International Vedanta Society

Vedanta is a spiritual science that shines light upon our very nature, illuminating
the truth that we are all One with God, and that our souls are the divine
manifestation of existence, knowledge, and bliss. This truth is veiled beneath false
beliefs that would limit us through fears, doubts and weaknesses. Vedanta uproots
this ignorance thereby inviting us to embrace the truth of who we are (omnipresent,
omniscient and omnipotent). This universal truth is available to any seeker
regardless of religion, culture, or sex.

1
 Introduction
(Lecture series #1)

Spirituality, is a feeling. It is a the deepest feeling of the ocean of love and stillness that
remains inside of us when the mind, body, intellect and ego are completely stripped
away. When we are led past the limitations of our own ignorance, the truth that we are
God, and that all is Brahma, only remain. Perhaps no feeling is more widely
misunderstood than this. It is described all of the time. It is sought after in a million
different ways, but seldom truly realized.

If we have the desire to feel what is beyond, despite our lack of understanding, we will
use the intellect and the mind to keep trying to figure out what that "beyond" actually is.
Often this creates frustration in the aspirant. So the barometer that we use to judge what
is spiritual and what is not often becomes the very source of our confusion. We speak in
one way yet behave in another and continue to wonder why. We will continue to wonder,
because without the feeling of spirituality confirmed by one who has actually felt it, and
without subsequent spiritual development carefully guided by a teacher who has
permanently gone beyond the mind, body and intellect, no one, will be able to tell us
what the feeling of the eternal actually is and how we can realize it. Plenty of talk about
spirituality exists, without the feeling. What remains after most spiritual teaching today is
that the mind is still at work, making the decisions about what is spiritual and what is not.
Our preferences and judgements remain intact, and we cannot truly feel the oneness that
we are talking about. The mastery of self observation remains untaught and it is assumed
that through discussing love, peace and devotion, stillness will come.

When I first heard the words of Swami Probuddhananda I understood what I had been
lacking in my own search to understand spirituality. I had always heard the teaching that
said the first thing you should feel in the presence of a true spiritual teacher is an eternal
depth of peace. Yet I had never met such a person with such a vibration. In Swami
Probuddhananda, I sensed this peace immediately as he began to teach me Vedanta. His
only vibration was Vedanta, the Truth, the Self.

Whether in person or from a distance, when he delivered the teachings of Vedanta, I

knew that I had finally met a competent, and realized Master. Then, the vibration of
Vedanta unmistakably begin to resonate inside of me. Over time, I began to talk less, and
to feel more. This was the sign that my experience was genuine.

2
 Swamiji has told me many times that the Truth is the most powerful force in this world.
This is born again and again through his teachings. The vibration of the Truth simply
pours out of his being. His words open up such a deep space inside of you that you
understand the feeling of eternity. You feel like an eternal being, instead of a fragmented
composition of mind, body intellect and ego. Eventually, with practice and through the
grace of the Master you understand that you are, only this eternity. Then the desire to feel
the Self, naturally grows stronger.

If you spend time with our Master Bhagavan, you will understand where Swamiji
received the gift of artfully understanding each devotee and carefully guiding their
spiritual development. This approach is crucial and also a rare find in this day and age.
Recently while working with Swami Probuddhananda and Bhagavan I understood that I
could finally let go because I was known completely. Inside the multiple layers of
ignorance, and my eternal Self, nothing remained hidden. We cannot guard any part of
our small self, hoping that we can successfully combine it with our realization. We must
let go of who we thought we were. This can be a difficult, if not excruciating process.
However, the more comprehensively your spiritual development is understood by your
Master, and the more completely you are accepted and loved, you will begin to welcome
those acts of surrender which once made you want to run in the opposite direction. This is
what happened to me when I worked with Swami Probuddhananda. The day I looked into
Bhagavan's eyes and realized he loved me despite what I had done in all my lifetimes, I
became his, forever.

In this lecture series, through voice and text, you can feel the vibration of which I speak.
Moreover, the process of reaching self realization is described with enormous depth and
clarity. Also, the way to combine both knowledge and devotion is thoroughly covered.
Lastly, emphasis is placed on the development of the Guru disciple relationship, which is
probably one of the most misunderstood relationships in the human race. It takes
someone, like Swami Probuddhananda, who has had a very healthy and vibrant
relationship with their Master, and who has remained utterly devoted to him in all ways,
for over two decades, to shed light on what this interdependence means and how it grows.
Through his love for Bhagavan, we learn about what this beautiful love of the Guru is,
why it occurs, and how to actually realize it as a feeling, rather than a dialogue.
Ultimately, we too will feel this deep love, and then, our realization will no longer be a
mystery. It will be a beautiful success story of our devotion, reverence and surrender.

May all realize this pure and perfect freedom with the grace of the Master. I gently lay
myself at the feet Bhagavan, my sweet and omniscient Lord. May all of my lifetimes be a
pranam to him.
Alexis Houston Maurya, USA.

3
 Lecture Series #1
Advaita Vedanta
Swami Probuddhananda Puri
Varanasi India

Table of Contents

Lecture #1
Thoughts, Meditation and Method of Chanting
(Request this lecture on MP3 and we will send it from gmail)
What is meditation? What is the meaning of Hare Krishna and why is it used? How does
a Guru use a mantra to work with a devotee’s mind. The differences between meditation
and chanting - Which method ensures the success of chanting? What is Enlightenment?
The dissolution of the ego…..

Lecture #2
Devotion versus Desire
(Currently in text format only)
Defining and discussing Shraddha, the combination of faith, reverence, and devotion -
Stories from the Valmiki Ramayana, how we create desire and how desires cease, the role
of the Master in developing devotion

Lecture #3
Ramana Marharshi #3
Talks_with_Sri_Ramana Maharshi3.mp3
Becoming the Observer
Who Am I? Why do we meditate? How to become established in Vedanta - The
transcendental nature of sleep - Praying to realize the Truth.

4
Lecture #4
Astavakra 2.mp3
Ashtavakra Samhita #2
Understanding the examples of the lives of saints – Attaining purity – Spirituality as a
constant search for Truth “I learn until I die

Lecture #5
The Characteristics of a Master
Letter by Swami Pavitrananda(2).mp3
Letter from Swami Pavitrananda to Bhagavan - The character of true spirituality is only
shown by the Master - The Master shines like the moon, constantly softening the mind.

Lecture #6
The Character of Devotion (Udhav Gita from the Bhagavatam #1)
Uddav Gita from Bhagavatam 1.mp3
Taken from the Udav Gita from the Bhagavatam - Describing the character of devotion -
Service to the Guru - The best religion is satisfaction - To give all to the Guru means to
get all - The Guru prays for the realization of the devotee.

Lecture #7
Transmission of Power from the Guru (Udav Gita from the Bhagavatam #2)
Uddav Gita from Bhagavatam 2.mp3
(Taken from the Udav Gita from the Bhagavatam) Letter from Swami Pavitrananda - The
transmission of power from the Guru - The transference of thoughts from the Guru and
from the devotee - Consciousness and matter - Negating the percievable - Birthless and
deathless reality - Developing Vichar, or discrimination..

Lecture #8
Service, Selfless Activities and Self-Realization (Udav Gita from the Bhagavatam
#3)
Uddav Gita from Bhagavatam 3.mp3
Taken from the Udav Gita of the Bhagavatam - Selfless activities lead to self realization -
Karma or past impressions are dissolved through selfless work - Samadhi means that we
are always in equilibrium - You cannot teach the meaning of Brahma everyone is already
Brahma - Dreamless sleep - The physical body is only the consciousness of the body.

Lecture #9
The Character of a Spiritual Person
Letter by Swami Vivekananda.mp3
The characterisitcs that create a spiritual person - Practicing the highest level of
acceptance – Vivekananda and absolute faith and devotion – Teaching Vedanta in the
United States, Letter from Swami Vivekananda, Chicago USA 1891.

5
Lecture #10
Humanity (Stories of Bhagavan)
humanity.mp3
Translating individuality into universality, practical spirituality means converting words
into actions - Humanity is moving from selfishness to selflessness - Teach others that
Love is the highest Truth

Lecture #1
Thoughts, Meditation, and Chanting (Japa)
(currently on Gmail Mp3 You can request this lecture to be sent from gmail)
What is meditation? What is the meaning of Hare Krishna and why is it
used? How does a Guru use a mantra to work with a devotee’s mind?
The differences between meditation and chanting - Which method
ensures the success of chanting? What is Enlightenment and the
dissolution of the ego.

Before, I used to work in a particular way, trying to convince people about spirituality.
Now, people around me know that I do not "work" per se. I leave everything in the hands
of Bhagavan. This is the best realization that has ever happened to me. The more I used
to work the more I spread ignorance. It only spread ignorance because "I" was the one
doing the work. Now I prepare for people to come. I read quite a bit and meditate and
write during the day. But now even I have seen from the writings of Bhagavan that
everything has already been said according to the scriptures. You must read these books
at least to know. Before you realize the Self it is better to read the scriptures to practice
knowing.

Prepare and develop yourself. Do not waste any time. Like Bhagavan says, avoid misuse
of one single moment. However, you will always be frustrated if you work and do not get
the results that you want. If you develop yourself internally instead, then, you will be a
steward. You will not be affected by whether or not people become spiritual. You will be
too occupied with your own Self-realization. So always focus on yourself first.

6
What is meditation? Why do we do this? Is just about practices? Meditation means
engaging our mind with one thought, any thought that you like. We keep our thoughts on
God because they are powerful thoughts that absorb all of the unimportant and negative
ones. From the time we wake up to the time we go to sleep we have billions of
thoughts. Yet as you try to recollect these thoughts before you go to sleep you cannot
remember all of them. You may only recollect one or two. The rest go unnoticed. This
means that most of our mind is wasted. The mind is nothing more than a collection of
thoughts. So the mind works for 24 hours without any productivity. What I see is that the
unimportant thoughts eat up all of the important thoughts. Even if you are not a spiritual
person you must manage your mind so that you can accomplish a specific task.

So what does the Guru first do in order to work with person's mind? He engages that
student's mind with the use of a mantra. This mantra or sentence has been given to him
by his guru. So it travels from generations of master to disciple and then again as
the disciple becomes a teacher. The vibration of water is seen in a different way as we
learn to watch the waves disappear from generation to generation.

Hare Krishna, this mantra, is very simple. Hare means to steal. Here, God is compared to
the robber. Why is God a robber? Because he takes things away from you without you
even knowing that they are being taken away. In the same way God, or the strength that
binds and enlightens you is the subject. We pray to him to steal our thoughts. We pray
"Oh God, please steal my ignorance, my darkness and my sufferings, steal my mortality
and make me immortal, steal my negativity, show me the Truth, bind me to the Truth, to
the light."

So start this chanting slowly and softly and with reverence, like a prayer. It does not
matter if you chant all of the time. The length of time is not the issue. Sincerity and
honesty are the issues. Sincerity is the process, the subject and the Master. You must also
be sincere to everybody and most of all to yourself. This means that when you chant you
should not drift into your thoughts. True, when you meditate or chant thoughts will come.
But you must notice that all these thoughts are there. You must see them, notice them,
and also, the quantity of them. Then, concentrate more and more on each and every
vibration and part of the chant "Hare Krishna". You will use this to see all of the thoughts
as completely separate from you.

As you chant the mind becomes quiet. All of the thoughts are vibrating consciousness.
The waves of consciousness are like the waves in the water, but they are the vibration of
the water. We see that this water in the deep sea is still, but the waves on the surface are
at a high frequency, and are disturbed. When your mind is absorbed in chanting, the extra
vibrations decrease to zero. Then the vibration less and still nature of ourselves, without
thoughts is revealed. The nameless, space less, formless identity of the Self is
glimpsed and comes forth as the vibrations cease. We see the same thoughts but become
much closer to our consciousness, much closer to the awareness of the observer.

7
Today in the morning my friends came to talk about the Self. "Neal is a name. Vineeth is
a name. I know everything about Paula, Amit, Alexis etc. But I do not know the "I am". I
know about the association and the form only. When I am enlightened I know who I am.

What is enlightenment? Here is a very simple example. At night I see a dream. In this
dream a tiger chases me and he runs away. I am shouting and I am crying and I
desperately want to leave this, in any way I can. I do not want my death to be the next
step. Suddenly the dream stops and I get up. When I get up, I find myself. The tiger has
gone. The same man who had the dream that frightened him and was looking for a
solution, is the same man who found the solution to that dream. He found himself. He
found the "I".

In the same way the mind is always chasing us. I want to get out of this mind but his
mind continues to chase me. I do not see who I am and because of this I also behave like
the mind. But after enlightenment, even though I know I am not the mind, I am still the
same person who was chased by the tiger, who was chased by the world. Here I am
conscious about my self. There is only a consciousness of the consciousness and this is
very different from before. Before, I was only conscious of the things that were being
created by the the consciousness. This is a problem, a great problem and there is no way
to get out of it except for being completely focused on myself and to go inside deeply.

How do I change my focus? I change it through chanting. Chanting is not the last step it
is the first step. I have to bring my mind towards one particular thought by concentrating
on these two words, "Hare Krishna" that's all. Always try to devote yourself completely
to these two words, sincerely and honestly. Chant for ten minutes completely absorbed
and focused on the chant. This is far more important than meditating for thousands of
hours. Just chant and remain present always, present in each moment of Hare Krishna.
Within no time at all you will find a clear difference between you and your mind and you
and the external world. They never have any relationship with you at all. This is sadhana,
this is how you embody Vedanta. We do not preach Vedanta, we practice it. The essence
of Vedanta is know the Self.

I am telling you, if you want to realize the Self, you must practice this consciously. You
will find yourself walking and talking but always chanting inside. The more you work,
the more you cook, do chores, run errands etc. while chanting, you will see these things
are being done automatically through love, through nature. You are just an instrument.
How? When you sleep sometimes mosquitos come and they bite you. During sleep we
kill the mosquito without knowing how we did that. It happened automatically.

Our ego is stupidity which always imposes itself as the doer. When you engage yourself
in spiritual practice you will notice that all of this work is done without you being the
doer. In fact, I am not doing anything. What do I do? I have to engage myself more and
more in chanting. As the state of consciousness is deepened more and more, I become
meditative. My whole day is a day of meditation. Each and every moment is meditative
so my practice of meditation is my whole life. Within days I realize that I am being taken
to a higher level. Still now I chant every day. I also see my Master chant every day,

8
meditate every day, go into samadhi every day. With this, the level of spirituality
increases daily. It is always deepening more and more. So stick to the basics.

I can only say this mantra to you, Hare Krishna. When you do it you will realize how
powerful it is. Every day we will meet and we will discuss this. If you have any
questions, you can write to me.

