Transcript
[0:01] [bell]
[0:03] [music]
[0:30] >> Om, lead us from the unreal to the real.
[0:33] Lead us from darkness to light. Lead us
[0:36] from death to immortality.
[0:39] Om, peace, peace, peace.
[0:45] Let's start with a little bit of Om
[0:47] chanting at your own pace.
[1:06] >> [chanting]
[1:37] [music]
[1:50] >> Now, we will do a meditation.
[1:54] This
[1:55] meditation has
[1:58] three parts.
[2:01] One is
[2:04] a full body relaxation,
[2:06] which you do in yoga,
[2:08] which does not have anything directly to
[2:10] do with Vedanta. It's very helpful to
[2:12] start with that. We'll start with a full
[2:14] body relaxation.
[2:16] Then we will go into the Vedantic
[2:18] inquiry into the witness consciousness.
[2:21] And then third part is
[2:23] taking it out into life.
[2:26] Okay. So, three parts.
[2:29] First, a full body relaxation. Sitting
[2:32] straight. And during this process,
[2:35] those who have done hatha yoga, you know
[2:36] you have done it. Uh the the yoga nidra.
[2:40] Which you have done, that is the full
[2:41] version. This is you can call it the
[2:43] yoga nidra light.
[2:45] Because you're sitting in a in a chair
[2:47] and also much less time. Yoga nidra full
[2:49] version, 30-40 minutes is good. This is
[2:52] much shorter.
[2:54] So, sitting straight.
[2:58] Relax. Don't be rigid, but don't slump
[3:01] also.
[3:03] And
[3:05] when we are comfortable, we can close
[3:07] our eyes.
[3:10] Throughout this exercise, we will try to
[3:13] sit straight and still as still as
[3:15] possible.
[3:17] However, if you feel
[3:19] aching, uneasiness, or itch, don't
[3:21] fight. Main thing is to be relaxed.
[3:25] >> [clears throat]
[3:26] >> Come back to stillness as soon as
[3:28] possible.
[3:31] Sitting still, relaxed.
[3:34] I'll mention the
[3:37] name of the body part.
[3:39] Visualize it and feel that it is
[3:41] relaxed. Nothing to do, just listen to
[3:43] the name of the body part and feel that
[3:45] it is relaxed.
[3:49] Whole body relaxation exercise.
[3:53] Starting with the left foot.
[3:57] Big toe of the left foot, relax.
[4:02] Sitting still, relaxed.
[4:05] First toe,
[4:07] second,
[4:08] third, little toe.
[4:11] All five toes of the left foot,
[4:15] relax.
[4:19] Bottom of the left foot,
[4:22] relaxed.
[4:25] Left ankle,
[4:28] relaxed.
[4:32] Left heel, relaxed.
[4:38] Left leg from the ankle to the knee,
[4:43] relax.
[4:47] Left knee,
[4:49] relax.
[4:53] Left thigh up to the waist, relaxed.
[5:02] Right foot,
[5:05] big toe, relax.
[5:09] First toe, second, third,
[5:13] little toe, relaxed.
[5:16] Bottom of the right foot, relaxed.
[5:21] Right ankle, relaxed.
[5:27] Right heel, relaxed.
[5:32] Right leg from ankle to right knee,
[5:36] relax.
[5:39] Right knee,
[5:41] relax.
[5:44] Right thigh up to the waist.
[5:48] Relaxed.
[5:52] Whole left leg
[5:54] relax.
[5:57] Whole right leg
[5:59] relax.
[6:03] Waist
[6:05] relaxed.
[6:08] Tummy
[6:10] relaxed.
[6:15] Sitting still, breathing normally.
[6:22] Chest relaxed.
[6:27] Left shoulder
[6:29] relax.
[6:32] Right shoulder relax.
[6:38] Lower back relaxed.
[6:44] Upper back
[6:47] relaxed.
[6:55] Back of the neck
[6:56] relaxed.
[7:04] Left hand
[7:06] thumb relaxed.
[7:10] >> [cough]
[7:12] >> First finger
[7:14] second finger
[7:19] third finger
[7:21] little finger
[7:23] left palm
[7:26] relaxed.
[7:30] Left wrist
[7:33] relaxed.
[7:37] Left hand relaxed.
[7:40] Left arm from the wrist to the elbow,
[7:43] relaxed.
[7:46] Left elbow, relaxed.
[7:51] Left arm from the elbow to the shoulder,
[7:55] relaxed.
[7:59] Right hand thumb,
[8:02] relaxed.
[8:05] First finger, second, third,
[8:09] little finger,
[8:12] relaxed.
[8:15] Right palm,
[8:17] relaxed.
[8:21] Right wrist, relaxed.
[8:27] Right hand, relaxed. Right right arm
[8:31] from the wrist to the right elbow,
[8:34] relaxed.
[8:37] Right elbow, relaxed.
[8:43] Right arm from the elbow to the right
[8:45] shoulder, relaxed.
[8:50] Whole left arm, relaxed.
[8:57] Whole right arm, relaxed.
[9:03] Neck,
[9:05] relaxed.
[9:09] Back of the head, relaxed.
[9:12] Top of the head,
[9:14] relaxed.
[9:17] Forehead, relaxed.
[9:22] Right eyebrow, relaxed.
[9:27] Left eyebrow,
[9:29] relaxed.
[9:33] Right eyelid, relaxed.
[9:38] Right eyeball,
[9:40] relax.
[9:43] Left eyelid,
[9:45] relax.
[9:48] Left eyeball,
[9:50] relax.
[9:57] Bridge of the nose, relax. Right
[10:00] nostril, left nostril,
[10:03] relax.
[10:07] Upper lip, relax.
[10:10] Lower lip, relax.
[10:16] Lower jaw, relax. Upper jaw,
[10:19] relax.
[10:22] Tongue in the mouth, relax.
[10:28] Right cheek, left cheek, relax.
[10:35] Chin, relax.
[10:39] Right ear, left ear,
[10:42] relax.
[10:45] Whole face, relax.
[10:49] Whole head, relax.
[10:53] Breathing normally, sitting still.
[10:58] Awake and listening.
[11:02] Lower body below the waist, relax.
[11:10] Upper body above the waist,
[11:14] relax.
[11:18] Breathing normally.
[11:23] Relaxed. Whole body relax.
[11:31] Whole
[11:32] relax.
[11:38] >> [clears throat]
[11:51] >> Breathing normally.
[11:58] Now I turn my attention to my breath at
[12:01] my nostrils.
[12:04] Gently bring the attention. Gently bring
[12:07] the attention to the breath at the
[12:08] nostrils.
[12:11] Notice the breathing in, count one.
[12:14] Breathing out, count two. Normal breath.
[12:19] Let it be long breath. Let it be short
[12:21] breath. Count one, two.
[12:24] Up to 10. Count up to 10 starting now.
[13:07] Gently bring the attention
[13:10] to the sounds.
[13:13] Sounds in this room. Sounds outside the
[13:16] room.
[13:20] Do not follow any sound. Just listen.
[13:34] >> Separate from the sounds is I, the
[13:37] awareness, who is experiencing these
[13:40] sounds.
[13:44] >> [clears throat]
[13:48] >> Each sound points back to me, the
[13:50] awareness.
[14:08] Whatever the sound, they're all being
[14:11] registered by that one awareness.
[14:17] And notice how wonderful
[14:21] that the same awareness experiences the
[14:24] sights also. When my eyes are open, then
[14:26] I see so many things. It is the same
[14:29] awareness, this very awareness
[14:32] which experiences the sights. Sights are
[14:35] so different from sounds.
