and plus there is a body and mind these things are also there no bring in the second concept appearance bodies and minds are appearances of the i am very deep concept here the i am the screen itself is appearing as the movie there is no separate body and mind see when you talk about crystal and flower there are two separate things the red flower puts its red quality apparently in the crystal that's one concept that's a concept of upadhi but now imagine there's no separate red flower at all it's just the i am the consciousness which projects vivarta like a snake appearing in a rope body and mind appear and then that body and mind function as upadhi by vivarta the i am appears as body mind universe and because they are like upadhis they appear to put their own qualities upon the original i am i'll repeat that it's a crucial concept in advaita vedanta the i am start with it it's our experience i am the experience of i am this i am now appears like rope snake appears as body mind universe first this body and mind and universe which are nothing but that i am which i am that now starts putting its own qualities on the i am the i am now looks like i am a body i am a mind i am a person i am the limitless i am now becomes i am sarva-priyananda and what's this this is a universe apart from me although the whole thing is like a snake appearing in a rope like a movie in a screen or like a like a water in a mirage but it appears to be separate now and now i start interacting with it just like a dream so these two concepts bring them upadhi and vivarta and it explains how the universe and the body-mind appear in i am that i am is nothing but existence consciousness unlimited existence consciousness the existence part of it appears as all the objects the consciousness part of it appears as the the witness consciousness it appears as all the knowers the consciousness part of it appears as people the knowing minds the all this which sees hear smells tastes touches which things feels is happy unhappy all of these are vivarta appearances of consciousness and all the objects that we see things they are vivarta appearances of existence and all that we value in life the happiness that we are chasing the pleasures that we are chasing the unhappiness that we experience they are all vivata appearances of ananda the bliss aspect the chit aspect appears as all the knowers all jivas including god ishwar and jiva they all appear as vivarta appearances of consciousness all objects of the universe from atoms up to stars and galaxies they appear as the worth of existence existence appears as these things and all the happiness and sadness in the universe appears as vivarta of ananda of bliss what is happiness and unhappiness what is pleasure and pain so i like the example that rupert spyra gave he gave a beautiful example he says the vast blue sky is always there but imagine clouds have come now because clouds cover everything once in a while a patch of blue sky appears the patch of blue sky which appears and remains covered over again that is what we call pleasure the unaffected blue sky in its all its vastness and infinitude is always there but we don't see it when we see patches of it we call it pleasure happiness and we keep looking for that and when the cloud comes and covers it darkness we call it pain and suffering but the original blue sky is always there and completely unaffected that is ananda bliss very nice it is when the clouds part a little bit of that ananda shines through and we call it our pleasure our our happiness our fulfillment in life oh if only it would we can hold on to it but inevitably the clouds come and cover it up those clouds we call unhappiness but behind the clouds completely unaffected whether clouds are opening up or closing up completely unaffected is the entire infinite blue sky untouched by the clouds that is ananda nature that satchitananda i am i am that saccidananda poham [Music] i am undecaying not subject to death destruction why not see what is subject what is death and destruction it is created it exists then it was destroyed it was born and it lived and then it died that is destruction that is via decay and death old age disease death but creation now and then time time itself is an appearance in you the i am you are not in time time is in you time cannot destroy there can be no beginning or end of you in time hence you are you are not limited by space here and there all of this space it's actually appearing in you the i am the i am is not in space we think i am a tiny being in the vastness of space why because i'm identified with a body in a dream for example when we are identified with one body in the dream i am in there in the dream the entire space in the dream looks like a vast world in which i am walking around and experiencing things but the truth is when we wake up that entire thing was in my mind similarly this entire universe is in the i am space is in in the i am the i am is not in space therefore nothing in this space can ever destroy you can never affect you or change you and this i am is non-dual other than this i am nothing else is there other than brahman other than sachidan and if there is something other than existence it will be non-existent so there's nothing apart from that is-ness the the uh infinite is-ness awareness which which is our reality which we are the i am is abhiya is beyond death beyond disease completely unaffected put it all together attached to what all the appearances notice this again and again throughout life one of the greatest monks i met i told you what is your spiritual practice swami he said one word asanga and what is my nature then this unattached i am your nature is unrestricted infinite is-ness immortal being there's no death for you death is something that happens in time even time is within you is an appearance in you that is something that happens in space even space is within you saccidananda poham i am of the nature of infinite is-ness i am of the nature of infinite awareness there is no unconsciousness for you even if the mind fails and goes to sleep the blankness of the mind is also watched by you see the movie screen is not only not attached to any of the movies does not resist any of the movies is also not unhappy when the movies are switched off it does not look forward to the rest that oh when will they stop playing these stupid movies i can get some rest no and when the um the blankness is there it does not hanker when will the movie start again perfectly all right the presence and the absence of the movies makes no difference to it it is unrestricted unlimited awareness chit i am and remember that vast blue sky it is of the nature of unlimited happiness unlimited bliss which is once in a while manifested to our minds as the little patches of blue sky in the midst of the clouds but that whole blue sky i am aham eva that is my real nature forever it is already there this is the deep philosophy of asanga the unattached self i pray to sriram krishna to the holy mother to swami vivekananda may we have this epiphany this this breakthrough spiritual breakthrough in this very life itself and attain to our spiritual heritage it's already there we just have to discover it uncover it claim it for ourselves [Music] krishna [Music]

Channel: Vedanta New York

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Keywords: vedantany, vedanta society of new york, sarvapriyananda, swami sarvapriyananda, sarvapriyananda lectures, swami vivekananda, vivekananda, vivekananda teachings, vedanta ny, vedanta, vedanta lectures, belur math, jnana yoga, hinduism, spirituality, enlightenment, higher consciousness

Id: jID0akelFB0

Length: 60min 50sec (3650 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 11 2020