Post Aarathi Talk 30 on 8th April 2018

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Come on, Nitya. Okay, this is Savita, his daughter, their daughter I should say, I should not say his daughter. But you know the mother will feel that why am I excluded. This is Nitya and she comes rarely. Come on Krishna, this is Krishna. This is Gayatri and Krishna is the husband of Gayatri. You will come to know later, now it is all jumbled up. She is a wonderful singer. So what was your question? As we talk about the food, I am basically an agriculture graduate, I have done my bachelors in agriculture. My question to you is, you say chicken, fish have life and they have emotions. Don't you feel plants doesn't have emotions? Of course, I did not say that. Anything that has life has emotions. I don't know anything about Vedanta or stuff like that. You don't need to know. I live a very simple life. I lived in a village, a very normal life. It's my destiny to come to this country. I always wanted to go back. Not only your destiny, my destiny also. Every person's destiny. My simple question to you is, even I wanted to have a practical reality of things, but I was not given an opportunity for it. If a child is born and if you feed her only with water, doesn't it survive? Have you ever tried it? We are not allowed to do it, but my question is... No, no. Water is one of the elements. We need five elements for survival because this body is made up of how many elements? Five elements. Do you know what are those five elements? Earth, water, fire, air, and space. So simple way I'm explaining is, earth means food. So our parents eat food, and that food becomes the cause of our birth. You understand? Sperm and egg, made up of what? Food. I'm talking about the body. So it is made up of food. It is born out of food. It is sustained by food. Not only food alone, I will come to that first. Then it also goes back into food. You understand this much? But what about Kunti? What about? Kunti, she has given birth to Karna. What is the relationship with what we are discussing? Now if we go deep into that... First, let us finish this subject. Our bodies are coming out of food, they are sustained because of food, and what we call death is not real non-existence, it is going back into the five elements. But food is only one element. So whenever we feel hungry, what does it mean? We need to replenish with food. Then this body also is made up of five elements, as I said, that's Vedanta. The next element is water. When you feel thirsty, 70% of our body is what? Only water. Therefore, whenever the water level goes down, we need to replenish. Then this is also made up of fire, that's why homeostasis. If it becomes very cold, if it becomes overheated, there is a mechanism which adjusts both. But we are constantly borrowing food, water, heat, then air. Every minute we are, how many times, 16 times we are supposed to breathe. Then space. So when we are like that, we needed how much space? How much space? That's wrong. If that is that much space, there will be no space for movement. There will be a little more space is needed for a little bit of movement, isn't it? As we grow, one foot, two feet, six feet, seven feet, we need that much amount of space. So the body is constituted of these five elements and it constantly is needed, all these five elements, and again it goes back into those five elements. So this is the answer to your question. Anything that has life has got consciousness, awareness. And awareness means, it means prana, it means awareness. Do not confuse both. Manifestation of the same, but two. Because you may be in deep sleep, you are not aware, but as soon as you come out, you become aware. And life is impossible without awareness. So this awareness takes many forms, thought, feelings, emotions, passions, whatever you name it. Vrittis, in Sanskrit it's called vritti. If there is an ant, for example, or a mosquito, mosquito also has ambitions, dreams. Nowadays, you know, a young male mosquito is dreaming of what? Dream girl. So I joke, you know, these stupid fellows, this much common sense is not there. In waking state they sing dream girl. Dream girl is available when? Where? Only in dream. They are disappointed, naturally they are disappointed because waking girl is totally different from dream girl. And vice versa, etc. So this is the part of the answer to your question. Now tell me, what is further? Why did you refer to Kunti? No, there are a lot of questions which I don't get answers in my life. Why is this happening? I am searching for the answers. Okay, see, the answer is there. Just because I do not know the answer doesn't mean there is no answer. Every question has an answer. There is a law. If there is no answer, there would be no question. They are related. What is the causal relationship between question and answer? Question is called cause and answer is called the effect. As simple as that. So we don't understand because, you know, we are Hindus. Hindus means we believe in Vedas. Vedas are our original scriptures. And Vedas posit that they believe in the law of Karma. That means so many things, so many lives we had, so many things we have done. So, are they existing or have they been completely destroyed? They are existing in the form of, you know what? Yeah, everything, every experience is called a file. With your huge computer, hard disk, all the files are there. Once there was a discussion. Their computer is male or female? There were boys and girls. Remember? So the girls, they concluded it is male. The males concluded it is a female. So what is the reasoning for the males? First of all, the language one computer speaks with the other computer is not understandable to anybody. And they have a secret association. And when they go wrong, they will not let you know why they have gone wrong, etc. That's why it must be female. So why the women concluded it is a man? First of all, they say whatever goes wrong is only because of that man. And the second strongest reason is if only I had waited for one month more, I would have got a better model, very cheaper than the present model. You see, this is the answer to your question. In our past births, we have done so many things. And that is the only way we can explain why each one of us are different from each other. Why we got this particular body? Why we are born in a particular country, in a particular religion, to a particular family, in a particular social circumstance, etc. But what happens, we cannot immediately connect our present situation to what we have done in the past. So this is based upon our faith that our scriptures are right. And we have to believe there is no choice. One of the persons who was listening to this kind of talk had a doubt. Doubt is, but we don't remember any of our past lives. The answer Swami gave, what is the problem? You don't even remember my last week's class. Where is the question of remembering my last birth's class? Okay, you won't get answer. All that you need to know is, whatever is happening, you have created the causes. The effects now, you are experiencing. Means each one of us. Because of the causes we have created, mostly in the past birth, but even in this birth also. If somebody had bunkered the classes and watching only, you know, train watching, plane watching, cinema watching, girl watching, so many watchings are there. And then when they grow up, what do you think their future will be? So that is first. But the next point is most important. Whatever happens is for our good. That is hard for us to believe. Whatever happens is for our own good. Why is it good? Because there is a power which is far superior than us. And that power is our father, our mother, our creator, our sustainer, taking us forward. Life after life, that power is slowly taking us towards whom? Towards, we call God. Towards God. God is taking us slowly towards God. That is the only way we can really make life meaningful. Otherwise, there are so many things go wrong. Our desires are not fulfilled. Then there are so many other people that there seems to be no justice. You know, one of the biggest problems, conflicts that come is, where is the relationship between God and justice that goes on in this world? And this can never be solved by anybody. The only way we can get consolation and guidance is through the law of karma. And this is, how do we know? That this is what all great souls have done. I'll give an example. You will not know right now, but most many of our devotees, at least I hope they know. One morning I told them a joke, you know. A group of Dutch women used to visit our Grudge Ashram at one point of time. Nearly two, three times. They will have a personal retreat, some 30, 40 women and their husbands. So once they were visiting, there was an American Swami. And he was sitting and talking like that. Then the woman wanted to pull the leg of the Swami. And Swami, you know, they were all sitting in different places. Husband here, wife there, etc. So the woman posed a question, Swami, do you know who our husbands are? He said, I do not know. Very gravely. I do not know, but I hope you know. Very interesting question, you know. Anyway, what is the point here? No, no, no. This is my habit to tell a joke. This is also my habit. Yes. We are all creatures of habits. That's our problem. But it is also good. If we have bad habits, then there is a remedy. Habit created by whom? By us. So, if we have created something, we also can change it, modify it. The whole life is meant, tell me one simple word, what is life meant for? Changing habits. What is the worst habit that we have developed? Thinking. Thinking, I am not the Self. Yes, simple. If I can, the whole spiritual practice is to reverse this situation and say that I am not the body, not the mind. I am not the non-Self. I am the Self. Once Swami Vivekananda, he delivered a very inspiring lecture on this idea. So, after that there was question-answer session. One lady got up and asked, Swami, are you suggesting that we hypnotize ourselves that we are the Self? He said, no, madam, I am not telling you to hypnotize. I am telling you to de-hypnotize yourself because you already hypnotized yourself into thinking that I am the body-mind. This is the truth. All scriptures are telling, all religions are telling this. You know, without this idea, religion is totally meaningless. So, what does it say? Any religion you take, even the crudest religion, what does it say? It says that there is a God and the God is all-powerful. If you worship the God, please Him, then we also go near Him. So, when we go to God, naturally all the human problems will be vanished. So, we cannot think of death there. We cannot think of suffering there. In other words, we cannot think of change there. Every religion promises, if you follow, then the reward would be... Yes, there was a church bulleted. You know, if you go to any church, before entering, there would be a roof, and it would be full of these bulletins. You know, what are their upcoming events. And then if somebody is suffering, they will put, please pray for my daughter or for my son or grandson, etc. You know, that is their habit. They believe if other people pray, then God will listen to their prayer. Yes, the labor is very hard and you have to work long hours, but the afterlife benefits. You know, once you go to God, it is eternal benefits. That is what every religion promises. So, what is the message? We should not lose hope. We should accept our situation and say that the law of karma. I am responsible for what I am. The whole CBT, you know what it is? Yes, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Just to change what is called affirmations. I am a stupid fellow, I am an idiot, I am a depressed fellow, I am an unhappy fellow. This is the mental disease. So, affirm, I am very good, I am very good, I am very good, I am happy. Will it work? Yes, it will work. Affirmations, because if you repeat enough, then you believe and you are affected by it. Proof, all the advertisements. You know, what is an advertisement? What do you think? And it is just, you know, some useless thing. In the beginning, it took me some time to understand. A nice car, a beautiful lady is hanging there. My reasoning says, what is the relationship between the car and the lady? Somebody wants to call, who is this unnecessary, will they also throw in? Reward or what do you say? Optional extra. No, no, not optional. If it is optional, you know, that's a different situation. Which reminds me a beautiful story. You know, Rama wanted to cross this Ganges river, because he was going into the forest. Goha, Gohaka was his father's friend, and all the Rama and others loved him, and he also, old man, had tremendous affection. So, he wanted to cross. He told Gohaka, please take me across, Sita and myself and Lakshmana. He said, yes, I will gladly take you, but one condition. I have to wash your feet thoroughly, because I heard somewhere that your foot touched a stone, and then it turned into a woman. Now this is my only livelihood. I already have a wife. Now no livelihood and two wives. Rama smiled and said, OK. And with that excuse, he washed. Very beautiful idea, you know. So, the whole life, what is it? Changing these ideas, affirmations. If you affirm, your mantra, in fact, is what? The very name Gayatri, Gayantam Trayate Iti Gayatri Mananat Trayate Iti Mantraha The very etymological meaning of mantra is by repetition, that which saves. So, what happens when we take God's name really? There is some power, and I depend upon it, and God also is gracious, He is going to save us. So, this is the faith every religion has got. So, what is the CVT? Only they don't use the word mantra, but they say it is affirmations, positive affirmations, and they work. If you have any doubt, you ask Neelam, because he is a psychiatrist. You know who is a psychiatrist? Psychology divides people into three categories, neurotic, psychotic, and psychiatrist. A neurotic is one who builds castles in the air. A psychotic is one who lives in them. And a psychiatrist is one who collects rent from both of them. Okay, another idea, very important idea, probably many of us would be much better off if we take the help of psychology. Of course, if somebody has faith in mantra, that is final goal. But otherwise, we can take. Previously, the idea was that somebody is mentally sick. They needed psychiatrist's help. But now, that idea has changed totally. So, they have methods, trained methods, that how to bring out the hidden possibilities. So, Aldous Huxley uses that word, the science of possibilities. Each soul is potentially divine, but this divinity means possibilities. Who knows who is going to become what? A prime minister, a chief minister, God forbid. Yeah, God forbid, you know. We have got a peculiar prime minister. Her name is Teresa May. Whatever you ask, whether she will do or not, she may. So, any musician, who knows, did you know that when Savita was a baby, whether she could be a musician? Nobody knows. Could be a musician, a scientist, or anything, good or even evil also. When Ramanasara was young, who knew that he was going to be like that? The only twist we have is, is it bad to be Ramanasara? He was the greatest devotee of God. You want to know? Yeah, this is what I was about to tell. Even the wickedness is also the will of God, the play of God. If there had not been Ramanasura, you know what would not have been there? Rama would not have been there. Hanumanji would not have been there. If Narendranath were not to be there, Swami Vivekananda, you know, today we would not have met here. It's all because of him. You know, he went to the Parliament of Religions, he created a star, then Belur Mata came, and then one center was established, and then you happened to come here, I happened to come there. Then you know, this is how our meetings take place. Two sticks, you know, they come together, and the problem is not coming together, the problem is getting stuck. This unstucking is what makes all the difference. If you have an opportunity, before you return, please come. Saturday or Sunday, any day you want. We'll try, Maharaj. Yes. We will try our level best. You will be very busy in London, few days? Not really, Maharaj, but like our son is there, so we are staying with them only that much. How did you come today, by train? No, we have a car. Okay. So your son, is he interested? I don't know really. We are trying to make him interested, but I don't know how it will come. Right, right. That is a wonderful lesson, Maharaj, what you said, that everything is... Esteemed. For doing something good. Always for good. Yes. Actually, that is a very difficult concept for us to understand. Because, you see, once Rajya Maharaj was asking, you know, there are people going through difficulties, and then he said, only God knows through what path He is leading each soul to His lotus feet. That's true. Sometimes what we think is tortuous path, but you know, I do not say that. What I say is, what appears to be tortuous to us may be the shortest cut from God's eyes, God's side, for that particular soul. In any case, the whole thing is Leela. We have to accept. If we are devotees, we have to accept. We have to accept. In Kathopanishad, last, second chapter, third Bali, it finishes with asti, asti, asti. I couldn't really, sort of, want a bit more detailed comment about that word. I can give you, but I do not remember that exact, this thing. Do you remember? Asti. Asti is everything to the nature of Brahman. Yeah, that is the meaning of asti. I just want a bit more detailed commentary on that. Yes, this is the first thing. Even a table, it is Brahman, but Brahman has got three characteristics. These are called sat, chit, and ananda. Now, the sat aspect of Brahman has been elaborately discussed in the Chandogya Upanishad, sixth chapter. And the ananda aspect is elaborately discussed in the Taittiriya Upanishad, Brahmananda Vali. And the chit aspect also is in the second and third chapters of the Taittiriya Upanishad, Brahmananda Vali. So this is another thing. What is it? Everything is Brahman, everything is God. But can you just point out where it is? You said second Vali, third chapter? Second Vali, third chapter, that is the last sloka. That means it is practically the end of the Upanishad. We were wondering about the meaning