[14:37] And yet, it is the same awareness
[14:40] which sees.
[14:42] It is the same awareness which hears.
[14:49] It is the same awareness which tastes
[14:51] the various flavors of food.
[14:56] Same awareness which experiences hard
[14:59] touch, soft touch, hot touch, cold
[15:01] touch.
[15:03] Touch. Same awareness.
[15:06] And fragrances and odors and smells,
[15:09] same awareness.
[15:12] How interesting it is that how different
[15:14] sight, smell, taste, touch, sound.
[15:18] And it is exactly the same awareness
[15:21] which experiences all of them.
[15:23] That one awareness illumining all
[15:26] sensory experiences of sight, touch,
[15:29] smell, ta- sm- taste,
[15:32] sound.
[15:35] I am that one awareness.
[15:42] Breathing normally, relaxed.
[15:47] Whole body relaxed.
[15:56] Internally,
[15:58] there are thoughts,
[16:01] memories,
[16:03] desires.
[16:09] All of these internal experiences in the
[16:13] mind, same awareness illumines all of
[16:16] them, experiences all of them.
[16:19] I am that same one same awareness.
[16:31] Relaxed.
[16:33] Notice that when I'm doing any action
[16:36] right now, sitting,
[16:37] sometimes walking, sometimes talking,
[16:39] sometimes working, sometimes eating, all
[16:43] the physical actions are also
[16:45] experienced by the same awareness.
[16:53] Thus, it is the same awareness which
[16:54] experiences the five senses, seeing,
[16:58] hearing, smelling, tasting, touching.
[17:01] It is the same awareness which
[17:03] experiences the internal experiences of
[17:06] thinking and remembering and desiring
[17:09] and enjoying and suffering, same
[17:11] awareness.
[17:15] And indeed, all actions with the body.
[17:20] Working, playing, driving, cooking,
[17:23] whatever we do with the body.
[17:25] Everything is experienced by the same
[17:27] awareness.
[17:34] Indeed, it is this very awareness which
[17:37] illumines all our waking, all our
[17:40] dreams,
[17:42] and even the darkness and absence in
[17:45] deep sleep.
[17:48] Waking, dreaming, sleeping, all
[17:50] illumined by the same awareness.
[17:56] Relaxed.
[18:02] Breathing normally.
[18:11] Notice now it is the same awareness
[18:14] which is continuously there. There is no
[18:16] gap in awareness.
[18:21] Objects come and go.
[18:24] Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch.
[18:27] Thoughts come and go. There are gaps.
[18:30] But even the gaps are illumined by
[18:32] awareness.
[18:36] When something is present, we notice its
[18:38] presence in awareness.
[18:40] When something is gone, we notice its
[18:42] absence in awareness.
[18:45] Awareness is never gone.
[18:48] In deep sleep,
[18:50] under anesthesia,
[18:52] those are conditions of absence. When
[18:53] everything is absent, there's nothing to
[18:55] be conscious of, but consciousness
[18:57] itself is not gone.
[19:01] That blankness is also an experience.
[19:03] That absence is also an experience. Deep
[19:06] sleep and consciousness are the
[19:08] experience of absence. They are not
[19:10] absence of experience.
[19:20] This uh
[19:21] consciousness is continuous without a
[19:24] gap.
[19:27] Witness consciousness has no gaps. This
[19:29] without gap consciousness is called in
[19:32] Sanskrit nirantara, gapless.
[19:41] Relaxed.
[19:47] Sounds, sensations, all are pointing
[19:50] back to I'm awareness.
[19:59] So, let nothing disturb you.
[20:03] When anything that comes up, any sound
[20:05] at all,
[20:07] it immediately points back. I heard the
[20:09] sound because of awareness. I am aware.
[20:13] That's why the sound was heard.
[20:24] Relaxed.
[20:25] So, awareness is without a gap,
[20:27] nirantara.
[20:29] Not only is it without a gap, it is
[20:31] changeless. Something can be without a
[20:33] gap and changing, like a river. A river
[20:36] is without a gap, continuously flowing.
[20:38] There's always water. But, it is
[20:40] changing.
[20:42] But, awareness is not like a river.
[20:45] It's like a constant light. It is
[20:47] changeless, without a gap and
[20:49] changeless.
[20:56] This changeless nature of awareness
[21:00] is called in Sanskrit nirvikara,
[21:03] changeless.
[21:05] The objects of the world are changing,
[21:07] sights and sounds are changing, smell
[21:10] and taste and touch are changing.
[21:13] Thoughts are ever changing, ideas are
[21:15] changing, memories are coming and going.
[21:18] Activities are changing of the body.
[21:22] Waking, dreaming, and sleeping are
[21:24] changing.
[21:26] But awareness, which illumines all of
[21:28] them, is never changing.
[21:30] Nirvikara in Sanskrit.
[21:35] Relaxed.
[21:38] Sitting still, awake, breathing
[21:41] normally.
[21:58] Not only is it without a gap and never
[22:01] changing,
[22:02] it is always the same.
[22:05] The objects of the world are not always
[22:07] the same.
[22:09] People in the world are not always the
[22:11] same.
[22:14] Places we visit are different.
[22:18] Behavior of people is different, it
[22:20] changes.
[22:23] My thoughts are not always the same. My
[22:25] moods are not always the same.
[22:29] My ideas and memories are not always the
[22:32] same.
[22:33] But the awareness, apart from all of
[22:35] these, the awareness itself is always
[22:37] the same. Consciousness is always the
[22:39] same.
[22:40] This ever-same nature of consciousness
[22:43] is called samaha, same.
[22:45] Homogeneous.
[22:50] Consciousness is ever the same.
[22:55] Never absent, gapless,
[22:57] never changing, ever the same.
[23:02] Because it is ever the same, this
[23:05] consciousness is not
[23:08] changed, enriched, or damaged by
[23:10] experience.
[23:11] >> [snorts]
[23:12] >> As experience happens,
[23:15] good or bad experiences, pleasant or
[23:18] painful experiences,
[23:21] body is affected by disease, mind is
[23:24] also affected
[23:27] by the behavior of others, by memories,
[23:29] by desires,
[23:31] by tragedies in life, mind will be
[23:33] affected, body will be affected. But the
[23:36] awareness which experiences all of them,
[23:38] illumines all of them, the awareness is
[23:41] not affected. It is not enriched by good
[23:44] experiences, nor is it damaged by bad
[23:47] experiences.
[23:50] This un- undamaged, untraumatized
[23:54] nature of awareness, in Sanskrit it is
[23:57] called avyaya, undecaying.
[24:04] Relaxed.
[24:14] Notice that awareness which is always
[24:17] there, is always shining. It is the
[24:19] light of lights.
[24:22] The eyes are the light of the world,
[24:24] because with eyes we see. Ears are the
[24:26] light of all sound.
[24:28] The senses are the light of their
[24:30] objects.
[24:32] And the senses are lit up by the mind.
[24:34] The mind is the light of the senses. But
[24:36] awareness, consciousness is the light of
[24:38] the mind.
[24:40] It is because of awareness everything is
[24:42] revealed.
[24:44] That shining, everything shines by its
[24:46] light, everything here is lit up.
[24:49] Awareness shining, consciousness
[24:51] shining, the whole world is revealed to
[24:53] us.
[24:55] Consciousness, awareness is the light of
[24:58] lights.
[25:01] In Sanskrit, this is called swayam
[25:03] prakasha, self-luminous.
[25:06] It reveals everything and reveals
[25:08] itself, also.
[25:12] Being self-luminous,
[25:15] it's also directly available. For
[25:17] everything else, we need some
[25:18] instrument. To see the world, we need
[25:20] the eyes. To hear music, we need ears.
[25:23] To taste the food, we need the tongue.
[25:27] To do anything in the world, we need the
[25:29] body. We need the tongue to speak, the
[25:31] hand to grasp, feet to walk.
[25:34] But, to be aware,
[25:36] conscious,
[25:37] consciousness or awareness does not take
[25:40] any effort.
[25:42] It's directly available to us.
[25:45] Instantaneously available to us.
[25:47] Effortlessly available to us. Freely
[25:50] available to us. This instantaneous,
[25:52] effortless, free awareness.
[25:56] It is called aparoksha.
[26:00] Immediate, direct.
[26:03] Aparoksha in Sanskrit.
[26:12] This awareness is the self. It is I.
[26:18] The real nature of the self, the real
[26:20] answer to the question, "Who am I? What
[26:22] am I?" is this awareness.
[26:26] Relaxed, breathing normally.
[26:30] Looking back,
[26:33] I am the one witness consciousness,
[26:36] illuminating all the waking, all the
[26:39] dreaming, all the deep sleep.
[26:42] Illuminating all my sensory experiences
[26:45] of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting,
[26:47] touching.
[26:49] All my physical experiences of working,
[26:52] playing, walking, talking, grasping.
[26:55] All the mental experiences of thinking,
[26:58] remembering, desiring, hating,
[27:02] enjoying, suffering, all are lit up by
[27:05] this one awareness, this atma. I am
[27:08] this. I am sakshi, the witness
[27:11] consciousness.
[27:14] I am also without any gap, nirantara.
[27:20] I am also unchanging, nirvikara.
[27:26] I, this awareness,
[27:29] am ever the same, samaha.
[27:33] I am never traumatized, destroyed,
[27:35] damaged, decaying.
[27:37] Body is affected, mind is affected, not
[27:40] me, the awareness. I, the awareness, I
[27:42] am undecaying.
[27:44] Abhyaya, untraumatized.
[27:48] No matter what the experience.
[27:59] I am the light of lights.
[28:02] Awareness shining, the mind and the
[28:04] senses and the world is revealed.
[28:08] I shining,
[28:10] everything else shines after me. By my
[28:12] light, everything here is lit up.
[28:15] Svaprakasha.
[28:17] And I, the awareness, am directly
[28:19] available.
[28:20] Without any effort, without any
[28:22] instrument,
[28:24] instantaneously available,
[28:26] right now.
[28:28] This is called aparoksha.
[28:39] This is I. This is the atma.
[28:42] In this atma, in this I, in this one
[28:44] consciousness,
[28:45] all of time is experienced. Therefore,
[28:48] this consciousness is eternal.
[28:51] Space is experienced. Therefore, this
[28:53] consciousness is all-pervasive.
[28:56] All objects are experienced. Like foam
[29:00] on the surface of the ocean, the
[29:02] universe appears in consciousness. It is
[29:05] not different from me. I am different
[29:07] from the universe, but the universe is
[29:09] not different from me. Like waves and
[29:11] water.
[29:12] Like pottery and clay.
[29:16] Like the ornaments and gold. I am
[29:19] consciousness and the universe is my
[29:21] appearance.
[29:27] Therefore, the universe is one with me.
[29:30] I am the one non-dual consciousness of
[29:32] the universe. In and through every mind,
[29:35] I behave like and experience myself as a
[29:38] different person.
[29:41] But really, I am one.
[29:43] Shining through various bodies and
[29:45] minds, I behave like many sentient
[29:47] beings. But really, I am one
[29:50] consciousness.
[29:55] Relaxed.
[30:00] Breathing normally.
[30:05] Whole body relaxed.
[30:16] As we move into the final part of the
[30:19] meditation,
[30:20] I want us to see that when the
[30:23] meditation ends and our eyes will open,
[30:26] nothing will have changed. I will still
[30:29] be that awareness.
[30:31] That one awareness illuminating all
[30:33] sensory experiences, mental experiences,
[30:36] physical experiences, all waking,
[30:39] dreaming, and deep sleep experiences.
[30:42] That one awareness which is without a
[30:44] gap.
[30:45] That one awareness
[30:47] which is unchanging.
[30:49] That one awareness which is ever the
[30:51] same.
[30:53] That one awareness
[30:55] which is undeceiving, undamaged,
[30:57] untraumatized.
[30:59] That one awareness
[31:01] which is the light of lights,
[31:02] self-luminous.
[31:04] That one awareness
[31:07] which is directly, instantaneously,
[31:10] without any intermediate available to
[31:12] us.
[31:16] To that one awareness
[31:18] appears space, time, and object, entire
[31:21] universe.
[31:22] Which is in fact nothing more than the
[31:24] form on the ocean of awareness.
[31:28] The universe is I, the awareness,
[31:30] appearing to myself as objects. No one
[31:32] here is another to me.
[31:35] They're all one with me.
[31:37] That one non-dual awareness I am, that
[31:40] is atma, that is who I am.
[31:48] When the eyes will open
[31:51] and we will look, nothing will have
[31:53] changed. I will still be that one
[31:55] awareness.
[31:56] Always have been. During before
[31:58] meditation, during meditation, and when
[32:00] the meditation ends I will continue to
[32:03] be that one awareness.
[32:12] Opening the eyes will make no
[32:13] difference. And thus, I will erase the
[32:16] difference between meditation and life.
[32:20] What is there in meditation is there in
[32:22] the middle of life also, outside
[32:24] meditation.
[32:29] Relaxed.
[32:32] Breathing normally.
[32:38] We will chant Om three times. And at the
[32:41] end of the chanting of Om,
[32:43] we will gently open our eyes. When you
[32:45] open your eyes, don't look up
[32:47] immediately. Look down at your lap.
[32:50] And when we are ready, we shall gently
[32:53] raise our gaze. We look up.
[32:57] Om.
[33:03] >> [chanting]
[33:09] >> Om.
[33:19] Om.
[33:33] Gently open your eyes when you feel
[33:35] ready, looking down.
[33:50] And the important thing is to see that
[33:53] just by opening our eyes and going away
[33:55] for lunch or asking questions, nothing
[33:57] has changed. It is the same awareness.
[34:06] If I am that same awareness, the
[34:07] profound question to ask is
[34:10] that awareness, what problem does it
[34:12] have?
[34:18] Stay as that awareness
[34:20] and ask the question.
[34:25] The body dies.
[34:27] Does that awareness die?
[34:31] That awareness will die with the body
[34:32] only if it's a product of the body.
[34:35] But we don't know that.
[34:37] If you say it's a product of the body,
[34:38] then you've already made up your mind
[34:40] that physicalism is true.
[34:44] Just think about it.
[34:45] Is that We are we sort of take it for
[34:47] granted that awareness is being produced
[34:49] by the brain. But is that true?
[34:52] If it were true, why is it so difficult
[34:54] to explain consciousness or awareness
[34:56] through the brain?
[34:57] Do you know how many theories of
[34:59] consciousness have been proposed?
[35:01] Robert Lawrence Kuhn in that podcast,
[35:04] Closer to Truth,
[35:05] he's given a landscape of consciousness,
[35:07] a survey of all the existing theories of
[35:09] consciousness.
[35:11] He has cataloged 325. The latest is up
[35:14] to 400.
[35:16] Theories of consciousness. Many of them
[35:17] are physical.
[35:20] Why?
[35:23] Because it's extremely difficult,
[35:25] imposs- impossible indeed, to explain
[35:27] consciousness through brain activity.
[35:36] Then the implication is if the body
[35:39] dies, the brain dies. No doubt about
[35:41] that. When the body dies, the brain will
[35:42] die.
[35:44] Will consciousness die?
[35:46] If consciousness is not being produced
[35:47] by the brain, why should consciousness
[35:48] die with the brain?
[35:50] Just it will not be manifested in that
[35:51] body, in that brain and nervous system.
[35:54] That's all.
[35:56] And if you are consciousness, you will
[35:58] continue to exist.
[36:00] That consciousness has no fear of death.
[36:03] In fact, I'll tell you something
[36:04] interesting. Jumping ahead that comes
[36:06] the after tomorrow, but jumping ahead.
[36:09] Every day we exist without the body.
[36:12] In your dreams, in your deep sleep, the
[36:14] body is not present.
[36:17] This body, which is sleeping on the bed,
[36:19] when you experience a dream world, the
[36:21] body is not present there.
[36:24] You understand what I'm saying? You have
[36:25] a different body in the dream. It's
[36:27] imagined, no doubt.
[36:29] But the crucial thing is to say
[36:30] phenomenologically from our own
[36:32] perspective, the sense of self and
[36:35] experience can continue without this
[36:36] body.
[36:41] I don't know if I'm making sense.
[36:43] It's very common experience.
[36:47] Indeed, you're not even the mind.
[36:50] In deep sleep,
[36:52] if it is true at all that deep sleep is
[36:54] an experience, then consciousness must
[36:56] be there in deep sleep also, illumining
[36:57] the darkness of deep sleep. In deep
[36:59] sleep, general anesthesia, no experience
[37:02] of body. Of course, no experience of the
[37:04] world. No experience of the mind also.
[37:07] No experience of dreams. Blank.
[37:10] But I'm still there as the witness of
[37:12] that blank.
[37:14] That consciousness I'm speaking about.
[37:17] It's not dependent on body.
[37:19] Consciousness is not afraid of death.
[37:22] Indeed, is it afraid of anything at all?
[37:25] Because fear is there something in the
[37:27] mind, and it's an object appearing in in
[37:29] consciousness.
[37:31] Being an object, consciousness is the
[37:33] seer of the fear.
[37:35] Oh, that's nice poetry. Seer of the
[37:36] fear.
[37:37] Fear is the seen.
[37:40] And seer and seen are distinct.
[37:44] Consciousness, by definition, cannot be
[37:46] afraid. Consciousness can illumine the
[37:48] existing fear or the absence of fear.
[37:55] Does that consciousness want anything?
[37:58] Imagine, world is not there, the body is
[38:01] not there, the mind is shut down, only
[38:03] awareness shining. What does it want?
[38:07] Nothing.
[38:10] But that consciousness you are right now
[38:12] also.
[38:14] The mind will come and whisper to you, I
[38:16] want this, I want that, Amazon Prime.
[38:19] Shopping cart. That's the mind.
[38:22] But you said you are consciousness.
[38:25] Let's own up. It is not my want. It's
[38:27] the mind imposing its list of wants, its
[38:30] list of grievances, its list of fears,
[38:33] anxieties upon me.
[38:35] I am fine.
[38:40] If I was fine in deep sleep,
[38:42] I'm fine even now.
[38:44] Again, I'm jumping ahead. That's the
[38:45] after tomorrow what we can talk talk
[38:47] about the three states of waking,
[38:49] dreaming, sleeping.
[38:51] All right. It's always important to take
[38:53] it out into life.
[38:55] If I am fine in the depths of non-dual
[38:57] meditation,
[38:59] very important is that when I come out
[39:01] of that non-dual meditation in this
[39:03] life, the struggles of life, I'm still
[39:05] fine.
[39:08] In life and in death,
[39:11] in union and in separation, in good
[39:13] times and in bad times, I am fine.
[39:19] If you're not fine,
[39:21] then you have to pay the fine.
[39:26] I went to Singapore once.
[39:28] And they joked there. They have heavy
[39:29] fines for every little infraction. So,
[39:31] they said, "We always boast we have we
[39:33] have a fine city."
[39:35] >> [laughter]
[39:38] >> Either you are fine or you have to pay
[39:40] the fine then.
[39:43] Questions? There's a microphone here.
[39:45] The system is you come up here and ask
[39:48] the question.
[39:50] And uh we'll discuss it. Please come and
[39:52] tell us your name and ask the question.
[40:01] My name is Jose.
[40:04] Thank you for generosity and clarity.
[40:09] Um
[40:12] Earlier you mentioned slightly ego.
[40:16] And uh
[40:18] and I have a question about in this
[40:21] framework or in this understanding,
[40:24] what is ego? And I have my little
[40:26] hypothesis that I I want to to test also
[40:29] is
[40:29] like maybe ego is that
[40:33] confusion that I am not
[40:37] uh
[40:38] like I am happiness or I am peace when
[40:40] you were mentioning that maybe So, my
[40:43] question is is maybe ego
[40:45] that like fake or that confu- confused
[40:49] identification
[40:51] uh with
[40:52] what what anything any object that is
[40:56] not awareness?
[40:57] Or
[40:59] what is ego? Perfect. Very beautifully
[41:01] put.
[41:02] In Vedanta, there's a definition. These
[41:03] things are very well defined in in
[41:05] Vedanta. Mind, intellect, memory, ego,
[41:08] these are all well defined.
[41:09] And you know what is the definition of
[41:11] ego in Vedanta?
[41:13] Uh the appropriating function of the
[41:15] mind is called ego.
[41:20] See, what's going on in the mind, what
[41:21] the mind does is it takes in information
[41:23] from the world through the five senses
[41:26] and from memory
[41:28] and processes it.
[41:30] So, that's where all the activity is
[41:31] going on. With so much activity is going
[41:33] on, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting,
[41:35] touching, working, running, playing,
[41:37] remembering, enjoying, desiring,
[41:39] suffering, all of these activities are
[41:41] going on. You need an identifying self
[41:46] which will coordinate all this.
[41:48] What is going on here? Sitting is going
[41:50] on.
[41:51] Speaking is going on. Seeing is going
[41:54] on. Hearing is going on. Enjoying and
[41:57] thinking and understanding and
[41:58] remembering are going on.
[42:00] But all of this should be coordinated by
[42:02] one self which will say, "I am sitting.
[42:06] I am listening to you. I am speaking. I
[42:09] am thinking. I am understanding." This I
[42:13] which is at the center of so many
[42:15] activities, this is called ego.
[42:18] It's a function of the mind.
[42:21] And it's necessary function of the mind.
[42:22] Otherwise, you will not have a sense of
[42:24] the individual self.
[42:27] Right now, as you said, that false
[42:29] activity
[42:30] which is
[42:32] taking upon itself the seeing, hearing,
[42:34] enjoying, and all of that desires, and
[42:35] all of that, that is called ego. Correct
[42:37] definition.
[42:39] That is precise the precise
[42:40] understanding of the ego. And the big
[42:42] thing to understand, this is very
[42:43] common. This is what we have generally,
[42:46] that's how we understand the ego as this
[42:48] I.
[42:49] I am the ego.
[42:50] But with Vedanta says you are not the
[42:52] ego.
[42:54] You are the witness of the ego.
[42:56] You are the consciousness to which the
[42:57] ego appears and coordinates all
[42:59] activities and disappears also. When
[43:01] does it disappear? In sleep it
[43:03] disappears.
[43:05] In anesthesia it disappears.
[43:08] And in the waking and the dreaming also,
[43:10] moment to moment it appears and
[43:12] disappears.
[43:13] Suppose you concentrate deeply
[43:16] uh you're playing a game of tennis,
[43:18] something hard, focus is necessary.
[43:20] Surgeon is doing operation or a musical
[43:23] instrument. You're a good musical
[43:24] instrument, you play the piano or uh
[43:27] some musical instrument very well when
[43:28] you focus completely on that.
[43:31] At that moment ego is not there.
[43:33] Because if ego is there during some
[43:36] um
[43:36] some kind of very high-level activity,
[43:40] then your activity will be the quality
[43:41] will be impacted.
[43:43] Very natural, if ego is part of the
[43:45] mind,
[43:46] if then it takes up some processing
[43:48] power.
[43:49] If you pay attention to the ego, then
[43:51] your focus on the activity will go down.
[43:55] So, everybody knows, you're playing a
[43:56] musical instrument, you're playing the
[43:57] drums and the tabla, and if you
[44:01] consciously, self-consciously,
[44:02] deliberately try to play, it will be a
[44:04] very poor performance.
[44:07] But those who spontaneously play, of
[44:08] course for that you have to have lot of
[44:09] practice. You can't just spontaneously
[44:11] go there and doing that.
[44:13] Thousands of hours of practice, then you
[44:15] spontaneously play, then ego is not
[44:17] necessary. Every habit
[44:21] where ego steps back. Now the body and
[44:22] mind can do it by itself without ego.
[44:26] But the ego is the appropriating
[44:27] function of the mind, of the senses, of
[44:30] the body. And that's what makes us feel
[44:31] like individuals. But the problem with
[44:34] the ego is it's not who you are.
[44:38] The moment we don't know ourselves and
[44:40] we identify with the ego, immediately we
[44:42] become identified with the mind, the
[44:43] senses, the body, with this guy.
[44:46] And we don't think we are any different
[44:48] at all. I am ego, ego I am.
[44:51] We always say I am, I am this guy.
[44:54] Ego is automatically connected with body
[44:56] mind, of course. That's the very purpose
[44:58] of ego. Ego ego is designed to do that.
[45:00] And then ego gets connected with the
[45:02] achievements of this body and mind, with
[45:05] the problems of this body and mind, with
[45:07] the guilt and the desires and the plans
[45:09] and the ambitions and fears and
[45:11] anxieties of this body and mind. Again,
[45:13] that's the design of the ego.
[45:15] Not the fault of the poor ego. In
[45:16] spiritual life you always blame the ego.
[45:20] But the poor fellow was designed to do
[45:22] that. Ego is telling us, "Who told you
[45:24] to get associated with me?"
[45:27] >> [laughter]
[45:28] [snorts]
[45:31] >> We don't see ourselves as different from
[45:32] the ego and therefore we suffer.
[45:35] The infinite has poured itself into a
[45:37] little pot and it suffers.
[45:40] You are the endless ocean.
[45:42] And the ego is like a pot floating in
[45:44] the ocean. And demarcates the water
[45:46] inside the pot from the vast water
[45:48] outside. But you are everything. The
[45:49] water inside the pot, water outside the
[45:51] pot, you are one and all complete.
[45:54] So ego is almost fictional.
[45:57] But it still
[45:59] it can create such a huge problem for
[46:01] us. So main thing is I am not the ego.
[46:06] Why so much struggle with ego in
[46:08] spiritual life?
[46:09] Because we that's this again we're
[46:10] jumping into the evening session.
[46:14] Um our most of our problems are because
[46:17] of the this ego.
[46:21] It is the purified, thinned out, fit
[46:24] ego.
[46:26] Not bloated ego, not sick ego. Purified,
[46:29] thinned out, fit uh ego, which is
[46:32] easy to transcend and let go and become
[46:34] spiritual.
[46:35] The ego is bloated. The ego is sick.
[46:39] Very difficult to let go. It will cling
[46:41] to you.
[46:43] That's why all the struggles,
[46:45] you know, ethical life, purity of life
[46:48] and thought, uh healthy um personality,
[46:51] all those are important. They're all
[46:53] signs of a healthy ego.
[46:56] Then it's easy to separate.
[46:59] All this again in the afternoon session.
[47:01] You're right.
[47:03] Ego is the appropriating function.
[47:06] Then the I, what is the real nature?
[47:07] When you're asking I, the
[47:09] incorrect answer to what who am I, what
[47:12] am I, incorrect answer, I'm the ego.
[47:15] Correct answer, I'm the witness of the
[47:17] ego.
[47:19] This is what we're trying to do. Shift
[47:20] from the ego to the witness of the ego.
[47:24] If I'm the ego, I am body mind. No no
[47:27] way out.
[47:28] That's the design of ego to coordinate
[47:30] body mind. If I'm the witness of the
[47:32] ego, then I'm witness of ego, I'm
[47:34] witness of mind, I'm witness of the
[47:35] body.
[47:36] Witness means light, revealing.
[47:39] As the witness consciousness, as the
[47:41] light, I have no problems. As ego, all
[47:44] problems.
[47:47] Very good. Thank you. Thank you.
[47:49] Please.
[47:52] Yeah, next.
[47:53] Tell us your name and ask the question.
[47:55] >> Yes, thank you. Alexandra. Thank you so
[47:57] much for being with us.
[47:58] Um my question regards [clears throat]
[48:00] something you said earlier about the
[48:02] monk telling the person
[48:04] no, you're not peaceful, you are
[48:07] experiencing peace.
[48:09] When he said suffering, experiencing
[48:10] suffering. And then you said that
[48:13] or my understanding of moksha or
[48:15] liberation would be that we are
[48:17] constantly in the state of witness
[48:19] consciousness
[48:20] as constant as possible and therefore
[48:23] feeling a sense of peace that just
[48:25] arises in us without needing it, wanting
[48:27] it, etc. How do you know the difference,
[48:30] I guess, between
[48:32] being in your mind and feeling this
[48:34] peaceful state and it becoming from the
[48:37] witness consciousness. My assumption is
[48:39] that it's because
[48:41] it's constant and
[48:43] you're not being pulled out of it when
[48:44] suffering arises in your body or your
[48:46] mind. Correct. You're right.
[48:47] >> wanted to. Thank you.
[48:50] >> [snorts]
[48:57] >> Yes.
[49:00] First of all, two points here.
[49:03] You used the word moksha. Good that you
[49:05] pointed out. Moksha means liberation.
[49:07] The
[49:08] the big project of the ancient Indians,
[49:11] all schools,
[49:12] non-dualism, Vedanta, the different
[49:14] schools of Vedanta, dualistic schools,
[49:16] qualified monistic schools, the
[49:18] Buddhist, various schools of the
[49:20] Buddhist, the Jains, all schools,
[49:22] Samkhya, Yoga, all the schools, they had
[49:24] one common project, moksha,
[49:27] freedom.
[49:29] Moksha, they had many words for it.
[49:31] Moksha, mukti, means freedom. Nirvana,
[49:34] kaivalya,
[49:36] apavarga, these are all ancient Sanskrit
[49:38] words for the same thing.
[49:40] They understood it differently. If you
[49:41] study Indian philosophy, you'll find
[49:43] different understandings of all of
[49:44] these.
[49:46] Um
[49:47] in Vedanta,
[49:50] the witness consciousness
[49:53] is awareness, pure awareness which I am.
[49:55] Its very nature is moksha. It's already
[49:58] It's already free.
[50:00] It is never brown bound. So, even
[50:03] there's no project of moksha for it. The
[50:05] project of moksha is for us. That pure
[50:08] consciousness which is which feels
[50:09] itself bound by the ego and body mind.
[50:12] For us, there is the project of moksha,
[50:14] mukti, nirvana, freedom.
[50:16] And what would be moksha? To realize I
[50:19] am pure consciousness. Why? Because that
[50:20] is always free. That was never bound.
[50:24] And cannot be bound.
[50:27] Just as the movie screen is never bound
[50:29] by whatever movie you play on it.
[50:31] Untouched.
[50:32] So, I am that moksha. I am pure
[50:35] consciousness is equal to I Not only I
[50:37] am in the state of moksha, I am moksha.
[50:40] The second point I wanted to make is the
[50:42] use of the word state.
[50:43] Waking is a state. Dreaming is a state.
[50:47] Deep sleep is a state.
[50:49] State.
[50:53] Anesthesia is a state. Samadhi in
[50:56] meditation is a state, very high state.
[50:58] These are all states. But, states of
[51:00] what?
[51:01] These are all states which appear and
[51:03] disappear in consciousness. Awareness,
[51:05] consciousness, the witness is not a
[51:07] state. It's the reality.
[51:10] It's like saying
[51:12] uh the golden ornaments. You have You
[51:15] take some amount of gold, make it into a
[51:17] bracelet. That bracelet is a state of
[51:20] the gold.
[51:21] The necklace is a state of that gold.
[51:24] The tiara which you make is a state of
[51:27] that gold.
[51:28] But, the gold is not a state. It's the
[51:30] reality of all these states.
[51:32] Similarly,
[51:34] moksha, pure consciousness, this witness
[51:37] consciousness is not a state. It's the
[51:38] reality
[51:40] in which all these states are appearing
[51:41] and disappearing.
[51:43] So, it's not a state to be attained.
[51:45] It's already attained. All that we need
[51:47] to do is to see it. This is a process of
[51:49] seeing it.
[51:50] And yes, there's a struggle to become
[51:53] to come back and be centered in it.
[51:56] Even there, there are lots to say about
[51:57] it, which I will subtly This is a very
[51:58] subtle point. That's why I always say
[52:00] when Vedanta I realize
[52:02] slow down. Slow, slow step, very slow
[52:05] steps. Cuz they are so subtle, it's very
[52:07] easy to miss.
[52:09] Uh slow down.
[52:13] Yes, so it's not a state.
[52:15] It's always attained. And that always
[52:16] attained, that is called moksha.
[52:19] The peace and freedom that we feel, we
[52:22] if you feel it, it must be an object.
[52:25] So, the felt peace, the felt freedom is
[52:28] in the mind.
[52:30] And it follows from this enlightening
[52:32] knowledge, I am consciousness.
[52:35] If it is obscured for some reason, it's
[52:37] because the mind has become busy with
[52:38] something else.
[52:40] All you need is to fall back upon it.
[52:42] See, that window slammed when we were
[52:44] meditating.
[52:45] It disturbed the meditation. But, notice
[52:48] that even that experience was revealed
[52:49] by consciousness.
[52:51] Consciousness itself did not slam.
[52:55] It's perfectly all right.
[52:56] So, the beauty of this meditation, the
[52:58] non-dual meditation, one of the beauties
[53:00] is this.
[53:01] In the yogic meditation, the aim is to
[53:03] bring your attention back to focus.
[53:06] Suppose I'm repeating a mantra. Om Namah
[53:09] Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah
[53:11] Shivaya, I wonder what's for lunch, Om
[53:12] Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya.
[53:15] Om Namah Shivaya.
[53:17] When is he going to end? Om Namah
[53:19] Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya.
[53:20] >> [laughter]
[53:21] >> The mind goes away and comes back. And
[53:24] you bring it back.
[53:26] But, in non-dual meditation,
[53:28] whatever the distraction is, that can
[53:30] immediately that will immediately point
[53:32] you back to the witness consciousness.
[53:34] Cuz it Suppose I'm thinking I'm this
[53:36] awareness, I'm noticing the awareness,
[53:38] then a sound comes.
[53:42] That sound. How is it coming? Because
[53:44] it's arising, noted, illumined by
[53:46] consciousness.
[53:48] It should point me back.
[53:50] Every distraction in this meditation is
[53:53] a pointer back to your real nature.
[53:55] It's like seeing your face in the
[53:57] mirror. The mirror is there, I see my
[53:59] face there, that face points me back to
[54:00] myself.
[54:04] Every experience in the world, every
[54:06] flashing experience, is because of you.
[54:10] As many mirrors you put up, everywhere
[54:12] you see your own face. What's it
[54:13] pointing towards? Here.
[54:17] Every mirror is a movement of the mind,
[54:20] what is called chitta vritti.
[54:22] And in every movement of the mind is an
[54:25] experience.
[54:27] But that's because consciousness is
[54:29] shining. Every movement of the mind is
[54:30] taking place or arising in
[54:32] consciousness. It points back to that
[54:34] consciousness.
[54:35] If only you knew the know the secret,
[54:37] one will need not Anything that disturbs
[54:39] you, including a pain I know of a monk
[54:42] who used this technique as an
[54:43] experiment.
[54:45] He used this technique to undergo a root
[54:47] canal treatment without anesthesia.
[54:50] He said, "Let me try it out."
[54:53] He told me he tried it out.
[54:56] It works?
[54:57] Yes.
[54:58] So this actually there's a nice story.
[55:00] Let me tell you this and and and then
[55:01] I'll take the question and stop.
[55:03] Uh Swami Turiyanandaji was one of the
[55:05] disciples of Sri Ramakrishna.
[55:07] Great Vedantist.
[55:09] And uh
[55:12] Um let me start at the beginning of the
[55:14] story. Sri Ramakrishna passed away from
[55:16] throat cancer.
[55:18] Yeah, throat cancer. It's A doctor told
[55:19] me it's one of the most painful and
[55:21] uncomfortable of the cancers, especially
[55:24] in terminal state.
[55:26] And so Sri Ramakrishna was once lying
[55:28] there sick, just a few months before he
[55:30] passed away. And Turiyananda, the monk,
[55:32] at that time was a young student, he
[55:34] came, he said, "Sir, how are you today?"
[55:38] And Sri Ramakrishna said, "It hurts. I
[55:40] cannot eat."
[55:41] And then this young man, for some
[55:43] reason, he said, "But sir, I see that
[55:44] you are in great peace, in great bliss."
[55:48] Now, that is sounds like sounds like a
[55:49] cruel thing to say to a terminal cancer
[55:51] patient.
[55:52] But Sri Ramakrishna said with a laugh,
[55:54] he said, "Oh, the rascal has found me
[55:57] out. You rascal, you're seeing you're
[55:59] seeing through."
[56:02] It's very surprising.
[56:03] And then he followed it up a few days
[56:05] later, the same young man. He came and
[56:07] asked Sri Ramakrishna more precise
[56:08] question. He had some doubt.
[56:10] So, it's sir, this
[56:12] you said it's in pain and you can't eat.
[56:14] Are you actually experiencing it, that
[56:16] pain?
[56:18] And Sri Ramakrishna gave a very nuanced
[56:19] answer. He said, "What kind of talk is
[56:22] that? Does the body ever become a sadhu?
[56:25] A sadhu is a monk or a good person, a
[56:26] saintly person. The body never becomes a
[56:28] saint. It's the mind which becomes a
[56:30] saint." Now, very
[56:33] very nuanced answer.
[56:35] Something that
[56:37] you can apply it to the path of
[56:38] devotion, you can apply it to the path
[56:40] of meditation, you can apply to the path
[56:41] of knowledge. In the path of knowledge,
[56:43] which we are in right now, but it'll
[56:44] apply to other paths also. In the path
[56:46] of knowledge, which we are right now,
[56:49] the mind blessed by this knowledge
[56:52] enjoys that peace.
[56:55] The mind blessed with this knowledge
[56:57] notices this pure consciousness, this
[56:59] awareness, which makes possible the
[57:01] experience of the discomfort and pain of
[57:03] cancer.
[57:05] Without that, you would not experience.
[57:07] But that consciousness is not affected
[57:09] by the pain of cancer.
[57:11] The consciousness does not have cancer.
[57:13] The consciousness is not dying of
[57:14] cancer. The consciousness is not even
[57:16] having the pain of cancer. It illumines
[57:18] the pain in the body mind.
[57:21] And if you can center yourself as I am
[57:23] this consciousness and nothing else,
[57:27] you're free.
[57:29] It sounds very theoretical. It isn't.
[57:31] It's actually the most direct thing.
[57:34] Everything else takes effort.
[57:37] Now, in the end of his life, Swami
[57:39] Turiyananda, towards the end last part
[57:40] of his life in Benares in India, he was
[57:42] sick and he had multiple operations.
[57:44] This lancing of a of a
[57:47] a boil.
[57:48] The surgeon said, in his hand once,
[57:50] surgeon said, "Swami, I have to cut
[57:52] deep. Um
[57:54] I should put anesthesia, local
[57:56] anesthesia." And the Swami said, "No
[57:58] need. Just tell me and then you cut."
[58:00] I'm going to cut and he started cutting.
[58:02] And to the amazement, there were a
[58:02] number of people present, many
[58:04] witnesses.
[58:05] So, Swami Turiyananda, he's not even in
[58:06] meditation. He's just awake.
[58:09] Looking at people, smiling, talking, and
[58:11] the operation went on.
[58:13] Next day, very interesting.
[58:15] The doctor came and was going to dress
[58:17] that wound, open the bandage dress, and
[58:19] the Swami cried out in pain. "Oh, what
[58:21] are you doing?"
[58:23] And the doctor said,
[58:25] "I know it hurts, but it's nothing
[58:26] compared to yesterday."
[58:29] Then the Swami said, "Oh, you should
[58:31] tell me, then I'll take my mind away
[58:33] from the hurt."
[58:35] >> [laughter]
[58:37] >> Uh [clears throat]
[58:39] This is Swami Turiyananda. Then now I we
[58:41] come to the monk whom I met. This was
[58:43] long ago. The monk whom I met who had
[58:45] read these stories and he knew Vedanta
[58:46] very well, a senior monk. He told me
[58:49] that
[58:51] he's our monk in charge of the
[58:54] uh center here in Gretz
[58:55] in near Paris.
[58:57] Vedanta Society in Paris.
[58:59] Um the Swami, he told me he wanted to
[59:02] try it out.
[59:03] And he had long Remember, he is a monk
[59:07] with long years of practice and
[59:08] meditation and insight. So, don't try to
[59:10] don't go for a root canal treatment
[59:11] immediately.
[59:12] >> [snorts]
[59:13] >> So, he wanted to try it out and he did.
[59:15] And I asked him, "Did it work?" Same
[59:17] question. He said, "Yes, it worked, but
[59:19] at the end of it I was exhausted."
[59:22] >> [laughter]
[59:23] >> You also show It shows how much
[59:26] attention is needed. Uh
[59:28] Consciousness is consciousness all the
[59:29] time fine, but to keep the mind alive in
[59:33] that awareness that I am consciousness.
[59:36] To note that.
[59:38] It takes steadiness of the mind.
[59:41] You flicker the mind a little bit,
[59:42] immediately root canal treatment. Oh
[59:44] God, ouch.
[59:45] >> [laughter]
[59:46] >> No.
[59:48] That root canal that constant pain and
[59:50] grinding and sharp
[59:53] stabbing pain piercing pain is
[59:56] constantly pointing to its blazing forth
[59:58] consciousness.
[1:00:01] And because of consciousness you're
[1:00:02] experiencing it. Now keep the attention
[1:00:04] on the consciousness side, not on the
[1:00:05] pain side.
[1:00:07] You'll be fine.
[1:00:11] But
[1:00:12] He said I was exhausted at the end of
[1:00:14] it.
[1:00:15] By the sheer it's like most intense
[1:00:18] meditation.
[1:00:22] Please come.
[1:00:25] >> [clears throat]
[1:00:26] >> I don't want to interrupt. Tell us your
[1:00:28] name. Uh my name is Prabuddha. Mhm.
[1:00:30] I have um clarification and kind of a a
[1:00:34] follow-up question.
[1:00:35] >> Mhm.
[1:00:36] Um so the the first part is um
[1:00:39] I am aware of
[1:00:41] my witness consciousness. No. I am I am
[1:00:45] aware of that I am the witness
[1:00:47] consciousness. I I'm aware The witness
[1:00:49] consciousness is not like a kidney or a
[1:00:51] lung that I'm aware of my witness. No.
[1:00:53] The more you focus on you'll see I am
[1:00:55] that. I Yes. So so I am that. And
[1:00:58] everything else that appears is just an
[1:01:00] object. Is an object.
[1:01:02] >> Including all sentient beings. Yes. So
[1:01:06] how do we know that
[1:01:08] that
[1:01:10] there are that there is witness
[1:01:13] consciousness in all these other beings
[1:01:14] and I am not the only
[1:01:17] witness consciousness. Mhm. So that's
[1:01:20] the first part. Okay, wait. Yeah. It's
[1:01:22] subtle question. Now listen carefully.
[1:01:24] Is that
[1:01:25] There are all these sentient beings,
[1:01:27] right?
[1:01:28] And now I know from my own experience
[1:01:32] that I, the witness consciousness, am
[1:01:34] reflected in the mind here.
[1:01:36] And the mind is lit up by me, the
[1:01:38] witness consciousness, and I feel like
[1:01:39] this guy, Pradyot.
[1:01:41] And I see similar beings all around.
[1:01:44] I think on pretty solid grounds I can
[1:01:46] say similar phenomenon is going on all
[1:01:48] around.
[1:01:49] That I, the witness consciousness,
[1:01:51] reflected here as Pradyot, and this
[1:01:53] thinking is taking place.
[1:01:54] The same witness consciousness is
[1:01:56] reflected in all beings. It's not a
[1:01:58] different witness consciousness.
[1:02:00] To be a different witness consciousness,
[1:02:02] it would have to be in the words of in
[1:02:04] the Sanskrit, you know, limitation. It
[1:02:06] would have to be limited by that body
[1:02:07] mind.
[1:02:09] But witness consciousness is not limited
[1:02:10] by body body mind, by being different
[1:02:12] from body mind. That's what Krishna is
[1:02:13] saying. There is one witness
[1:02:15] consciousness, one knower of the field
[1:02:17] in all fields.
[1:02:19] So one knower of the field in all
[1:02:20] fields, you know that for sure because
[1:02:22] you are that.
[1:02:24] Now,
[1:02:25] are they there in all these fields? Are
[1:02:27] other fields like this field? Yeah, by
[1:02:29] extension.
[1:02:31] By my own experience as Pradyot, I can
[1:02:33] say that there are the same witness
[1:02:35] consciousness is experiencing itself as
[1:02:37] so many different beings.
[1:02:40] Okay. Yeah, that that makes sense.
[1:02:43] And the second part of the question?
[1:02:44] >> The second part is, you know, we say
[1:02:46] that it is eternal
[1:02:49] and beyond death.
[1:02:51] Um
[1:02:53] and permanent and unchanging.
[1:02:55] Then I guess my question is, why did the
[1:02:59] the Buddha say the opposite? And that
[1:03:01] there is no permanent
[1:03:04] Yes. behind and then after death, it is
[1:03:08] not the same that goes through the next
[1:03:10] cycle of of rebirth.
[1:03:12] >> Yes, yes. So what he's talking about
[1:03:14] there, imagine that this is the question
[1:03:16] which was asked first about the ego.
[1:03:19] So, what's he what he's talking about
[1:03:20] and the Theravada Buddhists are talking
[1:03:22] about in general when the Buddhist means
[1:03:23] self, they mean what we generally mean
[1:03:26] by self, the ego.
[1:03:28] And this ego is actually arising and
[1:03:29] disappearing moment to moment. And it
[1:03:31] disappears continuously and completely
[1:03:33] in deep sleep.
[1:03:34] Again comes back.
[1:03:36] So, that's the false sense of the self.
[1:03:39] Which Vedanta also dissolves. Today also
[1:03:42] we dissolve the false sense of the self.
[1:03:43] I think I'm this body mind. Then I was
[1:03:45] shown that the body mind is an object.
[1:03:49] Uh it is the seen. I am the seer. And
[1:03:51] the seer is distinct from the seen. So,
[1:03:53] I am not this body mind self.
[1:03:57] The question about the ego. The ego is
[1:03:59] that body mind self. Ego is something
[1:04:01] that arises in the mind to coordinate
[1:04:02] the activities of body mind. And what we
[1:04:05] are saying and the what the Buddha said
[1:04:06] is the same thing. It seems to be polar
[1:04:08] opposite. The way it is taught.
[1:04:10] Vedanta or the Hindu schools are all
[1:04:13] self
[1:04:14] oriented. That there's a permanent self.
[1:04:17] I'm an eternal self or a soul.
[1:04:21] And the Buddhist say no self.
[1:04:23] Atma Anatma. But now you see where both
[1:04:25] meet.
[1:04:27] That which we ordinarily consider to be
[1:04:29] a sense of self, both Vedanta and
[1:04:31] Buddhism are deconstructing that.
[1:04:33] Yeah.
[1:04:34] And this talk about pure consciousness,
[1:04:36] the witness consciousness.
[1:04:38] Because Vedanta is a sort of
[1:04:40] positivistic philosophy, it will always
[1:04:42] emphasize the positive side of it.
[1:04:44] The Buddha on the other hand came to the
[1:04:46] same thing negatively.
[1:04:49] The Buddha's approach is not this not
[1:04:51] this.
[1:04:52] And then what is it? Buddha will shh
[1:04:56] Don't say. And they are right.
[1:04:58] So, I've had long discussions with
[1:04:59] Tibetan Buddhists about this.
[1:05:02] So, they are like they are hyper
[1:05:03] logical.
[1:05:05] Whatever you state, whatever I stated
[1:05:07] now about the nature of the ultimate
[1:05:09] reality, pure consciousness, they can
[1:05:10] chop it to bits logically.
[1:05:13] Why? Because the moment you bring it
[1:05:15] into language, it will be defective.
[1:05:19] They are right. You make positive
[1:05:21] statements about it, none of it will be
[1:05:22] accurate.
[1:05:23] But what then what does Vedanta do?
[1:05:25] Vedanta uses these positive statements
[1:05:27] to point back to something hopefully
[1:05:28] which you will grasp intuitively.
[1:05:31] Buddhism also does the same thing by
[1:05:33] cutting down all support linguistically.
[1:05:37] And hoping
[1:05:40] Shh. No more talk about that. They are
[1:05:42] hyper logical. Every statement is false.
[1:05:46] And then
[1:05:47] Nagarjuna was asked. He said, "Shunyata
[1:05:50] sarva drishti nam, the emptiness of all
[1:05:52] views." And somebody said, "Sir, your
[1:05:54] then your view is empty, too. Your
[1:05:55] statement is also false." He said, "If I
[1:05:57] had a statement, it would be false.
[1:05:58] Since I have none,
[1:06:00] you cannot accuse me of that error."
[1:06:03] He says, "My only approach is whatever
[1:06:05] you say, I will cut it down.
[1:06:07] But you can't cut me down because I'm
[1:06:09] not saying anything."
[1:06:12] So that means you have nothing to say? I
[1:06:14] didn't say that, either.
[1:06:15] >> [laughter]
[1:06:17] >> Huh? And that is Nagarjuna's approach.
[1:06:19] Um the catushkoti vinirmukta tattvam,
[1:06:22] the reality which transcends the four um
[1:06:26] uh the alternates.
[1:06:27] The self, this is the question, now. So
[1:06:29] it was put to Nagarjuna. So does the
[1:06:31] self exist? He said, um
[1:06:34] "No, it is not that the self exists."
[1:06:36] Ah, so it does not exist? "No, it is not
[1:06:39] that the self does not exist. So it both
[1:06:41] exists and does not exist? "No, it is
[1:06:43] not that the self both exists and does
[1:06:45] not exist. So it neither exists neither
[1:06:47] does not exist?" "No, it's not that the
[1:06:49] self neither exists neither does not
[1:06:50] exist." These are the four logical
[1:06:52] alternatives, catushkoti. And the truth
[1:06:54] transcends all four.
[1:06:58] It's not so difficult to understand.
[1:06:59] Take the gold and the ornaments example.
[1:07:03] Is the gold is the neck um
[1:07:06] is the gold an ornament?
[1:07:09] No, it's not that the gold is an
[1:07:10] ornament. Ah, so the ornaments are not
[1:07:12] gold. No, not that either.
[1:07:14] So the ornament is both gold and not
[1:07:16] gold. No, it's not that either.
[1:07:20] So it's neither gold nor not gold. No,
[1:07:22] not that either.
[1:07:24] It is the reality of all the ornaments.
[1:07:30] Thank you. One more? Well, just you
[1:07:34] know, so when
[1:07:35] you know, in the the five skandhas he
[1:07:37] talks about consciousness. It's it's
[1:07:39] separate from the consciousness in
[1:07:40] Vedanta. Which one? In
[1:07:43] when the Buddha talks about the
[1:07:44] aggregates. Yes, the aggregate when
[1:07:47] talks about vijnana vijnana. That is the
[1:07:49] consciousness the ego consciousness.
[1:07:51] That is what is cut down by Vedanta and
[1:07:53] by Buddhism. It's not very difficult to
[1:07:55] see the ego conscious
[1:07:56] consciousness is changing, it's
[1:07:58] transient, it arises, it disappears.
[1:08:01] So it is not the pure consciousness.
[1:08:04] There are some schools of of Buddhism,
[1:08:06] Tibetan Buddhism for example.
[1:08:11] The Shentong school
[1:08:12] which points to a very non-dual Vedantic
[1:08:15] type of pure consciousness. There there
[1:08:17] is no difference of view.
[1:08:19] All right.
[1:08:38] >> [bell]
