Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 54 on 24 November 2024

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU OM APYAYANTUM AMANGANIVAGPRANASYAKSHUH SHROTRAM ATHO BALAMINDRIYANICHA SARVANI SARVAM BRAHMAHU PANISHADAM MAHAM BRAHMANIRA KURIYAM MAMA BRAHMANIRA KARO ANIRA KARANAM ASTVA NIRA KARANAM ME ASTU TADATMANI NIRATE YAUPANISHAD SU DHARMA TE MAI SANTU TE MAI SANTU OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI HA RE HE OM OM May my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as also strength, and all the organs become well developed. Everything is the Brahman revealed in the Upanishads. May I not deny Brahman. May not Brahman deny me. Let there be no spurning of me by Brahman. Let there be no rejection of Brahman by me. May all the virtues that are spoken of in the Upanishads repose in me. I am engaged in the pursuit of the Self. May they repose in me. OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL We have taken up the 7th chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad for study. We have completed two sections in that and this particular chapter is how to attain Bhumananda or Atmananda or Brahmananda. So Narada approaches Sanatkumara. Narada was a very learned person. Learned but not a person who is free of delusions like Arjuna. He was a very learned person. How do we know? Because in the very first chapter he gives a wonderful lecture why wars are the cause of destruction in every imaginable way. Of course what he said is absolutely true. But not for the right reasons. So because he was overcome with delusion. Even though learned, he was a deluded person. So our Narada is deluded. But in both of them we see a common characteristic which is called absolute sincerity, absolute surrender to the teacher who is considered none other than the right vehicle for the manifestation of Satchidananda. So in the first section we have seen that we start our life with information. First in information, a child is shown. This is an apple and he knows the name. Then slowly information comes. When can a child really be said to have knowledge? When he eats the apple, the apple becomes one with him. He becomes one with the apple. Then he knows. I know what is an apple. Until we become one with information, it will not turn out to be knowledge at all. That is the essence of the first section in the seventh chapter. So for that purpose that everything is existing and whatever is existing is Brahman and that was the subject. Of course in the sixth chapter, sad vidya, we have explored. But Sanat Kumara is taking the same spiritual aspirant how to realize that pure existence which is otherwise called Brahman. In this case it is called Brahmananda, infinite joy, infinite bliss. So we have this knowledge. How do we get the knowledge? Is it because we are enlightened? Does the knowledge fall from the sky? No. We have to acquire it. How do we acquire it? By listening. Reading is another form of listening. So whether we read or whether we hear our teachers or other people talking about and that becomes our information. So without somebody expressing it in the form of language, in the form of speech, we will never be able to get complete knowledge, only very basic knowledge. Because our face and Sargams are acting, we will know through hardship some little bit of knowledge. Not that we are completely devoid of knowledge but when we are instructed, when we hear about it, when we read about it, then we gain a wide amount of knowledge. And then when it is confirmed by scientists, so we don't need to do it. They are trustworthy persons. They are called Aptavakyas, Aptas, trustworthy people and through them we get that knowledge. So without speech, knowledge is impossible and that is the essence of the second chapter. Vaakvai etat sarvam vignapayate. Speech verily makes us know all this. Verily, if there were no speech, neither righteousness nor unrighteousness would be known. Neither the true nor the false, neither the pleasant nor the unpleasant, neither the Vedas nor anything else. So a huge list is given. Dharmancha, Adharmancha, Satyancha, Asatyancha, so Hridayagnancha, Ahridayagnancha, Sadhucha, Asadhucha, good and evil, right and wrong, this Loka, this world, the other world, this happiness, higher happiness, highest happiness. For example, Bhumananda will become a sealed knowledge if somebody, if this Sanat Kumara has not taught to Narada and Narada passed that knowledge. How did he pass? Through speech. To whom? To his disciples, to his followers. If say Ramakrishna had closed his mouth and never opened, similarly Holy Mother, similarly Swami Vivekananda, we would never have got. So at the end of this, Sanat Kumara makes Narada understand that knowledge is the effect but the cause is Vag or Vagindriya because without Vagindriya, speech cannot be expressed at all. That is why some people are dumb and not because they lack knowledge but they are dumb and the same thing happens when we become dumb in surprise, in fear, Stambhita, that is what he said, we become like a piece of stone, absolutely stoniness. Then what happens? Very difficult. If somebody had undergone through a terrible ordeal, for some people they become speechless. They have the knowledge but they cannot express it. So it takes long time to squeeze that knowledge. What happened and who came? What did they do, etc., etc. So speech is the cause and knowledge, spread of knowledge, obtainment of knowledge is the effect. So we have to remind ourselves the cause is always higher, subtler, more pervasive than the effect. That is first law. Second law we have to remember, effect is nothing but the cause only manifesting in a gross manner. So this is how Sanat Kumara wants to take because everything is Brahman, the world is Brahman. So the knowledge about the world is also knowledge about the Brahman. This knowledge about the Brahman cannot come through our own experience. Somebody had to teach us. Satyam Vada, Dharmam Chara, Swadhyayaanma Pramadaha, Matru Devo Bhava, Pitru Devo Bhava, Acharya Devo Bhava, Atithi Devo Bhava, Kushalana Pramadita Viyam, Bhutyaina Pramadita Viyam. Marvelous teachings are there and they cannot be ours unless somebody utters them, explains them and then we of course have to make it our own. But Sanat Kumara says, now you worship, first worship Nama as Brahman, then only you come to me. And when Narada came, Sanat Kumara knows. He realized every object in this world is coming from manifestation of what is called Sat or Astitva, then Vak as Brahman and then he goes and contemplates, he understands this Vak is a higher manifestation than Nama or Brahman only. Not full manifestation but a little bit subtle than the gross manifestation called Nama and then he understands. As soon as he understood this is also Brahman, then as it were another higher level opens up. So he comes and asks, is there something higher than speech? That means what is the cause of the speech? So in our last class, we have completed that what is called Vak Brahma is superior to Nama Brahma and then who is superior to the Vak Brahma? Vak means speech. How does the speech come out? When a man is unconscious, does the speech come out? Absolutely no. Even when a person is conscious, does any type of speech come out? No. Because we know plenty of things but it doesn't mean we have got so much choice to speak about. No, we don't speak anything at random. If anybody because the person knows about something and that knowledge may be right or wrong. There are many people who have wrong knowledge but they think that is the right knowledge. All of us fall under that category. So if anybody thinks then the choice is what should he speak about because he has wrong knowledge with about millions of things. So does he speak? For example, so a baby wants to play with the parent. Parent may be a professor of physics. Is the professor going to entertain his small baby with talk of physics, chemistry, zoology? No. He must understand. What should he understand? This is a baby. What can the baby understand? Only to that level then the father speaks, the mother speaks and everybody. Otherwise it will be called babbling. So the tower of babble, in the bible we get it. So various languages are there. So otherwise a madman's blabbering, a irrational speech having no connection with where we are and with whom we are, what are the circumstances goes on speaking. It is called madman's speech. But who determines what to speak, how to speak, when to speak, how long to speak, what way to speak because when the same professor, say physics professor, speaks about the high school students, he will speak in one way, college students in another way, PhD students in a quite different way. So all these have to be completed. Who is that person or what is that faculty which completes that and that is the subject matter of this third section. So what does he say? He says, Narada asks, I have understood without Vaak Brahma, no speech is possible, so no knowledge is, spread of knowledge is possible. So Bhagavan revealed, Sir, is there anything greater than Vaak? Greater than means the cause of speech, that which is higher, that which is subtler, that which is more pervasive and Sanat Kumara slowly is guiding Narada. Sure, definitely there is something higher because the speech, as just now we discussed, simply doesn't come. Otherwise, the person will be a babbler or madcap. So he says, what is it? Please take me to that level, to the third level now. Two levels have been crossed. Now ultimately 15 levels are there. So Prana Brahma until Prana, from Nama to Prana. So we are entering into the third one. So then he says, So why is it that mind is the more interior, higher, subtler, superior, more pervasive than speech? Why? So what is the principle of speech? It is the precedent of the expression of language. You see, when we are talking, it simply doesn't come. When devotees come to me, so they have something in mind, so they will ask. I will only speak what is appropriate for the devotees. So all the speech is contained within the mind, by the mind, and it is filtered by the mind. It is discriminated by the mind. Without the functioning of the mind, there would neither be expression of speech, nor of course any language, nor any definition, nor any learning, nor any spreading of knowledge. Naturally, mind is superior to speech, and speech is superior to name, but the mind is superior to both Nama as well as Vaak. Therefore, it contains both these. That is what now Sanat Kumara is trying to explain to Narada. We will read. Sanat Kumara gives a brilliant description of the glory of the mind, of the functions of the mind, and in the end, he says mind is Brahman at this level. Don't forget it. Higher levels are there, but at this level, mind is Brahman, and so you contemplate mind as Brahman. And the rest is what is called explanation, but it is a beautiful explanation. We will go through it. The mind is really greater than speech. How? Just as imagine there is a closed fist, and it holds two amalakas, two fruits, doesn't matter, small fruits, not huge fruits, just small fruits, or two plums, or two, some type of small fruits are there, so aksha fruits, let us say, two leeches, two berries, or two amalaka, you know, it is a peculiar taste is there, and it is a very medicinal fruit also. Every Triphala is made up of this one. So supposing you have got two fruits, what does it mean? You are the master of those fruits. You can eat one, you can eat both, when you want, how you want, which one first, which one next time, and how you want to eat, by lying down, or by sitting down, or by standing up, or you want to offer it to somebody, they are absolutely under your control, because they are under your fist. So supposing you catch hold of some Brahmachari's shikha, that is a tough, tough hair, then what can the poor fellow do? So he is under your control. Hopefully, he is not stronger than you. Be careful about it. So this is what Sanath Kumara wants to say. So how? Two amalakas, two plums, and then he continues. So exactly like that, the mind has control of speech and name. What does it mean? Mind manifests in its gross form as speech, and speech manifests still grosser form in name, or let us say, information. And then Sanath Kumara continues. When a man thinks in his mind that he would like to study the Vedas, read the sacred hymns, only when he decides, then he reads them. And when he thinks in his mind that he would perform karmani, means actions, rituals, then he performs them. And when he thinks in his mind, or when he decides in his mind, that he would have sons and cattle, then he desires them. When he thinks in his mind that he would have this world, or he would like to reach the other world, then he desires them. Then he takes appropriate steps. That is not mentioned here. We have to add to it. And then he says, mind indeed is the Self. What does it mean? I am the mind. Actually, all of us are what? Nothing but the mind only. So mind is the world. Where is the world? It is in the mind. We will come into a little bit further detail sooner. But I am the mind. The whole world is nothing but mind. But this mind is nothing but Brahman. How come? Because whatever exists, whatever we are experiencing is nothing but Brahman. Don't forget it. You cannot experience something that doesn't exist. And whatever is existing, sarvam kalvidam brahma sat eva saumya idam agre asit. Sixth chapter. So now meditate on the mind as Brahman. Manaha brahma iti upasva. I will also come a little, I will go back and now explain the Sanskrit words. Then come back what Sri Ramakrishna had said on the mind and what some of the great what is called scriptures also talk about the mind. So first of all, the mind is the cause of speech. Therefore, it is superior. And the speech is the cause of nama or information, spread of information. But the mind is superior to both. Therefore, it just as it, a person has got two fruits. They can be same species, different species, but they must be fruits which can be accommodated within the fist. That is the important. Dvau amalakhe dve vakole dvavva akshau musti anubhavati. Evam vachancha namacha manaha anubhavati. Is an example. And exactly in the same way, evam. Thus, manaha in the mind has in its fist. Na vachancha namacha. First it manifests as speech, then it manifests as nama. And then he says When a person with his mind, he starts manashyati, he starts thinking. What does he say? Mantran adhiyeti adhiyaya. I want to master, I want to chant, I want to understand mantras. Mantras means Vedas. And you can extend that one, anything. I want to read a novel, a history or science, whatever it is. But here we are concerned mantras, Vedas, Upanishads. Atha adhiyate karmani kurviyat. Only when a person, he thinks that I want to do certain actions. And why does he want to do certain actions? Because the mantras, the information in the mantras tell that if you do these rituals, then you will get these desires. So we don't do anything if we do not have desires. That is why a person who is perfectly content, satisfied for him, all the actions fall off. So when he studies these mantras, these mantras give information. What information? That there are certain things. If you go to Svargaloka, heavenly world, you will experience greater joy than you could ever even imagine in this world. That is the subject matter of Brahmananda Valli in the Taittiriya Upanishad. So therefore, yes, yes, I want higher happiness. There is a law that we are always seeking higher and still higher happiness. Until we reach a particular state of happiness, that will be the ultimate happiness for us. Once we reach there, within a very short time, this is okay. But is there a higher happiness? So that should be the condition. That is what the mantras tell. Yes, there are higher worlds. Always remember, better objects means higher worlds. Higher worlds means what? Greater joy. If somebody tells us that there are Svargaloka, Prajapati Loka, Brihaspati Loka and then finally Brahma Loka, but you will not get more happiness than what you are getting here. Then it will not work. A person says, I want to eat sweets. So he is from a village and village sweets are village sweets. But when he comes, he finds something marvellous in a better restaurant or hotel. Then, oh, I never knew about it. And then he forgets about the village sweets. That means village happiness. This is a higher happiness. And then he goes to some one day, perhaps he earns more money, a costlier hotel, perhaps they are supplying, let us imagine, a better type of food. Oh, this should be my goal. So he strives from that onwards. How can I have this every day? This is called evolution. Evolution always towards higher and higher states of existence, higher and higher states of knowledge, higher and higher states of Ananda. So therefore, these mantras give him a hint. Do these things. So he will do Atha Adhite when he has faith in those mantras. Karmani Kurviyet. So he decides, I want to do these means here, all the Karmakanda rituals. Athakurute. Only after understanding these actions will give me higher happiness. Athakurute. Then only he starts doing. Then the mantras tell us. So a person doesn't have children. So he says, I would like to have children. See, first desire will be, let me get married because I am Asampoorna. I am not full without the happiness that comes from a spouse. But as soon as he gets married, then the whole society falls upon him. Why are you not having children? Oh, already you have been married for six months or six years, whatever. Then I want children. Because children means Atmaja. So they will look after me in old age and that is a natural desire. It will be there. But to nourish the children, we require other things. So Pashumsa Ichchayam. So let me desire. I want animals. I want bank balance. I want higher posts. Everything. But here only Pashumsa. In the olden days, Godhana is called Dhana. Wealth is having lands and having cows, etc. Because mostly the products of the cows are used in Yajnas, Yagas, etc. Atha Ichchati. So he understands. Let me have. And then he broods over it. He contemplates over it. And then that desire becomes Samskara. And then he says, so I have a spouse. I have children. I have wealth. I have every sort of desirable thing. But there is so much fear, so much insecurity. It is a lower happiness. I want more peace, more happiness. So this world, I want to increase first. And then at the end, there comes a time, this world is not capable of giving what I desire. So Amunchalokam. The other world, higher world. Other world means not Narakaloka, not hell. Nobody wants to go to a lower happiness. Once a person reaches a level of happiness, his desire will never be to obtain lower happiness, but always higher happiness. So higher world means higher happiness. So Amumcha Ichche Et. So let me desire. Then he desires. And then he does appropriate actions. That is, he does the appropriate rituals. Therefore, what is this world? What is a wife? What is a spouse? What are children? What is this thing? Everything is in the mind. Manohi Atma. So I want. I means what? My mind. So I am the mind. And my mind desires. But we don't have that power of discrimination. So my mind desires means I desire. Manohi Lokaha. So this whole universe, this whole Srishti is nothing but the mind. That is why the best example we have studied in the Mandukya Upanishad. And it is a, as you go on contemplating upon it, you will get better meaning from it. So what is it? You cannot fulfill every desire of yours in the waking state. So you go to dream state. And there you are free. Time expands. Space expands. Or rather time shrinks and the space shrinks. What do I mean? That from wherever you are, to go to another country, for example, or you want to go to moon, or you want to go Mars, then how much time it takes? How much effort? In dream, I want to go to Mars. You find yourself in the Mars. I want to go to Gandharva Loka. So you find yourself in Gandharva. I want to go to USA. So I will be in USA. So like that, the person's imagination becomes a concrete reality and we don't say it is a dream. So long as we are dreaming, that is the waking state. When we come out of it, from the waking point, we say that is a dream state. So the whole universe consisting of good and bad, everything is nothing but our mind only. That means our thoughts. Our thoughts are based upon our understanding. Just I will remind you, I was in Boston and it was winter season. I think month of December or January. I do not remember. And it is extremely cold and we went out for a walk in the morning and then the Swami who has taken me for a walk, he said, do you know it is minus five degrees. Previously I was thinking it is five degrees. Now I came to know it is minus five degrees. Until that time, it was cold, but cheerfully I was walking on. The moment I heard it is minus five degrees, I started shivering uncontrollably. That means what? My mind said, oh my God, it is minus five. How could any man stand and much less you? And then it has an effect. And this mind is the world. Our mind is the world. There is no world. If you think this is Ramakrishna, that is what he says beautifully. Same man. So when he looks at a woman, he says, this is my mother. He looks at another woman. This is my wife. He looks at another woman. This is my daughter. See, three different women. But what his attitude is, three different attitudes. Looks one way at the mother, another way at the daughter, another way at wife. And if a stranger comes in still another way, we are all doing that one every single day. So far as our status right now is concerned, Manohi Brahma. Brahma means reality. My mind alone is the reality. Whatever my mind understands, that is the reality. How? Supposing you meet a person and you know sometimes first impressions may not be very good. He is looking in a particular way that reminds you of somebody with whom you had experience and then that was not a good experience, very negative experience. And then you attribute that person. Oh, this person looks like that. So that person was not good. So this person also cannot be good. Only after repeated experience, you understand how mistaken I was. Actually, this person is one of the best persons in the whole world. So whatever we think about anything, this is pleasant, this is unpleasant. And my favorite example always is from the Mahabharata. Kichaka wanted to enjoy Draupadi. So he convinced her. So she consulted Bhima. Bhima said, let that fellow come, I will see. Bhima covered himself with a black veil and there was a small lamp. So that secrecy, secret, secret, like that. So this fellow happily drunk, he went there, he saw the Draupadi. What a transformation! That Draupadi was less than five feet, now became almost seven feet. That Draupadi who could be contained in a small box, now suddenly he is as fat as or fatter than Kichaka himself. And then this fellow Kichaka, that's why they call love is blind. And he rushed, tried to embrace his Draupadi. Until he discovered the truth, whom was he trying to embrace? Only Draupadi. So this world, good and bad, right and wrong, truth and untruth, desirable and undesirable, everything depends upon the mind. Therefore, manaha upas brahma iti upasva. So meditate on the mind. As I said, Sri Ramakrishna has a lot to say. So Sri Ramakrishna is telling, it is the mind that matters. If the mind is bound, you are bound. If the mind is free, you are free. The mind gets dyed in the colour into which it is deepened. You see, there are so many religious sects out there. Vaishnavas think that Shaktas or Shaivas are inferior. So there are some religions, they think their religion is the greatest only religion and every other follower of every other religion is inferior and at best with great generosity, they are but side pathways which ultimately should lead. Of course, that delusion is going to be broken in faith meetings nowadays, interfaith meetings. But there are billions of people who are convinced their religion alone is superior. That is why they want to destroy other countries and other religions, everybody else. That is why Sri Ramakrishna says, it is the mind that binds and it is the mind that liberates. And he is only echoing a beautiful saying, But there is something positive about the mind. The mind is like a fresh white cloth. It takes on the colour, it is deepened. That is to say, by keeping the mind in falsehood for any length of time, it will take on the colour of falsehood. But if it is kept in holy company, it will take the colour of the holy company. It becomes holy. That is what he meant. So the mind is like milk. If you keep it in the water of the world, the milk will get mixed with water. That means it will go down and down. Therefore, Ramakrishna continues, you must transform the milk into curds in a lonely corner to take the butter from it. Then that butter can easily be kept in the water of the world because butter will not mix. What is butter? Wisdom. That is what is called Adhyatma Vidya. So this God cannot be known by the senses or even the mind. This is what exactly Sri Ramakrishna is summarizing all these sections until 15th. Nama cannot know Brahman. Va cannot know Brahman. Mind cannot know Brahman. Sankalpa cannot know Brahman. Dhyana cannot obtain Brahman. Prana cannot also obtain Brahman. He can be only known by the pure mind. The mind that has no worldly desires. And this is called Chittavrutti Nirodhaha. So you should say to yourself, there is no one in this world who is my own. Those whom I call mine are so for just two days. Then who is my own? Only God is my own. He alone is my all in all. So in this third section, the glorification of the functions of the mind just as Kansa Kumara says, two small fruits like mulberry or berry can be held together in the fist of the hand. So just like that, so does the mind contain within itself both speech and name. Both speech and name are contained within the mind. This is the power of the mind. Whatever we do, we do only through the mind. We know it very well. We think first before we express ourselves either in speech or utter a word. We think let me do work and then we start working. We begin to perform various types of actions in this world only after thinking that this is good to do and then start doing. So thinking is prior. Mind means thinking. So thinking is prior to every other deed or effort. Mind is supreme in life. It is well known to all of us. Mind is supreme. So the mind is practically our own self. Of course at this stage, we don't know that the mind is not Brahman. Why? Because mind is limited. Whatever is limited cannot be Brahman. But at this stage that we are in right now, mind is I am the mind. Mind is me. Whatever I think, that is me. Whatever I am, that's what I think. A wicked man thinks only wicked thoughts. So he is a wicked man. A good person thinks only good thoughts. So he becomes good. So that is why we say it is me. Every day we say billions of times. What do we mean by this is me? We are referring to the mind, our understanding, our desires, our imaginations, nothing more. And mind has assumed a selfhood by superimposing of everything that we know. But really this true selfhood doesn't belong to the mind. So for all practical purposes in life, mind is the self and it is the individuality within us. That is called Ahamkara. The mind is responsible for anything that we achieve in the world or in the other world. Because what we call the world is nothing but a field of experience. So our world of experience is actually controlled and directed by our minds. Therefore we may say that in a sense mind is the world, the world is the mind and I am the mind, therefore I am the world. So there is a saying as the mind is yourself in the empirical realm. So O Narada, meditate on mind as Brahman. What is Sanat Kumara saying? What are we saying? I am the mind. What is Sanat Kumara saying? You meditate on mind as Brahman. What does it mean? Brahman means the highest existence in the world. So do not confine this body is the mind, what we possess is the mind, our relationships is the mind and I am that mind. No. And then there is a beautiful song how the mind makes a difference. Just now I quoted mind is the cause of both bondage as well as liberation. So Purandara Dasa, one of the greatest bhajan saints, so he created bhajans which are extraordinarily rhythmic. So the very way he composes, you don't need to struggle too much. There is this song. So Krishna enabarathe, should you not say Krishna? When? Krishna na nenedhare kashta vandishtila. If you remember Krishna, then you will not feel any misery, any unhappiness. On the contrary, you will be floating in happiness because Krishna rasa. And then he says, this is the refrain, Krishna enabarathe, should you not attempt to say Krishna? Because by saying Krishna, what do I get? All my unhappiness will vanish. I will be happy person. The very definition of Krishna is karshateethi krishnaha. Then he continues, narajanma bandhaga, naligei rubhaga. Anyway, by some great good fortune, you obtain this human life. You can't tell to an animal, a dog. You go on uttering Krishna's name. Only human beings are privileged. Of course, you can teach parrots. But as Sri Ramakrishna says, when a cat catches a parrot in his last throes, death throes, then that original sound of the parrot only comes. Ramakrishna is forgotten. So, oh man, by just remembering Krishna, because when you utter the name of Krishna, to your mind, that thought comes, Krishna, and then all the ideas associated with Krishna. So, when you have your great good fortune, this human life, and then naligei rubhaga, you have got a tongue, not that you are dumb, Krishna enabarathe, and then malagethu maimuridhu eluthalu omme Krishna enabarathe. So, when you get up from deep sleep, when you are very happy, so, why don't you wake up? Only elutha. So, waking up, omme Krishna enabarathe, once. Why don't you utter Krishna like that? Sulil daadutha mane ulaga daru. So, from that, getting up onwards, from the bed, you go on roaming in the world, doing so many things, cleaning the house, then washing the cloths, making food, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, whole day practically, you are doing so many things. So, whenever you are roaming from this side to that side, and then whenever you are in the house, outside the house, you are in the shopping, whatever you are doing, just why don't you say, your mind is not going to keep quiet, it is going on thinking useless thoughts, once, why don't you say Krishna? So, sometimes, even you forget so many things. So, before going to sleep, so, once only, why don't you utter the name of Krishna? Dariya nadevaga. So, when you are walking on the path, bhaarava huruvaga, when you are carrying a huge load, and nowadays, huge loads only, Krishna ayanavarate, why don't you, why should not you, so, utter the name of Krishna? Krishna means God. So, why should, we should try to find out, what are the possibilities of the mind, that is called thinking, and bring all of them together into a stage of harmony in a beautiful way. So, the pattern of thought should be beautiful, and it should be complete, that is called, each soul is potentially divine. How many potentialities are lying dormant, God alone knows. There is again a beautiful song, how many treasures are lying scattered in one's own house. Oh mind, you do not need to go anywhere, so, you stay in your own house, and you will get everything. So, our effort should be, I am in this state now, how can I reach a higher state? I know a little, how can I expand my knowledge? I am serving, how can I serve in a better way? The moment we think, brilliant ideas will flash. So, the pattern of thought should be beautiful, and that is what is called, Mano Brahma means what? So, mind is Brahman means what? Find out the possibilities of the potentialities of each one of us, and every one of them have tremendous potentialities, then you work hard, bring out those potentialities, make them concrete. What is potential should be made concrete, then how to do it? For that, we have to become master of our minds, and when we brought out something, then there is something else, some other vista opens up. So, therefore, you first become a master of your mind, that is what is called Mano Brahma. Just as God controls the whole world, Brahman controls our mind, when we meditate the mind as Brahman, then we get the possibilities of increasing all our potentialities, that is the real contemplation of mind as Brahman. So, finally, we should control the mind completely and obtain kingdom over it, and then by identification with our true being, then the mind has extraordinary possibilities to much more possibilities. Then what happens? So, then the second mantra in this third section says, यावन् मनसो गतम् तत्रश्य अथा कामचारो भवति यो मनो ब्रह्मेतु भास्ते So, Sanat Kumara concludes, he who is capable of meditating on mind as Brahman, and through striving, he identifies mind as to the utmost of its limit, that is called making the mind as Brahman, not the ultimate Brahman, so then he will reach as far as the mind reaches, and he who meditates on mind as Brahman, he will have freedom, he will have power, he will have enjoyment, because who is controlling the whole world? That is why many years back, I read a beautiful book, The Future Shock, I think it is Alvin Toffler, if I am not wrong, many, many years back I read, it says in the future, who is the most powerful person? Powerful person means healthiest person, most powerful person, and also he has the capacity to enjoy, he can have his own private yacht, private jet, private what is called 150 million house, and he can go wherever he wants, he can have bodyguards, of course it does not mean people cannot harm him or kill him, but what is meant is, to the extent of that power of the mind, he will be able to roam about, stay wherever he wants, enjoy whatever he wants, so such is the power of this mind, he who contemplates mind as Brahman, that means what? Take the mind to the highest possible limit, that is called contemplation of mind as Brahman, and wherever mind is seen to be functioning, what is mind? Knowledge, ideas, so the power of the ideas, that is what Alvin Toffler says, knowledge is power, knowledge is wealth, knowledge is enjoyment, knowledge gives us the rule, that is the essence of the book called Future Shock, and that is coming literally true, it has come true, but we are able to grasp it more and more right now, so this is the result, and as we discussed it, if a person wants only to enjoy something, he will get all that, but if a person says no, my goal is God Realization, then he is called Nishkama Bhakta, and Narada, he says I am a master of all this knowledge, I enjoyed, he must have enjoyed, because how does a man find out that all these worldly enjoyments are worthless, third class, not even third class, only by enjoying, simply saying in the mind, so all this is useless, the mind is Mithya, we are not going to reach anywhere, we have to experience once, that is what Ramakrishna's immortal wisdom comes in, the gospel says, unless a man is born and gone through the experiences, right from that of a jamedar, toilet cleaner, to that of a jameedar, or a king, or an emperor, then the desire for God or the dispassion doesn't come, dispassion comes only, remember, after the passion, when there is no passion, there is no dispassion at all, passion means the ability to enjoy this world, desires everybody has, but the ability very few people have, and as usual, Narada, he must have done that, and he must have obtained, he must have enjoyed all the powers of the mind, and Swami Vivekananda specially, he has written a beautiful chapter on the powers of the mind, it is one of the popular books or booklets of Swami Vivekananda, if a man becomes master of his mind, then there is very little in this world which he cannot obtain, but this world itself points out to something very higher, in the same manner, Narada repeats, so is there something superior, subtler, more pervasive, more powerful, because of the mind, because mind doesn't think at random, there is somebody who is sitting on its head and controlling it, and certainly we are not that, so Sanat Kumara says Asti, and Sanat Kumara said, of course, there is something greater than the mind, please explain it to me, so that I can contemplate upon it, Tanme Bhagavan praviti thi, so praviti means what, explain it, so that even my little mind can understand it, only when the understanding comes, we are capable of contemplating upon it as Brahma, so what does Sanat Kumara say, so Sankalpa Vava Manaso Bhuyan, Sankalpa, that firm will or determination, it is much superior, the cause of our thinking, about which subject, we will talk about in our next class, Om Jananim Sharadaam Devim, Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum, Pada Padme Tayo Saritva, Pranam Ami Mohur Moho, May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti, Jai Ramakrishna.