Amrita Bindu Upanishad Lecture 07 on 27 January 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the Amrutabindu Upanishad. The essence of this entire 22nd Mantras of the Amrutabindu Upanishad is that mind is everything. If a person is happy, it is a happy mind. If a person is unhappy, it is an unhappy mind. If a person feels I am bound, that is the reason is his own mind. He feels that way. And if a person feels I am liberated, the mind alone is the cause. The most important point we have to understand is whatever is happening in this world, mind is the cause. Our own mind, each individual's mind is the only thing. Every mind is different. And if the problem is with the mind, the solution also is with the mind. And this mind in the very first mantra of this Upanishad is described as twofold. That which is pure, that which is impure. And what is pure mind? That which is devoid of any desires excepting for God realization. So all humanity can be divided into two parts. Those who have become liberated and those who are bound. And among those who are bound, two categories. Those who are after worldliness and those who are after God. And the godly people called Sadhakas, devotees, the more they progress, the less will be their attachment to the objects. And curiously, the more will be their happiness. Because they become free from the dependence upon worldly objects. They depend upon God. Dependence upon God means dependence upon one's own self. So to that extent. So a pure mind is full of limiting objects, desires for limiting objects. And that which is impure is full of limiting objects. But that which is pure is only one. That is intense love for God and nothing else. So, Mano vidvidham proktam shuddham cha ashuddhame vacham. Mind is of two types, pure and impure. And the impure mind is full of limiting objects, total slavery to every single object. And the pure mind is devoid of that. And then this fact is brought to its philosophical conclusion. Mind alone is the cause of bondage of every human being. Mind alone is the cause of liberation. And what type of minds? That mind, it may be in the midst of a billion objects and the best objects. And that mind which have or has objects but is not at all attached. So, Swami Vivekananda used to enjoy chocolate ice cream. And somebody passed a remark. Then you know what he said? That when I get something, I enjoy it. And when I don't get something, that also I enjoy. Every state is an enjoyable state. And such a state is called Nirvishaya. Nirvishaya doesn't mean that there is no attachment. There is no dependency. The mind is the master. That is a masterful mind, a control mind. That is called Nirvishayam. That is called liberation. And the mind which is enslaved under the thumb of the desires. That is the bound mind. It is indeed the mind that is the cause of men's bondage as well as liberation. The mind that is attached to sense objects leads to bondage. While disassociated from sense objects, it tends to lead to liberation. So, wise people tell us. So, what is the point? Mind has to be made pure. And purity of mind and control of mind are exactly the same things. There is absolutely no difference. And Swami Vivekananda, he wants to guide us in this respect. Sri Ramakrishna used to say about Swamiji that Swamiji is a Dhyanasiddha. That is perfect in meditation. And who is perfect in meditation? A person who is a master of his mind. Therefore, only such a person can guide us. And this is what he says in our last class. We discussed three important points. How to control this mind? That was the subject matter. So, Swami Vivekananda's first point is do not control your thoughts. Mind means a continuous flow of thoughts. So, make no effort to control the thoughts. But watch them as a witness. This is also called Vipassana. Vipassana means insightful meditation. Then Swami Vivekananda says, once a thought comes, it is like throwing a stone in a huge lake. What happens? At first there is small ripple, then a circle and the circle goes on widening. So, one circle produces another circle. That produces still another. So, it goes on expanding. Infinity is the range. Swamiji says, for the mind ranges over wide circles of thought. And those circles widen out into ever increasing circles. As in a pond, when we throw a stone into it. So, what is the mind control? We want to reverse the process. And starting with a huge circle, make it narrower. Until at last we can fix the mind on a single point. And make it stay there. A beautiful analogy has been given in the Bhagavad Gita. Yathadipo nivatastho nengate sa upama smruta yoginah yatha chittasya A yogi who controls his mind is compared to a lamp that is giving light. But in an absolutely windless place. There is not even a flicker. And to make the mind unflickering. That is the point Swami Vivekananda is making on one point. Hold on to the idea. What is the first point? Just observe. What is the second point? Slowly reduce the circles. Narrow it down. That means 100,000 thoughts into 1000 thoughts into 100 thoughts into 50 thoughts into 10 thoughts into finally one thought. This