Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 061

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM SAHANAVATU SAHANAVUBHUNAKTU SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMAVIDVISHAHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM OM YUGENA CHITTASYA PADENA VACHAM MALAM SHARIRASYA JAVAIDHYAKENA YOPAKAROTAM PRAVARAM MUNINAM PATANJALIM PRANJALI RANATHOSME I bow to the eminent sage Patanjali who removed the impurities of the mind through yoga, of speech through grammar and of the body through medicine. We have entered into a very important topic which is how to practically become a yogi. How to become a yogi? In the first chapter of course we discussed the theories why we should become yogis, what is yoga and what is the culmination and how do we know that we have become yogis, what could be the possible obstructions etc. Here in this second chapter it is called SADHANA PADA. So purely about how to practice it. We have completed 22 aphorisms. So in the last aphorism what we discussed is if a particular yogi had realized God, that means if a particular person had any type of experience, that experience would be valid only for that particular person. It will benefit him only and none others. As an example, illustration gives the example. I gave my own illustration. If Shri Ramakrishna had eaten first class rasagullas, how does that help me? He enjoyed but if I want to enjoy I also have to eat. This fact also illustrates why we are all ignorant. If Shri Ramakrishna's realization could bring about liberation to the whole universe, then we also should have been realized. But if you stretch this logic, pull this logic a little more, then you see the first person who realized God, along with that first person the whole universe must have realized God. Then Shri Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna, Jesus Christ, Buddha, they would have been totally unnecessary people. But is it completely useless? All the experiences of these great souls, is it completely useless? No, they are not useless. They are useful because first of all their life proves to us that there is God, there is an afterlife and that life is much, much, much superior, in fact incomparable and also it gives us practical guidance. I have gone through this path, so you also can follow the same path. Thirdly, what obstructions we can encounter on the way. We are all following the guidelines of somebody or other. Come to think of it. Can you stand aside and say, I do not follow anybody. I just think for myself and lead my own life. Do you think there would be a single person who could put his hand on his heart and say, I never take the help of anybody, whether it be in the worldly life or in spiritual life, consciously or unconsciously. We are following the guidelines of someone or the other both in good and evil matters. So why not follow these great souls who have obtained the highest peace and bliss. That was the essence of 22nd aphorism that if a person had become a yogi and he comes to know that he is the real self then he will be liberated but for all others, we will be exactly in the same position as we are. Now comes 23rd aphorism The Atman, the experiencer, is identified with Prakruti or nature, the object of experience, in order that the true nature of both Prakruti and Atman may be known. This junction of the Self as well as the nature is the cause of the realization of the nature of both the powers, the experience and its Lord. Let me briefly explain what it means. Sometimes these translations are so involved. The simplest translation will be, according to Sankhya, there are two principles. One is called Purusha, another is called Prakruti. These two are diametrically opposed. The Purusha is pure consciousness and whatever is opposite to it, that is called Prakruti. When these two come into contact with each other, somehow they become like superglue. That superglue, you know superglue, the correct word for superglue is called Maya, Avidya Maya. So this superglue somehow brings two completely opposed things into each other. What is the result of this? Sanyoga means this joining, this combination. So the Purusha thinks I am Prakruti and the Prakruti thinks I am the Purusha. Prakruti means anything other than pure consciousness is Prakruti. So the soul thinks I am the body, I am the mind. Simplest. And the body and mind think I am consciousness. The body thinks I am consciousness. How does the body really know? Even we also know, even if we be not philosophers, that the body is completely Jada. Jada means non-conscious. But my hand, see as soon as you do something to me, my hand goes up like this. Have you noticed? The body is telling very clearly, don't deal with me like that. I know what to do with you. Either fight or flight, response would be there. So this body, how do we know that it is not conscious? It is borrowing consciousness. Because if it is its nature, it will always be there. If it be not its nature, then it must be borrowing something like that. How? Like a mirror. You know the mirror, the light bulb, let us say the light bulb, as soon as you connect the power, what happens? The bulb lights up. And the bulb seems to be saying, look I am giving light. Actually who is giving light? You remove the battery, then what happens? Totally it is gone. Like that, if the body were to be conscious, then if the doctor gives anesthesia, then the body should be, must be fully aware, fully conscious. What is the doctor doing? That Sanyoga, that joining between consciousness