Mind alone is bondage and liberation || Acharya Prashant, On Brahmbindu Upanishad (2024)

Acharya Prashant

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Transcript

00:00I'll begin with the explanation.

00:13So we'll have this session, welcome everybody, in two parts.

00:26In the first part, we'll cover some fundamentals of Advaita Vedanta, and I'll try to take

00:46it up in a way that one single shloka, verse, unfolds to reveal us the complete essence

01:02of Vedanta.

01:04So the verse we are beginning with is, I suppose all of us are carrying pen and a sheet of

01:15paper, right?

01:19So this comes from the Upanishads.

01:26As we know, Vedanta is synonymous with Upanishads, though if you ask technically, Vedanta comprises

01:44of not just the Upanishads, but also the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedanta Sutra or Brahma

01:55Sutra of Badrayan or Ved Vyasa.

02:04So what we are taking up is this, manna eva manushyanaam karanam bandha mokshayoh.

02:17And this comes from the Brahma Vindu Upanishad.

02:23manna eva manushyanaam karanam bandha mokshayoh.

02:33Translated it would read, the mind alone is the cause of both bondage and liberation.

02:52Now starting from here, we will venture deeper.

03:03Whose bondage?

03:04Whose liberation?

03:05This question is extremely important in Vedanta.

03:14And the one who is at the center of attention is nobody else but the self, I, me, the questioner,

03:29the seeker.

03:32So Vedanta begins with an admission of one's suffering.

03:42One feels suffocated.

03:45One feels hurt, wounded, betrayed and all these are cumulatively termed as bondages.

03:58So freedom from the usual state of the self, the I, the ego is the ultimate objective of

04:06Vedanta.

04:09So liberation is the goal.

04:12Liberation of the ego, the little self, the me, the I from its usual state.

04:22My usual state is not something I can be contended with.

04:31Therefore I seek change, change not just nominal, superficial, but very fundamental.

04:39I just don't want to dress up to please or deceive myself.

04:50I don't want a little bit of cosmetic shift in the way I am or in the way I experience.

05:01I want my very foundation to be different.

05:05I want my deepest center to change.

05:09I want to be a different existence altogether, a different being.

05:20That is the purpose of Vedanta.

05:23So little bit of change, cosmetic change can be brought about by things as frivolous as

05:32entertainment.

05:33In fact, that's a good definition of entertainment.

05:38Anything that brings about a temporal, superficial, frivolous change in the state of consciousness,

05:44that's entertainment.

05:46So had we been targeting just a nominal change, any kind of entertainment would have sufficed.

05:57But that's not what Vedanta is shooting at.

06:01Vedanta is very ambitious in that regard.

06:06If I am suffering, I want to go to the very core of my suffering.

06:12I want to understand its genesis and I want to be completely liberated from suffering.

06:20That's what Vedanta targets.

06:23So bandha mokshayoh, bandhan, bondage, my bondage, it all begins with me.

06:35So basics, Vedanta is about me and this question Vedanta will keep throwing at us.

06:43Just when we are about to unconsciously slip into the sensual world, Vedanta will just

06:56shake us up and ask, well who is the one who is slipping?

07:01Who is the one getting entertained?

07:05Who is the one talking about all the things that have become so important to you?

07:11And then we'll find ourselves with a look aghast.

07:18We had come up with a matter that we termed as important.

07:23Vedanta turns around and asks, to whom is it important?

07:30To whom is it important?

07:33If the important thing is important to you, aren't you more important than even the most

07:39important thing that's important to you?

07:44That's a very fundamental question, koham, who am I?

07:49Who is the one at the center of all the activity?

07:55You'll go to a seer, a sage, with some important matter and the first thing the sage would

08:09ask is, to whom is the matter important?

08:15Don't say the matter is important.

08:18There is no objective truth.

08:22What is important to one person is totally unimportant to another.

08:28So it's not that the matter in itself intrinsically holds some importance.