is what Sairam Krishna. So, first teaching which entered into the ears of Sri M. Mahendranath Gupta. The first thing he heard is Sandhya merges in Gayatri. Gayatri merges in Om. What does it mean? Sandhya means various religious rituals that everybody is familiar with. Achyamana, Nyasa, Manasika Puja and Vahya Puja. So, this is the purpose of Puja is to gradually increase the thoughts. But of one single idea which is God. And through that process when the mind becomes slowly focused upon God. Then just repeat the name of God. That is what Sairam Krishna's meaning. That Sandhya merges in Gayatri means all those rituals have borne fruit. Now only the central point is meditate only upon Gayatri Mantra. But even Gayatri Mantra is a distraction compared to Omkara. And Gayatri merges in Om. And Omkara is what is called Turiya Avastha. It is a representation of the highest state, the supreme state, our true nature. This is what Swamiji is telling that you have to make it one pointed. Ekagrata and when Ekagrata increases that is called Dhyana. When Dhyana increases that is called Samadhi. First Savikalpa Samadhi and then Nirvikalpa Samadhi. That is the second idea. What is the third idea? Hold on to the idea. I am not the mind. I see that I am thinking. I see that I am watching my mind act. And each day the identification of oneself with the thought and feeling that is with the mind will grow less and less. Until at last you can entirely separate yourself from the mind and actually know it to be apart from yourself. That is I am not the mind. I am not the body. When this is done the mind is your servant to control as you will. So the first state of being a Yogi is to go beyond the senses. Now Swamiji introduces what is the cause of our thoughts? Senses. What do the senses do? The senses go out and then they contact the objects called sense objects. And we have got how many senses? Six senses. Five of knowledge and one is the mind. So these six must not be allowed to do what they like. So this is what is telling to go beyond the senses means to become master of the senses. And that is called controlling the mind. Mastering the senses, mastering the panchagnanendriyams and the mind. That is called control. What is the meaning of controlling? Controlling doesn't mean I close my eyes. It means when I want to enjoy a sweet I will pay 100% attention and I will derive 100% pleasure out of it. But the moment that action is over my mind doesn't crave I want the same experience once more. No. It was good. I enjoyed it and it is the prasadam of God. It has given me double pleasure but now if until God brings it again I am not going to desire it. So if it is there be happy. If it is not there be happy. Under all circumstances let your mind not be hesitated. That is called perfect mind control, sense control, thought control by whatever blessed name we want to call it. So the flow of this continuous control of the mind that is for one second at first the sadhaka through great practice, long practice able to control the mind perfectly. Then slowly it increases, two moments, three moments, then one minute, then five minutes, then ten minutes, then one hour, then with the realization of God. So all the knots of the heart means desires which are binding down will completely be destroyed. And when desires are destroyed man doesn't feel like acting. So the karma phala. And then what happens? All doubts. But only when we try to practice these three, lessen the desires, lessen the doubts and lessen the karma phala. Very marvelous yogic explanation. Then God becomes nearer and the more we are nearer to God it becomes much more easy to control these three. Parasparam bhava yantra. So when practice day after day then the mind obtains the faculty of constant concentration. Then Swamiji remarks the purer the mind the easier it is to control. What is the purity? Earlier we have seen the Rishi in this very Upanishad. That is Ashuddha manaha is impurity. Shuddha manaha means what? Kama evarjetam. So purity of mind must be insisted upon if you would control it. So controlling of the senses gradually helps purity of mind. Purity of mind lessens our attachment to the sense objects. So that is how parasparam bhava yantra, helping each other. Perfect morality is the all in all of complete control over mind. The man who is perfectly moral has nothing more to do. He becomes completely free. And the same subject has been explored by every saint, every sage, whether it is Christianity or Islam, especially Sufi part of the Islam, Buddhism. The whole Buddhism is only about mind control, nothing else. Yoga system is nothing but mind control. So renouncing the object, the first step and that is what Narada Bhakti Sutra also says. Means that tremendous bhakti for God. How does it come? First step is so do not come into contact with the object. Lessen the contact with the objects. And as we listen, there is a saying in English that out of sight, out of mind. If we do not see something, then that attachment to that object, because the memory becomes less and our struggle becomes much easier. So supposing person has a habit of flying into what is called short tempered person, flying into anger. What to do? First of all, you make contacts less. Then practice in the mind. Next time when I meet somebody, whatever be the reaction of the other person, I will not fly. I will try to be calm and quiet. Practice in the mind and every great person has become great only first by practicing in the mind. So this is how the mind can help us. You practice it any number of times that are required and slowly when the actual event takes place, then this practice comes. Nowadays in scientific circles, we know this one what is called simulation. Pilots, they have what is called simulator, aeroplane simulator. However complex the more advanced the plane, the more complicated its controls become. So they have millions of dollars they will spend to make one, a simulator. It will work exactly as if the person is sitting in the aeroplane and then everything works exactly the same. Practice again and again and again until it becomes automatic. And then the person is allowed to sit in the cockpit and then observe a senior pilot and after some time slowly as his experience increases, he will be made the senior pilot, important, most important pilot, main pilot, you can say chief pilot. So this is how the same process is simulated. Only we don't need for the simulation an external machine. So you go on doing it in the mind, it will work. So for control of the mind one also has to have viveka. What is the viveka? Discrimination. What is the discrimination? Oh, my mind likes to eat sweets. And why does it want? Because it gets pleasure. And is there really pleasure in the sweet or is it in my liking? And upon analysis we find because I like something, it gives more pleasure. Simplest example will be every parent loves their own children rather than even the other children. So their children they may know they are not beautiful, they are not strong, they are belligerent, they are also ugly and they are also evil or wicked. But because they are my children, our children, that attachment will go. But the bondage is that it has nothing to do with me. We only have given physical body but rest comes from that person's own janma janma antara samskara. I have nothing to do with it. So whether we think we are happy or unhappy, we are bound or freed, both are illusions. This statement may come to you as a shock. Now is bondage an illusion? That is why it is called maya. And what about liberation? That is also an illusion because there is no time when we are not free. So nitya shuddha buddha mukta swaroopaha. I am eternally pure, freed, never under any bondage. That is the truth. And if I become bound really, really bound, if real bondage can never be removed, only fake bondage can be removed. That is why there is a beautiful song in Bengali which says if I am unhappy, especially when we are happy, we don't sing these kind of songs. We don't pray to God when we are happy. We don't become grateful to God when we are having a pleasant time, happy time. Only when the other one instantaneously, so we point our finger at God and say you are responsible for my troubles. Dosh karo nai goma ami svakatha swalile dube more shama. What does it mean? It is no one else's fault. Oh mother, I am suffering because I dug a deep well with my own hands. Where did I dig? Punya khetra maje, in a sacred place. And what are the implements? Kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya. And when I dug deep enough, what am I doing? I am digging. And I am going deep and deep inside that pit and by throwing out all the mud, etc. And in course of time, kala, kodha, vish, that is virulent poison, that is the waters of poison, that is the karma phala. That is called experiencing horror, experiencing sorrow, suffering, intolerable pain, etc. So who is responsible? I am responsible. So who is responsible for getting out? I will be responsible. Because what is self-made must also be redone or undone by one's own self. One of the Swamis used to say beautiful things, that is you are the problem, you are the solution. Vedanta has no problem, Vedanta has no solution. You are the problem, so the solution is not Vedanta, the solution is you. And what does Vedanta say? Vedanta says you are the problem, you created the problem. Now there is a way how to undo it, that is called sadhana. What is self-made can also be redone or undone. So positive thoughts, sattvika food and sattvika behavior and what Ramakrishna says? Cultivate holy company, now and then go into solitude, always discriminate, everything is changing, changeable, changing. And I have to accept whatever changes, I cannot stop it. So that is how finally live like a maid servant. Shri Ramakrishna squeezed the very essence of all the Upanishads in those five commandments. So a mind free of attachments is happy and peaceful. What is tyaga? Again we have to remind, we don't run away, we don't get rid of things, but no, let them be there. But what is the problem? Shri Ramakrishna squeezed the whole of Gita, essence of Gita, in that one word, Gita, Gita, reverse. When you utter it very fast, then it becomes tagi. O man, renounce all attachments and then you discover you are none other than God, that means you are liberated. So that is what Bhagavad Gita also says, a mind free of attachments is happy mind and a peaceful mind. Tyaga, Shanti, Anantaram. One Swami has given a beautiful example. A saint was walking, taking a walk, it is called constitutional or as an exercise, health exercise. And he was walking, suddenly he heard an ashram. So he started walking in one direction and suddenly midway he turned back and the disciples or followers were surprised. Why did you turn? Was there anything wrong? Then he said, nothing wrong. So when I am walking this way, the wind is putting all my own hair into my eyes. Who the hell had advised him not to shave and put a big chitta, which is now working against him. He should have shaved like all of us. Anyway, so he turned back and now the wind cannot obstruct my sight. What is the point? He says, I am not bound, I have to walk this way. There is no rule, I should not turn half way back this way. I can do whatever I like because I have nothing to lose, I have nothing to gain, it is just an exercise, that's all. So the question comes, can we ever become free from the bondage of the mind once and for all? Of course, every scripture categorically asserts that not only it is possible, we cannot escape. Sooner or later everybody feels it and everybody is made weeped into frenzy so that they can get out. So if you are hungry, you cannot sleep. If you are having a headache, you can't simply say, I will ignore it. Maybe a small headache, not for long. You have to seek the remedy. That is why God created all these miseries so that we can seek the remedies. So otherwise if only pleasure is there, nobody will ever seek God. People will be forever like worms trying to enjoy whatever, to squeeze as much worldly happiness as any mosquito or any dirty creature living on dung like dung beetles can squeeze. Whereas that infinite amrita is waiting for us which is our own real nature. So how, what is the way and is there something called mukti? If so, what is its definition and how it can be attained? That is being answered in the third mantra. And I will give you a small simple meaning, then we will proceed it. That when the mind becomes completely free of any attachment towards any object, then such a mind is called a mind which has attained liberation. And when the mind becomes free of any worldly thoughts, so that should be the effort, that should be the sadhana. How to make, lessen our attachments? How to remove the thoughts of the thoughts? Thinking of an object as I said again and again is not the real problem. So when, why do we think of an object again and again? Because there is a vain hope that this object contains so much of honey. So if I can catch a bit of that, chunk of that honey and I can squeeze happiness out of it. Earlier we discussed no object has either happiness or unhappiness for that matter. It is our understanding of that object which produces our own happiness. So here we attribute there is happiness or there is unhappiness. It is sweet, it is bitter, it is pleasant, it is unpleasant, it is desirable, it is undesirable. All these thoughts are only of our own making. So this is the essence that what is mukti? When the mind becomes completely free of any worldly limiting, worldly object. How many objects are there? Five objects are there. That is the sight, shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa, gandha, nothing else. So getting rid, becoming free from all these attachments of all this to all this, any one of these objects that is called mukti. Why? Because when the mind is completely clean. This is a beautiful analogy. Again and again we come across it. Even in Mandukya Karika we get about it. What is the real nature of the mind? Real nature of the mind is Atman. That is what Sri Ramakrishna says again and again. It is pure mind and Atman are absolutely one and the same. That is what Patanjali Rishi also confirms. What is that? Nirodha means what? Cleansing the mind of all attachments. He is not saying you should not have objects. You can be in the midst of billions and billions of attractive objects, pleasant objects or unpleasant objects. That is not the bondage or liberation. But our thinking this is making me, giving me pleasure or this is giving me pain. That is the problem. That is called attachment. So when the mind understands this truth then it doesn't pay attention because truly speaking Sukha, Dukha do not belong to any object. Then naturally the question comes to whom does this belong? To myself. Then what is the object for? It works like a mirror. I can see my face in the mirror. So if the mirror is pure then I can see myself better. That is an object removes a desire from our mind. I am having a desire to eat a sweet and I am provided a sweet. By eating that sweet the desire for eating the sweet is removed. My mind comes back to its original pure nature and I reflect my own happiness. So what is the object doing? Object called sweet. It has temporarily removed my desire