Gospel | Chapter 7: Dec 14, 1882 (Part 5) | Swami Sarvapriyananda

Om Tavakatam Ritam Taptaji Vanam Kavi Vireetham Kalmasapam Sravana Mangalam Shri Madatatam Bhuvighrinanti Bhuridha Jana So, in this long dialogue between Srirama Krishna and some close disciples, specially Vijay Krishna Goswami, this is Thursday 14th December 1882, continuing on page 168 at the very end. I read a little bit of this last time, but I didn't get a chance to comment upon it. So, we'll read that part again. And in this class, as you know, you're always free to comment, question. So, page 168 at the bottom of page 168. Vijay, Sir, why are we bound like this? Why don't we see God? Master, Maya is nothing but the egotism of the embodied soul. This egotism has covered everything like a veil. All troubles come to an end when the ego dies. If by the grace of God, a man but once realizes that he is not the doer, then he at once becomes a Jeevan Mukta. Though living in the body, he is liberated. He has nothing else to fear. This Maya, that is to say the ego, is like a cloud. The sun cannot be seen on account of a thin patch of cloud. When that disappears, one sees the sun. If by the grace of the Guru, once ego vanishes, then one sees God. Rama, who is God himself, was only two and a half cubits ahead of Lakshmana. But Lakshmana couldn't see him, because Sita stood between them. Lakshmana may be compared to the Jeeva and Sita to Maya. Man cannot see God on account of the barrier of Maya. Just look, I am creating a barrier in front of my face with this towel. Now you can't see me, even though I am so near. Likewise, God is the nearest of all, but we cannot see him on account of this covering of Maya. The Jeeva is nothing but the embodiment of Sat-Chid Ananda. But since Maya or ego has created various upadhis, he has forgotten his real self. Each upadhi changes man's nature. If he wears a fine black-bordered cloth, you will at once find him humming Nidubabu's love songs. Then playing cards and walking stick will follow. If even a sickly man puts on high boots, he begins to whistle and climbs the stairs like an Englishman, jumping from one step to another. If a man but holds a pen in his hand, he scribbles on any paper he can get hold of, such is the power of the pen. Nowadays, he would definitely say something about the power of the mobile phone. This is most obvious everywhere. Money is also a great upadhi. The possession of money makes such a difference in a man. He is no longer the same person. Abramin used to frequent the temple garden. Outwardly, he was very modest. One day, I went to Konnagar with Ridae. No sooner did we get off the boat, then we noticed Abramin seated on the bank of the Ganges. We thought he had been enjoying the fresh air. Looking at us, he said, Hello there priest, how do you do? I marked his tone and said to Ridae, The man must have got some money. That's why he talks that way. Ridae laughed. A frog had a rupee, which he kept in his hole. One day, an elephant was going over the hole and the frog, coming out in a fit of anger, raised his foot as if to kick the elephant and said, How dare you walk over my head? Such is the pride that money begets. Let's just do a little bit of this and then we go ahead. Vijaya asks, Why are we bound? Why don't we see God? Then Siddhama Krishna gives the usual Vedantic answer. It's all Maya. But then he makes it precise. Just to say it's Maya, what does one do with that? But he makes it precise. It's nothing but egotism of the embodied soul. This feeling of I and mine. If you want to look at it, Maya seems very vague. What's Maya? Where's Maya? But the sense of I, the ego, that's very clear for all of us. And Siddhama Krishna says, Look there for Maya. The sense of I, which binds us to this body and mind, that I am this person. With my personality, my narration of my life, my ambitions, hopes, frustrations, grudges, likes and dislikes, the whole bundle. This is all, it's like a cloud around the ego. And that ego is who I am. Of course, if you do a little bit of Vedantic analysis, we see clearly we are not the ego. Ego is just a function in the mind. Vedanta Sarai, we have done it, it defines the ego as Avimaan Atmika Antakkarna Vritti. That function of the mind, which functions as, what's the purpose of that function? It says I and it's the unifying function. But basically what the ego does, it's just an activity of the mind. Avimaan Atmika means it appropriates. So talking is going on. And what does the ego do? I am talking. Thinking is going on. What does the ego do? I am thinking. Feeling of hunger. Peculiar feeling in the tummy. And what does the ego do? I am hungry. There's a flash of anger. And what does the ego do? I am angry. So the ego is, and it's a necessary thing, it unifies the activities of the psyche and the body altogether. Mind, senses, body, all integrated by a function of the mind itself called the ego. And then again this is not theory or speculation. It's just exactly what it is. Just take a look. That's what the ego does. But we are not the ego. And a very good way of looking at it is we can easily see that we are the witness of the ego. We notice the functionings of the ego. And more interestingly, we notice the lack of functioning of the ego also. Sometimes when in deep sleep the ego disappears. In deep concentration. When you are focused, you are playing a game of tennis or a doctor is doing some kind of an operation procedure. In deep focus where there is no time to think or no occasion to think of anything else. Even the sense of ego goes away. You are playing, suppose you are playing a game. Like a table tennis or lawn tennis or something like that. And if you are completely absorbed in it, if you think of yourself, I am going to do this. Then you can't. You can't play well. If you are playing a musical instrument and you are playing it well, you are absorbed in it. You notice then the ego can't come in there. If it does come in it will interfere with your playing. This is what he found it out. The psychologist, Mihai Jixen Mihai, the person who coined the term flow. He passed away just this year I think or last year. This year probably. This year or last year. He passed. But he was this Eastern European psychologist who developed the concept of flow. He worked here in the United States. I would highly recommend that one book, the first book. He wrote a number of books. The first book, Flow, FLOW. Where he talks about his whole search. All his life was. First his search was, what is it that gives us the best moments of our life? The best moments of our life. What's the best life that we can have? The best moments of our life. And he noticed one common factor. Whichever of the best moments of our life, we are fully engaged there. We are fully engaged. And we are fully engaged in some positive pursuit. Higher positive pursuit which calls upon all our resources. And we are engaged in it. So he noticed that to have a very full life, a full experience. What Maslow called peak experiences. One characteristic, common characteristic was attention. So all our attention is focused at that moment or for that period of time. So he developed this idea of flow. So over time he became more interested in the phenomenon of attention. And he gave it the name flow. He got this term from one music conductor. Who says that he or she was conducting an orchestra. Like a western classical music full orchestra. And he says sometimes it really, everything clicks, everything is in place. He is waving his hand and he used that language. The music just flows. So Mihai Chikz and Mihai got that term. He pointed out it takes a lot of practice to attain that flow state. He said it could be in any field. In music, in sports, in writing, in your profession. Especially if it's a difficult profession like a surgeon or something like that. So in any sort of occupation or game where it challenges you. And then he developed a whole theory. The basic crucial idea was that this activity where you get flow should challenge you to the limits of your capacity. Neither less nor more. If it is less than challenging then you will get boredom. If it is more than challenging, more than our present capacity. When we get unease, we get anxiety, we get scared, we get tense. It's too much. So he said the whole idea was to attain flow by engaging in an activity to the limit of your capacity. It could be spiritual practice, meditation, japa. But how do I do that? Well it's up to us or to a great deal itself. Up to some extent at least it's up to us. But challenge the work that we are facing is too much. He says break it down into smaller parts which you can handle a little more easily. If it's too little, make it more challenging for your own good so that you are absorbed in it. Now one of the characteristics he mentions about flow, he says the ego disappears. When you are in flow, the sense of individuality, ego, I am doing this. This feeling should disappear otherwise you are not in flow. So when the ego disappears in flow, you don't disappear. You are there. You are the one who is playing tennis or doing a surgery. It would be terrible that the doctor disappears in the middle of surgery. Why did you disappear? Because you are going so well. No, it's just the sense of self disappears, the sense of ego disappears. So we are not the ego. And Sridhama Krishna is pointing out this ego is actually, but you are all the time associated with the ego and the ego is what ties us to the mind of the body. And then all the associated history and desires and our agendas, all of that is tied to the ego. If I am not the ego then what am I exactly? Vedanta would say you are limitless consciousness. It's that ego which crystallizes or localizes us into this body mind. Not that the body mind will disappear, the ego disappears, but then your real nature, limitless consciousness is revealed. So I'll come to you. So is it true that in flow then your real nature will be revealed? No. It's the flow when one Mehi Jigya Mehi talks about it. It's a state of deep concentration. That's all. It's not a state of enlightenment. However, enlightenment is realizing that I am not the ego. And so whether the ego is present or not present, you know that you are not the ego. Yes, Patrick. Oh yeah, that's a good question. But it's not entirely unrelated. Deep concentration, enlightenment, are they not, are they the same? No. But are they related? Yes. That's why meditation is so important on our path towards enlightenment. Yes. Krishnababha is asking why we are bound and what your understanding seems to sound like is to be also how we are bound, the process of being bound, the ego, the Maya. But the question for me too is why are we bound in the first place? How? Actually, he's asking about why are we bound, why don't we see God right now. But why are we, he's actually asking a very practical question. He wants to see God. So Ramakrishna is saying you can see God. You can experience your real nature. And Vijay Krishna says then why can't we? But from that, one of the related questions will go back to a theory, that's a more theoretical question. How did it all start? Where did the ego come from? Dancer would be Maya. But where did Maya come from? Dancer would be Maya did not come from anything. It's beginningless. I've explained this earlier that Maya is, another name for Maya is avidya, ignorance. Ignorance of what? Our real nature. So when did this ignorance come? If I am God, if I am Brahman, if I am limitless consciousness, how did I become ignorant? Well, ignorance did not come. It's always been there. It's beginningless. And by now I think some of you at least have heard the answer many times. How can it be beginningless? It sounds like a cop-out. Well it doesn't. Actually any kind of ignorance is beginningless. I give you the example of Professor Jayan Mahante. He told us once, how can ignorance be beginningless? This is pretty simple. Any kind of ignorance is beginningless. He asked us, do you know Spanish? We, the students, we said no. So since when do you are ignorant of Spanish? Yes. So since when are you ignorant of it? When did your ignorance of Spanish begin? We said at birth. Oh so you knew Spanish before your birth? No. Any kind of ignorance is beginningless. Avidya, ignorance is beginningless. But it comes to an end the moment you start taking your first Spanish lesson. Any kind of, so whatever the subject, if you don't know it, you are ignorant of it and that ignorance is beginningless. So here the subject is, the subject itself, I. Who am I? And we don't seem to know that. That's what Vedanta says. So Siddhama Krishna, he will say later, you are none other than Satchidananda, the infinite existence consciousness place. You are Brahman, the standard, the core idea of Advaita Vedanta. But we don't know that. Instead of going that route, instead of saying ignorance, beginningless ignorance, that's Maya, he makes it more specific. Where does it operate in our day to day experience? It's in ego. Then if that, if you realize you are not the ego, then what will happen? He says once you realize you are not the doer, then he becomes a Jeevan Mukta. Tied to the ego, tied to body mind. And then what happens? Tied to body mind, one of the effects, immediate effects is, I am the doer of deeds. I am the one who does things good and bad. It's inevitable. I am right now, I can't avoid it. I feel I am speaking. But, and the problem with that is, the moment we feel we do things, we are trapped in the law of karma. The doer of actions will also get the result of actions. Why do we suffer? One answer, one answer is, your sufferings are the results of your past karma. But why did I get the results of karma? Because you did it. You did it, you get actions have consequences, causes have effects. So what we have done is giving rise to effects, good and bad in our life. And there is no end to this. As long as you keep doing, you will keep getting results, good and bad. So it's, the first thing to do is carefully get rid of the evil deeds, stop being naughty. And do good deeds that provide some measure of security and safety in life, of goodness in life, pleasantness in life. But that doesn't free us. And we cannot entirely avoid evil in life. Freedom from the law of karma, it's possible only, not through the law of karma, it's possible only when we transcend the law of karma. How do you transcend that? Vivekananda is poem, good, good, bad, bad, none escape the law, whosoever wears the form wears the chain too. Form means body-mind. And here crucially, Sridhama Krishna would say, how do you wear a form? Ego. But then, what does Vedanta help? How does it help? Far beyond name and form is atman ever free. Know thou art that. Sannyasi bold, say om tatsatom. So this is knowing that you are, this atman ever free is not the ego. It's the witness of the ego. When we realize, oh I am that. And therefore, I am not the ego, not the mind-body, therefore I am not the doer of deeds, nor am I the experiencer of pains and pleasures. Although it's only because of me, one has to be careful here, it's only because of me the consciousness, me the existence, me the atman, that this doing of deeds and experience of the results is going on. Without the scream, no movie would be possible. Without the dreamer, no dream would be possible. Without you the consciousness, none of this would be possible. But the way to free yourself is to realize yourself as the witness of the ego, as atman, not the ego. So he puts all of this as, once realizes that he is not the doer, then he at once becomes a jivan mukta. Though living in the body, he is liberated, he has nothing else to fear. What is a jivan mukta? That's the goal of Vedanta. Life will go on like this, but you are liberated. Think of the joy of that. You realize your infinite nature, your mind reflects this knowledge and you are fearless, happy, unshakable in this life. As long as the body lives, you live the life of a jivan mukta, enlightened while living in this body and mind. So this is, he says, though living in the body, he is liberated, he has nothing else to fear. Then he gives a comparison. Yes, Michael. So, Mujee, how do I know if it's my true realization that I am Brahman or is it just my ego that thinks that it is free and it is Brahman? How can I distinguish the difference between us? One should be, because in that case one will be able to see the ego as an object. One will also see the ego can never claim I am Brahman. The ego can point back. The ego is a function of the mind. It's forever tied to the mind. But I as Brahman am the witness of the ego and everything else and all the memories and the intellect and emotions and perceptions and the witness of all of that. And I am there without the ego mind body, with the ego mind body, I am still there. But they cannot exist without me. This sense of I, the ego. I mentioned this earlier. It's Vidyaril near the author of the Pancha Dasi. He says that the sense of I has three meanings. One and one meaning only for the ignorant does under the spell of Maya. And two meanings for the enlightened one, the Jeevan Mukta. So what are the three meanings of I? What does meaning refer to? First of all meaning. Meaning means reference. So when I use a word, it has a meaning meaning meaning a referent. When I say clock, you can do two things. You can look in the dictionary and see what is a clock. And you will get what will you get? More words. Clock will tell you this is a meaning of clock and it will give you some more words. Or you can see the object itself. The word clock refers to this. The word cloth refers to this. What does the word I refer to? What does the word I refer to? So the first meaning of I, the first referent of I is body mind. It's inescapable for us. Whatever we do when I say I, it refers to body mind. All theorizing but practically the I refers to body mind to this person. When I say I, it's unshakable this person. This is what I think. This is what I believe. This is what's real for me. This is how I speak. This is how I behave. This is how I react to the world as I body mind. But for the enlightened one, the one who has realized I am not the ego, the word I will have two meanings. One direct meaning, one indirect. The direct meaning of I for the enlightened one is I am Brahman, Aham Brahman has been. So doesn't the ego then point to, refer to Brahman? No ego cannot refer to Brahman. It points back to Brahman. But ego is an object of Brahman. It works like this. For us what happens? And then from here I will show what happens for the enlightened one. I look at the flower. The flower is an object to the eyes. The eyes are seeing the flower. The eyes in one sense like this. In one sense the eyes know the flower. Are you following me? In a very simple naive sense. The eyes know the flower. The flower doesn't know the eyes. The flower has no idea of the eyes or itself or anything else. The eyes, they are grasping as if they are knowing the flower. The flower is something known. The eyes are the knower. The flower is experienced. The eyes are the experiencer. Just a fancy way of saying the eyes are seeing and the flower is seen. Alright. Let's go a little further back. The eyes are blinking. Blink the eyes and you are aware of the eyes. The eyes are known. My eyes are open. My eyes are closed. And open again. Who saw that? The mind. But more than the mind, I can say more precisely, I. Where is the I? It's in the mind. I saw the eyes. I know the opening of the eyes and closing of the eyes. I know these are my eyes. Now follow carefully. Isn't it correct to say that the eye knows the eye, the vertical eye knows the horizontal eyes? This eye knows these eyes. Isn't it? Do these eyes know that eye? No. What can these eyes do? They can see things. But they don't think. They don't hear. They don't smell. They don't taste. They don't touch. They