Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 94 Ch2.8 on 04 March 2026

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Lecture on Taittirīya Upaniṣad: Brahmananda Vallī, Chapter 2, Section 8

Opening Invocation

ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ हरि ॐ

OM SAHANAVAVATO SAHANAV BHUNAKTO SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM

OM May Brahman protect us both. May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth. May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL

Recap: The Eleven Grades of Ānanda

In our last class, we had been talking about almost eleven grades of Ānanda. All of them are manifestations of Brahmānanda, but they are limited. A loka, by definition, is a mind. Mind is limited by time, space, and causation. Whatever is measured by the mind is limited by time, space, and causation.

This is one of the main reasons why there is no eternal hell according to Hinduism. Neither is there eternal heaven. Because this word "eternal" is a concept in the mind. A long time is called eternal — that is absolutely a false understanding. That which is the highest limit of the mind is called eternal, but that's not the truth. We have no concept either about infinite time, or infinite space, or infinity itself. Everything that we think is absolutely limited.

This small reasoning is not observed, understood, or well thought over by any of the other religions. It is only Hinduism which, very deliberately but with a purpose behind it, employs what is called Upapatti, or logic.


The Limitations of Logic and Experience

As we thought earlier, logic cannot prove either God or non-God. Neither can it prove — in fact, it cannot prove anything in this world. Only what is temporarily experienced is considered by us as real. But to our great grief and terrible agony, we do come to understand that what is changing — not only changing, but ever-changing, never for a moment ceasing not to change — that is what is called Kāla Pravāha, the flow of time. It cannot be relied upon. If somebody says "I love you," don't rely upon it, because it becomes 'a llowed'.

So there is only temporary happiness. Even Brahmānanda, the highest ānanda that is possible, is also very temporary.


The Time-Scale of Brahma Loka

The descriptions go in a particular way: in Brahma Loka, the time of Brahmā lasts for — one day of Brahmā is one thousand of our yugas, and each yuga contains thousands of years. But God alone knows if we really understand that concept.

When we are in great suffering, every second is felt as if a yuga has passed. And when we are extremely happy, every yuga passes like a few seconds. So it is all ever-changing.

But why has this topic been raised here? Only the scripture can tell us. There are other worlds of higher happiness, and so on. And what I am leading to: suppose a man goes to Brahma Loka. Going to Brahma Loka means becoming one with Brahmā. The ānanda, the bliss, that Brahmā experiences is called Brahma Loka Ānanda — the creator, not the Parabrahman, not the Supreme Brahman.


The Nature of Upāsanā and Identity with Brahmā

So one who contemplates on Brahmā, thinking "I am Brahmā," experiences — because if a man becomes one with a rich man, say even in ordinary experiences: suppose a poor man marries into the family of a billionaire, and then the billionaire will not keep that person as a poor man, for his own sake. Because he loves his own children — his daughter or his son — so they will immediately make this person also part of the family. He enjoys all the facilities of the family.

So what I am leading to is: if someone contemplates, he becomes one with Brahmā, and whatever belongs to Brahmā belongs to him, because Upāsanā means absolute non-separation, absolute identity. But here the concept is that for a long time it lasts. That is a very strange concept. How long do our holidays last? If I have taken ten days' holidays and gone to a very nice place, stayed in a very nice resort, and my whole day is passing so nicely — when I return back, I look back and say, "Yesterday I went and today I came back."

How long will that happiness last? Forgetting of time is ānanda, and remembering time is called suffering. So I cannot understand this concept. For thousands of years, if somebody is going to stay in Brahma Loka, I can only imagine the poor fellow must be suffering terribly, to feel that every passing day appears to be a great yuga.


The Scope of Brahma Loka Ānanda

The concept is that his ānanda is almost near to the Supreme Ānanda. What do I mean by that? I mean, as we gradually progress to higher and higher concepts, or expansion of mind, then everybody's ānanda becomes my ānanda, because I don't see any difference between myself and the others. Through this process, when I attain Brahma Loka Ānanda, it is almost as if I attained the Supreme Brahman. That means I identify myself with the entire creation.