08:36Had the matter had some innate importance, the importance would have been universal and

08:45common to all experiencers, not just all human beings, but also the other animate beings.

08:56But that's not how we see.

09:01What is very important to one is a trivial thing to the other.

09:08So Vedanta keeps the center right at the center, is never forget who you are.

09:18In fact forgetfulness of who you are is the very cause of suffering.

09:23So do not forget who you are.

09:25So when we talk of all these big things, the mind, the world, the entire expanse of spiritual

09:36jargon, Vedanta says, well keep one very little thing, that small letter right at the

09:46center, I, it's all for me, it's all for me.

09:53I am suffering, hence there is Vedanta and whether or not Vedanta has succeeded on me

10:03will be decided by only one criteria.

10:08Am I still the same person?

10:13Is my vision still clouded?

10:17Am I cluttered or clear?

10:22Can I see things clearly and can I see myself very very clearly?

10:32That's the question Vedanta poses.

10:35So what is the mind?

10:45If it's all about the I, what is the mind then?

10:50Vedanta will not allow us to proceed with common and pedestrian notions or definitions.

11:05Definition by definition must be very sharp and precise.

11:14So what is the mind?

11:16If it's all about me, what is the mind then?

11:22Vedanta gives a very sharp definition.

11:27The mind is the entire set, the whole universe of objects that the I has a relationship with.

11:42Not the entire set of everything that is there in the universe.

11:48One does not have a relationship with everything.

11:53But whatsoever one develops a relationship with becomes mind.

12:04Objects in general are called Vastu, just Vastu.

12:12But the object becoming the mind is called Vishay.

12:19So an object untouched by the self, the ego is just an object.

12:27But the moment the object is touched by I, it becomes Vishay or mind.

12:35And mind is an accumulation, a congregation of objects that it is in relationship with.

12:47So there is the object, there is me, there is a relationship in between and the complete

12:52set of all such objects is called the mind.

12:57I'm fond of saying that the mind is the whole society, the entire locality, the whole population

13:15around the center called I.

13:23The neighborhood of I is called the mind.

13:28I is at the center and it has managed to settle an entire neighborhood around itself.

13:37That neighborhood is called the mind.

13:43Now, the conscious entity is I, irrespective of the degree of consciousness it has.

13:55If I were to be fully conscious, it would be the liberated self.

14:02But I cannot manage to be totally unconscious, even if we want to, we cannot afford to be

14:11totally unconscious ever.

14:13Even the most unconscious person retains a modicum of consciousness.

14:21That's a liability we carry.

14:25That's an existential obligation.

14:27As long as you are, you can never be fully unconscious.

14:31So there is the I and there is the entire universe and the I wants to strike a relationship

14:42with certain objects in the universe.

14:45The objects that it manages to have a relationship with constitute the mind.

14:55You would ask, why at all must the I have a relationship with stuff?

15:01Because the I, the ego, which is at the center of all inquiry and all seeking is by definition

15:10an incomplete entity.

15:16It's called aham, Vedanta calls it as aham.

15:22Aham denotes the sense of self defined by constant unease and therefore a constant striving.

15:48I'm not well, I'm not at ease, I'm not well, I'm not complete, I'm not secure.

15:55That's what the I is and since this is the way the I is, hence Vedanta, else there was

16:05no need to explore and look for a treatment.

16:11The I says I'm not well, therefore there is a need to seek something that would treat

16:20it and restore health to it.

16:25So the I says I'm not alright, I'm not satisfied, I'm not well, I'm not home, therefore something

16:37must happen.

16:42Since I'm not complete, therefore something must be added to me.

16:49The status quo won't do because the status quo is suffering.

17:01Things as they are right now cannot be allowed to continue because I don't feel well.

17:10The ego is something that never feels quite well about itself.

17:14I don't feel well, something ought to change and how can I bring about change?

17:22By relating with the universe.

