Mandukya Karika Lecture 133 on 13-December-2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

In our last class, we have been studying the 46th kārikā of the last chapter, 4th chapter called Alāta Shānti Prakarana. This peculiar title, Alāta Shānti, that is extinguishing of a firebrand. And Gauḍapada so far has not entered into the description of that one. But very soon we are going to come to that shloka or kārikā. So, in this 46th, this we have discussed already. evam na jāyate chittam evam dharmāḥ ajāha-smṛtāḥ evam eva vijānanto na patanti viparyaye That is to say, here chittam, peculiar word, that is pure consciousness, can never be born. Why can't it be born? Because we have to ask, a baby is born and how did this baby come to be born? Then we have to posit that there is a mother and that is called the cause. From every effect, everything born is called an effect. Every effect, by definition, must have a cause. But supposing consciousness is born, suppose, for the sake of argument, so that means consciousness was not there before, so what could be there? Non-consciousness can never be there. This is the peculiarity, those who have very subtle minds can appreciate this logic. Even to understand whether something be having consciousness or non-consciousness, something is present or something is absent, one requires first awareness. Awareness comes everywhere, like light, whether it is day or night, light is necessary. So when there is plenty of light, then it is called daytime. When we have to produce light, that is called nighttime. But if there is no light, then we will never be able to know what is non-light. Even to say, I hope you are catching the point, even to say that there is darkness and really there is no such object called either light or darkness, what do I mean? Even to say what is darkness, darkness is not an object apart from or among other objects. Darkness means the inability to obtain knowledge is called darkness. And in contrast, the ability to obtain knowledge is called light. So there is no difference at all, whether it is birth or death, light or darkness, being or non-being, present or absent, one thing must be there, awareness. I know it is there, I know it is not there. So we cannot imagine, even to imagine, there is a time when there is no consciousness. Consciousness is necessary, awareness is necessary to know that there was no consciousness. And see the paradoxical statement. So a person with consciousness is telling there is no consciousness. It is a very, very obvious contrast. So a person who says there is no consciousness, it cannot be. Because this person, even to say, let me give a small example. Suppose you have known a person, you know a person, Rama. And one day you go to his house to meet him. Either he is there in the house or he is not there. So to know that he is in the house, you require awareness. To know that he is not in the house, that also requires awareness only. If you take this to the logical extension, then you have to say, there is nothing called non-consciousness, it cannot exist. Because one can be positive, whether something is present or absent, only when it is existing. And now about a non-existing thing, one cannot even imagine about it. I hope the point is clear. So pure consciousness can never be born, because to posit something called birth, that means this thing was not there earlier, there is a cause. And what can be the cause of consciousness? Because there are no two consciousnesses, only one consciousness. Like two human beings, so the mother is one human being, the baby is another human being. It is possible. That idea also will come very shortly. So just like the earlier examples are given, that when you are moving a firebrand, so many forms, if you are a skillful person, you can create a human being, an elephant, a dog, a tree, a flower, anything. But really speaking, there are no objects at all. It is the movement which gives the illusion that there is something there. I see a house, I see a man, like that. We also had discussed that the concept of movement, even there is nothing called really movement. If you split any movement into a thousand parts, then you see a thousand different pictures. Say for example, a person is dancing, and every picture will be a separate movement, a still movement, but when these still movements run very fast, then our eye has a property which makes it into a... because it keeps the last movement a little longer. Before it ends, the new movement has come, so it appears that the leg is slowly lifting or walking or running or dancing. These ideas will come. Here Gaudapada is talking about pure consciousness. What is this pure consciousness? Here chittam means mind. Mind means your consciousness here. Here dharma means, many times we have come across this one, that is jivas, pranis, created beings. They are also ajah iti smritah. Ajah means unborn. They are also unborn. Evam eva vijanantaha. Any person who has this knowledge, he will not fall into ajnana. So that is what we have discussed in our last 40, what is called, class. Today's class we will move forward. Here comes for the first time the word alatha. In fact, this fourth chapter is full of profound ideas. Logic is taken to its extreme end in order to drill into us that this very concept of cause and effect, it is workable only in this world. And this world itself is considered as ever-changing. But when we are talking about pure brahman, pure consciousness, pure chaitanyam, this cause and