and the body, he is temporarily dulling. That is why the body remains inert. You can cut it into number of pieces. But we do not need to go to the doctor for injection. Every day, when we are deeply asleep, there is no contact. You can do anything you like to the body. Just an illustration came to my mind. Illustration means, it is a real incident that had happened. Two examples I will give you. Ramana Maharshi, when he was a young boy, he was very very strong. No boy of his age could defeat him. But he had a peculiar, his body had a peculiar effect. Once he goes to sleep, even if you discharge gun bullets into his body, he would not be aware of it. Then he said, these boys who are daring to take revenge upon me, then you somehow came to know about it. So, when he is asleep, they will come and beat him up. And he would not know anything. Now sometimes I feel, did they really do anything to him? If he did not know, that he was being beaten black and blue, what does it matter? Suppose somebody wants to beat you up. You say, okay Baba, when I am deeply asleep, you come and beat me up to your heart's content. I will not have anything to do. When you wake up, you don't even know what has happened to you. Okay, it is possible. That is an illustration that his body has been totally separated from the pure consciousness. Second illustration, from the life of Sri Ramakrishna. As you know, many of you should know at least. Once Sri Ramakrishna, during the Durga Puja time, Sri Ramakrishna became totally unconscious, means Samadhi. In that state, when there was no one around, he was walking and fell on burning charcoal. And that charcoal went deep into his back. And after some time, Jagadamba Dasi, Madhur Babu's wife, she started smelling something, you know, like burning flesh. And then she came running, looking what, there was nothing cooking now. And why this smell is coming? You know, we also notice, some paper is burning, or some smoke is smelling, etc. And immediately, she came and she noticed, Sri Ramakrishna had fallen on his back, underneath, above a burning charcoal, and it went deep inside his back. And he was totally unconscious of it. What do I mean by totally? He was unconscious. That means his soul, his self, is not aware what was happening to the body. And the body has no consciousness. That's why he did not know anything. It took a long time for that to heal. Are these only the illustrations? As I mentioned, when we are deeply asleep, you are totally free. You are a Jeevan Mukta Purusha. So far as that particular time period is concerned. So this shows, that the Prakruti are the nature. Nature means only two, body and mind. And let me also remind you in this connection, when we see this world, the world doesn't exist apart from our sense organs. If we do not have the body, we do not see the physical manifestation. If we do not have the mind, we do not see the mental universe. That is why, when we are in deep sleep, dreamless sleep, then absolutely there is no awareness of any universe at all. That's not a totally correct statement. But I didn't want to create any confusion. There is a very subtle causal body called Moola Avidya. The original Maya, original Nescience is there. That is why, when we wake up, we say, I was very happy, but I did not know anything. You did not know anything. Why? Because you were totally enveloped by that Avidya. And it is very fortunate. That's why, a little bit, light, jocularly, what I call, what is deep sleep? Poor man's Samadhi. And every day we are having this poor man's Samadhi. And that gives us the strength to face challenges of the next day. In this 23rd aphorism, what Patanjali Rishi is telling us, the experience of the Purusha, as well as the nature, when they come together, then one mistakes the other. In Vedantic language, this is called Adhyasa or superimposition. The Self, the Purusha comes to say, I am the body, I am the mind. What is it that whenever you say, I, what is it you mean really? Do you mean pure consciousness? No. Pure consciousness mixed with body and mind consciousness. Being aware of that. The body-mind also borrows this consciousness and says, I am, I am the body, I am the mind. It is these two. This is what is the essence of this 23rd aphorism. According to this aphorism, when the soul comes into conjunction with nature, both the power of the soul and the power of nature become manifest in this conjunction. And all these manifestations are thrown out. Now, what is most important for us to understand in this aphorism is, the pure consciousness, if it doesn't come into contact, it cannot be known as there is a Purusha, there is a soul, there is a God. If the body-mind do not come into contact with the consciousness, absolutely as though they are non-existent, dead as it were. For all purposes, it is dead. In fact, they will be dead. Without consciousness, they will be dead. But in ordinary parlour, do you know what we say? A man is dead. What do you mean by a man is dead? That means, that which was enlivening that body, that prana, usually we call it vital force, that is gone. Because that one belongs to the subtle body. So far as physical body's death is concerned, this is the situation. The prana is withdrawn. Prana means vital force. Vital force is none other than consciousness manifested at a lower stage. So that is why the body cannot function. The moment prana withdraws, what happens? It is dead. For some time, it looks exactly the same, for one hour or two hours. Then it starts degenerating, decomposing. That