17:26What is my universe?

17:28Actually it is defined by the scope of my senses, but because the senses will not suffice,

17:37therefore the sixth sense comes into question, which is the ability to imagine, picturize

17:47and conceptualize.

17:50So I can see things and have a relationship with them in order to feel better and if I

18:00cannot see things or hold them or touch them, I proceed to imagine things in order to feel

18:07better, but I must feel better.

18:14My present state is of distinct unease.

18:21Something needs to be done.

18:22I am suffering.

18:25I need to add something to myself or I need to subtract something from myself.

18:31I need to paint myself in another color.

18:35I need to become somebody else.

18:40That's how the ego keeps uttering.

18:44So the ego says, you know, I don't feel secure.

18:47Can I add a little house to myself?

18:52You say I don't feel secure.

18:54Can I add a teeny-weeny partner to myself?

18:58Why don't feel complete?

19:02Can I add a few members to my family?

19:07I don't feel sufficient.

19:09Can I add a few zeros to my bank balance?

19:14That's how the ego operates and in all matters of operation of the ego, an object is related

19:26to, an object is clutched.

19:37That clutching is called the mind.

19:43The ego is sticky, like a child afraid.

19:54Once it gets hold of something, it won't loosen the grip.

20:02All the things that the ego grips together constitute the mind.

20:13And the ego in its own view has a valid reason to clutch at things.

20:23The valid reason is I am insufficient, incomplete.

20:30Obviously, I cannot continue the way I am, therefore, I must take help of the world.

20:39There are then two worlds.

20:41There is the universe of objects and there is a universe of relationships.

20:49For the ego, it is the world of objects that constantly keeps becoming the world of relationships.

21:00The ego cannot afford to let objects continue as objects.

21:05If there is an object for the ego, it must be my object.

21:13The ego is not at peace letting the world of objects be.

21:22The ego says that thing in the window of the shop means nothing.

21:35It must turn into my thing.

21:43The ego will look at a beautiful flower and pluck it and say it must become my flower.

21:54The ego is incapable of remaining aloof and detached and just appreciating from a distance.

22:04It is so insecure, it wants to pluck all the flowers and store them somewhere in its

22:12own custody, in its own power and position.

22:18That's how the ego is.

22:20Do we see what then the mind is?

22:23All the flowers that the ego has managed to pluck and salt and secure, also the ego being

22:46afraid wants to keep certain things at bay.

22:53The objects that the ego does not like, they too constitute the mind because dislike is

23:02as much of a relationship as like.

23:06So both these relationships exist.

23:10There is something that is in the mind because it is pleasant and there is something there

23:19is in the mind because it is very unpleasant rather threatening.

23:26So these two become the basic instincts, greed and fear.

23:35I remember something because it was very pleasant, I also remember something because

23:40it was very unpleasant.

23:42Both these things become the mind.

23:48What's common is that the ego has a stake in remembering both those things.

23:57So, man eva manushyanaam karanam bandha mokshayo.

24:06The ego is in a state of bondage.

24:12That's how it looks at itself in its own view.

24:17That's how it is.

24:18I am and I am not well.

24:21You ask ego, who are you and how are you?

24:24It will say, I do exist.

24:27I am not frictional.

24:29I am and I am not well.

24:32I am and I am not well.

24:35So wellness has to be achieved.

24:39How is wellness to be achieved?

24:42There is only one way, the world of objects.

24:47Once you are born, you are born into a world of objects.

24:52There are these senses and these senses are always perceiving objects.

25:02So that gladly or sadly is the only way then to proceed.

25:11It's like being born in a jungle.

25:14Even if you want to get out of the jungle, you will have to navigate through the jungle.

25:22So there is this jungle of objects all around us, even as we are born.

25:27The kid opens her eyes and sees things.

25:30So there are things.

25:35How then must we tackle this very important and very serious question, the question of

25:42bondage and suffering?

