Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 09 on 22 June 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying Chandogya Upanishad, I have been going through this introductory phase where certain qualifications are absolutely necessary. This necessity applies to every scripture in this world. Not only Chandogya Upanishad, even if I want to become a good expert pickpocket, I need to have quickness of hand, quickness of the eye and almost an intuitive power to find out whose pockets or whose purses are really having something worth picked up. Not to speak of these exalted lofty themes. So we have gone through certain technological terms called Paribhashika words, jargon what they call. So the Guru finds out if the disciple is fit enough and if he is not fit enough. If the Guru finds the student is good, he is worthy but not yet ready, what does he do? Every horse trainer or a dog trainer knows how to train those animals and so there are two methods they use. This is the discovery or rather rediscovery by B.K. Skinner. Carrot and stick. Carrot means if the animal is grasping and tries to do, then it is rewarded. That means that behaviour is reinforced. If not a stick means it is not with the idea of punishing but with the idea of training properly. So all the austerities and all the austerities in a simple way have been classified as one. This is called Pancha Maha Yagnaha. Five great sacrifices about which also I spoke umpteen number of times. By our very birth we are indebted to the Rishis because they are the people who are passing on their hard-won, hard-discovered knowledge to us. Then to all the Gods who are nothing but the manifestations of our own creator in various ways in the form of a God, Goddess of Wisdom, Goddess of Wealth, Goddess of Victory, Goddess of or God of removing all the obstacles. Hindus have given various names like Saraswati, Lakshmi and Ganesha or Vignesha etc. Every God is a manifestation of Brahman and therefore we have to be grateful because whatever we are, whatever we have is their gift, their grace to us. What do they expect? Nothing excepting gratefulness and salutation. I salute you. That's all. They don't want anything else. A child is expected to thank the mother. Is he going to say bowing down the head, thank you oh great divine mother? No, he simply eats properly, grows strongly and mother is very happy and if a child says mom give me more, it is excellently done. That gives the greatest happiness to the mother. Similarly, oh Lord you are bestowing your grace upon me and that's why already you have bestowed your grace upon me by conferring on me a human body, sufficient intelligence to discriminate between the real and the unreal and enough amount of faith in the scriptures so that I can overcome the temporary temptations and then move forward to find out the ultimate solution to the very life. Most people ask the question what is life and what are we supposed to do in life and then Upanishad gives complete answer and this is posed in six or seven questions and I will come to that sooner. As I have explained when such an earnest aspirant approaches the Guru with firewood on head symbolizing complete surrender or I will burn all the obstacles so that I am worthy of receiving whatever you are going to give it to me and the Guru gives nothing but pure knowledge. So that process is called Mahavakya that is telling you are not body, you are not the mind, you are pure Atman that is Mahavakya. So he also explains how do I know because my experiences are contrary to what you are speaking or to what the scripture is speaking through you and then he explains. So there must be a definition of reality and that definition is like goes Trikaala, Atheetam, Satyam. Truth or reality one and the same is that which never changes in the past, present and future in the three times and then he explains. You see from your very birth itself you are not having a body, you get a body and that body is also endowed with a mind and both body and mind go on growing means going on changing ultimately whatever is born must also approach the end. So whether we are experiencing waking state or dream state and deep sleep state throughout all the states it is nothing but change from one state to the other and whatever changes is not truth but whoever is thinking that I am that experiencer is not right. If we can stand as a witness then we find that the fundamental principle of Vedanta beautifully says whatever I experience is not me, I experience the waking, the dream and the sleep therefore I am not, I cannot be the three bodies. Three bodies are there, the gross body, the subtle body and the causal body and then also says what is the proof that what you are speaking is correct. This is what the disciple is supposed to question and a disciple who doesn't question is not a fit person. This is an inevitable process because I am trying to step out beyond what I know to be changing, therefore temporary, therefore called Mithya, whatever is changing, whatever is dependent that is called Mithya. So this world we are experiencing and even in this world we don't get right knowledge at all the times