is when we get the smell. So this body cannot survive without this prana shakti, which is called subtle body. When these two come together, then what happens? This whole magical realm will start opening in front of us. This whole magical realm, what we call this world, Purva Janmas, millions of past births we have, millions of future births we have, all that we see, do you know? Just look out, how many infinite number of things are there. We have to just wonder. Just as an example, illustration, I will give you this story. You know, you heard about brother Lawrence? Brother Lawrence, he is famous, recorded conversations, you know, practice of the presence of God. He starts his autobiography, how did he come to God? He said one winter season, I think it was in Italy, he was walking, it was just to the beginning of spring, not yet started, just to the very, very beginning of spring season. There, you know, in winter season, most of the trees, they shed their leaves and this man, he was walking, there was a tree, completely, completely bare and new and he, of course, he had, he has been a young man, he has seen that as soon as spring comes, what happens? The whole tree, it becomes covered with new green leaves, millions of leaves and it is impossible to believe. So brother Lawrence looked, probably there was maybe one small teeny weeny bud of a leaf was peeping out. He saw and he went into an ecstatic state and said, this is the proof that God exists. That brought about a change. Now tell me, we are looking every year, millions of these things, not only outside but inside our small garden also, everything. Does it bring any idea of wonderment under the idea of God? Probably no. Why? Because we have not developed that, what is called aesthetic sense, poetic sense. Do you remember? I think it was Longfellow's daffodils, daffodils everywhere, non-detail, you know, we have to read and then memorize and mug it up and then write an essay on it. God knows what I wrote when I was a small boy. We also go and see so many daffodils. What is the idea? Once you see there, twice you see there, afterwards you cease to take notice of it. But this being a poetical new world, as it were, had opened it. That's why they are called poets. Brother Lawrence immediately became converted. He was 150% convinced with the idea that God is real. Here is God manifesting through everything and we know that how. Later on he became such a great soul. What was the point I was trying to tell you? When we look at this world, this whole world is nothing but manifestation of God. When I say this infinite wonder, what do I actually mean? I mean to be able to have at least a smallest glimpse of the divinity of everything. It is in everything, not only in most beautiful things, but it is in everything. And that's what Arjuna had, by the grace of Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, in the 11th chapter we get, he gave him divine insight. Nothing has changed. It is the same world, but a new way of looking. And then there is this incident. Devotees of Shri Ramakrishna could surely recall. There was M went to Kamarpakur when Shri Ramakrishna was alive. After a few days he came back. And then Shri Ramakrishna asked, How did you find? He said, I had a most exalted vision. I saw the very dust of Kamarpakur shining like gold. Every human being there appeared to be a divine being, Devata. He was naturally that brought great joy and bliss into his mind because everything appears to be shining with the light of the divine. When we progress in spiritual life, that is what really happens. So this M had that experience by the grace of Shri Ramakrishna, his Guru. Then funny thing happened. This M felt so joyous. He said, Sir, shall I go again to Kamarpakur? You know what was the answer? Shri Ramakrishna said, No. Because it did not occur to M that Shri Ramakrishna had given him very special grace. Hearing my lecture, you go next time to Kamarpakur, what will you see? The flies, the mosquitoes, the dirt, the dust and all those things you will see. Unless Shri Ramakrishna bestows his grace upon us. You know, you also recollect when Shri Ramakrishna visited Varanasi, he could not even answer calls of nature. Because what was he seeing? He was seeing every place, every centimetre shining in a golden light. In Hindu theology, this golden light is indicative of Sattva Guna. What it really means is the more we develop that quality called Sattva, there is no unfortunately English translation that Sattva Guna is a spirituality. When we develop that particular quality, then what happens? We will be able to see the same universe in a totally different light altogether. Shri Ramakrishna was an embodiment of Sattva Guna. Therefore, as soon as he went, he saw the whole thing lighting up in a golden light. This is a human description. Not that like cinemas, you shine some light and then say it is all golden. You know, if you put a thousand candles here, every one of our faces will shine like in a golden light. And if you put, you know, that some sweets are dusted with that shiny things. You know Christmas time? Did you know that one day after Christmas, I helped a little bit in the Christmas cards and other things. I went to the dining hall. One devotee said, Swami, your face is shining like an oar of Brahma because some of the dust particles, you know, that gold like glitters in light. Yeah. There are so many great souls whose vision changes according to the knowledge. That is very important for us. Let us recollect. During the course