25:45Vedanta says the answer lies in right relationship.

25:52Right relationship.

25:53Mana eva.

25:54There is no other answer except right relationship.

25:58Eva means he, exclusively the mind, nothing else but the mind.

26:09That is what eva denotes.

26:13Nothing else but the mind will bring you to bondage, deeper bondage or to liberation.

26:25Nothing but the mind.

26:26What is implied?

26:27The implication is, there is the world and you exist in it, at least that's how you perceive

26:40your situation.

26:44You better have the discretion, vivek, to choose the right objects to associate with.

26:59How is a right object chosen?

27:03First of all, all rightness is with respect to myself.

27:07I am not well.

27:09Therefore, that lack of wellness will decide the rightness of the object.

27:18The attractiveness of the object will not decide its rightness.

27:24The usefulness of the object will decide its rightness.

27:33The Upanishads put it this way, not pray but share.

27:40Do not go by what is pleasant to you.

27:47Go by what is helpful to you.

27:50Never forget that you are diseased.

27:55You do not need to titillate your taste buds.

27:58You need to restore your health.

28:02Pray means that which is pleasant or attractive.

28:08Share means that which is helpful.

28:13And it is very difficult because the ego by its very constitution is drawn towards stuff

28:19that it likes.

28:21The ego lacks self-knowledge.

28:23It does not know who it is.

28:28But it feels that it suffers.

28:31Please understand, happens with most of us.

28:36You have something in your stomach, a little ulcer, let's say, a bit of a tumor, something.

28:45You don't know what exactly is the ailment.

28:48But you experience the suffering, right?

28:51So that's how the ego is.

28:53It experiences suffering without knowing why it suffers.

28:59Therefore, it gives false treatments to its suffering.

29:05All that which appears pleasant to us is actually a case of false treatment that the ego wants

29:12to give itself.

29:15And false treatments are known to fatally aggravate the disease.

29:24Please understand, the ego feels, experiences, something is not wrong with me.

29:32Something is wrong with me.

29:37We all do that.

29:39But it requires a certain effort and a certain expertise to know what actually is wrong and

29:48with whom is the problem.

29:54The ego has neither that expertise nor usually the inclination.

30:01Therefore, it just experiences a certain unease without knowing what the unease is about and

30:08to whom is the unease.

30:11Therefore, driven by the unease, without knowing the unease, it proceeds towards things that

30:19it just likes.

30:21That's called prayer.

30:25So the usual relationship of the ego is a relationship in blindness.

30:31I'm not okay.

30:32I don't feel okay.

30:34Therefore, I rush towards something that I feel will be good for me, feel will be good

30:42for me.

30:46And when you do not know what the disease is, then it's very likely that you will pop

30:55up pills that are either totally irrelevant or even quite dangerous.

31:07All the methods that the ego adopts to treat its own condition are known to prove ineffective,

31:17irrelevant and generally exercises in self-deception.

31:26And with time, the ego becomes a master at self-deception.

31:33I don't feel well, I pop a pill.

31:35I don't feel well, I go and buy something.

31:39I don't feel well, I pick up the phone and indulge in gossip.

31:44I don't feel well, I offer myself some kind of distraction, some method to escape from

31:52my state.

31:55I'll proceed on a vacation.

31:59I'll go and enjoy some kind of culinary or physical pleasure.

32:07I'll not want to investigate into what really the problem is about.

32:15So the usual relationship is a relationship of unconscious blindness, instinctive compulsiveness.

32:26I don't know what I want, yet I experience, I feel that I want something.

32:32So I just almost randomly pick up something.

32:38If not randomly, then by looking at others.

32:42That is the logic, if such a thing can be called logic at all.

32:48Why are you according this kind of treatment to yourself?

32:54Because that's what everybody else is doing.

33:00Why do you binge shop on weekends?

33:05Because there is nothing else to do.

33:09Why are you taking this decision?

33:13I don't know, but isn't it obvious?

