Thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2: Verse 39 - Verse 43)

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Bearded Mystic Podcast and I'm your host Rahul N Singh.

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Thank you for joining today and for taking out the time to either watch or listen to this podcast.

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Today, we will continue on with our thoughts and the Bhagavad Gita.

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But before that, let me just remind you that I do have a Patreon page, which you can support this podcast, and you can find that in the video description or the show notes below.

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Let me also just add that I will be doing a monthly Bhagavad Gita, Q and A, where it would be focused just on question and answers from Patreon subscribers and I will let you know of the date in the coming future.

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Today in the thoughts on the Bhagavad Gita, we will be starting with verses 39 and continuing to verse 43 of chapter two of the Bhagavad Gita.

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Verse 39.

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This yoga of discernment that I am sharing with you is called sankhya, O Arjuna.

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Now hear from Me how through this buddhi yoga you can be freed from the binding effects of karma generated by action within matter.

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This verse is telling us about the conclusion of the sankhya philosophy that's been discussed so far in chapter two.

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If you feel like you need to refresh your mind on it, please do take a look from episode three to episode eight specifically.

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In episode nine, verses 31 to,38 relates more or less to the current circumstances that Arjuna has to face rather than the real knowledge of Brahman.

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What we do know is that Arjuna has been introduced to Brahman and has been taught all about his true self, he's been taught about the antaryami, the inner dweller within.

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Krishna really is guiding Arjuna on how to live in the world and yet be above it.

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Yeah.

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Not be attached to it.

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Krishna is going to be guiding Arjuna on how to implement this wisdom, this viveka- discernment to perform action.

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But remain established in Brahman.

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This is the whole purpose of the next couple of verses.

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For example, action within matter can be something like devotional worship or rituals.

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The purpose of this in the context of the Bhagavad Gita is that we do rituals or devotional worship so that we are purified within so that we are ready for the knowledge of Brahman and therefore preparing our way for moksha, for mukti, for liberation, from the cycle of birth and death.

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We need to connect this wisdom that we heard in sankhya and adapt it to our karma because majority of us are householders, we are not renunciants, we have not taken sannyas, where really our whole pursuit should be on moksha.

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But because we are householders, we live in the world, we work in the world, we study in the world, everything we do is according to the nature of the world.

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Therefore, we need to learn how to implement this knowledge, this viveka, to our actions.

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Through viveka - discernment of knowing what is real changeless, nameless, and formless, and knowing what is unreal, changing, and of name and form.

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We can lead a life whilst liberated.

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If we have this discernment, we are on the path towards moksha.

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In fact, the more we purify in that knowledge that I've just mentioned of the real and the unreal, moksha is at hand.

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This is the guarantee.

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Action is within everything.

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Whether you meditate, read the scriptures, conduct rituals, all this is action.

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Even renunciation itself is an action.

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Nobody is truly liberated from action.

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Everyone does action, but it's all about understanding what is the force behind all action.

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Only knowledge leads us to Brahman and moksha, to liberation.

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But there are two lifestyles, one of action, the householder, and second, renunciation, sannyas and that is giving up worldly life and completely focusing on spirituality.

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My personal preference is obviously of the householder and the reason why I believe that is because as I mentioned in previous podcasts episodes in general that when we are with our loved ones, when we are with other people, they can tell us whether we really have an ego.

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When we introspect, how we react with them, how we are with them.

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We can truly understand that the ego is either present or is not present.

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To get rid of the binding effects of karma generated from action.

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We know that only wisdom viveka can help.

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Now we will go into verse 40.

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First of all, the results of buddhi yoga practice are never lost, in this or future lives.

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Even a little of this Sanatana Dharma action protects one from the dangers of future harmful karmic reactions.

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Now this is important because people may think that results of all actions are gained.

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Yeah, they continue on, but this is wrong.

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Remember here, Krishna is creating a difference between action that is done in awareness of Brahman and action done in ignorance of Brahman.

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Krishna is very clear that the results of Buddhi Yoga practice is never lost, so the merit that you gain from focusing on Brahman, focusing on the atman, focusing on the inner dweller and through that inner dweller, you commit to all actions, you conduct all actions.

