March 29, 2025

Beyond Manifestation: How Advaita Vedanta Challenges the Law of Attraction

The player is loading ...

Send us a text

Rahul explores the fundamental differences between the Law of Attraction and Advaita Vedanta, revealing why manifestation practices often hinder rather than help spiritual seekers on the path to lasting happiness.

• Law of Attraction focuses on fulfilling ego desires while Advaita Vedanta aims to transcend them
• The world in Advaita is seen as a projection upon Brahman, not something to manipulate for personal gain
• Desires are viewed as the cause of bondage and suffering, not as tools for happiness
• The notion of "I am the doer" in Law of Attraction strengthens ego identity rather than dissolving it
• True Ananda (bliss) is our inherent nature, not something to be achieved through external objects
• Guidance from a qualified guru is essential in Advaita, whereas Law of Attraction promotes self-reliance
• Permanent happiness comes from realizing our true nature as formless awareness, not from manifesting desires

Subscribe to The Bearded Mystic Podcast and join our community of serious spiritual seekers who are looking beyond basic manifestation to discover lasting fulfillment through self-knowledge.

Join our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/hnRf7wESwX
Visit my website: https://www.thebeardedmysticpodcast.com/
Buy The Bearded Mystic Podcast Merch: https://thebeardedmysticpodcast.myshopify.com/
Want a one-on-one spiritual discussion with The Bearded Mystic - book here: https://www.thebeardedmysticpodcast.com/p/spiritual-discussion/
Subscribe to The Bearded Mystic Podcast channel: https://www.youtube.com/ @TheBeardedMysticPodcast
Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/thebeardedmysticpodcast
Rahul on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/beardedmystic.bsky.social

Support the show

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to Law of Attraction

05:13 - The Ego and Fulfillment Conflict

13:33 - The World as Projection vs Manipulable Reality

22:51 - Desires: Path to Bondage or Freedom

32:13 - Doership vs Surrender in Spiritual Practice

41:17 - Inner Transformation vs External Gain

47:14 - Closing Thoughts and Personal Experience

Transcript

WEBVTT

00:00:00.261 --> 00:00:06.293
Hello and welcome to the Bearded Mystic Podcast, and I'm your host, rahul N Singh.

00:00:06.293 --> 00:00:10.871
Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode.

00:00:10.871 --> 00:00:17.734
Today we're going to be looking at the Law of Attraction and how it relates to Advaita Vedanta.

00:00:17.734 --> 00:00:24.231
Now, this is an aspect of spirituality that a lot of people practice.

00:00:24.231 --> 00:00:49.814
I mean, one of the biggest spiritual books out there is called the Secret and I think it's a documentary as well, and I remember many, many years ago this is probably at least 15, 16 years ago first coming across things like law of attraction and the secret and all that stuff and manifestation.

00:00:49.814 --> 00:00:54.286
Now, obviously, I now have a different view.

00:00:54.286 --> 00:01:20.042
But I wanted to kind of understand how does all this fit in Advaita Vedanta if it does at all the Vedanta, if it does at all and and why I find that the law of attraction is more beginner level spirituality rather than someone who's really deeply interested and deeply involved in having a spiritual life.

00:01:20.042 --> 00:01:24.870
Now that's I hope I made that clear.

00:01:24.870 --> 00:01:32.748
Like you can, you can play around with spirituality and that's kind of like the first level where you just like kind of checking out what it is.

00:01:32.748 --> 00:01:53.356
But once you are fully aligned to the understanding that you are awareness, then there's very little room for kind of things like attracting things.

00:01:53.356 --> 00:02:04.296
You become more interested in being just within yourself, centered in yourself.

00:02:04.296 --> 00:02:31.700
In being just within yourself, centered in yourself when I say self, the true self, the formless awareness, brahman, the Atma, what we truly are, and just resting in that, just being aware of that and remaining in that awareness, obviously the person who created the secret, she, has come to this opinion that non-duality is the absolute truth.

00:02:31.700 --> 00:02:34.348
I think it's in her book the greatest secret.

00:02:34.348 --> 00:02:48.626
I personally haven't read it yet, but I've heard that she um got a lot of slack for actually kind of abandoning the law of attraction and what she previously did, but anyway.

00:02:48.626 --> 00:03:01.151
So let's look at I want to look at ways in which Advaita Vedanta does not actually support the law of attraction, because a lot of people in these spiritual circles I see on discord.

00:03:01.192 --> 00:03:03.741
A lot people talk about manifesting law of attraction.

00:03:03.741 --> 00:03:09.332
You can attract anything in this universe and all this type of wonderful fluffy stuff.

00:03:09.332 --> 00:03:13.131
But is that really true spirituality?

00:03:13.131 --> 00:03:16.469
And I'm not saying it's not spirituality.

00:03:16.469 --> 00:03:21.449
What I'm saying is, is it the spirituality which the sages spoke about?

00:03:21.449 --> 00:03:28.181
Yeah, is it exactly what the rishis of the upanishads, the seers of the upanishads.

00:03:28.181 --> 00:03:30.164
Is that what they spoke of?

00:03:30.164 --> 00:03:32.229
Is that what they're interested in?

00:03:32.229 --> 00:03:45.306
You just have to, like, read a text and understand that law of attraction is for the babies in spirituality, if one has to use that word, or the infants.

00:03:45.306 --> 00:03:49.269
And that's not a bad thing, that's actually, it's necessary.

00:03:49.269 --> 00:03:54.453
We all have to grow and law of attraction may do that for people.

00:03:55.639 --> 00:04:04.311
So but let's look at how Advaita Vedanta differs from the law of attraction and why I particularly do not follow law of attraction.

00:04:04.311 --> 00:04:08.170
Nor do I ask anybody to practice this.

00:04:08.170 --> 00:04:17.394
In fact, I more or less tell people to avoid it because it's more harmful for spiritual growth than conducive.

00:04:17.394 --> 00:04:25.779
Okay, so, but again, that's just based on people who approach me for helping spirituality.

00:04:25.779 --> 00:04:29.447
They, they are serious seekers.

00:04:29.447 --> 00:04:31.392
So I I see them in a different light.