and we don't get complete knowledge. So two defects are there with regard to the knowledge even if everything is absolutely perfect, good sunlight is there for example, my eyesight is well and the object is quite near enough for me to experience it properly through either of the five sense organs. But even though it is called direct experience and from the ultimate point of view it's not a direct experience, Pratyaksha, direct experience. No, it is not direct because by the time my mind goes out and envelops that object and takes a mold of it and brings it back, it may take a billionth of a second. But the knowledge I am obtaining is first of all only it is after one second's delay. I gave the example, sometimes we see the light of a star which is dead billions of years back but since its light from the time of its birth has just reached, I am seeing only the birth of a star. I will go on seeing it until the last light that it emitted just before its death, that is called supernova, that phenomena. So there are what is called Pratyaksha, direct perception, direct experience and this is what the Guru explains that depending upon this direct experience, four correlatives have been, corollaries have been derived. That is inference, then presumption, comparison or analogy and the absence of cognition that there is something absent. All these four are dependent upon the direct perception but that is probably good for obtaining a good amount of knowledge with regard to worldly objects. But no sense organs because all our knowledge comes only from six sense organs, five of the body, the eye, etc. and through the five types of knowledge, Shabda, Sparsha, Rupa, Rasa, Gandha. But there is something which has to coordinate, harmonize, that is called the mind, five sense organs plus the mind, these are called the six sense organs, they are gross and therefore they can only give us knowledge of the gross objects which are experienceable but not the knowledge about myself. So even the knowledge after death, is there life, is there other world and what type of life, is it full of happiness or unhappiness and where does a person, Jeeva, go after death and so the scripture tells us, is there a God, that is also to be understood. For that, this Prateksha Pramana, direct perception will not help us. Then what are we left with? Shabda Pramana. Shabda means the teachings of the Rishis. Literal meaning of the Shabda is words. They convey yourself, one's experience or knowledge or thought and Pramana means absolutely right knowledge. So how does Shabda Pramana, Shabda becomes a Prama, a piece of knowledge for those who have experienced it and that is expressed in the form of words. As we express, as I am talking to you and you are listening, this is called Shabda Pramana and this Shabda Pramana also is divided into two parts and one part is called that which explains, gives us the knowledge of the Karma Kanda. Why is Shabda Pramana related to this first part of the Vedas called the ritualistic portion or the meditation portion? So the Karma Kanda is divided again into two parts. One part is rituals, another part is meditations associated with these rituals. So meditation is of two types. One is that which is part and parcel of the ritual. For example, when we are doing worship of Shri Ramakrishna, we have to do Manasika Pooja, that is contemplation. Then I have to meditate what type of person, Hridaya Kamalamadheer, Ajitam, Nirvikalpam, etc. But there are also contemplations or meditations which can be done totally independent of any rituals and that is supposed to be the realm of the Vanaprastha or after a spiritual aspirant, after discharging everything, he gets rid of all unnecessary responsibilities and devotes himself solely to these special contemplations which are indicated by the scriptures. By the Vedas only, not independently. But remember, by scripture I also mean the experiences of not only the Vedic times but even today, all the saints, whether they belong to the Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism, but even those who are going to be there, even in the force in long future, as long as there is creation, there will be realized souls. But the methodology is exactly the same. That is there is an obstruction between me and God and that obstruction has to be removed and the process by which I remove that obstruction is called spiritual practice and however much we may differ in our opinions about God, about the scriptural teaching, but the sadhana, the process of removing this obstruction, destroying this obstruction is never different because the end and aim, goal of all spiritual practices is the complete destruction of individuality or merge the individual in the universal. That is the only process. So, how do we know if we question our Guru? He says that our own ancients have given a certain methodology by which we come to know how to interpret the scriptures. They are called Shadlingas, six methods of determining what is the real essence of the Vedas about which we have spoken either in our Taittiriya Upanishad class or Chandogya Upanishad class because as I said, I am interchanging both of them. What is this? The beginning and the end. Many times it is what is stated. This is what we are going to talk about and this is what we have talked about. This is called beginning and end. They must not differ. And again and again, in between, they will tell also. And it must be knowledge which can never be obtained by any other instrument of knowledge. It must be purely Shabda Pramana. And what is the speciality of it? Apurvatha. It is something which is unique type of knowledge, new knowledge. And what do I get out of it? I get the highest result. It is not a real result. It is everything. Sarvam. I become Brahman. So, I obtain everything. I become everything. Arthavadaha. There are beautiful stories, illustrations, praises and such knowledge is so precious, etc. etc. And we are going to come across such stories in the 6th, 7th and 8th. Not only in that, even in the Upasana, the first five chapters of the Chandogya Upanishad also, there are beautiful stories to illustrate this one. Of course, man is endowed with reason. We have to hone it to the highest sharpness. That is called Upapatti or crystal clear thinking. No spiritual teacher would ever reject. Reason is not there to prove God but reason is there to interpret the scriptures so that we may not fall into the trap of misinterpretation. These are the six means. Then coming back, Shabda Pramana is also the direct experience of Rishis but expressed through human language. And human beings live at different places, different continents, different countries, even within the country. For example, if you take UK, there is Welsh and even English people cannot understand Welsh language. Or if they go to Ireland, Irish language. Regional variation is there. Even to understand one word, how he is speaking properly. Similarly, if you come to India, every state has got a state accepted type of language but there are regions in villages, a particular region of the state. So their way of speaking. For example, when I first came across some of the Seleti Bengalis, when I was doing relief at Cherrapunji, I couldn't make head or tail of what they are talking. What were they talking? Bengali language. I know Bengali quite well but I couldn't make head or tail because the regional difference makes a lot of difference. So, what am I talking? The Rishis were born all over the world, even among illiterate people. Naturally, just because he is a realized soul, he cannot speak so long as he is alive in every other language. Ramakrishna used to speak only in a village patwa, what they call, with village accent. And he also used to stammer a little bit. But that stammer, as a peculiar beauty, it strikes the persons very much. So, we see that different Rishis. Rishi means a seer. Seer means one who has realized the supreme divine reality but at the same time, the person also has to use his body-mind and it will be used only in that particular way. So, that is very important for all of us to understand. So, what they teach through different linguistic expressions, the essence is the same and that essence is your Brahman. There is nothing else other than that. So, the Shabda Pramana is the only right instrument for understanding the scriptures because it is a super normal or super human or super sensuous experience. So, it has to be conveyed properly and for that, the Rishis use. And as I said, every scripture, be it Bible or Koran, there are two parts. The expression of the supreme truth reality is one but at the same time, how the person is apparent. After all, he is a human being and he has grown up in a particular tribe or culture speaking a particular language and every society has got its own norms. And so, taboos are there and the normal procedures are there. He cannot go out of it. For example, I am telling, Sri Ramakrishna was once expressing, there was a time when I was in a peculiar mood. I used to go and eat from low caste people. Now, I cannot do anymore. Why? Because his body has been brought up in a particular way and my favorite expression of illustrating it is that if I bring a hot, strong pickle from Andhra Pradesh and very devoutly offer it to Sri Ramakrishna, he will be like a fish out of water. In a short time, perhaps he will attain Samadhi state. So, he has to eat, he has to talk in that particular language but make no mistake, he is endowed with a special power to convey what he wants to convey crystal clearly and it is God only who is working through that body-mind complex to communicate the essence of the Vedas. So, as I said, the first part of the Veda or first part of the scripture, whether it is a Bible or Koran or Buddhism but in Buddhism, they call it Pitakas, three Pitaka. So, there is one part of the Pitaka where full of rules and regulations. So, every time some event happens and Buddha has to create a new law. So, there is a Pitaka called Vinaya Pitaka, how to live in a community. So, there was just I am giving you a small example. So, when Buddha was living in a huge community and once a Sramana, a Sanyasi, he took illness, he became ill and he was unable to move and nobody was looking after him. And when Buddha came to know about it, he himself