of these talks, I have many times referred to what is spiritual progress. I have given several definitions. One definition that I gave is from tamas to rajas, from rajas to sattva and then go beyond. Another definition I gave is it is a journey from a lower state of happiness to a higher state of happiness. Always it is what is called evolution from a lower state to a higher state, which we are going to come. Probably we can see in this one. So this is the meaning of this 23rd aphorism. The soul which is pure consciousness as well as the nature which is called prakriti and purusha, they somehow come together and this whole phenomena what we call the universe, the world is this great fun, the circus is going on. That is what it really means. Now the next question that comes is okay here is pure consciousness purusha and here is prakriti. Here are two things, two pieces of wood. You bring them together, any two pieces, here is a clip, here is paper, it comes. What happens? It just slides off. So if they have to be stuck together, there must be a glue. There must be some third thing which comes and then it combines, joins, it brings about what is called superimposition upon each other. So that is being discussed in the 24th aphorism. This identification between the purusha and prakriti, pure consciousness and the nature is caused by ignorance. Ignorance is its cause. Through ignorance, we have joined ourselves with a particular body and thus opened ourselves to misery. This idea of body is a simple superstition. It is a superstition that makes us happy or unhappy. It is superstition caused by ignorance that makes us feel heat and cold, pain and pleasure. It is our business to rise above this superstition and the yogi shows us how we can do this. पस्यहेतुः अविद्या Now don't raise any further questions. Who the hell has brought about this avidya, this glue? Who manufactured that super glue? The question that raised and which can never be answered, which there is no way to answer this. Let me first give you an illustration. You are asleep. Would you raise the question who made me fall asleep? Have you ever raised the question? Okay. By any remote chance, if you have raised the question that who made me fall asleep, what answer would you get? Is there anything? Why you fell asleep? Because you fell asleep. That is the simple answer. So what is the point here? What is the cause of this joining of this purusha and prakriti, avidya? How did it come about? From whom did it come about? Was it lying somehow in the pure consciousness? Let me rephrase my question. Is deep unconsciousness lying within pure consciousness? Is darkness lying within pure light? And what brought about was it lying in the nature? Because you can't blame the nature. Nature is purely unconscious. So what is that agency? What is that cause that brought about this union between the purusha and prakriti and made both of them miserable? There is no answer. So that is why, anyway, you would not have raised this question. I only wanted to confuse you a little. That's why I raised this question. There is no question. There is no answer. This question is asked in so many formats. One of the ways this question was asked, Swami Vivekananda was asked many times. Swami, you claim we are all infinite. So what made the infinite finite? Swami Vivekananda, what answer do you think he gave? Very clever answer he gave. You ask me a logical question, I will give you a logical answer. How can it be logical? How can the infinite ever become finite? You know, it is impossible. It is like an atheist and a believer having a logical joke. There were these two fellows. One atheist and a believer. So the atheist asked the believer, Is your God very powerful? This man said, What nonsense are you talking? My God is all-powerful. So can your God create this big stone and lift it? He said, Yes. So he raised his hand and said, Can he make this big stone, create this big stone and lift it? Yes. And then he showed a mountain. Can he create this big mountain and then lift it? He said, Yes. Can your God create such a big stone that he can't lift? If he says, Yes, that means he is not powerful. If he says, No, he is still not powerful. See, this is a question that can never ever be answered. We do not know. We need not know also. We don't need to know. Until I know, I have not seen further. You will be more miserable than ever before. There is no need. When it came is another question. When did this avidya begin? You answer me. Exactly. You take a watch. One of our Swami said very beautifully, You take a watch and note down the exact millisecond when you fell asleep. It's impossible. Because that is the nature. Ignorance means it is impossible to explain. That is why it is said, Aghatana ghatana patiyasi maya That which makes the impossible possible. Does it really make the impossible possible? No. Then what does it make? Seemingly makes the impossible possible like a magician. Tasyahetu avidya. 24th aphorism. What brings about this conjunction, this joining of the pure consciousness, Purusha and Prakruti in other words, How do they come together? Tasyahetu avidya. The cause of this conjunction is ignorance. And what is ignorance? That which brings about this conjunction. And why does it bring about? Go and ask. 25th aphorism says, When this ignorance has been destroyed, this identification instantaneously ceases. Then bondage is at an end. And experience is independent. The experiencer realises he is free, he is independent. There being absence of that ignorance, there is absence of the junction, which is a thing to be avoided. And that is the independence of the seer. According to this yoga philosophy, it is through ignorance that the soul has been joined with nature. And the idea is to get rid of nature's control over us. That is the goal of all religions. This is what the famous quotation of Bhai Swami Vivekananda. Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest to this divinity within by controlling nature external and internal. Do this either by work or worship or psychic control or by philosophy, by one or more or all of these and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines or dogmas, rituals or books or temples or forms are but secondary details. What is the goal of life? One way of defining it is to manifest your potential divinity. What is the goal of life? Another way of saying it, get rid of this maya ignorance or maya or avidya or ignorance. And what happens? What is this ignorance business? To think that I am the body and mind, this is the simplest way of putting what is called ignorance. What is ignorance? I am the body and I am the mind. So what is wrong with it? So long as we think that there is nothing wrong in it, carry on, merrily ahead. But when you get blow after blow, then what happens? Time will come and say, I want to be happy. But how can I get rid of, how can I be happy? How can I get rid of unhappiness? This is the only goal of life. This way the previous aphorism, it is always better for you, if you are interested in these talks, that you should go through the previous aphorisms so that you are ready to know what is coming and what is the connection between the past aphorisms and the future aphorisms. So it is said, just a few aphorisms earlier, why is this whole universe created? Why is this universe brought by avidya? Why did this ignorance bring about this world, this conjunction? Is there a purpose? Yes, there is a purpose. What is the purpose? So that the soul will know what it is like. It is a redundant question really. The soul was quite happy before it came into contact with this nature. But somehow it has come. But what is the purpose of this maya? It is not to drown us. It is not to make us unhappy. It is not to make us miserable. It is not to make us slavish. Its only purpose is, my lord, you are coming into this world has only one purpose. What is that purpose? You will have to go back home. You have strayed for some reason to other territory which doesn't belong to you. And now I am here with a stick if necessary to drive you back where? To your own place. This is the essence of Mono chalo nija nike thane If you understand that song, the whole song is Oh mind, you have gone to a foreign country. I was about to blurt out western country. You came to UK. What is the purpose? Go back to India. Mono chalo, we are all, this is all a foreign land in a foreign dress. We have been caught in the net of this foreign culture, foreign everything. How do I know? Because you are miserable. You are not getting what you really want to get. This is the essence of this one. The whole ignorance is meant for only one and one purpose only. That is to let the Purusha know, the soul know that you are not nature, you are free, you are not bound, you are all blissful, you are Sat, Chit and Ananda. That is the purpose. If that is the purpose, how can that purpose be achieved? This is what is prevailing. If as soon as this avidya or ignorance, conjunction, super glue is somehow removed, how can super glue be removed? There is a simple process. That is called the process of separation. And do you know what separates? It is the fire, it is the heat that separates two things together. You see, you have melted so many things into gold and you want to separate. What is the way to separate? You heat it. Tapasya. Tapaha means heat. So through austerity, that is the only way to separate this. Even if you want to have pure water, this water is dirty, but you want to have pure water, what is the way out? Heat. Or nowadays there are some pills available. As soon as you put that pill inside the water bottle, what happens? All the dirt goes down. All the clear water comes up. Somehow the agent to separate the Purusha and Prakriti, that is called religion. That is called spiritual practice. And the more we become separate, that is called spiritual progress. This aphorism 26, The means of destruction of ignorance is unbroken practice of discrimination. So, okay, this ignorance is cause of bondage. And what is the goal? To get rid of this ignorance. And how do I get rid of this ignorance? You must develop that discrimination. There being absence of that ignorance, there is absence of junction, which is the thing to be avoided. That is the independence of the seer. This is the meaning of this aphorism, that there being absence of that ignorance. When you apply discrimination, what happens? It burns away that super glue. That means ignorance disappears. As soon as ignorance disappears, then that combination, that conjunction, just two objects separate together. When they separate together, the seer, the experiencer, the Purusha, the pure consciousness, realizes that I have nothing to do. In fact, that is a human language. He will not be even aware. In pure consciousness, pure consciousness will never become aware of something else. Oh, in the past, I was conjoined with the nature, and by God's grace or some whatever means, somehow this big thing has dropped off from me. Now I am free and that thing is lying there. All