Who Keeps Track of Karma? | Swami Sarvapriyananda

the body is not real mind is not real our waking state is a dream state of which we are unaware because of the illusion the only real concept is pure being or pure awareness with this what goes from life to life it is not the body or the mind so what is the entity against which all karma is recorded is it against the reflected consciousness in illusion who keeps track of karma is it the pure consciousness keeping a record of all karma notice what was said world is not real bodies not real waking is equal to dream fine then then comes the question karma who is going from lifetime to lifetime why do you regard that as real you just said notice what you yourself said world is not real this lifetime is an appearance waking state is a dream then again why are you asking what goes from lifetime to lifetime how where is karma who recording who is recording karma you see this is this is the confusion we say and on one hand i understand advaita vedanta that the world is an appearance brahman alone is real the next i say yes it is an appearance but who is the one living here who is the one who going from this life to that next life like saying that um i understand when i'm seeing um a movie cinema and that it is uh it's it's all a movie it's not real then neither is there a the hero nor is there a villain or is the crime been committed nor is there a court case i understand all of that is a dream it's a fiction it's a movie next i'm asking but who will punish the villain where will the villain if it's all a dream then win which jail with the willian go to the what will be the reward of the hero who will keep track of reward and punishment you have just said the whole thing is a story so in advaita vedanta to clear up this confusion what we do is we have two levels of truth true levels of reality ultimate level and our transaction level actually ultimately there will be multiple levels there is the ultimate level paramarthika there is this worldly level of transactions called vehicle there is the level of error and dream and illusion called pratibhasika there's even an error of complete non-existence called but let's just take two levels ultimate level relative level take the movie example what is the ultimate reality of the movie it is just light and screen that's the ultimate reality pictures on our screen that's the ultimate reality in the movie and what is the relative level of the movie oh there is a hero and there is a villain and there is car chase and there is a court case and reward and punishment whole story is there happiness misery and there will be a whole plot is there that's at the level of fiction that's at the level of the movie two levels are there it is not a very strange abstract philosophical concept you know one may say that oh what is this two levels of truth sounds very abstract we always use it whenever you're talking about fiction story book whenever you're talking about a movie cinema or or theater there are always two levels one is at the level of your own existence another one is that level of the story similarly in advaita vedanta brahman is the ultimate reality existence consciousness place an infinite being awareness satyam gyanam brahma that's the only reality there is nothing else apart from it the first thing that a student of vedanta learns it's in the vedanta we have to memorize the only reality is that existence consciousness bliss non-dual brahman the moment you say non-dual no two there's nothing apart from that but there seems to be something apart from it what seems to be there world is there full of millions of beings living and non-living there is history there is there are human beings there is myself especially i am their body mind thoughts feelings emotions all of this is there then if it is not a reality apart from brahman what can you call it except fiction except mithya accept appearance so advaita vedanta says brahmasatyam where brahman is real the world is an appearance two levels reality level appearance level how does that help the question answer the question the question was everything is an appearance everything is not real or appearance level mithya then what about karma what goes from lifetime to lifetime remember karma and what goes from lifetime to lifetime even lifetime to lifetime all of that is within the level of appearance mithya the level of the movie not the level of the screen not the level of brahman from the ultimate standpoint there is no lifetime there is no something going from something to something there is no karma good and bad no result of karma no need for somebody to record that karma also that that is at the ultimate level so nothing is there no when we are experiencing it at a relative level we have a hurricane level all of that is there so a vertical level what is going the sukashar era the physical body dies the subtle body goes from lifetime to lifetime the tendencies of past karmas are recorded in the subtle body and in the karnataka causal body and in the cosmic causal body that is maya all our karma is recorded and that gives rise to experiences of each jiva in the future so and the lord of all of this who is the person responsible to whom should i write my appeals god is the person responsible the personal god of religion advaita vedanta accepts all of that but calls it transactional reality relative reality lower reality appearance equal to falsity that's it so the two distinctions i often told you the story of sometimes i mentioned one of our monks used to ask this question in indian religions you find multiple lifetimes birth and death again and again and again and in judaism christianity islam one lifetime so which one is true punard january one lifetime or multiple lives so finally he went to ask a very radical non-dualist teacher a monk who lived in the himalayas in a nearby ashram this whole ashram was also in the himalayas so this monk was asked so what is true one lifetime or many lifetimes and the monk replied swami when there is not even one birth what is the question of rebirth please go and study mandu so this monk was very annoyed he came who had asked the question he came and told me these abducted non-dualists are impossible to argue it i've gone with a serious question many lifetimes for one lifetime and he dismisses the whole thing he says go and study at the mandooky so that is the advaithic perspective from the ultimate perspective no multiple lifetimes not even one lifetime was brahman ever born did the screen ever become the hero or the villain no but at the relative level level of movie hero and villain both appear and there is a story and there is a plot and there is something true about the story something false about the story also all those things are true at the relative level ultimately brahman alone is reality and that brahman you are not only brahma-satyam brahman is real not only jagat mithya world is an appearance higher truth lower truth ultimate truth relative truth but also most important jiva brahmanapara you are none other than brahman you the the individual being who thinks of yourself as a jiva you are none other than that ultimate reality that's the most important thing yes [Music]

Channel: Vedanta Society of 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, meditation, mindfulness, realization, consciousness, moksha, nirvana

Id: OXDGsyNxFGA

Length: 8min 54sec (534 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 27 2021