which is covering up like a curtain. My own happiness which is hiding me from my own self. But pure mind that is where there is no obstruction, there is no dust, dirt and attachment is compared here to dust and dirt. And so every Mumukshu that is seeker after liberation must try to attain this Mukti. How? By doing this mind Nirvishayam. That is the essence of the third mantra. So first of all, first line a Rishi defines what is called Mukti. That is a mind completely unattached to any object that is called desire for the object. When there is no desire you can have any number of objects, any number of, any amount of time. That is not a problem as I said again and again. The problem is our attachment. Ramakrishna thoroughly enjoyed his life. There is a song, he enjoyed it. There is no song, he enjoyed it. There is a sweet Sandesh, he enjoyed it. There is no Sandesh, he enjoyed it. He enjoyed everything. He offers it to God and whatever he offers to God becomes Prasada and every Prasadam is nothing but manifestation of God only. We can see this state in babies. Whatever mother gives and mother doesn't add any masala and yet babies are very very happy. They don't complain. So what is Mukti? A mind which is free from all attachments towards sense objects. That is called Mukti. When there are no attachments the memory of the objects will not come. If you notice clearly only when there is a desire, when there is an experience, that object has given me pleasure. Then we tend to remember it and then this remembrance creates what? More desire and desire evolves into what is called transaction. That is action and action Dharma and Dharma, Punya and Papa, Raga and Dvesha because of Sukha and Dukha and the whole Samsara Bandhana is described thus. So Mukti is freedom from attachment and so those who want Mukti they must strive continuously, constantly to make the mind Nirvishim. Since liberation is predicated of the mind devoid of desires for sense objects. Therefore the mind should always be made free of desires by the seeker after liberation. So these two points we have to remember. What is Mukti? Freedom from attachment of any sense object and if I am a true Mumukshu, seeker after liberation, so my Sadhana should be to remove, get rid of any type of attachment, slavery and once my attachment is reduced my Smriti also becomes less and less. This process has been described beautifully in the second end of the second chapter of Bhagavad Gita which is called Sthita Pragnalakshanas. ध्यायतोऽशयान्पुम्सः संगःतेषुपजायते संगात् संजायते कामः कामात् क्रोधोऽविजायते क्रोधात् भवत् सम्मोहाः सम्मोहात् स्मृतिमि ब्रह्माः स्मृतिर्भंशात् बुद्धिनाशयः उद्धिनाशात् प्रणस्यति Eight steps leading to what is called degeneration and eight steps again for regeneration. A beautiful idea we discussed there and you can go back and refer there. So a mind free from desires or sense objects is called a free mind. Therefore a seeker of liberation should constantly practice to make his mind free from sense objects. And that is what this truth has been enumerated in the very first mantra. अशुद्धं कामः संकल्पं शुद्धं कामः विबर्जितं Mind must be made pure. A pure mind is devoid of any desires and an impure mind is full of desires. So this here in this third one, so a pure mind devoid of desires that state of the mind itself is called Mukti. And therefore anybody who seeks Mukti earnestly, truly he must strive to make his mind free of all the sensory attachments. That is called purity of the mind. So one simple example is there and here we have to understand there is a marvellous truth. In this world every object is pure. There is no object which is impure. So simple, let us take one example, water. Water is a, its nature is pure. But what happens? You mix dirt, dust, sugar, salt or anything you want to mix with that. Now water, does the water become impure? No. What does it become? It appears to be impure. So water and other than water something, they come into close contact. But they can never become one because if the nature of the water is purity, it cannot be made impure. One's nature cannot be changed and if we change the nature of any object, it won't be that object at all. Take away sweetness from a sweet, it won't be sweet. Take away what is called the chilliness from a chilly, it won't be a chilly. Take away the saltiness from salt, then it will not be called salt at all. So this is a fundamental fact we forget. But by close proximity the water, for example, might appear to be dirty. But really it has never become dirty. It cannot become dirty. How do we know? Because you boil the water, distill, this is called distillation. And that is what Bhagawan Surya is doing day in and day out without any holiday, no Sunday, no Saturday and no other holidays. So what happens? So he merely separates and the other impurities like salt, etc., dust particles, etc., remain behind and this is called separating process. The mind by itself is pure. It can never be made impure but it might appear to be impure temporarily. Temporarily means it may be for billions of births, that is a different issue. But it can be made, what is called, separated from all second objects. The moment we separate it and it reveals its own true nature. You are not making the mind pure but you are separating impure objects. Like if you clean a mirror, you are not making the mirror clean. Mirror by nature is absolutely clean but something is sticking there. You remove it. Every day we do it. How many times do you take out your specs and then go on cleaning it with a cleaning cloth. And then for some time it remains, it gives you very good vision and again that dust because of wind, whatever, it comes and sometimes when you are cooking, some oil also can be splayed there. So some masala also can be splayed there and then immediately you go and wash them. So this is important fact. Every object in this world is pure. Nothing can make pure. Any pure object as impure but it might appear to be impure by very close association. But in the closest association, when we put salt or sugar in water, then both salt and sugar disappear. Nobody can see it but it is there, completely separate second object. So when you taste salt, that type of water, it tastes saltish or sweetish but by the process of distillation, salt will be remaining behind, sweet also will be remaining behind. So we don't need to make the mind pure because it has never become impure but we can help it to be itself by removing the obstacles. So the mind, that is what Shri Ramakrishna always means that the Shuddha Man, Shuddha Atma. And how do we find out? What are the impurities? For that we have to be observant. Like any doctor, if we go to a doctor, what does he do? He diagnoses. What is diagnosis? He performs a number of tests, finds out what is really happening and that is possible only by observation. So we have to objectify ourselves, observe ourselves. This is what Holy Mother had meant. My child, if you want peace of mind, first of all don't allow the mind to go outside by finding faults. Secondly, find your own faults. How do I find my own faults? If I can focus my attention, how I am acting and reacting, what desires are coming and that is the main purpose of what we call Vipassana. That is why Vipassana is greatly helpful and that is why Swami Vivekananda is telling us how to control the mind. First let it wander but you just be observing through observation. How do we find other people's faults? Through observation. So how do we find our own faults? Again through observation. So we should not become blind. We should not become, oh other people have more of defects. I have got less even if I know. Maybe I have got much more but I am judging myself not in an objective way but in a subjective way. That is why mandicaps have to be going to what is called shrinks. That is psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, advisors, etc. Because when we are not able to diagnose, other people who are trained, they can help us. So a person who wants to keep his mind pure, that is by removing every other impurity, he should go on observing, become aware and then it is very much possible to find out. First we may find a few, then we find more and more. As we become experts, then we find every little thought that pops up reminds us, oh there is this thought. Why did this thought come? Because there is a samskara behind it. How did that samskara come? Because I have practiced it. And so what is the way? Let me just reduce that samskara, that habit. That is called keeping a distance from the object. So conscious, consistent, determined and patient effort with complete surrender to God with a prayer for His help in the form of making my mind more observant, more strong can find out the defects and one by one. So Patanjali says that we have to meditate upon the opposite quality of the defect that we feel. We have to get rid of it. This is called pratipaksha bhavanam. For example, a person is always thinking negative thoughts. What is the way he understands? I am thinking negative thoughts. What is the way? Now consciously think about positive thoughts. See the positive side of everything there. And then slowly, slowly the samskara will change. That is what this particular mantra wants to do. And there are certain sadhanas which can help us. What are they? So puja can help us, japa can help us, prayer can help us, remembering God's name can help us, kirtayatra can help us, kirtans could help us, ritualistic sacrifices, yajna, charity definitely can help us, tapasya can help us. But Ramakrishna condensed all those things into four aids. That is very important for us. What are the four aids? He said first of all increase your mumukshutva. If you want God realization is the goal of life. That is not very strong in most of us. That has to be strengthened. Until it is strengthened our efforts will be weak only. So hone se hoga, nahi hone se nahi hoga. That is how it goes. So how to do that? Satsanga. Very, very, very important prayer to wholehearted prayer to God and doing everything as the scriptures advise us to do. So cultivate satsanga. Then now and then go into solitude. There our defects become almost glaring because there is no way we can forget ourselves by engaging in distracting activities. And then pray to God more deeply. Then continuously go on discriminating like japam that everything in this world is temporary. God alone is permanent. God alone is our own. Everybody else is only like a just momentary association and that is how we have to think. And fourthly whatever we do we have to live our life like a maid servant in a rich man's house. These are the most condensed essence of sadhana and that can be followed by the follower of any religion, any yogic path. Then this is what the mantras 4 and 5 are telling. A mind relatively pure by the spiritual practices at the beginning is ready for the subtler practice of meditation which the Guru expounds in the next two verses. And he is telling when we are performing this sadhana and the more the mind is becoming vishaya asangam that is distant from thoughts of objects. Nirastha means throwing them far away. And then what happens as a result of this? Samniruddham Manoharati. The mind is controlled and a controlled mind enters into the heart. Here heart means where the Atman is available for contact. That is called Jyotira Jyoti Ujjvala Hridi Gandhara Tumi Tama Bhanjana Aara. So if we go on practicing Yada Ayati and finally the mind arrives into the heart and the heart reveals the very shining Atman there. Jyotira Jyoti Bhavam and then as soon as we behold Atman. What is Atman? Our own true nature. That is the final goal. I am the Atman. Guru only tells Tattvamasi and says Sramana Manana Nidhidhyasana. And this Sramana Manana Nidhidhyasana is what Ramakrishna said that cultivate holy company and you cherish a solitude and continuously discriminate between the temporary and permanent. And finally every action that we do consciously we have to do as a worship of God and saying nothing belongs to me, everything belongs to you. As I explained sometime when we are initiated the last thing most often is called Namaha. Namaha means na, mama, bhava is called Namaha. It is nothing is mine. Everything belongs to somebody. Somebody is my Ishta Devata whether it is Rama or Krishna or Buddha or Chaitanya or Ramakrishna or Jesus. And then this every Ishta Devata has its manifest form which we are supposed to meditate upon and the unmanifest form in the form of Nityam, Niranjanam, Advaitam, Ajam, Shashvatam. That is called Avyakta Rupa and that Avyakta Rupa is called Bija Mantra. Just like seed, a huge banyan tree in that seed we don't see anything. But if we put it in the soil and slowly nourish it, nurture it, we see in course of time it becomes a mighty banyan tree. So God's Bija, Avyakta Rupa is there. And all the Bijas, the source of all Bijas is called Omkara. That is why first comes Omkara, then comes Bija Mantra, then comes our own particular manifestation of Ishta Mantra. But they are all higher stages. But the very first step we have to get up is called Namaha. Namaha means Namama. Practicing nothing belongs to me, then it belongs to God, I am only given an opportunity to work like a maidservant etc. This is what he wants to tell. First get rid of the attachments to all objects and before that even reduce the number of objects that are necessary to a minimum with which we can live our life happily. And then remove even the attachment for them. Then Samaniruddham. And with this practice, that is keeping minimum objects, simplifying our life and not having even attachment to them, then if we strive to control our mind, then mind becomes controlled. When the mind becomes controlled, suddenly it transforms itself into a heart. Where is a heart? In Sri Ramakrishna's words, a heart is the visitor's room where the Jamindar is to be found, minister is to be found, that is where God is to be found. And that is why Angushta Matra Purusho Sere Re Kato Upanishad or any Upanishad, this heart description is given. So as soon as mind becomes pure, it manifests itself as Hridaya. What does this Sadhaka see? Yada Hridi Ayati. When he attains to the state of the heart, Atmanah Bhavam. Then he says he beholds that Paramatma and then that is called Paramampada. And he realizes. What does he realize? I do not exist, only Paramatma exists. Jiva Brahma I came there. How long should we practice? That is being described in the fifth mantra. How long should I control the mind? Until the mind becomes bereft of attachments and enters into Hridi Gatamkshaya. Hridi Gatamkshaya completely merges, manifests itself as its purer form which is called Hridaya. And in the Hridaya the Sadhaka finds out that Paramatma and that is the end of the Sadhana. Until then Tava Deva, the mind, all the Sadhana has to be performed. And once that is attained, Bhagawan is attained, so the rest. Etad Gnanam. This is the highest knowledge and Etad Dhyanam. This is called Dhyanam also. Whatever descriptions we give, it is only elaboration of this essence. This beautiful Sadhana Marga is being discussed. We will discuss about it in our next class. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagatpuram Pada Padme Gayo Saritva Pranamami Mohur Mohuhu. May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.