these thoughts are not. Pure consciousness means, pure consciousness is aware of only what? Only pure consciousness and nothing else. What a blessed state it is. So this is what Swami Vivekananda is now trying to tell. The means of destruction of the ignorance is unbroken practice of discrimination. So what is spiritual practice? Nothing but discrimination. You eat sattvika food. What happens to you? You develop a little more power of discriminating. You do japa. This is one of the most wonderful aphorisms I have come across. It's because many times we fall into this trap. I am doing more japa. I have been practicing spiritual disciplines. When were you initiated? Three years back. Oh, oh, okay, okay. That's fine. Very good. Indirectly meaning, you know, I have been initiated 26 years back. Who is great? Who is senior? Who is more advanced in spiritual life? Three years old initiated person or 26 years old initiated person? Is this person really making any progress in spiritual life? Let me tell you a beautiful story here. It's very wisdom. It's called wisdom story. There was a householder. He was more than 60 years old and he came across a holy man and by that time he became a little bit wise also and he had enormous amount of, he was a millionaire, multi-millionaire and he had also several children and he came across this holy man and he got initiated by that holy man. A few years passed. Then this holy man was invited by this rich disciple along with the guru's disciples. So many disciples were there and they were extremely proud at how great we are because we are the disciples serving this holy man. So the householder disciple was overjoyed. He received his guru with the greatest delight and then he started serving. After a few days, one day they were all sitting after food and then some of the disciples were curious to know, looking at this dazzling beautiful, you know, Bill Gates home and all those things. They asked him, How old are you? How wealthy you are? How many children you have? The man holded his hands and said, My age is three and a half years and my wealth is only around five thousand pounds and I have only one son. The disciples were enraged. What a liar he is. He is more than 60 years old and just even one room if you sell, like that he will become a millionaire, multimillionaire and so many children are running hither and thither and this fellow tells that my age is three and a half years and my wealth is only fifty thousand pounds, five thousand pounds and I have only one son and they said to the guru, This, your disciple is a liar. Let us get the hell out of here. Guru was wiser. He said, ask him why this kind of answers he gave. Then the householder very humbly he said, Look, my physical age is more than 63 and a half years but I was initiated by my guru only three and a half years back and this is I consider my real life is only three and a half years old. I know there is a lot of money I earned but I spent only five thousand pounds in the service of God and my guru and all of you. I consider this is my real property, real money and you are asking, yes, I have so many children. All are disobedient, all are selfish, quarrelsome but there is only one son who is devoted, who is very unselfish and who serves my guru with the greatest love. He has got love for God. So I consider only him as my only son. This is called the wisdom story. Now, what is here? How long should we practice? This viveka means what? Viveka means the English translation is discrimination. Discrimination here means viveka means knowledge. The more we progress in spiritual life, what happens? Do you grow two horns? Who gave that answer? Holy Mother gave the answer. My child, when a man practices spiritual disciplines, what does he grow? He develops viveka. Viveka means what? Knowledge. What is the knowledge? That I am the Self, I am the Purusha, I have nothing to do with the body and mind. Whether you are following the path of devotion or whether you are following the path of knowledge or any other path, whether you are a Hindu or a Christian or anybody, ultimate spiritual progress is I have nothing to do with body and mind, I am not the body and mind, I am the pure consciousness. I am Satchitananda. This is the knowledge that comes slowly but surely and that is called spiritual progress. So viveka khyate aviplava. Aviplava means unbroken. You can't give a holiday and say morning 7 to 8 I will have viveka khyate and then night as per service I will have half an hour. Afterwards I will think I am the body and mind. That's not going to happen. Constantly this discrimination has to be practiced. This is the only upaya. Upaya means what? The means of destroying the super-globe called ignorance. Hana upaya. The means of destruction of ignorance is unbroken practice of discrimination. This is the real goal of practice. Discrimination between the real and the unreal. Knowing that the Purusha is not nature, that it is neither matter nor mind and that because it is not nature, it cannot possibly change. It is only nature which changes, combining and recombining, dissolving continually. When through constant practice we begin to discriminate, ignorance will vanish and the Purusha will begin to shine in its real nature, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. I would like to dwell a moment longer on this beautiful thing. You know Sri Ramakrishna, he practiced varieties of spiritual disciplines and the last discipline, highest discipline was the practice of Advaita, non-duality. His guru