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You have Brahman as the focal point of your life.

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That is never lost.

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If say you do not attain moksha in this lifetime, you will gain merit.

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That's the true merit.

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Most likely you will never go to heaven either or to Svarga Loka because the only way you can get moksha is on this earth, no other way is possible.

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Utilizing viveka and enacting accordingly only that result is never lost in any life.

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This one or the next.

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The purpose of action is only one to obtain moksha, but let me just go a little bit back.

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So a lot of people think that all devotion is never lost or all, whatever we do in the service of others is never lost.

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But I would say it depends on what your focus is on?

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What you really want from it?

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If you're serving others to get praise or to feel good, or to make someone else's life better, that is still binding you towards action.

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What you want to do is be able to be at the service of others.

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But to do it with the understanding there's only Brahman and you're not in charge of the result.

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You do not care of the result.

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You're just going to do every action of yours.

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Basically what you're going to do is that every action of yours is going to have Brahman as the focal point.

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It's going to be done in that awareness and with that knowledge, that only Brahman is.

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The purpose of action is only one to attain moksha.

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So everything you do is to attain that liberation that's everything that you do, all action.

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If you read the scriptures, if you're in the service of others, you want to attain moksha.

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That's why you're doing it.

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You're purifying your mind.

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Nothing else is needed.

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This action is never lost.

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We must remember that this must be the reason we do anything and all actions.

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From the most pious to the most mundane.

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Yeah.

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It doesn't matter what action it is.

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Every action is what I'm considering here.

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Someone may say that such an act is not good, or one act is not pious, but in my opinion, all action is pious depending on what you want from it.

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If it is to attain moksha, then all is pious.

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You will notice that when you practice this in your life, you see the immediate response or action as well.

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For example, if you've been meditating and the next day you meditate again, but the result was that you meditated again.

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So meditation itself is the result.

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Who else can focus within on Brahman alone?

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Someone who did it previously.

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You automatically see the results, they are spontaneously done.

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The result of such a person is that continuous act of meditation.

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Remember meditation is the awareness of Brahman, your true self, the inner dweller.

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Yeah.

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That the only thing that is real, the changeless, nameless, formless, one.

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These wise actions based on viveka, based on moksha.

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This is nothing else.

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People believe dharma is about rituals and move or go into that later.

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They may argue some thing that may be pre-Vedic or post-Vedic, but the eternal Dharma, the eternal path of righteousness is only towards moksha.

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We need to remember that is what Sanatana Dharma is.

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That it's a path of righteousness towards moksha, towards liberation.

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For example, there are people out there that are defending Hinduism, but that is not merely about speaking up about persecution.

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One can get lost in that and the focus on moksha is lost.

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The focus on liberation is dwindled away.

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This really only has harmful karmic reactions.

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When we talk about persecution of any religion, what we're doing is separating one religion from the other.

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That will have consequences, no matter how pious you are, no matter what you may be thinking about defending the oppressed, but actually that will have some sort of effect.

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We know that that is not established in Brahman.

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So the question would be what is the real defense of Hinduism?

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The real defense is being in Brahman and actually trying to attain moksha.

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Being the message is more important than defending what is written in the text.

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Defending what is written in the texts and being the text is totally different.

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They're two different things.

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And the latter is the one that we need to be on.

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Yeah.

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Not defending the text, but being the text, then you are the defense.

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Then you are defending Dharma.

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If you think, defending their minds, defending what is written in the text or the book itself or if someone mocks any practice, that is not true defense.

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Because you do not know what you're defending and Krishna will go into this later on.

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This eternal action towards moksha protects us.

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We are not saved.

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You know, in other religions, they talk about being saved.

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Here, we're not saved.

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We are protected and there's a reason for this.

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Saved means that you're drowning, but this implies that our true self doesn't exist, hence you're drowning.

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That means that your true self comes into existence at some point.

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But this is not what we've been learning in the Bhagavad Gita.

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What we've been learning is that our true self, the antaryami, the inner dweller is always here, but our viveka is protected, our wisdom of discernment is protected.

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This is how our moksha protects us.

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The danger of future karmic reactions creates two things.

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One is fear, and you will see this in people and they will also create fear in the other because they have fear themselves.

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That's the only thing they can provide.

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Fears are all based on the world.

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And the second is that the reactions will lead them away from moksha, away from liberation.

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We need to keep our focus on moksha and then we will transcend all fear and be true to our Sanatana Dharma.

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For a person established in Dharma, you'll notice that their main message is always Brahman.

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It's always the ultimate reality, always about pure consciousness, always about the true self.

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They will bring you back to this.

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Yeah.

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They're bringing you back to Brahm-Vidya, the knowledge of Brahman.

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Always.

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They will rarely meddle with matters of the world.

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And if they do, say they talked about the oppression of others, say they talk about how a race of people are being subjected to violence, towards harm, due to whatever they may believe in, towards whatever they may be.

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Regardless of their sexuality, their gender, regardless of all, that, if they find that they are being oppressed, they're being harmed, people are being violent against them and violence, not just in terms of physical violence, but violence in terms of thought.

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If you think that what you write on Twitter or say on TikTok or Instagram is not violent and yet your words are hinting towards violence.

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It is violence.

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Sorry to say, but that is the case.

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Then they will, no matter what they do, they will remember that each person is Brahman and that Brahman is all inclusive.

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Brahman is not exclusive for a particular religion, particular race, particular sexual orientation, particular gender.

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No.

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Brahman is all-inclusive.

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Until this world becomes all inclusive, the person that knows Brahman, the one that is in the awareness of Brahman will always speak up.

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Verse 41.

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In this buddhi yoga process, the discerning faculty is constantly held with a one-pointed focus upon the atma, whereas the attention of unfocused persons is many-branched and wanders endlessly upon the temporary pathways of material thought.

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This is a really interesting verse.

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As we've established earlier, the discerning faculty- viveka, this is constantly held with a one pointed focus on the Atman, on Brahman.

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This is the complete focus.

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While someone who isn't focused on Brahman or the formless, the changeless, the nameless one, the Dao, whatever name you want to give it, their mind is everywhere.

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It's all over the place and you can witness these people in your very homes, most likely.

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They worry about little things.

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Things that don't really matter.

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They have no real meaning to life.

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They focus on those things.

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They could be worried about clothes or food or gossiping about other people.

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What to buy in the home.

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They're constantly consumed by it.

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One thing is saying you need something or you want something, but to constantly think about it, that is what Krishna is talking about.

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That person is going to wander endlessly.

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They think they're going towards a good goal, but they're not.

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All they do is they just stay in their head, constantly jumping from one thought to another, without a break.

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Can you imagine what type of mind such a person has?

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I mean, I'm wondering about it.

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Why do they worry about these physical things?

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What's more interesting for me is the wording that Krishna uses 'many branched' just shows how wide this network of thoughts really is.

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At no point does this stop.

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For example, if you look at a train, a train will stop at each destination.

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Even if it's just for 20, 30 seconds to let passengers in and passengers leave, it stops, but our thoughts never stop.

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Why?

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Because we do not know Brahman.

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We jump from one thought to another, one desire to another, one want to another, one need to another, and there's no pause in between.

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The one that's focused on Brahman, will focus on what is needed first, when one requires to think about it.

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And if one wants something, then again it's after a pause.

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In fact, we even called this way of thinking, when we jump from one thought to another.

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We call it a monkey mind and this is interesting because it shows us we haven't evolved as human beings if anything, this proves that Darwin was right when he proposed the theory of evolution.

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It's all because this person does not understand the changeless and the changing.

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They can't discern between the two.

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They don't have viveka about the two.

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They can't tell what is the real and what is unreal.

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And I would even say, that no matter how devoted someone may look, it's all surface level.

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You see them attend a spiritual place every week.

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They go to the Mandir every week, they go to any place of worship every week.

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They attend a service, they attend the satsang.

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All that is surface level, if one is still unfocused on Brahman.