00:04:31.392 --> 00:04:40.228
But, for example, if somebody was practicing law of attraction and they were happy with it, I'll just be like, continue what you're doing, like, so there's no.

00:04:40.228 --> 00:04:46.091
What I want to show you, that is there's no, um, there's no negativity towards that path.

00:04:46.091 --> 00:04:48.124
It's fine, um.

00:04:48.124 --> 00:04:50.569
But anyway, that's my few minutes spiel on that.

00:04:50.569 --> 00:04:52.593
So let's have a look at this.

00:04:53.053 --> 00:05:07.096
So, first of all, advaita Vedanta teaches us that the individual self, the, the ego, the amkara, the jiv is actually ultimately mithya.

00:05:07.096 --> 00:05:10.490
It's neither real nor absolutely unreal.

00:05:10.490 --> 00:05:26.052
So it's not absolutely real, nor is it absolutely unreal, and that true liberation, true mukti, comes from actually transcending desires and realizing that the self, this Atman, is Brahman.

00:05:26.052 --> 00:05:43.605
So explaining this a bit further is that we may, the Jeev thinks it's the body and mind, right, so it's whatever it's got associated with, identified with, it becomes that, so it thinks it's that, not that it becomes that, it thinks it's that, so it thinks it's the body and mind.

00:05:43.605 --> 00:05:56.261
But when we get this knowledge, this Brahm Gyan, that actually you're formless awareness, you are the Atma, you know Tathamasi, you are that, you are this Brahman, you're not the body and mind.

00:05:56.781 --> 00:06:22.622
So when we have this knowledge and we abide in it, we live in it, we address it, we kind of we do our manana with it, we check our doubts, we, you know, kind of see it from all angles, then, naturally, because we understand that this body and mind is only for a temporary time, yeah, the jiva will only house this body and mind for a temporary time.

00:06:22.622 --> 00:06:29.687
It's not eternal, but something in that temporary body and mind is something eternal.

00:06:29.687 --> 00:06:31.966
Yeah, there's something eternal there.

00:06:31.966 --> 00:06:34.769
What is that eternal aspect?

00:06:34.769 --> 00:06:36.206
And that's what's called the Atma.

00:06:36.206 --> 00:06:41.646
Now, the Atma itself is the same as Brahman, it's not anything different.

00:06:43.060 --> 00:06:56.250
So what Mithya really means is that neither is it absolutely real, meaning that, you know, obviously the body changes, it decays, we have to let go of the body after physical death and that body no longer remains ours.

00:06:56.250 --> 00:07:00.411
So we know that it's not absolutely real from that standpoint.

00:07:00.411 --> 00:07:06.449
Then, from the standpoint of being real while we're in the body and mind, there is some truth to it.

00:07:06.449 --> 00:07:13.790
When I feel hungry, my body feels hungry, so my hunger is real.

00:07:13.790 --> 00:07:23.310
So Advaita Vedanta doesn't tell us to live in some fantasy land, that everything is Maya, like everything is an illusion.

00:07:23.310 --> 00:07:33.473
There's no such thing as illusion in in alvaita vidanta, and that may be some news for some people who've studied alvaita and think that maya means illusion.

00:07:33.473 --> 00:07:41.220
Maya means mithya, if we have to say it's the creative power of uh, of existence, of ishvara.

00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:49.805
So once you realize your true self, once, once you realize your Brahman, then there's automatically fulfillment.

00:07:50.307 --> 00:07:57.247
Now, if you're fulfilled, are you going to be desiring things left, right and center, not really right.

00:07:57.247 --> 00:08:07.502
We're going to be more or less calm, centered, collected and not saying that desires do not appear or desires will not be attained.

00:08:07.502 --> 00:08:10.209
But desires do not define us.

00:08:10.209 --> 00:08:18.346
We do not identify with the desire like, oh, I need to get that car, the need has gone, the want has gone.

00:08:18.346 --> 00:08:23.322
It's oh, if I get the car cool, if I don't get the car cool.

00:08:23.322 --> 00:08:27.447
It's that type of desire, so desire where it doesn't stick to you.

00:08:28.500 --> 00:08:31.449
Now the law of attraction, however, is different.

00:08:31.449 --> 00:08:34.450
It centers around fulfilling the ego's desire.

00:08:34.450 --> 00:08:37.749
So whatever the ego wants, it's like you know, you can achieve it, you can get it.

00:08:37.749 --> 00:08:42.202
You want that house, you think about it, you picture it, you'll get it, you'll attract it.

00:08:42.202 --> 00:08:56.456
And so by visualizing it, by attracting those external objects, whether that's wealth, success, relationships, whatever way, you know, ultimately that's what it's about.

00:08:56.456 --> 00:08:59.182
It's fulfilling whatever the ego wants.

00:08:59.201 --> 00:09:02.751
So we're not addressing the actual ego here, nor are we addressing desires here.

00:09:02.751 --> 00:09:34.605
In fact, we are creating more of a, a bond with desires, therefore getting more bound in this world, and therefore the question of whether we are the atma will not occur, whether what is our true self is not going to occur if we're chasing, if we just imagine, if you can visualize and attract whatever you want, do you think that you're just going to stop at a simple house that you visualize for, or a car or a job.

00:09:34.605 --> 00:09:38.346
No, you're going to go bigger than that, and there's no end to desire.

00:09:38.346 --> 00:09:42.399
As long as there's no end to the world, there's no end to desire.

00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:53.039
So we have to look at that from that perspective, how law of attraction can actually blind us even more, and that's what's dangerous, right?

00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.043
That's my biggest gripe about it.

00:09:55.043 --> 00:10:04.129
So, as you can see that the the conflict here is that the law of attraction strengthens the ego's identification.

00:10:04.129 --> 00:10:07.826
Oh, you know, I visualized that house, I attracted that house.

00:10:07.826 --> 00:10:11.505
I visualized that car, I attracted that car.

00:10:11.505 --> 00:10:14.048
I visualized that job, I got that job.

00:10:14.048 --> 00:10:21.350
Do you see how it builds upon the ego identification and therefore everything is towards the body and mind complex.