went there, washed everything and then bathed and then soothed. That Sramana made a rule that when you find some brother monk suffering like this, if you leave him and go away, then you will be falling from the law of Buddha. So, for every occasion, very interesting occasions are there. So, once a Sanyasi was going, he came across some Sanyasinis, he became tempted, he did not do anything bad but he was tempted and this incident was somehow reported and he said a monk alone will not go, at least one other monk must accompany. Same rules he gave to the women, Bhikkhunis. They are called Bhikkhunis also or Bhikkhuni means one who begs actually. They used to beg alms and then eat. And after sometime, of course, a huge organization grew and then like our monasteries, cooking and everything was arranged properly, etc. So, rules and regulations will come. So, one part of every scripture is how to behave in our life. Somebody shouts at me because everybody's nature is different. How do I tolerate it? How do I interact with the person? What attitude I should have? And if you search the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, we get plenty of it. So, what am I trying to tell you? That this Shabda Pramana deals with the entire Veda and Veda is called a Paurushaya, not created by human beings but it is nothing but coeval with God. So long as God is there, this knowledge also will be there. But this knowledge is not suitable for everybody. The highest knowledge cannot be given. Like PhD is not given to a baby. You start with nursery school, etc. and work his or her way up. So, like that, a Karmakanda, a ritualistic portion. We all start with it. Don't ask Hindus or Buddhists or Christians. Everybody is a ritualist because ritual is a sacred act, not an ordinary. It is an ordinary action but associated with something sacred and when we do it properly, then that very action itself transforms that ordinary action into a spiritual sadhana practice. That is how slowly we evolve towards God. So, this Shabda Pramana now has to work function in three ways, so to say. First with the Vedic rituals. They are all true. You have to do like this. You should not deviate even by a centimetre in the way, in the process that has been said. Hindu Brahmins were very, very strict about it. Even the pronunciation of the mantras has to be done exactly. That is why they are called Shruti Pramana. Somebody has been taught from a teacher. You can't simply study the scripture. You have to hear it, how it is pronounced. In Taittiriya, the very first chapter, a part of it is devoted only how to pronounce properly as it is coming down from our great Rishis. Secondly, how to make contemplations called Upasanas about which also I will come back to you again later on. So, this is the first part of the Shabda Pramana with the first part or preparatory state of the Vedas so that when he advances, like a student who completed his master's degree, then perhaps he is fit to take up, undertake PhD course, etc., but under an expert guide. Just as in the universities today, you will not see a PhD student doing something totally independently without formally being guided by an experienced professor. So, like that, even in ordinary secular sciences, we require the guidance of an expert. What to speak of this, what is called danger-filled spiritual path. Especially, you know, nowadays how many people are suffering from mental problem. After all, spiritual problems are much, much higher and much more difficult to understand, let alone tackle them. But even psychological problems, how much our mind or one's own mind can deceive people, even those who claim, 99.999% of the people who claim that they are devotees, they do not even understand what a devotee should be like. So, all that they know that we have taken initiation perhaps and we repeat God's name, but what am I doing? How is my mind like a ghost possessing me, like a spirit possessing me and making me completely unconscious? That is why it is called Maya. The word Maya is very interesting. Maya means not only it is leading us deeper and deeper into the opposite of godliness, but the beauty of it is it will make us think that we are really advancing towards higher life and it will not allow us to know that we are possessed and it is leading us where it listed. So, that is why it is called Maya. It is not there and yet it is 150% there. So, even in this, rituals strictly follow and what should be avoided should be avoided and what time, what sequence and by whom. All these are given in an extremely detailed way. Why are they so detailed? Not because they want to waste our time, because this is a tremendous training for the body and mind to be completely alert. Ekagrata. So, the mind has to be purified. How is the mind to be purified? We should know what is impurity and what faults we have, what impurities we have. That is why the very first instruction Holy Mother gives is that be aware that you are finding fault with others and stop it. Because if we are not aware that we are finding faults directly or indirectly, sarcastically we many times find fault with others thinking it is great fun, but