33:17It's not obvious.

33:18Kindly explain.

33:19Why have you taken the decisions that you have?

33:23No, it's an absurd question.

33:25No, it's not an absurd question.

33:28Kindly explain.

33:34I don't mean to jettison common sense altogether.

33:41I stop this conversation here.

33:45So all these things, all these tricks that the ego employs, common sense, obviousness,

33:58these are nothing but tropes to hide the lack of self-awareness.

34:03Since we do not know what we are doing, therefore, we hide behind these comfortable words.

34:09We say, well, you know, what else?

34:15Yes, obviously, those things, that's wrong relationship.

34:26Any relationship that is formed without knowing who is the one entering that relationship

34:37and for what reason is a wrong relationship.

34:42The mind is typically an aggregation of the fruits of our wrong relationships.

34:53Hope you understand the word relationship.

34:55Relationship does not just mean the thing that happens between a man and a woman as

35:00is usually taken.

35:04I buy a mobile phone, that's a relationship.

35:09I buy a new shirt, that's a relationship.

35:12Go to watch a movie, that's a relationship.

35:17What does the paint on that wall mean to me, that's a relationship.

35:27There's the pet that I have, that's a relationship.

35:30I have memories from the past, that's a relationship.

35:34I have hopes for the future, that's a relationship.

35:40So typically, the mind is full of wrong relationships because the one forming relationships has

35:49no self-knowledge, but it has a lot of unease, like a man with his body on fire, his capacity

36:08to clearly think, clearly see, has been paralyzed, he's on fire.

36:21But he's experiencing extreme pain, that's the condition of the ego.

36:26It experiences but does not know.

36:31So what will the man do?

36:32The man will just run about with all the energy possible in any given direction.

36:47We very well know that when buildings are on fire, people often jump from the 7th floor,

37:0310th floor, 60th floor.

37:10When the WTC was hit, 9-11, one of the frames that has become tragically immortalized is

37:24that of a man jumping to his death from one of the burning towers.

37:35What else can be done?

37:40The mind has lost its capacity to understand.

37:50The ego rarely understands, but it feels, it feels, and in the rush of that feeling,

38:00it forms relationships.

38:06I'm off, the mood is bad, what do I do?

38:18They will give me something spicy to eat, offer me a few drinks.

38:26That's far easier than venturing into oneself and investigating why exactly is the mood off.

38:40That seems like an easier option to just drown oneself in a few drinks.

38:54So a relationship is formed.

38:56Now this relationship is not the right relationship.

39:01Therefore the Upanishad is saying that the mind itself is the cause of bondage.

39:09We start with bondages and if we do not know that we are in bondage, then every new bonding

39:24that we enter into is actually a new bondage.

39:31Bonding is relationship, right?

39:33What we call as bonding is actually bondage.

39:40Please understand.

39:43The initial state, the state we start with as we are born is that of ignorance.

39:54We do not know who we are, get the helpless state of a newborn.

40:01What does it know?

40:02It only feels.

40:03What does it understand?

40:05It only has instincts and from that state we can either proceed towards understanding

40:17which is liberation or we could simply operate from the state of bondage itself and consequently

40:25deepen the bondage.

40:29If we form wrong relationships, then the state of bondage is deepened.

40:37What is a right relationship then?

40:40A right relationship is a product of self-reflection and self-knowledge.

40:48I am seeing what ails me, therefore I am seeing what is it that I must connect to, relate

40:56to, what is it that I must bring into my life and what is it that I must expunge from my

41:02life.

41:05That's right relationship.

41:06Right relationship is a product of self-knowledge.

41:09Therefore, when we say that the mind is the cause of bondage and liberation, what we are

41:17saying actually is that self-knowledge is the cause of liberation and lack of self-knowledge

41:25is the cause of bondage.

41:28That's how the whole shloka translates.

41:36That's Upanishadic wisdom.