00:10:21.350 --> 00:10:25.179
Whatever the mind wants, whatever the body body wants, that's what it chases.

00:10:25.903 --> 00:10:29.174
And Advaita Vedanta says you know what you need to dissolve your desires.

00:10:29.174 --> 00:10:34.267
That's what's hindering you from being in awareness, being in your true self.

00:10:34.267 --> 00:10:42.587
And actually, the interesting thing is, the moment you transcend desires, is when you are truly happy.

00:10:42.587 --> 00:10:47.014
And this is something what a lot of people do not understand.

00:10:47.014 --> 00:10:50.409
They think oh, if I give up my desires, what's the point of living.

00:10:50.409 --> 00:10:54.942
Honestly, you see, everything is beautiful in life.

00:10:54.942 --> 00:10:59.592
Yeah, there's no need to attract anything or visualize anything.

00:10:59.592 --> 00:11:01.543
Everything is here right now.

00:11:01.543 --> 00:11:04.847
You don't have to like, visualize it, you don't have to attract it.

00:11:04.847 --> 00:11:09.697
Everything is here right now, you don't have to visualize it, you don't have to attract it.

00:11:09.697 --> 00:11:11.038
Whatever it is, it is, and that's the beauty.

00:11:11.038 --> 00:11:12.702
Why ask for existence to be something else?

00:11:12.702 --> 00:11:16.991
And that's where Advaita Vedanta really stands out, in my opinion.

00:11:16.991 --> 00:11:26.546
All of this is my opinion, so you know.

00:11:26.546 --> 00:11:26.990
That's one point, then.

00:11:27.009 --> 00:11:36.363
Now this is an interesting one, because you could say this is what kind of defines the difference in philosophy.

00:11:36.363 --> 00:11:42.174
Advaita will say that this world, this jagat, is not ultimately real.

00:11:42.174 --> 00:11:46.480
As we mentioned just before, it's a projection upon Brahman.

00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:50.782
So it's superimposed, like a snake superimposed on a rope.

00:11:50.782 --> 00:11:54.279
It's not something to manipulate for personal gain.

00:11:54.279 --> 00:12:01.938
In fact, the world is not there for your personal gain, and neither is the world going to be manipulated.

00:12:01.938 --> 00:12:12.077
And so what this means is that this, this world that we see, it superimposes itself onto Brahman, our true nature.

00:12:12.077 --> 00:12:14.095
So we are this true nature.

00:12:14.095 --> 00:12:23.840
But because we see this gross objects, these physical objects, we ultimately think that's real and that's the only thing that's real.

00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:42.663
But when we have that knowledge, that direct realization that actually you know whatever is, whatever changes, is not ultimately real, then we understand in that moment that this is mithya.

00:12:42.663 --> 00:12:55.035
So, just like when you have a snake that's superimposed on the rope, it's always a rope, but when you don't have the knowledge that it's the rope, you think it's a snake.

00:12:55.035 --> 00:12:56.451
Same thing you think the knowledge that it's the rope, you think it's a snake.

00:12:56.451 --> 00:12:56.663
Same thing.

00:12:56.663 --> 00:13:03.100
You think the world is separate to Brahman, but actually you realize this world is none other than Brahman.

00:13:03.100 --> 00:13:06.070
But when you think it's different, you treat it different.

00:13:06.169 --> 00:13:15.264
Now, what I mean by that also is you no longer want to manipulate the world.

00:13:15.264 --> 00:13:21.341
You see it for what it is and again, like I said, there's great joy in seeing it as it is.

00:13:21.341 --> 00:13:32.980
But law of attraction assumes one thing and this is where it becomes really worrying for people like me that the world is a manipulable reality.

00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:39.581
You can manipulate this reality because it changes according to your thought vibrations or frequency.

00:13:39.581 --> 00:13:42.418
You know people can talk about vibrations and frequencies.

00:13:42.418 --> 00:13:43.181
They do it a lot.

00:13:43.181 --> 00:13:49.657
You know I'm feeling the vibrations of this person, I'm feeling the frequency of that person, not saying that these things don't exist.

00:13:49.657 --> 00:14:00.173
But again, all that is in your own mind, the vibration you feel, is coming from your own mind.

00:14:00.173 --> 00:14:08.839
You say you superimpose how you feel onto the other person, but you'll claim the other person is making you feel this way or the frequency that other person is giving to you.

00:14:08.839 --> 00:14:11.812
Is that all of this is made up in our own mind.

00:14:11.812 --> 00:14:16.423
Once you realize all this is made up in your own mind, you drop it.

00:14:16.423 --> 00:14:20.794
And that's where law of attraction fails, because then you can't manipulate reality.

00:14:21.677 --> 00:14:22.519
Now think about it.

00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:30.519
If somebody's not, for example, if you do not get what you want, then that means your thought vibrations weren't as strong.

00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:34.778
And think how that will make the ego feel.

00:14:34.778 --> 00:14:36.697
The ego will feel inferior.

00:14:36.697 --> 00:14:41.279
It was not able to manipulate reality to what it is.

00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:49.623
You could not get what you wanted, and so that's why in Advaita Vedanta, it does not look to change the world.

00:14:49.623 --> 00:14:54.782
In fact, you just see the world for what it is and you see it as Brahman.

00:14:54.782 --> 00:14:55.658
You see it as this ultimate reality.

00:14:55.658 --> 00:15:00.740
You see it as this ultimate reality and you understand that this ultimate reality is what stands.

00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:02.235
This world will disappear.

00:15:02.235 --> 00:15:03.119
It's a projection.

00:15:03.119 --> 00:15:08.681
So therefore it's an appearance and this appearance, just like you have a screen and you have a movie.

00:15:09.390 --> 00:15:13.898
Once the movie ends, the movie ends, you don't look for the images in the screen.

00:15:13.898 --> 00:15:38.072
The screen is blank and the screen was always blank.

00:15:38.072 --> 00:15:38.371
It was never.

00:15:38.371 --> 00:15:39.716
It never had images printed onto it, it was just projected onto it.