how much it may hurt the other person. That we never have the intelligence to understand and then we have become experts in looking at other people, somewhat experts. So, let us use that expertise to find our own fault and it is a great money saver also. Because if we can find out our own faults and we need not to pay heavy amounts of money to go to the hairless street and get treatment by the psychologist or psychiatrist. Now comes that even every small thing can be given a higher meaning, endowed with a higher meaning and that is an independent contemplation and we will come to that when the time comes with some examples of course. I am not going very deeply into it, but in general we will have very good knowledge of what a Vipassana is. But the purpose is to train the mind what some of the Zen Buddhism or some of the sects of Buddhism call Vipassana. What is Vipassana? To continuously grow in self-awareness. How am I breathing? How am I eating? How am I looking at the other person? How am I sitting? Gradually we have to observe as if a second person, a stranger is observing me, but we have to observe our own selves. So we are talking about Shabda Pramana. Shabda Pramana is the experience of Rishi. Mantra Drashta or a God realized soul is expressing what is his experience in human language and he is authentic because he has directly experienced, he has transformed his knowledge into the greatest bliss. That is why four characteristics of a realization or four gradually increasing signs that we are progressing in the right path. What is it? A person first of all who is really progressing in spiritual life, he is able to forget or interpret all his sufferings in a most positive way and he is growing in happiness spontaneously even without having any object. Usually we become happier when an object is present and we are experiencing. No, without anything a person is naturally happy. And second, he treats everybody equal with himself. He is capable of perceiving everybody, everything, not only every body, but everything like himself. Thirdly, he will treat everybody with tremendous love, as much love as he possesses for himself with the same idea. How? Because Sarvatra Samam Pashyati Yo Arjuna. He sees himself as he sees himself. As he sees God, he sees everybody also exactly in the same way, same vision. Sarvatra Brahma Darshanam. And then the fourth thing is that he is what is called unqualified treatment. He treats everybody with the equal amount of love. If we find these four qualities, spontaneous love, spontaneous joy, treatment, treating everybody as God and finally looking upon everybody as manifestation of God. Even though he knows he cannot change the world, but so far as the individual is concerned, this is his outlook. When we find these four things, somebody is always happy, somebody loves me without any motive, somebody is treating me with the greatest respect and somebody is literally worshipping me even more than himself. We have to know that the cause which is manifesting in the form of these four effective behavioral treatments must be really spirituality only, spiritual progress only. So now the third part of the Shraddha Pramana which we are talking about is about Upasanas. First about rituals, secondly about the contemplations associated with the rituals, thirdly with the independent contemplations which is suitable for the third stage of life which is called Vanaprastha. All these three belong to the first part of the Veda. And there is a second part of the Veda that is called the knowledge about God, Kriyanakanda. And that is where for a qualified student, directly he takes through the process of initiation into Mahavakya and that is exactly what Guru gives to a Bhakta, to a disciple, to a devotee, those to those who are treading the path of devotion. It is nothing but Mahavakya. How come it is Mahavakya? Because in the Jnana Marga, for example, tat tvam asi, you are that. But where is the equal in this? No. Madhusodhana Saraswati in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita called Godarthatipika, at the very end he says the progress of every sincere spiritual aspirant proceeds in three ways. He is talking about a devotee. What are those? First, I belong to you. Second, you belong to me. And last, that there is no I and you. I am you and you are me. So whichever way we go, whether we say I am Brahman or whether we say I do not exist, only God exists, it doesn't matter. The end result is exactly the same. So the Shabda Pramana, a direct experience. So the Rishi and his teachings are called Upanishads. What does he say? I have direct experience. What is it first of all? God exists and he created the world and he is manifesting as you. Therefore, you are none other than God because an effect is only a cause with name, form and a quality. That is the first thing that he does. A Rishi tells us. Then he also answers. There is nothing called death. It is only whatever was unmanifest becomes manifest. That is called birth. Whatever is manifest again goes back to its root cause which is called avyakta. avyakta dhenubhutani vyakta madhyani bharata avyakta nidhana anyeva tatraka