Lecture #2
Devotion versus Desire
(Stories from the Valmiki Ramayana, how we create desire and how
desires cease, the role of the Master in developing devotion)

Today, I would like to expand upon a story from the Ramayana. There
are mainly two Ramayanas in India, telling the story of the life of Lord
Raam. One is the Valmiki Ramayana, The other is Tulsi Das Ramayana,
the Raam Charit Manas. Now a days, Tulsi Dasji’s Ramayana is very
popular, the Raam Charit Manas, but I love the Valmiki Ramayana
because there Lord Raam has been projected as a human being. That
is more authentic in many respects according to me. So, in the Valmiki
Ramayana, it tells that the sons of Raam and Sita, Lav and Kush, were
staying in the ashram of Valmiki, the saint, who had written this
Ramayana, along with their mother Sitaji.

At this time, Lord Raam was carrying out a sacrifice, the Aswamedh
Yajna. People who have come to Varanasi, they know about a Ghat or
bank of ganga named the Dasaswamedh Ghat. Dasaswamedh means
that in this Ghat, this Aswamedh Yajna was performed ten times. This
Aswamedh sacrifice means a king who is very prosperous, he used to
send a horse well decorated to the other kingdoms of the country. If
any king tied this horse, that king would have to fight with the army of

9
the king who had sent this horse, in this case the army of Lord
Raam. In the army of Lord Raam, there was Hanuman. You know about
Hanuman, He was a great devotee of Lord Raam and a great
warrior. So that horse travelled over all over the country, and nobody
tied that. Nobody had the courage to tie the horse. But when this horse
was passing through the Ashram of Valmiki, these small kids, Lav and
Kush, the sons of Raam and Sita, caught the horse and kept it in the
ashram tied up. So Hanuman came and asked them what they were
doing. He told them to give him the horse because they were very
small and told them that if they didn’t, then they would be killed
because this was the horse of Lord Raam. Lav and Kush said that they
will not do it, but rather challenged Hanuman to fight them for the
horse and if he won, then he could take the horse. Then they fought
with Hanuman, and he surrendered before Lav and Kush. He knew that
these boys were the sons of his Lord, so, he could not kill them. After
he surrendered to them, the boys brought Hanuman tied up into the
ashram and took him to Sita, their mother. They said to her, “Look, we
have captured the great Hanuman, the great Hanuman who jumped
over the ocean to destroy the palace of Ravana. We have tied this
Hanuman up, who has killed so many demons.”

Sita just smiled. And she said: “Oh Lav and Kush, how come you are so
proud of this? If he hadn’t surrendered to you, would you have
captured him? He did let you capture him." Mother Sita said. Why do I
say this? I say this because, as you all know, our Lord is Bhagavan -
God. And when God comes he brings an enormous power with
Him. That power works within us. We feel that power working through
us and many things start happening. We should always be conscious
that that power working through us is not our power,this is the power
of our Lord, Bhagavan. And we should always be very humble and
grateful to him. If I am not humble, if I am not grateful to Him, then I
will lose this power. I will lose this power suddenly. We say that
everything is Brahman. Yes, this is true, everything is Brahman. The
guru and disciple are also Brahman. But it is also very true that we
should not impose this knowledge of Advaita on the Master when we
are in this conscious state. I know that I am the same as Bhagavan
when I am in Samadhi. Not in this conscious state! When I am in this
practical world, in this conscious world, I am His devotee, I am His
servant. So never forget that when you are in the conscious state,
dreaming state or sleeping state, in all of those states, you are a
disciple, you are a devotee. And, you have a Guru. The spiritual world
is a love story between the Master and the disciple. Remember that
this love story never ends. We should never think that we have
become the same as our Master. Spiritual world is a world to become a
student, the more you become a student, the more the Master speaks
through you. I remember one incident on the day I attained Samadhi.

10
When I attained Samadhi, Bhagavan told me to go and bow down
before Swami Pavitranandaji. Bhagavan told me to bow down before
Thakur Ramakrishna. He said, He is the one, not me. This is the beauty
of spirituality and devotion. He, Him, not me., we should always
remember this. It is always Him.

Attachment is everywhere, but with Guru there is no

attachment. This love is not the love of attachment. This love is a love
to make us free. Knowledge will come, this is Advaita Vedanta, we are
reading Astavakra, we are reading Yoga Vasistha, Bhagavan has told
us to read Mandukya Karika, if you read that, you will be completely
stunned. Still Bhagavan is Bhagavan, a Master is always the
Master. Though it says that the Master and the disciple are one, that is
only in Samadhi. In conscious state, I have to say that He is my Lord,
He is my God, I have received everything from Him. If I cannot say this
clearly, you know that this knowledge will not remain, it will go. There
is a story in Mahabharata, where the great Karna went to Parsuraam to
learn the skill of warfare. However, there Karna had lied. Parsuraam
said, yes, you will become a great warrior, but when the time comes
that you need this knowledge, you won’t have it. This is the thing,
always remember this. When Raam asked Hanuman, Hanuman, what
do you see in me? Hanuman said, O Raam, when I am in Samadhi, I
see that you are me, you are my Self or Soul. When I come to the
intermediate state of consciousness and super consciousness, I see, I
am a part of you. When I am in the conscious state, I see that you are
the Lord and I am your Servant, I am your devotee. Master is always a
Master, and if I cannot say this clearly, loudly, if I do not feel proud, I
am wrong. I have seen many people come to Bhagavan, who had
certain realizations, and when asked about their Guru, said, I am my
own Guru, or, Thakur Ramakrishna is my Guru. This is a sin, don’t do
this. Everything will be false. Always say what is truth. Always feel
proud to say that I am the son of Bhagavan. If you have a master, you
have to say that I am the son of His. This is the only aspect of
spirituality. Spirituality is a relationship between the Master and the
disciple. You cannot do anything of your own, you try, but you cannot.
Whatever the Master will tell you will become a reality in your life. You
have to listen from the mouth of the Master.

Why was India the only land where this knowledge had traveled for
thousands and thousands of years? Because of only one factor, and
that is Shraddhya. Reverence, faith and surrender together is
Shraddhya. You have to bring this quality within you, Shraddhya. In the
Gita it has been said clearly, the one who has this Shraddhya receives
this knowledge. With shraddhya, you will realize God. The
ammount you meditate, the length that you chant is not the factor. It
is how much shraddhya you have for the Master and the subject that is

11
the only factor for realization of truth. It is called Shruti, Vedanta
means what, shruti. The Master says, and the disciple listens. These
words are so perfect and powerful that they will make that transform
into reality. Even Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwar cannot harm you
together if the Master is with you. If the Master leaves you, even
Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar altogether cannot save you. This path,
spiritual path is a path of the words of the Master. That is why Swami
Pavitranandaji at the very beginning of his letter mentioned, not me,
not me, but you, but you.

Not me, what ever I am today, is because of that Man, that man
who used to work in the railways, the one who lived in small
quarters. Yet I feel proud to say that I am the son of
Bhagavan. Everybody should be proud to say this, we are the sons of
Bhagavan, we are the daughters of Bhagavan. This is spirituality. Wah
Guruji ki Fatey, victory be my Master. Not me, not me, but, victory to
the works of my Master: Victory to the life of my Master.

A Master is always a Master. In India we say, even if my Master visits

the place where wine is served, still He is my Master. Maharajji, who is
the president of International Vedanta Society, once said to Bhagavan,
if you ever kill someone, I will know you had done the right thing. This,
is spirituality.

What is the prime reason for this bondage? How to get away from this?
It says that an object which is created by an object is destroyed by
exactly that object. For example, fire is caused because of air, and it is
because of fire again that it gets extinguished. In the same way, this
cause of effect relation or this cause of effect tradition of this world is
nothing but Maya or illusion. The same way, this maya or illusions
starts from our thoughts and desires. We have created this maya,
because of desires, we create this world, one after the other, and we
keep rotating within this world. The world external is not using us, we
are actually getting used by ourselves. Nobody uses us. Whenever we
have to say something, we blame others, because of him, her, this,
that etc etc, but, it says nothing is the cause of your miseries, nothing
is the cause of your bondage.

The only cause of your bondage is you, yourself, your own desires. So,
this bondage is created by a desire and this bondage will also go by
another desire, the desire to get liberated. And with this desire to get
liberated, does the whole world that we create inside is completely
destroyed. So, a person who is thinking of getting enlightened, the
person who is always trying to know the truth, the only way to know
the truth is to desire to know that. When you desire to know the truth,
then, the truth gets manifested within you.

12
The verse says: “With pure desires we have to destroy the impure
desires.” Pure desire means to know the Self, to know God, to know
the Divinity within ourselves, to get enlightened. To get freedom, these
are pure desires. And what are the impure desires? They are worldly
desires. So from these impure desires comes the desire of this entire
world. Worldly desires – our physical attraction towards others, our
greed, our lust, everything comes. And because of these a person
suffers, a person attains miseries. So we have to defeat our impure
desires by our pure desires. And by holding these pure desires we have
to go beyond all desires and that is when we realize the Truth. And that
is also because of these pure desires.

“These desires are of two types – one is pure and one is impure. The
impure desires are the cause of this birth and death.” With our impure
desires we come again and again into this world, into this cycle of birth
and death. And with the pure desires we become free, we become
liberated. “Only with the search of the Self do all of our desires and all
of the worlds that we have created go away.” I am sure, people who
are here now, who are out and out spiritual, very serious spiritual
people, we all experience this that whenever we concentrate our mind
in the search of Self or this Knowledge, we see that our desires are
getting burnt. So, when this desires are getting burnt, the subtle world
created by us as well as the desires are also burnt. The world that we
see outside is not outside is not outside, it is inside of us. The world
that is inside gets projected and we see that outside. This internal
world is the result of the desires that we had had. So, when we search
for the truth, the desires are destroyed and with this does the subtle
world.

With the help of the scriptures and also with the words of the Master,
when we realize oneness with the Self then the entire desires with the
subtle worlds are destroyed. The mind then becomes no mind, the
mind doesn’t remain. After enlightenment, you will observe that you
have no mind but your existence will remain. You will have thoughts,
but there would be no attachment what so ever with them. You cannot
recognize yourself with the mind at all then. You will be completely
separated from these thoughts. Existence of mind is nothing but
attachment to it. When there is no attachment at all, then whose mind
is this? When we know the truth, the mind becomes no mind. After
realization of truth, there is absolutely no acceptance of any object
from the outer world, because of the knowledge that the outside world
becomes completely false. So, the acceptance of the outer world is nil.
And that is the reason why the mind becomes completely objectless.

13
The mind becomes completely conscious and goes beyond all
imaginations. This happens because of the lack of any object.

The mind cannot stay without any support. So, if you want to remove
the objects, desires or imaginations of your mind, engage the mind
into the thought of the Self. Brahman then becomes the support of the
mind and thus the outer objects cannot come inside. With very less
discrimination, the mind with the effect of those imaginations will
become a dreaming mind, creating something, living on the past or the
future, ignoring the present, becomes similar to death. This the mind
goes in vain. So, for a firm knowledge, discrimination is a must.
Discrimination for ten minutes is much more powerful than meditating
for several hours. With discrimination, you go directly to the point. A
discrimination less mind falls often. So, engage yourself more in
thinking. When we start discriminating, we do not find the existence of
the mind.

The mind creates so many problems to us. A man becomes mad only
because of the mind, he looses control of his thoughts not because of
others. A man becomes depressed, restless, war, fight, all because of
the mind. But, if we are capable to discriminate, we see the mind
doesn’t have existence at all. So, this is maya or illusion. Though it
doesn’t exist, it seems so true. A man becomes happy, sad, depressed,
frustrated, angry etc etc because of the mind, but the truth is that, it
doesn’t exist at all. This is Maya. So, always discriminate and within a
very short time, you would see that you have reached the truth.
Remain neutral always. Cut yourself, cut the heads of your thoughts,
discriminate. It never says to cut others head, cut yours, it needs
courage.

Because of the desires, mind is created. Because of the lack of

discrimination, it is created. You are always beyond. As the existence
of the dreaming state becomes completely immaterial or false, non
existent in the conscious state, with discrimination the existence of
mind also becomes likewise. In the conscious and dreaming state, we
feel all projections of the mind. But, in the deep sleep state, with the
disappearance of mind, all its projections and its effects disappear as
well. But, I remain in these three states. I or the self or the knowledge
is existent in all these three states.

In all these regular ever changing states, the one which doesn’t
change is this I. The one which always remains in dwelling or not
dwelling is the only truth. The I or the self remains in all these three
states, but, I am never conscious about this I. I am always conscious of
these states which are just passing phenomenon. I am conscious about
the objects I see in my conscious state. I am conscious about the

14
objects I see in the dreaming states. Also, I am conscious about that
state where I haven’t experienced anything. But, I am not conscious
about the one who has been experiencing these three states. This one,
is the witness. We have to be conscious of that I which remains either
we are conscious or unconscious about it. That is the only truth. That is
my Self or the real identity.

Lecture # 3
Become the Observer – Know Thy Self
(Third in a series of lectures on Ramana Maharshi as he answers the
inquiry of a devotee about the Self)

We always say "Know thyself", know yourself. If you know yourself you know
everything. So this is the thing. Now the devotee inquires about the origin of
thoughts. "There is a perception of "I", but it doesn't satisfy me. There is a perception of
"I", but I cannot feel it." When I inquire as to the origin of thoughts or ask where those
thoughts come from, this is knowledge. We know about our thoughts. We know that we
have different thoughts, in fact, millions of thoughts every day. But a person who is an
aspirant is not satisfied with those thoughts. He is more interested in the origin of the
thoughts. Where did these thoughts come from? What is the source of this thought? So
the devotee who is talking to Ramana Maharshi is also an aspirant and is trying to realize
the "Self".

His inquiry focuses on the origin of thoughts where there is a perception of "I". But this
perception does not satisfy me. "Why?" Because I have not realized it. I have the
perception that every thought is coming from me. But I have no realization of this,
whereas an enlightened person has the realization that each and every thought is coming

15
from him. However, because an aspirant does not have this realization he remains
dissatisfied. Ramana Maharshi says "You are quite right. The perception of "I is
associated with the form, and maybe the body because you have not yet realized that
formlessness, and because you are trying to perceive that "I". You are ultimately
perceiving this or identifying this with your body, or with the thoughts, or with
anything. But when you are talking about this you are trying to realize this "I",
through everything that you know. But whatever we know is all illusion. Because
whatever we know comes to us through the senses. The messages come to us through the
senses. But are the senses bringing us the real message? We do not know.

Is the world the same as we see? Or does it appear to us because we see so. We don't
know this. We depend on our senses. So whenever we talk about "I" we are trying to
realize this "I" with something we know and that is why this is also an illusion or a
perception which does not actually exist. "I" is beyond all perception. My identity is
beyond all comprehension. But whatever we know it is because of the senses. The
messages that come to us, come through the senses. But, are the senses bringing us the
real message? We do not know. Is the world the same as what we see? Or, does it appear
because we see it so? We don't know this. We depend on our senses. So whenever we
talk about "I" we are trying to realize this "I" through something that we know. And that
is why this is also an illusion and a perception that never exists. "I" is beyond all
perception, all contemplation, all thoughts, all contemplation. So the perception "I" is
associated with the form. Maybe the mind, or maybe the body, but there should be
nothing associated with the self. That is the thing. There should be nothing associated
with the pure self.

Whenever we are talking about the self we are talking about something that we know. We
are associating the self with something. But the self cannot be associated with anything. It
remains the self which is always beyond. It can only be felt. It is very, very subtle. "Tat
tomasi, meaning "You are that". The scriptures and the masters tell us, "Thou art that",
and, and, "...am that.." means the self, the knowledge, the existence. I am that existence,
that knowledge, that self. So, whenever I am associating myself with the self, I am
actually trying to visualize the self. I am trying to associate that self with something I
know. And that is why the self is also an illusion. The perception of the self is an illusion,
it is not knowledge. I have to go beyond this comprehension also. I have to go beyond
both this, and the perception of the self also, to have this self knowledge.

First of all, when you want to have self knowledge, the scriptures say "Perceive that you
are yourself". For beginners this perception works. But in the next stage, if you want to
realize yourself seriously, if you want to know the self, you must go beyond this
perception also. Leave this perception, shed this. That is called surrender. Swami
Vivekenanda said, "Shed everything, all imagination, all perception of the self. This is
not pure." The self is always pure because there is nothing that is associated with it. It is
always pure. So there should be nothing associated with the pure self. The self is the
unassociated pure reality. Upon making the thoughts still, this is the light that
shines through the body, and the ego. This pure consciousness remains over all. This is
very important. Only as all thoughts become still can this be realized.

16
Thoughts are always vibrating. That is why the knowledge of the self is not evident to us.
It depends on stillness. When everything goes.....only one thing remains, and that is the
self. It is a vessicle. After everything is gone, "neti, neti", meaning not this, not
this. After not this, when everything is gone, the very thing which cannot go, is the
self. This happens only when all thoughts become still. When do all thoughts become
still? When we go to sleep, and also when we sleep the thoughts cease. At one time, we
all sleep, and this is also samhadi. Sleep is also going to that self, but unconsciously,
because it is not consciously desired. The knowledge of that identity when I merge with
the self, is not yet, desired. That is why the knowledge of death remains a secret for me. It
is not revealed. But when I am approaching that existence consciously then what am I
doing? I am consciously making my thoughts still prior to the sleeping process. That is
why my master told me before my samhadi "Look closely at yourself when you are going
to sleep. See when your thoughts cease",one after the other, after the other. Where are
you going? With which existence are you merging? Is it bringing you peace? You are
merging with bliss but where? where? where? You don't know. And then, again, you
come back. You don't know anything about that. But if you go there consciously, then all
thought become still one after the other. And when all thoughts are still, the existence that
remains is the self. When you approach this place consciously you become conscious of
consciousness, and that is when you reach the super conscious state. It is very
beautiful. Ramana Maharshi was also a favorite of Bhagavan the master. I offer all my
salutations to this great, great soul.

Tomorrow again we will read about these words, as we continue with this in class. As we
always say, know thyself. Know yourself. If you know yourself you know everything

Lecture #4
Ashtavakra Gita #2
Attaining Purity – The Nature of a Spiritual Person

This is another day of Ashtavakra Gita. In these lectures we will introduce the lives of
great saints, like Vivekananda, Ramana Marharshi, Rama Krishna, and Bhagavan. This is
because spirituality has a character. It is not a search because whatever it is, it is, within
us. So why don't we see it? Why don't we feel it? It is because the character of our past
impressions always causes us to look outside. But this character changes as we listen to
Vedanta and become engaged in this process. What is happening? Our character is
changing. Now through chanting, meditation and by listening to Vedanta we are trying to
stop the mind from going outside, exactly at the place where the mind is. As we go on in
this process we will see that the mind is going inside. When the mind goes inside, then
only, it can discover the knowledge within itself.

So we have to know the character of the people who have gone through life in this way.
As we go on I will try to tell you about the characters in the Bhagavatam also like Udav,
like Nachiketa etc and this will help us to approach the subject in the right way. At the
start of class I want to tell you a story about Rama Krishna. Spirituality is a journey from

17
something to nothing. Whenever we are talking about Advaita Vedanta we are talking
about, this is not this, this is not this....The body which I used to know myself is not me,
The mind or the thoughts that I used to recognize are not me. As we negate and deny
these things then something comes into my mind, that, there is nothing. It seems true now
but as we go on negating we reach a point where we realize we have everything.

Everything means what? Everything means everything divine, everything auspicious,

everything eternal , peace, bliss, joy, love, Truth. But this joy, this love, this peace, this
bliss, when it is see through the prism of maya or illusion, peace seems to be chaos. The
same peace seems to be chaos. Bliss seems to be greed or sadness. But there is not two,
there is only one. There is only one, Asthi Bhati Priya. Asthi means existence, existence
of that self is there. There is existence you cannot deny this. Now I am saying "I am".
This is an existence. But I am not conscious of it, which I is this I? I am only conscious of
that I which is projected by me.It is apparent but it is not reality. I am seeing this but it
might not be reality.

Reality is always beyond what we see. So when I am saying "I am" I have identified
myself with my thoughts, my intellect, my mind and my ego, that which I see, that which
I know. So whenever I have recognized myself I recognize myself as this. But the
scriptures say, enlightened souls say, you are not this. Why, because they have gone one
step ahead of this. When they went one step ahead of this they found that these are not
our identities. This is just an illusion. Our identity is beyond this and that identity can
only be expressed as Brahman. Brahman is the Self, and that Self can only be expressed
as absolute existance. That is why we have existence. We have not come from a void, we
have not come from nothingness. We are not going to any place that we do not know. No
there are places, everywhere there are places and I am there. So don't be scared. Don't be
afraid that there is no place or that there is nothing beyond this. There is everything
beyond this. But for that you have to go beyond this. Then only you will find this
everything.

So first of all it is said that this state is existence, and then it is said that this state is
knowledge. It is because that existence cannot be known. How do I say that I am not this?
It means that I know something which is separate from this. When I say that I am not a
body, I know that individual who is not a body. When I say that I am not an intellect, I
am not an ego and I am not thoughts, this means that I know somebody who is beyond
this. So that existence which cannot be known, which cannot be expressed can be felt.
How? by a pure mind, a pure heart. What is a pure mind or a pure heart? A pure mind
means a desire less mind. Why don't we see the Self? We are always moved by desires.
What are these desires? Desires are those thoughts that always connect us to this world,
those thoughts that make this world very true to us. These thoughts lead us to believe that
all of our peace, our bliss will come from this outer world. Desire is that faculty of the
mind which will always tell you that peace bliss, happiness, joy, liberation, whatever you
are searching for can be found in this world. This is a basic need of man, to search for
bliss. But if you have begun to search for bliss then you have begun a search for the self.

18
In my childhood I used to read one poem that said food, shelter, and clothing are the
basic needs of mine. These are not basic needs of mine, they are the basic needs of my
body. These are the basic needs of our body but our most basic need is peace. A man who
does not have peace, he may steal or he may beg a million dollars but he will never be at
peace. A man who sleeps on the roadside, he has peace. He sleeps and does not bother for
anything. Money or any worldly things cannot give you peace. Peace is something extra,
it comes from the inside.

So everybody in this world needs bliss and joy. Bliss means the continuous flow of joy
and the divine from within. We are not peaceful, Why, because some of our thoughts are
always mixed with desire. This means that our happiness is always dependent on what is
outside. If I love somebody and he or she acts according to my wish, according to my
desire I am peaceful. But, if they do not act according to my desire, I am restless. I am
disturbed, frustrated. (Swamiji laughs) Give something to me, give something to me. But
no, why should I expect anything from them? Peace is something that comes from the
inside. That is why the peace and the bliss from Vedanta that we talk about is a
spontaneous flow from the inside.

For those who have read the Bhagavatam, it gives a definition of God. What is the
definition of God?

Sa isha anidvatanya prem swarupa (That God is love by nature, without discrimination.)

He is always compared to a child who does everything indiscriminately. He gives away

things to people he does not know. But we always calculate. So this peace, this love this
bliss that Vedanta talks about how does it come? It comes spontaneously from the inside
without reason. If we do not get it, we have to reach up to that point. How? always by
discriminating in the mind...not this...not this....

Today I want to tell you a story about something Thakur Rama Krishna, the Master of
Vivekananda said. I am sure that this will help you in this path of enlightenment. Once
there was a woodcutter. He used to go to the jungle and cut wood. One day he was
coming back from the jungle and he met one saint in the forest. This saint told him to
move forward, further into the forest. The woodcutter did not think much of it and went
on cutting trees on the perimeter of the forest. But one day he remembered the words of
the saint and he decided to go inside the forest. When he went into the forest he
discovered sandalwood trees. Sandalwood is very very costly. So he cut that sandalwood
and he sold it, becoming rich, instantly, overnight.

After some days of cutting sandalwood and coming back he remembered that the saint
said move forward. He did not say move forward and find sandalwood. So again, he
followed the saint's words and moved further into the forest. There he found a silver
mine. He mined and sold this silver and became extremely rich. Days passed, and again
he thought, the saint told me to move forward he did not tell me to stop at the silver mine.
After some time, as he moved forward he saw a gold mine. As the owner of this gold

19
mine he became the wealthiest man in his country. So, he was very happy and satisfied
but again he thought, the saint did not tell me to stop at the gold mine. He said move
forward, continue, march on. So he moved forward and crossed the river, and as he
crossed the river he saw that there were precious stones everywhere. So this is the
essence of Vedanta. There is a word in Sanskrit, Charivati. What does it mean? It means
move on.

I am telling you that in reading the the lives of spiritual people one thing is very evident.
They did not stop. Thakur Rama Krishna used to say, "Until I die, I learn." I have seen
my Master Bhagavan who goes into samadhi every day and each day new knowledge
comes out of him. He says that this is everything, this is the infinite coming out. So
always I will tell you that on this path there will be many things that will happen to you.
Sometimes you will see that you are very peaceful. Many things are coming out of you,
from this peace. Many divine vibrations are coming out of you. Sometimes you will see
that nothing is coming out and that you have become absolutely worldly. You will see
that you have forgotten everything. It happens to everybody. This is very normal. It
happened to me also.

As a young man, I went to Bhagavan. When I went to Bhagavan I became so attracted to

him that I became realized within one or two days. But after two months or so I noticed
that my mind was not as high as it was with Bhagavan. Sometimes this happens.
Sometimes I did not feel that I liked Bhagavan. I wanted to go somewhere with my
friends. I wanted to play somewhere else. Bhagavan used to call me and he used to ask,
"How is your mind?" We used to say that it was not good and when it became good, we
would come back. Bhagavan used to say if you don't come back your mind will never be
good. In order to be good you have to come back. Why? because this is normal on this
path. It also happened in the life of Swami Vivekananda. Why do we talk about Swami
Vivekananda? Because his life is very practical. No other spiritual personality has a more
practical life than him. Why? There was no miracle in his life. Many saints had some
miracle in their life, somebody did this that the other thing.... But Vivekananda was a
very normal human being. Bhagavan was a very normal human being. Everything he did
seems very human and natural to us.

Whenever we used to say to Bhagavan I had this realization, I had that realization, he
used to say, afterwards did you have samadhi? This is the benchmark, samadhi. It means
that whatever you have realized you have to become completely merged with that. For
instance I am feeling peace, but this is temporary. Now your mind is there now there is
peace. But after some time it will move away from that state. Why? Because, it is still
vibrating. The mind is nothing but vibrating consciousness. Consciousness which is
vibrating is called "mind". So Pavitranandaji, the Master of Bhagavan said: "The essence
of this vibrating self consciousness is knowledge." This is very beautiful. It means you
have been given everything. You are nothing but the Self.

The mind is vibrating consciousness. What do you have to do? You have to realize the
essence of this vibrating consciousness. Now the consciousness is vibrating and this is
why it appears to be mind. The fan is moving. It appears as if there are a hundred plates

20
on the fan but there are only three plates. How do we find out that there are only three
plates? We stop the fan. We stop it and we see that it has only three plates. Self
knowledge is nothing but the awareness of the vibration less mind. Why? Because, there
is nothing more than pure consciousness. Pure gold is pure gold, pure silver is pure silver.
But some of the ornaments that we use are not pure. Why? They are mixed with alloys.
That is why they are not pure but pure gold is only gold pure silver is only silver, pure
milk is only milk. A pure mind is only a pure mind. Pure consciousness is only pure
consciousness. So pure heart, pure mind, and pure consciousness are the same thing. It is
only things from the outside that come and get attached. How does attachment occur?
There is always a superimposition going on.

Lecture #5
The Characteristics of a Master
Letter by Swami Pavitrananda(2).mp3
Letter from Swami Pavitrananda to Bhagavan - The character of true
spirituality is only shown by the Master - The Master shines like the
moon, constantly softening the mind.

The Master sees everything as himself, all knowledge is within. So whatever he sees,
whatever he knows, he knows his Self. That is why a Self realized soul is called
omniscient. He knows everything. Why? because whatever he knows, first, he has known
the Self, his Self, that omniscient part of himself. The Self is this knowledge and this is
the only reality. This is the only solution. We have many problems but this is the only
solution. Each of us contains the possibility of using this solution by realizing the soul.
So we talk about many worldly problems, we talk about many worldly things. The only
solution to these worldly problems is to know thy Self. When you know the Self you will
see that gradually all problems will cease.

Namo namaste Guruve mahatmane vivukta sandaya satamaya nitya vayananda swarupne
bunme sada parda yambu tamne.

21
I bow down to the oh great soul, my Master
You are free from all attachments and the best of the learned and good
You are the embodiment of eternal bliss

This spiritual knowledge is based on the Master/disciple relationship. Spiritual

knowledge goes from one heart to another heart. So the Master talks about the Self.
When the Master talks about the Self, the Master talks about himself, because he has
realized that Self and he has become that Self. So when he talks about himself his words
are so strong, because every word he speaks comes out of his own realization. He speaks
from his own consciousness. He is speaking from his own feelings. When an
unenlightened soul speaks about Brahman, he speaks, but because he does not have that
realization he cannot show the way to another aspirant. But a person who has realized the
self knows the path of realization. He knows the path through which we can go to realize
the Self. That is why the total science of spirituality depends on the words of the Master.
The vibration of realization is delivered through their experience, their voice, their words,
their touch, their glace, their picture, their face etc...

Mantra mulam Guru vatyam (Whatever the Guru is saying, this is the only mantra.)

There is no other mantra other than this.

Jyana mulam Guru mukti (If you have to meditate, you have to meditate on the picture of
the Guru)

Puja mulam Guru padam (If we have to worship, then worship the lotus feet of the Guru)

Moksha mulam Guru kripa (The mercy of the Master is our salvation)

When then mercy of the Master comes, only then, we realize our Self and become
enlightened. Swami Pavitrananda, the Master of my Master said that the only way to
come out of all the problems in this world is to follow the words of the Master. The only
way to get into the problems of the world is to avoid hearing what the Master says.So, the
spiritual world is the world of the words of the Master.