effect is as false as when you move the tip of a big incense stick. If you move it fast enough, simple example, if you take it round and round, it gives the illusion there is a circle of fire. If you do it slightly different way, a triangle. If you do it in another way, a square. So these are easier examples instead of man, dog, etc. So you see, is there a triangle? No. How do we know? Because as soon as the movement of the incense stick is stopped, all the appearances, so-called movements, disappear. Really there was no movement. As I said, the concept of movement itself is a delusion in our brain. It is only a very individual step. But there is nothing called movement at all. But it is okay. So many things are there like that in the vyavaharika jagat. For example, the sun is rising, the sun is setting, etc. So many things are rising. The moon is rising, the sun is setting, the stars are rising and all those things. Twinkle, twinkle little star, you go on talking about it. But they are there all the time. But when you are able to perceive them, it is called birth. When you are not able to perceive them, it is called death. But they are there all the time. But it is an illusion and yet we live with these illusions and it is perfectly okay. So very funny examples are also there. A fellow is traveling from Delhi to Chennai. And after 24 hours or 36 hours, a train has entered the Chennai city. So immediately Chennai has come, Chennai has come. Where from Chennai has come? Has it suddenly fallen from the sky? It is your perception. Supposing you are deeply asleep. Let Chennai come, Bangalore come, anything come, it doesn't affect you at all. So these are all our illusions of the mind. And whatever thoughts, every thought has got a birth and a duration and an end. And this is not useless philosophical thinking but very very practical. Somebody comes and tells I love you and then you fall into the trap. Because everybody wants eternal undying love. So undying love is possible when there is undying love. That means you should be also undying and the object also must be undying. Otherwise suddenly it appears and whatever suddenly comes also goes out. This is one way of meditating. It is called Vidyat Upasana. So you meditate upon lightning. One Swami funnily said you know all our meditations, we are experts in lightning meditation. One second you are thinking about God, next second you are thinking about your pet dog. But if you accept Advaita Vedanta, you are only thinking about Brahman in both ways. Now this is the beautiful example and with this the highest Vedantic truths are being said. Especially about the cause and effect which means directly referring to the birth of this world and sthiti of this world and disappearance of this world etc etc. Only one simple profound thought I want to add and I want you to remember that one. That is the whole world need not encounter death. If I am dying, with me the whole world will die. When I am born, the whole world is born. When I am dying, the whole world is also dying along with me. And this dying need not be real dying. When we go into deep sleep, it is gone. When we enter from the waking into the dream state, practically the whole death of the waking world is the beginning of dream world. Death of the dream world in a way of speaking will be the birth of the deep sleep. As I mentioned in my last class, there is no order that one first enters into waking, then dream, then deep sleep, then again waking. No, one can enter from any state into any other state. But just to give you an example, the entering into any of these three states, leaving one particular state, is the death of the previous state and the birth of the new state. And keep this in mind and we will apply how this example of Alatashanti firebrand must be applied in practical Advaita Vedantic practice. So you take an insert stick and you light it up. The tip is glowing and then if it is thick enough or thin enough, it doesn't matter. If you move it round in a circle, it gives the illusion there is a circle of fire all along. But every moment, the moment you stop that movement, it will be only one single glowing tip. Nothing else will be there. So when you don't move, that is called Ruju. That is unmoving. When you are moving, it takes the form of your movement. That is called Vakraadhika Abhasam. The word used is Abhasam. Abhasam means appearance. Appearance means it is not reality. So Yatha Alatas Panditam. Just like this, Pandita means movement of the Alata. What is Alata? A burning tip of anything. It could be a stick. It could be an incense stick or it could be a match. Anything, it doesn't really matter. Small or big, it doesn't really matter. So you must have seen musicians also. So they will be whirling round and round. And some fellows will be jumping through that hole. Big hole is created as if it is there. A man on a horseback in a circus, there will be a burning fire will be there really. And he will be diving through that. And lands exactly on the back of his own horse. So this is an example. Alatas Panditam Yatha. Yatha means just like that. Grahana Grahaka Abhasam. The appearance of subject and object. Receiver and received. The experiencer and the experienced. Vijnanas Panditam Yatha. This is nothing but pure consciousness which is unmoving. So pure consciousness here is compared to this firebrand. And any movement of this pure consciousness, that is compared to the movement of the firebrand. Now one point we have to be clear here. Does the consciousness really move? It cannot move. Why? Because consciousness is what is called beginningless, endless, eternal and all-pervading. That is what the idea in the Isavasya Upanishad. You go to Mars. Already your consciousness is there. How do you know this is Chandra Loka? Because even before you recognize where you are, what it is, your awareness as if it has outrun all your mind's thoughts and is present there. Really speaking, it is not running anywhere. It is there everywhere. So in fact, that is what we say the Indian land. So land is land. And you draw a circle like Lakshmana Rekha and say this is India, this is Pakistan. Where was Pakistan before? It was not there. Where was Bangladesh? Where was Sri Lanka? It was not there. Where were all these five continents before? They were not there. Simply land. Human beings go, draw a Rekha and say this is mine, that is yours. This is what Sri Ramakrishna means. You know, two brothers are quarreling. So that side is your land. This side is my land. If these fellows were not born, the land itself doesn't know. That side, this is this side of me. That is that side of me will not be there at all. So Grahana means receiving. Grahaka means the receiver. Receiving, receiver. Subject and object. Experiencer and experienced. All these things. So somebody comes and offers you something and you are taking it. This is a thought. Somebody has come, that is a thought. Somebody is giving me something is a thought. I am receiving is a thought. And the other fellow thinks I am giving this to somebody else. That is a thought. So everything is a thought. What does it lead? That is supposing, just imagine that you are in deep sleep. Where are the movements? And these movements, what are these movements we are talking about? The waking state is full of movements. And the dream state is full of the movements. And there are two powers of Maya. One is Avarna Shakti. Another is Vikshepa Shakti. Both are waking. But when we enter into deep sleep, then only Avarna Shakti is there. There is no mind. Therefore, there is no movement. There is no second something. One unbroken consciousness. Unbroken even by time. Because time, space and causation are only the characteristics of the mind. So in deep sleep, nothing else exists. What is the point we are trying to clear up? Vijnana, that is consciousness. Spandita, this is the tip of the firebrand. It doesn't move. Somebody has to move it. Who is that somebody? Just like our mind. This is the person. He thinks I have this fire stick and I am going to move it in a particular idea. It is the activity of the mind. Similarly, here also the pure consciousness is one without a second. It is all-pervading. It is eternal. There is no beginning. There is no end. This is what he wants to say. As a firebrand, when set in motion, it appears either as straight or crooked, etc. So also consciousness, when set in motion, appears as the perceiver and the perceived, the receiver and the received, the actor and the action, etc. So mainly we are defending this brilliant commentary by Shankaracharya in order to explain the truth regarding the ultimate reality, which has already been said as ajam. It is thus said. As in common experience, it is noticed that a firebrand, when moved, appears either straight, crooked, etc. etc. means you can imagine it as anything you want. So an expert can make it a flower. An expert can make it look like a human being, etc. So in fact, a firebrand is not necessary. A magician brings out so many rabbits, so many white pieces of cloth will be there and every piece of cloth turns into either a white pigeon moving or sometimes, as he said, mayahasti. Even an illusory elephant, huge elephant, the stage will break down, especially Indian stage when a huge elephant appears. And we see, everybody sees it. Does the magician see? I doubt about it because he can't be both the producer and also the perceiver. It is impossible. But he knows. What does he know? Absolutely no elephant at all. He knows that one. But he can make you fearsome, etc. So this is what Shankaracharya is committing. Brilliant commentary. Consciousness alone appears as the perceiver, the perceived and the like. So now I clarified this point. Does consciousness really become perceiver and perceived? No, it is the mind which divides consciousness. As it were, it makes the consciousness as an object and makes it appear. So I am the enjoyer. You are the enjoyed. I am the subject. You are the object. And I am the mover. You are the moved, etc. So consciousness set in motion. But in reality, just like the firebrand, even when you are moving it round and round, it is only one point, one tip with fire every second. Wherever it is, it is only one single point. Similarly, consciousness alone appears as the perceiver, the perceived, subject, object, experiencer, experience, etc. Why does it appear? Because of the mind. How is the mind born? That is what Shankara clarifies. This appearance is due to avidya or ignorance. I will elaborate this one. This appearance of the pure consciousness as the subject and object is because of the movement of the mind. And the movement of the mind, why is it so? Very interesting. Another example we can take. So you stand in front of a mirror and go on dancing. You will see a dancing reflection of you in the mirror. This is a common experience. But what if you do the other way round? You stand alone and let somebody or some mechanism move the mirror in such a way as if you are dancing. Ah! So it is like that. This mind is a product of avidya. Therefore, that is what he wants to say, that because of the avidya. So avidya as if sets consciousness in motion. But truly speaking, if you remove the avidya, there is no movement at all. It only, that is consciousness only appears to be moving. So this has been kept. This should be kept in mind. Pure consciousness cannot be born. What is, what are this movement and stillness? Stillness is comparable to non-birth. There is no birth. Consciousness is unborn and consciousness is immovable actually because it is eternal. It is everywhere. So if we keep these points in mind, there is really no motion. Really speaking in consciousness, the ignorant people only imagine illusory subjects and objects which are the basis of our sense perception. And one small example, we will move to the next karika. See, same object appears in various forms according, depending upon the perceiver. For example, there is a sweet. And a person who is young, who doesn't suffer from diabetes, he sees it as a very desirable, beautiful sweet. But the same thing, when a person has become pure Vedanti, has lost all his teeth and his doctor certifies, you are so good, you are so sweet. You have become an embodiment of sweetness. And he looks longingly at it. That is there. But he doesn't dare to think it is a very desirable object. So what about a dog? Do you think it will like it? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Dogs also have their moods like human beings. So this is a point. What is the point? That we have to learn there is only pure consciousness. It is one without a second. It is immovable because it is all-pervading. There is no creation. There are no jivas. There are no objects. There are no subjects. There are no objects, etc. That is the essence. If we understand, we can move on to the 48th karika. This is a repetition of what we discussed already. What does it say? Alatam aspandamanam. Take the firebrand. And you have been moving it in different ways. And the children especially are seeing it. What is this? It is a circle. What is this? It is a square. What is this? It is a triangle. What is this? This is a dog. Like that, you are making your movement. But supposing you just don't move at all that firebrand, ask the children, the audience, what are you looking at? One tip which is burning. That is all they see. So this is compared. Aspanda. Aspanda means that which is not moving. Alatam, firebrand. Anabhasam. There is no abhasa. There is no appearance of circle, triangle or circle or man or anything. Just one pointed burning tip. Ajam. That means all these different forms. They are not born at all. Similarly, what is the comparison for? Aspandamanam vijnanam. When a person identifies himself with this what is called vijnanam. Vijnanam means here what? Pure consciousness, shuddha chaitanyam. And it is not looked at through the prism of mind which is called time, space and causation. What does it become? Aspandamanam. What is spanda here? Birth, growth, old age, disease, death. These are called spandamanam. Movements. That is why shuddha, urmi we call it. Six waves. So we have said asti, jayate, vadhate, ipranmate, apakshiyate, vinashyate. So aspandamanam vijnanam. Just like that only one burning point of the firebrand. Anabhasam. That is there is no mind. Since there is no mind what remains? Pure consciousness. Tatha ajam. Exactly like the firebrand. And when the firebrand is still we do not say the birth of circle, the birth of triangle etc. are there. We don't see them at all. So this birth of the world, birth of the jivas, that is the whole srishti. That is karya karana sangata. That is cause and effect is completely removed. Here we have got beautiful ideas. So similarly consciousness when not in motion. That means when it is not looked at through the limited factor of the mind that is imagination. Pure consciousness is free from all appearances and remains changeless. Changeless means what? Birthless, growthless, youthless, old ageless, decayless and deathless. That is what we have to understand. So these ideas of chaitanyam with as well as without motion are only from the viewpoint of our perceiving mind-self. A profound truth. Otherwise we can gloss over this sentence. What it means? We are talking about two things about chaitanyam. Pure chaitanyam is not born. It is not the creator and it doesn't undergo any change. So one is changeless but when looked at through the viewpoint of the mind it becomes this entire phenomenal experience vyavaharika satyam. Both these ideas are ideas, thoughts in the mind. This is what Godapada wants to drill into our mind. Chaitanyam with as well as without motion. Here motion means change and changelessness. Or only from the viewpoint of our perceiving minds alone. What is the justification? When we go into deep sleep we don't see. We don't see any birth or growth. Why am I here? Bondage and liberation. All these things will not be there. So here is the wonderful conclusion. All philosophies dvaita, vishishtadvaita, advaita are mind products. The idea of what is called superior or inferior philosophy are also born of thoughts alone. There are every school of philosophy is fighting that our philosophy is superior to your philosophy. Certainly I will argue that vishishtadvaita philosophy is far superior to advaita philosophy. Why? Advaita philosophy doesn't accept saguna brahma. Only nirguna brahma. And nirguna brahma you can't offer puja. You can't offer breakfast, first class idli and masala dosa. You can't what is called pongal, sweet pongal and kara pongal. And whole day they are changing. Tirupati laddu. All these things can never be offered. Because this poor nirguna brahman doesn't have a mouth, doesn't have a tongue, doesn't have anything. But the follower of saguna brahma from morning, evening, from ananda to ananda and finally he will reach vaikuntha and he will be enjoying eternal bliss. So from a very practical practical vedanta point of view advaita is good for putting you to good sleep when you are suffering from sleeplessness. Advaita vedanta I recommend it. It is wonderful. But from the practical point of view and that is what Shri Krishna concludes. Sarva dharman parityajya. Give up all these hodgepodge of ideas. Completely take refuge in me and be a bhakta. And that is what he says for those who are conscious of their body. This advaita vedanta, nirguna brahma is extremely difficult for them even to follow. So all philosophies are products of the mind. Mind is maya. So all philosophies are nothing but maya. And even to say for somebody to be proud that my philosophy is the bestest philosophy is also a product of the thought alone. But when the mind is still and as in deep sleep and therefore transcended as in deep sleep, when the self cognizes the self, in the self, the self alone exists and as such the pluralistic world of phenomena is no more. That is vyavaharika jagat will not be there. When there is no vyavaharika jagat, the question of where from it is born, what makes it tick and what makes it run and ultimately where does it go back, where from it has come, where is it going? All these questions are completely useless. How do we know? Because everyday experience, every day when we enter into that state called sushupti, are you a philosopher? Do you say I am a dvaitin, vishishtadvaitin, advaitin? Do you say the world is born? The whole problem is when we come to awareness of the world, all the questions, unanswerable questions will start. Until that time nothing is there. This is indicated here when the mind is still and that means what is still? There is nothing called you keep the mind and it is still. Sri Ramakrishna's words are so pregnant with meaning. He says pure mind and pure atman are one and the same. This is a re-echoing of Patanjali Maharshi's definition of yoga. Yogaha chittavrtti nirodaha. When absolutely there is no chittavrtti, that is called the ultimate state of yoga. Not only that. He says tada drashta swaroope avasthanam. Then what happens at that time? The jiva understands when there is no mind that I am pure consciousness. I am the purusha. Self alone exists and as such the pluralistic world of phenomena is no more. When we don't see the world, the question about the world doesn't arise at all. You don't ask. Thinking about beautiful examples are given by the Vedanta. One is the example of Vandhyaputra, the son of a barren woman. And if you want to know when was he born and who is the mother and how old is he now? So all these things. Beautiful Sanskrit shloka is there. I do not remember it completely. This is Vandhyaputra. So how is he going? He has taken bath in the cooling waters of the mirage. And he decorated himself with the flowers grown in the sky. He has adorned himself with all these things. And then he has beautiful two horns of a hare are there which he is decorating nowadays. Nowadays many foreigners, they want to behave like werewolves. They are called werewolf. So they purchase special type of teeth and they clamp them on their own teeth. They look like wolf's teeth and never even see such things. Otherwise, he will be coming to eat you up. So this whole idea of ignorance and especially So Sri Ramakrishna's profound teachings are there. He says God is with form. God is also without form. That is to say, when the mind thinks about something, it is with form. When the same mind thinks its opposite, that is without form. But he proceeds further. God is beyond both form and formlessness. What does he mean? What Gaudapada is telling here, when the mind is transcended, that is the true real form of God. But the same God appears also because Brahman is Ananta. He is Shashwatha. Therefore, there cannot be a second object called the world. So when we see the world, it cannot be anything but Brahman only with names and forms. And perceiving Brahman with names and forms is the special trick of Mahamaya in the form of avarana and vikshepa shaktis. So here the word motion, spandana, time-space causation, subject-object, bondage-liberation and sadhana and sadhya, saguna and nirguna, all these are thoughts only in our mind. But remember, they are helpful to us. There are, if we don't have those thoughts, then we will be suffering a lot more. But when we are helpless, for example, the war is going on now. The poor people in the Gaza, what are they doing? What are they to do? They are not allowed to go out. And Israel is not stopping. And the Hamas will not allow them. In fact, they are deliberately targeting them as targets of Israeli bombing so that they can gain sympathy. And I think they are succeeding in gaining that kind of sympathy. So these are all thoughts just like you dream and it is marvellous. The mind is like a greatest magician in the world. And each one of us are the greatest magicians in the world. You just slip from the dress of your waker, Vishwa, and put on the dress of Taizasa and you can play with your ideas. If you are dull, then you will