Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 060

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM SAHANAVATU SAHANAVUBHUNAKTU SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMAVIDVISHAHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM OM YUGENA CHITTASYA PADENA VACHAM MALAM SHARIRASYA JAVAIDHYAKENA YOPAKAROTAM PRAVARAM MUNINAM PATANJALIM PRANJALI RANATHOSME I bow to the eminent sage Patanjali who removed the impurities of the mind through yoga, of speech through grammar and of the body through medicine. We have entered into the most important part of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras. This is called Sadhana Pada, the chapter dealing with how to attain yoga through real practice in life. We have covered in our last class up to 19th aphorism. But just to recollect, our whole life is dominated by three Gunas – Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. There are human beings who do not even realize that they are so dominated by the three Gunas. A Tamasic person is too dull to realize he is Tamasic. A Rajasic person, intensely restless person, his mind is moving so fast he doesn't understand what's happening in his own mind. It is only a fairly advanced person who can sit back quietly and then say, Oh, my mind is creating all the problems. If we look at things in a practical way, we see that most of the patients who are taken to a psychiatrist do not go voluntarily. They have been taken by other people, if necessary, even by force. Why is it so? Because they do not realize that there is something seriously wrong with them. And not that all of us who are not taken to the psychiatrist are free from this problem. Only thing is the hospitals are so full and the patients are so many that we nod at each other and say, We are all friends. We are all in the same group. Only a Sattvika person, what is the nature of Sattva? Calmness, serenity is the first characteristic. Second characteristic is knowledge. Sattva always produces knowledge. Knowledge means, again, a lot of misunderstandings are there. Knowledge means, knowledge is of two types, knowledge of the self and knowledge of the non-self. What is knowledge of the self? That is who I am really. Most of us are very far from it. But there is a second kind of knowledge. And I am not talking about physics, chemistry or any other subject. Knowledge of what is going on within one's own mind. You know, it's very interesting, especially I was so intrigued. And my Gurudev, Swami Yathrisandhi used to tell, every spiritual aspirant must have some basic psychological knowledge. He used to recommend some books. Why? Because these books clearly point out to us what is going on within our life. We are not aware of it. Neither other people, either they do not dare to say or they do not bother to say what we are. What is the point here? Point is, sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are unhappy. Sometimes we are successful, not successful. Our mind is concentrated a bit, not concentrated. Why is it so? Because at any given time we are dominated by these three gunas. How do we know? This is the test. When you sit to do anything, it doesn't matter. Read a book, watch a movie, talk to people, of course sit for meditation, think about God. The mind becomes focused, concentrated. At that time we know that we can achieve things very fast. But sometimes, and why sometimes? I do not need to be so generous. Most of the time our minds are not restless but dull. The moment we start reading something, instantaneously we jump into deep Samadhi. This is what happens. So look back and say, these qualities are manifesting every single day from morning till evening in different degrees. This is what the 18th aphorism is saying. Vedanta divides the whole universe into two categories. The seer and the seen. The experiencer and the experienced. The knower and the known. Everything is divided into only two. I and everything else. There is nothing else in this world. I and everything else. And what I am not, that is I am not. What I am, that alone I am. What is the problem? Problem is I get mixed up with what I am not and that is called avidya, maya, etc. So what is wrong with that? There is nothing wrong. If you are happy, God bless you. But you have lot of unfulfilled desires, dissatisfaction. You are suffering so much and at that time you realize that what can I do? You come to Vedanta for the answers and there is only one answer. Practice yoga. What is yoga? Chitta vritti nirodha. I gave an elaborate explanation of what is chitta vritti and what is nirodha. In simple words what it means is let me be what I am. Let me separate myself what I am not. How do I know what I am and what I am not? Very simple. There are two words in English language. I and my. If you can use this word my towards any object in this world, that's not you. Simple example, my hand that means you are not your hand. My body that means you are not your body. My mind that means you are not the mind. So what is beyond mind and body and whatever is there you cannot describe it because there is no way to define it and that is called Atman. What remains after negating everything? Sri Ramakrishna says whatever remains after negating, you know the famous method na iti na iti, not this, not this. What does that mean? That means whatever you can say this is a table, I am not the table, I am not the body, I am not the mind and then if you have done until this, so what remains to be told I am not this? Go on saying I am not this, I am not this. Then whatever remains that is I and what remains really? I remain. I am asking you what is that I? I am answering you I. It cannot be described because it is the Self. The knower can never become known. The experiencer can never be experienced. But then if it is not experienced, maybe it is an illusion, hallucination. No, because I am there firmly. And how do I know that I have reached this state? There are so many stupid people who go on telling. I know because there are four characteristics. What is the first characteristic? I become free from fear. What is the second characteristic? I become completely blissful. What is the third characteristic? I feel no one is separate, different from me. What is the last characteristic? That I see the whole universe as nothing but God or me. It is the same word. These four characteristics, results if we experience, we know we have reached this state of Samadhi. What is the point we are discussing here? There are only two things in this whole universe from birth to death. I and everything else. And here Patanjali is describing what is that everything else. The whole universe which we call or which I said just now, not me, is composed of three materials. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. How do we know? They are so subtle. We cannot find out. We know because we are experiencing ever-changing moods. Sometimes we are calm. Sometimes we are insanely active. Sometimes we are absolutely dull. Again let me warn you. These three qualities are being serene and very intelligent and restless and being dull have their own superior functions at the required time. I did discuss but let me remind myself. This is what one Swami said. He didn't want to offend the audience. He said let me remind myself. You know when you want to meditate, you need a quality called Sattva. That's wonderful. When you want to accomplish some task, what is the quality you need? Rajas. Rajas. Activity. You will be enthusiastic, energetic. You do everything guided by Sattva. But if you ask Sri Ramakrishna, mind a shop, his will be the condition of Guru Nanak. You know Guru Nanak was a very sattvic person. He got a job when he was a young boy in a shop, grocery shop. And the owner of that shop realized this is a good boy. He won't cheat me. So put him. All right. You attend to the customers. So one man came. That I want 13 measures of some rice or dhal or whatever. So he went on counting. He knew a little bit of counting. Up till number 13. Ek. Das. Igara. Bara. Tera. Tera. Tera. He went into Samadhi. Tera means? Everything is? Yours. And he went on. Tera. Tera. This is not 13, 14, 15, 16. Until the owner came and then threw him out. He went on distributing these things. Tera. Supposing Sri Ramakrishna was there. He comes to Tera. What do you think he will do? He will do exactly the same thing. Because he doesn't. That is why I am not telling something imaginary. I will remind you. Let me remind myself. Let me not forget. You know Madhur Babu used to arrange dramas in the Dakshineswar temple garden. And Sri Ramakrishna was very enthusiastic. So he had a way of measuring which actor or actress has acted best. Do you know what is the secret? Whosoever's acting made him go towards God, that person's acting is the superior most act. Whether it is acting, singing. There are some people who sing. Beautiful. But it doesn't affect us. Some people singing is not so good. But instantaneously it affects us. Similarly speeches. Some people's speeches may be very simple, very plain. But it immediately brings the effect. Some people very ornate, very learned, very beautifully they speak. Everything is beautiful. But it doesn't impress somebody. So Sri Ramakrishna used to measure the acting capacities of both. Mostly they were all actors and actresses. In those days they were not respected very much. So Madhur Babu knew this nature. Sri Ramakrishna wants a reward to express his appreciation by giving something to the actors and actresses. So in the beginning Madhur Babu put huge bundles of coins. And then Sri Ramakrishna used to go into an ecstatic state. And to one actor or actress he would push the whole amount. The whole bundle was meant for, Sri Ramakrishna had given this to only one person. And when the next person comes, he has a very calculating mind. So next time he made various kuchika kuchika bundles, 40-50 bundles. Now you give any bundle you want towards anybody you want. At the end it won't cost much. So what am I talking about? Sri Ramakrishna, he used to appreciate the people. And how would he appreciate? He would give some reward. By that everybody knew this affected Sri Ramakrishna very much. He really appreciated it. Anyway, what is our point now? When a person is in a sattvika mode, he won't be an effective active person. And supposing you want to go to sleep. And at that time your mind is full of rajas. What would be the result? Insomnia. And if you are a devotee, then you can go on wondering the whole night. Especially if you are dyslectic, you can go on wondering. Dyslectic, insomniac, spent the whole night wondering whether there is a dog. You know, when we want to sleep, it is the tamas quality called tamas we need. When we want to be active, it is the quality called rajas we want. When we want to meditate, pray, worship God, then which quality we want? Sattva quality. So every quality has its own specialised field. But the problem comes when one quality gets mixed up with other qualities. And that is when nothing would be a success. Everything would be a failure. Coming back to our subject here. This is how we know the whole universe is nothing but consisting of both our own states of mind as well the objects which we are going to experience. Simple example again let me give you. You know there are three types of food. Anything three types. Three types of mystery novels. One is called dull. You don't feel like turning the page at all. The other is slightly better. You go on turning the pages every five minutes. But there are some books. They are called page turners. You feel like what next? What next? What next? And if I ask you which book fall is manifesting which quality? Sattva quality, raja quality or tamasic quality. Everything in this world affects us. Every object we contact with, know or experience, it can be divided into the three. People can be divided into sattvika people, rajasika people, tamasic people. Sriram Krishna used to give an example you know. You remember. A farmer wants to buy bullocks. What does he do? He goes to the bullock market. How does he know whether this is a tamasika bull or rajasika bull or sattvika bull? Very interesting story. Does the farmer want a sattvika bull or a tamasika bull? He wants only a rajasika bull. He doesn't want a sattvika bull. You beat it. It looks. What do you want me to do? Tamasika bull. So what does he do? Touches the tail. Immediately one fellow just looks back and said what is the matter with you? What's wrong with you? The other fellow, like that it will jump up and he wants. This is the right type of bull. Any object in this world. What is it you want? That also depends. Do you want somebody who is sattvik, who is calm and quiet, who doesn't disturb you? Do you want somebody always, you know this incompatibility between husband and wife? A sattvika husband and a rajasika wife are incompatible. A rajasika husband and a sattvika wife are also incompatible. They must be of the same quality. That is why in India, when marriages are done, do you know what they see? They are called ganas, the rasis they see. Why? Because that quality comes to the fore. So the 19th aphorism is telling, how do we recognize these qualities, prakriti further? I will only tell you, not to confuse myself and yourself, that the whole nature is divided into four stages of manifestation. The gross, the subtle and the causal and that which cannot be defined. This is what it really means. And in a similar way, when we progress in spiritual life and you must remember my definition of what is spiritual life. Many times I tell you because it doesn't remain, it doesn't get memorized in our minds. What is spiritual life? It is a journey from a lower state of happiness to a higher state of happiness. So taking this clue, we can divide this happiness into four types. Then we understand what this aphorism is telling. Gross happiness, subtle happiness, still subtler happiness and that happiness which cannot be described at all. I have very elaborately discussed this. Happiness is divided into five states, if you remember. The first is called Vishayananda, the joy that we experience from gross, from experiencing, enjoying the gross objects. The second one, intellectual happiness, Medhananda, by studying philosophy or chemistry, abstract mathematics, whatever it is. The third is the joy of aesthetic happiness. Aesthetic happiness, beautiful paintings, sunset, music, higher music, not this rock and metal music. It is classical music. So that is still higher happiness. Then what is called Dharmananda, Kalananda, Dharmananda. Dharmananda means the joy one derives from living a righteous life, Dharma, practicing of Dharma. You know Yudhishthira, what was his name? Dharmaraja. Dharmaraja means what? It is an embodiment of Dharma. Incidentally, I also told you, Yama is not a person to be feared. You know Yama, why? Because he is called Yama Dharmaraja. He will not do anything to you, what you do not deserve. He will give you exactly what you deserve. And that is why this whole world is compared to a fertile field. By whom? In the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita says this whole life is nothing but fertile field. Not only fertile field, it is also called Dharmakshetra. The very first verse of Bhagavad Gita, Dharmakshetra. What is this telling? This grand spiritual book, what is it telling us? Don't think life cheats you. Because most of us are thinking, I do not deserve this misery, this suffering. Life is cheating you. No, life is not cheating. Who cheats? You cheat yourself. This is the law of Karma. Dharmakshetra. So, Yama Dharmaraja does not want somebody to be feared. We have to fear ourselves. What did I do? What do I deserve? That is why it is said, when you pray to God, does he listen to your prayers? First question. Does he fulfil all your prayers? The resounding answer is, yes, God listens to all your prayers. Does he fulfil? Yes. How does he fulfil? Not giving us what we desire, but by giving us what we deserve. Or how does he know? Because he follows the law of Karma. This is the truth, what we are, what we experience. This is all Patanjali himself we have discussed. Jati, Ayu and Bhoga, in which species we are born and how long we are going to live on this earth is totally fixed. The barcode is in the hands of Yama Dharmaraja. And when the time comes, like Japanese funeral pots, it will come out at the right time. That means we kick our bucket exactly at the right time. What is the third one? Bhoga. Bhoga means what? How much happiness is in our lot? How much unhappiness is in our lot? It is fixed by our Karma. You cannot increase it, you cannot decrease it, but by practice and spirituality you can overcome it, override it as it were. So the 19th aphorism is telling, this whole nature, this whole world, this whole life, this whole nature is divided into four types of manifestation. The gross, the subtle, the causal or still very subtle and that which is beyond any definition or description. Four stages. That is enough for us to know. And why is this aphorism so important for us? Because we are somehow convinced that this gross universe we are experiencing is the only one to be aimed for. No, if you have faith, there are subtle worlds, there are higher worlds. The whole point of being religion is that of happiness to a higher state of happiness. Now from this time onwards we are going to discuss further. 20th. The Atman, the subject, the experiencer, the knower is pure consciousness. It appears to take on the changing colors of the mind, though in reality it is unchangeable. So what is it, what is our condition? Again in the very beginning of this Yoga Sutras, this is when our mind is totally controlled. That means what is control here? Attaining Samadhi. What is Samadhi? To separate totally this is me and whatever I experience is not me. It has nothing to do with me. Then what happens when a person attains to this knowledge which is called Viveka Khyati. Viveka means discrimination. Khyati means knowledge. Knowledge of crystal clear discrimination. I am this and I am not this. In our case it is all mixed up like water and mud. Muddy water. So what happens when the mind is not controlled? It identifies itself with anything that it comes into contact with. A beautiful example given is there is a pure crystal and behind the crystal a red flower is placed. Now for a person who is looking at the crystal, what does he see? He sees if the color is red, he sees red. And then he doesn't have the discrimination to say that this is the flower which is red but the crystal itself is not red. So if you put a green color then it appears green. Whichever color you put it appears like that. Patanjali is telling this whole universe is not me but somehow for some reason and he will tell you shortly why it is so. This Atman which is pure consciousness which is like a crystal as it were becomes one. As it were never becomes one. As though a crystal and a flower never become one. But as it were nearby, very nearby. Then it appears to take on whatever form it takes. Now here let me just briefly explain this. There are three stages when we become totally identified with what we are experiencing. First is here is gross world. And the gross world impinges upon our body. Body means five sense organs. And through these five sense organs how? We see, we hear, we taste, we smell and we touch. Through these five the external world is entering. What does these indriyas, sense organs, what do they do? They take this information and present it to the mind. Now you see gross world, sense organs and mind. The information has come to the mind like our television, TV. And then the Atman, pure consciousness becomes identified. What does it say? I am seeing, I am watching, I am smelling. Who is smelling? Who is seeing? The eye is seeing. Who is smelling? The nose is smelling. Who is hearing? The ear is hearing. Who is tasting? The tongue is tasting. And who is touching? The skin is touching. But what does the mind do? It just represents this information. What does the consciousness do? It becomes as it were. Now it is possible to identify but it feels I am seeing, I am touching etc. What is wrong with that? The only wrong thing that happens is if it is a pleasant experience, I am happy. If it is an unpleasant experience, I am unhappy. Constantly we are going through these two states. I am happy, I am unhappy, I am happy, I am unhappy. What is our real desire? We never want to become unhappy at all. We always want to remain happy. What is the way? So here are two points. By experiencing only the most positive things, you can never be happy. We discussed again. I remind you to my past talks. Elaborate if you want to go through all of them. But the second point is that there is no happiness or unhappiness in any object. It is only I am seeing my own face. The mind just becomes like a mirror which reflects. If I smile, who smiles? Does the mirror smile? If you frown, who frowns? Does the mirror frown? But then we are thinking this is how we dress well and look ourselves into the mirror. I am beautiful. Idiot, you are not beautiful. Your dress is beautiful. What has that got to do? You remove the dress and see how beautiful you are. So the mind is also a subtle dress. With every thought that arises in the mind, we become identified with it. This is the essence of this 20th this thing. The consciousness appears to take on the modifications of the mind. Happy, unhappy, good, evil, right, wrong, all those things. And then that is called bondage. What is called liberation? You separate yourself and say I am always Ananda Swaroopa. Sat Swaroopa, Chit Swaroopa and Ananda Swaroopa. That is called yoga. The 21st aphorism is giving us a beautiful explanation. Why is this whole universe created? For whose sake? Are we created? Is the Atman created for the sake of the universe? Or the universe is created for my sake? The whole universe is created for my sake. What does that mean? You know in Bible there is a beautiful statement. God created the whole universe. Then at last God created man. Having created man, then he told man that this whole universe is created for whose sake? For your sake. And that statement of the Bible is literally taken by ignorant people. And go on, why are these oil fields created? So that I can exploit. Why are these other human beings created? For my exploitation. Why are animals created? For my pleasure. So the whole universe is created for whom? For my pleasure. What a wrong type of philosophy, negative type of philosophy, destructive type of philosophy. Here Patanjali is telling exactly the same thing. The whole universe is a beautiful drama created for the sake of the Atman, pure consciousness. Why did I bring up this subject? Because we have to know what does it mean for the sake? What does it mean? Simple example. A school, an educational institute is created for man. What does that mean? He would go and watch cinemas there. A school is meant for our edification, education, culture, betterment. So we have to understand this aphorism. In that sense, the whole universe is created by God for what purpose? Another example will be a mirror is there. You stand in front of mirror. What is the purpose? To see yourself as you are. Let us see ourselves. How do we look? Otherwise can you ever see? Now I remembered something very interesting. Swami Vivekananda was in America with one of the Mead sisters, I think, Mrs. Hansborough. And her brother, a young man, he literally fell in love with Swami Vivekananda. He used to serve him like as a guru. He loved Swami Vivekananda. So Swamiji always used to talk about God. And this man's name was Ralph. So one day this Ralph came to Swami. I have a big problem. What is the problem? He said, you are always talking about God. I don't see God. How can I see God? And Swamiji did not answer directly. He put counter question and said, Ralph, did you ever see your face? He said, yes. How did you see your face? He said, I take a mirror and then I see God. I see my own face. Then you have given the right answer. Just as the face cannot see itself, the eyes cannot see themselves, you need a mirror to see one's own eyes. Then you need also a mirror. Swami, what is that mirror? Swami said, Ralph, pure mind is the mirror. You make your mind pure and you will see God. Until that time, it is impossible to see God. That is why every religion, whatever other differences, here there is no difference. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Every religion, all agree on this point. There is no doubt about it. So 21st aphorism, Tadarthaha eva drishyasyatma The object of experience exists only to serve the purpose of the Atman. And what is the purpose of the Atman? At this stage, the purpose of the Atman is, it doesn't know, it is overcome by a Vidya. So this whole universe is there. Why? So that slowly, gradually, we improve ourselves by getting both blows and rewards. Rewards and punishments. Slowly we evolve. That is why, that is what is called evolution. Many people heard only about Charles Darwin's evolution. But there are other types of, what is it? Spiritual evolution, intellectual evolution, spiritual evolution, cultural evolution. There are so many varieties of evolutions are there. Creative evolution, have you heard about it? Creative evolution, that is one of the most famous philosophers. He had formulated this theory that the whole universe, experience of the universe is meant so that we become creative. I will not go into that subject. Here is what Patanjali Rishi is telling. The whole universe exists for us only for one purpose. What is that purpose? So that we know, it becomes a mirror and it makes our mind pure. And when our mind becomes pure, then we see what we are. And the whole purpose of yoga is only for the purpose of making our mind really pure through experiences. That is why, though it is irrelevant, but I am bound to bring this idea. You know, from Hindu's point of view, Hinduism's point of view, the whole life is graded into four categories or four steps of evolution. You know that. Brahmacharya ashrama, Garhastri ashrama, Vanaprastha ashrama and Sanyasa ashrama. Students life and married life, retired life and renunciate life. Now tell me, what are these four jargon words? What does it mean? It is a stage of evolution. First, a person is ignorant. So he must acquire some knowledge. Second stage is, he must put that knowledge to work and get both rewards and punishments, both happiness and suffering. Through that, his mind acquires wisdom. And after some time, he says, I do not need this world because I have learnt enough. That is the third stage. What is that stage called? Vanaprastha ashrama. That means what? Retirement is not meant for retiring from the world, but it is meant for withdrawing, detaching oneself from the world. What is the last stage? Monastic life. What does it mean? It means a person says that what I am seeking outside is within me, it is me, I am everything. This is called true Sanyasa. Then, let the world remain. It does not matter. Because at that stage, the person looks at the whole world with a new eye that is called Divya Chakshuhu. If you remember the 11th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Vishwaroop Sandarshana Yoga and there Arjuna requests Krishna, Lord, whatever you told me that you are the Atman and you are the Brahman and you are the creator, everything, I believe in it. But I would like to experience it. The word he uses is, I want to see you. Seeing means what? Experiencing you as you are. Then Krishna categorically says, you cannot experience me through the present, your eyes. You can only experience me through divine eyes. Divine eyes means divine contact lenses. What does that mean? It means you see everything in a different light. That is called, they are called Divya Chakshuhu. And as soon as the Lord granted Divya Chakshuhu, instantaneously Arjuna saw everything in a divine light. Srishti, Stithi and Laya, creation and sustenance and dissolution. He saw everything becoming one with the Lord and again being created, coming out of the Lord. What is the point here? The whole universe is created by the Lord. For what purpose? So that we can attain liberation. Liberation means, how do we attain liberation? Through the gradual evolving towards our own self by looking at the world in a totally different way. Then we move on to the 22nd aphorism. Pratartham pratinashtam api anashtam tat anya sadharanatvaat. So the 21st verse tells that a time will come when each one of us become liberated. Each one of us become liberated. That means what? We know we are the Atman. Never again the universe can bind us because there is no separate thing. Here is something very beautiful Vedantic statement. Whatever we experience as different from us is bondage. Whatever we experience as separate from us is bondage. And whatever we experience as our own self that is liberation. So here this verse is telling there are people, we know that, we believe it. We do not know but we have faith in it. Ramakrishna was he liberated or not? Swami Vivekananda liberated or not? Holy Mother liberated or not? Myriads of others are there. They were liberated or not? They were over liberated. So the question naturally comes that even though a particular individual may be liberated but the others remain bound. That is the meaning of this 22nd verse. Even though this whole universe is no longer a cause of bondage so far as that particular individual is concerned but in the case of other people who are not enlightened, who have not got that knowledge, it is still a matter of bondage. Why is this question so necessary for us to understand? Why? You see, in Vedanta there are two words. Very beautiful words. That is one's own experience and other people's experience. Supposing you eat a beautiful sweet, a very delicious sweet, you eat. Can I ever experience that through your description? That is why these are special words. Ramakrishna, it actually happened. Ramakrishna went into Samadhi. One devotee, he witnessed it and after Ramakrishna came back, came down to our level, then he asked, Sir, can you describe what is your Samadhi like? I want to understand. Ramakrishna gave a beautiful example. He said, you know, once there was a salt doll and it wanted to measure the depth of the ocean. What happened? It immediately jumped. I wanted to measure the depth of the ocean. I do not need to elaborate. You know after that what happened. The thing is, Swasamvedya. You experience something. You can never tell it. You can't share it with anybody. You can't share it with your husband, with your wife. Even if you wish to do that, you cannot. One of our Swamis has given a very beautiful example. Example is, a husband and wife were sleeping on the same bed and suddenly the husband was restless. He was not able to sleep. And all the more he was getting annoyed because how could his wife sleep when he was not able to sleep. And suddenly he noticed that the wife was smiling broadly. And he said, what this selfish woman, what right has she got to experience this? Let her share it with me. I am her husband. So he shook her violently and said, share with me the dream that you have. Now what happened, you know. Not only she can't share her dream with him, but what little experience she was having, that also disappeared. That's why Ramakrishna said, I want to tell you everything, but I cannot tell you. As though the Divine Mother is closing my throat, catching my throat, not allowing. No, not allowing. Why should the Divine Mother not allow? But the thing is, if we do not experience it ourselves, we will never know what it is. Certain things we can experience. You know, I tell you, there is a beautiful animal called a tiger. Oh, how is it? Come, I will show you. You show the animal. It is called Parasamvedya, means what anybody can experience. But what goes on within our minds, nobody can share it with others. You can describe it, but you cannot actually share it with anybody else. So what is the point here? When a person has that tremendous knowledge that I am the Atman, only he knows that he is the Atman. For the others, they remain bound forever. So what can he do? What is the usefulness of this person? He can be a guide for us. He can tell us with certainty, yes, God is existing. I have experienced God. I can tell you how you can experience God. That is the benefit of these great people. So this 22nd verse is, Kritaartham prati, nastam api, tad anyasadharanathwat anashtam. Everybody else remains in bondage. The point I wanted to make was, Sri Ramakrishna was liberated. You agree, isn't it? How did it benefit you? Did you become liberated? No, you are in the same state. My way of putting it is, Sri Ramakrishna had eaten so many rasagullas. So what? I ask the question. How does it help me? If I want to eat rasagullas, I have to eat myself. There is no point discussing. So many people expect, Sri Ramakrishna, why don't you give that knowledge to me? Even he can't give sometimes. He can remove the obstacles. Because Vedanta says, not even God can give God realization. Firstly. Secondly, there is no need for him to give God realization. Thirdly, then what does he do? He cannot give realization. He cannot, there is no need for him to give realization. What is the third point? He can remove the obstacles to God realization. First point. He cannot give because if you are not ready, he cannot give. Second point is, he need not give because it is not that he is going to give you something new. You are already a realized soul. But only thing is, you don't know about it. Like a sleeping man. It is a beautiful novel, you know, Acres of Diamonds. I don't know whether you ever heard it. It is one of the 19th century lecturer in America. Became famous all over America. Acres of Diamonds. What happened? It is a simple story. There was, it is a story. It is an allegory. There was a village. There was a farmer. And he had some very rough type of field for cultivating. He could not get much out of it. He was getting a little bit. And then what happened? He got disgusted with it. He sold it to somebody. And then moved on to some other place. Thinking that this field is absolutely useless field. And that somebody who bought it, he was a geologist. And he understood by the nature of that soil and other thing. It is a rich field of diamonds. So he brought the equipment, dug it up. And then he found great field of diamonds. Billions and billions of dollars worth of diamonds. This is the story. Holy Mother also tells this story. You know, there was a village. And there was a pond, a tank. And you know, got, there is a stone, big stone. And people used to go, wash their cloths. And rub their feet to get rid of the dirt. And hundreds of years, everybody thought it was a very convenient type of stone. One day, a diamond merchant happened to come. He went, he happened to go to the tank. And he saw this. Instantaneously, he recognized. This is an invaluable diamond. So he paid some money. And he paid 1000 rupees in those days. And then, this rock is very good. And he became one of the richest diamond merchants there. What is the point here? It is there. Every day they are walking on a, what is called, unimaginably rich field. But they didn't recognize it. So this American preacher, he became, because each human being is a mine of diamonds, field of diamonds. Acres and acres and acres of, where is all this? Inside our heart. And this truth has been expressed so beautifully in a Bengali language. Bengali song, bhajan. Do you know? Doop doop doop. Roop shagare amarmam. Thala tal patal khunjale. Abire rotna dham. You don't need to go anywhere. This is what Patanjali Rishi is telling. Through the practice of yoga, anybody can realize his own nature. And what is his nature? Satchitananda. Satchit and Ananda. So there are millions of people who have realized God. And the tragedy of it is, that is, liberation is only for those people who have realized. But for all those who have not realized. Anya anya sadhana dvaat. The object of experience becomes unreal to him who has reached the state of liberation. But it remains real for everybody else. So Swami Vivekananda is telling, Though destroyed for him whose goal has been gained, yet is not destroyed for others being common. The whole idea of this nature is to make the soul know that it is entirely separate from nature. And when the soul knows this, nature has no more attractions for it. But the whole of nature vanishes only for that man who has become free. There will always remain an infinite number of others for whom nature will go on working. What is the most hopeful message for us? One of these, just now in this class we discussed is, The whole nature, means the whole universe, the whole life is meant only for one purpose. To lead the soul step by step so that he knows that he is already a liberated soul. In Vedantic language, each soul is potentially divine. And by practicing one or more or all of these yogas, that potentiality becomes translated into a statement of fact. He knows, I am God. What is the point? The point is, if anybody says, I don't believe in God. I don't want spiritual life. I'm quite happy with all its ups and downs with this life. Nature will not leave him. By giving blow after blow. One day it will say, my child, you don't belong to me. You are living in the wrong house. Your home is Monachalo Nijaniketane. That is why this is the greatest message of Vedanta. That don't think just because you deny the existence of God, you don't believe in your own potential divinity, that you will be left out to be here. No. Nature, it is the avowed nature of nature to force you, to kick you out, so that you will know ultimately who you are. What a beautiful one. I am an atheist. Yes, nature will make you liberated sooner or later. I am a skeptical person. Yes, you will also reach. I hate God. Yes, you will also reach God. I don't want spirituality. Yes, you will also reach God. Everyone has to reach God. I will close this talk with that beautiful summarization of Holy Mother says, My son, nobody will go hungry. Everybody will get food. Food is there. But those who are intelligent, they will cook the food. Materials are there. Cooking means what? Practicing yoga. They will be happy eaters, very early eaters. There are some people who take time, they will eat in the afternoon. There are some people who are still more lethargic, they will eat in the evening. But there are people who want to eat, but who don't want to cook. This is nature. Like a gentle, loving, sweet mother, she will wake him up if necessary, violently, and cooks the food and then feeds her child. This is the message of Holy Mother. Everybody will get to eat. What does that statement mean? What is Sankhya Yoga is telling? Everybody will become liberated. This is the speciality of Vedanta. Nobody will go to hell. There is no hell. There is a temporary suffering, but everybody will finally attain liberation. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti