Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 78 on 16 February 2025

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU OM APYAYANTUM AMANGANIVAKPRANASYAKSHUH SHROTRAMADHU BALAMINDRIYANICHA SARVANI SARVAM BRAHMAHU PANISHADAM MAHAM BRAHMANIRAKURIYAM MAMA BRAHMANIRAKARO ANIRAKARANAM ASTVANIRAKARANAM ME ASTU TADATMANI NIRATE YAUPANISHADSU DHARMAH TE MAI SANTU TE MAI SANTU OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI HA RE HE 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 BEYOND TO ALL Then Sanat Kumara is telling what is it that leads to finally that Bhumananda. One of the lower steps is called Kriti. Kriti means Karma Yoga. Part of the Karma Yoga is service, Guru Sushrusha. And whatever has been commanded by the scriptures, and whatever has been forbidden by the scriptures, we should be able to do. As a result, the mind becomes pure. As a result, we will develop that and that Dhi is a very special Dhi. Nowadays, there are so many scientists. They are creating marvellous AI. But some of the greatest minds who could do that, they are mistaking. These machines are going to become conscious, intelligent one day and very soon. And I wonder how such capable minds can commit such grave blunder that they do not understand the distinction between consciousness and mere mechanical intelligence. Anyway, so it requires Sokshma Buddhi, Teevara Buddhi. So Narada says, Venerable Sir, I desire to understand what is this Sukham you are talking about. That how we have started our class yesterday and we have analysed what are the important points of our analysis. What is it that propels any creature? It is a mistake to think that only human beings seek happiness. Every being seeks three things. I wish not to die. I wish to be conscious all the time because an unconscious person and a dead person, there is not much difference. And I want to have eternal, infinite, unbroken bliss. Sukham is something which has got its opposite which is called Dukham. But bliss is something and it goes by the name Sukham and that is our experience when we are sleeping, whether it is 6 hours, 8 hours or if somebody puts us under anesthesia, 20 hours. That is Anandamaya Kosha. Ananda is the word that is used there, not Sukham. Ananda. What is Ananda? It does not have its opposite. Sukham has its opposite. White has its opposite. Good has its opposite. Life has its opposite. But Ananda does not have. That is why Astitva. Existence has no opposite. There is nothing called non-existence. Consciousness has no opposite. There is nothing called something which exists which is called unconsciousness. Neither there is something called Ananda which has its opposite. Barring these three, everything has its opposite. That is why they are called Anatma or Mithya. Mithya, remember, is not non-existence but limited existence, limited consciousness, limited Ananda called Sukha followed by Dukha. That is called Mithya. Get rid of the idea. Mithya means something which never exists. Whatever does not exist, it cannot affect any one of us. So now Sanat Kumara says that what is it? What is this happiness? Whatever actions we do, whatever propels us to do any action, that is called Sukham. Now, before I proceed, I would like to give a beautiful example. Suppose a person is seen running in the street and you ask him, my child, where are you going? He says, I am going to a restaurant. Why are you going? So I wanted to buy a sweet from there and then enjoy it. So we see the person running to buy a sweet. Analyze. So why is he running? We have to start from the last Kosha, Anandamaya Kosha. I am not happy. Then desire comes. I want to be happy. So when we do not experience Sukham, then the Kama will come. So that Kama, then Anandamaya Kosha. That is the highest Kosha. Kosha is limitation. So it tells to Buddhi, Vijnanamaya Kosha. I am not happy. I want to be happy. So I am commanding you, do something to make me happy. And Buddhi calls the mind. By the way, Buddhi is called Vijnanamaya Kosha. So Vijnanamaya Kosha has got many working under it. So it calls its assistant, who is called Manomaya Kosha. Oh mind, our boss wants to be happy. He is not happy. So do something which can make him happy. Then the mind calls Chitta. And then it tells, when did you see our master being happy? Oh, he once few days back experienced that sweet and it made him very happy. Alright. Then try to get that sweet. But mind cannot get this sweet. This is called Manomaya Kosha. Then the mind, it is the boss. Boss of what? Pranamaya Kosha. Hey Prana, now become active and then you get this sweet. But Prana also cannot obtain this sweet. It requires the help of the physical body, Manomaya Kosha. So it tells Prana, it urges. Now legs, take me, run to that shop. Then to the hands, pay the required price, grab and then again through the legs, run. And then having reached home, alright. Oh mouth, put it into yourself. And you go on tasting it, chewing it and putting it into the stomach. And then the Prana becomes. Now the job is accomplished. So it takes that experience through our nerve channels to the mind. Master, we have obeyed and this has eaten. Oh, so I am very happy that has been done. And then Buddhi says, yes, very happy. And then what does the Anandamaya Kosha do? It doesn't do anything because it does only when it is not happy. So you see how the commandment comes. Anandadheva Kalvimani Bhutani Jayante Anandena Jatani Jeevanti Anandam Pravishanthi Abhisamvishanthiti Tad Brahma Tad Vijnasasva Tapasa Brahma Vijnasasva Satapotapyata Satapas Tattva. This is the beautiful process and that is what Sanathkumara is telling that all the Panchakoshas are involved, but it is the Anandamaya Kosha. So even some unhappiness called Dukkha comes, immediately Anandamaya Kosha gets affected. So why is this Dukkha coming? Oh, it is because the body is very thirsty. So it is not able to function. All right. So see that it gets water, it drinks water, maybe cold drink, hot drink, any type of drink. It doesn't matter. Every action is propelled by Kama and every Kama is the desire to fulfil that is a lacuna. I am not happy. I want to be happy. From birth to death, from the lowest manifestation until a person becomes one with happiness. This is the process. So every activity, Oh Narada, of every Jeeva, not only human being, a mosquito exactly same, its means are limited, instruments are limited, but the quest is absolutely the same. Every Jeeva is propelled by Sukham or happiness. So everywhere we find happiness is the object of every kind of aspiration. What is the aspiration? Means activity and activity springs out of desire or enterprise of every Jeeva. That is why Shankaracharya sums up these things so beautifully. So first comes Kama, then comes Karma, then only comes Phala. Kama, Karma, Phala. Kama is common. Karma differs. Is it good karma, positive karma or evil karma, negative karma? Naturally, good karma yields good results and evil karma increases the desire. So it is Sukham that is the propelling force behind the very existence. We are all searching. We cannot but help searching. So when does this search end? And this idea has been so beautifully put forward in the form of a bhajan and especially when Swami Vivekananda, that is Narendranath, when he first met in Suresh Mitra's house in Calcutta, he met Sairam Krishna and he sang two songs, beautiful songs. The first one of the songs is Manachalo Nijani Ke Tane. Oh mind, let's go back to our own abode. Why are you roaming about in a strange land, in a foreign land, with a foreign dress? Every word is meaningful. Why are you wandering? The answer is, I lost something. I am searching for it. And how are you? Why did you lose it? Because it is a foreign land. Foreign land is a land where we lose everything. We forget what we are and we have put on a foreign dress. What is this foreign dress? The Atman which is infinite puts on the dress of the finiteness body, mind. Both are the dresses. In fact, five dresses, what is called the Annamaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, Ignanamaya Kosha and Anandamaya Kosha. But the quest is absolutely the same. I am not Poorna. I am not infinite. That is what we think. But what do we want? I want to be infinite. How can I ever be infinite if I am not infinite? This is how Vedantic reason goes. If I am not infinite, I will never become infinite. If my nature is finiteness, I will never become infinite. And if my nature is infinite, I will never rest by being finite. There will be something that urges me just like a seed. It wants to become a tree. It wants to become fulfilled only when it grows and becomes fruitful. Then it becomes fulfilled. Similarly, until we reach God. But what is the problem, obstacle? First of all, foreign land. Then, foreign dress. And then, what is the third problem? Brahmo Akarana. I do not know. Akarana means what? Not that there is no reason. Karana means reason. Akarana means no reason. Not that I am wondering. Akarana, without any reason. No, no. I have got a reason. But I am not aware of that reason. My own forgotten infiniteness is propelling me and every other jiva into being itself. That is the quest for Sukha. And this success in attaining higher and higher levels of happiness goes by the name evolution. And where does the evolution end? It ends only when we reach that source from which the involution had taken place. Involution means coming down from our real nature. And once we come down, there is no further going down. We can only go up and up. That going down process is called involution. That going up process is called evolution. Modern scientists are absolutely ignorant of this involution. That is, we come from the infinite. Purnat, Purnam, Udachyate. And until we reach that Purnam, our quest, our effort will not stop. Cannot stop. Will not stop. So that is why Sanath Kumara is teaching. What is action? Action is trying to fulfil a desire. What is the desire? Finally, all desires are put into three ways. I want to be Sat. I want to be Chit. I want to be Ananda. Expressed beautifully in the Brihadaranyaka, Asat. Travel from Asat to Sat. Asato Sat. Tamasoma. Here Tamas stands for Agnana or Achit. From Achit, let me gain back my own status which is Chit. Tamasoma Jyoti. My nature is I am the Jyoti Purusha. There is a beautiful chapter in the Brihadaranyaka which is called Jyotir Brahmanam. Brahmanam means a chapter. It has nothing to do with the Brahmana caste. It means a chapter dealing with Jyoti. Every day, every single day at Vespers, we are hymning our Lord Ramakrishna. Jyotira Jyoti Ujjvala Hridikandara Tumi Tama Bhanjana Haar. And he does it if we are sincere. And once a person experiences it, what does he do? Dhe Dhe Dhe Langa Ranga Bhanga Bhaje Anga Sangam Hridanga. Devotees are dancing madly, overpowered with the joy of this realization. Gaiche Chanda Bhakatavrinda. And they are singing your hymns expressing their gratitude again and again. Aarati Tomar Jaya Jaya Aarati Tomar. Hara Hara Aarati Tomar. Shiva Shiva Aarati Tomar. They have no words to express. So they want to enjoy you by various names. That is the beauty of it. And that is what is called in this chapter Sukham. Not as we understand the limited Sukham bound by time, space and causation. So Ananda looked at through the prism of time, space and causation is called Sukham. Oh Narada, so you came to me. For what purpose? For this Ananda. But you called it Shanti. Doesn't matter. These are synonymous words. So what is it? The next point, very important point is we are not seeking Anandam. We are not seeking Anandam. Anandam is our nature. Therefore Anandam seems to have forgotten its own nature. So it is seeking itself. It is happiness that is trying to recover its own consciousness. What is the consciousness? Arrey, what a fool I am. I am seeking Anandam. Being Anandam, I am seeking my own self to be conscious that I am Ananda Swaroopa, not Dukkha Swaroopa, not Sukha Swaroopa and that is called, that seeking is called evolution. Evolution means activity and activity means that which is slowly unfolding our true nature and it is this Ananda seeking its own self mistakenly in various limited objects and limited mind that is called Sukham. So see Kama, Karma and that leads to Samsara. Samsara means what? Srishti Stithi Laya. We create something, we maintain it for some time and we dissolve it for some time just as in a cosmic level, a divine mother. When the Srishti Stithi Laya go on a cosmic level, she is called Shakti or Saguna Brahma. When the same thing is happening on individual level, VST level, not Samashti level, VST level that is called a Jivatma. So this is what is called cosmic evolution. Happiness is at the back of everything and then happiness alone is happiness is Chit, happiness is Sat and then we are under the greatest misnomer. What is misnomer? Thorough misunderstanding. What is misunderstanding? We are accustomed to think that happiness is something we achieve. I don't have happiness so I go and do something and I buy happiness and that is called an achievement. Now I obtain happiness. There is a saying in Hindi. Whatever comes from outside also goes outside. If there is Janma, then there is a Mrityu. If there is Laba, there is an Alaba. Therefore, we are thinking, we are seeking. How do we know we are thinking that happiness is outside? Because we are seeking only objects. So this is the greatest misnomer. What is this misnomer? That happiness is an achievement. What does it mean? I am not happiness but I can possess happiness. Every possession that we have including the body and mind will always disappear. We have to understand it. So every object is nothing but a mirror which is only reflecting my own happiness but in a limited manner. When you put on five pieces of dress upon you and when you look at yourself, especially if you are putting a burkha covering your head thoroughly, you are able to see but the mirror will only show a mannequin. That's all. Completely covered up. So this is why we are thinking, we are mistaking. And this power that happiness is elsewhere is called Vikshepa Shakti. You know all of us have got two Shaktis. All our mind is controlled by two powers. The powers of Maya and Maya has two powers which control our body and mind. What are these two powers? One is called Aavarana Shakti. It covers the truth. Another is called Vikshepa Shakti. It projects. That means covering is the first action and making it appear as something else. A very common example, a very popular example in Vedanta. A person in semi-darkness mistakes and says he is seeing a snake. Beautiful example actually. So what happens? There is a rope and this rope has two parts. One is the existent part, another is the Nama Rupa. So there is a rope and it is semi-dark and this person, of course he can't say, he doesn't say until light is brought up that I mistook a rope for a snake. This statement cannot come at that state of semi-darkness. I see there is a snake. So there is a rope. There is a snake. There is a common part. There is. There is. Because even Mithya depends upon the reality only. It cannot become non-existent. Mithya is never non-existent. It is a mistake in reality. But there is a rope. That rope part changes into snake. So instead of saying there is a snake, we are liable to say there is a, instead of saying there is a rope, there is a snake. There is what? Astitva. We are not denying. But this is called superimposition. The rope is superimposed by Ajnanam. Ajnanam works only in this changing the Nama Rupa, not the existence. And every day that's what we are suffering from. You see a pot for another example. So made out of clay. Or you see an ornament made out of gold. We forget the gold. We say there is an ornament. There is gold. There is ornament. That there is doesn't change. But instead of saying gold, we say now it is an ornament. Where is the mistake? But we forget the gold. We only focus upon Nama Rupa. But a wise person says it is nothing but gold only. But with the form and a specific name and a specific utility that is called an ornament. So when the Vedanta tries to teach, know yourself. So think, ponder deeply who are you? And then even if you say, so who is your father? And who is your mother? That is who is the Karana? You are the Karya. You are the effect. But who is the cause? Naturally, every one of us reply it is the Ishwara, Brahma who creates. He is the father who maintains Brahma. And who takes us back? Brahma. But only when he creates, he is called Brahma. When he is maintaining, he is called Vishnu. And when he is taking us back into himself, he is called Shiva or Maheshwara. That's all. But then what happens when a pot is broken? It remains. It doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't become clay. But it now remembers I am clay. So we have to be broken. Our body has to be broken. Our mind also has to be broken. This is called Sankramana. Sankramana means you merge the effect into the cause. So hearing this Vedantic teaching, what is Vedantic teaching? You are happiness. You are existence. You are consciousness. You are happiness. Ananda. Sat, Chit, Ananda. What is our experience? I am not there. I was not there before I was born. I am here now. After death, I will not be. That's a misnomer. But one thing, whether I say I don't want to die, whether I say I want to be conscious, or whether I say I want to be happiness, all the three words are synonymous words. It indicates I want to be my own self. And for the sake of teaching, my own self is called Atma or Brahma. Not Brahma. Brahman to be more clear. So when a person says I want happiness, he is really meaning that I want to be happiness. I want to be existence. Because they are inseparable three. And then doubts come. There is no doubt I want happiness. Ask any creature, why did you quarrel with that person? Because I want to be happy. Why did you kill that person? Because I want to be happy. Of course, rarely we kill people. But so many people are killed by bomb, by earthquake, by whatever it is. But I can hurt another person. I can suppress another person. I can shout at the other person. That is even worse than killing also. So doubts will come. I want happiness. There is no doubt. What do I know? Am I aware? Is happiness only one type or are there many types? And where can I get it? Is it in the object, that is to say, in the world outside? Or in the mind of the subject, that is to say, within me? Let me clarify. When we are in the waking state, we seek only outside. I want to eat. I want to smell. I want to taste. I want to touch. I want to hear. But when we are in the dream state, of course, same thing happens. But upon waking up and remembering the dream, I have become the subject. I was the object. Subject is only one. Objects are many. Kshetragna is one. Kshetras are many. But it is all my creation. I myself have taken their form. So is happiness outside in the world or is it within me, in the mind? What is the answer? Neither it is outside nor it is in your mind. Because outside world is not Atman. Our mind, body and mind are also not Atman. Because Atman is bereft of body and mind. And that knowledge will come. Atta Upanishad says, There is a rare person. Dheera means buddhi. A really intelligent person. How did he get it? By mother's grace. So he got it. Then what does he say? Why am I seeking? So there is no Ananda outside. There is no Ananda inside the mind. In fact, it is the mind which divides the infinite into finiteness. Therefore, Amrutha Chakshu means what? I see myself that I am Ananda Swaroopa. I am not seeking happiness. I am happiness. Or to put it in different words, when we say I want to be happy, it should in proper Vedantic language, I want to be myself. Just imagine, before you have some problem, you are not seeking happiness. You have got headache. Before headache came, you are not seeking a doctor or medicine. But as soon as headache starts, you seek a doctor and of course some medicines. So if it is temporary, you go and buy some medicines over the counter. But if you are, it is what is called continuous migraine headache. Why migraine? Because you migrated from your Atma Swaroopa into Anatma Swaroopa. That is called migraine headache, continuous headache. So if you have got tooth, continuous toothache, then you have to get rid of the tooth. If you have got headache, get rid of the head. That means Moksha. Get rid of body and mind. That is the only way. If you have got worries, get rid of the mind. Am I making fun? In a way, but not really. Because what happens when we enter into Sushupti state, there is absolutely no worry, no problem, no desire, no seeking, no Sadhaka, no Sadhana, no Siddhi, nothing is there. Gaudapada's Mandukya Karika, which we had done, second chapter, Vaithathya Prakaranam, I think it is 33rd verse, there is no bondage, there is no Sadhana, there is no liberation, there is no Sadhaka. It is all just like in our dream, we think we are somewhere and somebody is trying to beat us black and blue and when we wake up, we realize there was nobody, I am here only, I am nowhere else and nobody is trying to beat. It is only my own thought, but even this thought disappears totally in Sushupti. That's why Paramashanti, the highest bliss for an ordinary person can be got only in the state of Sushupti. So, this is what happens when a person becomes awakened, Uttishthata, Jagrata. What is that Jagrata? That there is no happiness, I cannot obtain happiness, but does it mean that I have to go on suffering? No, because if you are suffering, you cannot but help seeking, but I am not suffering. In Sushupti, you don't seek, but you don't know that you are the seeker or you are the experiencer. You are not even aware, you know that I am, but you are not aware I am experiencing Sushupti state unlike waking and dream state. You can be a Sakshi, but Swami Turiyanandi says you can be a Sakshi even in the deep sleep state also, but unfortunately ordinary people like you and me, we can only become one with Sushupti, but we cannot. Only after waking up, we realize we were in that state. To say I am in Sushupti, that requires tremendous sadhana. So a person becomes awakened and then he says I know there is no Sukham either outside in the object or in the seeking subject. What is the magic here? If there is no object, also subject disappears. They always are together or always they disappear together. If there is subject, there must be object. If there is an object, there must be subject. And if one is absent, the other also doesn't arise. It is like a person standing in front of a mirror. If there were no mirror, mirror also will not be there, reflection also will not be there. Like that. So when a person becomes awakened, that is called uttishtata, jagrata, prapyavarana, nibodhata. What happens? Then I know that what I am seeking is myself. I know theoretically, but practically how? That is how Narada approached Sanat Kumara and then when he was asked, what do you know so far? Yes, I know everything. I am a walking encyclopedia. Then if you know everything, why did you come to me? Because I know only the world meaning, nama. I don't know the real meaning. That is I am Brahma Swaroopa. I know I am Brahman. I have studied the Upanishads including this Chandogya Upanishad. Narada studied the Chandogya Upanishad also. So why did you come? Because I require to transform the theoretical knowledge into practical Vedanta. I must know I am Brahman, not intellectually, but experientially, sakshat. That is why I have come. And that is why Sanat Kumara accepted and said, I will guide you. And he has been slowly guiding him, step by step. So when I know where Ananda is, that is, it is my own nature. How can I get it? And that is where the guru-shishya, sampradaya comes into effect. So this is the essence of all creation including that of Devas. Everybody is seeking only Ananda as if it is an outside object, but it is not an outside object. So first of all, what is this happiness? How many varieties of happiness are lower happiness, still higher happiness, still higher happiness? Some people divide it into three parts. Sriram Krishna divided into three, Vishayananda, Bhajanananda and Brahmananda. But some others divided into five parts. Many times I have mentioned, most of you should be knowing by this time, Vishayananda, Medhananda, Kalananda, Dharmananda and Brahmananda. So we are going to discuss a summary of the laws of happiness. The second chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad itself is called Ananda Valli. Why is it called Ananda Valli? Because Valli means a chapter. Ananda Valli means that chapter which describes vividly from our Yavaharika point of view, worldly point of view, transactional point of view. Ananda can be the Ananda of an Amoeba, the Ananda of a slum dweller, the Ananda of a great artist, the Ananda of a great scientist, the Ananda of a great moral person and of course the Ananda of a Jeevan Mukta Mahapurusha. Five categories are there. So second chapter Ananda Valli explores the philosophical and spiritual dimensions of happiness, emphasizing the role of consciousness, self-transformation and the pursuit of higher states of being. And this is what I am going to discuss. First, universal pursuit of happiness. This is the first point. All beings consciously or unconsciously seek happiness. This is a fundamental urge and every action is motivated by this pursuit of happiness even if the motive is unconscious. For example, an evil person murders another person and he is asked, why did you murder? He may not be able to say but the answer should be this person is causing me dukkha, unhappiness. The only way I can see is to get rid of this person and therefore I killed this person so that act removes the obstacles in my way so that will make me happy. Happiness is the only motive. Whether we do punyam, whether we do papam, happiness is the only motive. What does this law of happiness says? That every being consciously or unconsciously, knowingly or unknowingly seek only happiness and nothing else. But what is the point? Second, Vedanta's perspective on happiness. The Taittiriya Upanishad identifies that highest reality called Brahman. That is also called Brahma Puchcham Pratishtha. It is Ananda only. Sat, Chit, Ananda. And what Ananda? Satyam, Gnanam, Anantam. That Anantam, Ananta, Ananda. That is the nature of reality or truth, Satyam. And that is what consciously or unconsciously we are all seeking and the second chapter of this Taittiriya Upanishad describes that. But there is a paradox of happiness. Despite constant efforts, happiness often eludes us. In fact, the very seeking eludes happiness. I am going to illustrate all these points with some telling example. For example, a person says, I am not happy. Why? I am hungry. How can I get happiness? By eating food. That is by removing the hunger. So what do I do? So I work hard. Since when? If I ask, when you are hungry, when does the activity of the pursuit of obtaining food and removing that lacuna, that hunger, when does it start? Oh, 12 o'clock I am hungry and so 12 o'clock I start seeking. That is a foolish answer because from the birth my mother makes me grow and afterwards makes me go through the kindergarten, nursery, high school, middle school, high school and then college, university, PhD and then obtain a job and get married. All these preparations are only coming to my aid right now. So we have to say that this is the paradox. Despite so, even in the ordinary way, I have to run to the shop and stand in the queue, obtain some food and then run back and then do something and then eat. When does happiness come? While running, while sitting, while preparing? No. Only when the food actually enters into the stomach and to that extent removes the hunger, then only the happiness starts proportionately. And what about the other things? Constant efforts. Happiness often eludes us. Then after eating, again activity must be there. What is it? To digest it. After that again, I will have to, if something is remaining, undigested, it has to be evacuated and if it doesn't take place, what an agony next day. So despite constant efforts, happiness often eludes us. So this is what Swami Vivekananda says. He compares this chasing after happiness like a bullock chasing a wisp of straw tied to its yoke. You know, often farmers find the bullocks don't want to work. So what do they do? They hang a wisp of straw just centimeters below before the mouths of these. Under this, in an effort to reach that straw, the bullock pulls the cart. But it never reaches because the farmer is too clever. If he puts it within its reach, then once it eats, it has no further need to pull the cart and it stops. So that asha, hope, keeps us going forward. That is what Swami is a beautiful example. We are always like that bullocks chasing what? A wisp of straw, a bit of happiness. So come. And there are so many obstacles to happiness. Ignorance, powerlessness of the body, mind and senses and scarcity of enjoyable objects hinder our pursuit of happiness, leading to sorrow. So there are so many vignas for this. Then there are two means, worldly and spiritual means. Praise and trace. Initially, all of us seek worldly means to overcome sorrow. But when we come to the conclusion, these really are not adequate. They cannot fulfill my desire. Then we turn to supernatural means or what we call a personal God. And our Indian sages sought answers through self-inquiry and spiritual realization. As a result, certain laws, not L-O-W-S, but L-A-W-S of how to obtain this happiness, what is the nature of happiness, whether we can stop pursuing happiness or put into the formula of certain laws, which we will discuss in our next class. Om Jananim Sharadaam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padmetayo Sritvam Pranamami Muhurmuhu May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. E Ramakrishna