of your name, sir. Sarvasthana. So we were wondering, sarva means everything. Everything, everywhere, has several meanings. Supposed to get joy everywhere, wherever you are. Or in the sarva. It comes in this aspect, that 101, from there I really didn't understand. And it finishes with asti three times. Yes, okay. This is a peculiar idea. Okay. Come again. Can you come again? Please do come. We'll be very happy to see you, to welcome you back. So what are you doing? I'm still studying. I'm studying, I'm looking for work. I'm sort of free at the moment. But I'm intending to work soon. So you've completed your studies? I've completed my studies, but I may embark on more studies later on. Because you want to have some experience. Okay, that's wonderful. Please come again. How many children you have? One daughter and one son. What is the daughter doing? Daughter is married. She's not working, she has a child. That's okay, they are quite well settled. That's all that you are having. Now you want to settle him also. Yes. Until that time your mukti will not come. This is what parents think, you know. Settling down means, you know, understand? That means, you know, getting married, getting them married. So, as I made fun, you know, the parents think, if the son wants to become a monk, the parents think, what right has he got to be happy when we suffer? Yes, that is the main objection. Okay, this is the idea. 101 are the nerves of the heart. Of them, one has extended towards the crown of the head. Going upwards by it, man attains immortality. But others lead in departing differently. This is a belief. There are nerves. Nerves are those which we usually, the biologists and the physicians also know the nerves. But here it's telling there is 101 nerves. But different Upanishads say not 101. Thousand one, ten thousand one, a koti. But the point is this. The nerve is a pathway. So, when a person really listens to the teaching of the scripture and practices it, shravana, manana and nididhyasana, then there are different pathways. And as I mentioned some time back, when a child is born, if you press your hand, you find a very soft spot. We call it brahma randhra. So, as if consciousness, brahman, had entered after the instrument, when the instrument is more or less ready, and then it gets sealed. So, that is the faith. And the scriptures again tell, when a person had known that, I am that brahman, then as if his pranas depart from that. But this is not really true. Because the departing and other things is meaningless for prana is everywhere. Where does it depart? Air is everywhere. So, where does it depart? It is only a way of expressing, that indicating if a yogi gives up his prana, and the prana departs from this, that means he had attained realization. That is the faith. But those who have not attained that highest state, but next state, then the prana might depart through the eyes, through the ears, etc. So, this is a very simple way of saying, those who have not realized, then he has to either come back. So, this is the rough idea it is given here. So, the person whose pranas depart through the brahmanadi, brahmanadi means a pathway, is also called sushumna, then it breaking, sometimes it is seen in yogis, blood comes out. That is how we say. This is purely a meaningless description. Because for a realized soul, he is not waiting until the prana departs. The moment knowledge comes, that moment what happens? I am not departing. The question of departing, I depart or something departs, doesn't arise at all. This is what is called departure, and arrival and departure is only for us. Samsara is only arrivals and departures. In the airport you will also see, all the timings, sometimes it is delayed also. That's what he is telling. There are many narrow paths going upwards. This is very important. Upwards means the consciousness going upwards. We have this idea that it is all upwards. The whole temple concept is also going upwards. The Hindu temples are designed after the human body, and there are seven chakras. If you look at this Ranganatha Swamy temple here, there are four doorways, four ways through which you can enter, representing the four faculties of the human being, karma, bhakti, jnana and yoga. If you observe carefully, there are seven prakaras, which represent seven chakras. In the highest chakra called Sahasrara chakra, that is what we call Garbhagudi, the sanctum sanctorum, that's where the divinity is manifest. And then when a new temple is made, what they do is they close it like an inverted pot. And that is what you call Kumbhavisheka. Sometimes purification, 12 years or so. But Kumbhavisheka is a must when the invocation of deity is done, prana pratishta is done, then if they close, lest he might want to go away from his devotees, it is sealed. It's like an inverted pot. This is symbolic. Gothic church, if you see also, pointing. So upward means highest consciousness, symbolically is indicated as upward. In fact, Atman is everywhere. When Atman is everywhere, what is upward and what is downward? If you don't have any concept of space, what is upward and what is downward? If you are traveling in November, December in London, when it is full of fog, which is east, which is west, which is south, which is north, you do not know it all. And when the aeroplane loses its compass, the pilot doesn't know whether he is going up or whether he is going down. Because it is that which indicates what is the height and all those things. Anyway, what is the plane meaning? That is sadhaka, towards the end. Then his pranas depart through that. This is for people, a crude, crude way of explaining the spiritual progress. But we do not accept it. So where is your that asti? It just comes in the last few slokas, Guruji. I listened to a commentary on this. Anyway, so when a person knows that I am the Atman, then he knows I am. This is the highest realization. What do we say? I am, we never say I am, we always say I am plus somebody else. This is called bondage. And that is called namaropa. So if we can remove that what comes, that is called in ordinary language kara. Aham. Aham kara. As Ramana Maharshi used to say, in Telugu language and South Indian language, kara means chili. So the problem is not aham. If you rub karam to aham, that is where the problem is. So the whole spiritual practice is to get rid of the kara. Anyway, this asti language, so how do we know the whole Brahman is manifesting in this? The world cannot be anything else excepting Brahman. Because if you accept God is everything, simple language, instead of Brahman use the word God. If you use the word God, God is everything, then what is this table? It must be only God. It cannot be anything else. The table cannot have that separate existence because it is not separate from God. Just like the table is not separate from the wood. The chair is not separate from the wood. So is the chair an object? Wood is the only object. Chair is just words. You give a word. Why because how much the table weighs? As much as the wood. So how much the table tastes? Whatever is the smell of the wood, taste of the wood, weight of the wood, and sound of the wood. So all the five manifestations are only belonging to the wood. If you understand this concept, that means if God is everything, then why do we see different things? Why do we say that is a table and this is a chair? What is the difference between a chair and a table? It is only what is called the form, prayojana actually. That's what we say. Nama, rupa, and prayojana. Sometimes we use the word vastu. Vastu means object. But in Sanskrit that word vastu is a beautiful word. We call it padartha. Pada means world. Artha means meaning of the world. Because we don't see. It is only the idea that we have after seeing something. There must be something to have an experience. But that we don't know what it is. But in our mind we think it is a table. That is called vritti. Vritti means the meaning of an object, the idea of an object in our minds, is called vritti. So all that we know is only our thought. We do not know what is outside. So that's why I gave so many times this illustration. Here is a table. Ask a woodworm. What is its padartha? Food. You ask a carpenter. He says it is a table. It is a wooden object, table. You ask a physicist with a very powerful electronic microscope. What does he say? It is energy or matter. So now what happens? A sea change has come. What is this sea change? Not only table. Let him look with that electronic microscope at anything, including himself. What is the difference between table and himself? Suppose two physicists are looking at each other with electronic microscope. What do you think they see each other? Only energy. What is the differentiation between one energy and another energy? There is nothing, no difference there. All you see, man, woman, then this is living, this is non-living. The moment we go to that state level, even the difference between living and non-living also becomes completely meaningless. So the scientists have reached that state. But what they do not understand, how does he know that it is energy? How does he know that knowledge requires what? Consciousness. That he is somehow missing. You are the tenth. How many donkeys do you see? You know that, Savita? How many donkeys do you see? You know? There was a washerman. And then his business was thriving. He had a donkey. He wanted three more donkeys for expanding. So he went next village and bought three donkeys and he was riding on his own donkey. He went on his donkey, coming back on his donkey. And he knows that he had a donkey and he bought three. How many should be there? Four should be there. But he was not counting the donkey. So he was counting three. And then he was getting, have I lost one donkey? Already, you know, then he called his wife and said, how many donkeys do you see? Five. She looked at him and said, I see five donkeys. Let me complete it. So this is the, even from the scientist's point of view, the whole thing is, you call matter, you call energy, both are same. That is the second law of the thermodynamics. You cannot create, you cannot destroy energy. See how wonderful it is. If we even take that, where is the difference between a worm and a saint and a table, a carpet and anything else, even a saint? But if you ask Sri Ramakrishna, then he says, everything is pure consciousness. Sarvam kalvidam brahma. Brahma means pure consciousness. So this is the gradual, what you call evolution. Now what is the point in this? The first three knowledges are valid only so long as the mind remains at that level. But each knowledge, when the person moves up, evolves, then that knowledge becomes sublated. Sublated means it is more expanded. Anything that is more expanded includes the previous knowledge also. So a woodworm knows only it is food. And a carpenter knows that it is. So food is also included. Because the woodworm might have been living there already. And that could be also a food for the person. When you eat nice mango, inside that nice mango, there would be protein, living protein. Living, moving, reeling, protein also will be there. Many times you just eat some rasalu, you just cut the top and then squeeze, who knows the difference? Because that also tastes only sweet. And it also acquires what? That proves the point of satsanga. If you cultivate satsanga, then you will also slowly become sat. Anyway, so when this carpenter evolves into a scientist, his vision has become expanded. But when the scientist further evolves, evolution means what? Present knowledge is expanded. But when a person becomes a saint, that is the final. There is no expansion. That is the final. So that includes all the other understandings will be there. So that is called asti. So when we are told by the Vedanta, everything is Brahman. And Brahman is sat, chit and ananda. Then we say this is a non-living thing. Then where is Brahman? Yes, sat is there. But it is only the Vedanta which says where there is sat, there must be chit and ananda. But it is now potentially there, but it is not manifest. But I added a little bit of explanation. How does it become? The first point is, do we eat living things or non-living things? Living things. Then when did you ever eat living thing? Any living thing? Give me one example. Vegetables. Is it a living thing or non-living? By that time you boil it and then add masala, is it a living thing? What about the mangoes from a jeep? When you have the... The moment it touches your teeth, what do you think it retains? Moksha. Mango moksha. What is the point? That mango, it is not actually the mango, it is the seed only, you have to understand. And seed we don't eat. Some seeds we eat, you know, many seeds, sprouts, etc. But before we masticate, it may be alive. But after mastication, you have killed. So nobody really eats a living thing. First we kill by either boiling or tearing it to pieces or taking out the life, is it not? But the moment it enters us, previously it may be Satchitananda or Sat. But now the moment we eat it, it becomes what? Us. So now the full manifestation of Sat, Chit, Ananda. Every moment this exchange is taking place. So the Satchitananda is becoming Sat and Sat is becoming again Satchitananda. The play is going on, the exchange is going on all the time. This is one way of looking at things. I was going to ask, regarding the laws of karma, spiritually, just as a spiritual law, there are many, many high-profile people, but is it karmically bad to be born of a certain complexion? Sorry, will you repeat your question a bit louder? There are many, many high-profile people in this world, but according to the laws of spirituality, is it bad karma to be born of a certain complexion? Yes, because the person may be very great in many respects, but a certain percentage of it he has already created, and until that is also removed and made perfect, the person would not attain perfection. If he had really reached perfection, there would be no rebirth. The person is liberated. But you said if he is to be reborn, rebirth is possible only because of what? Karma. Karma means what? Karma means ignorance. That's why Shankaracharya always equates karma with ignorance. If there were to be no ignorance, the sequence he gives, you know, avidya, kama, and karma. Avidya means ignorance. Ignorance produces kama. Kama means desire. What is the desire? You know what is the desire? I want to become full. I lack something. Otherwise, if you don't lack anything, then you will not have any desire at all. So, avidya produces kama, desire, and kama must be fulfilled only through one means, which is called karma. But karma can be good karma or bad karma, what is called punya karma or papa karma. Punya produces good deeds. So, punya produces sukha. Papa produces dukkha. Punya produces sukha. Sukha produces raga. Attachment. You know, attachment means what? That which gives us pleasure is attachment. Nobody is attached to dukkha. But we are all attached to other people's dukkha. That's a different issue. If we don't like somebody, the more that somebody is suffering, the more we are pleased with it, is it not? And it gives even greater pleasure than our own sukha. That's a fact of life. So, papa produces dukkha, suffering, and suffering produces what? Dveshan. Avarshan. Our whole life is, we are running after that which gives us pleasure, running away from which produces us suffering. And the way, the instrument to experience both pleasure and pain is only one. Body-mind complex. And especially body. And therefore, we cling to that body intensely, and that is called abhinivesha. So, Patanjali makes it. Vidya, asmita, raga, dvesha, abhinivesha. But Shankaracharya bodily lifts this and incorporates in his teachings. Everybody, Ramanujacharya, Madhavacharya, they have no option. So, ignorance produces desire. Ignorance means what? I am not purna. And our tendency, natural tendency is to be purna. So, that produces desire, desire produces karma, and karma is divided into right and wrong, and it produces happiness and unhappiness, and then we are attached to that which brings happiness, etc. This is the cycle that we go through. And in Gita class also we discussed. Eight-stepped way of a man courts ruin. dhyayato vishayan pumsah saṅgahateṣu bhajaye saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmaḥ krodhobhiyaye krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ Delusion. Delusion means I don't know what is right, what is wrong. sammohat smṛtivibhramaḥ Our memory. We all work by memory. Whether you are driving, whether you are understanding a book, whatever it is, it is the smṛti that works. I am so and so is depending purely upon what? Memory. Only memory. So, what is spiritual life? To bring back the original memory, not I am plus, but just I am. Either you do it through bhakti-mārga or through jñāna-mārga, whatever it is. Beautiful. sammohat smṛtivibhramaḥ smṛtir bhramṣāt buddhi-nāśaḥ You don't know what to do, what not to do. buddhi-nāśaḥ pranaśyatiḥ Go through it. Beautiful psychological analysis. That's why Vedānta is called depth psychology. Why it is called depth psychology? These people do not believe in past births. Because they do not believe in past births, they equate, everybody starts their life with what is called tabula rasa, blank slate. So then they attribute what parents, how parents influence, environment influences, society influences, etc., etc., etc. We don't accept it. Proofs are there. Here Mozart, four, five years old, already he was writing symphonies. How is it possible? And you can see Balamarela Krishna, and so M. S. Subbalakshmi, where was she born? How many devadasis were there? They would never have come up. But it was her good fortune, they came up. So, this is, they do not ask for a proof. This is called faith. We don't need a proof. All that we need to know is that is there any way for me to become more happy, to get out of this situation, etc. Yes, there is a way. We can be very happy. So, coming back to our subject, that the first manifestation of Brahman is called Sattva. Everything exists. And then slowly the Sattva, what is called, evolves into Chit. Inorganic becomes organic. Organic means a tiny bit of limited body, and body means there should be a mind, mind means there should be an awareness, then awareness means there should be a kind of feeling, vrittis, and that is what scientists are discovering now. Even a mosquito also, I mean any living thing, must have limited awareness. How do you know? You put your foot on a worm, it wriggles. What is it wriggling? It is letting us know, I don't want to die, please do not kill me, I want to escape. If a mosquito is biting you, not because it is particularly fond of you, it just wants to survive. Survive. Every creature wants to survive. The first instinct is survival. The next evolution is Chit. And the highest evolution is Ananda. So when the creatures attain to man, what is called human body, this is called biological evolution complete. Because we see that people have attained God. So this instrument is enough. We don't need any more instruments. That is why the evolution will not be biological. It will be only moral and spiritual evolution. So that is why Dharma. So how beautifully, what is called the four Purusharthas, Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. And if you study Sri Ramakrishna's Gospel, he is again and again telling that Artha and Kama, are not Purusharthas. Woman and gold, lust and greed, you know what is Maya? Lust and greed, woman and gold, or man and money and sex. But here is Veda, Veda is telling that Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Why he is telling? If Dharma and Moksha is the two pieces of bread, Artha and Kama will be goals, only when they are sandwiched between, between Dharma and Moksha. What is Dharma? Right means of achieving. What is Artha? It is not Artha, it is Dharma Artha. Righteous way of making the instrument. And we think that usually Artha means, Artha is only considered as an Artha. Money is the root cause of all problems. That is not strictly true. It depends upon how money is used, either used or misused. But if it is Dharmic way of earning, then that alone can give us happiness. This is a subject we also discussed. Just because a person has got lot of things, does not guarantee that he really enjoys it. Actually, do you know who enjoys? This P.G. Woodhouse, have you read? Excellent, he brings out. All these lords and ladies, upper class, P.G. Woodhouse was one of the examples. Have you ever heard P.G. Woodhouse? You have missed on a lot. Very nicely written. His English language is superb. Simple, but nobody could write like him. But he said sometimes one sentence, I have rewritten at least a hundred times. It looks as though any school child can write like him. But no, you can't write. And the twists he brings. My God, he is a really brainy fellow. Anyway, what is the point? He is ridiculing the upper class society because they have everything to declare, excepting brains. Oscar Wilde, when he was going to USA, the immigration officers asked him, have you anything to declare? He said, nothing excepting brains. Some of his quips are very, very wonderful. I can resist everything except temptation. Anyway, you are hungry? No. Okay. So, this Sat alone, the next evolution is Chit. And that Chit, first part of that Chit is what we call intellectual, rational understanding. That is real. Otherwise it is instinct. Without Chit, there could be no Ananda. So, would Chit follow Sat? Because you have to have knowledge to follow righteous living. No, no, the thing is, I am explaining as though they are three separate things. Whatever is Sat, it is Chit and Ananda. Whatever is Chit, it is Sat and Ananda. Whatever is Ananda, it is Sat and Chit. They cannot be separated. But the most important thing is the middle one. Because how do I know I am living? First I have to be aware. How do I know I am happiness? In fact, happiness is a state of mind. Unhappiness is also a state of mind. That's why I gave you the illustration. Ramana Maharshi is a king who was, after dinner, was lying on his bed and had a nightmare that he was being dragged in a dungeon. Now, Ramana Maharshi, after narrating this story, he asks his audience, Now, is that king, prince, happy or unhappy when he was feeling that, when he was aware that he was being dragged in the dungeon? Unhappy. On the other hand, what is called a tramp could be extremely happy if he thinks he is happy. There is also a story. Did I tell you? There was a tramp. You know tramp. He was living in Thames River. There are some small ghats like that and a small structure. He was living there. Every day he was living. One day a beautiful lady will come and pick me up in her Rolls Royce car and take me to her palace and she gives me nice food and then takes me to the bed and embraces me. That would be his daydream. So every day he was dreaming like that. One day he fell asleep. Suddenly he found that a car came. He was observing it. And then suddenly one beautiful lady gets down, comes to him, gently takes his hands both and leads him to the car back seat. It was air-conditioned. And then puts him there. His dream was coming true in his dream. So she took him and first class food he never had and then she led him to the bed and both of them are lying and then after some time you know she used to live alone. So she was telling, Darling, I think you are cramping me. Just move a little bit. So he moved a little bit. And then a little bit. And then a little bit. He fell down from the bed. Found himself in the Thames. What is the point now? So long as he did not fall into the Thames, was he the happiest person or not? That is the point. This is what happens to a realized soul. It doesn't matter what he has got outside. But his mind constantly has become merged in Ananda. That's why he doesn't care. So this is one of the subjects that comes up in the scriptures. But why does not a Jeevan Mukta change his fate? A poor man could become a very rich man because he has become Satya Sankalpa, Satya Kama. Whatever he desires, instantaneously it will come true. So why can't he change his fate? The reason is, if we want to change our fate, what is the real reason for that? We are unhappy. So really speaking, we don't want to change anything outside. We want to change that I am an unhappy person to I am a happy person. This is the real thing that we want. A poor man becomes poor man. But we are thinking the root cause of happiness is outside. I remember a funny joke. There was one Englishman, one black man. He was walking. And then suddenly he found a dentist. Tooth pulled out without any pain. It was a little bit, 40-50 years before. Then it was very painful, you know. He just ties you, 2-3 people hold you, he puts the pliers and then he pulls like that, you know. Just imagine. Now they give injection and then you don't feel anything. So this fellow thought, is it ever possible without pain? Then he walked inside and asked the dentist, you are advertising that tooth pulling without any pain, is it possible? He said, yes, that's what we do every day. How much do you charge? Just 5 pounds. Oh, wonderful. So he sat down in the chair and then the doctor, he just held. He was not doing anything. And then he gave a wink to his assistant who was behind this fellow in the chair and he gave a big kick to his ear. The fellow jumped up 3 feet and the tooth came out. And then in a minute, in a second it has happened. This fellow was astonished and he said, doctor, until now I did not know the root of the tooth. So you see, it is the chit. And you have to, already means are there. So when you are praying to God with faith, he hears the prayers. Does he answer? Yes, he answers every prayer. But whether we are ready to receive that answer, that means sometimes, you know, if a child says, give me a Ferrari, do you think God will answer that? A parent will answer that? Because he is not fit. That's why it is said to the question, does God answer all prayers? Yes, he answers all prayers. Most of the time the answer is no. He answers. Sri Ramakrishna says, any prayer, sincerely pray. God answers. But he knows what is good and when to give at the right time. So the problem is not God, the problem is ourselves. Then why should we pray? Because if we believe in the law of karma, the answer is, God is the promulgator of the law of karma. He can do it, he can undo it, he can change it. Kartum, akartum, anyadha kartum, shakyate, God can do. And he does it. And Sri Ramakrishna's life proved it. Every realized soul's life is a proof that God answers all our prayers. But at the same time, we also have to meet up with God to receive it and to retain it. So why is sadhana necessary? Sadhana is necessary because, not because whether God gives or doesn't give is not the problem. God always gives. Even that word God gives is a redundant thing. You go to an ocean and say, please give me some water. What would be the answer? No. It will not give you any answer. It says, you take a vessel and take as much as you want. But you take a small spoon and then say, oh, you are so partial, you are giving only one spoonful of it. Yes, whose problem is that? Our problem. Yes. In the prayer aspect, there is no, that's dvaita, that's not advaita then. Prayer is always dvaita only. So, if we believe in advaita, then who is answering and who is giving? You see, you answered your own question. If we believe in advaita. What is advaita? Who is the believer? And what is it that is believed in? So then there is no point in praying if I believe in advaita. There is, really there is no point in believing, even from the law of karma. But what is the point here? Can you stop praying? You see, a child is crying because it's hungry. Is it crying or is it praying? What is every desire? It's a prayer. I wish I have food, I wish I have water, I wish it is air-conditioned or whatever it is. Is it not? So long as we are in ignorance, we feel that something is lacking. That's why in India, everybody is a lackey. They lack, you know. Everybody is a lackey. Even the millionaire is also a lackey. One lady was boasting, I made my husband a millionaire. Everybody went gaga. Until someone asked, what was he, before you made him a millionaire. He was a billionaire. Okay. So, do you follow what I am saying? It is not believing. Believing means you have a mind and there are some people who don't believe it, there are some people who believe it. You are separate. When you are separate, you cannot say, why should I pray? So long as you are separate, your very nature forces you to desire. And that desire, whether it is vocalized or not, it is called a prayer. Advaita is not something to be experienced. Advaita is something that just happens. Once the desires have gone, then you are in Advaita. You will not know. When the last desire has disappeared, you become Brahman. You are Brahman. So you will not even know. That is the speciality of it. Previously, I was an ignorant person. Now I have become an enlightened person. It is not Advaita experience. There is no memory at all. To have a memory, you need what? A mind. When there is no mind, that is why, you know, Advaita means mindlessness. Beautiful. One Zen master, two world's greatest Zen masters met. And one Zen master was remarking about this, I never saw another man who is as thoughtless as he. What a beautiful compliment, you know. Did you understand? Remove all thought. That is Zen Buddhism. So thoughtlessness can be understood in two ways. An idiot and a person who is a yogi. Every yogi is a thoughtless person. That is the truth. Okay. Anybody? Any last question? There is a police. In the Tagore says, three robbers, Tamasic, Adasic and Sattvic. Sattvic leads the person to the edge of the boundaries of the bondage and points out. He says, that is your home, you can go. He requests, come with me. He has brought me to come here. Why don't you come and take my service? But Sattvic says... I am also a robber. Police will catch hold of me. What Tagore says is police. I didn't understand. What police signifies? Police means here Brahman. Brahman does not allow any gunas. Because guna means separation. Guna means separation. Separation means non-Brahman. Not really. So how can the duality ever say that I will come, I will take you? Who is to say I will take you? And whom he is going to take? These are all ideas. These ideas Ramakrishna expresses beautifully when Janaka was asked to instruct Shukadeva, give me the fees right now. Shukadeva says, you have not even started giving me the teachings and you are demanding fees. Then Janaka said, when I give instructions, then you will not see any difference between you and me. So better give it to me right now. One fellow went to a doctor and the doctor asked him, what is your problem? He said, I forget everything, I don't remember anything. Can you treat? He said, yes definitely, but first give me the fees. Because supposing I don't cure, you will not give me the fees, first give me the fees. Forgetfulness. One question. When you talk about the mind being completely gone from the Advaitic point of view, so what was the instance when the mind was created in the first place? When did this happen? When did the creation start? That is called creation. Creation means time, space, causation, or in other words, the mind. That is called creation. Without the mind, the question itself is meaningless. When did creation start is a meaningless question. That is why Vedanta says it is Anadi. Because Anadi means you will never know about it. So find out. Dayananda Saraswati said a beautiful thing. He said if you want to understand it, you take what is called a time piece and note down the exact time when you fell asleep. You can never do it. So it just happens, we become totally unconscious. So this is also interesting. Now you go to the other end and say exactly what you find, take a time and find out exactly what time you are waking up. It is not possible. So this is the answer here. We have no way to know when avidya had started. Because the nature of avidya is we will not know. You understand the logic? So to understand when avidya started, you must be in what state? State of vidya. And if you are in the state of vidya, where will be avidya? It will not be there. So when you have avidya, you will never know in the same reverse process also when vidya comes. From avidya to vidya. We cannot count because counting time, taking time into consideration is part of avidya. So you will never know. That is very peculiar. You will never know when you woke up. But upon waking up what you find is the time sense in the waking state. So there is no transition between that time and this time. Because sleep time, dream time is dream time. Very interesting. And brahmaloka time is brahmaloka time. You know the brahmaloka time? One poor man, poor man you know, he was advised, go and ask Brahma to give one penny in his calculation. So he went and Brahma met him and asked, what do you want? I want a penny in your calculation. He said, wait a second. He is waiting. Because there is no such thing called, penny calculation is according to our this thing, but time calculation is also according to ours. No. Both. So these are certain things we have to understand. Do not ask the question. It is useless also. Supposing you come tonight, such and such a time it started. It is an impossible answer because before that what happened? See, you entered to Dubai on such and such a date. How do you know that you went on such and such a date? That means you must be remembering a date which was prior to that, isn't it? I was in London and then I went like that, isn't it? So what is the point of knowing when the avidya had started? Then you will remember you were in the state prior to that. The moment you enter that state, then there will be no avidya, there will be no question, there will be no answer also will be there. This is our, what is called, curiosity. So what Vedanta advises is, forget about, there is a way out. Know how to cross over the samsara. There are various means. Bhakti is there, karma is there, yoga is there, and also, of course, jnana. Do not become a fanatic. But there is a sequel to this. This is what Swami Vivekananda calls practical Vedanta. What is practical Vedanta? There was an idea that if you want to be spiritual, you have to lead a very peculiar life, which is anti-everything normal, abnormal. You have to become abnormal in order to lead a spiritual life. Whereas Vedanta says only when you become completely normal can you lead a spiritual life. What does that statement mean? When will you really start leading a spiritual life? When you really understand what we call our normal life is not really a normal life, it is an abnormal life, it is an incomplete life, it is a life full of suffering. So that rationality is used and said there is a fault in everything. When we understand everything is faulty, naturally the mind becomes restless for getting out of that. Then only the sadhana starts. It is not a peculiar life. It is a new way of looking at things, or right way of looking at things. What is the right way? We think that accepting us, everybody is anitya. Accepting me, everybody will die. This is the first, what is called abnormality, manifestation of avidya, you understand? ahanyahani bhutani gacchanti yama-mandiram seshaha sthavara micchanti kimas cariyam atah param Everyday, ahanyahani means everyday, millions of, billions of creatures are going to the abode of Yama. But those who are alive never think that it is going to come. But this maya comes in a different way. We all know we are going to die, but we postpone it. When I am, you see, if you ask now a young man, when I am, you know, 80 years, then I will die. 80th year comes, when are you going to die? At 90 years. When he becomes 90 years, when? 100 years. When he is 100 years, when? 102. He goes on postponing. That is the most wonderful thing in the world. But when we understand, it could come any time. This is what Shri Ramakrishna says, always practice discrimination. What is discrimination? Anything can happen to anybody at any time, at any place, in any way. Person may have horrible accident, or he might have very slight injury, or he may die, or he may be paralyzed. There is no guarantee. And the thing is, good people also, bad people, immediately they die. That is the problem we have got. The moment we come to know, that there is the truth about the world. What is the truth about the world? That is what Buddha said. Life is full of suffering. And what is the root cause of this suffering? Desire. Is there any way to avoid this suffering? Yes, it is possible to overcome desire. When desire is overcome, tanha, trishna, then we will get rid of it. So what is the way? Eightfold way. Right understanding, right goal, right living, right speech, and right everything, right ekagrata, right dhyana, right samadhi. So this is the way. There is a way out. So that is called, from abnormality, what we call normality, is understood as abnormal. Then we become restless. Because once you understand, it will not allow you, OK, it is OK, I understand it is abnormal, but it is OK. That is not going to happen. If you really understand, then you will feel restless. Then you turn to this spiritual life. So that is the precondition, and that is what is said beautifully, who is an adhikari? Who is a fit person to undertake spiritual discipline? So he gives, you know, asmin janmani janmantareva kamya nishiddha varjana purasaram prayaschita upasana anustaninayina Vedanta Sarayita comes, who is an adhikari? Beautiful description. Then what happens? What is the essence of all this description? The person understands, our normal life is full of suffering, full of misery, and it is most painful. But we think that it is not painful. We think it is very pleasant. That is called modhavuthi. There is a seeker like you, no? There was one brahmachari who joined Shilang ashrama when I was in Cherrapunji. His name is Narayana. He now lives in Bangalore. He has written some books also. So when he was there, of course, from Cherrapunji, we had to go to Shilang for marketing and other things, and we stay there also. So first it was Bhavyananda, who was the head of the center, and his dog's name was Arjuna Maharaj. So every day we would sit and watch Arjuna. Afterwards, Swami Ananyananda came as head. Govinda Maharaj. He started, Baja Govinda, Baja Govinda. Very interesting. So the point is, when a person is capable of understanding the defects in samsara, and that happens only when a person follows scriptures for many lives, slowly the mind becomes purified, and then dawns that I am sitting in the mouth of a Mrityu Devata. Crocodile. Anytime it will swallow me. Without that, we cannot turn really to spiritual life. That is why leisurely we do, you know, repeating God's name, etc., etc. We are doing very leisurely, thinking that there is enough time when I become Vedanti. Then I will have enough, you understand, Nitya? When I lose all my teeth, then I will have enough time to do. That may not happen. But even if I live a long time, if I do not train my mind right now, the mind becomes very restless. That is why when husbands threaten to retire, the BP of the wives rises like this. Because, you know, who bears the bread? The wives. You know that, sir? Husbands come home, retire, they have nothing to occupy, because they have never... So the fellow, before breakfast, what is for breakfast, what is for breakfast, he suddenly develops... Then after breakfast he is going on, what is for lunch, what is for lunch, because he doesn't know anything, except going to work as an escapism. This is a fact of life. So we will have to train ourselves right now in certain good habits like, you know, enjoying real scriptures, any good book, music, and any other good hobby is very helpful for us. It is to remain on the sane level. I have heard this complaint from so many people. Yeah, the husband and wife are very happy now because from 6 o'clock or 8 o'clock until 8 o'clock the wife is totally free of the Sangha. Yeah, the Patel story, you remember? What is the secret of a successful marriage? Secret of success, Patel was asking. He said, you know, every Diamond Jubilee celebration, I give a special, special gift to my wife. So what did you give her for the Silver Jubilee celebration? I specially took her on a special tour to Mumbai. So this Diamond Jubilee celebration, what gift? I am going back to bring her back. This is the secret of a successful marriage. There is a lot of truth in this. See, if both of them become spiritual, or if both of them develop a higher interest, then they can live happily. That's why it is said if both of them are devotees and with the same aim, life could become a little better. But otherwise it is what is called a matter of adjustment. People don't want to admit it, but it is a matter of adjustment. Yeah, what is the question? In one of your talks you said, Drik and Drishya. So how will I experience her and experience? Then what is the witness in this? Sakshi, what is that? Sakshi comes in Drik and Drishya. Okay, it's a big topic. I will not go into it in depth. But what I will tell you, very simple. Whatever you experience is not you. Simple example, you are seeing a table. Do you say, this is me? No. So you extend it. Anything, whatever you see, whether it is a car or aeroplane, house or anything, it is not you. But you use the word, it is mine. That's why it is mine, minefield. Mine is nothing but a minefield. That is the bondage. If I am feeling miserable, how will the misery and me... Because you are experiencing misery. Before misery was experienced, what comes before misery? Happiness. No, no, not that way. Some event experienced, some event must have happened. And when you experience, it was only in the form of a thought, acknowledgement of a fact, that this thing happened. At that level, it is neither making you happy or unhappy. It is just a thought. But very soon, our mind converts that, that it is a miserable experience or happy experience. Even at that level, you are not involved. Then you get involved and say, I am miserable, I am happy. So what are the three stages? First stage is just knowledge. This is what happens. Thought. Second stage is, you interpret. Is it a good event or not a good event? Third, then you jump in and say, this is me, either I am misery or I am happy. I am miserable, I am happy. So this is the Dhrit Drishya. Whatever you experience is not you. This we all know, we all practice it, with regard to until the body comes. The moment the skin, that discrimination comes until the skin, it works. After that, it disappears. Then I am the skin. I am the body. First thing is skin. So this is also because you are experiencing it. You don't say always, I am the body. You say, this is my body. My means what? Not I. My house means what? My house means not me. My body means what? My car means what? Not me. My doggy means what? Not me. Otherwise you know others will count. So witness is also me. This is the fact. We are not talking about irrational thinking. This is the truth. But then somehow a point comes and says, this is me. This is my house. This is me. This is my car. This is me. If somebody scratches your car, who is the first? You or your car? Me. That is because you extended your identification to that object. But at least we can understand it. Because 24 hours we are living, the nearest thing is the body, and even nearer more than the body is the mind. That's why our problem starts with body-mind. This is the truth. Whatever I experience is not me, crystal clear. But when it comes to the body, it is not clear, even though language makes it clear. We are using I and my. I is what we call first case, whereas my is the sixth case, Shasti, Vibhakti. You know Vibhakti? That's why he says, if you don't know what is Vibhakti, you will not know what is Bhakti. Bhakti will come only when you are aware of Vibhakti. We use nominative case, objective case, instrumental case, dative case, possessive case. All these cases we use. But a person should not use this. All these cases mean that I am attaching myself. This is me. This belongs to me. I am the instrument. Somebody is the instrument. All these will come. What is Bhakti? You are the Prathama Vibhakti. You are the objective Vibhakti. You are the instrumental Vibhakti. You are the dative. You are the giver. You are the taker. You are the possessor. I am nothing. I am not a Vibhakti at all. If I am not Vibhakti, when I understand I am not the Vibhakti, then I have Bhakti. Yes, it's very practical. What is our relationship? Grammatical way of analyzing, you are forging a relationship with every object through these Vibhaktis. Somebody has given me. It is coming from somebody. All these things you understand when? Only when you are conscious of your individuality. If there is no individuality, all Vibhaktis disappear when you are in deep sleep. Have you noticed? Only when you come to consciousness, then Vibhakti starts. The moment Vibhaktis come, Vibhakti disappears. So, how to identify all the Vibhaktis with only one, which is God? It is God. Now, we call it, you know, Brahmasutras. This is beautiful, this analysis. Mahavakya, you know? Tattvamasi. Means that. You know what is that? It is called pronoun. What is a pronoun? It is a representative of every noun in this world is pronoun. So, why is it used as that? Means as though it is remote. We never use, we always use near means this. This means me. Other than me, everything is that. So, that is why, what is Brahman? It is not an object. Because if it is an object, then you will have to say the noun. See, what is this? It is a table. What is this? Book. We know that. So, chair and table are nouns. But that, you bring that, if you say, bring that, then you will have to give a noun. Bring a book, bring a table, bring a chair. But Brahman is none of the objects, because every noun is something different from me. So, Brahman cannot be. Brahman is, every noun combined is called Brahman. So, the only way you can address Brahman is Tatt. Tatt. So, when a person realizes that, Tatt means it includes me, because I am also a noun. So, Brahman means Tatt. Tattvam, that you think you are separate, and although Brahman is, no, you are that Brahman. That is the meaning of Tattvam. I see you are that. This is one way of grammatically, and try to equate God, because God means everything. The moment you say everything, then many things come to your mind. But that is also an illusion, because if you go on analyzing, you know the whole world, so many objects, then living, non-living, then you go on narrowing it down, then it becomes atom. You split the atom. Then it becomes protons, neutrons, etc. Then you split them. Then it becomes something else. So, ultimately, you know, there comes a point when you cannot split it. The meaning of atom is that which cannot be split any further. When it comes to that point, then you cannot distinguish anything. Even science admits that. Only it doesn't take into account the consciousness. So, what does that mean? These people, they are saying consciousness is a by-product. It is what they call, as the evolution is taking place, at some point, from somewhere, consciousness has entered. But that is unscientific truth, because science clearly says whatever is not in a potential state is never ever going to, what is called, manifest. So, if life has manifested, that means life was also inherent, potentially, non-manifest, isn't it? So, if inorganic matter has burst into life, inorganic matter, that means it has life already inherent in it. Only it did not have the opportunity to manifest. But what is life? Can you think of life without consciousness? Can you ever separate life and consciousness? The moment life means it has become conscious automatically. That means consciousness is also inherent already. It's not a by-product. It is there. How could scientists say that life came from somewhere? It cannot happen. That which is from outside, it can never come inside. Because if it is the dharma of something, then you cannot retain also. That is the law. If water and sugar are mixed, water and heat are mixed, they are not really hot water, you see. So, if you think hot water is one substance, then you are really? In hot water. In hot water. Yeah. Okay, come again. Alright. You understand that? So, Tat is the name of God. That is why you say, OM TAT SATITI NIRDESHO BRAHMANAS TRIVIDASMRUTAH BRAHMANAS TENA VEDAS CHAIKNYAH VEDAH PURAH Bhagavad Gita, 15th chapter. Is it 15th chapter? No. 17th chapter. It comes. God has got three names. OM, TAT, SAT. God is known by OM. I explained to you why OM is the best name or representation of God. You understand? You remember? Because every object in this world is known by its name. And all the names, whatever be the name, is within the alphabet. And that alphabet comes only through the sound box. You remember what I said? You see, God is everything, isn't it? God manifests as what? As every object. Every object in this world is nothing but manifestation of God as Nama and Rupa. The separation is only Nama and Rupa. If there is no Nama and Rupa, there would be no division. How will you know this is chair and this is table? It is only the form, the shape, the size, the color, what we call the attributes. This attribute is different from that attribute. Is it not? So if you remove the attributes, what is the difference between chair and table? There would be no division. It is the same thing. If maleness and femaleness are attributes, if they are removed, then you cannot call that person male or female. You can only call as what? Human beings. But that human being and animal is also an attribute. That's why I give that example, you know. So one fellow had a pet goat. It went to butcher shop. After that he wanted to have a last darshan. He went and then 150 carcasses are hanging. So he went and asked the butcher, I want to see my pet goat. He said, it is one of them, find out. Find out. There is, you know, white goat, black goat, black goat. But the difference is only in the skin. Once the skin is removed, inside how are you going to find out? So that is what one Greek philosopher... One day the king of that Greek king, he went to the church and then he found out his favourite teacher, philosopher, he was pottering about in the crematorium nearby, cemetery. Then the king was surprised. So he went and asked, what are you doing here? He said, I am trying to find out the difference between the bones of a dog and the bones of a king. What is the difference between the bones of the dog and king? Probably the bones of the dog will be much more strong than the bones of the king. Other than that you will not see. And this goes into crematorium, cemetery, whether it is a dog or a bird or whatever, what is the difference? There is no difference. So this Brahman is without Nama Rupa. The world without Nama Rupa is Brahman. Brahman with Nama Rupa is what we call the world. So that is what the teacher wants to say. Tat means, coming back to the Om, every object in this world has a particular name. Otherwise if you don't have a name, you will give a name. X, Y, Z, etc., you will give a name. Now every name is pronounceable. How do you convey? This is a table. You will say, I want the chair, I want the book, please bring it. Is it not? Now all the names are sounds. All the sounds must come from where? From the throat. One sound box is the most perfect sound box. So the first sound that comes is called A. You put your finger here and make any noise. The noise here can be only A. It cannot be E. If you say E, when the sound travels from here to here, it becomes E. When it travels here, you just put it and say A. That is the beginning. When you say O, find out from where it is coming. Find out. You put your finger and say where it is vibrating. Not O, just O. You just feel which part is vibrating. Not here, not here, but this Adam's apple, they call it O. Then you say Ramakrishna without touching the lips. Rama, you say Rama. You say Ma. You cannot say. Ma means the lips haven't touched. That means the sound that is transformed, when that sound comes here, that is called Makara. Now where the sound travels, A becomes O, O becomes M. It is the same Akara transformed in everything. So what is Omkara consisting of? A, O, M and M. These three are called Om. So when you are uttering Om, you are uttering all the alphabets. When you are uttering all the alphabets, you are uttering the names of not only whatever had been, not only what is, and whatever is going to come out after a billion years also, it is going to have some name. So that is why Swami Vivekananda explained it. This is the perfect syllable to represent God, because God is everything. So this Om represents all the sounds, therefore it represents all the names, therefore it represents all the objects, and therefore it represents the entire universe, which is nothing but another manifestation of God. That is why it is so beautiful. No other religion has discovered a name so sacred as this. This is the scientific explanation of what it is. So many things you know. Vedanta can give a beautiful explanation. Two children were walking. They were boasting, one fellow was boasting, you know my mom is so intelligent, she can talk on any subject. The other fellow said, that is nothing. My mom, she will speak hours together on no subject. No subject is there. Anyway, it's very nice. Okay, Gayatri. We will discuss, when you come next time, this Sat, because that is a very important topic. That chapter 6 in the Chandogya Upanishad is also one of the classic Vedantic texts, because to find out what is the proof of this greatness, what really Veda is wanting to... There are six lingas we call it, six characteristics. It must begin with that, it must end with that. It must be repeated. And every time it must be completely new something which has not been obtained through any other means. And it must be unique something, which will yield a unique result. And that, whatever fulfills all these six conditions, that is the real teaching of Veda, scripture. Any Veda means any scripture, revealed scripture. So what is it that is revealed? Only one. Call it God, call it Brahman, call it Narayana, whatever you call it. So that is where the father is teaching to his own son, Tattvamasi Shvetaketu. I think seven times? He repeats it seven times. So repetition, and that is how we know that the most wonderful spot is the Sat. That is one of the best chapters. Of course all the sixth, seventh, eighth chapters of the Chandogya is most marvellous. But the sixth chapter is considered the very essence because it is explaining the very definition of God as a Sat. We will talk about it. Did I confuse you? Sure? How do I know whether I confused you or not? If she comes next time, she is not confused. No, no, if she comes next time that means she is confused. She wants to clarify. .