41:39If you know who you are, you will become much much better than who you are.

41:52Knowing is radical transformation, whereas without knowing, it does not matter how much

42:04you strive for change, the change will remain superficial.

42:13If without striving for change, without desiring for change, you just know what your situation

42:22is like, you will find that radical change is happening by itself.

42:30That's the approach of Vedanta.

42:34Know and be liberated.

42:42Not do and be liberated, no, know and be liberated.

42:50You see in the Bhagavad Gita, it's a beautiful thing, Chapter 1 is about the travails of

42:59Arjuna.

43:00He is in a miserable state.

43:05Chapter 1 captures that.

43:07Chapter 2 is about knowing, Sankhya Yoga, which is the way of knowledge, knowing.

43:14Chapter 3 is Karma Yoga, action.

43:22The message cannot be missed.

43:26If you know action follows, Chapter 3 follows Chapter 2.

43:32Right action can come only from understanding.

43:37If you understand, right action becomes inevitable.

43:41You don't need to think about it.

43:44Understanding is sufficient.

43:46You cannot understand and not act rightly.

43:50If you understand, right action will just spontaneously happen, that's Vedanta.

44:01If you understand, right relationships will get formed.

44:09You don't have to strive for the right relationships, but you do have to strive for something.

44:18Please understand, if you are in the maze of wrong relationship, then the wrong relationship

44:25itself becomes a barrier against understanding.

44:30That's where dedicated effort is needed.

44:36If I have surrounded myself with all kinds of intoxicating objects, that environment

44:45will prevent me from self-observation.

44:53This is where I'll need to put an effort.

44:58That brings us to another aspect of Vedanta.

45:01The approach of Vedanta, step by step, is of negation.

45:11Right things, well, they need not be done.

45:14Right things will happen on their own.

45:17There is something that does need to be done.

45:20What is it?

45:21Stopping the wrong things.

45:23The approach is of negation, classically called as neti neti.

45:28Stop all the nonsense.

45:31Then the right flowers will bloom by themselves.

45:36Clear the clutter and in that pure space, something beautiful will happen on its own.

45:45You don't have to create beauty.

45:49You have to just clear the ugliness.

45:53That's Vedanta.

45:55Beauty is not man-made.

45:58Beauty is not something that the ego can create.

46:01But there is something indeed that the ego can do, which is to get rid of ugliness.

46:08Getting rid of the wrong relationship is the way of Vedanta.

46:12Get rid of nonsense and be patient with the virtuous emptiness that is created.

46:21Fall in love with that aloneness.

46:25In that aloneness, the virtue of liberation blooms.

46:32You see that aloneness looks terrifying only to the one who is currently in wrong relationship.

46:44If you say aloneness is a terrible thing, Vedanta will again shoot back the same question.

46:52To whom?

46:54Aloneness is terrible.

46:55Well, to whom?

46:57To the one who has become accustomed to crutches, mental crutches.

47:06You get rid of mental crutches, aloneness is beautiful and in that aloneness, you get

47:13the power, the authority, the capability to strike right relationships.

47:22Only when you are comfortable with your aloneness, can right relationship happen.

47:28One who is not alright with himself can never be alright with 5 or 10 other objects irrespective

47:37of the number and nature of objects.

47:42Your task is not to find the right one, your task is to get rid of the wrong ones.

47:49There is nothing called the right one.

47:53If at all there is somebody called the right one, it is nobody else but you.

47:58You have to become the right one and who is the right one?

48:02The one who has shown the guts and the gumption to get rid of the wrong ones.

48:08Get rid of the wrong ones, you yourself are the right one.

48:10Then you don't have to wait for an external right one.

48:14You are the right one.

48:16That's Vedanta.

48:17You are the right one.

48:21No right one will come from any external place.

48:27If you are right, you are right.

48:29If you are wrong, no right one can salvage.

48:34When it is said, what is said is actually know yourself, know thyself, that's the central

48:51message.