have very dull type of imaginations. That is why mind is called Kalpataru. Kalpataru means what? Imagine a beautiful cot, very tasty food, a beautiful spouse, and they all come true. But next moment you think of a hungry tiger falling upon you and then you get Bhai Ram like that. Then others also, we also join them. Ram Nam Sat Hai. So this firebrand, firebrand means here, what is it? The pure consciousness. But when a person is moving, that is the moment comparable to the movement in the mind, thoughts. This is the comparison. We have to understand this. Ultimately we go by doing Upasana of these shlokas. We go beyond the concepts of mind. We have to go beyond the mind. First we have to hone the powers of the mind. This is called Brahma Karvrutti. What is Brahma Karvrutti? I only want God. I don't want anything else. 100% I want only God. That is called Brahma Karvrutti. God, God, God, like that. So with this idea, the number of karikas that are coming, nothing but elaborations of these things. Now we will enter the next two verses. I will give you a small summary of what we are going to discuss. It will be easy. Imagine a person is holding a burning incense stick. It is not moving. Imagine this one. Then after a few seconds, he starts moving it. In fact, when we are doing, we move it in a circular way, round and round the figure of Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swamiji like that. When we are moving, it appears, if we do fast enough, like a circle actually. So like that, a circle is there. And especially if you see Aratrikam with bright lights, this idea becomes much more powerful. So this firebrand without motion, that is the first. Second, there is with motion is there. Then all sorts of forms form in our mind, thoughts. This is a triangle. This is a circle. This is a square, etc., etc. Imagine this one. Then after some time, you stop that incense stick and just put it there. You see only tip of the incense stick glowing. Imagine this one. So what is it telling? While it is not moving, while you put it after moving, so it is absolutely still. Now in between, when there is motion, there will be all sorts of forms. So imagine this idea of forms, triangle, circle, square, etc., etc. Now these forms, where from they have come? Have they come from somewhere? No. And when you stop moving the fire stick, where do they go? Do they go anywhere? No, they don't also go anywhere. That is the second option. What is the third option? Do they enter inside the firebrand or incense brand? Do they enter? Three points. When we perceive, when the firebrand or incense stick is moving, these forms like triangle, circle, square, these three examples are enough. Where from they have come? Have they come from somewhere? No. Have they come from the stick, burning stick? No. They are only ideas in our mind. We form a concept, this is a circle, this is a triangle, this is a square. So have they come from outside? No. And when we stop it, will they disappear, go outside? No, they don't go outside. Then what happens? Do they at least enter into the fire stick? No, because in the first place, there were no forms at all. In the fire stick, there are no forms. In our minds, because of the movement. Movement is a movement in our mind. This is the important point. Similarly, what does Godopada wants to say? So therefore, these three points, these forms do not come from outside. When it is being moved, when it is stopped moving, they don't go away from that. And neither do they enter into them, because these are all thoughts only in our mind. Yes, our mind is producing the thoughts, our mind stops producing. So they arise from our mind, they enter into our mind, but it has nothing to do with them, incense stick or fire brand. This is the summary of what we want to say. When the fire brand is in motion, the appearances, square, etc., do not come from elsewhere. When the fire brand is not moved, appearances do not also go elsewhere from the motionless fire brand. Further also, the appearances, when the fire brand is not moved, do not enter into the fire brand itself. Beautiful idea. One is, are they coming from outside? No. Are they going away outside from where they have come? No. At least, have they come out from inside the fire brand? No. So when you stop moving it, will they enter back? Like, you know, you're watching a house, a man inside the house comes out and after some time he goes back. That is possible, but it is not possible because these are appearances. Appearances means not reality. Not reality means the question of where from they have come. Only we can assume something has come which is real, which is a vastu, either from itself or from outside and whatever comes from outside, it will go away and whatever has come from one's own self, they will go away. So if something is coming out of me, it will ultimately go back into me. If something is coming from outside, it will go away outside also. I hope the idea is a marvellous idea. So this idea, where from all these objects, square objects, circular objects or triangular objects or all sorts of objects means human beings, non-human beings, etc. Where from are they coming? Are they coming from outside consciousness? No. Are they going away from consciousness? No, because earlier we discussed that point, there is no consciousness at all. This is all nonsense. There is nothing. These are all thoughts in the mind only. I will stop here. May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti. Ramakrishna.