Mind alone is bondage and liberation || Acharya Prashant, On Upanishad (2024)
Video Information: 17.03.2024, Vedanta Session, Greater Noida
Context:
~ What does liberation mean to you personally?
~ How do you define gratification in your life?
~ Are you currently prioritizing short-term gratification over long-term liberation in any aspect of your life?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
Context:
~ What does liberation mean to you personally?
~ How do you define gratification in your life?
~ Are you currently prioritizing short-term gratification over long-term liberation in any aspect of your life?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00 Does the person you are with encourage you to read?
00:05 You have to ask, what does he bring for me?
00:09 Roses or books?
00:12 If someone has a stake in making you better, that person will push you towards books.
00:17 Books are what we all need.
00:21 I'll begin with the explanation.
00:45 So, we'll have this session, welcome everybody, in two parts.
00:57 In the first part, we'll cover some fundamentals of Advaita Vedanta.
01:16 I'll try to take it up in a way that one single shloka, verse, unfolds to reveal us
01:31 the complete essence of Vedanta.
01:37 So the verse we are beginning with is, I suppose all of us are carrying pen and a sheet of
01:48 paper.
01:52 So this comes from the Upanishads.
01:59 As we know, Vedanta is synonymous with Upanishads.
02:10 Though, if you ask technically, Vedanta comprises of not just the Upanishads, but also the Bhagavad
02:24 Gita and the Vedanta Sutra or Brahma Sutra of Badrayan or Ved Vyas.
02:37 So what we are taking up is this.
02:42 Manyeva manushyanaam karanam pandhamokshayoh.
02:51 And this comes from the Brahma Vindu Upanishad.
02:56 Manyeva manushyanaam karanam brandhamokshayoh.
03:06 Translated it would read, the mind alone is the cause of both bondage and liberation.
03:25 Bondage and liberation.
03:28 Starting from here we will venture deeper.
03:36 Whose bondage, whose liberation?
03:38 This question is extremely important in Vedanta.
03:47 And the one who is at the centre of attention is nobody else but the self, I, me, the questioner,
04:02 the seeker.
04:05 So Vedanta begins with an admission of one's suffering.
04:15 One feels suffocated, one feels hurt, wounded, betrayed and all these are cumulatively termed
04:26 as bondages.
04:31 So freedom from the usual state of the self, the I, the ego is the ultimate objective of
04:39 Vedanta.
04:42 So liberation is the goal.
04:46 Liberation of the ego, the little self, the me, the I from its usual state.
04:55 My usual state is not something I can be contented with.
05:04 Therefore I seek change, change not just nominal, superficial, but very fundamental.
05:12 I just don't want to dress up to please or deceive myself.
05:23 I don't want a little bit of cosmetic shift in the way I am or in the way I experience.
05:34 I want my very foundation to be different.
05:38 I want my deepest centre to change.
05:43 I want to be a different existence altogether, a different being.
05:53 That is the purpose of Vedanta.
05:56 So little bit of change, cosmetic change can be brought about by things as frivolous as
06:05 entertainment.
06:06 In fact, that's a good definition of entertainment, something that brings about a temporal, superficial,
06:15 frivolous change in the state of consciousness.
06:17 That's entertainment.
06:19 So had we been targeting just nominal change, any kind of entertainment would have sufficed.
06:30 But that's not what Vedanta is shooting at.
06:34 Vedanta is very ambitious in that regard.
06:39 If I am suffering, I want to go to the very core of my suffering.
06:46 I want to understand its genesis and I want to be completely liberated from suffering.
06:53 That's what Vedanta targets.
06:56 So bandha mokshayoh, bandhan, bondage, my bondage, it all begins with me.
07:08 So basics.
07:10 Vedanta is about me and this question Vedanta will keep throwing at us.
07:16 Just when we are about to unconsciously slip into the sensual world, Vedanta will just
07:29 shake us up and ask, "Well, who is the one who is slipping?
07:34 Who is the one getting entertained?
07:38 Who is the one talking about all the things that have become so important to you?"
07:44 And then we'll find ourselves with a look aghast.
07:51 We had come up with a matter that we termed as important.
07:56 Vedanta turns around and asks, "To whom is it important?
08:03 To whom is it important?
08:06 And if the important thing is important to you, aren't you more important than even the
08:12 most important thing that's important to you?"
08:17 That's a very fundamental question.
08:19 Koham.
08:20 Who am I?
08:22 Who is the one at the center of all the activity?
08:28 You'll go to a seer, a sage with some important matter and the first thing the sage would
08:42 ask is, "To whom is the matter important?"
08:48 Don't say the matter is important.
08:51 There is no objective truth.
08:55 What is important to one person is totally unimportant to another.
09:02 So it's not that the matter in itself intrinsically holds some importance.
09:09 Had the matter had some innate importance, the importance would have been universal and
09:18 common to all experiencers, not just all human beings, but also the other animate beings.
09:29 But that's not how we see.
09:34 What is very important to one is a trivial thing to the other.
09:41 So Vedanta keeps the center right at the center.
09:48 Never forget who you are.
09:51 In fact, forgetfulness of who you are is the very cause of suffering.
09:56 So do not forget who you are.
09:59 So when we talk of all these big things, the mind, the world, the entire expanse of spiritual
10:09 jargon, Vedanta says, "Well, keep one very little thing, that small letter right at the
10:19 center, 'I'.
10:21 It's all for me.
10:22 It's all for me.
10:26 I am suffering, hence there is Vedanta and whether or not Vedanta has succeeded on me
10:36 will be decided by only one criteria.
10:42 Am I still the same person?
10:46 Is my vision still clouded?
10:50 Am I cluttered or clear?
10:55 Can I see things clearly and can I see myself very very clearly?
11:05 That's the question Vedanta poses.
11:08 So "man eva manushyanaam karanam bandhu mokshayo" - What is the mind if it's all about the
11:19 'I'?
11:21 What is the mind then?
11:23 Vedanta will not allow us to proceed with common and pedestrian notions or definitions.
11:38 Definition by definition must be very sharp and precise.
11:47 So what is the mind?
11:49 If it's all about me, what is the mind then?
11:55 Vedanta gives a very sharp definition.
12:00 The mind is the entire set, the whole universe of objects that the 'I' has a relationship
12:11 with.
12:15 Not the entire set of everything that is there in the universe.
12:21 One does not have a relationship with everything.
12:26 But whatsoever one develops a relationship with becomes mind.
12:37 Objects in general are called "vastu", just "vastu".
12:45 But the object becoming the mind is called "vishay".
12:52 So an object untouched by the self, the ego is just an object.
13:00 But the moment the object is touched by 'I' it becomes "vishay" or mind.
13:07 And mind is an accumulation, a congregation of objects that it is in relationship with.
13:21 So there is the object, there is me, there is a relationship in between and the complete
13:26 set of all such objects is called the mind.
13:30 I am fond of saying that the mind is the whole society, the entire locality, the whole population
13:48 around the centre called 'I'.
13:56 The neighbourhood of 'I' is called the mind.
14:01 'I' is at the centre and it has managed to settle an entire neighbourhood around itself.
14:10 That neighbourhood is called the mind.
14:18 The conscious entity is 'I', irrespective of the degree of consciousness it has.
14:28 If 'I' were to be fully conscious, it would be the liberated self.
14:35 But the 'I' cannot manage to be totally unconscious.
14:39 Even if we want to, we cannot afford to be totally unconscious ever.
14:47 When the most unconscious person retains a modicum of consciousness, that's a liability
14:56 we carry, that's an existential obligation.
15:00 As long as you are, you can never be fully unconscious.
15:04 So there is the 'I' and there is the entire universe and the 'I' wants to strike a relationship
15:15 with certain objects in the universe.
15:18 The objects that it manages to have a relationship with constitute the mind.
15:28 You would ask why at all must the 'I' have a relationship with stuff?
15:34 Because the 'I', the ego, which is at the centre of all enquiry and all seeking, is
15:42 by definition an incomplete entity.
15:49 It's called 'aham'.
15:50 Vedanta calls it as 'aham'.
15:54 'Aham' denotes the sense of self defined by constant unease and therefore a constant striving.
16:21 I am not well, I am not at ease, I am not well, I am not complete, I am not secure.
16:28 That's what the 'I' is.
16:33 And since this is the way the 'I' is, hence Vedanta.
16:37 Else there was no need to explore and look for a treatment.
16:44 The 'I' says I am not well, therefore there is a need to seek something that would treat
16:53 it and restore health to it.
16:58 So the 'I' says I am not alright, I am not satisfied, I am not well, I am not home.
17:09 Therefore something must happen.
17:15 Since I am not complete, therefore something must be added to me.
17:22 The status quo won't do because the status quo is suffering.
17:34 Things as they are right now cannot be allowed to continue because I don't feel well.
17:43 The ego is something that never feels quite well about itself.
17:47 I don't feel well, something ought to change and how can I bring about change?
17:55 By relating with the universe.
17:59 What is my universe?
18:01 Usually it is defined by the scope of my senses.
18:08 But because the senses will not suffice, therefore the sixth sense comes into question, which
18:14 is the ability to imagine, picturise and conceptualise.
18:23 So I can see things and have a relationship with them in order to feel better and if I
18:33 cannot see things or hold them or touch them, I proceed to imagine things in order to feel
18:40 better.
18:44 But I must feel better.
18:47 My present state is of distinct unease.
18:54 Something needs to be done.
18:55 I am suffering.
18:58 I need to add something to myself or I need to subtract something from myself.
19:04 I need to paint myself in another colour.
19:09 I need to become somebody else.
19:14 That's how the ego keeps uttering.
19:17 So the ego says, I don't feel secure.
19:20 Can I add a little house to myself?
19:25 You say I don't feel secure.
19:27 Can I add a teeny weeny partner to myself?
19:32 Why don't I feel complete?
19:36 Can I add a few members to my family?
19:40 I don't feel sufficient.
19:42 Can I add a few zeros to my bank balance?
19:47 That's how the ego operates and in all matters of operation of the ego, an object is related
20:00 to.
20:03 An object is clutched.
20:10 That clutching is called the mind.
20:16 The ego is sticky, like a child afraid.
20:27 Once it gets hold of something, it won't loosen the grip.
20:35 All the things that the ego grips together constitute the mind.
20:46 And the ego in its own view has a valid reason to clutch at things.
20:56 The valid reason is I am insufficient, incomplete.
21:03 Obviously, I cannot continue the way I am.
21:07 Therefore, I must take help of the world.
21:12 There are then two worlds.
21:14 There is the universe of objects and there is a universe of relationships.
21:22 For the ego, it is the world of objects that constantly keeps becoming the world of relationships.
21:33 The ego cannot afford to let objects continue as objects.
21:38 If there is an object, for the ego, it must be my object.
21:46 The ego is not at peace letting the world of objects be.
21:55 The ego says, "Oh, that thing in the window of the shop means nothing.
22:08 It must turn into my thing."
22:16 The ego will look at a beautiful flower and pluck it and say, "It must become my flower."
22:27 The ego is incapable of remaining aloof and detached and just appreciating from a distance.
22:37 It is so insecure, it wants to pluck all the flowers and store them somewhere in its own
22:46 custody, in its own power and position.
22:51 That's how the ego is.
22:53 Do we see what then the mind is?
22:56 All the flowers that the ego has managed to pluck and salt and secure.
23:12 Also the ego, being afraid, wants to keep certain things at bay.
23:26 The objects that the ego does not like, they too constitute the mind because dislike is
23:35 as much of a relationship as like.
23:40 So both these relationships exist.
23:43 There is something that is in the mind because it is pleasant and there is something there
23:52 is in the mind because it is very unpleasant, rather threatening.
23:59 So these two become the basic instincts, greed and fear.
24:08 I remember something because it was very pleasant.
24:11 I also remember something because it was very unpleasant.
24:15 Both these things become the mind.
24:21 What's common is that the ego has a stake in remembering both those things.
24:30 So, "man eva manushyanaam karanam bandhamoksheyo".
24:39 The ego is in a state of bondage.
24:45 That's how it looks at itself in its own view.
24:50 That's how it is.
24:51 I am and I am not well.
24:54 You ask ego, "Who are you and how are you?"
24:58 It will say, "I do exist.
25:00 I am not frictional.
25:02 I am and I am not well.
25:05 I am and I am not well."
25:08 So wellness has to be achieved.
25:12 How is wellness to be achieved?
25:16 There is only one way, the world of objects.
25:20 Once you are born, you are born into a world of objects.
25:25 There are these senses and these senses are always perceiving objects.
25:35 So that, gladly or sadly, is the only way then to proceed.
25:44 It's like being born in a jungle.
25:47 Even if you want to get out of the jungle, you will have to navigate through the jungle.
25:54 So there is this jungle of objects all around us, even as we are born.
26:00 The kid opens her eyes and sees things.
26:03 So there are things.
26:08 How then must we tackle this very important and very serious question, the question of
26:15 bondage and suffering?
26:17 Vedanta says the answer lies in right relationship.
26:25 Right relationship.
26:26 "Man eva" - there is no other answer except right relationship.
26:31 "Eva" means "he", exclusively the mind, nothing else but the mind.
26:42 That is what "eva" denotes.
26:46 Nothing else but the mind will bring you to bondage, deeper bondage or to liberation.
26:58 Nothing but the mind.
26:59 What is implied?
27:00 The implication is there is the world and you exist in it.
27:11 At least that's how you perceive your situation.
27:17 You better have the discretion, vivek, to choose the right objects to associate with.
27:32 How is a right object chosen?
27:36 First of all, all rightness is with respect to myself.
27:40 I am not well.
27:42 Therefore, that lack of wellness will decide the rightness of the object.
27:51 The attractiveness of the object will not decide its rightness.
27:57 The usefulness of the object will decide its rightness.
28:06 The Upanishads put it this way, "Not pray but share".
28:13 Do not go by what is pleasant to you.
28:20 Go by what is helpful to you.
28:23 Never forget that you are diseased.
28:28 You do not need to titillate your test buds.
28:32 You need to restore your health.
28:34 Pray means that which is pleasant or attractive.
28:40 Share means that which is helpful.
28:47 It is very difficult because the ego by its very constitution is drawn towards stuff that
28:53 it likes.
28:54 The ego lacks self-knowledge.
28:56 It does not know who it is but it feels that it suffers.
29:04 Please understand.
29:06 Happens with most of us.
29:09 You have something in your stomach, a little ulcer, let's say, a bit of a tumor, something.
29:18 You don't know what exactly is the ailment but you experience the suffering.
29:25 That's how the ego is.
29:26 It experiences suffering without knowing why it suffers.
29:31 Therefore, it gives false treatments to its suffering.
29:38 All that which appears pleasant to us is actually a case of false treatment that the ego wants
29:45 to give itself.
29:48 And false treatments are known to fatally aggravate the disease.
29:57 Please understand.
30:00 The ego feels, experiences, "Something is not wrong with me.
30:05 Something is wrong with me."
30:10 We all do that.
30:12 But it requires a certain effort and a certain expertise to know what actually is wrong and
30:21 with whom is the problem.
30:27 The ego has neither that expertise nor usually the inclination.
30:34 Therefore, it just experiences a certain unease without knowing what the unease is about and
30:41 to whom is the unease.
30:44 Therefore, driven by the unease, without knowing the unease, it proceeds towards things that
30:52 it just likes.
30:54 That's called prayer.
30:58 So the usual relationship of the ego is a relationship in blindness.
31:03 "I am not okay, I don't feel okay, therefore I rush towards something that I feel will
31:12 be good for me.
31:15 Feel will be good for me."
31:19 And when you do not know what the disease is, then it's very likely that you will pop
31:28 up pills that are either totally irrelevant or even quite dangerous.
31:40 All the methods that the ego adopts to treat its own condition are known to prove ineffective,
31:51 irrelevant and generally exercises in self-deception.
31:59 And with time the ego becomes a master at self-deception.
32:03 "I don't feel well, I pop a pill.
32:08 I don't feel well, I go and buy something.
32:12 I don't feel well, I pick up the phone and indulge in gossip.
32:17 I don't feel well, I offer myself some kind of distraction, some method to escape from
32:25 my state.
32:28 I'll proceed on a vacation.
32:32 I'll go and enjoy some kind of culinary or physical pleasure.
32:40 I'll not want to investigate into what really the problem is about."
32:48 So the usual relationship is a relationship of unconscious blindness, instinctive compulsiveness.
32:59 I don't know what I want, yet I experience, I feel that I want something.
33:05 So I just almost randomly pick up something.
33:11 If not randomly, then by looking at others.
33:15 That is the logic, if such a thing can be called logic at all.
33:21 Why are you according this kind of treatment to yourself?
33:27 Because that's what everybody else is doing.
33:33 Why do you binge shop on weekends?
33:38 Because there is nothing else to do.
33:42 Why are you taking this decision?
33:47 I don't know, but isn't it obvious?
33:50 It's not obvious.
33:51 Kindly explain.
33:52 Why have you taken the decisions that you have?
33:56 No, it's an absurd question.
34:00 No, it's not an absurd question.
34:03 Kindly explain.
34:07 I don't mean to jettison common sense altogether.
34:14 I stop this conversation here.
34:19 So all these things, all these tricks that the ego employs, common sense, obviousness,
34:31 these are nothing but tropes to hide the lack of self-awareness.
34:36 Since we do not know what we are doing, therefore we hide behind these comfortable words.
34:42 We say, well, you know, what else?
34:46 Yes, obviously.
34:50 Those things.
34:54 That's a wrong relationship.
34:59 Any relationship that is formed without knowing who is the one entering that relationship
35:10 and for what reason is a wrong relationship.
35:15 The mind is typically an aggregation of the fruits of our wrong relationships.
35:26 Hope you understand the word relationship.
35:28 Relationship does not just mean the thing that happens between a man and a woman as
35:34 is usually taken.
35:37 I buy a mobile phone, that's a relationship.
35:42 I buy a new shirt, that's a relationship.
35:45 Go to watch a movie, that's a relationship.
35:50 What does the paint on that wall mean to me, that's a relationship.
36:00 There's the pet that I have, that's a relationship.
36:03 I have memories from the past, that's a relationship.
36:07 I have hopes for the future, that's a relationship.
36:13 So typically, the mind is full of wrong relationships because the one forming relationships has
36:22 no self-knowledge.
36:25 But it has a lot of unease, like a man with his body on fire.
36:40 His capacity to clearly think, clearly see has been paralyzed.
36:51 He's on fire.
36:54 But he's experiencing extreme pain.
36:57 That's the condition of the ego.
36:59 It experiences but does not know.
37:04 So what will the man do?
37:05 The man will just run about with all the energy possible in any given direction.
37:18 We very well know that when buildings are on fire, people often jump from the 7th floor,
37:36 10th floor, 60th floor.
37:43 When the WTC was hit, 9/11, one of the frames that has become tragically immortalized is
37:57 that of a man jumping to his death from one of the burning towers.
38:08 What else can be done?
38:13 The mind has lost its capacity to understand.
38:23 The ego rarely understands, but it feels.
38:32 In the rush of that feeling, it forms relationships.
38:39 I'm off.
38:44 The mood is bad.
38:45 What do I do?
38:50 Will you give me something spicy to eat?
38:54 Offer me a few drinks.
38:59 That's far easier than venturing into oneself and investigating why exactly is the mood
39:08 off.
39:13 That seems like an easier option to just drown oneself in a few drinks.
39:26 A relationship is formed.
39:30 This relationship is not the right relationship.
39:33 Therefore, the Upanishad is saying that the mind itself is the cause of bondage.
39:42 We start with bondages and if we do not know that we are in bondage, then every new bonding
39:58 that we enter into is actually a new bondage.
40:04 Bonding is relationship, right?
40:06 What we call as bonding is actually bondage.
40:13 Please understand.
40:16 The initial state, the state we start with as we are born is that of ignorance.
40:27 We do not know who we are.
40:29 Look at the helpless state of a newborn.
40:34 What does it know?
40:35 It only feels.
40:36 What does it understand?
40:38 It only has instincts and from that state we can either proceed towards understanding
40:50 which is liberation or we could simply operate from the state of bondage itself and consequently
40:59 deepen the bondage.
41:02 If we form wrong relationships, then the state of bondage is deepened.
41:10 What is a right relationship then?
41:13 A right relationship is a product of self-reflection and self-knowledge.
41:21 I am seeing what ails me.
41:24 Therefore, I am seeing what is it that I must connect to, relate to, what is it that I must
41:31 bring into my life and what is it that I must expunge from my life.
41:38 That's right relationship.
41:39 Right relationship is a product of self-knowledge.
41:42 Therefore, when we say that the mind is the cause of bondage and liberation, what we are
41:50 saying actually is that self-knowledge is the cause of liberation and lack of self-knowledge
41:58 is the cause of bondage.
42:01 That's how the whole shloka translates.
42:09 That's Upanishadic wisdom.
42:12 If you know who you are, you will become much much better than who you are.
42:25 Knowing is radical transformation.
42:31 Whereas without knowing, it does not matter how much you strive for change, the change
42:40 will remain superficial.
42:46 If without striving for change, without desiring for change, you just know what your situation
42:55 is like, you will find that radical change is happening by itself.
43:03 That's the approach of Vedanta.
43:07 Know and be liberated.
43:15 Not do and be liberated.
43:17 No.
43:18 Know and be liberated.
43:24 You see in the Bhagavad Gita, it's a beautiful thing.
43:28 Chapter 1 is about the travails of Arjuna.
43:33 He is in a miserable state.
43:38 Chapter 1 captures that.
43:41 And Chapter 2 is about knowing, Sankhya Yoga, which is the way of knowledge, knowing.
43:47 Chapter 3 is Karma Yoga, action.
43:55 The message cannot be missed.
43:59 If you know action follows, Chapter 3 follows Chapter 2.
44:06 Right action can come only from understanding.
44:10 If you understand, right action becomes inevitable.
44:15 You don't need to think about it.
44:17 Understanding is sufficient.
44:19 You cannot understand and not act rightly.
44:23 If you understand, right action will just spontaneously happen.
44:33 That's Vedanta.
44:34 If you understand, right relationships will get formed.
44:42 You don't have to strive for the right relationships.
44:48 But you do have to strive for something.
44:53 If you are in the maze of wrong relationship, then the wrong relationship itself becomes
44:59 a barrier against understanding.
45:03 That's where dedicated effort is needed.
45:09 If I have surrounded myself with all kinds of intoxicating objects, that environment
45:18 will prevent me from self-observation.
45:27 This is where I will need to put an effort.
45:31 That brings us to another aspect of Vedanta.
45:34 The approach of Vedanta, step by step, is of negation.
45:44 Right things need not be done.
45:47 Right things will happen on their own.
45:50 There is something that does need to be done.
45:53 What is it?
45:54 Stopping the wrong things.
45:56 The approach is of negation, classically called as neti neti.
46:01 Stop all the nonsense.
46:04 Then the right flowers will bloom by themselves.
46:09 Clear the clutter and in that pure space, something beautiful will happen on its own.
46:18 You don't have to create beauty.
46:23 You have to just clear the ugliness.
46:26 That's Vedanta.
46:28 Beauty is not man-made.
46:31 Beauty is not something that the ego can create.
46:34 But there is something indeed that the ego can do, which is to get rid of ugliness.
46:41 Getting rid of the wrong relationship is the way of Vedanta.
46:45 Get rid of nonsense and be patient with the virtuous emptiness that is created.
46:54 Fall in love with that aloneness.
46:58 In that aloneness, the virtue of liberation blooms.
47:05 That aloneness looks terrifying only to the one who is currently in wrong relationship.
47:17 If you say aloneness is a terrible thing, Vedanta will again shoot back the same question.
47:25 To whom?
47:27 Aloneness is terrible.
47:28 Well, to whom?
47:30 To the one who has become accustomed to crutches, mental crutches.
47:39 You get rid of mental crutches, aloneness is beautiful.
47:43 In that aloneness, you get the power, the authority, the capability to strike right
47:53 relationships.
47:54 Only when you are comfortable with your aloneness, can right relationship happen.
48:01 One who is not alright with himself can never be alright with 5 or 10 other objects, irrespective
48:10 of the number and nature of objects.
48:15 Your task is not to find the right one.
48:18 Your task is to get rid of the wrong ones.
48:21 There is nothing called the right one.
48:26 If at all there is somebody called the right one, it is nobody else but you.
48:31 You have to become the right one.
48:33 And who is the right one?
48:35 The one who has shown the guts and the gumption to get rid of the wrong ones.
48:41 Get rid of the wrong ones, you yourself are the right one.
48:43 Then you don't have to wait for an external right one.
48:47 You are the right one.
48:49 That's Vedanta.
48:50 "Bham brahmasmi" - you are the right one.
48:55 No right one will come from any external place.
49:00 If you are right, you are right.
49:03 If you are wrong, no right one can salvage.
49:07 When it is said, "Man eva manushyanaam karanam bandha mokshayo", what is said is actually
49:21 know yourself, know thyself.
49:24 That's the central message.
49:25 When you know yourself, you know what's blocking you.
49:30 You look at yourself and all you find is a clutter of needless objects.
49:37 Get rid of those objects.
49:40 Get rid of those objects and remain peacefully in your "Kyavalya", in that pristine aloneness.
49:48 That pristine aloneness in Vedanta is known by the great and final name of "Atman", great
50:00 self, "Atma", Atma which is truth.
50:10 Vedanta is quite counterintuitive.
50:18 That's the reason there is so much importance of that little "Eva".
50:30 "Eva" excludes all that we are instinctively drawn to.
50:37 We think the cause of bondage is situation.
50:45 No, it's not the situation.
50:48 The one in bondage is the cause of the bondage.
50:52 Nothing outside of you is the cause of your inner situation.
50:59 Things that are external, external to the body that is, can only affect the body.
51:07 You are not your body.
51:10 You cannot be affected by anything except that which you choose to be affected by.
51:18 And why do we choose to be affected by something?
51:20 We think it would be a profitable deal to get affected.
51:27 Something is tempting me.
51:31 I decide to yield to the temptation.
51:36 Decide to get affected.
51:38 Why?
51:39 Because there has been some inner calculation that says if you yield to the temptation,
51:44 you will benefit.
51:46 So it's not the thing that I have yielded to.
51:50 I have yielded to my own inner calculation.
51:57 Vedanta is trying to exclude that thing from having any power over you.
52:03 Vedanta is saying, "No, that thing has no power at all.
52:07 You are the master of your fate.
52:09 You are the owner of your life.
52:12 Irrespective of what the world is doing to your physical existence, you can still be
52:19 ruler within.
52:23 That's how one has to live.
52:25 Otherwise, there is no point in living.
52:28 Living is then a miserable exercise.
52:32 Internally, one must have his/her own kingdom.
52:41 As for the outside, well, nobody can determine or predict that.
52:46 Anything can happen anytime.
52:48 An earthquake can strike right now.
52:52 Even as we talk, we do not know how many of us might be having diseases.
53:01 Diseases are slowly developing within our bodies.
53:09 All that is external.
53:10 Not only is the world external, even this body is external.
53:15 One has no control over that.
53:18 One must have control over oneself.
53:21 I cannot determine all the things that will happen to me, but I can determine how I will
53:31 respond to anything that happens.
53:34 And I can also determine whether or not I will respond.
53:37 And I can determine that in the middle of all that is happening to me, I will remain
53:46 the unaffected, silent, peaceful monarch, being all the dignity and all the assurance.
53:57 That's the approach of Vedanta.
53:58 "Man eva manushyam karanam bandh mokshayo" Do not blame the world.
54:09 Do not play the victim.
54:12 Do not think that situations can mean anything to you beyond a point.
54:21 Own up responsibility.
54:29 Accept the driver's seat, your own life.
54:34 Don't allow the drift to carry you away.
54:38 Vedanta is the philosophy of total empowerment.
54:45 "Aham brahmasmi" I am highest that there can be.
54:53 And as long as I am not that, I'll keep striving.
54:59 Keep striving by the way of negation, by the way of neti neti.
55:02 I'll keep dropping everything that keeps me down.
55:10 There is no power outside of me that can have any say over my absolute sovereignty.
55:21 "Aham brahmasmi" I am the one and I am the only one.
55:29 When it comes to the body and the physical existence, obviously there are limits and
55:34 I understand those limits.
55:35 I respect those limits.
55:37 I'm not stupid enough to quarrel with that.
55:40 When it comes to the one that I am, the I, the I must be unconditionally free.
55:49 The I is not born unconditionally free.
55:52 The way for I to gain that unconditional freedom is through self-knowledge.
55:57 I'll keep observing myself.
55:59 I'll watch my tendencies.
56:01 I'll see how the body operates.
56:04 I'll see what is commonly called as the thoughts and the feelings, how they arise and fall.
56:12 Watch all those things and that's called self-knowledge.
56:15 Observing myself, I come to know who I am and from that knowledge, all that is needless
56:24 is dropped.
56:27 Once the needless is dropped, find that there is freedom.
56:43 I am grateful for the opportunity for being able to attend the live session with Acharya
56:49 Ji.
56:50 I've been listening to him for over a year now.
56:54 I am located in California, United States.
56:59 It's been an honor to learn about Acharya Ji and his teachings and I've gained great
57:08 valuable knowledge from hearing his sessions and lectures on YouTube.
57:15 Although I've been listening to him for a while, this is my first live session that
57:20 I attended and I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity.
57:29 My sincere thanks to the entire team for this effort and for bringing all of us together
57:36 because we're clearly marching towards a common goal here.
57:41 I also want to extend my sincere appreciation for everyone who was able to ask a question
57:48 in today's session.
57:51 Most of all, being vulnerable and sharing about your personal story, your experiences,
57:56 your thought process is greatly appreciated.
58:00 While we're here, the most impactful thing that we can do is to realize liberation and
58:10 to be able to achieve our own consciousness and be able to be there for those who are
58:16 alive today.
58:19 That's the biggest takeaway that I took from today's session.
58:22 Again, thank you very much for allowing me to be a part of this.
58:28 God Bless.