48:52When you know yourself, you know what's blocking you.

48:56You look at yourself and all you find is a clutter of needless objects.

49:04Get rid of those objects.

49:07Get rid of those objects and remain peacefully in your Kavalya, in that pristine aloneness.

49:15That pristine aloneness in Vedanta is known by the great and final name of Atman, great

49:27self, Atma, Atma which is truth.

49:37Vedanta is quite counterintuitive, that's the reason there is so much importance of

49:53that little eve.

49:58Eve excludes all that we are instinctively drawn to.

50:04We think the cause of bondage is situation, no it's not the situation.

50:14The one in bondage is the cause of the bondage.

50:19Anything outside of you is the cause of your inner situation.

50:25Things that are external, external to the body that is, can only affect the body.

50:34You are not your body.

50:36You cannot be affected by anything except that which you choose to be affected by.

50:45And why do we choose to be affected by something?

50:48We think it would be a profitable deal to get affected.

50:54Something is tempting me, I decide to yield to the temptation, decide to get affected.

51:05Why?

51:06Because there has been some inner calculation that says if you yield to the temptation,

51:11you will benefit.

51:13So it's not the thing that I have yielded to, I have yielded to my own inner calculation.

51:21Vedanta is trying to exclude that thing from having any power over you.

51:30Vedanta is saying no, that thing has no power at all.

51:34You are the master of your fate.

51:36You are the owner of your life.

51:39Irrespective of what the world is doing to your physical existence, you can still be

51:46ruler within.

51:50That's how one has to live, otherwise there is no point in living.

51:55Living is then a miserable exercise.

51:59Internally, one must have his, her own kingdom.

52:08As for the outside, well, nobody can determine or predict that.

52:13Anything can happen anytime.

52:15An earthquake can strike right now.

52:18Even as we know, even as we talk, we do not know how many of us might be having diseases

52:30slowly developing within our bodies.

52:36All that is external.

52:38Not only is the world external, even this body is external.

52:42One has no control over that.

52:44One must have control over oneself.

52:48I cannot determine all the things that will happen to me, but I can determine how I will

52:58respond to anything that happens, and I can also determine whether or not I will respond,

53:04and I can determine that in the middle of all that is happening to me, I will remain

53:12the unaffected, silent, peaceful monarch, being all the dignity and all the assurance.

53:23That's the approach of Vedanta.

53:28Manev manushyam karanam bandh mokshayo.

53:34Do not blame the world.

53:36Do not play the victim.

53:39Do not think that situations can mean anything to you beyond a point.

53:48Own up responsibility.

53:55Accept the driver's seat.

53:58Your own life.

54:01Don't allow the drift to carry you away.

54:07Vedanta is the philosophy of total empowerment.

54:13I am Brahmasmi.

54:15I am highest that there can be, and as long as I am not that, I'll keep striving.

54:25Keep striving by the way of negation, by the way of neti neti.

54:29I'll keep dropping everything that keeps me down.

54:37There is no power outside of me that can have any say over my absolute sovereignty.

54:49I am Brahmasmi.

54:50I am the one and I am the only one.

54:55But when it comes to the body and the physical existence, obviously, there are limits and

55:01I understand those limits.

55:02I respect those limits.

55:04I'm not stupid enough to quarrel with that.

55:07When it comes to the one that I am, the I, the I must be unconditionally free.

55:16The I is not born unconditionally free.

55:19The way for I to gain that unconditional freedom is through self-knowledge.

55:24I'll keep observing myself.

55:26I'll watch my tendencies.

55:28I'll see how the body operates.

55:31I'll see what is commonly called as the thoughts and the feelings, how they arise and fall.

55:39Watch all those things and that's called self-knowledge.

55:42Observing myself, I come to know who I am and from that knowledge, all that is needless

55:50is dropped.

55:51Once the needless is dropped, find that there is freedom.

56:21you

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