But you must follow the system Look, in shat-sampati (six treasures a practitioner must possess)- one of them is shraddha (faith) What will happen with shraddha? What will happen with shraddha is that the immense feelings of surrender and love towards the Guru - So, the mind will become totally one-pointed at the mere sight of a Guru Mind will become completely focussed by sitting close to the Guru If someone's mind wanders despite being close to the Guru, then this person's mind definitely lacks shraddha Like if you get up right now and go to Manali or Madi Or go to Killong All these are cold places so as soon as you get there, would you feel cold or not? If someone says that I am standing in Killong but I am not feeling cold at all Then you are not really in Killong, you might be in Karol Bagh (place in Delhi) So, a Guru is that cold mountain peak going close to whom, a disciple who is filled with shraddha, his mind immediately becomes calm and cool Meaning that with complete ease his mind and senses goes into equanimity And the one who filled with love, his body doesn't feel any thirst or hunger, any hot or cold weather so titiksha comes automatically The mind becomes calm by itself And with this calm mind, he actually doesn't put any effort into different techniques but they start happening by themselves With the goal of dhyana (meditation), the techniques that have been mentioned Look, when we talk about shat-sampati and the eight limbs of Yoga - they are both similar There they say 'Ishwara pranidhana' (devotion towards Ishwara) and here they say 'shraddha' There they say ahimsa and satya (non-violence and truth) and here they say sama and dama (restraining the mind and senses) So, the words are slightly different - otherwise it is pretty similar Shat-sampati and Yoga- the Ashtanga Yoga's first four parts are very similar to each other So, one must prepare field of the mind and chitta (subconscious mind) If we don't prepare the mind - Then this mind becomes very tamoguni, rajoguni and very spoiled And with a spoiled mind, sadhana is not possible So, it is necessary to improve the mind, to awaken the mind - one must do this To keep the mind on a tight leash, no dishonesty should creep into the mind And mind should not always be entangled in the thoughts of others - "What do others do? What do others do?" Why should we care about that? Kabira khara bazaar mein sabki maange khair - na kahoon se dosti na kahoon se bair (Kabir is standing in the marketplace, wishes everyone well - but he has no enemies or friends) We shouldn't think about others Let it be! Someone is a sinner - let it be! Someone does good deeds - let it be! Someone is very nice - Great! Someone is very bad - Very good, why should I care? This line comes in Gurbani - 'Sabhan aapo aapni, main aapni payi' Everyone just thinks about themselves A greedy person thinks of money, one after sensual pleasure thinks about women, one with attachments thinks of children And I just have one thought - That how will my samadhi happen? I just have one thought - How will I realize the Self? It's like an obsession Then the person keeps working towards it And one who has done his sadhana regularly with honesty - For that person, these things don't remain difficult Look, when you are in love with someone - it is difficult to leave that person and go away But if there is no love and the person gets transferred, then a married man who has kids in school says - "Don't transfer me" But someone who is not married and has no kids - And his department transfers him, he gets very happy to see a new city and make new friends That city has so many good things - there is nothing good here - they get really happy But when they have kids and a family then they as much scared of a transfer as someone is scared of death This shouldn't happen So, while preparing the mind with vairagya (dispassion), viveka (wisdom) and shat-sampati In other words, we can say that while adhering to the yama and niyama While making the mind sattviki (pure) While doing this preparation, when one listens to Guru's wisdom - Then the veil of ignorance gets lifted from the mind Let me reiterate, listening to gyana will only remove agyana (ignorance) The impurities of antahkaran will not be removed Vikshepa of the antahkaran will not be removed either Both these things won't happen That's your job Remove impurities from the mind How will the impurities go away? For that, it is suggested to do nishkaam sewa (selfless service) How will the impurities fo away? Don't take the ownership of paap or punya (bad or virtuous deeds) How will the impurities go away? Be devoted to Ishwara - whatever Ishwara is doing is good - whatever is happening is good So, while living as jeeva - worshipping Ishwara also helps in removing impurities of the mind For vikshepa, either follow the path of devotion or do Yoga Devotion for students of Vedanta is said to be only the devotion towards Guru There is no need to go from place to place No need to go anywhere There is a bhajan of Brahmananda ji - "Na shesh manaaon, na ganesh manaaon, na mahesh manaaon, na dhanesh manaaon" - I do not implore any Lord, neither Vishnu, Ganesh, Shiva nor Dhanesh "Main to apne sadguru ko manaaon" - I only beseech my Guru and no one else "Aur na poojon deva, atam poojon deva - Sadguru karoon sewa" He says - I don't worship any deity And in Hindustan and specifically in Hindu religion and also in other sects and religions - There are various types that say - "This is our Guruji's birthday" "Now it's Guruji's son's birthday" Right? "Now it's Shiva's day and now it's Shiva's son Ganesha's day" Vedantists say, "We don't celebrate anyone's day, we just celebrate Guruji and no one else" "Whom do you worship?" Vedantists say, "We don't worship anyone" They ask, "Are you atheists?" Vedantists say, "No, we are not atheists but we live in service of Paramatman-like Sadguru" "We do darshan of Paramatman-like Sadguru and listen to wisdom of Paramatman-like Sadguru" "Aur rijhaoon na deva" - I don't try to please any deity All are good - Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu ji - everyone is good, the entire samsara is good But for me, there is only one Lord "Jin satguru soon chit jod liya woh auron se chit jodein kya" (One who has merged his mind with the Guru doesn't need to worship anyone else) They say, "there is no desire to go anywhere else now" Now look, it is possible that you think - "When we come here, we see a lot of other things so what is all that about?" See, many children come here too who don't have this understanding So, the duty of Guru is towards everyone For the new disciples who have just started learning and understanding So, they are told to go to the Temple and bow down Sit in aarti and sing in worship of Guru Now, if you consider Paramatman as a male-form - then do this And if you consider Paramatman as a female-form as Jagdamba - then do this too You must be in remembrance of that Shakti-swaroopa You must be in remembrance of that from where all this knowledge, intellect and beauty is originating That is the Supreme Shakti- Devi When it is a male chauvinistic mind, he feels good worshiping Paramatman as a male form "Oh Bhagwan, you belong to us" "Why don't you say Bhagwati sometimes?" (female form) - what is the problem in that? When I will teach you Vedanta, you will understand Paramatman is neither male nor female Neither Bhagwan nor Bhagwati but Brahman swaroopa But to understand this, you must have some eligibility and some preparation ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrid-deshe'rjuna tishthati (Bhagavad Gita chapter 18, verse 61) Lord Krishna says - "I am everywhere but if you want to see me, just look into your heart" He could have said that come to Vrindavan and see me But he didn't say that 'hrddese'rjunatisthati' "So, how are you in the heart O Krishna?" Then He says, "sakshi cheta kevalo nirgunascha" I am the Sakshi (witness) who resides in you So, if Krishna is sakshi and I am sakshi - what does this mean? This means, I am Krishna Now, this is what Vedanta says So, don't think that the one who sits in front of Krishna's idol and worships is wrong That's the beginning One starts from the outside symbols and slowly reaches the point within where - 'Chakra Chihan Aur Varan Jaat Aur Paat Na Hingein; Roop Rang aur Rekh Bhek Ko Keh Na Sakat Keh' So, you started from a chakra (wheel)-symbol and reached the point where there is no chakra and no symbol Now moving to the next topic of Jeevan-mukta (Liberated in life) atha jivanmuktalaksanamucyate jivanmukto nama svasvarupakhanda brahmajnanena tadajnanabadhanadvara svasvarupakhandabrahmani saksatkrte'jnana tatkaryasancitakarma samsaya viparyayadinamapi badhitatvadakhila bandharahito brahmanisthah The verse says that now we will tell you the characteristics of jeevan-mukta (the one who is alive and liberated ) The one who has attained moksha (liberation) whilst the body is alive is called jeevan-mukta Jeevan-mukta person, first of all - knows his own swaroopa to be Atman, to be akhanda (indivisible) Brahman 'ajnanabadhanadvara' - By eradicating agyana (ignorance), he attains to this gyana (the eternal wisdom) Which gyana? That I am the absolute indivisible Brahman 'svasvarupakhandabrahmani saksatkrte' - He knows his Self to be absolute indivisible Brahman 'ajnana tatkaryasancitakarma samsaya viparyayadina' First is agyana - due to this agyana, all the karmas done in the past, all his doubts, mistakes, etc. You can also add other things 'api badhitatvada' - He destroys all of that Let's go back to the nirvikalpa samadhi of Yoga What is the result of nirvikalpa samadhi of Yoga? In that all sanchit (accumulated) karmas get burnt The consequences of prarabdha (allocated for this life) karmas will be there but all the sanchit karmas get destroyed But if nirvikalpa samadhi didn't happen then sanchit karmas didn't get destroyed So, jeevan-mukti will be a far fetched thing - the veil of ignorance won't even get lifted Because impurities exist due to which vikshepa will be there and because of this vikshepa he does not become eligible for gyana Who do we call jeevan-mukta? The one whose all past sanchit karmas have been destroyed One whose all doubts have been destroyed One whose all viparya have been destroyed - viparya means opposite-knowledge "I am not Atman, I am the body and I am the mind" - When none of this opposite-beliefs exists And because of these being destroyed, he becomes free of all bondages No bondages remain And he becomes established in Brahman with unwavering conviction Brahman nishtha - nishtha means what you feel, what you experience Currently, nishtha (experience) is of the body It's of the mind And of the good and bad deeds of the mind It's of the ignorance of intellect There is no Brahman nishtha or Atman nishtha (experience of Brahman or Atman) But who is jeevan-mukta? One whose nishtha - nishtha means without any doubt and error and suspicion who knows that 'I am the absolute Brahman' There is no doubt Mandukya Upanishad's Shloka says - 'bhidyate hrdayagranthischidyante sarva samsayah ksiyante casya karmani tasmin drste paravare' The one whose all knots of the mind have got unknotted All knots in whose min are unknotted and all doubts have disappeared 'ksiyante casya karmani' - One whose all past karmas have been incinerated 'tasmin drste paravare' - When things go up and down in life, he remains steadfastly established in the Self I think this verse is the most befitting for worshipping the Guru Who is a Guru? Who is the Master? If I have to define as per the Vedanta - Then this Mandukya Upanishad Shloka is the best All knots in whose heart have been unknotted One whose all doubts have disappeared One whose all sanchit karma has finished One who never forgets his Real Self despite the highs and lows of life That person alone is a Guru, is a gyani, is jeevan-mukta Next the verse says that sanchit karmas of gyani have been incinerated but his prarabdha karma is still functioning What about that? So, Shloka 219 says - ayam tu vyutthana samay e mamsasonitamutrapurisadibhajan e na sariren This is a very long verse so I will explain one sentence at a time That will be better The Shloka says - when Brahman-gyani is not in samadhi Listen to this very carefully When Brahman-gyani is in samadhi, then nothing but one Brahman exists So, the question about prarabdha karma doesn't arise, prarabdha karma can't enter that state The body and mind which performed that karma, that body, mind and that world does not exist in samadhi First thing 'ayam tu vyutthana samay e' - vyuttana means to break When he is not in nirvikalpa samadhi - Then the body of that jeevan-mukta person - 'mamsasonitamutrapurisa' - flesh, blood, urine, excreta- that's what this body is made of So, what will happen in this body? andhyamandyapatutvadi bhajanena indriyagram e na The senses present in this body - through those senses, some experiences happen Like - OK, first the physical body I talked about which is made up of blood, flesh, muscle, bone and bone marrow, etc. Something or the other will keep happening in that So, the body will experience...? No sufferings? Since he is jeevan-mukta, he can't have any suffering? Right? NO! It doesn't work like that! So in his body, sneezing, cough, fever, tumor, cancer - anything can happen Look, these are the outcomes of prarabdha karma - no one can run away from them These are those arrows that have been shot form the bow - they cannot be turned back
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