paridevana. Beings come from the unmanifest. They become manifest and they go unchanging and they go back in the end. It is an inevitable process called Shadurmi or sixfold changes and finally he goes back. But this even unmanifest form is not out of bondage. So when the physical body dies which we call death, the life continues. Life of this individual and he might go to higher worlds or lower worlds. He may have more happiness or he may have less happiness depending upon the actions that he undertakes and there are other worlds to experience the results of his actions in this life. But everything is temporary. Actions are temporary. Results of actions are also temporary and the worlds in which they fructify and are enjoyed by the doers of these actions is also temporary including the highest enjoyable world called Brahma Loka because he is Ishwara. But there is a higher stage. So this is a confirmation and he confirms through various reasonings. This is called Upapatti. Part of the six indications Shraddhlinga. So what does he do? Yesterday I am giving an example. My child... I will give two examples where we are profoundly mistaken. We see some babies absolutely healthy, strong, kicking as if they were alive, yelling and there are some born blind, born deaf, disabled, autistic. What did this baby do to deserve either this or the other one? Some are, as they call, born with a silver spoon, not only a silver spoon, but a golden spoon or diamond spoon, whatever you call it. Some people are only born to tramps, to beggars, to people on the street. Even now it is going on. Even in advanced countries, you get those who sleep on the roadway, etc., etc. This is something marvelous if we can understand it. What is the cause? Because even though we don't see, we see that there must be a result because in this world everything is preceded by a cause. So if a baby is born blind, there must be a cause. If there is an accident, there must be a cause. If there is an early death, there must be a cause. Not that we know the cause of everything. We cannot explain everything. So Hindus believe there was a past life, actions of that past life have come in this way. In the same manner, we see something very interesting phenomena. Here are people who are good, who are moral and who are rather unselfish and who will do good, who will never harm anybody and yet they are never prospering and they are just leading a hardship, a life of hardship. And the other side is there, wicked people, they are murderers, they are robbers and from morning till evening their whole business is how to cheat other people and yet they are masters of money, masters of power and they have accumulated a lot of money. So what is the conclusion? An ordinary man upapatti through reasoning, goodness doesn't pay, evil alone pays. But the scripture tells just the opposite. So do you first of all, do you know whether this person is really happy? Possession is a total affair, totally different thing from happiness. Maybe he is not getting sleep even on a what is called water spring bed in an air-conditioned room and he has to swallow several sleeping tablets. Here is a poor man, he works whole day and his whole heart really endures because he is starving practically. Whatever plain fare he gets, he is extremely happy. But we are not seeing, we have become blinded, we are only seeing how many things the other person possesses, we don't see what is the actual experience. But even is this going to be forever? This person may be murdered, this person may die, this person may be born in the next birth in one of the most horrible creatures, suffering creatures. Maybe he will be born as a bullock for several lives. If you read Buddha's Jataka stories, you will get all these things. Because Buddha, he always used to say, the result of one's actions follows one inevitably, inescapably, just like the wheels of an oxen follow the footsteps of the oxen. He was a great believer in the karma and practically that is there in English saying, you reap what you sow. Every religion tells us that there is a heaven, there is a hell, they are talking nothing else but karma phala, that's all. Only difference is previously they used to talk, hell is permanent, now they say it is only temporary. But they have not changed their opinion about heaven. Heaven is also not permanent because anything that is attained is temporary. That is what Hinduism and Buddhism crystal clearly teaches. Now coming back to our Shraddha Pramana, when it is directed to all the lower ends, rituals are true, ritualistic meditations are true and independent meditations are true. What is their purpose? To produce Shraddha. Shraddha in the statements of the Vedas because just like when you follow the experiment, a formula given by a scientist and if you just like maths, 2 plus 2 cannot be different from the result, anywhere in the past, present or future. These are called axiomatic truths. Truths, eternal truths taken for granted. By the way, the whole science is built only on these axiomatic truths. Therefore, that eternal truth is a little bit present in the scientific institution also. Now here is Karmaphala is there