00:15:39.716 --> 00:15:39.976
Realize that.

00:15:39.996 --> 00:15:41.240
You realize actually, your awareness is what you are and think.

00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:42.042
Does this awareness have any boundaries?

00:15:42.042 --> 00:15:42.683
No, it's absolutely boundless.

00:15:42.683 --> 00:15:43.907
Is there any limit to this?

00:15:43.907 --> 00:15:45.812
No, it's absolutely limitless.

00:15:45.812 --> 00:15:46.634
Is it?

00:15:46.634 --> 00:15:48.018
Is there any forms to this?

00:15:48.018 --> 00:15:49.903
No, it's absolutely formless.

00:15:49.903 --> 00:15:52.792
It's never ending, never beginning.

00:15:52.792 --> 00:15:58.552
There's no start to it, there's's no end to it, it's infinite in nature.

00:15:58.552 --> 00:16:12.235
And just by abiding in that awareness, just relaxing into that awareness, automatically we feel fulfilled and we feel happy.

00:16:12.235 --> 00:16:23.255
It's so easy to feel happy once you understand non-duality, trust me, it's like the easiest thing, the most natural thing to do.

00:16:23.255 --> 00:16:33.937
And so again, advaita's goal is not to change the projection, but it's to realize that the substratum is Brahman, so what's behind it is Brahman.

00:16:33.937 --> 00:16:36.256
So you don't get caught up in the world.

00:16:36.256 --> 00:16:43.763
In fact, you've already been caught by your own true nature, which is Brahman, which is this ultimate reality.

00:16:46.311 --> 00:16:51.118
Then, obviously, desires are a cause of bondage.

00:16:51.118 --> 00:17:00.500
They are what maintains the individual ignorance that we have and most of all, is what keeps us into samsara.

00:17:00.500 --> 00:17:14.642
If we want to be jivan mukta or we want to attain moksha from this birth and death cycle, the only way is to understand what is binding us here.

00:17:14.642 --> 00:17:28.159
So in Advaita it's clear desires are born of ignorance, which is avidya, the individual ignorance that I am this body and mind, and it keeps the jiva trapped in samsara.

00:17:28.159 --> 00:17:36.459
So we constantly want to have another life because we didn't get to complete all the desires in this life, in this current life.

00:17:36.459 --> 00:17:39.298
So it's going to be passed on to the next life.

00:17:39.810 --> 00:18:01.256
But the moment we say, actually, jeev, you're not this body and mind, you are this Atma, you are this Brahman, and the Jeev accepts it and starts associating itself with awareness, with consciousness, then it breaks away from samsara and you and you, you actually feel this.

00:18:01.256 --> 00:18:14.075
You feel the breaking away of the ties with the world, and what happens is you understand that the whole world is within you, it's not separate to you, and neither do you need to change the world.

00:18:14.075 --> 00:18:20.661
The world is going according to its natural order, as Ishvara wants it to be, as God wants it to be.

00:18:20.661 --> 00:18:28.636
So here the most important aspect is desires, obviously are what keeps the individual alive.

00:18:28.636 --> 00:18:30.820
So the individuality, sorry.

00:18:31.342 --> 00:18:41.499
So you are constantly wanting something, because it perpetuates the ego, perpetuates the individual, and therefore what we need to have is detachment.

00:18:41.499 --> 00:18:52.721
And so you know what I need to have this passion, this detachment to the world, and because these desires are not going to end and they're not going to fulfill me.

00:18:52.721 --> 00:18:54.717
So think about it logically.

00:18:54.717 --> 00:18:56.195
You have a desire.

00:18:57.049 --> 00:19:00.519
Once you achieve that desire, how long does it keep you happy?

00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:11.257
For I give a classic example we buy a new car and we've got this car, we feel so happy about it.

00:19:11.257 --> 00:19:13.156
But what happens in two, three years?

00:19:13.156 --> 00:19:19.214
I'm being very like, kind of nice with the number two, three years it's a lot shorter than that these days.

00:19:19.214 --> 00:19:22.722
But how, how long do you feel happy with that car?

00:19:22.722 --> 00:19:28.259
Does it give you the same joy that you got as you had it the first day?

00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:31.913
If it isn't, then that means that joy changes.

00:19:31.913 --> 00:19:42.944
And if that joy changes because of the, the external object, that means the desire does not give absolute fulfillment, it does not give absolute happiness.

00:19:42.944 --> 00:19:45.251
In fact, the happiness is fleeting.

00:19:45.251 --> 00:19:59.844
So Advaita would say you need to go for that where happiness is not fleeting, but a permanent, you're a permanent resident, you're a citizen of happiness, and that's what we should aim for.

00:20:00.505 --> 00:20:10.415
So if we're able to detach ourselves from desire and say you know what, if the desire gets completed, fine, but it's not going to define who I am.

00:20:10.415 --> 00:20:16.135
It's not going to define I'm not going to lose sleep over what I desire.

00:20:16.135 --> 00:20:35.099
And this is something we need to keep checking ourselves, especially in today's day and age where there's so much presented to us through social media, through TV, through all types of you know, we're driving, we see adverts, our desires are being pulled left, right and center.

00:20:35.099 --> 00:20:36.480
New ones are being born, old ones are being pulled left, right and center.

00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:39.039
New ones are being born, old ones are being put to sleep for a bit.

00:20:39.780 --> 00:20:44.153
But the thing is, desires will always appear until you break away from them.

00:20:44.153 --> 00:20:45.415
When you say you know what?

00:20:45.415 --> 00:20:49.092
I'm not living for my desires, I'm living for happiness itself.

00:20:49.092 --> 00:21:02.114
And to live in that state where you just want happiness itself is when you're living in awareness, because you get that taste, you get that glimpse first, and once you've had that glimpse, you're not going to go back.

00:21:02.114 --> 00:21:02.656
Trust me.

00:21:02.656 --> 00:21:08.240
There's no way you can go back to the world and be back into the cycle of desires.

00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.518
There's just no way it can happen.

00:21:10.518 --> 00:21:21.496
It's like once you get a taste of this bliss, just a taste of this amrit, this nectar, you're not going to want anything else.

00:21:21.496 --> 00:21:24.136
You want to keep going, you want to stay in that.

00:21:24.136 --> 00:21:33.118
And that's when the journey of spirituality begins, when you realize that this is what you've been experiencing, this is what you've been for eternity.

00:21:33.118 --> 00:21:34.195
You have been happiness for eternity.

00:21:34.195 --> 00:21:34.961
You're not someone that gets happy.

00:21:34.961 --> 00:21:35.605
You been happiness for eternity.

00:21:35.605 --> 00:21:37.352
You are not someone that gets happy.

00:21:37.352 --> 00:21:40.819
You are happiness and you are blissfulness.

00:21:40.819 --> 00:21:47.164
You are fulfillment, you are completeness, you are burn them, and that's the point of spirituality.

00:21:47.164 --> 00:21:48.569
That's when it all begins.

00:21:49.973 --> 00:22:02.509
But the law of attraction, as we've discussed, it's all about indulging and multiplying the desires, because you need to keep attracting new things and uh, and you believe that this will lead to happiness.

00:22:02.509 --> 00:22:04.994
But what happens is that happiness is short-lived.

00:22:04.994 --> 00:22:08.022
Then you need a new desire to feel complete again.

00:22:08.022 --> 00:22:16.678
So it's like a dopamine hit that you keep getting again and again and again, but all it's doing is stamping samsara more and more and more and more.

00:22:16.678 --> 00:22:20.455
And is that really what we want to do?

00:22:20.455 --> 00:22:23.863
Non-duality says you can be free from all this.

00:22:23.863 --> 00:22:27.193
So you know and for me?

00:22:27.193 --> 00:22:34.541
I've always said this I'd rather have permanent happiness over transient happiness.

00:22:34.541 --> 00:22:36.683
It's just common sense.

00:22:36.683 --> 00:22:44.659
Um, so clearly Advaita Vedanta views that desire is like a fuel.

00:22:44.659 --> 00:22:48.349
It's for the cycle of birth and death, for rebirth.

00:22:48.349 --> 00:22:56.902
It gives the energy towards that, but it's not a path to fulfillment, and that's the clear difference.

00:22:58.263 --> 00:23:04.383
Then there is the uh, illusory nature, or the appearance that there is a doer.

00:23:04.383 --> 00:23:18.130
Now, in Advaita Vedanta be the notion that I am the doer is part of the false identification with the ego.

00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:29.357
So, realization, brahmagyan, this ultimate understanding leads us to understand that actually we are not the doer.

00:23:29.357 --> 00:23:32.298
The bhagavad gita is about you are not the doer.

00:23:32.298 --> 00:23:42.038
Yes, sri Krishna does say to Arjuna to pick up the sword and fight, but he says you're not in charge of the results.

00:23:42.038 --> 00:23:48.797
And at the same time, you know and he says do not see yourself as the doer, you're not the doer.

00:23:48.797 --> 00:23:52.491
Prakriti is the doer, you're the Atma.

00:23:52.491 --> 00:24:02.311
Yeah, and so the notion that I am the doer, you know, I'm the karta, that's just part of the ego.

00:24:03.734 --> 00:24:07.001
If you see yourself as a doer, then obviously you're doing the karma.

00:24:07.001 --> 00:24:14.855
Then if you're doing the karma, you're gonna have to face the results of that karma because you are the doer, so you take a personal agency to it.

00:24:14.855 --> 00:24:20.332
But if you say I am the non-doer, I am not the one doing anything, it's prakriti.

00:24:20.332 --> 00:24:23.381
It's the body and mind that's doing I am the atma.

00:24:23.381 --> 00:24:27.738
When you keep going back to I am the atma one, your actions become pure.

00:24:27.738 --> 00:24:42.680
That's the first thing, which means that your thoughts are pure, your intentions are pure and it leads to the result that is more favorable to everyone and to yourself, whatever can give happiness to yourself and to others.

00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:57.903
With that in mind, any action like that is good karma, in my opinion, and it also removes the doership, because you no longer see yourself as the one acting in the world.

00:24:57.903 --> 00:25:05.556
The world is just continuing, your body and mind is just continuing and it's continuing beautifully.

00:25:05.696 --> 00:25:10.961
There's a Zen saying before enlightenment, chopping wood, fetching water.

00:25:10.961 --> 00:25:13.999
After enlightenment, chopping wood, fetching water.

00:25:13.999 --> 00:25:24.320
That's literally the world continues, the body and mind continues, but you yourself are in awareness.

00:25:24.320 --> 00:25:27.236
You are the awareness, you are pure consciousness.

00:25:27.236 --> 00:25:33.150
And so, with the law of attraction, it's clear, right.

00:25:33.431 --> 00:25:36.220
If you're desiring something, what is it perpetuating?

00:25:36.220 --> 00:25:38.838
It's saying that you are an individual.

00:25:38.838 --> 00:25:49.902
If you want to get something in the world, you have to attract it, you have to visualize it, you need to get it, and so you are the central creator of your destiny through thought.

00:25:49.902 --> 00:25:53.138
If you think it, you're destined for it.

00:25:53.138 --> 00:25:54.817
You create your own destiny.

00:25:54.817 --> 00:26:00.642
And in Advaita Vedanta it's clear you're not in charge of destiny.

00:26:00.642 --> 00:26:06.194
Ishvara is in charge of destiny, if one is going to go that way.

00:26:06.194 --> 00:26:10.195
But you can say, destiny is going to unfold by itself whether you do something or not.

00:26:10.195 --> 00:26:18.663
Destiny does not need your individual interference or your individual kind of perspective.

00:26:18.663 --> 00:26:20.955
Destiny is destiny.

00:26:23.231 --> 00:26:30.944
But if you keep thinking you're the creator of destiny, then all you're doing is stamping your place in the world more and more.

00:26:30.944 --> 00:26:33.278
And you're saying that I am the doer here.

00:26:33.278 --> 00:26:37.019
So you see, there's a difference in the two.

00:26:37.019 --> 00:26:48.152
So Advaita would always teach surrender of the doership to realize your true nature, while the law of attraction says you know what?

00:26:48.152 --> 00:26:53.174
Let's magnify this doership, let's build upon it, let's expand it.

00:26:53.174 --> 00:27:06.461
And the opposite is done in Advaita Vedanta it's contract the doership and expand the self.

00:27:06.461 --> 00:27:14.339
It's not that the self needs to be expanded, your awareness of the self needs to expand, because maybe your awareness is just limited to the body and mind.

00:27:14.339 --> 00:27:18.257
So now you need to expand that, to have the whole universe.

00:27:18.257 --> 00:27:27.820
Now, if the whole universe is you, if the whole universe is contained in you, are you going to be selfish by getting what you want?

00:27:28.742 --> 00:27:34.798
No, why is it that the people that talk about law of attraction cannot end wars?

00:27:34.798 --> 00:27:39.089
Why is it that the people that talk about law of attraction cannot end wars?

00:27:39.089 --> 00:27:48.450
Why is it that the people who believe in law of attraction cannot cure COVID?

00:27:48.450 --> 00:27:58.089
All these people and a lot of these people were against science who believe in this stuff, that means they are not with reality.

00:27:58.089 --> 00:27:59.471
Advaita Vedanta believes in being in reality.

00:27:59.471 --> 00:28:12.422
Law of Attraction means there's reality, but I can change it, I can manipulate it, I can change the destiny of this world.

00:28:14.931 --> 00:28:18.760
So that doership aspect is taken out.

00:28:18.760 --> 00:28:37.471
Then there's the uh, the nature of moksha versus material fulfillment, and this is important in advaita the supreme goal, the ultimate goal, the one that is really, really one that we find the most important thing to us.

00:28:37.471 --> 00:28:40.696
For years it's been my biggest thing.

00:28:40.696 --> 00:28:51.041
I want Jivan Mukti and I desired Jivan Mukti because we want to be free from the identification of the body mind.

00:28:51.041 --> 00:28:54.515
We see the limitations of it, we understand that it's not going to last.

00:28:55.436 --> 00:29:04.217
So what is it in me that's saying there's something that can last, but it's not this body and mind, because I see that people die.

00:29:04.217 --> 00:29:06.195
I've seen my loved ones die.

00:29:06.195 --> 00:29:13.118
I've seen that the whole identification of that person is gone as soon as the jiv leaves the body.

00:29:13.118 --> 00:29:17.627
You know that person, body, you know that person.

00:29:17.627 --> 00:29:31.989
You know I often talk about this my brother Amit, who died, when, as soon as he died, I remember literally within seconds, talking about what are you going to do with the body?

00:29:31.989 --> 00:29:34.717
I no longer said what are you going to do with my brother?

00:29:34.717 --> 00:29:35.934
What are you going to do with the body?

00:29:35.934 --> 00:29:37.301
I no longer said what are you going to do with my brother?

00:29:37.301 --> 00:29:39.069
What are you going to do with the body?

00:29:39.069 --> 00:29:42.356
I asked the nurse that question.

00:29:42.356 --> 00:29:44.442
So, automatically, we understand that.

00:29:49.490 --> 00:29:59.998
So if the physical death causes that freedom from identification of body and mind, that we disassociate the jiv to the body and mind, then why can that not happen while we're alive?

00:29:59.998 --> 00:30:05.580
Now I'm not saying that you go around saying this body and mind, this body and mind.

00:30:05.580 --> 00:30:21.977
I'm not, you know, utilize language properly, but the understanding can happen where you can, in this moment, in fact, disidentify with the body and mind.

00:30:21.977 --> 00:30:29.898
When I say disidentify, I do not mean that you disassociate with the body and mind that you start saying, well, this is not who I am.

00:30:29.898 --> 00:30:34.875
No, you're still the body and mind, but you understand that your true nature is formless.

00:30:34.875 --> 00:30:38.211
Awareness is Brahman body and mind but you understand that your true nature is Formless.

00:30:38.211 --> 00:30:38.794
Awareness is Brahman.

00:30:38.794 --> 00:30:46.301
So what happens is you don't superimpose the body and mind being formless awareness.

00:30:46.301 --> 00:30:50.578
There's a subtlety, like the snake and the rope.

00:30:50.578 --> 00:31:05.109
So, again, that can be done in this life, where, in this moment, in fact, that you say you know what this body and mind is, something I have temporarily.

00:31:05.109 --> 00:31:11.694
It's a gift from nature, it's a gift from Ishvara and I'm going to utilize it with respect.

00:31:11.694 --> 00:31:15.561
And, most of all, I know my true nature.

00:31:15.561 --> 00:31:17.125
I know who I am.

00:31:17.125 --> 00:31:22.991
Now, this appears to be dualistic, but it's actually not, because you're not saying that the body and mind is something separate.

00:31:22.991 --> 00:31:28.099
You're, this is also part of you, but it's not the complete you.

00:31:28.099 --> 00:31:35.019
So the whole point is to merge with Brahman.

00:31:35.019 --> 00:31:48.359
Whenever we say merge, it means you understand that you are always Brahman and merging is just a way of saying that the individuality dissolves into the wholeness.

00:31:49.990 --> 00:31:58.505
Now, the thing with law of attraction is that the goal is implicitly about fulfillment in the world.

00:31:58.505 --> 00:32:02.976
It's about success, relationships, possessions, getting more and more and more.

00:32:02.976 --> 00:32:06.300
The so-called word they use is abundance.

00:32:06.300 --> 00:32:15.892
And trust me, you can have, you can be a billionaire, you can have everything you want, but it does not mean that you will be happy.

00:32:15.892 --> 00:32:22.133
It does not mean that you will be a fulfilled person, it does not mean that you will be content.

00:32:22.133 --> 00:32:32.056
It does not mean that you will be a person with a good character, and we see this today.

00:32:32.056 --> 00:32:36.640
It's not something that is hidden from us.

00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:38.698
We see it in broad daylight today.

00:32:38.698 --> 00:32:43.635
So it's not about fulfillment in the world.

00:32:43.695 --> 00:32:57.441
So, if you look at it, advaita Vedanta is clearly saying the pursuit to enlightenment is different and the pursuit for the world is different.

00:32:57.441 --> 00:33:01.220
One is transcendental, one is worldly.

00:33:01.220 --> 00:33:06.760
If you want happiness in the world, law of attraction may give that to you and may be so.

00:33:06.760 --> 00:33:25.132
But if you're wanting to transcend this world because you see that it's not going to last, then there's a transcendental fulfillment and that is moksha, that is jivan mukti, liberation while you're alive, and this is accessible to everyone.

00:33:25.132 --> 00:33:35.365
Once you get absorbed in the, the more and more you get that connection with consciousness, with your true self.

00:33:35.365 --> 00:33:43.382
And, yes, it starts dualistic, but once you start then dissolving your ego identity, it all makes sense.

00:33:45.250 --> 00:33:54.752
Then the next one, which is an important one actually the role of Shraddha and Guru In Advaita Vedanta.

00:33:54.752 --> 00:33:58.281
Faith in the scriptures is important.

00:33:58.281 --> 00:34:05.756
It's very, very important, and faith in the Guru is also important for inner transformation.

00:34:05.756 --> 00:34:24.978
If we are to transform our understanding from body and mind to attrinate to being pure consciousness, formless awareness, then we have to have full faith in the scriptures and in the Guru for that inner transformation.

00:34:24.978 --> 00:34:30.501
And that it's not about our own will, our personal willpower.

00:34:30.501 --> 00:34:34.119
That's not important, and neither is our vibrations important.

00:34:34.119 --> 00:34:38.061
There'll be no talk of vibrations or frequency here.

00:34:38.061 --> 00:34:39.371
You know.

00:34:39.371 --> 00:34:53.340
It's all about understanding how to learn more and more about how a true nature is, pure consciousness, and therefore dissolving any misidentification or any superimposition.

00:34:53.480 --> 00:35:06.117
A diasa, and then again the law of attraction, is about promoting self-reliance based on one's thoughts, emotions and visualizations, and vibrations and frequencies and so on.

00:35:06.117 --> 00:35:07.300
You see my point.

00:35:07.300 --> 00:35:13.420
It's all based on that, and so if you think bad, you get bad.

00:35:13.420 --> 00:35:19.277
If you think good, you get good, and it's rather simplistic, but that's what it does.

00:35:19.277 --> 00:35:34.041
You don't rely on a guru to help you, you don't rely on scriptures to help you, so you just think that your thoughts can do it, your emotions can do it, your visualizations can do it and therefore you don't need anything else, you know.

00:35:34.041 --> 00:35:46.257
So Advaita Vedanta clearly views knowledge or jnana from a guru as essential, as essential, as necessary, and not something optional.

00:35:46.257 --> 00:35:49.898
So this is a clear difference as well.

00:35:49.898 --> 00:35:53.300
A guru is absolutely necessary in Advaita Vedanta.

00:35:54.389 --> 00:36:02.019
Then you have Satchitananda versus external joy, and we've hinted towards this now and we'll go into a bit more now.

00:36:02.019 --> 00:36:07.762
We went into it a bit before.

00:36:07.762 --> 00:36:13.621
So, ananda, bliss is your inherent nature.

00:36:13.621 --> 00:36:27.269
This Atma is Sat Chit, ananda, it's this existence, this pure being, and that is of pure consciousness and it's full of Ananda, it's complete, it's fulfilled, it's content.

00:36:27.269 --> 00:36:56.481
And once that's realized and once we understand that we are this self, this atma, this Brahman, this nirguna Brahman that has no attributes, then naturally, when we rest in that formless awareness, into that formless consciousness, then here there is no look, there's no quantum, there's none of that stuff.

00:36:56.481 --> 00:37:15.396
Yeah, there's no frequency, no vibration, there's no energy, no energetic stuff, because when our mind is quiet, there is not a flicker of any movement and awareness does not move, consciousness does not move.

00:37:15.396 --> 00:37:23.230
Existence may move, pure being may move, but in fact pure being will not move either.

00:37:23.230 --> 00:37:31.918
It's static, it's everywhere, it's all pervading, same thing as consciousness's all pervading, same thing as consciousness all pervading, same with ananda all pervading.

00:37:32.318 --> 00:37:37.036
So is there a moment when you're not in bliss, when you're not in happiness, when you're not in ananda?

00:37:37.036 --> 00:37:39.302
Absolutely not, you're always in it.

00:37:39.302 --> 00:37:40.452
That's your natural state.

00:37:40.452 --> 00:37:43.438
So, yes, you, you will get challenges in life.

00:37:43.438 --> 00:37:47.083
You will get sad news, bad news, things that may upset you.

00:37:47.083 --> 00:37:55.237
You may grieve even for a few seconds, you may feel sad about certain things, but that doesn't mean that your true nature is not bliss.

00:37:55.237 --> 00:38:07.380
So what I mean by that is, very quickly you see the transient nature of those emotions and against Ananda it does not stand.

00:38:07.380 --> 00:38:12.012
They simply dissolve away once they touch ananda.

00:38:12.052 --> 00:38:27.422
So once you remind yourself of your true nature and you let go of that minor uprising whirlpool of individuality that was necessary, feel Like if you lose a loved one.

00:38:27.422 --> 00:38:29.686
You're meant to feel that grief and that sadness.

00:38:29.686 --> 00:38:34.760
But once you realize that, oh, that person wasn't the body and mind.

00:38:34.760 --> 00:38:37.273
They're also me, they're with me right now.

00:38:37.273 --> 00:38:48.099
They are this formless awareness, then ananda, Then there's gratitude that you got to spend time with that person, and that's how I viewed my time with Babaji also.

00:38:48.099 --> 00:39:04.902
Babaji is no longer in my life in a physical way, but he's right here, because this consciousness cannot die and in my opinion he showed in his own lifetime that he is pure consciousness.

00:39:05.289 --> 00:39:18.856
When you have that level of faith in the Guru, that you see the Guru as pure consciousness, then naturally it becomes very easy for you to become pure consciousness, or to accept the idea that you are pure consciousness, at least the concept in the beginning.

