Brahma Upanishad Lecture 07 on 20 April 2024

Summary

The lecture starts with the second mantra of the Brahma Upanishad, which states that one who truly knows realizes that everything is God and nothing else exists except Brahman. This echoes the Upanishadic mahavakya "sarvam khalvidam brahma" - all this is verily Brahman.

The text delves into the analysis presented in this mantra, likening it to the teachings of the Mandukya Upanishad on the four states of consciousness - waking (jagrat), dream (swapna), deep sleep (sushupti), and the fourth (turiya) which is the unchanging reality pervading the other three transitional states.

In the waking state, Brahman is viewed as the creator Brahma. In the dream state, Brahman is Vishnu, the sustainer. In the state of deep sleep, Brahman takes the form of Rudra or Shiva, the dissolver. But underlying and transcending these three states is the eternal, unmanifest Turiya or Paramakshara Brahman - the immutable, absolute reality.

The discourse explains that in whatever we perceive, be it the sun, Vishnu, Ishwara (the ruler), individual souls (jivas), fire, or any other entity - it is all a manifestation of the one non-dual Brahman. This truth is reiterated through the words of Sri Ramakrishna from the Gospel, where he vividly describes his mystical visions of the entire universe being made of one undifferentiated substance like wax or leather cases, with the divine being the sole essence animating all forms.

Swami Vivekananda's poems are cited to substantiate this non-dual experience, realizing that there is only the one Self, transcending all conventional distinctions of father, mother, friend, foe, caste, or birth. He poetically depicts the all-pervading divinity inherent in the highest Brahman down to the lowliest worm and atom.

The text invokes the famous "neti neti" (not this, not this) formulation to explain that in the state of Brahman-realization, all distinctions, identities, and dualities dissolve. No longer are there distinctions of gods, worship, birth, death, caste, or spiritual practices - for the realized being has transcended all these limitations of the relative plane.

Through profound anecdotes and stories about Sri Ramakrishna's life, it is shown how a realized master perceives the inherent oneness in all beings and phenomena. There are striking accounts of how Sri Ramakrishna would experience his own Self in a blade of grass, an insect's suffering, or even a blow struck by a boatman - for to the enlightened, everything is a play of the one indivisible Reality.

The discourse underscores that true desirelessness and lasting joy arise, not from mere sense-restraint, but from the profound realization that one's Self is the all-pervading, self-luminous Brahman. With this realization, nothing further remains to be desired or attained.

Throughout, there is an emphasis on how this non-dual experience transcends all intellectual understanding. It is a truth realized directly, beyond the mind's fragmentation of reality into subject and object. The discourse highlights that the words of realized beings are not mere rhetoric, but an expression of their личный mystical insights into the non-dual ground of existence.

The summary culminates by suggesting that the entire world, with all its multitudes of beings across all realms, disappears into the one reality of Brahman during the state of deep sleep or nirvikalpa samadhi. Only the changeless, undifferentiated Brahman remains as the ineffable substratum, devouring all distinctions of life, death, caste, and spiritual practices within its blissful self-awareness.

In essence, this profound spiritual text elucidates the philosophical, experiential, and poetic dimensions of the fundamental Upanishadic realization "tat tvam asi" - that you are That, the one undivided reality called Brahman. It is the highest wisdom revered across the centuries by innumerable sages, seers, and realized spiritual Masters like Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda.

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

So we have entered into the second mantra of the Brahma Upanishad. What does it say? YA EVAM VEDA SA PARAM BRAHMA DHAMA KSHETRAM UPAITI One who knows, knows what? That everything is God. Excepting God, nothing else exists. He who knows, he attains to the same state. Or we can reverse the same and say, He who realized God, knows that God alone exists and nothing else is there. And this is what Brihadaranyaka also certifies, confirms. No other knower there is excepting that one. Then we are talking about the second mantra. And here the analysis, just like Mandukya Upanishad, every human being undergoes three states of experience. Rather I would say four states of experience. Three states of experience, one after the other. Now or simultaneously. But one state of experience all the time. What is that one state? That is called Turiyam. What are the other three states? The well-known waking, dream, as well as dreamless state. Tatra, Kshatushpadam, Brahma, Ibhati. What shines? What exists? What alone is manifesting in the form of both the subject and the object? Or Ishwara, Jeeva and Jagat. Everything is nothing but that Brahman. So Brahman plus experience of the waking. Brahman plus the experience of dream. Brahman plus the experience of deep sleep. Brahman is continuous, constant, pure consciousness. How do we know? Because I am the waker, I am the dreamer, I am the sleeper. That I am is constant. But waker, dreamer and sleeper. That is undergoing change all the time. So in this particular Upanishad, what mythological languages, the creator, the sustainer and the dissolver, are given, equated with these three states. So Brahman in the waking state becomes Brahma, creator. Brahman in the dream state is Vishnu. Brahman in the deep sleep state is called Rudraha. Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra. But pervading all the three and never changing, is the Turiyam, which is called Paramakshara. In our last class, we have discussed how in the waking state we create. And in the dream state, we maintain. And in the deep sleep state, we merge. Both the Brahma and Vishnu into Rudra. The body-mind, the gross body, the subtle body, both become merged in the causal body. But that is also a state only. Turiyam is not a state. It is the reality. It is the unchanging. That is why it is said, Paramaksharam. Ksharam means that which decays. Or that which changes. That which is subject to time, space and causation. But this Turiyam is Paramaksharam. Never ever decays. And then we also have taken up the next explanation, Saha, that Brahman. When he is manifesting in the form of the world, he is everything. How is he everything? That is being explained here. Saha Adityascha, Vishnuscha, Ishwarascha, Saha Purushaha, Saha Pranaha, Saha Jeevaha, Saha Agnihe, Saha Ishwarascha Jagrat Tesha Mathye, Yat Param Brahma Ibhati. He is the Sun. He is the Vishnu. He is the Ishwara. He is the Purusha. He is the Prana. He is the Jeeva. He is all that is animate. And in brackets we have to say inanimate also. He is the fire. He is the Ishwara. And he is the resplendent. And that Brahman, which is transcendent, shines within all these. Shines means what? Not you bring one torch light and you shine upon some object. A torch is different. A light is different. The object it reveals is also different. Not like that. Just like our dream, a light itself becomes everything. Perhaps the nearest analogy, when we are watching what we call a cinema, a screen is there. And on that screen is only to manifest all the variations of the light. We see the entire world on that screen. And when we are experiencing the world, the screen is not noticeable. And when we notice the screen, the world is not noticeable. We have to take note of this particular point. Now, all the things that we experience on the screen, forgetting the screen, is nothing but pure light. So if it becomes thick, it becomes a colored object. If it becomes thin, it becomes a transparent object. When it manifests more, then it becomes a colorless object. So like that, everything. How do we know? Because switch off that light and the screen remains without any manifestation. So all the living, non-living, is the manifestation of that light. Different shades, billions of degrees of shades of light only. That is how we have to understand that when we perceive anything in this world, whether it is God's or the individual soul, it is not mentioned here, but even the so-called non-living, a mountain. What is common? There is the sun shining, there are the clouds floating, there are the rivers flowing, there are the mountains standing, and there is the human being and animals. What is common? Absolutely, there is no difference among all these perceived objects. Generally, we divide our experiences into the experiencer and the experienced subject and object. But what is common? I am looking at a tree. I exist, otherwise I cannot experience the tree. The tree exists, otherwise I cannot experience the tree. So existence is common and that is where we are equal. There is no small existence, big existence. It is pure existence. So that is the common thing. And where there is existence, the awareness of that existence is called knowledge. First is Sat and the next is Chit. So that is Sat and Chit. And whenever we experience something, either there is a positive reaction, negative reaction, or neutral reaction, and that is called Ananda. Reaction within ourselves, depending upon whether it is a happy reaction or an unhappy reaction, and that is what is called Ananda. This is what is being expressed here. So we have heard so many other statements. Sarvam Kalvidam Brahma. Everything is Brahman. That is being expressed only from our transactional point of view because we see so many things. So therefore he is the son, Aditya. He is the Vishnu and he is Ishwara. Here also Aditya means the creator, equated to Brahma. Vishnu is the maintainer and Ishwara is the dissolver or the unmanifest. He who makes the manifest become unmanifest, that is, he robs, he grows, the subtle and the causal, and then again re-equips it. He is called Ishwara and he is called Purushaha, consciousness. He manifests as the Prana and he manifests as the Jeevatma, that is the living soul, individual soul. He manifests as Agni. He also manifests as the controller of everything and he manifests as the completely awakened witness, Jagra Tesha Mathye, as a witness. Why witness? Because even though he is manifesting, but he never becomes transformed. This is where the great two, what is called Parinamavada and Vivartavada come into existence. So those who are dualists, they prefer what is called Parinamavada. God, without changing, can manifest as everything that is changeable. Advaithins deny it and say that is not possible. Either it changes or it doesn't change. So how do we explain this world? That is Vivartavada. Seemingly, just as a dream seems to be real, a cinema seems to be real, a drama seems to be real, but it is only an entertainment, but it is not really real. So only a few are mentioned here, but everything that is mentioned here, just like in the 10th Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, all the vibhutis, that which strikes our attention as something noticeable, as something which we cannot easily ignore, those things. Here also, the same thing is said. What about a mosquito? Yes, he is the mosquito. What about Mount Everest? Yes, he is Mount Everest. What about a small hillock? Yes, he is the small hillock. What about a river? Yes, he is the river. He is the water. He is a cloud of earth. He is everything. So that is the vision Sri Ramakrishna wanted to attain. And so what we make difference is one is valuable, one is not at all valuable or much less valuable. So during his sadhana, Sri Ramakrishna used to take a lump of clay and a rupee coin. And if you offer this to even a little bit grown up child, the child will only prefer the rupee coin because he thinks this can purchase everything. So nothing else is there. I remember a very beautiful incident. This happened I think in USA. There was a small child and one day suddenly he felt like eating some sweets. So he approached a shop and I want to buy these sweets. And the shopkeeper said, Yes, my child. So do you have the money to pay? And then he said yes. And the child did not know what was money. He had some playthings. So he took out from his pocket all his what is called the stones with which he used to play. Here is money. Is it sufficient? And the shopkeeper said more than sufficient. So one is enough. He took one and he gave rest of it. It is very valuable. And he gave whatever the child wanted. He gave. And somebody noticed it. And they questioned this shopkeeper. How could you do that? He says I have children. Many times my own children approach me in this way. Papa, I will give you this. You give me that. Would I ever say no? So he is a child and he is not trying to cheat. And he really thinks this is valuable. And that is exactly God also plays with us. After all what is the thing that we give? What we think very tasty sandesh and very tasty rasagulla or a diamond studded necklace etc. These are nothing but trinkets. For God it makes no difference at all. So there is an incident. Once in the Radha Krishna temple at Dakshineshwar some thieves came and robbed. And Madhur Babu who was the owner he got very annoyed. He started criticizing God. Oh God, what type of God you are? You cannot even protect your own ornaments. Ram Krishna happened to be there. He scolded Madhur Babu and said what you think is very valuable in the eye of God it is mud. In fact, in our eyes also it is mud only. When you are hungry you have got a very beautiful diamond necklace. Are you going to chew it very nicely putting it in your mouth? If there is nobody who is selling food material you will not get any food material. Even if somebody offers you in that condition even one morsel of food not only that even a cup of water perhaps he will give all your money. Money is worthless. Money is valuable only when there is something that is to be desired. Let's say in South Africa the natives used to melt this gold which they used to somehow found out and then like our villagers they squashed their walls with cow dung cakes. So they used to ornament the walls, outer walls. When these British people went there their eyes practically popped out. My God, this is valuable. The point is how can it be valuable? There is nothing to buy. Even the Mysore Maharaja he had to sit on a hard seat of a throne made out of pure gold. Even now it is exhibited there in the Mysore Museum. So what is the point? The point is even if a rich person is there it is completely useless. Money is useless. And life itself is going away. Or the money cannot buy what we need to buy. Previously medical treatments were very hard. There were people who were kings, maharajas, Nawabs even they died because they could not get the smallest medical facility that we get. That's why I always joke, you know that nowadays a kind of sofa chair is available. My God, if you sit there you feel you are Indra Loka on the Indra's seat. It will massage every part of your body. It is so soft. And equipped with AI it will even sing a lullaby to you if you are not getting sleep. So it can talk to you. It can answer any question to you. AI equipped sofa chair. It can take all your medical measurements blood pressure and blood sugar and all those things. Who has got these facilities? Even one year back such kind of thing would have been impossible. Even if you are the richest person you would not have been able to get. What is the point we are discussing? That everything is valuable only when it can be used. And whatever we want if that thing is not in existence that is not possible. The topic here is that when a person perceives the same God everywhere he becomes what is called Akamaha, Kamarahita completely desireless. Because it is not that there are so many what is called austere practicing sadhus who voluntarily give up many tasty things etc. But whether they are getting that Ananda that is we do not know. Only a realized soul gets it. So when a person realizes he is getting so much joy infinite joy and eternal joy. Infinite means all the joy. Eternal means for all time. It is not something that comes and goes. Then who wants anything? So this Brahma Upanishad wants to teach only one thing everything is Brahma. So He is the Sun, He is the Vishnu. But only a few are mentioned here. That is what Bhagavan Krishna also says at the very end that what I have mentioned here are just a few for you to contemplate upon to meditate upon. But the whole universe is my vibhuti only. Even the smallest amoeba is my vibhuti glory. How can we understand that? You see if you see let us say a small mosquito you can squash it. And this teaching has been given by Lord Buddha to one murderer. Once Lord Buddha was travelling in a what is called dangerous forest area and there used to be a person and he used to kill the people, anybody who dares to travel there and then he used to cut off their fingers make a garland of them and then wear them around his neck. That's why he was called Angulimala. Somebody warned Buddha don't go there. So Buddha says don't worry I know how to deal with him. He was fearless you see. And then he goes how could he go because of his I am Brahman if he kills also then nothing is lost because I am Brahman. No that is not the point. The point is there was no great believer in the karma phala than Lord Buddha. He used to say the result of actions follow every being like the wheels of an oxen cart follow the footsteps of the oxen. So if the time to die comes nobody can prevent death. So if the time has not come nobody can really take away the life. There is a beautiful saying in Hindi When Rama decides to save somebody nobody can kill him. And when Rama decides to kill him nobody can save him. And every realized soul knows it that the body and the mind have got what is called Ayurdaya life span until it is exhausted until the prarabdha comes to an end. It is not possible for anybody even to kill also. They know it better than all of us put together. So he started travelling as predictable. Gangulimala came and said I am going to kill you. Buddha said ok. But first will you do something for me? Yes, there is a branch in front of you cut it off. This fellow had a very sharp knife, he cut it off. It did not take any time at all. And then Buddha said now put it back again and let it be like the previous. That fellow, he was a rational fellow. He said once I cut off, how is it possible to put it back again? Buddha said you understand now what I am trying to tell you. So easy to take away the life of somebody and you cannot even restore a small branch of a tree. How many people you have murdered and you know how much of suffering you have accumulated for yourself. If I and you tell the same thing, probably he would not even listen. We will not have opportunity to tell few words. He will cut off our neck. But the personality of Buddha was such. He understood. Buddha made him understand to take away life is easy, but to give life is impossible. Even an amoeba's life, a mosquito's life, we cannot give back. Therefore, never harm, never hurt anybody. Therefore, look at everything that everything is nothing but God. Supposing somebody is killed. Is he really killed? No. Nobody can be killed. There is nothing called really death. Temporarily an instrument has been taken off, but next birth the same instrument, another instrument will be given, maybe a better instrument, but at the same time the person who is responsible for this, he will also suffer very much. This is the gist of what we are trying to discuss here. When we perceive Brahman, when we are looking at the sun, he is called Aditya. So, he is nothing but Brahman. And when we are looking, worshipping Lord Vishnu or in another way of speaking, Vishnu means anything that is visible, invisible, existing, that is Vishnu. Everything is Vishnu. There is nothing but Vishnu. You look even at a dried leaf, then that is also Brahman. So, Ishwara, that is the ruler. There is a ruler. If anybody says, I don't believe, there is no God, there is no justice, and there is no reality, and there is no equalness, such a person is a fool because he doesn't understand the law of karma is inevitable. So, there is somebody who is ruling, who is watching, who knows everything and who awards or punishes. That is called awarding. Even punishment is also awarding only. So, that is Brahman only. So far as we are aware of our body-mind, we are supposed to maintain that body-mind in a particular way and use it in a particular way. Maintenance is separate. Usage is separate. Like you have a car, you have to maintain the car. This is called servicing the car. But how you use the car? You can reach a destination or you can kill somebody or you can even participate in races. That is a different issue. There is somebody who is looking at everything and he is not mere Sakshi. He is taking note of everything and he rewards and punishes people all with the purpose of teaching a lesson, training us how we can manifest our divinity. He is called Ishwara. He is the again the antaryami, the indweller, he who is everywhere. He who resides within ourselves is called Purusha and Pranaha. I am able to talk to you. You are able to listen because both of us are endowed with life force, Prana. And that Prana doesn't belong to me. I am not the Prana. You are not the Prana. God is that Prana. And that Prana says I am the individual. That is called Jeeva, Sajeevaha. There is a heat. Heat is necessary for the world. Cold is necessary for the world. And different manifestations, different objects requires different degrees of cold and heat. And then there are also again the second time the word Ishwara is there. That is to say the same Ishwara in the society is manifesting in the form of a head of a village or head of a family, head of a college or head of the police or head of the ministry etc. etc. These are all manifestations. Sometimes these go to a ridiculous extent. What is called the divine right of the kings. Many people believe that a king is descending only from God and a king, king's child or children, princess however unworthy they are, they alone have to take the position or they alone have to become. This kind of superstitions ruined even today they are ruining it. So is Brahman. Is he awake? Yes, he is always ever awake. So how? He is always vibrating. I am, I am, I am. I am happy. He is vibrating. I am unhappy. He is vibrating. I am very intelligent. He is vibrating. I am very dull. He is vibrating. I am awake. I am dreaming. I am sleeping. He is vibrating. Whatever be the condition, this eternal awareness he is awake. And who is that? That Brahman. And he is the supreme reality. Supreme reality means the unmanifest or the uncreating, unmaintaining, undissolving. That is Nirguna Brahma. Vibhati. But how are we cognizing him? Only in the form of Saguna Brahma. We can never cognize because so long as there is a mind where only what we are thinking is a thought and that thought is only of the Saguna Brahma never of the Nirguna Brahma. That is why Ramakrishna was constrained to tell to him he is with form, he is without form, he is even beyond the form. Everything is Brahman. And again and again we get this idea in the Gospel and also in the message of Swami Vivekananda. I just quote some because as soon as I read this I am reminded of what Sri Ramakrishna had said. This talk we get in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna at the poor garden house. That was practically one year's Leela. So the devotee sat near the master. He felt a little better and said to them the illness is of the body that is as it should be. I see that the body is made of the five elements. The illness is of the body because whatever disease comes, change comes. Illness is a change. Health is another change. So weakness is one change. Strength is another change. Birth is one change. Death is another change. Shadur me. And that is as it should be. That means one cannot avoid. That you see me suffering you cannot avoid. I see that the body is made up of the five elements. So whatever is made up of the five elements come under the thumb of what is called Desha Kala Nimitta. Turning to Girish, Sri Ramakrishna said I am seeing many forms of God. Among them I find this one also meaning his own form. So many times I told you there is no harm in repeating. Whenever God incarnates, his name, four things happen. His name becomes a Mahamantra. His very form that is the body that we see in photographs or painting etc. becomes an object of contemplation, meditation. His life and teachings become the scriptures that is interpreted Vedas or Upanishads in this particular form. So Sri Ramakrishna is telling about this fact. And after the practically the death of the body of an incarnation a body that is his own disciples they form a monastery and then they are talking about how to preserve the life and propagate the teachings without any distortion so long as it is possible. Of course distortion is inevitable in course of time. That is how religions degenerate however great they are. So these are the four things Nama, Rupa, Shastra, Sangha. That is what happens. Now this is what Sri Ramakrishna is confirming that I find among those forms of God this one also. That means anybody can attain realization even after this. And another conversation Monday, March 15, 1886. About 7 o'clock in the morning Sri Ramakrishna felt a little better. He talked to the devotees sometimes in a whisper sometimes by signs. Narendra, Prakhal, Latu, M, Gopala, Sinthi and others were in the room. They sat speechless and looked grave thinking of the master suffering of the previous night and the master addressing the devotees. Do you know what I say right now? I say that it is God himself who has become all this. It seems to me that men and other living beings are made of leather and that it is God himself who dwelling inside these leather cases moves the hands, the feet, the hands. I had a similar vision once before when I saw houses, gardens, roads, men, cattle all made of one substance. It was as if they were all made of wax. So this is what Sri Ramakrishna wants to express and we have to understand it. That is Sarvam Kalvidam Brahma is the direct confirmation through the experiences of Ramakrishna and that is the confirmation of Brahma Upanishad also. And then he continues I say that it is God himself who has become the block executioner and the victim for the sacrifice. And here a great truth is being expressed by Sri Ramakrishna. When we are transacting in this world, what do we see? That there is a murderer and there is a victim and there is an instrument through which the murderer kills, destroys. So that is what is being said here that God himself has become the block and the executioner and the victim for the sacrifice. Very often you know what we see in some of the temples, especially of the Divine Mother. Goats and sheep etc. they are sacrificed so that the sacrifice is not a new thing. Even in the olden times, Rishis, Munis performing Yajnas, Yagas there also horses, cattle that is called Ashwamedha, Ashwamedha even sometimes human beings were sacrificed and mentions are there. And sometimes we find it is horrible but actually sometimes it is very good. If somebody is shooting dead a gang of a murderous group, a mafia or an incorrigible thief and he is doing lot of good to other people. Nowadays it is happening in so many places these people they can obtain the firearms they go to malls, shops schools, public places and then go on shooting and many times the police shoot them dead and they are praised. So killing is not always an act of horrible sin. It can be also a very meritorious thing and that is why Bhagavan Krishna says Dharma Yuddha some kind of fights or wars or aggressors have to be defeated or if possible subdued or otherwise killed if not possible. That is why Riyadhana would never have accepted defeat. Even if everybody dies, if he is alive, he is not going to accept even to see. Not that he was an ignorant person. He knows everything but there is some strong evil samskara impression within him and that is not possible for him to change. Such people have to be killed. There is no other way at all. And then Shri Ram Krishna continues as he describes the staggering experience in which he realizes in full the identity of all within the one being. He is overwhelmed with emotion and exclaims, Ah! What a vision! Immediately Shri Ram Krishna enters into Samadhi. He completely forgets his body and the outer world. The devotees are bewildered, not knowing what to do. They sit still. On the one hand, they were terribly pained to see the painful condition of this person who is suffering from incurable cancer. On the other hand, Shri Ram Krishna enters into deep Samadhi and he is describing his marvelous visions that he had just heard. So, what to make of it? Because such a person very rarely they see. And then Shri Ram Krishna completely forgets his body and the outer world. So, the devotees sat still. Presently, the Master regained partial consciousness of the world. And then he says, Now, I have no pain at all. I am my old self again. Few minutes back, he was suffering from intolerable pain. And then after this experience, he says, Now, I have no pain at all. I am my old self again. That means Shri Ram Krishna had disassociated his mind from the body because it is the body effect that affects the mind. When I say, It is very hot, it is the body. When you say, It is very cold, it is the body. Since I have got an air conditioner and it is such a pleasant sensation, that is also the body only. So much depends upon the mind. So, but here he says, I am seeing everything but I have disassociated myself from the body. Even though, even to utter these words, he has to use the mouth only, the body only. The devotees are obliged to watch this state of the Master beyond pleasure and pain and will and woe. Then he says, Shri Ram Krishna, He casts his glance on Latu and says, There is Loto. He bends his head, resting it on the palm of his hand. That was how Swami Advaitananda, later on, at that time, Latu, that was how he was sitting. Shri Ram Krishna describes but what do we see? Latu sitting in that way. What did Shri Ram Krishna say? I see that it is God himself who rests his head on his hand. So this kind of experiences from the beginning to the end and just it is worth recollecting one of his experiences that he had, a pure non-dualistic experience. Immediately after his Advaita Guru Totapuri had left the place, Shri Ram Krishna remained in Nirvikalpa Samadhi continuously for six months. After that, slowly the Divine Mother had brought his mind back. Then this kind of experiences he was having. So one day he saw that there was a grasshopper and somebody caught hold of it took a small piece of splintered wood and then poked it into the anus of that small insect and it was suffering. Of course, it cannot express but Shri Ram Krishna saw. He said, at first I was very pained that this small helpless creature some, of course is only small children. We do many things like that but here even Ganesha was supposed to have beaten a cat. So we all do like that but next second Ram Krishna said, Oh Rama you became this stupid child. You became this grasshopper. You also became that small wooden prick and then you inserted this prick into your own self and you are suffering. This is the highest knowledge, Sarvam Kalvidam Brahma and with that he went into Samadhi. So many things have happened. Two boatmen were quarrelling. One gave a blow and that blow landed squarely on Shri Ram Krishna's back. So another day somebody was walking on green grass and Shri Ram Krishna felt that somebody was walking with heavy boots on his own chest. So many such experiences. These are only just a few. Now Swami Vivekananda wants to confirm this. In his poems they are nothing but these Upanishads. Whatever came out of the mouth of Swami Vivekananda is nothing but pure Vedanta, pure teachings of the Vedas. If he was talking about service, it is nothing but Karma Yoga. If he is talking about control of the body-mind, he is talking about Raja Yoga. If he is talking about worship, hymn, etc., he is talking about Bhakti Yoga. If he is talking about discrimination, dispassion, etc., he is only talking about nothing but Gnana Yoga. But his marvellous teachings, when he used to go into ecstatic states and then after that he used to come out and express his experiences in the form of poems. And we know there are many poems, but one of the most famous poems is A Song of the Sannyasin. But I have taken some quotations. In order to support what Brahma Upanishad is telling, that Sa Adityaha, Sa Agnihi, Sa Eswaraha, Sa Pranaha, Sa Purushaha, etc., etc. This is what Swami Vekananda is expressing in his poems. These are purely from the poems. They know not a truth who dreams such vacant dreams as father, mother, children, wife and friend. The sexless self whose father is he, whose child, whose friend, whose foe is he, who is but one. The self is all in all, none else exists and thou art that Sannyasin bold, say Om Tat Sat Om. There is but one, the free, the knower, the self, without a name, without a form or stain. In him is Maya dreaming all this the witness, he appears as nature, soul. Know the word that Sannyasin bold, say Om Tat Sat Om. That is from the song of the Sannyasin. Then from another poem, from the highest Brahman to the underworm and to the very minutest atom, everywhere is the same God, the all-love, friend, upper mind, soul, body at their feet. These are his manifold forms before there rejecting them where seekest thou for God exactly what we have been talking in this particular part of the second mantra. And then he continues, who loves all beings without distinction he indeed is worshipping best his God. Then I am quoting from another poem, the living God, he who is in you and outside you who works through all hands, who walks on all feet, whose body are all ye, him worship and break all other idols. He who is at once a high and low, a sinner and a saint, both God and worm, him worship visible, malleable, real, omnipresent, break all other idols. This is particularly significant because especially most of the religious people, especially Hindus, they go on worshipping these idols but we do not see the smallest amount of transformation in their lives at all. Anyway, Swami, what came out of the or what comes out of the mouth of, whether it is Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna, Holy Mother or any realized soul, it is only the world of Veda, world of God because he is the creator of the Vedas. That is why he says I am the creator of the Vedas, I am the Vedas. Whenever we happen to see Chaturmukha Brahma, that is Brahma himself in the form of the Vedas or Vedas in the form of the Brahma. We go further in this Brahma Upanishad. So, descriptions of that is continuation of what we have seen. ... That is, he doesn't have any mind but he knows everything. He doesn't think but he knows everything. He doesn't hear anything but he knows everything. He doesn't have hands or feet. He doesn't require a light because he is the light. Light means his pure consciousness. This is nothing but a rephrasing of what we studied in that marvelous Kena Upanishad. What speech does not enlighten but what enlightens is speech. Know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people here worship. Similarly, ... What one cannot think with the mind but by the light of which they say the mind is given the power to think. Know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people here worship. These are all, you know, ... support each other. Only same truth, ... is presented in so many things. And what is that experience? Suppose somebody realizes that Brahman, what would be that experience? Now here something very beautiful is there. The following teachings can also be applied to deep sleep. But, the commentators explain this to be what is called the state of Turiyam, the highest state, that is Brahman. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... The sum and substance of these teachings is that Brahman alone exists, nothing else exists. But even in our deep sleep, what happens? The highest learned Brahmana or the most crude, ignorant person, when both of them are a king or a pauper, or a powerful person or a weak person, a learned one, an illiterate one, husband and wife, father, mother and children, when we are in the same room, same house, or wherever, and we are in that state of deep sleep, the father is no father, the mother is no mother, and this waking state is no waking state. We have even no dream state, much less I am an Indian, I am an American, etc. And Gods do not exist, because when there is no body and mind, all this body, what is called the rulers of the body and mind, all the Devatas, all the presiding deities, everything totally vanishes. That is why we do not struggle to do anything in the deep sleep. Oh, I am an ignorant person, I have to do sadhana, I have to think about God. There is no problem, therefore no attempt to arrive at a solution. This is the sum and substance of that state, whether it is Nirvikalpa Samadhi or in deep sleep, what is it? Lokana Lokaha, every world, those who are on earth, those who are in hell, those who are in heaven, those who are in Brahma Loka, when they enter into the state of what is called Sushrupti, deep sleep, or they are identifying themselves as Brahman. All these worlds, there are no worlds, that means they disappear, that is the duality is completely gone. They do not require Vedas, because Vedas are required when there is a problem. Deva na Deva, we do not need any gods or goddesses, because they are required only when we are in the transactional world. Igna na Igna, so there is neither Igna nor non-Igna. A person has gone beyond them. Why? Igna or worship is done when we feel we lack something and we want something that is not available. So if we pray to the gods and goddesses and they might grant us. But in that state there are no desires. Where there are no desires, nothing is necessary, no gods are necessary. Mata na Mata, because there is no birth, there is no death. A mother is no mother, a father is no father, and Sunusha na Sunusha, a daughter-in-law is no daughter-in-law. Chandalo na Chandalaha, a low-caste person is no low-caste person. Paulkasu, what is a Paulkasa is what is called one of the lowest type of human beings, Paulkasa. So a mendicant or a bhiksha or what is called eater of dead bodies, etc. A dead body is no dead body. There is no death, there is no life. Ego is beyond janma and jara. Shramanaha means a sanyasi. No sanyasi, no sanyasa because he has gone beyond that state and the animals are no animals. Tapasaha na tapasaha, a person who is performing austerities or is no person of austerity at all. What does all this mean? In that state, completely, the reality is completely gone. Then what happens, especially in the state of Turiyam? Only that Supreme Brahman alone is shining there, that means exists there, that means I have become one with that Supreme Reality and then these are all descriptions for people like us, ignorant people. I become Brahman. In that state, a person doesn't say I have become Brahman, I was not a Brahman or I was Brahman, then I forgot I was Brahman, then I did sadhana, then I realized I am Brahman, now I am very happy. No. None of this. These are all descriptions for people like us who are in the state of reality. This is the beautiful description of what Sairam Krishna once promised his disciples, I will tell, but was unable to tell, that is Neti Neti, not this, not this and that Neti Neti is described in a few of these words. We will talk the rest in the next class. Om Jananem Sharadaam Deveem Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Adapadmetayo Sritva Pranamaami Mohur Mohuhu. May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.