and when a person, how do we know? Because you perform this ritual, you will get this result and the person does it and he reaps the result and then slowly, oh if I do this experiment, I will get this result. I experimented 100 times, I got the result 100 times. Then faith comes. So if this is true, the scripture is talking about the other ritual, if I do that one also, I will get the same result and then slowly whatever is written in the scripture in the first part of the Veda is absolutely true. Any person gets conviction grows, Shraddha grows, then slowly his eyes will be opened to the next chapter which is the Gnanakandam, second part. Oh, but the very scripture is telling these are all temporary. How are they temporary? Because anything done in time will only produce a result which will start and end in time only. A limited action cannot give unlimited result. But is there something that can give? No, there is nothing actually to give unlimited result. Oh, then I can't realize God. No, no, no, I didn't say that. Then what are you talking about? Because you are trying to get something which you already are. You don't need to become Brahman. You cannot become Brahman because you are already Brahman. But remember, by this time, the person has developed certain characteristics, qualities. Upanishads say, E Dharmaaha, Te Mayi Santu, Te Mayi Santu. In this Dishanti Mantra, I will come to that when I start this Chandogya. This is only the background I am giving. So whatever is taught, whatever I study, either directly or much better through the teaching of my teacher, Guru, is all true. Nothing that is written in the Veda is untruth. So when a person attains that conviction, naturally we become very rational. What is the rational? If I do this job, this Karma, I will get only very small result. But if I have this knowledge, I will have infinite, eternal, unbroken happiness. I will be the happiest person because I don't get happiness. I become happiness. I don't become happiness. I discover that my very nature is Sat, Chit, Ananda, happiness. And even when I use this word, the goal of all of us is to become happy. But it goes without saying, if I want to be happy, I have to be alive. I have to exist. And without any ill health or sickness, incomplete health, perfect health, not only that, to know that I am happy is the function of the consciousness, awareness. I have to be aware. Otherwise, I might like certain things. I might like a sweet. Somebody puts a sweet into my mouth when I am sleeping or unconscious. I am having complete union with this sweet. But I am not aware. I am alive. This sweet is coming to me. But I am not aware that this is my favorite sweet. So that awareness, which is called Chit, I must be alive, existing. I must be aware. And I am aware that I am happiness itself. This is the purpose of this Guru Vakya or then how to attain to that. So every day I have to meditate upon it. First of all, I have to hear the truth from the teacher. This is called Shravana. Then I have to go on, cogitating on it, with not blind belief, but with rational belief, with the aid of rationality, that no further doubts can ever arise at any time in the future. That is the process called Manana Churning. And then finally, I have no doubt. But now, how can I remove the obstruction? That is, how can I remove or how can I bring back my memory that I am so and so? That is what in Bhagavad Gita at the end, Krishna asks only one question. Have you heard attentively? And I know you are possessed of Shraddha. Therefore, you definitely must have attained to some result. And Arjuna says, what did I attain? My delusion is destroyed. What is the delusion? That my past memory that I am Arjuna, I am an individual, I am a man, I am one of the Pancha Pandavas and these are wicked people, I have to destroy them. That is the memory. No, that is not real memory. That is only samsaric memory. Then I have to remember, I am Atman Smrutihi Labdha. I have obtained. But how did I obtain? By your grace. How did your grace come to me? Because I surrendered myself. That is what Arjuna said that I don't see any happiness even if I obtain the entire world forever like Nachiketa. I will not get that peace which I am seeking. I surrender myself completely to you. That is, I am prepared to remove the obstruction in the form of egotism and through your grace only I have been able to remove that and I got back my memory. What is that memory? I am not Arjuna. Bhishma is not Bhishma. Drona is not Drona. Duryodhana is not Duryodhana. Shri Krishna is not Shri Krishna. Everything is nothing but pure Brahman. There are no multiplicity there. There is only Ekam, Eva, Advaitiam. One without a second. So that is the purpose of the first part rituals as well as Upasana. So I will speak about very briefly in next class about these two and then as usual as you know, every Upanishad starts with a prayer to help me to bestow His grace. That is called Shanti Patha. We will start with that in our next class. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padmetayo Sritva Pranamami Mohur Moho May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Ramakrishna.