Totapuri came and then Totapuri initiated him into Sannyasa. The very word Sannyasa means a Sannyasa is not a normal type of ritual where you go through some hand and leg and bodily movements, light up a fire and do something. Sannyasa means to know that I have nothing to do with the body and mind. So Totapuri had initiated Sri Ramakrishna into Sannyasa and then he started teaching him that now you meditate upon that pure consciousness, Brahman. I am translating into English words, pure consciousness, Brahman. So how to do that? You empty your mind of all the thoughts. By definition what is Yoga? Yogaha Chitta Vritti Nirodaha Empty your mind. Then what remains when our minds are emptied? Do you know what remains? Darkness. But when a great soul like Sri Ramakrishna, even in our case also, it is not darkness because we have not been able to really remove all our thoughts. The last thought is occupied only with darkness. But in the case of great soul like Sri Ramakrishna or Christ or Buddha, they emphasize their real nature, I am the pure Atman. So Sri Ramakrishna was asked, empty your mind and he said, I did not succeed in it. He could empty every other thought excepting one thought. What was the thought? Of his bird. That is also a thought. According to pure Advaita, even thinking of God is only a thought and that thought also must be removed. But it is like a big thorn which helps in getting rid of every other thorn. But that thorn, we cannot throw it away. Some other power has to come. So you know the story. Sri Ramakrishna said, I am not able to do that. Then Totapuri helped him to do it. What is the point I wanted to emphasize here? That even when the last thought goes away, what goes away? When the last thought goes away, what goes away? The whole Prakruti drops off. What remains is pure consciousness. Because our body is also nothing but a thought. We will come across with Swami Vivekananda's most marvelous explanation of these Yoga Sutras. The more I study, the more I am amazed the way he could explain it and put it there. He says, we are all having, who are you? I am so and so. You ask me, who are you? I say so and so. I am different. You are different. Swami Vivekananda gives an illustration. You go to a seashore and there are millions of bubbles, waves. You ask, who are you? I am X so and so. And who are you? I am Y so and so. Like that, each wave is asserting its individual nature. But a discriminating person knows they are all nothing but one vast body of water and they are different expressions of the breeze. Delimited, limited, limited by the breeze. Conditioned by the breeze. That's all. What is a wave? Water conditioned by breeze, wind. That's all. Nothing else. It is all wind. The whole universe is one vast body of ocean of matter. You are one atom of that matter. I am another atom of that matter. There is no difference between you and me. We will discuss that subject some other time. But what is the point I want to make? From the Advaitic point of view, there is no difference between Prakruti and Purusha. They are two manifestations. Higher manifestation is Purusha, lower manifestation is Prakruti. That is all. So this obtaining this Viveka Khyati. Khyati means knowledge, discriminative knowledge that I am separate from this body and mind complex. In other words from this Prakruti or Maya. That is the essence of all the scriptures in this world. And the more we are able to separate, that means we are progressing more into that. And this progress too, there is a vast difference is there from the lowest progressive state to the highest progressive state. Even though that is so, our scriptures for our convenience, ease of grasp, they have divided into seven steps. According to Yoga Vasishta, it is called Sapta Bhoomi. According to Tantra, seven planes of Chakras you call it. Muladhara, Swadhishtana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha, Ajna and then finally Sahasrara. What is this Chakras? Chakra is not Chakkar. The higher Chakra you have, your head is reeling. Chakkar means reeling of the head. It is a progress from a lower state of consciousness to a higher state of consciousness. And this is same in every religion, same in every path. That's why we have taken three here. Ramakrishna's description, how he reconciles this Yogic Sapta Bhoomi with Advaitic or Tantric Sapta Bhoomi, seven planes of consciousness. And then I have taken one more as a comparison, comparative study. It's saying to Teresa of Avila, she calls it seven mansions. As the soul, aspiring soul struggles, he enters from one outer mansion to inner mansion to inner mansion. They are absolutely accepting for a little bit of words here and there. They are describing exactly the same state. What I wanted to emphasize is the spiritual progress infinite. A brute just starting an external ritual, prostrating in front of an image, that is also spiritual progress. That's why we should never look down upon that person. Like a child learning ABCDs. There are infinite stages are there. But for the ease of our grasp, we will be lost. So you say what happens when you are in the first stage? How do you recognize in which state you are? In which stage you are? That's why Sapta Bhoomika, seven steps. Tasya Saptadha Pranta Bhoomi Pragnya. The experiencer gains this discriminative knowledge in seven stages, advancing towards the highest. And what these seven steps are there, we will discuss in our next class. I think which would be 18th perhaps. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti