Amrita Bindu Upanishad Lecture 10 on 04 February 2024

Summary

The teacher is providing commentary on Mantra 7 of the Amrutavindu Upanishad, which gives instructions on how to practice meditation.

Initially, one should concentrate on Om by focusing on its letters - A, U, and M. A is associated with the waking state, U with the dream state, and M with deep sleep. This helps the meditator realize that while these three states are always changing, "I" never change. The states are separate from the unchanging "I".

The waking state is negated in the dream state, the dream state is negated in deep sleep, and the waking state negates both dream and deep sleep. But the "I" witnessing these states does not change. By isolating the witnessing "I", one can attain the highest reality of Brahman.

In Mantra 8, Brahman is described as Nishkalam (partless, infinite), Nirvikalpam (changeless, eternal) and Niranjanam (stainless, pure). Change implies parts coming together, but Brahman has no parts. The example given is mixing salt and sugar in water - they appear close but never truly become one. Only water and water can completely unite.

Likewise, Brahman alone is truly one without a second. The entire universe of living and non-living beings is made up of that one divine reality of Sat (existence), Chit (consciousness) and Ananda (bliss).

In Mantra 9, five more characteristics of Brahman are given:

1. Nirvikalpam: Changeless
2. Anantancha: Endless, infinite
3. Hetu drishtanta varjitam: Beyond logic and analogy
4. Aprameyam: Immeasurable
5. Anadhi: Without beginning

A wise person who realizes Brahman through meditation becomes completely free from limitations.

In Mantra 10, an example is given that just as we cannot logically prove a meal is tasty in a laboratory, Brahman transcends logic and reasoning. Brahman can only be known through scriptures and then realized directly as one's own self.

Faith in scriptural teachings leads to purification and mental transformation. Whether or not God objectively exists, faith brings about positive change in character. Scriptures say this faith is provisional until one's own direct realization.

Mantra 11 explains that the one Atman passes through the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep, but remains untouched by them. When this truth is realized, one overcomes rebirth.

In summary, the central teaching is that Brahman alone exists as the one unchanging reality behind the scenes of our ever-changing waking, dream and sleep states. By negating identification with these changing states through meditation and self-inquiry, we can realize our identity with the eternal Brahman. This results in absolute freedom.

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the Amrutavindu Upanishad in Mantra 7. How to practice meditation as been indicated by the Guru or the Rishi? At first, one should duly practice concentration on Om through the means of its letters. That is A, O and M and associating Akara with the waking, Ukara with the dream and Makara with the deep sleep. What happens? Then a sadhaka comes to know that these three states are changing, but I never change. I move from one stage to another stage, but they are experienced by me. Hence, they are separate from me. I am unchanging. They are always changing. Why? Because the waking is negated in the dream. The dream is negated in the deep sleep. In fact, both the waking and dream. And the waking state negates both the dream and the deep sleep. They are always changing. Time changes. Space changes. Objects change. Our concept will change. All these are happening. They are all due to the practice, Abhyasa of Samskaras we have developed. So first, you separate yourself. Be a witness and slowly isolate a real witnessing eye. Then, thereafter, when we reach only that capacity to separate, meditate on Om without regarding its letters. That means not to think of Jagrat, Swapna, Sushupti, but to think of my higher nature, our higher nature, by the, with the help of the instructions of the scriptures as interpreted by the Guru. And when we progress, finally we realize we are neither the Sakara nor the Nirakara. Why do we say I am not the Nirakara? Because our present concept of both Sakara and Nirakara, God with form, God without form, both are thoughts only in the mind. God with form is called Ishwara or the creator, the sustainer and the destroyer. But God without these activities is called Nirakara, Nirguna, Advaita, so many names. But that is also a concept we have studied in the Mandukya. One of the greatest truths Godapada wants to inculcate into our brains is that even the thought about Nirguna Brahma is only a thought in the mind and we transcend the mind. This thought also, both Sakara, Nirakara thoughts will completely disappear. Even in a glimpse of it, we can understand through the experience of deep sleep, where even my body, my mind, not to speak of anything related with the body-mind, completely disappears and therefore there are no problems and therefore there are no solutions needed. That is called Paramashanti. And then he becomes, it is also our verbal expression, a thought. Such a person, he knows, I am Brahma. Even this description is only a thought in the mind. Continuing into the eighth. What happens when a person transcends that second stage of meditation on the supreme reality as indicated by the meditation on what is called Swara means Onkara, on Onkara. That is said that again it is a verbal description, Shabda Pravrutti. So that Brahman is described in three, through three epithets. Nishkalam, partless. It is like space in a way of speaking. It is partless. That means it is infinite. That means it is one without a second. And it is Nirvikalpa. Since Vikalpa means any change can happen only when there are parts. What we call changing, aging and being born. This is all. The descriptions of the parts only. Any object with parts. And this very beautiful but very profound concept is known as Sanghata. That is a assemblage. Like you take any object, my body, so the hands, legs, eyes, etc. You take any car, there are millions of parts. Take an aeroplane, more than a million parts. Take a house, there are so many parts are there. So every object in this world is parts. What about the mind? Mind also has parts. How many parts mind has? Four parts. What are those four parts? Manaha, Chittaha, Ahamkaraha and Buddhi. Four parts are there. And what is beyond? That is Advaitam. Therefore, Shreling Nirvikalpam. There cannot be any. Vikalpa means change. Changelessness. Eternity. So Nishkalam means infinity. Nirvikalpam means timelessness. Eternity. Niranjanam. As we discussed yesterday, Anjana means stain. So stain can come. Only something is pure. And then second object comes. And that combination of two objects is called stain. Many times we think the word stain means dirt. Not necessarily. So if wood and iron come together in a table or in a house or in any this thing. Plastic, nowadays many cars are made of special material, modified plastic, which is very strong, stronger than even steel. At the same time, easy, very light. So many satellites that are sent into the space, they cannot afford to give very heavy things that consumes a lot of energy and a lot of force. So they are ever in quest of lighter but very strong materials. They have discovered something. It is called graphene. We do not know how far it will be, our scientists will be successful in making new materials out of this graphene. It has extraordinary characteristics. Anyway, so Niranjana, that is two things, can never become one thing. They may be very close, but they cannot be absolute, attain absolute oneness. For example, you can mix salt and sugar in water, but they appear to be very close. They will be close, but they will never become absolutely one. Water plus water can become one. Sugar plus sugar can become one. Oil plus oil can become one. So these are the three characteristics as aids for contemplation. And if one can do it, one after the other, he will attain to that knowledge, I am Brahman. Then what happens? That eternal, unchanging Brahman is attained. Sampadhyate means obtained, attained becomes. That means he realizes, I was not a body-mind. I thought I was the body-mind, but this is called claiming. Just I forgot I was Brahman. Now through the grace of the scripture and Guru, we again realize that that memory has come back. This was what Arjuna replied to Bhagavan Krishna. My delusion is destroyed. Then what happens? Did you become Brahman? No. I obtained back my Smriti. Smriti means memory, memory. I forgot who I was. A madcap who thinks that he is the king of a country, Prime Minister or Napoleon or whatever. If he is well treated, and what does the psychiatrist really do? He only removes that false identity, false notion. And then the person realizes, I thought I was so and so, but I know I am so and so. This is called claiming. So Brahma Sampadhyate Dhruvam. And in the ninth mantra, which we have been seeing in our last class, the another five characteristics are elaborated here. What are the five characteristics? Brahman is without doubt, endless, beyond reason and analogy, beyond all proofs, causeless, knowing which a wise one becomes free. First is Nirvikalpam. Already we have seen this Nirvikalpam in the earlier mantra. Now Anantancha. So that which doesn't change, it must be eternal. And whatever is eternal can only be infinite. No finite object can ever be eternal. It will have a birth. It will have a change. That change, another name for birth is called a change. When we say there was this, a couple gets married, and after some time a baby is born. So the baby was in an unmanifest state before. Now suddenly time has made it manifest. Like the seed of any big tree, whether it is a redwood or banyan or mango, it doesn't matter, even the tiniest plant. What happens when it is in the seed state? We cannot understand. There is no difference between the seed state of a mango or an apple or a redwood or a mustard. They're all absolutely same only. Of course, I'm not talking about physical differentiation. As a seed state, seed means non-manifestation. But all of them, when they are shown, when they come into contact with water and soil at the right season, then each one will manifest. So that manifestation is called birth. So a seedling is born. So like that a baby is born. A mountain is born. A river is born. A forest is born. There is a saying in English language, thousand years a desert, thousand years a thriving city, thousand years a forest. So changes are taking place. From the non-manifest to come into the manifest is called birth. And again to go back into that unmanifest is called death. In between, that is called change. That is called growth, whatever it is. So anantham, that which doesn't have a part, that is infinite. So this is how we extend our understanding of what is God. Normally what we call God. And this is in our day-to-day practice also. We do practice actually this one. For example, you are a devotee of God. And you are, let us say, in Bangalore or America, doesn't matter. And you installed, let us say, Krishna's image. And you bow down every day. And you sing glories. You meditate upon it. And then on a holiday, you come to India. And then you go to Brindavan. And you visit Krishna. You go to one temple. Do you feel that that Krishna whom you were worshipping in Texas or USA, is He different from this Krishna in Brindavan? Absolutely no. And then you can get various manifestations, forms. What is called baby Krishna. What is called adult Krishna. Or Gopakrishna. Gopi Krishna. Gita Krishna. Philosopher Krishna. 125 year old Krishna. Do you feel that He has become aged? Since you have arrived in India, one month passed. So Krishna had aged one month. You definitely have aged one month. But not Krishna. We already cherish these ideas. He is everywhere. And He is beyond time, space and causation. So these ideas are there. But they have to be more assiduously practiced. Now take some religion. Say Allah is the only God. And then whoever doesn't worship. If Allah is the only God, then who created this entire universe? He must have created. And out of what did He create? He doesn't have any material. So He is the material. He is both, as we say, the material cause, the intelligent cause, as well as the instrumental cause. If that is true, who created non-Islamic religions? Christianity, Judaism, or Hinduism, or Jainism, or Buddhism, or Sikhism, any ism. How dare these people say that you don't belong to our religion. You are not religious people at all. This simple truth people do not seem to understand. Because they have been brainwashed so much by the so-called mediums, interpreters. But here there is only one truth, one reality. It is infinite. It is unchanging. And not only that. If pot is created from clay, the whole, even if thousand pots are there, the reality is only the clay. The pots are only differing in shape, in size, in form, in color, in capacity, etc. But they are nothing but clay. If that is true, this entire universe consisting of living and non-living, then various types of living beings, then our bodies, our minds, and everything must be that divine reality. And that divine reality is called Sat, Chit, and Ananda. And if it is called Sat, we can understand. Because we can experience it, existence. But we may not experience Chit, or we may not experience Ananda. But they cannot be separated because the cause must manifest 100% at the effect. There is no other way. So that is called infinite. Now, is there any way we can illustrate it? No, it is not possible. As I have illustrated yesterday, description has to be done through some verbal expressions. And all verbal expressions fall under five categories. That is a confirmed truth, then a species, then some relationship, some particular quality, and some action. Like a driver, like a cook. This is red. And this is my uncle. And this is the sun, the brightest star in the whole region, solar region is called the sun, etc., etc. We can say, what is the sun like? You know, even a person, a baby, you light a lamp, take up a torch, and switch it on. A flood of light is thrown. And then you see that flood of light. You see, this is called light. How do you know it is light? Because what does light do? It reveals objects. So, but that which is there throughout the daytime, and in some regions, most of the 24 hours, especially in northern hemisphere, like Iceland, etc. So, practically 24 hours it is there. And another few months, practically it is dark only. Just to see a glimmer of light, and it disappears again. And we know that such people suffer from, during those dark days, from a disease called SAD, mental disease. S-A-D, seasonal affectation disorder. And the only remedy is bright light. So, we can show an example. So, suppose you don't know what is Rasagulla or Laddu. But you, everybody knows. There is a fruit, is very sweet apple, and you taste it. What is the taste? Oh, it is sweet. Now, imagine this is another type of sweet, but is much, much more sweeter, what is called concentrated sweetness. Condensed sweetness, that is how we can tell. Hetu drishtanta varjitam. Hetu means logic. Can God be understood by logic? Absolutely no. Even drishtanta means example, analogy, or a metaphor. These are various methodologies through which something unknown must be conveyed for a person through what that person knows. So, we give a famous example. There is fire behind the mountain. How do we know? Because we can see smoke. Wherever there is smoke, there is fire. Just as in a kitchen, you gather some firewood, and immediately there would be smoke. And that is why the chimneys are kept for the smoke to be taken out. So, we see there cannot be smoke without fire. We do not see the fire behind the mountain, but we see the rising smoke. And then we understand. So, there must be fire. Because this is what is called vyakti. Wherever there is smoke, there must be fire. So, that is how it happens. But our nayayikas, logicians, they give also. Wherever there is fire, there need not be smoke. For example, what is called electric, they sit there. Of course, sometimes when you put something and it burns, smoke will come. But as it is, we do not see any smoke. But smoke cannot be without fire. That is impossible. So, they are always related together. That is called vyakti, extension. So, we use it actually all the time. So, supposing somebody comes in a particular car practically every day. And one day you peep through your window, and you see a car is parked. Or in the office, your boss, his particular car is there. Peep through the window, and there is the car. That means the boss may not be in his office room, but he will be somewhere else nearby. Don't pull it too much. So, he might have changed the car. Or he must have come in somebody else's car. Everything is possible. But as an example, we should not pull examples too much. Because these are only to illustrate, not to describe the fact. So, like that. So, hetu. Hetu means what? Some logic. Even in this world, logic is not possible. For example, your mother cooks very tasty food. And you eat it. And you really feel very, very tasty. This is an emotional response. But logic can establish that this is really a very tasty object. If you take it to a laboratory to analyze all the components, it will give you so much of carbohydrates, so much of vitamins and minerals, and fat, and sugary content, oily content, etc., etc., etc. But that doesn't prove that it can be tasty. Actually, taste is a matter of habit. If I'm not habituated to something, I don't usually find it very tasty. I was shocked one day when I was in the UK. We went to a garden. That was the mango season. And very sweet mangoes have come. So, some devotee had brought. I gave it to an English lady. And then she ate it and said, I don't like it. I said, why? It is too sweet. But for Indians, there are some people I heard, they only subsist on mangoes throughout the summer season. Yes, it cannot be really, I mean, measured. Anything tasty. You look at a painting. So, especially South Indian paints, all the features of South, peculiar South Indian face cut, etc., and even the way Sita is dressed, like a South Tamilian lady, the South Indian painter will paint. Whereas, if a North Indian paints, it will be like a North Indian feature. Most of the Krishna's features are like that. So, once I joked with somebody, Krishna is a cowboy and Texas is full of cowboys. Can we paint Krishna as a cowboy with a hackneyed hat, a shotgun and then instead of the flute and then standing by his horse and worship him? No, no, no, no, no. We won't get anything. He's not our cowboy. So, like that, all the objections will come. What am I trying to tell you? That is, even if someone has to say this painting is beautiful, then the person must, for that particular person, that some emotional response has come. But it doesn't mean that for such and such a reason, showing some logic, it is beautiful. No taste, no beauty, etc. can be measured in a laboratory. It is all a matter of the mind reacting. Therefore, if this is the case with regard to objects in this world, what to speak of that which is one, that which is infinite, that which is worthless, that which is pure consciousness, how do we ever describe it? That is what it is said, So, an example, a metaphor or logic cannot measure him. That is why in the Katha Upanishad, we get, and means that can be measured. How can you measure infinity? Because the very measuring instrument limits an object, another object. So, there must be two, an object, a measuring instrument, and an intelligent human being who wants to measure it. So much of division has already come. So, the mind cannot work there. Why? Because the mind is constituted of three things, time, space, and causation. And everything in this world is limited by That is limited by space, time, and causation. This was one of the marvellous discoveries of Einstein. So, time and space cannot be separated. They belong to two dimensions of the same reality. So, that is why it is impossible. So, just to illustrate, how are things limited by time? So, I cannot be what is called a young man and old man at the same time. I cannot be a waking person, a dreaming person, or a deep sleep person at the same time. At different times, yes. So, this is called Kala. And then Desha, space-wise limitation. How? I can't be both here and in America or in UK or anywhere else. It is impossible. At different times, I can be at different places, but at the same time, I cannot even be in the next chair, not to speak of long distances, at the same time. And then every object in this world, supposing there are two chairs. So, one chair limits the other chair. Supposing there are two chairs with a small space in between, and somebody brings what is called a big chair, and he wants to fit it in between these two chairs, but that space will not allow that bigger object because those two chairs are limited by the space. A bigger object cannot be accommodated in a smaller amount of space. So, every object in this world is changing. That means, at the same time, they cannot be two things, and they cannot be at the same place, and there must be a cause for their changing. What is the cause? The very nature itself is the cause. But how to know God when He cannot be conveyed through all this? So, it is said, God is known through faith, and He is realized only through direct experience. What is the experience? I cannot experience God. You cannot experience God. Nobody can experience God. But to be God is one type of experience. For example, I see a tree, I see a house, I see you. This is one type of experience. But can I say I experience myself? No, it is impossible. I can be myself, but I cannot experience myself. So, this is a very special type of experience which is not comparable to the ordinary experience. And then for apramaya means to be measured. What is to be measured? That is how to obtain knowledge. To measure means to obtain knowledge. How do I obtain knowledge? Through six pramanas. Pramana means a means of obtaining right knowledge. Pratyaksha, direct perception. Anumana, inference. Then what is called upamana, comparison. So, this object looks like that tree. So, they belong to the tree species. But they are complete. One is a mango, one is an apple, one is a creeper, another is a tree, etc., etc. Then there is also a peculiar something called arthapatti. Very interesting examples are given. That you know by knowing certain facts. We infer. This is separated according to Advaita Vedanta from inference. For example, there is a fat person. His name is X. And nobody had ever seen him eating daytime. And yet he was growing fatter and fatter. So, everybody must be inferring from that, deducting from that. This person is not seen eating at daytime. But he must be eating whole night like French people at night time. Otherwise, fatness and not eating, they don't go together. So, there was a beautiful joke I want to share with you. Once Pranad Shah and G.K. Chesterson, they met somewhere. Both of them are close friends. At the same time, they used to pull each other's legs. Pranad Shah was tall and very lean and thin. And this G.K. Chesterson, very short, but very, very fat. So, Chesterson wanted to pull the legs of this Pranad Shah. So, he said, Mr. Shah, when people look at you, people feel that our country is going through a famine. And immediately, you know, after all he was Pranad Shah. Very, very sharp intellect. Without hesitation, he said, don't worry, Mr. Chesterson. When people look at you, they know why there is famine in UK. So, this person who doesn't seem to be eating at daytime, and yet growing fatter is only possible by eating. But he is eating not at daytime. This is called deducting from the effect. Another example that is given is, you go to sleep. And then early morning, you get up. And all the streets are flooded. Then you infer from that, that whole night when I was deeply asleep, it must have rained. So, this is called presumption also. Artha Patti. Then there is another type of Pramana. What is it called? Anupalabdhi. What is Anupalabdhi? Anupalabdhi means absence of a thing. And most of the time, we are using it to obtain the right knowledge. How come? Supposing, you see, you have a book. And every day, you are reading it. You keep it at a particular place in a particular room. And one of your family members, occasionally, the person also sits there and then thumbs some of the pages. Maybe the person is also interested. One morning, you get up. You want to read the book. You go there. You don't find the book. You know that the book has not been taken by anybody. And no thief has ever taken. Will not take also. But then, what happens? Some family member must have moved it to their room. How did you come to know that the book is there still in the house? Because when you noticed the absence of the book, that gave you the knowledge. The book must have been taken by that particular member who was interested in the book. And you go to that person's room and you find it. So this is a means of knowledge. Very often, we use it like that. Many number of examples can be given. But it is very great aid. If something is not here, it must be elsewhere like that. So if I don't get it here, I must seek it somewhere else. This is called Anupalabdhi. Upalabdhi means obtainment. Anupalabdhi means absence of a particular system. All these five proofs for right knowledge are dependent upon body and mind. They can give knowledge of this worldly knowledge. Anything, including the stars, including the galaxies, including what we call the micro world. That is all possible. But with regard to, is there life after death? Here, are there other worlds? I'm not talking about Mars and other things. Talking about subtle worlds, divine worlds, hell, heaven, and various gods reside. According to Hinduism, there are billions and billions of universes are there. So are there other people, other worlds, afterlife, God? Knowledge about these can be obtained only through scripture. And in the beginning, we only have to rely upon having faith in them. But how do we have faith in them? Why should we have faith in them? That is the question often raised. That which cannot be proved must not be believed in. This is one of the worst harms science has done. Whatever is not provable should be considered as non-existing. But such a horrible, illogical truth. So what happens? That scripture tells us and we must have faith. But the scripture also cautions us. This is only provisional faith. Until you realize, until you know for yourself through direct experience, you should have faith. Because even to take an action, we require some faith. That is how scientists also proceed. They collect data and then whatever knowledge is there, they try to classify all the data that they get together. And they arrive at some conclusions called hypotheses. They are all logical conclusions, not random illogical conclusions, fancy conclusions. And then they put them to test. And when they are proved in the tests of the laboratory, then they are confirmed as truth. So this is what scriptures also tell us, especially Hindu scriptures. And this is only a provisional arrangement. But you should completely put it into practice. But I will give you another example, which is most telling. If a person has faith, strongly believes in something, it brings about changes, both for good or bad. Most of the insane people, they believe in the wrong things. You call them superstition, but most people are superstitious, but not mad. But there are some people, they have a strong belief, I am Napoleon and the President of America. Now, I think, according to my humble understanding, President of America cannot stand anybody claiming that he is another President of America. So the one madcap will not tolerate another madcap trying to remove him and occupy his space. It is not possible. So what do you think if two people claiming both of them are Napoleons meet together and express their opinion? And that is what is happening all over the world. Now, I'll give you a small example. Suppose you are sitting with somebody and suddenly things are going on normally. Suddenly one person starts to tremble. And then you ask, why are you trembling suddenly? I see a ghost, that person tells. I see a ghost. Then what do you do immediately? So what are you doing immediately? You ridicule him. But he says, I see it. And you say, I don't see. We don't see. Nobody sees. Only you are seeing. Take this scenario. The point is not whether a ghost exists or not is not at all the point to be considered. So long as this person really believes that there is a ghost and that belief induces in him trembling, fear, his adrenal glands will be shooting up and he may even have heart attack. So many effects will come. And you cannot deny those effects. You may deny the truth or whatever of what he's experiencing. But you cannot deny the effects of that what is called his claimed experience. Now, take this example and take it a little bit further. Suppose somebody says, I believe in God. Have you seen God? No. Have you any proof that God exists? No. But I believe in him and I have strongly I feel him. And then you are a madcap because science has disproved such things. No, that person is has become or slowly becoming unselfish, happy, completely contained. And he is what we call satiated with his own happiness and his whole character has changed. Now, whether God exists or not is not the point. That by having faith that I believe in God, all these changes are wrought. And that is what is most important. If anybody believes in God, changes must come. If anybody claims we believe in God, but there is no change. Selfishness is growing. Miserliness is growing. And jealousy, hatred are growing and they are ready to kill each other. That is no proof of faith in God. But on the contrary, anybody has real faith, his whole character will change and for good. And he will be the most happy person in the world. God approves of my behavior and I'm very happy. Don't worry about God exists or not. Just this, if anybody says I believe in religion, I believe in God, these are the changes. One has to look at it. It is impossible. That's why it is said truth is beyond logic. An example. And as I said, truth or God or Brahman is immeasurable and forever remains unknown. Unknown as we know any object, but completely known as I am that Brahman. And why do we say that? Because these five proofs that just now I have outlined that direct perception, inference, analogy or comparison or absence of an object, etc., etc., these are all working only in the world. In fact, these are the five means by which we are increasing our knowledge and right knowledge and falsifying false knowledge. And if something is infinite, you can't say there is a beginning. Beginning and end belong to what is finite. So since God or truth is beginningless, it is Anadhi and when a person meditates upon these characteristics and meditation means complete at-one-ment, becoming identified. At best, God is Aprameya. God is infinite. God is one. God is eternal. But later on, I am infinite. I am eternal. I am all-pervading. That is called contemplation. Then it happens. What happens? Buddhaha. Buddhaha means a wise person, an awakened person, a knower of truth. Muchyate. He becomes completely free from limitations. Mukti. Another name for Mukti is time limitation, space limitation and causal limitation or object limitation are completely dissolved. So now we are entering into the 10th mantra. And this is a mantra. It is very, very popular and that is created by the Gaudapada Acharya. We get in the Vitiya Prakarna. I think 42nd verse or 43rd verse. I do not remember. The highest truth is that pure consciousness which realizes there is neither control of the mind nor its coming into play. Neither am I bound nor am I an aspirant. Neither am I a seeker after liberation nor one who has attained liberation. This we have discussed elaborately in the Mandukya Upanishad. But what it means is this one. From the highest point of mind you, these teachings are given from the absolute point of view, from the highest reality point of view. Never forget that one. So, na nirodha na cha utpattihi. Three pairs are there. Utpatti or nirodha can be interpreted in two ways. Utpatti means birth. There is neither birth, utpatti nor nirodha nor dissolution or death from the highest point of view. Not from our point of view. Or another way of interpreting is, so some people want to control the mind. Some people want to be controlled by the mind. So, if somebody wants to control the mind, it is called nirodha. Chitta vritti nirodhaha. That is called yoga. And some people say, where is the need? I am not in trouble. I am quite a happy person and whatever my mind says, that is, it says watch a movie, says eat this thing. It says quarrel with this person. I do that and I am quite happy and quite satisfied with what I do. So, let us take birth and death. When there is no birth and death, from the highest absolute point of view, when there is no birth, there is no world. When there is no world, there is no bondage. When there is no bondage, there is no desire. I want to get out of the bondage. And when I don't have a desire to get out of the bondage, then I will not do anything. I do not aspire for freedom because only a free person can think like that. And I am not a seeker after liberation and after performing some sadhana, spiritual practice, I have attained, I have become a liberated person. All these ideas, they do not exist from the absolute point of view. For example, every day we dream and imagine just in a dream, somebody, you are walking in a solitary place and then somebody comes, shows a knife or a gun and binds you and starts beating you black and blue and what would be your effort? How can anybody help me to get rid of this bondage and make me free? So, then your desire is to be free. Then you are struggling to be free. Then your shouting is also a part of that struggle only. Then somebody comes and then he has a gun and he shows the gun and then these people will run away. Then that person will release you and then you feel my shouting has worked. How did you come to know to my rescue? So, I heard some distress calls and then I came running to investigate and I saw you and fortunately I have come deer hunting and then I found these people. They ran away. I could help you. Oh, thank you very much. This is all happening in the dream. Then you wake up. From the waking point of view, were you ever bound? Did anybody bind? Did you shout and did somebody come to your aid and did they help you become free and you felt a tremendous joy and you thanked that person? Absolutely no. This is how we have to understand and we have dealt with it in our last class. There is no birth and there is no death. There is no bondage. There is no spiritual aspirant. There is no desire for liberation and there is no liberty liberated but from the highest point of view. From our point of view, there is birth, there is death, there is what we call threefold limitation. Time, space and causes are object, fold, limitation and we are bound. We don't want to die. We don't want to be ignorant and we don't want to be unhappy. These are the three bonds that are there and so once we reach that state then we wake up just like a person wakes up. We have to struggle just as we struggle in the dream state. That is very important. Then we move on to mantra 11. In this mantra, it is called Anvaya Vyatreka, that is positive and negative descriptions, presence and absence. Anvaya means positive, Vyatreka means its opposite to arrive at the truth. Here logic is being used to convince us and what is the conviction that really the whole world that we see is nothing but Brahma and whatever creature, living creature is there, it goes through three states. We know about the waking, the dream and the deep sleep state. But the only one being, I, I was awake, I was dreaming and I was in deep sleep. Now I am awake like that and continuously from birth to death, I am going through these three states. In this mantra 11, the Rishi, the Guru is teaching to his disciples that Eka Eva Atma. So you think yourself as, as one Atman is only one, not many. And that one Atma, now popularly known as individual soul, Jiva Atma, it is experiencing waking, dream and dreamless and the most fundamental principle of Vedanta, whatever I am experiencing is not me. I see a house, I am not the house. I see a tree, I am not the tree. But we forget when it comes to body-mind, we have to apply. I see my body, I experience my body, so I am not the body and whatever characteristics belong to the body, I am those characteristics belongs to the body. It doesn't belong to me because I am not the body. Same thing we apply to mind also. Mind experiences, enthusiasm, depression, elation, happiness, unhappiness, encouragement, discouragement, etc., etc. They are all characteristics of the, only the Antahkarana, that is mind. It has nothing to do with me because since I am experiencing them, I am not them. So if I can practice this, whatever I experience through five sense organs, that is not me. Sthana, Traya, Yati, Tasya. Sthana means these states. Yati, Tasya. I am separate from all that, completely different, complete opposite. They are all unconscious, without consciousness, Jada. But I am pure consciousness. I am awareness. When a person practices quite sufficiently, what happens? He will not be reborn. That means he understands that I am pure consciousness. This is a beautiful idea. We will explore in our next class. Om Jananim Sharadaam Deivim Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Pada Padme Tayo Saritvaha Pranamaami Mohor Moho Ho May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Ramakrishna