Because Brahmā is — the popular mythologist — he is called the Sṛṣṭikartā, or the creator. Creator means, as we discussed so many times, not like a mother giving birth to a baby, but like clay becoming, or appearing, like a pot. So Brahmā is not sitting there and, like children, like a woman giving birth to many children, creating this world. He himself is manifesting as this entire world. And he knows: whatever there is in this creation is me.

So whatever a creature is experiencing will be Brahmā's experience, because it is he.


The Problem of Simultaneous Happiness and Suffering

Now a strange phenomenon — I referred to it many times, that's why I am speaking, and I will speak many more times. One person is suffering; another person is enjoying. Does Brahmā experience both the suffering and the enjoyment? No. Because for the same person to be experiencing, at the same time, both unhappiness and happiness is impossible. Why? Because an experience is possible only through a mind, and a mind cannot be divided into two — one experiencing happiness and another experiencing its opposite at the same moment.

So when Brahmā is experiencing both the happiness and the unhappiness of the entire creation at the same moment, it means — just as we experience both happiness and unhappiness in a drama. In a drama, just imagine: one person is robbing another person. So one person is grieving, "I lost something"; another person is rejoicing, "I gained something." But if it is a drama, we all enjoy both, because we know the person who is robbing and the person who is being robbed are mere actors. It is a mere play, a mere show. It's not reality, but it is acting.


The Teaching of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa: The World as Drama

That is what Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says in the second chapter — how a person should look upon or solve the problem. The greatest problem — so far nobody has solved it — why is there so much evil in the benign creation of a compassionate Lord? From the Lord's point of view, here is the answer: there is nobody who is a killer, and there is nobody who is also killed. It is all an act, a drama, just like in our dream — we feel it is so real.

So when we see a drama or a cinema which is really produced very well, we feel tremendous emotions, all the opposite emotions. And by the way, a great cinema or drama is great because it contains opposite emotions — tragedy and comedy. If everything is a comedy — two persons love, they get married, and their life goes on — that would be so boring. So there must be tragic and comic elements, opposing elements, two emotions must clash.


Brahma Loka Ānanda as a Limited, Experienced Ānanda

So what is the essence of what I am trying to tell you? First of all, Brahma Loka Ānanda — since it is an experienced ānanda, it is a limited ānanda. Because whatever is experienced must be experienced through an instrument. In our case it is called the mind. In Brahmā's case, also, it is Brahmā's mind. The only difference is our identity with our limitation is very great — everything is different from me. In the case of Brahmā, he knows: everything is me.

How does he know? I have given this example many times. You are dreaming a terrible dream. Somebody came and is trying to cut your throat; someone else comes and tries to save you. Suddenly you wake up, and then you understand: the person who was trying to harm you and the person who was trying to help you — both are your own projections, your own self. One waker has projected himself in many different ways. That is why you recollect this again and again — you are horripilating on one side, and recollecting it many times on the other side. And if you sit and analyse, "Why am I recollecting such a horrible thing so many times?" — you must be getting some juice out of it; you must be really enjoying it.

So this is called Brahma Loka Ānanda. But all these come under reflected happinesses, called Vimbānanda — or limited happinesses, or happinesses that change. As we know: if good changes, it becomes bad; if life changes, it becomes death; if happiness changes, it becomes unhappiness. And in fact, it is this change only that we call either happiness or unhappiness. If anyone is experiencing the same emotion without any break, he will not even know what it really is. That is the fact of life.


The Pedagogical Method: Adhyāropa and Apavāda

Okay, so now why all this? Because we believe this creation is real. And as we discussed in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, a wise teacher does not immediately say, "No, no, you are very wrong. You are stupid. You are an idiot. You don't understand. There is no world." We are likely to give up that guru. That is why: yes, yes, you are right.

So a baby goes on telling, "A big snake — I saw it crawling underneath my cot." "Yes, yes," the mother says. "But you know, we also saw it. And we chased it out. We killed it. We threw it out." The baby is very happy: "Now I am free. It is not going to return back tomorrow night." So this is called, first of all, Adhyāropa — accept what we think is the reality, and slowly guide us. And that guiding is what we said, Apavāda.

Apavāda, as I explained earlier, is not negating our experience. That negation can become a very obstructive sādhana. "No, no, this world is real, but there is another world which is better than this world — so you do these things, you will go to the other world." Then after some time, there is still a better world, still a better world, until one reaches Brahma Loka. And then we will, by that time, have a major understanding, and then we understand: "Oh, there is something here. But all these are coming and going, and I had to work so hard."


Happiness Is a State of Mind, Not a Product of Possession

Now, you know, we are all people: if without work we can get something, then it will be wonderful. Here is a marvellous piece of psychology for all of you. If I can get plenty of money, so that I can own the best of all best things in this world, I will be very happy. It is a so terribly mistaken idea. Because money doesn't bring happiness. Happiness is a state of mind, and it has to be cultivated separately.

So a person can be very happy without anything. Another person can be extremely unhappy with everything that he possesses. And the purpose of the scripture is to tell us how we can attain to the highest without possessing anything.

And this "without possession" can be in two ways. A person like Janaka Mahārāja — he has the whole kingdom, but he says, "I am not the body, I am not the mind, I don't possess this body, I don't possess this mind. That 'I' which says 'I am the body' or 'I am the mind' — that has been destroyed long, long back." That is why he was called Videha Janaka.

So one can have things — having is not a problem. But when a person becomes a jñāni, that person will not keep many things, because many things really bring more unhappiness. Where to keep? Which one to use? If you have got a hundred brushes with different types of diamonds studded in them, you will take a long time to decide: "Today, which brush shall I use?" If you have got fifty breakfast items — if you have just one item, you don't need to think about anything. But that something should be what you love, and what is conducive to health.

If you can choose wisely — that is why it is said: develop certain habits and fix your routine, so that you don't need to waste your time thinking about them.


The Glimpse of the Infinite at the Peak of Brahma Loka Ānanda

So when a person attains Brahma Loka Ānanda, only at that maturity does he suddenly glimpse that there is something infinite. "So I have reached the Parākāṣṭhā — the highest of finiteness." Then only does he understand: there is something which is incomparably greater. That is called the Infinite. That is called Brahmānanda.

That is the first difference. The second difference is: all this ānanda I am getting is coming from something outside, an object — you call it Indra Loka, Candra Loka, Prajāpati Loka, Bṛhaspati Loka, and finally Brahma Loka. No — I am of the nature of Ānanda. And that is what the Upaniṣad wants to convey — slowly, lovingly, gradually leading a less equipped student. And when he reaches that state of maturity, then he is shown the highest.


Āditya as the Symbol of Brahman

So we have already discussed everything up until Brahma Loka Ānanda — I don't need to repeat that. Now we will enter into a Mahāvākya.

In this, do not forget — we are studying the eighth section of the second chapter of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad.

So what is this Mahāvākya? Even in earlier classes we discussed: Āditya is the representation of Brahman for us. Because Sṛṣṭi — his entire creation — is, as we say in the Purāṇas, Brahmā, Dīrgha Sāvarṇa. He is the creator, but this creator we don't see. What do we see? The sun — the star of our galaxy.

Imagine, let anyone try to imagine: suppose there is no sun. Will there be a moon? No. And if there is no sun and moon, will there be the earth? Will there be life? Will there be water, fire, air, earth? Earth means food. Nothing will be there. It would be absolutely lifeless.

That is why the Bhagavad Gītā in the fifteenth chapter says: "As the sun, I nourish. As the moon, I make the plants — the food, the medicines — grow up." So I am supplying food. But that food sometimes is hard to digest. Therefore I myself am becoming Agni Devatā on this earth. And with the help of that Agni Devatā, we are cooking the food — otherwise we cannot digest many things.


The Three Forms of Agni: Āditya, Agni, and Vaiśvānara

We could [eat raw food], but that age — when we did not discover fire, and therefore no cooking, and therefore we were eating raw, or killing animals — perhaps you know already, but still if you do not know, I am telling you: even if you succeed in killing an animal, you cannot eat its flesh instantaneously. That is why they used to keep it for some days, and then it becomes slowly something — it is called decomposition. Decomposition means it becomes slowly fit to be consumed. Like milk — it is decomposed food from the mother. The mother's body is called milk. The same process applies to puppies, to kittens, to every creature in this world.

So we cannot eat [many things raw]. Then man discovered fire, and it made his food easily digestible. Therefore he did not create fire — he discovered fire. Everything is a discovery. What is existing, everything is a discovery. So this AI that is coming now — it is also not a new invention; it is a discovery of what is already existing. The same capabilities which the AI geniuses had, every baby since fifty thousand years possessed — only it was not manifest; it has to be slowly cultivated.

So the fire, the sun — Āditya Nārāyaṇa — now becomes Agni Nārāyaṇa, helps us to cook the food so that it can be eaten, not [merely] digested. Only it can be eaten. But the same fire, in the third form — that is called digestive fire, that is called hydrochloric acid in, I think, medical language. That is called Vaiśvānara Agni. So that prāṇa, fire, becomes prāṇa, and that prāṇa digests the food. And not only digests the food — because we cannot digest one hundred percent; something will be left undigested, and that has to be thrown out. And that is one of the functions of this Prāṇa Devatā — through vomiting, through answering calls of nature, through sweating, etc. — it throws out, and that is what makes us.


The Entire Creation as a Manifestation of Āditya

So we are created, we are sustained, and we are also taken back — going on throughout the world, throughout time, every millisecond. How many living creatures are born — not only human beings, but whether it is plants, whether it is insects — it is a mind-boggling idea that we have.

And that fact — that what you call Brahmā, Brahma Loka, and what we call our own sun, which we see every day in the morning — that is why early morning we have to, the first time we see it, remember: Āditya, you are Nārāyaṇa, you are Brahmā, you are sustaining me. So you have become me, actually. Because the sun is the food. What are we? Food. So what are we? The sun has taken another form. One is called mosquito, another is called mice, another is called man, another is called devatā. The entire creation is created — means that same power.


The Mahāvākya: "Tat Tvam Asi"

And that Mahāvākya is finally being told. Why is it being told finally? Because when a person attains to that Brahma Loka Ānanda — that means his mind ever enjoys unbroken bliss — that happens in Brahma Loka Ānanda. And the same thing happens in our minds without the least obstruction by its opposite, called duḥkha, or Nirānanda. That is called Brahma Loka Ānanda. That is why our Suṣupti is called Brahma Loka Ānanda.

And what is this speciality of this Suṣupti Ānanda? You forget time. Only upon waking up do we realise: "So I slept like a log." That is why you logged off from Jāgrat Avasthā, Svapna Avasthā, and logged into Suṣupti Avasthā, and you are completely free. And you experienced unbroken joy. For how many years? You don't know. There is no difference between one second or one yuga, because when time doesn't exist, this calculation of one day, one minute, or one yuga doesn't exist at all. Upon waking up: "Yesterday night I was very tired, I went to bed, and I woke up very fresh." That is why it is compared many times to Brahmānanda.

So much of Śānti — that Śānti is another word for Brahmānanda. What is that Brahmānanda? It is me manifesting as my own Ānanda. It is not something that is borrowed. That is the most important idea. We have been explained by Gauḍapāda, Śaṅkarācārya, and many other Ācāryas: when we enter into this Suṣupti Avasthā, we get that Ānanda. The other two avasthas — Jāgrat and Svapna — are conditions superimposed upon the mind that make us either happy or unhappy. Here the mind itself does not exist. When the mind disappears, time-space-causation completely disappears.


The Teacher's Final Teaching to the Mature Disciple

Now the teacher says: "My son, now you are ready for that highest teaching." And the teacher tells — if somebody is following the Jñānamārga, what does the teacher say? "Tat Tvam Asi" — Thou art That. And that is being expressed here.

As Swami Vivekananda is telling: "Each soul is potentially divine" — that is Tat Tvam Asi. But Tat Tvam Asi is a teaching given through experience by a teacher, and we have to make it our own through Manana and Nididhyāsana.

So now the teacher is telling: Puruṣa — in every man, in me, in you, in the mosquito. What is a mosquito? It is a soul; it is a Puruṣa. Here Puruṣa means that divinity which is potentially there, awaiting the right opportunity. That is called evolution. In evolution, what happens? Slowly this mosquito goes on evolving into higher physical bodies and higher minds. Then it becomes a human being. Then it is enveloped by Tamas. Slowly, after many hundreds of lives, it becomes evolved into Rajoguna — very active, ambitious.


Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa on the Necessity of Love and Passion

That is why Swamiji said something very interesting. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said something very, very interesting. Once Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa asked somebody, "Do you love anybody?" That person thought: "If I say I love somebody, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa may say that I am not an intelligent person, I am not a spiritually progressed person. So not to love somebody is what is called absolute." So that is — if I say I don't love somebody, that means I am a great man, because my mind is not loving anybody. The stupid fellow did not understand. A stone also doesn't love anybody.

He said, "I don't love anybody." Immediately Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "You are a completely useless fellow!" In Bengali he expressed that idea — that means it will take a long, long time for you to progress. "First develop the capacity to love. First develop passion. A fellow who doesn't have passion — he can never develop. Otherwise he will be like a stone."


The Student Ready for the Mahāvākya

Now the student is ready. Because all these stages — right from the very beginning, expressed in different Upaniṣads, in different ways — Ānandaṃ Brahmeti Vyajānāt, Ānandaṃ Brahma Vyajānāt: he understood that Brahman is of the nature of Ānanda. What about me? He should have said, "I am of the nature of Ānanda." Okay, Brahman is happy — if Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is eating nice rasoguḷḷas and enjoying, how does it benefit me? I should eat rasoguḷḷas. So every person has to reach that state.

"Now, my son — that divinity which is in a potential form in you — it has come from that Āditya." Here Āditya represents the Brahman, as I just now explained. I hope you understood it. We do not exist — only Āditya exists. Because our body is Āditya's body, our mind is Āditya's mind, our time is Āditya's time. We don't have anything to call "me." It is a false thing.

That same Brahman — that which is most manifest in the Āditya — that is to say: you are That. This is the final teaching. And hopefully — because this has been taught to somebody who is absolutely fit — that is, a person who is completely fit. So he is called a worthy disciple, Sādhana Catuṣṭaya Sampannāḥ Adhikārī — a person who has developed all these qualities: Viveka, Vairāgya, control over the body and mind, endowed with tremendous Śraddhā, and so on. Nine qualities, by the way, are mentioned there — not four qualities; four sentences, nine qualities.


The Role of the Guru and the Need for Personal Realisation

And what is that person endowed with? Tremendous longing: "I know I am Brahman, but I want to experience it." For such a person, out of infinite compassion, Brahman himself, in the form of the guru, teaches him.

And the disciple has to go — like, imagine, Totapurī Mahārāj had given — even though in our tradition, Totapurī must have given a Mahāvākya called Aham Brahmāsmi. "Now you meditate upon it and realise it." This is only my experience, this is only my teaching — but you will have to make it your own.

Whenever we hear a lecture, we have to make it our own. Otherwise it only remains: entering through one ear and passing out through the other.


The Meaning of the Final Teaching: Transcending Brahma Loka

So the teacher had taught him: "He who is here" — that means potentially here, in every living creature, but especially in a man who has gone through all these progressive steps — and he understands, after going to Brahma Loka: "This is also a temporary state. No doubt it is the greatest expression of joy, but it is also limited, because he has to come back from there."

And then, he who is Niratiśaya — that means the creator, the cause — even Brahmā is the effect. Only Brahman is the cause. So the effect must be the final effect of this entire creation. The cause of the entire creation is called Brahmā. But that is not the final cause. The final cause must be causeless. The Brahmā of Brahma Loka is an effect only. He is the final cause of this entire creation, but he is an effect. Every effect must have a cause, and that cause is Brahman. That is what the teacher wants to say.


The Five Sheaths and the Progressive Realisation

And by the way, these are all synonymous words used in the Upaniṣads. Then what happens? This person realises — through Manana and Nididhyāsana. Nididhyāsana is converting a teacher's words into one's own irreplaceable experience. Now he knows what happens.

And a person who has realised:

Annamayam Ātmānam Upasaṃkramati, Etam Prāṇamayam Ātmānam Upasaṃkramati, Etam Manomayam Ātmānam Upasaṃkramati, Etam Vijñānamayam Ātmānam Upasaṃkramati, Etam Ānandamayam Ātmānam Upasaṃkramati.

Again we have to take, from the end of the first section of the second chapter of this Taittirīya Upaniṣad, where it begins the description of Annamaya, Prāṇamaya, Manomaya, Jñānamaya, and Ānandamaya. We have to connect it with that.


Translation of the Key Verse

This Naira Brahman — what happens? Asmat lokāt pretya — let me first read the translation.

"He who knows this" — that means, "I am Brahman," that knowledge as described above — "after dying too." Here, "dying" means not the giving up of the body, but withdrawing, detaching oneself from the idea "I am the body and mind." So after dying to this world — dying to this world means death, that means I am not this body, I am not this mind — attains the self which consists of food, attains the self which consists of the vital breath, attains the self which consists of the mind, attains the self which consists of intellect, attains the self which consists of bliss.

Tadapyeṣa Śloko Bhavati — "On the above, there is also the following mantra." And this we have seen at the end of practically every section. Tadapyeṣa Śloko Bhavati means: what I am saying is absolute truth, and in proof of it, I am going to give you another mantra from the Ṛg Veda. Because the Taittirīya Upaniṣad doesn't belong to the Ṛg Veda, so every Veda is telling the same fact. Here it is taking from the Ṛg Veda: "Regarding what I said, which is the truth, there is also the following mantra." And that will come in the next section, which is the last section in this second chapter of the Brahmananda Vallī.


The Metaphor of the Five-Storied Building

We have traversed a long distance. What does this thing mean? Imagine there is a building — a five-storied building — and there is a beautiful roof with full of beautiful sky, whether day or night, all surrounding. Just imagine. Don't become poor in imagination. That marvellous mountainous range — like in Māyāvatī, wherever you see beautiful mountains, snow-clad Himālayas — and if you take a binocular, you can see the beauty of it.

If one wants to enjoy that, what should one do? First of all, he must become Annabrahma — every physical body is me. That is called Annabrahma. Anna means body here. So every physical world, whatever we experience — living, non-living, everything — is me. And how everything is me, we will talk about a little bit in our next class.

But once one climbs to the peak of this Annabrahma through Upāsanā — which we have already seen — then he says, "I thought I climbed to the highest peak, but no, there is another peak much higher than this." Then he becomes — he tries, he climbs — the second peak, which is called Prāṇabrahma: every prāṇa is none other than my own prāṇa. Then he feels with everybody.

Similarly, he goes to Manobrahma: every mind, every thought, sukha, duḥkha, creativity, non-creativity, Tamoguna, Rajoguna, Sattvaguna — everything is me. Then he climbs to the next peak. And unless one climbs to the peak of the present, he will not be able to glimpse the other one. So from Manobrahma, he climbs to Vijñānabrahma. Then he climbs to Ānandabrahma. And then he understands: even this peak also has another, which is sustaining all these peaks, without which these peaks would not exist at all. And that sustaining force is called Brahman.


Ānandamaya Brahma and the State of Samādhi

So even Ānandamaya Brahma is only the highest expression of happiness, but limited by the mind — a pure Sāttvika mind. And that, perhaps if I understand correctly, is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa describes: that his mind, in the form of Kuṇḍalinī, climbed to the Ājñā Cakra — the cakra which is in between the eyebrows — and then we attain, we have a glimpse. And at that time it is irresistible. The sādhaka cannot remain.

Then at that time, his self-effort is exhausted. He just becomes like a pure iron filing, as if there is a huge magnetic hill, and now he is a pure iron filing without these five dusty layers. Then he need not do anything — just he becomes one with that magnetic hill. That is the goal.


The Mahāvākya: "Sa Yaś Cāyam Puruṣe, Sa Ya Ekaḥ"

Sa yaś cāyam puruṣe, sa ya ekaḥ — "I am That." Nobody can say that. Who is telling "I am That"? The realised soul is not saying "I am That." We are saying that he is saying "I am That." Because when a person is in samādhi, he is not there anymore to say. But for our teaching purpose, Tat Tvam Asi is also human teaching. Aham Brahmāsmi is also human thought. Jīvanmukti — that is also human thought. Everything that comes out of our mind is a human effort. Beautiful thoughts.


Conclusion: Summary of Section 8

We will discuss some more of them in our next class. With this, more or less, the eighth section has come to an end. And in the next class, we will enter into the ninth section.

Closing Prayer

ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deviṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna!