What is Remembrance? || Acharya Prashant, on Bhagvad Gita (2016)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...  ⚡ Want Acharya Prashant’s regular updates? Join WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va6Z...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...   Want to accelerate Acharya Prashant’s work? Contribute: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/contri...   Want to work with Acharya Prashant? Apply to the Foundation here: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/hiring...  ➖➖➖➖➖➖  Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 14.01.2016, Shivanand Ashram, India   Context:   अर्जुन उवाचः नष्टो मोहः स्मृतिर्लब्धा त्वत्प्रसादान्मयाच्युत |  स्थितोऽस्मि गतसन्देहः करिष्ये वचनं तव ||73||  Arjun said: O infallible one, by your grace my illusion has been dispelled, and I am situated in knowledge. I am now free from doubts, and I shall act according to your instructions.  Bhagwad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 73  ~ What is Remembrance? ~ What is the meaning of remembrance in Bhagvad Geeta? ~ How does our mind remember anything? ~ Is our remembrance unlimited? ~ What are the bondages of our mind?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .

Transcript

00:00 So, we have read that the topic for today is Smriti Latha.

00:29 It relates to remembrance.

00:36 It is important to put a little context on these words.

00:56 In the Bhagavad Gita, these are the last words uttered by Arjuna.

01:12 They come in the last chapter obviously and are close to being the final verses.

01:33 Arjuna is declaring that I have regained remembrance.

01:45 So one wonders what is it that Arjuna seems to have gained?

02:02 What is it that he seems to have again remembered?

02:13 He is making a claim.

02:18 He is expressing his situation.

02:27 He is saying after all the discussion that we had, "O Krishna, now I remember."

02:47 What is it that he remembers?

02:57 Now this word remembrance is not at all a new word for us.

03:12 In the spiritual domain it is quite a familiar and oft used word.

03:22 We say we must remember.

03:26 Sumiran, surati, smaran.

03:31 A lot of emphasis has been put on remembering by saints, by scriptures, by religious traditions

03:46 across the world.

03:50 And they say remember, and they say remember the truth, remember God.

04:02 What is it that is being asked to be remembered?

04:12 When the mind hears the word remembrance, does it not treat it like any other word?

04:32 Because words are words.

04:35 Words are the stuff of mind.

04:38 The mind is used to receiving words and every word is a proxy for some object, for something

04:51 that is situated in space and time.

04:58 Something that is of the world, of the senses, something that belongs to the domain of the

05:12 mind itself.

05:19 So the moment the word remembrance comes to the mind, it is quick to conclude that

05:41 surely it is referring to some object.

05:54 Remember if someone says to you, remember, you'd be quick to ask what?

06:08 Is that not so?

06:11 If I say remember, how would the mind react?

06:18 It would say remember what?

06:23 It would demand an object.

06:27 And that is what the mind has usually done.

06:35 It has turned spiritual remembrance, remembrance used even in the mystical sense to objective

06:49 remembrance.

06:55 So when you are asked remember what, you would probably say the essence, that which

07:11 is Satya or God or Atman or Braham.

07:17 And the mind is used to receiving an object after the word remember.

07:29 We are talking about our mind.

07:31 We are not talking about anything that needs a theoretical background.

07:37 We are not talking about anything about which I can be a specialist.

07:45 We are talking about our mind which is the mind of mankind.

07:51 So this mind, the moment it is asked to remember, it demands an object to remember.

08:08 And it is very very sure, it is very very sure by way of habit, by way of its very constitution

08:19 that only objects can be remembered.

08:24 So you say truth is to be remembered.

08:29 You say the pure self is to be remembered.

08:32 And so what is it that the mind is immediately likely to do?

08:43 What is it that the mind would immediately do?

08:53 We said whenever the mind was asked to remember, it was told to remember an object.

09:02 Now you are advising the mind, remember truth.

09:11 What is it that the mind would instantly conclude?

09:17 That the truth is an object.

09:21 It is not only the mind's decision.

09:28 It is actually the mind's limitation.

09:31 It can deal only with objects, outside of objects the mind is helpless.

09:42 So it turns the truth into an object.

09:47 It turns God into an object.

09:51 And don't we see that happening all around us and within us?

10:00 Moment it is said God, the moment someone says Atman, don't those words carry specific

10:14 images in our mind?

10:19 Let's take a small example which is close to being an experiment.

10:32 If here on that wall I display a certain image to you, a beautiful image and I claim that

10:49 this image is of the truth.

10:57 Some of us are likely to instantly agree, especially if that image resonates with our

11:04 traditions and our beliefs.

11:08 Let's say that image belongs to an avatar or a prophet or a saint or any personality

11:24 that we hold divine or it could even be a word that we hold in great respect and I claim

11:37 that this image belongs to the truth.

11:40 Some of us would instantly agree.

11:42 The story doesn't stop here.

11:48 Some of us would remember that since this is just an image, a personality, hence it

12:01 cannot be the truth.

12:02 So some of us would disagree.

12:06 Now surely if we are saying that this image doesn't belong to the truth, then that can

12:12 be said only by way of comparison with another image.

12:18 So in either case we are image holders.

12:23 Whether we say this image belongs to the truth or whether we deny the claim that the truth

12:33 is this, the fact stands out clearly that in the mind there does exist an image even

12:46 of the ultimate.

12:50 So to such a mind when the words of Arjun come Smritir Labdha, it is very quick to jump

13:04 to a conclusion.

13:05 What is the conclusion?

13:08 The conclusion could be anything but there surely is some conclusion and every conclusion

13:13 is an image.

13:17 Depending upon the mind's previously held beliefs and conditioning, the conclusions

13:22 might seem to vary.

13:25 But there would be nobody who would not conclude.

13:28 Everybody would say yes there is something that Arjun means in these words and what that

13:34 something is I could comprehend.

13:48 The ways of the truth are a little different from the ways of thought.

14:08 Thought proceeds through knowledge, knowledge depends on memory.

14:15 In the sense of the world, we know something only when we have knowledge and memory of

14:29 it.

14:38 But in the strange ways of truth, knowing does not happen through knowledge or memory.

14:50 The word Smriti there is hence to be understood with great care.

15:00 In the worldly sense when you say remember, then you mean add something to the memory.

15:12 In the spiritual sense when you say remember, then it means get rid of memory.

15:23 That is the real meaning of remembrance.

15:26 Go beyond memory.

15:28 Memory is knowledge, knowledge is image.

15:31 Image formation is the usual pattern based functioning of the mind.

15:37 Go beyond that.

15:42 But strangely we seem to be remembering God a lot.

15:52 Now can you see the trap there and a lot of effort is put in that direction.

16:00 There are a lot of tricks and techniques as well to try to remember God always.

16:09 God is not to be remembered because God cannot be remembered.

16:18 Remembrance of truth simply means seeing the limitation and the suffering contained in

16:26 operating out of memory.

16:29 When we are talking of remembrance in the spiritual sense, it is actually a kind of

16:40 forgetfulness.

16:43 Divine remembrance is forgetfulness in the worldly sense.

16:51 The one who is really with the essential gives very little weightage to what is contained

17:02 in his memory.

17:05 He is not at all serious about the impressions on the mind.

17:13 He cannot attach great value to the mind stuff.

17:23 That is remembrance.

17:27 Smaran in the spiritual sense is actually vismaran, forget.

17:40 You cannot remember because your remembrance is limited, kind of handicapped.

17:55 Spirituality says forget.

17:56 Forget.

17:57 Do not try to remember.

18:02 Do not make that mistake.

18:04 A lot of us try that and keep trying that for years, decades, centuries, trying to remember.

18:16 You will not be able to remember anything and worse still, if you do come to remember

18:24 something.

18:27 There are those who say that we could not reach the truth.

18:36 They are surely in darkness and worse than them are those who claim that they have reached

18:45 the truth.

18:46 They are in deeper darkness.

18:52 Truth is not to be reached.

19:01 Only destinations can be reached.

19:03 Only places can be reached.

19:05 Only objects can be obtained.

19:12 But we do not like that.

19:14 We do not like that because the ego finds sustenance in reaching, finding, seeking and

19:22 remembering.

19:23 So, it is a matter of pleasure for us to remember.

19:27 Do you see that?

19:34 The ego loves to be called a spiritual ego, a divine ego, a holy ego.

19:44 I am a better man because I remember God all the time.

19:48 The question is how do you remember?

19:52 You also remember the milkman.

19:56 You remember the bills to be paid.

19:59 You remember your bank account number.

20:02 You remember your wedding anniversary and you remember God as well using the same mind.

20:11 Don't you see that whatever you will remember will invariably be at the same level, the

20:22 same domain because you are the one who remembers.

20:31 All acts of remembrance are your doing.

20:41 Remembrance is easy.

20:45 Forgetting is difficult.

20:48 Try to remember something, you will succeed.

20:54 But have you seen how difficult it is to forget?

21:02 If you are to remember something and you are given 15 minutes, you can dink in all your

21:17 thoughts, you can make efforts and you will find that you have succeeded in remembering.

21:27 At least partially succeeded.

21:29 But let me take up something that you always seem to remember and don't we have those incidents,

21:45 those faces, those objects, those people, those ideas that we seem to be carrying around

21:53 with us in the mind all the time that we remember constantly.

21:59 Now the challenge is can you forget any bit of that in 15 minutes?

22:07 You can remember so easily but can you forget?

22:17 That forgetting is the essence of spirituality.

22:23 So easy to remember, so difficult to forget.

22:28 The spiritual mind lives in a divine forgetfulness.

22:33 He forgets, the worldly mind clings to the past, to memories.

22:40 The spiritual one simply drops and forgets.

22:43 Arjun is saying with you, oh Krishna, now I can forget.

22:55 There was so much that was riding on my mind and making it heavy and now I have been able

23:06 to forget.

23:13 Whatever he says to Krishna in this particular shloka is a characteristic of and is related

23:27 to forgetting.

23:29 He says, "Nashto Moha" my attachment is gone.

23:40 In the same verse in which he says, "Smritir Labdha", he begins by saying "Nashto Moha".

23:48 Remember something has gone, something has been forgotten, not that something has been

23:56 gained.

23:57 Truth is not a matter of gaining or accomplishment.

24:01 Something has to be lost.

24:05 Things have to go away.

24:06 We are too full.

24:07 We have to be emptied.

24:09 Arjun says, "Nashto Moha" something has gone, dropped, gone.

24:18 Not that I aimed to drop and succeed.

24:23 No, because if you aim to drop, you are only becoming fuller and fuller not in the sense

24:34 of "Purnata", fuller in the sense of the loading of the ego.

24:43 Arjun is saying "Nashto Moha".

24:46 As I came to this field, there was so much on the mind.

24:55 On one hand I remembered that I am a warrior and I must fight.

25:02 On the other hand, memories of my childhood, of the time spent with Pitamah, of the blessings

25:15 received from Drona, of all the familial bondages with my Kaurava brothers, they were all there

25:35 on the mind.

25:38 They all seemed so important.

25:41 They all seemed to have an existence.

25:44 In short, they all seemed to be the truth.

25:49 And now, by your grace, "Tut Prasadat", now by your grace, all is gone.

26:02 The past is no more harassing me.

26:21 He also uses a few other phrases that tell of his condition and also throw light on the

26:30 real meaning of remembrance.

26:35 He says "Sthitosmi".

26:44 Now the mind is centered, stable.

26:55 Now it is not moving here and there and tell me is not memory a movement of the mind?

27:10 The mind is not thinking of this and that and tell me is there memory without thought?

27:22 Arjuna is saying, I am seated firmly on the asana now.

27:39 Nothing can easily shake me up.

27:48 A little before Krishna had advised Arjuna to be like the Diya in a Nirvath sthan, in

28:06 a place where there is no turbulence of the wind.

28:13 And Arjuna is now accepting, gladly conceding that that flame like stillness is now available

28:38 to him.

28:45 A flame that is radiating light in its stillness.

28:55 "Sthitosmi".

28:59 And Arjuna says "Sandeh Gathah".

29:07 Can see the presence of dropping here.

29:16 I have gone beyond doubt.

29:23 My suspicions have been left behind.

29:28 "Sandeh Gathah".

29:37 Note that really I have achieved a certainty.

29:44 Because the moment you claim that you have achieved a certainty, remember that that certainty

29:51 would just be an object.

29:59 And with objects really there can be no certainty.

30:03 There would only be doubt and suspicions.

30:09 All that you can say, the highest point that the mind can reach is not the achievement

30:18 of security and certainty but simply the dropping of doubt and confusion.

30:26 "Sandeh Gathah".

30:31 I had a lot of doubts.

30:33 I was full.

30:34 Now I am empty.

30:35 "Sandeh Gathah".

30:36 The mind of Arjuna is the mind of all humanity.

30:46 It is our own mind.

30:48 Full of doubts, suspicion, turbulence, attachment.

31:07 Truth does not come to you as another object.

31:17 Truth comes to you as that light which exposes the nature, the limits, the dimensions of

31:29 all objects.

31:33 Like in this room, because of the light you are able to look at so many objects.

31:43 You are not looking at light, you are looking at the objects.

31:47 The light is the enabler.

31:52 It would not really be wise of us to say that we are looking at light.

32:02 One knows light only indirectly.

32:14 One knows light when one can look at the objects.

32:25 So there is the light illuminating the objects and there is the light behind my eyes which

32:31 is enabling me to look at the objects.

32:35 Light within, light without.

32:40 Inside and outside.

32:44 The very process of seeing is the proof of light.

32:51 Otherwise there is no proof of light.

32:52 If someone says light is proven only when light can be held in the hand or light can

33:04 be seen, then he does not really understand.

33:12 The fact that you can see is the proof of light.

33:29 Arjun is saying and all this has happened due to your grace.

33:39 Remember that all that which has happened is simply a cessation of the past.

33:48 It is simply a freedom from all that which Arjun anyway always was and freedom from all

34:05 that which you consider yourself to be, that which you are carrying always in your mind.

34:13 That is the coming of the new.

34:19 It does not happen with us that way usually.

34:22 When we want the new, our approach is that the old must stay with us and additionally

34:34 the new must come.

34:37 Is it a wonder that the new never really seems to come?

34:46 The new will never never come to you as something additional.

34:54 The new will come to you as a liberating force.

35:01 You must ask liberation from what?

35:07 Liberation from your bondages.

35:08 Where are the bondages?

35:11 That which I am, that which I am carrying, that which I consider myself to be.

35:18 The truth liberates you from you.

35:21 That is its only function.

35:25 It will not give you something extra.

35:29 It will not make you bigger.

35:33 It reduces you.

35:34 That reduction is purification.

35:37 That reduction is Atma-snana.

35:43 The function of truth is to take away.

35:47 Just that when you are totally reduced, then you attain to an immensity.

35:55 So total reduction is also total expansion.

36:05 But that total expansion, it must be said, will never be directly achievable or available.

36:16 Firstly the dropping must happen.

36:22 The dropping requires guts, the dropping requires the presence of Krishna besides Arjun.

36:33 That is the reason Arjun thanks.

36:37 Tat prasada.

36:41 Because you were by my side, hence I could gather the guts to go beyond myself.

36:48 Thank you Krishna.

36:50 Thank you for being next to me.

36:53 Thank you for being my charioteer.

36:59 So the dropping will happen first.

37:01 And when you are in the process of dropping, then there is no guarantee what lies beyond

37:10 the dropping.

37:11 So you will be afraid.

37:14 You will say, at least I have something today.

37:18 How can I drop it?

37:20 And what is the guarantee that if I drop it, something higher or something better lies

37:27 next?

37:28 No, there is no guarantee.

37:32 You have to drop still and this is therefore called faith.

37:40 Dropping without any assurance.

37:47 No promises.

37:50 No temptation of any heavens.

37:58 No attractions of rewards.

38:00 Just drop.

38:01 Then why should I drop?

38:02 Because you are suffering.

38:03 Be a little sensitive towards yourself.

38:08 See that in your present condition you are simply suffering.

38:12 So drop out of love for yourself.

38:17 Get rid of your present circumstances.

38:25 I do not promise you what lies beyond.

38:28 I am just saying you do not deserve to suffer as you are suffering right now.

38:33 Why are you asking what will happen after the cessation of suffering?

38:38 Is it not sufficient that the suffering will cease?

38:43 Why are you asking?

38:44 Why are you seeking assurances?

38:48 All that I am assuring you is you will not continue to be what you are and being what

38:56 you are, you are not feeling alright.

39:01 Being what you are, you are mired in doubt.

39:06 See how fear takes possession of you.

39:10 See how every thought is steeped in fear.

39:16 See how you find it difficult to trust.

39:22 See how easily you are shaken.

39:26 See how you are searching for something.

39:32 See how greed and ambition take possession of you.

39:41 Do you really like all this?

39:44 Do you really like your situation?

39:48 Arjuna I am not promising anything transcendental.

39:57 I am just saying come on get rid of all this and Arjuna says yes, yes, yes, yes, yes Krishna

40:06 yes.

40:07 Ultimately he says I will do what you will command me to do.

40:27 Karishye vachanam tavam.

40:34 And what does that mean?

40:36 I will do what you will command me to do.

40:46 It means I will not do what my desires, my personal will, my ego commands me to do.

41:01 I submit my individuality.

41:05 It does not mean that I will follow any specific person.

41:10 Krishna as he is standing in front of Arjuna is not a person.

41:20 So when Arjuna says karishye vachanam tavam it must be understood that he is not saying

41:28 that he will follow Krishna the person.

41:31 All that he is saying is I can see the stupidity of living by my own desires.

41:40 I can see that today if I am trembling in the middle of Kurukshetra it is because I

41:46 am who I have been.

41:56 My personal desires, my ways of living, the choices that I make they have brought me only

42:03 this repetition.

42:07 So I declare that this shall not continue.

42:11 The discontinuation of the personal is the entry into the divine.

42:16 The moment Arjuna says that my personal desires do not hold any more importance, that is the

42:28 moment he ceases to be the doer.

42:34 That is the moment he is no more the karta.

42:36 That is the moment Krishna automatically takes over.

42:41 You do not have to invite the truth.

42:44 You do not have to reach the truth.

42:46 You just have to stop blocking the truth.

42:49 The truth is prepared.

42:51 Krishna was there with Arjuna always.

42:55 It was Arjuna who was blocking.

42:58 It is we who block the truth.

43:04 You don't have to go anywhere to get the truth.

43:09 Just see what is it that you do daily, every moment, constantly to resist the truth.

43:15 See how your mind raises defenses.

43:18 See how your ego moves into doubt.

43:23 See how you want to deeply hide behind a wall.

43:29 The moment truth comes to you, you start trembling.

43:33 The truth knocks and your house starts shaking.

43:38 Now you are worried how to let truth in.

43:45 If I let truth in, this house will be destroyed and that is our predicament, whether to save

43:52 the house or whether to live in truth.

43:57 But please consider this, if truth will destroy your house, surely your house is wrong.

44:12 Truth destroys only the false and if your house is not false, why are you afraid?

44:18 Let the truth in.

44:24 In either case, you benefit.

44:26 If your house is false, let it be burned down.

44:32 If it is not false, then truth reinforces truth.

44:43 The whole game is about not blocking.

44:49 Truth is seeking you.

44:51 You are not the seeker.

44:56 The ego is so poor, it cannot even be a beggar.

45:01 In fact, the truth keeps begging to you.

45:06 The truth is begging all the time, kindly embrace me.

45:10 You are the one running away.

45:14 The truth is proposing to you like a committed lover.

45:19 You are the one who is obstinate like a petulant school girl.

45:27 Oh, because you are coming after me, surely I have some value.

45:38 Because you are coming after me, surely it is proven that I deserve something higher

45:44 than you.

45:45 That is our attitude to the truth.

45:50 The truth keeps coming to us in multifarious ways, in a thousand forms every day.

45:59 See how you have rejected its call every time.

46:05 See how you have gone back assuming, pretending as if you met nobody.

46:14 See how you refuse to acknowledge that you just encountered the truth.

46:31 Thank you.

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