Yad kadaksha shashishat shashishandra chandrika patvudha bhavat bhavatapan ja sama

va praktavanaham kandeva vanandamatam panamakshayam sharat

(The one whose glance, like the consolidated rays of the moon, washes away the
worldliness resulting from the labor of birth and death)

His glace is like the consolidated rays of the moon. The rays of the moon are bright but
they are not hot. They do not burn our eyes. I do not know whether you have any
experience of the sun in India, the bitter sun that we have in India. Although the sun is
bright it burns the eyes. So everybody in India loves the moon because the moon has a
sweet and a soft light. It is also cool. You can stay and look at the moon for a long, long

22
time. This is what the Guru is. This is what the Master is....one whose glance is like the
consolidated rays of the moon washes away the labors of birth and death. Whatever pain
we have had to endure throughout the cycles of birth and death, the Master's glance
totally diminishes this pain.

Just his glance can wash it all away. Just a glance can take us beyond the cycle of birth
and death. Now in the twinkling of an eye, I have attained this indivisible and
inexhaustible treasure, the bliss of the Self. Just by a glance, the disciple has realized the
soul. he has realized how peaceful the soul is. Now he can describe what the soul is. We
have been talking about the Self. Now we will describe what the Self is.

Tanoham krito kritoham bhagavat ha nityananda swarupoham purnoham pranahu brahat

(By the mercy of the Guru I have become blessed, successful, and free from the grip of
the dragon of birth and death. Now I have become ever full of bliss.)

Asangoham anangoham alingoham adbhutam adbhutarah. Prashantoham anantoham

alokaham chinantana.

Yes now he describes the Self. I am unattached. This means that I am always unattached,
I am always the witness. I am always the observer of this world. I am without a body. I
am without all signs, subtle but I am indivisible, whole, ever peaceful, endless, pure and
eternal. I am That.I am always free, I am always beyond everything. I am without a body,
even the subtle body goes along with the mind and intellect. There was never any death.
The subtle body did not die. I am always beyond death. Death cannot touch me. Death is
of the body and the subtle body. It is not of the Self, which is indivisible. It cannot be
broken, it cannot be killed.

Ne hanya de hanya mane sharive (The body may die but the Self cannot be killed)

Ajo nikto shasabo (It has got no birth. It has got no death)

Whatever death we see, it is only the death of the body, and the subtle body body. But I
am neither physical nor subtle body. You do not know yourself. That is why you are
distracted. Go inside the mind and then go beyond the mind, go beyond the body and you
will see that you are completely still. You are without vibration. The vibrations are only
from this external world. Whatever vibrations you see are only from the external world. It
does not have any relationship to you.

In science we used to study one theory called resonance. Resonance means that when
there are vibrations in one body, those vibrations are transmitted to another body. In an
airport, the people who stay close to the plane when the flight takes off, receive the
vibrations of the plane. The buildings resonate with the vibrations of the flight. However,
the vibrations are not from the building they are from the plane. So vibrations come from
the external world, but we take these vibrations into our body and make them our own. It
appears that the vibrations are coming from inside of us. In this way we develop and

23
maintain an imaginary connection with the external world. It is not a real connection, it is
imaginary.

We have to establish that this connection is imaginary. So ultimately, you do not have
any vibration. You are always the Self, calm, quiet, peaceful. You are endless. Why
endless? It is because you don't have any beginning. You have no limits. You are infinite.
We limit our self because we associate our self with the finite. We associate our self with
the mind and that is why we limit our Self. We think that we have an end but we don't
have any end. We are pure, we are only the Self. We are only the Self, we do not have
any vibration within us. We do not have any matter in us we do not have any ignorance in
us we are always pure knowledge. We are only consciousness, that is beyond
knowledge. You never, ever had any vibrations. You are, quiet, calm and still. We are
ever present in all times. We are beyond time.

Akatarham avotaham abikayoham hamish kriya shudo bhuta swarupoham kiyevaloham

sadha siva

I am not the doer, I am neither he who acts nor he who experiences the result of any
action.

All of our suffering comes from our actions and the result of our actions. But Vedanta
says that you are neither the doer, nor do you experience the result of your actions.
Everything is a phenomenon of nature, we have no relation to this. This is why a person
who realizes the Self goes beyond all miseries, activities and words. At the same time, we
may wonder why someone suddenly does something to us. We may think there is no
reason. However, everything has a reason. However, this is the result of our actions.
Every action will have a reaction.

So whatever we have done, returns. But at the same time we are neither the one who
experiences nor enjoys our actions.

Naman karmani lipyanti name karme phineswarah

I never attach myself to any works, nor to I have the attachment to the desire for work.
This is also our nature. We are always unattached to the actions and the results of our
actions. I am beyond action and I am changeless. Actions continue but I am always
unattached. I am always beyond them. My nature is pure consciousness. Ignorance is
illusion, illusion is maya, and again maya is also not real. If you talk about practicality,
then realize that there is nothing but the Self, there is only the eternal. You are not a
sinner, you have never committed any mistake. You have never done anything sinful.
You are always pure, you are always divine. You are eternal bliss.

Yes, I am separate from the hearer, the speaker, the seer and the doer, the enjoyer. I am
without all limits. I am eternal consciousness, this does not need any explanation. I am a
manifestation of the Supreme, ever free from anything internal or external. I am Brahma,
one without a second free from all imagination of I, thou, of this or that. I am free from
all doubts. I am incomparable, I cannot be compared with anything, because everything is

24
worldly, but I am always beyond this world. Everything we think we know comes from
our senses. Yet, we are beyond our senses. I am the Purusha, the supreme, the indivisible
consciousness without ego and any idea of me or my. I am That, supreme knowledge,
supreme existence and supreme bliss. I am the refuge of all, everything takes refuge in
me. I hold everything and I am the destroyer of all things. I don't have any other
controller or any ego Why? Because everything is me. When you realize the Self, this
knowledge will manifest itself unto you.

Lecture #6
The Character of Devotion (Udhav Gita from the Bhagavatam
#1)
Uddav Gita from Bhagavatam 1.mp3
Taken from the Udav Gita from the Bhagavatam - Describing the character
of devotion - Service to the Guru - The best religion is satisfaction - To give
all to the Guru means to get all - The Guru prays for the realization of the
devotee.

These are from the life and teachings of Krishna. Taken from the Udav Gita these are his
last words. So Lord Krisha came to this world in 8,000BC, eight thousand years ago.
Krishna did many great things. He was the incarnation of thought. When God decends
into this world, he brings a lot of devotees with him. He does not come alone. It is God
and the devotees. So when Lord Krishna came he also had a team of devotees and each
one was unique. When he was a child in Gokul he had a team of young boys, cowherds
and then he had female devotees called Gopis. They were the embodiment of love. The
most prominent among them was Radhaji.

25
Then we have Buddha who was a wise man who always flowed the path of knowledge.
We had the Pandhavas, and they were all devotees of Lord Krishna. They all knew that
Krisha was God himself and they used to worship him.

So when Krisha came to the last part of his life he saw that all of his children and
grandchildren had been corrupted. Krishna had fought many battles. The greatest of all
was the Mahabharat. In this battle he had killed many corrupt kings. Still he saw
that even the current generation of his family was also corrupt. If I do not do anything to
them, one day, they will break the whole universe. They are so evil. So he decided to
destroy this generation also. Not only this, but he also decided to destroy the city where
he used to live called Dwarka. So he destroyed that city and his entire family also. Even
Balaram, considered to be the soulmate of Krishna, was also killed. In the last part of his
life, even Balaram did not understand who Krishna was and became engaged in a battle
of destruction.

After everything was destroyed Krishna sat on a tree branch with his feet dangling
towards the ground. He was waiting for death to come. In Krishna’s previous incarnation
he was Ram, and he had killed Bali, the king of all the monkeys. Then he named his
brother Sugriv, the King of monkeys. The son of Bali promised that he would take
revenge for the death of his father. But Ungar, this son was also the devotee of Lord Ram
so he could not kill him. However, in his following life he was able to kill the next
incarnation of Lord Ram, Krishna. So Krishna waited for the arrow to hit his legs and feet
to kill him. When he sat there in this way his great devotee Udav came to him. At that
time Lord Krishna was totally focused on leaving his body and had become God. At this
moment when he saw Udav Krishna was very surprised, “Why did you come here at this
moment of time when I am leaving this universe. No one is supposed to come to me. No
one is even supposed to see me.”

Udav was not only a great devotee of Krishna, he was a wise man. He was Lord
Krishna’s cousin and in his childhood he used to make idols of Lord Krishna and worship
them. Udav followed Krishna like a shadow. Krishna showed him the divine love of the
Gopis and Vridavan, and everything else. Udav came to Lord Krishna with a prayer.
“What is that?” Krisha said. Udav said “I have followed you like a shadow. Today we
have both become old. I have always served you as God but until this moment I did not
actually realize that you were God. The Bhagavatam was written after Krishna’s death by
Vyad Das. Vyad Das was considered to be the Guru of all the saints of India. He wrote
the Puranas, the Mahabarata, the Brahma Sutras and many other works in the Vedas. He
had enormous influence through his scholarship and he was also considered God. He is
the Guru of Indian philosophy.

Yet even Vyad Das could not understand that Krishna was God himself. Although he
wrote in the Gita that Krishna had shown his divine form, still he could not recognize
him. The human form of an incarnation of God is very difficult to understand. At the end
of his life Vyad Vyas was sitting by the river of Saraswati thinking “Why can’t I achieve
peace inside?”. I am old and have done so many great works in my life. I am such a

26
knowledgable person, I have realized the soul, I have written the Vedas and I have a son
like Sukdev who was born enlightened. Still I do not have peace in my mind.

At that time Narad appeared, the same Narad who appeared to Valmiki to tell him to
write the life of Lord Ram. Narad came to Vyad Vyas telling him to write the life of Lord
Krishna, because he had attained so many things but he hadn’t written about Lord
Krishna’s life, God himself. That is why he did not have peace in his mind. He had not
written the most primary of all works. After that, Vyad Vyas started to write the
Bhagavatam. The story about Udav Gita is the last part of the Bhagavatam.
Here Udav prays to Lord Krishna to reveal his identity, the same identity that had been
revealed to Brahma and that he attained before he created this world. I want this
knowledge. And then Sri Krishna started to describe this knowledge of himself. Chapter
4 of the Udav Gita is the Chapter on self-knowledge.

We start here, Sri Krishna says “Know thyself. Take refuge in me and perform your
duties without attachment. “Always take refuge in the Lord and do everything without
attachment. He does not say that you leave this world and become monks. You must do
everything with non-attachment. “Reflect on your duties with non-attachment. Use
discrmination. Do not engage in the evil effects of attachment. This will always take you
in to the world.” We have started to read the Manduta Upanishads in the ashram this
week because some foriegners have come. In the Manduta Upanishads it is said
that “Consciousness diffuses attachment. It appears to be diffusing itself from that
unchanging consciousness. It embraces the living and non living things from this
universe. The Self never changes. This embrace of the self starts attachments. Maya is
activated this way and we experience the limitation of the mind, the ego, the form. But
we are always unchanging consciousness.

Therefore we have to practice non attachment while being in the world. We do not have
to leave anything. You remain in this world like the honey bee, who only sucks the nectar
out of the flower. Other bees do other things but the honey bee only sucks nectar from
the flower. In the same way the spiritual aspirant always practices non attachment and
discrimination so that he can extract the nectar from himself. When he becomes capable
of extracting this nectar from himself he becomes an enlightened soul. He practices this
until he is able to extract this. What does this offer you? Your desires go you feel
complete, you become desireless . You attain everything.

This evanescent and dreamlike world is perceived by the senses but it is an unfruitful as a
reverie or a dream. This world is perceived by the senses. You see that you are also
connected with the universe. But the realized person sees that the external universe is also
himself. With the mind engaged on the Self you become a part of everything.
I am very happy to say that Sinead has started a meditation group in her house. She even
printed posters and distributed them around the university. Many people became
interested, even mothers of small children. She did this selflessly. She got nothing in
return for this work. But she will attain liberation, Why? Because, she performed this
work. Everyday you should be doing at least one thing that is selfless. In this way not
only do you develop but you create positive vibrations in this world.

27
The world needs character. Today what she has done will influence many people. Why?
Because of the internet. Everyone all over this world can know. This is possible. Some
love, some act of love, and in this way it will grow and grow and grow. You will see that
you will be able to talk to people all day but you don’t get tired. Your stock of energy is
never finished. There is one car in India called a Maruti. In the commercial there is one
boy who plays with this car all day, at school, outside, and even in his dreams. Finally his
father is fed up and tells him to stop it. But the boy tells him. I can stop it, but the petrol
is never finished. In this way Bhagavan used to say the words come out and out and out.
If you love, then you will love infinitely. If you work, then you will be able to work
infinitely.

The spiritual world is a world of infinity, whatever you do you will always have an
inexhaustable energy. This is why Krishna says “With your mind fixed on me engage in
selfless activities.” When we came to Bhagavan for the first time he used to tell us to go
and speak to people. Go and see the sufferings of people. Go and share the sufferings of
people and if you can serve them. Don’t help them, serve them. It is as simple as that.
This is selfless activity. This will give you freedom. Give up selfish work for this creates
bondage. All work that we do for our body or our mind is selfish. One devoted to the
quest for Truth goes beyond duty. For him the only duty is to realize this world. For a
spiritual aspirant the duties of the world are unimportant. The only duty is Self –
realization, liberation, knowledge. With your mind in a pure place, steadfast and fixed on
me, practice the virtues such as, non-injury, truthfulness, chastity, regular habits of
cleanliness and study. With singlehearted devotion surrender thyself to me. Whatever you
do, whatever you eat, whatever you sacrifice, do everything in surrender to me.

By truthfulness this means to be truthful to yourself and to God. You see you are your
own Master. People may think that you are a saint, but in your mind if you are not a saint,
then, you are not a saint. If people say that someone is not a saint but in their mind they
are always a saint, then they are a saint. So this is the primary virtue, truthfulness. Always
remember this. Truthfulness to whom, to yourself. My Master Bhagavan used to say,
“Always be true to yourself. Always be clear with yourself. If you are clear with yourself
then you can be clear with everybody.”

Purity of thoughts means that you speak from your heart and that what is on the inside
comes out. That is called purity. Form regular habits of cleanliness of the mind as well as
your outer world. Study, you must study the scriptures. We know that we are on the right
path if we follow the scriptures. Lord Krishna is telling us this. Through study you
become stronger, and your path becomes clearer. You achieve contentment. In India we
say the greatest religion is satisfaction. A man who is satisfied with everything is
religious. A man who is not satisfied, although he has got everything, is not religious.
Contentment, whatever you have you must be satisfied. Single hearted devotion,one
pointedness is crucial. In a moment, just like Janaka did, the last thing is that you must
surrender completely. Only if you surrender everything will you get complete knowledge.
Serve the Guru who is tranquil, calm and peaceful and has realized me and has become
one with me.Guru and God are the same thing.

28
Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheshwarha. Guru sakshat para Brahma.
Tashmai shri Guruve namaha.

Guru creates this world, Guru sustain this world and Guru destroys this world. Guru is
the supreme self, himself. I bow down before that Guru.

Krishna even says that Guru is even more important than God. He is the one who takes
you to God. So when you Krishna, Govinda and the Guru standing side by side who do
you prostrate to first? And Krishna says I bow down to my Guru first because he is the
one who has taken me to God. He is greater than God to me. This is the glory of the
Master. This is what Krishna is saying, “He has realized me and has become one with
me.” Unite yourself with your Guru by the strong bond of love.

When we were working with the five essential tenets of the International Vedanta Society
we said that Atman is the Self and we must preach this. But when we showed these things
to Bhagavan he said that the way you spread these teachings is through love. I do these
classes because of love, I go to see my Master because of love. I am going to Guwahati
on the 19th of November because of love, not to get something from him. I love him and
I want to be with him. Why do I want to talk to him? It is because I love to hear the sound
of his voice. I love to hear him say “I am fine.” Realize yourself through the Guru by this
strong bond of love.

Use your intellect to eagerly seek the Truth but do not be impatient. I am calm and I am
quiet but I am not impatient to know the Truth. I am not jumping around, no. You should
not jump around even though you are very eager to know the Self. Be free from envy and
give up all vain and unecessary talk (hahahaha Swamiji laughs). I say this to everyone.
Envy is like a cobra it kills everything. It kills ourself. Always pray to God. Please God I
do not want to have any envy. I want peace. Free me from this envy and this jealousy.
Always pray to Krishna, Lord Jesus Christ or any form of God you like to please free me
from envy because it kills everything. Give up all vain unnecessary talk. A spiritual
aspirant should only talk about the Self. Krishna is telling us about the character that he
loves. These are his words, so if I live according these lines then Lord Krishna will love
me.

Learn to look with an equal eye on all beings seeking the one self in all. Krishna says you
must see your Self in everyone. Everyone is looking through their own senses but this is
not true. Yesterday Janaka was saying, I am this light, I am everything. Everything has
already been said. The first person who realized the self and spoke has said everything.
After that nothing needed to be said but still we talk and we write. Why? Because without
this what will we do (hahaha Swamiji laughs). “If I don’t write or teach class what will I
do then?” So we do classes we write, etc. but if we have to do something then let us do
this type of work. This is the only thing that will give peace to everybody.

29
 Learn to look with an equal eye on all things. Be not attached to thy wife, or they
children or thy house or thy possessions. Remain unattached even if you have a beautiful
house. This is not permanent, this is temporary. Today it is true, tomorrow it may not be
true. So always be free, from the inside. When I say this to you I can feel this from my
inside, like a bird flying through the sky. The whole sky is mine. You are also a free soul.
You can also go anywhere you like. You can do whatever you like but before doing this
become free. The Self, the Atman, is the eternal witness. You all know this and Krishna
is telling the same thing.

It is separated from the physical and the astral bodies. It is even separated from the subtle
bodies, just as the fire is separated from the wood. What a beautiful example this is! Such
a beautiful example! Lord Krishna is elaborating on Self knowledge to his dearest
disciple. Wood is wood and fire is fire, they never become each other. As fire appears to
be the wood but it is not true. Just like you appear to be your identity but you are the
Atman. The rope appears to be a snake but it is not a snake. Whatever you see in the body
it is not true you are the Self, the eternal. You are sitting there enjoying as the Master of
the chariot, the king enjoying the kingdom. So realize the Self so that you can enjoy.
Attachment to the body causes all attachment and misery.

Know thou the Truth of the Self and be free. You are the Self, know this Truth and
become free. Because of ignorance you see the transitory reality of the body. Know thy
Self as pure and remove this ignorance. These are the last teachings of Krishna to his
dearest disciple. They are very direct and pin pointed teachings from Krishna. Knowledge
of the Self is happiness (hahaha Swamiji laughs). Peace knowledge and tranquility will
be attained when you let the fire of knowledge burn through the attachments to the four
gunas or attributes. So we stop here.

Lecture #7
Transmission of Power from the Guru (Udav Gita from the
Bhagavatam #2)
Uddav Gita from Bhagavatam 2.mp3
Taken from the Udav Gita from the Bhagavatam. Letter from Swami
Pavitrananda - The transmission of power from the Guru - The transference
of thoughts from the Guru and from the devotee - Consciousness and matter
- Negating the percievable - Birthless and deathless reality - Developing
Vichar, or discrimination.

Swami Pavitranandaji in this lecture is talking about the the transmission of power. It
could also be called the transference of power. We use these words in the spiritual world.
When we think of a Master and a devotee we think of the devotee getting power from the
Master. This is what we think and it becomes about getting something. We think that it is
something that will come to us from the outside. Pavitranandaji says that very few people
understand this essence. When an aspirant attains enlightenment ....As an aspirant moves

30
towards realizing the self they are always seeking help from the Master but they do not
realize that the transformation is coming from within. We think that the energy flowing
inside of us is coming from our Master. But Swami Pavitranandaji is saying just the
opposite. The Master is always indicating the source of it which is always within you.
When you see this, when you elevate yourself from an aspirant to a realized soul, only
then will you understand that this power is within you. The transmission of power is not
added to you from someone outside of you. Rather, it is always negating your ignorance.

As this ignorance is negated I receive more spiritual power. More spiritual thoughts flow
within me and more spiritual currents flow within me. It works like the light from one lit
candle to another, meaning, the light is always within you. You light the candle from the
one that is already burning within you. So Charles, (the name of one devotee) I am very
happy that you understand this concept. It is not the transference of knowledge, but the
continuous revelation of the knowledge that is already inside of you. So it becomes clear
to you that our job is always to be the witness or the observer of the Self. My mind
should always be on the Self. As my mind remains on the Self, the ignorance goes. As the
ignorance ceases, I see, that I also become the Master. This is a state of knowledge.
Everything is this world. Everything that we see is a state of knowledge.

So Master and disciple are also knowledge. The Master is the greater form of knowledge
and the disciple is the lesser form of knowledge. When a disciple goes deep into the place
where the Master is receiving he also becomes the Master. These are all the states of
knowledge. The only desire we should have is always to know he Self. Always you
should go back to to your Self. The place where thoughts originate should always be the
Self.

We stopped with the Bhagavatam yesterday and now today this is where we start. We are
reading from Chapter Four in the Bhagavatam as Krishna gives these teachings to Udav.
Here is the same thing, the bondage and the freedom of the soul. What is bondage and
what is freedom? The soul, ever eternal and free appears to be bound because it it's
association with the gunas. Now we have to understand this step by step. In Vedanta if it
says that we are the soul, why is it that we cannot feel the Self? I cannot feel myself
because I am associating with the gunas, these attributes, sattvic, rajasic and tamasic.
When I attach myself to them I become like them but I am not them. I am always the self.
I see myself as a person because I am associated with these gunas. So what should I do? I
have to disassociate myself from these gunas.

These gunas are the product of maya. Maya means illusion so these gunas or these
attributes. These are also illusions .They have actually never existed so I have never
associated with them. I am always free. So what is the difference? In my imagination,
there is no illusion but my imagination of the illusion is the illusion. My imagination of
illusion is the ignorance. I am always free. I am always liberated. I am always
enlightened but I do not realize this because of my ignorance. The day you understand
that you are free then you will be enlightened. That is why the scriptures always say "You
are free, you are free, you are free." You are inside of a body but you are not associated
in any way with the body. Why do you worry about it? You are not the thoughts. You are

31
not the ego. Why, because anything other than the Self, is an illusion. Because of my
senses I see Brahman or the Self as the world.

When I transcend my senses and my senses go inside I do not see the world. It is like
when you wear a pair of glasses with red lenses. You see the world as red but it is not red.
What to do? If you want to see the real thing, leave the glasses. You see everything
through the senses and so that is why this external world appears real. But actually matter
does not exist, matter is just an illusion. Everywhere there is only one thing and that is
called consciousness. There is nothing more than consciousness. So because the gunas
are the product of maya, in reality the soul is not bound. You are never bound. Grief,
happiness, misery, birth or death, all of these things are the effect of maya. Grief and
delusion, for instance, I am sad that someone has died, or, happiness and misery, these
are all maya.

The soul does not have any grief. It is always beyond all worldly happiness. It is
spontaneous bliss. It is divine and pure bliss because it is associated with the divine
world. When you realize the Self you know the essence of these words.You feel that you
are divine. That is why we say that a Self realized person is very close to God. Why, the
whole of divinity comes in to their body. You feel very, very pure. It is only a word now,
but after realization purity is a feeling. I was telling my brothers that after Samadhi I am
always doing things, but I also always feel a sense of purity within me. I feel that I am
very pure. These are not just words, these are feelings and they will also come to you.
Then you will understand what we call purity. As a dream is to the waking mind, so is the
experience of birth and death to the eternal soul. When we have dreams we see them as
true. When we have good dreams we feel happy and when we have bad dreams we feel
sad. But when we wake up we know it is not true. We know that these were just dreams.
So the happiness or the sadness of the dream disappears.

In the same way this world also appears true. However, Lord Krishna says that this is also
a dream. When you are realized and enter into the state of samadhi, when you come back
you realize that the earlier things that you have seen were a dream. Now it is a reality.
What does reality mean? What happens to everyone you see? You see them, you see
everybody you see everything. You see the same things but what is the difference? What
is the difference between and enlightened and an unenlightened person? An
unenlightened person sees the world. An enlightened person sees God in the world. He
sees his Self in every possible thing. Nothing exists where he will not perceive the Self.
This is the only difference. He does not just see the universe but sees himself in the
universe. "I am this, I am this" everything is him. This is the change and because of this
change he realizes that everything he has seen before is just a dream, nothing else,
nothing else. Everything associated with good and bad goes. Anything associated with a
thing, goes. We become free, we feel this freedom everywhere, every time. We know that
we are always one with that Self. My maya, within myself has the power to bind as well
as the power to liberate. Maya has the power to bind us and make us feel like we are not
the Self. Yet it also has the power to liberate by the faculty of discrimination.

32
Vichar, or discrimination is the faculty by which the maya within maya can be cut. The
power of discrimination leads to the liberation from maya. Even if we are the Self, this
faculty is what is used to determine what is eternal and what is non eternal. This faculty
brings us to the Self. What is the Truth? What is false? This way of charging things cuts
maya. I can feel that I am going slowly beyond the limitation of maya. The bindings are
disintegrating and I am flowing outside of these bindings so that I go beyond bondage. I
go beyond the imagination that created the maya and this is the root of maya. "I am not
the Self" is the root illusion. This knowledge that I am not the Self changes into I am the
Self. As I go deeper into the spiritual path, as I use the faculty of discrimination I begin to
feel that yes I am the Self. When I feel that I am the Self I become the Self. The spiritual
path is nothing but the increasing feeling of realization of feelings. You have to feel it.

Maya has the power to bind or to liberate. Avidya causes maya or apparent bondage to
the soul, vidya maya has the power to liberate, and then my being knows itself to be
free. Avidya means ignorance, desire and temptation. This cannot cause bondage to the
soul, but rather, apparent bondage. It seems as if I am bound. Due to these desires
thoughts and temptations. Vidya means I am the Self. It banishes ignorance. My thought
that I am also the Self is ignorance. Why? I am the Self so why do I need to think about
it? I don't need to think that I am Swami Probuddhananda because I know that I am
Swami Probuddhananda. I know that I am always this there is no need to think about it. I
do not need to become Swami Probuddhananda. Remaining the Self, becoming the Self,
being the Self. When you say I am not this body, I am not this mind, I am not this ego,
this is also ignorance , but it is vidya maya meaning pure ignorance. This ignorance
results in the cessation of the root ignorance within me. So Vidya maya banishes
ignorance and then vidya maya is the soul within my being knows that it is the Self. It
knows itself to be free. Even Lord Krishna says this soul is my being. Put your mind
always into the Self and you will see that you will go beyond maya.

Now I will tell you about the difference between a free and a bound soul. Lord Krishna is
telling there were two beautiful golden birds that were inseparable and looked the same
had built their nest in the same tree. One of them tasted the fruits of the tree representing
ignorance and the other remained in the Self and did not taste the fruits at all. This
bird was greater in strength and in glory. The one that did not taste the fruit was indeed
wise and knew the Self from the non-self, but, not the other. One remained bound and the
other remained eternally free. In the words of Sri Takur Rama Krishna., it is like a thorn
to be removed by another thorn when our actions do not bring us liberation. So these
birds were exactly alike. One was sitting and did not taste any fruit. He is always calm
and quiet. The other tastes the fruit, or in other words becomes associated with the world.
This is the mind. The person who does not taste the fruit is the person who stays calm and
quiet and remains in the Self.

This story was taken from the Upanishads. You see, the bird who tastes the fruit is on the
inferior branches. The bird who does not taste the fruit is on the superior branches. When
the bird on the lower branches begins to avoid the fruit he starts elevating himself to the
upper level, where the other bird is. Over time, he see that this bird is also himself. There
are not two birds. There is only one bird. We experience and we enjoy all the fruits of

33
our actions in this world. We are the doer of all actions in this world. But as with
experience as we elevate ourselves and begin to think of the Self we realize that this Self
is none other than me. It is always my Self that is free and unattached from this world.
The one who was searching is the one who was sought. There are not two existences, nor
are there two beings.

The difference after realization is in association. You become unassociated with what you
were attached to before. Everything is still there but you know that you are free. You are
always free. The wise man who is awakened from the dream of ignorance, a wise man
who is enlightened, knows that he is not associated with his body. The S
elf realized man knows that he is not his body. The ignorant man who is still dreaming
dreams, who dreams at night, is identified with his body. But the wise man who remains
in dreamless sleep always identifies with the Self. Though the wise man knows that he
is the unchangeable reality, he still moves through the material objects of the world
yet, he is the witness of his senses, responding to the objects. This is the character of a
wise man who realizes that although he moves through the material objects of the world
he is not attached to them. He interacts with everything but he knows that he is not
attached to anything. He knows that he is the unchangeable reality. I never change. I am
immutable reality. In the Manduka Upanishads it is said that this Self is the
unchanging consciousness which seems to be diffusing itself as it embraces sensory
objects. But this is apparent. Unchanging consciousness cannot diffuse itself or become
small. Consciousness cannot embrace matter. When it appears to embrace matter this is
called maya. However consciousness can only truly embrace consciousness. This is
because it never changes. It is always the Atman.

Bhagavan used to say "I always know that I am the Self. I do whatever I like but I always
know that I am the Self. I never become bound by anything. I am always beyond." In the
Mahabarat you see Lord Krishna doing so many things, right from his childhood until his
death. Still, even though he is dying he is transmitting the Udav Gita. Everything is
destroyed, everything is finished, and still at this time, he is giving this teaching. He tells
Udav that he is never attached to any work nor does he have any desire to do any work.
he says, "Whoever knows this as me will never be bound by the effects of any action." A
person who knows that Krishna is not bound cannot be bound himself. First of all to
know about Krisha you have to know about yourself. Who are you? What happens to an
enlightened soul? This is why a wise man is the greatest devotee. In India we say that a
man who is devoted is a devotee. But a wise man who is devoted is the greatest devotee.
A man who is devoted is a bhakta. This means that he is a devotee. But a wise man, or a
jyani bhakta, is the greatest devotee or utam bhakta.

A man who knows that is not bound by action has that quality within himself also. He
feels within himself that he has never done any actions. He does not have any desire for
actions himself and this is why he knows this about Krishna. When I was becoming
realized, my Master said to me at the time that if I did not achieve samadhi I would never
understand him. Also he said that I could never love him for the same reason. But I was
trying to tell him how much I loved him, and this and that and the other thing. Still he
said, "You cannot love me because you do not know me." How will you love me? By

34
estimation? ie: "My Guru is this and my Guru is that....No you have to love who I am and
in order to know who I am you must also go into that state called samadhi." In samadhi
not only do you realize the Self, you realize the source of all knowledge. When you
realize that knowledge you become that knowledge. Then you see what your Master is.
And then, you love him."

Love for the Master and love for God comes after samadhi. This is real love, and this is
why the gopis, who loved Krishna were all ancient sages. The gopis were not women,
they were all ancient sages who wanted to taste the love of the nectar of God. What is
God's love? They had done much spiritual austerity. After many millions of years they
achieved this level of devotion. They realized this love for God and then God came. So
actually, if you want to realize God, love God and realize the Self. First of all, you have
to know the Truth. Without this you cannot even understand your Master you can only
evaluate him.

Evaluation? What value is that? Lord Krisha what is that? You can read about it in the
Bhagavatam but can you feel his value? No, no, you cannot. The minimum quality of
becoming a true devotee is to realize yourself. Then you can become a true devotee of the
Lord. Then you can become a true devotee of your Master and then you can become a
real servant of this world. That is why, Sri Takur Rama Krishna directed Swami
Vivekananda, after his samadhi to work for the betterment of this universe. Not before
that. Before that he used to make Swami Vivekananda go into nights of deep meditation,
and severe austerities. You must also do this. I did this as well. How did Hanuman
become a devotee? He realized the Self first. He became a jyani bhakta. That is how he
was able to love Lord Ram so much.

After realizing the Self you know that you have nothing of your own. If you have
anything of your own you will never be dedicated or devoted. Love means dedication and
devotion. I have been singing this song today and the translation is that everything in this
world is false. The only truth is Lord Ram himself. You simply chant the name of Hari
and love this world. You don't have anyone or anything of your own. Even the body you
have is not yours.

"Everything has been given to me by Lord Ram. Who has enlightened me. Who has
enlightened my heart. Even if this world goes, Lord Ram will not leave me. " These are
the words of this beautiful song. You will realize this and then it comes. That is why true
devotion comes only after this.

When you know that nothing is yours and that you are only the Self. When you see that
whatever you have is not yours. Then you can devote yourself to the Lord. Here we see
Udav praying to Lord Krishna. He is a realized soul. At the last moments of Krishna's life
only Udav is standing there. It is not Sudama who is standing there. It is said that the
devotees who are sitting there close to the Master upon his death are his closest devotees.
Notice that Arjun is also not there. Arjun came to Dwarka to see if Krishna was there but
Krishna had gone. He was crying. He could not even lift his own bow after Krishna was
gone. But here we see Udav standing there with folded hands saying "Oh Lord tell me

35
this secret of yours. I want to know the secret of Godhood within you. Tell me the secret
by which I can know that you are God." Who is saying this? Udav, a jyani and a wise
man. So this is the thing in order to have real knowledge you have to become a true
devotee of the Lord. Krishna is giving Udav that knowledge of Godhood.

A wise man who has realized the Self may move through material objects, he may be
engaged in all sorts of things like construction etc. but he knows that he is not attached to
these material objects. This is the difference between an enlightened soul and an
unenlightened soul. The enlightened soul knows that he is not the doer. Swami
Vivekananda did everything possible as a saint and at the last moment of his death he
said that he had done nothing. "Everything was done by my Master." After doing
everything at the last moment of his death he is praying "Oh Lord Shiva now take my
boat to the other shore of the world . My life is complete." We say "Don't take us, don't
take us. I want to live more." But here a very famous thirty nine year old man, loved by
many, had completed all of his works and prayed for Lord Shiva to take him to the other
shore. That shore is my abode. So we have to go there to the other shore. He is not the
doer but the witness of the senses is responding to their objects.

The enlightened man is always the observer and he is never attached. He is always free,
he is always free. Just like a man who is watching a cricket match from the outside and is
always enjoying this. Yet the ignorant man, sitting in his body which is but the result of
his deeds in previous lives, identifies himself with the deeds of the present life, the deeds
which are but the play of the gunas. He, becomes bound by his actions. Whatever has
been done in this world has been done through the gunas. Any ego is stupid who thinks
he is the doer. Everything has been done by these gunas. These attributes are not mine.
These are of nature, not the internal but the external. The unenlightened soul always
thinks himself to be the doer.

36
Lecture #8
Service, Selfless Activities and Self-Realization (Udav Gita
from the Bhagavatam #3)
Uddav Gita from Bhagavatam 3.mp3
Taken from the Udav Gita of the Bhagavatam - Selfless activities lead to self
realization - Karma or past impressions are dissolved through selfless work -
Samadhi means that we are always in equilibrium. You cannot teach the
meaning of Brahma everyone is already Brahma - Dreamless sleep - The
body is only the consciousness of the body.

This is the third class on Udav Gita and the Bhagavatam. So here, Krishna is still talking
to Udav. "The wise man who has awakened from the dream of ignorance, even though
living in the body, knows himself to be apart from it." An enlightened soul doesn't remain
outside the body. He remains inside the body. An enlightened soul sees everything that an
unenlightened soul sees. He sees the world he sees everything. But always he knows that
whatever he is seeing is not true. Why, because he feels the Self in everything. He feels
the Truth in everything. He knows this world is nothing but dreams.

37
When we dream, it is true at that moment. But when the dream is over we know that this
was not real. In the same way the world that we are seeing now is because of the senses.
It is because of the way the senses are bringing information from the external world. We
are bound to see the world in that way, but the world is not like that. Illusion does not
mean that there is nothing. It is not like that. Illusion means that what you see is not true.
So if what I see is not true, then what is Truth? This Truth is called the Self, which is
beyond all attributes, which is beyond all name, form and description. Anything we know
as the self is but false. It is wrong and cannot be spoken of. The voice cannot reach there
then how can I feel it? I feel it because I am That. That is my real nature. It is not apart
from me.

My abnormal state occurs when I feel that I am this mind or I am this body. But the mind,
or the body or the ego is not really me. I always remain with this and recognize myself as
this. That is why I am always in an abnormal state. This is not normal, but it is what we
describe as practical. It means whatever we determine is real is practical. Although we
talk about practicality, this is this and this is that, we are not talking about the actual
reality. So what is reality? Reality is the Self, that is reality. We are not the body, we are
not the mind, we are not the ego, we are always the Self, that undifferentiated
consciousness. This cannot be differentiated, it cannot become name and form. It seems
to become name and form, it seems to become me, you this, that, he she, and all these
things. Yet we are always, That. This is what an enlightened person sees.

An enlightened person sees but he always knows that this universe is an illusion. It is
false, it is like a dream. An enlightened person knows what reality really is. He knows it.
And because he knows this, he knows that this reality is false. Never become confused
that either you have nothing, or, that you are going towards something. Always know that
you are in the Self. Everything may go but the Self will never go. Whatever I have may
go tomorrow. I may not have anything but I will always have this "Self" or this "I".
However, I am not conscious of this "I". I am conscious of everything I possess but I am
not conscious of which I that "I" possess (hahahahahaha Swamiji is laughing) I do not
know that. What is the "I" that I possess? I do not know that. Knowing this "I" is
knowing infinity, infinite knowledge, infinite peace, and infinite bliss. So this "I" is the
source of all heavenly qualities, treasures. But we have neglected this "I". The Master
says know this "I", know thyself. He will not say anything else.

We have many problems. We talk about our problems to our masters, to our teacher, to
others. But a true spiritual person will say "Know Thy Self". This is the only solution.
Whatever problems you are talking about, whatever sufferings you are talking about, are
related to your body, mind, and ego. You are attached to your mind, body and ego and so
you think that these sufferings are yours. Actually you have no relationship to your
suffering. Just become unattached to it. You will see that the suffering will never come.

Swami Vivekananda says that for an enlightened person bliss comes and goes peacefully,
suffering also comes and goes back peacefully. He is always established in his own glory.
Happiness comes and happiness goes as happiness. Sadness comes and goes by becoming
sad. But he is always like a rock in his own glory. So this is Self knowledge. Everyone of

38
us is searching for a solution. Today we are doing this job. Why are we doing this job?
We do this because we see that only by doing selfless activities we receive bliss.

We can only open the heart through selfless activities. When this heart is open I obtain a
certain amount of peace. When the heart opens I am expanding myself. When I expand
myself all the treasures of life are mine. When I contract, contraction is death. Life is
expansion, contraction is death. I am expanding myself from individuality to universality.
When I expand myself gradually I am opening my doors. I am opening my windows. I
am opening everything. I am opening the windows of my mind to the world. When I am
spreading my wings and starting to fly, and I accept everything, I see that all the heavenly
treasures are flowing to me. So this is the only solution. Krishna had already said this. To
be free, to become free, you must do some self less activity. You are always free to know
that you have to work in this way. Self knowledge cannot be obtained by this work, but
you have to know that it selfless work leads to Self Knowledge as it relieves past
impressions.

Today in the Bhagavatam we were reading about the mind and it's impressions, about the
mind and it's effect. What is mind? Mind means thoughts. I am thinking about this and
suddenly as I am thinking I become conscious, then I realize that this is not true, this is
not true. When I am thinking I am able to distinguish between the eternal and the non-
eternal and to cut that thought. I leave that thought, but because that thought has come, it
has also produced an effect. That effect, creates another thought. If one man has malaria,
though the virus leaves his body, it will infect another. In the same way, one thought
infects another thought. How do we get out of this chain of thoughts? They are always
there, always binding us. They keep us in a cycle and we cannot leave this cycle.
Sometimes I feel so frustrated, sometimes I feel so depressed, but I do not know the way
out of it. Why? because I am chained in this cycle of thoughts. The Vedantic Guru says to
work selflessly.Work selflessly and you will see that this chain of thoughts is loosening.
It is loosening and you can fight with it. As you start fighting with these thoughts you
start gaining strength. When you have gained the strength to combat the thoughts you can
eradicate the thoughts and cut them at their root. That way you are qualified to become an
enlightened soul. You are qualified to become an enlightened soul but what is the
sadhana? The sadhana or austerity for Self knowledge is to make our self so strong that
we can combat our own mind.

Here the enemy is not outside. The enemy is you, yourself. The greatest enemy of yours
is your own mind. Cure that mind. Cut that mind from its roots because this is the mind
that always creates obstacles. It creates obstacles in realizing that you are the Self. In
realizing the Self you do not have to become something. When we talk about the Self we
perceive that it is somewhere else and we have to become that. We do not have to go
anywhere and become attached to something else. No, you are always the Self. Why the
Self? What is spirituality? Why do we go into samadhi. It is only to get this confirmation.

Let's say that I have taken an examination and thought that I did very well. However I
must get the result from the examination to know whether or not I have actually done
well. It is the same thing with Self Realization. This knowledge has to be completely

39
confirmed. And this state is completely confirmed in a state called samadhi. Samadhi
means that you are always in equilibrium. Equilibrium with what? What is the faculty by
which we become distracted? The scriptures say that we are always in samadhi. There is
no way to put yourself in samadhi. "I do not know what Brahma is and I do not know
how to teach you about Brahma." The Vedantic Guru says this very honestly, because
who will I teach? I can teach an unenlightened soul but everyone in this world is
enlightened. Who will I teach? How will I teach? How can I teach a man who is already
enlightened. The only way is to help him remember that he is always the Self.

We are talking about realization. Realization does not mean that we have to become
something. I only have to realize that I am already this. For instance if someone does
something bad we say that he does not realize what he is doing. It means that the day he
realizes what he is doing, he will stop doing this. Realization is pending, so in this case
also, I am the Self. I am thinking that I am the mind, I am thinking that I am ignorant and
I am suffering from the fruits of my actions. Yet the Truth is that I have never done any
action. So I am suffering from the effects of actions that I have not done. Because of this
we say that ignorance is hell. We are suffering from those effects. Our suffering comes
from the thoughts that drive us crazy.

In India we say that a thought is like fire, the fire in a cremation ground. The fire burns
the dead body so the fire burns us. Chitta means thought and Chinta means the place
where the dead bodies are burnt. So the fire is burning our thoughts. The fire in the
cremation ground burns us but eternally, spiritually. In reality we have no connection
with any of the thoughts. We have no connection with any of the attributes or
actions either good or bad. We are always fulfilled, complete. Om purnamada
purnamadam, purnat purnamaduchate, purnasya, purnamadaya, purnameva
vashishate. I am always fulfilled, I am always complete. If you take infinity out of me. I
am still infinite. If you add infinity into me, also, I remain infinite. I never become
infinite. I am always infinite. This is true knowledge, you are That. What do we do? Just
contemplate and know this. Know this by hearing about this Self knowledge.

This Self knowledge gets stronger with time. You will know yes I am That. If you enter
into the state of samadhi, your real state, then you will go into a dreamless sleep, when
the sleep is completely satisfying. Dreamless sleep is so peaceful. Why? Because this
dreamless state is the state of Brahman. This is also samadhi but because I am not
conscious of that state it is called sleep and not samadhi. Samadhi means consciously
sleeping.In sleep I do not know where I have been but when I am in this samadhi I
know where I have been. I can only feel the effects of the sleep. When I am in samadhi I
know where I have been, so I can go there again. As I go there more and more the
knowledge of myself gets clearer and clearer. All of the ignorance bursts out. All of the
false attachments of this world start to disintegrate. If you go inside a black room your
body will become black. So when you deal with the world the effects of the mind become
clouded.

The more we go into samadhi, the more we go into the depth of meditation. Here we can
feel the presence of the ultimate and supreme existence. We feel this in samadhi, or deep

40
meditation, there is something. In sleep we do not know what it is but in samadhi the
difference is that we know it, it is a confirmed reality. This is this, existence becomes a
realization. It is not a word. A man who has gone into Nirvikalpa samadhi knows that the
first and the last thing he can talk about is this Atman, this existence. He can actually feel
that existence. That realization of existence, of supreme existence, is all that remains. I
have experienced death because I have seen my body go. I have seen my body vanish.
What is the body? The body is nothing but the consciousness of the body. When I am
conscious about my own body, then, that, is the body.

When I go deep into samadhi first of all the external world goes. Then I disconnect from
the external world but I still feel my body. Then after that I do not feel my body, I feel
something, but my body is not there. After some time I see that there are only feelings.
The "I" has gone. "I am feeling" is also maya. It is also an illusion. Who is feeling whom?
So the "I am" feeling also goes. But what stays? The feelings stay. This trinity, the
knowledge, the knower and the known become one. So who is there to feel whom? The
feelings may go for some time but when they come back the first thing that comes back is
the knowledge of this existence. You cannot express this feeling in words. You can feel
this existence but who is knowing? I know that I know the existence but I do not know
who knows this existence. Who stayed there to know that? I do not know. I only know
that I have known that existence. So I have gone beyond death and an enlightened person
goes beyond death. He sees everything beyond the plane of consciousness. As he goes
deeper he sees that everything is merging with the infinite. There is only one
consciousness. "I" am is all there is. All thoughts are mixed with consciousness.

The day that my enlightenment came, my Master said, "Watch yourself while you sleep.
Keep a strong eye on yourself while you are sleeping. "At that time I was not a monk. I
was working. So I worked all day but at night I kept a very critical eye on my sleep so
that I knew where I was going. The moment you know where you are going when you
sleep then you begin to understand samadhi. If thoughts do not vanish, then we cannot
sleep. If we try to sleep and the thoughts have not vanished then we will have dreams.We
will not have a sound sleep because we will still be dreaming. In samadhi when you come
back you feel the vibration of the thoughts before they appear. Then, after that the
thoughts begin to manifest. Thoughts are nothing but vibrating consciousness. "I am this"
is also a thought. It means that this thought is vibrating consciousness. But this sense of
seeing the vibration in consciousness is always maya. It is an effect of maya even though
I am always the infinite. Yet in one moment! One moment! you can have Self
knowledge. I am this, I am a name, I am Swami Probuddhananda. This is also a thought.
How did this thought come? It only came when there was a vibration in this pure
consciousness. There was a vibration in that pure consciousness and after that it came, "I
am this."

When I say that "I am Swami Probuddhananda" this is the root of all ignorance. I am
always the Self but when I see myself as a name this root ignorance creates suffering. So
now we have to analyze, "What is that thought?" thought is nothing but vibrating
consciousness. Because of this I see that when I go deep there is nothing but complete
stillness. These vibrations do not exist. Realize this, it is very simple. Go to the depth of

41
your thoughts. Analyze them. Go to the reality of your thoughts and you will see that you
have gone into the reality of your own Self. The reality of everything is that knowledge.
Whenever you analyze this you will know that you have come down to the real existence,
of only Brahman.

Lecture #9
The Character of a Spiritual Person
Letter by Swami Vivekananda.mp3
The characterisitcs that create a spiritual person - Practicing the highest
level of acceptance – Vivekananda and absolute faith and devotion –
Sanatan Dharama in the United States, Letter from Swami Vivekananda,
Chicago USA 1891.

We have to understand the character of a spiritual person. We see Swami Vivekananda as

a great pole star of the spiritual world. But how did he become like that? How is he from
the inside?

From the inside he was like a child. He was like a very dependent child, dependent on the
Lord. When we talk about Swami Vivekananda we have to understand that Swami
Vivekananda was a cry. He was a cry for Truth, to realize the Truth. His goal was to
realize samadhi, to realize nirvikalpa samadhi. All his life, after he had become an adult
he used to go to various spiritual teachers and ask them one question, "Have you seen
God? Did you realize God?." And the next question was "Can you show me God?" But

42
nobody could answer this question. One day it happened that Thakur Rama Krishna came
to his neighborhood. So he knew that one saint had come to the house of his neighbor.
The day that Thakur Rama Krishna saw him he asked him to sing a song. The first song
that he sang was "Oh my mind. Go to your own abode. Don't roam about in this foreign
land. The objects of these senses, the world and your body, these are all strangers to you.
Why are you falling in love with strangers when you have your own person, your own
man, your own lover inside of you? Oh my mind let's go to your own abode." So this was
the song. After this the relationship between Thakur Rama Krishna and Vivekananda
started growing.

Swamiji asked him "Do you see God?" and Thakur Rama Krishna said "Yes, I have seen
God the way I have seen you." And Swami Vivekananda said "Can you show me?"
Swami Vivekananda said "Yes". So this was the dialogue. After that Sri Thakur gave this
young man, then called Narendranath, many tests. He tested him in many ways. During
this time Narendranath did not just take the words of Sri Thakur. He used to joke around.
One day Sri Thakur became very angry with him and he said "You go away from here.
Don't come here." But in the night Swami Vivekananda could not stay in his house. It
was raining and he came running to Sri Thakur. Sri Thakur was amazed to see this young
man who came running back to this house in the rain. He asked "Why did you come to
me? You did not take my words. You did not obey me. You always joke
around." Narendranath said "I came to you because I love you. That's all." Thakur Rama
Krishna ran to him and embraced him saying "Everyone comes to me for a reason. They
want to realize God. They want to have peace. They want to have bliss. My Narendranath
comes to me because he loves me." From that day a new Narendranath started to grow
from the inside."

One day when Thakur Rama Krishna was sick, he had cancer, (he dies of cancer
eventually) Narendranath approached him. He said "Master please give me Nirvikalpa
Samadhi." Thakur said "When I become cured then I will give it to you." Narendranath
said "And if you do not become completely cured then what will happen to me?" That
night Narendranath sat in meditation. He became immersed in nirvikalpa samadhi. News
came to Thakur Rama Krisha that Narendranath had died, because in Nirvikalpa Samadhi
the outer body, the senses become still. Sometimes the breathing stops. So the news came
to Sri Thakur that Narendranath had died. Thakur said that he had been trying to die for a
long time and it is very good that he has died. Then after that Thakur also passed away.
Gradually, with this new knowledge inside of him, Narendranath started to roam about
India. He went to the west, first to America and then to Europe, to many countries to
spread this message of Vedanta to everybody. He went to America to attend a Parliament
of Religions which was held in Chicago in the year 1893. It was on the 11th of
September, the same day that the Twin Towers were attacked.

When he went there, there was no one to help him because he did not know anybody. He
did not have any money and he faced many hardships. He was in a very bad condition.
But he did not lose faith in God. He always knew that it is my Lord who has sent me
here. This was because he had a vision when he was a wandering monk. There was a
place called Kanya Kumari. That is on the southernmost tip of India, where the land

43
meets the Indian Ocean. So there were some rocks there and Vivekananda swam out to
those rocks and spent the night there. Those rocks are now called Vivekananda Rock.
There is a big temple there. He spent the whole night in meditation and that is when he
saw Thakur Rama Krishna walking across the ocean and saying "Come, come, come." So
he knew that the Lord was telling him to come to the West.

Even though he came in contact with many influential people in America and they
helped him a lot he was only given two minutes to deliver a lecture in the Parliament of
Religion. Only two minutes, and just before the lecture he did not know what he was
going to say. But after two minutes the whole world was his. This was because the Lord
spoke from inside of him. People were not only spellbound. They came running towards
him. They embraced him and overnight he became a great spiritual giant. He became
recognized as a spiritual giant and after that he worked a lot to spread Vedanta in every
environment. Today when we see what has been accomplished in the west to spread
Vedanta, the main work was done by Vivekananda. So we owe him a lot from this work
and he is the one who primarily influenced Bhagavan to spread these words from the
woods, to door, to door.

You see previously the words of Vedanta had been cultivated by some select people in
the forests of India. The common masses did not have direct access to this knowledge. It
was Vivekananda who issued the call to spread the message of Vedanta from the woods
to door to door. When Bhagavan came into this life he was very influenced by the words
of Swami Vivekananda. Yesterday Swami Shankarananda was telling us that one poem
by Swami Vivekananda "To an Early Violet" actually changed the life of Bhagavan. So
Bhagavan took these words, and spread the message of Vedanta from the woods to door
to door. And this is why we are sitting here now talking about Vedanta. But you must
know that we are doing this because a man lived who spread the message all can
understand these highest truths, this highest knowledge of the Vedas. So today in
expressing my great reverence to that Master Swami Vivekananda. I will read one of his
letters. It was written on the 2nd of October, from Chicago in 1893.

Dear Abihvakta, (abhivakta means lecturer)

I do not know what you are thinking of my long silence. In the first place I dropped in on
the Congress in the eleventh hour, quite unprepared, and this kept me busy for sometime.
(Congress means this Parliament of World Religions that took place in Chicago)
Secondly, I was speaking almost every day in the Congress and had no time to write. The
last and the greatest of all my kind friend, I owe so much to you, and it would have been
an insult to your unselfish friendship to have written you businesslike letters in a hurry.
The Congress is now over. Dear brother, I was so,so afraid to stand before that great
assembly of foreign speakers and thinkers from all over the world and speak. But the
Lord gave me strength. And, everyday almost, I un-heroically faced these people.

See this man, he can confess. We say that we know everything. We say that we have
great knowledge. But this is a man who says that he does not know anything. He says that
he was totally unprepared. After conquering this world, after becoming the conqueror of
this world, and of this philosophy this man says that I don't know anything. I am like a

44
child. This is practical spirituality. You have to know this at all times. Be dependent on
the Lord in such a way that you don't know anything. If you know something then that is
ignorance. This is the character of a man who can confess that he did not know anything
but everything was done through him.

Swami Vivekananda continues "If I have done well he gave me the strength for it. If I
have miserably failed I knew that beforehand for I am hopelessly ignorant."

See where do we stand? He says that he knows that he is hopelessly ignorant. This man
has done so much work. This man, who if the world changes, it will be because of him.
This man is the foundation stone of a great change in the whole world that had not
happened until one hundred and twenty years ago. But this man says that he is hopelessly
ignorant.

Swami Vivekananda continues "Your friend Professor Bradley was very kind to me and
he always cheered me on. And oh everyone here is so kind to me, who is nothing. That is
beyond my power of expression. Glory unto him in the highest in whose sight the poorest
man from India is the same as the mightiest of this divine land. Oh how the Lord is
helping me every day of my life. Brother I sometimes wish for a million million ages to
serve him through this work, dressed in rags and fed by charity. Oh how I wish that you
were here to see some of the sweet works from India, the tenderhearted Buddhist
Amapala, the orator Matyendra and realize that is the far corners of India there are hearts
that beat in sympathy to yours, born and brought up in this mighty and great country.

(Swami Probuddhananda pauses)

Then the letter continues on a separate sheet of paper. I am now going to be reconciled to
my life here. Every time throughout my life I take all circumstances that come from him
and I calmly adapt myself to it.

You have to remember this. Things come to us and we react. But this is a man who did
not react and who is teaching us how to face every situation. Everything comes. It is not
as if problems and suffering do not come to monks or spiritual people. They come, but
they can adapt to it. They can adjust to it. Vivekananda says that all my life I have been
taking every circumstance as coming from him. It is him who is bringing this. Where we
get confused is when we think that a situation is coming from someone. No, even if
someone is trying to hit me that is also him who is doing this.

There was a famous saint in India who had been bitten by a snake, and he was suffering
from a lot of pain. Someone asked him what happened, why are you crying in pain? He
said the Almighty Lord has sent milk for me. This is how a spiritual man is. This is the
only solution, that the almighty has sent milk to me. There is no point in cursing a snake.
He has got poison. He will bite you. Whatever people have they will give. Whenever
someone gives something to me it is only that which he has to give. So I have to accept
this, OK, OK, OK, give it.

45
There was a man, a saint who went outside. Something happened and someone hit him.
He became faint. People from his ashram went and brought him back to his ashram. They
took care of him and he got better. After he became conscious he was asked, "Who hit
you?" He answered that the one who is taking care of me,that is the one who hit me. This
is the only solution. Always remember this. Whatever comes to us, if we see that this is
the wish of the Lord and accept it then all of our suffering goes. It is the Lord, it is OK,
let me accept this, let me see what this means. Let me see the Truth of it. Let me face it,
and when we face it we see that there is so much mercy in it. People who face it become
like this man, Swami Vivekananda. They can see the glory behind everything. This is
because they wait and see. They do not react.

Swami Vivekananda continues. At first when I was in America I was almost out of my
waters. I was afraid that I would have to give up the accustomed way of being guided by
the Lord and cater for myself. This means that at one time Swami Vivekananda thought
that he should give up the way of depending on the Lord. I should give up this attitude of
depending on the Lord and I should take care of myself. He is very practical in explaining
this, he does not pretend that he never had any doubt. He does not say that he has always
seen God in everything. He is very practical in explaining the problems of everyday life.

And so he continues "And what a horrid piece of mischief and ingratitude that was. So
here he says that this was such mischief that I was doing towards the Lord. Then he
continues, "Now I clearly see that the same one who is on the snow tops of the Himalayas
and the burning plains of India is here to help me and guide me."

Every day Swami Vivekananda would speak and every night he would hear a whisper in
his ears about what he would speak the following day. And he said this very honestly that
it was not him who spoke. He said that, somebody came to me and spoke this, and this.I
just relayed this to everybody. I spoke as Vivekananda but the words were not of
Vivekananda. It was a voice without form, because the words were formless. He knew
that there was another person who was there but was formless, and spoke. Formless,
nameless, activitiless, it means that he is always beyond. Still, he speaks, he loves, he
comes. Always remember this, there is a Lord that is always with us.

If the Lord were not there, we would not meet here every day.

Ishwara anukraha deva puksham advaita vasana

This means that it is by the earnest mercy of the Lord, the great mercy of the Lord that we
have the desire to know about him, advaita, that one. If we have the desire to know about
that supreme existence know that this is only because of the mercy of the Lord. It cannot
come to you otherwise. In the Gita also it says that a person who wants to know me, I
show him all the ways. So he is with us but we have to feel him. This man, why are we
talking about this man? It is because he felt him everywhere. He felt him in everything
and he completed his works within the age of thirty nine. Today I am thirty seven. This
means that in two years beyond this he changed the world, he completed all of his works.
After this, he was waiting for the Lord to take him. He sang the song, "Oh Lord Siva

46
please take my boat to the other bank of the river." We on are this bank but we don't
know, there is another shore, another bank another land that is beyond. This river is
called the world. We have to cross this world to go to the place that is beyond this world.
The place that is always free, where there is always peace, where there is always bliss. So
he had completed everything, and he was waiting for the Lord to take him to that shore.

When we talk about death we get scared. But Vivekananda did not get scared. He waited
for it to come. The Master of my Master Swami Pavitranandaji had cancer in his lungs.
When he was admitted into the hospital during his last days, everyone knew that there
was no hope that he could come back. Pavitranandaji also knew that he would die after
some time and that his body would not come back. Bhagavan went to see Pavitranandaji.
Pavitranandaji happily told Bhagavan that with the mercy of Mother I have been freed.

Just put yourself in his place. What if tomorrow you knew that you would die? What
would your mental condition be? Horrible! But this man, a beggar, a poor sannyasi, who
had nothing of his own, and nobody of his own, who spent his whole life in a very small
ashram in the suburbs of Calcutta, and in Purulia talking about Vedanta, talking about
Advaita Vedanta, this man, said that by the mercy of the Mother I am free. He was
happy. I am free now. Why? because he knows the Lord and by knowing the Lord, he
knew everything.

There is a very beautiful story that just came to me. It is a story about Lord Ram. Lord
Ram was the son of King Dusherat. Ram was one of four brothers. There was Lakshman,
Bharat, and Shatobha. Ram's father King Dusherat had three wives, Koshalya, Kaikai,
and Sumitra, Koshalya was the mother of Ram and Kaikai was the mother of Bharat. the
two brothers, Ram and Bharat were very close, in age also. Because Ram was the eldest
son he would inherit the throne from his father. Everyone was very happy the day that
Dusherat declared that tomorrow, I will make my son king, he is the heir to my kingdom.
But something happened to Kaikai. This is actually a very long story but I will give you
the gyst of it. Someone filled Kaikai with some very negative things, and she became
very very disturbed by this. Eventually, because of this, intrigue ensued in the court and
Ram was forced to go to the forest for fourteen years. In his place, Bharat, Kaikai's son,
was made the king.

When Ram was going to the forest he had to cross one river. Ram was an incarnation of
God. Some people knew about this. There was a boatman on the Ganga River who was
waiting for Ram to come. So Ram came to that river to cross it and that boatman put him
into his boat. He took Ram to the other bank of the Ganga. When Ram reached the
other bank of the Ganga, he thought that this boatman is very poor. Now I am like a
monk, I do not have anything. I am in the forest. He did not have anything but his wife
Sitaji, had some ornaments on her body. Ram asked Sita to give some ornaments to the
boatman. The boatman said no Ram I will not take this. Ram asked him "Why? You are a
poor man. Take this you will need it."

The poor man said no, the people who are in the same profession do not take money from
each other in lieu of work. Ram said "I am Ram and you are a boatman. How is our

47
profession the same?" Ram did not understand. But the boatman said, "I am a boatman.
My job is to take people from this shore to that shore. This is my work. Whoever comes,
I take them from one side of the river, to the other, and back again. But you are the
boatman of the whole universe. You take people from this shore to that shore. So today
you came to my shore and I took you to the other side. But one day I will come to your
shore, and on that day oh lord, take me to the other side."
Ram was so happy about this. This is spirituality.

So always pray to the Lord, oh Lord please take me from this shore to that shore, to your
shore to your place. There is a famous song. We all know that Krishna used to play with
the Gopis in Vrindavan. There is a famous ceremony in India called Holi, the festival of
colors. So Krishna is playing Holi with the Gopis and they are telling Krishna "Give us
color, give us color. Put color on our bodies and on our clothes." Krishna says "What
color do you want?" And the Gopis say that they do not want green, red or blue "We
want that color which is your color."

Oh Lord give me that color which is your color. Oh lover, Shyam means Krishna, the
one who is black. Lord please out that color into my mind, my heart, and on to my dress.
So always remember this there is a Lord who can take us to the other shore. Pray to him
"Oh Lord please take me to the other shore, please take me to the other shore. The people
who leave this world are the people who become enlightened. They are the people who
know the Truth of this world.

Under extreme conditions, Swamiji did not bow down to this world. He remained, able to
see the wish of the Lord.What is the wish of the Lord? He waited for that.

He says "I was afraid that I would have to give up the accustomed way of being guided
by the Lord and cater for myself. What a horrid piece of mischief and ingratitude that
was. Now I see that he who was guiding me on the snow tops of the Himalayas and he
who was guiding me on the burning plains of India is here to help me and guide me.
Glory unto him in the highest. So I am calmly fallen into my old ways, somebody or the
other gives me food and shelter. Someone or the other comes to ask me to speak about
him."

Swamiji is telling us that whatever comes to us you have to know that this is the wish of
the Lord. My work is to obey. What is my work? It is to obey. So Swamiji says that
people come to me and I know that he has sent them. So when he has sent them it is my
duty to obey. Then Swamiji quotes one important verse of the Gita.

"He who rests in me and gives up all self attractions and struggles, I carry him. “ If we
depend on him he will do this. Krishna carries you. We have to depend on the Lord.
Depend on him and only then it will come. This you have to learn.

There is a great story, about an old, poor man from Bengal. This poor man was a
Brahmin and was a great scholar of the Gita. So he was going through this line that if you
depend on the Lord you he will carry you and give you whatever you need. "Moham,

48
moham" means I carry this. Not only does he give these things to you but after he gives
them, he protects them. But this beggar changed the lines of the Gita and did not read
them correctly. Instead of reading that I will carry you, he read that I will give it to you.
He interpreted "moham" as "tadham moham" and made a commentary of that. Some days
after that, he had to go to a ceremony in the other village. He was very poor and had
nothing to eat in his house.

The ceremony was in the afternoon so he said to his wife he said that he would take food
there and bring some home for her to have. So, he said, wait for me, and he went to the
other village. After taking lunch, it started to rain fiercely. Ultimately there was no way
for him to go home and he decided that he had to stay the night. He was very worried for
his wife. What willshe do, he wondered. She is hungry, she doesn't have any food. The
rain is coming and she cannot go out. What will she do? He was very worried. In the
meantime he saw a vision that two small boys had come with a basket of food on their
head to her door. They knocked on the door and she opened it. In that rain she saw two
small children, one black and one white and on their heads there were baskets of food.
Who sent you? What is this? she said."That Brahmin your husband sent us." she said.
"My husband is so kind hearted. Why did he send you in this rain? Please come inside."
But they said no, they were going. Then she realized that those two boys were none other
than Krishna and his brother Lakshman themselves.

Lecture #10
Humanity (Stories of Bhagavan)
humanity.mp3

Bhagavan did not only believe in words that were written in books. For Bhagavan God
was very practical, for Bhagavan oneness was very practical, for Bhagavan everything
was practical. Everything was practical. He used to send us to the homes of poor people,
so that we could see them, and feel their pain. "Go and see their pain." he used to cry for
others. He would cry not only for me or others who visited him, but for everybody. He
used to say that with this knowledge people can be vacant. Many people can say these
words but you have to live them in a practical way. We cannot just talk about it. One
person is in America and one person in in England listening to this very high philosophy
but you can't just talk about it. This has no effect in the world. So what is the use of doing
this?

Individual salvation is not our aim. Our aim is universal salvation. Think of the example
of Swami Vivekananda. What did he say? "If one dog is left hungry I will take birth
again." This is the character of a spiritual person. A spiritual person always translates his
individuality into universality. He cannot think about himself, he cannot think about one

49
man, or even a group of men. He will think about everyone. That is why our aim is not to
become a Guru. We do not want to become monks with disciples. Our goal is to become
servants to people. We serve people and we love them.

One day when I went to see Bhagavan when I was young he was talking about love he
was talking about service. We were saying that yes, we would go and do good for people.
But Bhagavan said "How will you benefit people? You cannot do anything for them, but
you can serve them. You have to serve them and love them." And then he said that
patriotism is the greatest corruption. Patriotism is an absurd word. What does it mean? It
only applies to a particular nation. Bhagavan was always universal in outlook. He had a
huge outlook. For instance he named this society "The International Vedanta Society"
where people would come from all strata of life, monks and householders, rich and poor
old and young, from all different countries. Everyone is accepted here and everyone is
equal. So this is his idea. It is always universal. Life is the greatest teacher. It is only life.
So show this life to people a life which is dedicated to the cause of humanity. Be the one
who wakes up in the morning with thoughts of others not for himself. When you go to
sleep, then, sleep with the thoughts of others. Have nothing of your own. Try to build
upon this character. Then you will see that God will give you a huge potential. Bhagavan
used to say that if you are always selfless, the Goddess of Knowledge will come and
speak through your mouth. You do not have to do anything. But if you are selfish
everything will be blocked. Your words will be blocked everything will be blocked.

Th whole of human evolution is an evolution from selfishness to selflessness, from

individuality to universality. Try to be a selfless worker. Only work for others. These are
words but try to realize them. Covert these words into actions. Translate these words into
actions and life becomes perfect. Initially you will find some difficulty but as life goes on
you will see how beautiful it becomes. You will start loving yourself more and more.
You will start to respect yourself. People are frustrated. Why? Because they have made
themselves so small.They are bound to be frustrated. From Brahma, the universal self,
they have become a name instead, an individual name.They are afraid to leave their
houses, they are afraid to talk to people, or to certain people. They are afraid to do
anything. Why? because of their character. So break all shackles, break all of these
bonds. Come out of this world. The world needs people who are sincere and honest. Do
whatever you can do. If you light one candle it is stronger than many minds of darkness.
Just a small light is stronger than thousands of minds full of darkness. In the same way a
very enlightened soul with the spark of their inner being is much much stronger than
thousands and thousands and thousands of dark minds. Try to light the flame of the Self.

When Swami Vivekananda started his work he said "I need twelve men who are selfless
and strong. I will change the whole world." During his lifetime he did not get twelve
people. After his death, thousands of monks joined his organization. He said that he
needed twelve and although he didn't get this he realized that a selfless man is the greatest
human resource. This is the greatest power in the world. Love mankind because man is
God. All the scriptures are meant for human beings. Yet people read these scriptures and
become separate from others thinking that they have mastery over words. When people
get a little knowledge and meditate occasionally they start thinking that they are spiritual.

50
They always deny others. Why? You are not special. It is God's mercy on you. God gives
you mercy from one minute to the next. Today you are one way and tomorrow you will
be another. Why do you feel that you are so special? If you truly love then realize that
everything comes from God's mercy and then share this with everyone. Why am I
special? Why am I better than anybody? Don't think of yourself as better. Spread this
universal love, and share this love. Bhagavan has said:

"My heart has become very heavy and this is the reason I am writing this letter to you. It
is very true that I love you all from the core of my heart. I have distributed to you all the
Truth which my Master taught me, with the blood of my heart. Those who love you truly,
to all those I appeal, don't worship me, don't show any devotion towards me or manifest
reverence towards me through something. Today from you all, I need some work. Work
for mankind. I do not have any desire to know about your spiritual realization. If you
have known something than your heart will definitely cry for all, you will perform some
selfless work for mankind. If you can give me some news of this work, then only this
heavy heart will find some solace."Bhagavan did not only believe in words that were
written in books. For Bhagavan God was very practical, for Bhagavan oneness was very
practical, for Bhagavan everything was practical. Everything was practical. He used to
send us to the homes of poor people, so that we could see them, and feel their pain. "Go
and see their pain." he used to cry for others. He would cry not only for me or others who
visited him, but for everybody. He used to say that with this knowledge people can be
vacant. Many people can say these words but you have to live them in a practical way.
We cannot just talk about it. One person is in America and one person in England
listening to this very high philosophy but you can't just talk about it. This has no effect in
the world. So what is the use of doing this?

Individual salvation is not our aim. Our aim is universal salvation. Think of the example
of Swami Vivekananda. What did he say? "If one dog is left hungry I will take birth
again." This is the character of a spiritual person. A spiritual person always translates his
individuality into universality. He cannot think about himself, he cannot think about one
man, or even a group of men. He will think about everyone. That is why our aim is not to
become a Guru. We do not want to become monks with disciples. Our goal is to become
servants to people. We serve people and we love them.

One day when I went to see Bhagavan when I was young he was talking about love he
was talking about service. We were saying that yes, we would go and do good for people.
But Bhagavan said "How will you benefit people? You cannot do anything for them, but
you can serve them. You have to serve them and love them." And then he said that
patriotism is the greatest corruption. Patriotism is an absurd word. What does it mean? It
only applies to a particular nation. Bhagavan was always universal in outlook. He had a
huge outlook. For instance he named this society "The International Vedanta Society"
where people would come from all strata of life, monks and householders, rich and poor
old and young, from all different countries.

51
Everyone is accepted here and everyone is equal. So this is his idea. It is always
universal. Life is the greatest teacher. It is only life. So show this life to people a life
which is dedicated to the cause of humanity. Be the one who wakes up in the morning
with thoughts of others not for himself. When you go to sleep, then, sleep with the
thoughts of others. Have nothing of your own. Try to build upon this character. Then you
will see that God will give you a huge potential. Bhagavan used to say that if you are
always selfless, the Goddess of Knowledge will come and speak through your mouth.
You do not have to do anything. But if you are selfish everything will be blocked. Your
words will be blocked everything will be blocked.

The whole of human evolution is an evolution from selfishness to selflessness, from

individuality to universality. Try to be a selfless worker. Only work for others. These are
words but try to realize them. Covert these words into actions. Translate these words into
actions and life becomes perfect. Initially you will find some difficulty but as life goes on
you will see how beautiful it becomes. You will start loving yourself more and more.
You will start to respect yourself. People are frustrated. Why, because they have made
themselves so small. They are bound to be frustrated. From Brahma, the universal self,
they have become a name instead, an individual name. They are afraid to leave their
houses, they are afraid to talk to people, or to certain people. They are afraid to do
anything. Why, because of their character. So break all shackles, break all of these bonds.
Come out of this world. The world needs people who are sincere and honest. Do
whatever you can do. If you light one candle it is stronger than many minds of darkness.
Just a small light is stronger than thousands of minds full of darkness. In the same way a
very enlightened soul with the spark of their inner being is much much stronger than
thousands and thousands and thousands of dark minds. Try to light the flame of the Self.

When Swami Vivekananda started his work he said "I need twelve men who are selfless
and strong. I will change the whole world." During his lifetime he did not get twelve
people. After his death, thousands of monks joined his organization. He said that he
needed twelve and although he didn't get this he realized that a selfless man is the greatest
human resource. This is the greatest power in the world.

Love mankind because man is God. All the scriptures are meant for human beings. Yet
people read these scriptures and become separate from others thinking that they have
mastery over words. When people get a little knowledge and meditate occasionally they
start thinking that they are spiritual. They always deny others. Why? You are not special.
It is God's mercy on you. God gives you mercy from one minute to the next. Today you
are one way and tomorrow you will be another. Why do you feel that you are so special?
If you truly love then realize that everything comes from God's mercy and then share this
with everyone. Why am I special? Why am I better than anybody? Don't think of yourself
as better. Spread this universal love, and share this love. Bhagavan has said:

"My heart has become very heavy and this is the

reason I am writing this letter to you. It is very true

52
that I love you all from the core of my heart. I have
distributed to you all the Truth which my Master
taught me, with the blood of my heart. Those who
love you truly, to all those I appeal, don't worship me,
don't show any devotion towards me or manifest
reverence towards me through something. Today
from you all, I need some work. Work for mankind. I
do not have any desire to know about your spiritual
realization. If you have known something than your
heart will definitely cry for all, you will perform some
selfless work for mankind. If you can give me some
news of this work, then only this heavy heart will find
some solace."Bhagavan did not only believe in words
that were written in books. For Bhagavan God was
very practical, for Bhagavan oneness was very
practical, for Bhagavan everything was practical.
Everything was practical. He used to send us to the
homes of poor people, so that we could see them, and
feel their pain. "Go and see their pain." he used to cry
for others. He would cry not only for me or others who
visited him, but for everybody. He used to say that
with this knowledge people can be vacant. Many
people can say these words but you have to live them
in a practical way. We cannot just talk about it. One
person is in America and one person in in England
listening to this very high philosophy but you can't
just talk about it. This has no effect in the world. So
what is the use of doing this?”

53