00:39:18.856 --> 00:39:33.717
But once you experience this as reality and you see it clearly, then one is indescribable and one you can never break away from it.

00:39:33.717 --> 00:39:34.780
At that point.

00:39:34.780 --> 00:39:46.860
So, but with law of attraction, you know that happiness is by acquiring those external conditions that you've put up, and so if you get it, you're happy, if you don't, you're not happy.

00:39:46.860 --> 00:40:14.014
And so, as I say, you know, once bliss is discovered within, by negating thoughts away, by negating desires, by negating emotional states, by negating anything that moves, anything that changes, when you get to that centered, formless awareness that is oneness with everything, and you realize there's nothing to gain here, there's nothing to lose here.

00:40:14.014 --> 00:40:43.795
It's all you meaning, this formless awareness, this Brahman, this Nirguna, this attributeless one, then you're at peace, you're in Ananda, you're in joy, unbreakable joy, and while you have possibly the other path, which is you know what, let's manipulate thought and get happy, but remember, even remember, one thing thought can never make you happy.

00:40:43.795 --> 00:40:46.978
Thought cannot lead to happiness.

00:40:46.978 --> 00:40:51.918
Thought can only lead you to more suffering.

00:40:51.918 --> 00:40:56.971
So what I mean by that is thought that is not based in awareness.

00:40:56.971 --> 00:41:01.740
If thought is based on the world, there is only suffering.

00:41:01.740 --> 00:41:18.880
Thought based in awareness, happiness, because then every thought is directed towards goodness, towards happiness for not just yourself, but for the whole of humankind, and that's something we should aim for.

00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:33.800
I think that's a good episode to just end on this moment, and there's obviously a lot more deeper aspects that we can look at, and maybe we will do that next time.

00:41:33.800 --> 00:41:36.940
In fact, I do have a few things to discuss that are more deeper.

00:41:36.940 --> 00:41:44.960
So maybe on Monday we'll discuss that and, you know, let me know your thoughts.

00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:46.416
You know, do you agree with me?

00:41:46.416 --> 00:41:47.193
Do you disagree with me?

00:41:47.193 --> 00:41:47.795
Your thoughts?

00:41:47.795 --> 00:41:47.867
You know, do you agree with me?

00:41:47.867 --> 00:41:47.920
Do you disagree with me?

00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:49.541
It's an open discussion.

00:41:49.541 --> 00:41:52.023
And do you like this video?

00:41:52.023 --> 00:41:53.144
Do you comment?

00:41:53.144 --> 00:41:54.126
Do you subscribe?

00:41:54.186 --> 00:42:00.858
But most of all, did you used to practice law of attraction and then it didn't.

00:42:00.858 --> 00:42:12.960
You saw the fallacy and then turned to Advaita, or or even that you followed Advaita and then you went on non-duality and then you went to lower attraction.

00:42:12.960 --> 00:42:39.682
Because you know one thing I will say is that anybody that perpetuates the idea that this body can give you happiness does not understand one clear thing this body does not last and it will decay, it will deplete and therefore it can never bring permanent happiness.

00:42:39.682 --> 00:42:43.574
It will get ill, it will have bad days.

00:42:43.574 --> 00:42:50.405
So how can we transcend those moments?

00:42:50.405 --> 00:43:08.449
And even when the body is healthy, when it's happy, when it's in good health, in good spirits, even then can we go through the highs and lows or do we want to be centered, highs and lows, or do we want to be centered?

00:43:08.449 --> 00:43:30.476
And, in my opinion, advaita Vedanta spirituality, deep spirituality, helps you to remain centered because it allows you to connect to one, that which does not change, that which is permanently here, and second, it gives you the gateway to permanent Ananda, permanent bliss.

00:43:30.476 --> 00:43:34.456
And all this is done with the grace of the Guru.

00:43:34.456 --> 00:44:01.041
I would say, even if I look at my own life, it's the grace of the Guru that I have achieved whatever I've achieved in spirituality, and if there is any improvement, it's because of that grace of the Guru that I have achieved whatever I've achieved in spirituality, and if there is any improvement, it's because of that grace of the Guru, and I've personally experienced how the Guru can show you your true nature.

00:44:03.253 --> 00:44:21.449
I got it from a hug and, ironically, it was my guru's birthday and instead of me giving a gift well, I don't know, you can see it this way the gift was that I remember before.

00:44:21.449 --> 00:44:25.548
You know, I bowed down to my guru to give my salutations.

00:44:25.548 --> 00:44:27.913
I remember my thoughts before then.

00:44:27.913 --> 00:44:29.775
You know I bowed down to my Guru to give my salutations.

00:44:29.775 --> 00:44:31.277
I remember my thoughts before then.

00:44:31.277 --> 00:44:35.302
My intention was like you know, I'm surrendering everything to you.

00:44:35.302 --> 00:44:37.164
Whatever I have is yours.

00:44:37.164 --> 00:44:38.204
Nothing is mine.

00:44:38.204 --> 00:44:39.246
This body is mine.

00:44:39.246 --> 00:44:42.862
Nothing is mine.

00:44:42.862 --> 00:44:45.998
I'm letting it go.

00:44:45.998 --> 00:45:11.349
And I remember my guru hugging me and that moment where there was nothing but this pure awareness, and I didn't even know it was awareness until later, once I and it's amazing how things and from that moment I remember it was 23rd of February 2014.

00:45:11.349 --> 00:45:13.117
I'll never forget that day.

00:45:14.414 --> 00:45:22.840
I remember that was my first experience of Absolute dissolution, where the ego had nowhere to go.

00:45:22.840 --> 00:45:27.255
Literally, I saw the ego panic Like where does it go?

00:45:27.255 --> 00:45:27.978
Where can it go?

00:45:27.978 --> 00:45:59.041
There's no body, there's no mind that he can associate with what is going on here, and and all I remember was just being in this absolute peace and um, and it's like I could sense my guru's heartbeat and it was like the sound of the universe, it was like Aum, and that's all I felt and it was phenomenal.

00:45:59.041 --> 00:46:02.043