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If one doesn't have that focus on Brahman, then it's all surface level.

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This may disturb a lot of people actually, because they think they're doing something good.

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But here we can see that Krishna does not care about those people.

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He knows that this is not the way to be, and he'll go into that later on as well.

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No matter how devoted that person looks, if they think that this karma will be remembered in this life and future lives, they're living in a fantasy.

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Krishna is making it very clear that if your thoughts are many branched and you wander endlessly in the world, looking at one thing to another one shiny object you see and that's it you run towards it and you forget the immense light of Brahman.

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You cannot say you are devoted and even your devotion will be temporary pathways in material thought.

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That's it.

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Just material emotion that's all.

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That's why it's important that we remain focused on the atman.

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Now we are going to focus on the person, who always has their mind towards Brahman.

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Whilst a person established in Brahman, thinking as much as possible on Brahman, on this ultimate reality, committing all actions in the awareness of Brahman.

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This person is one of viveka, one of knowledge, one of wisdom, one of discernment, they are wise and being in their company, that person's company, not the crowd that are looking devotional.

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But that person who understands Brahman that one who is focused on Brahman, that is satsang.

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And you can check my previous episode, where I have discussed satsang.

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Only the one that is focused on Brahman has that stillness within.

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Remember Brahman is the formless.

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It's that consciousness, which you really are.

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I want to keep emphasizing this because I don't want anyone to leave this podcast without me telling you what you really are.

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I have to constantly remind myself because this wisdom it's so beautiful yet the mind doesn't want to accept it.

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The mind wants to stay away from it.

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This is why I mention it continuously.

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This is true satsang when we are with that person.

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This one pointed, one centered focus on Brahman is very important, we must work towards it and we have to be progressive in this.

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We cannot be lazy in this pursuit and until we get to this point, we are not disciples of Sanatana Dharma.

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You see in India every religion, every spiritual movement has come from Sanatana Dharma, no matter which one you look at, if you look at the beginning, the origin i So even though one may label themselves as a particular group, but in fact, it's all Sanatana Dharma.

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I wanted to make that clear.

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Not if you're following Hinduism, then you believe in Sanatana Dharma or you label yourself a Hindu.

00:21:18.731 --> 00:21:24.538
Not those that label themselves'Hindu' are disciples of Sanatana Dharma, not at all.

00:21:24.737 --> 00:21:29.057
The issue is that we are identified just on a worldly level.

00:21:29.057 --> 00:21:32.304
When we say we believe in Sanatana Dharma, it's all worldly.

00:21:32.457 --> 00:21:34.586
It's the label, it's the identity.

00:21:34.673 --> 00:21:36.983
To be honest, anyone can put a label on themselves.

00:21:36.983 --> 00:21:42.173
Anyone can turn around and say, I believe in Hinduism, I am a Hindu.

00:21:43.044 --> 00:21:43.743
I'm a Sikh.

00:21:44.378 --> 00:21:45.368
I'm a Buddhist.

00:21:47.138 --> 00:21:55.048
Anybody can say that I belong to Sanatana Dharma, anyone can say it, that label can be applied to anyone.

00:21:55.193 --> 00:22:07.864
But to be of the discipline of the Dharma, this requires us to be on the journey to discover the inner dweller, to discover Brahman the antaryami, the true self.

00:22:08.003 --> 00:22:14.753
The one that is in that discipline of dharma, their discipline is moksha - liberation.

00:22:15.134 --> 00:22:16.253
That is their discipline.

00:22:16.441 --> 00:22:17.580
That's the pathway.

00:22:18.068 --> 00:22:29.679
This wisdom shows us that we are already 'That' 'Tat Tvam Asi' 'You Are That', therefore we do not attain this viveka, we do not attain wisdom or discernment.

00:22:29.858 --> 00:22:31.118
We discover it.

00:22:31.522 --> 00:22:35.242
Attaining means you gained something because it was missing before.

00:22:36.383 --> 00:22:37.782
Viveka is never missing.

00:22:38.512 --> 00:22:39.903
Vivek is always here.

00:22:40.212 --> 00:22:41.682
Wisdom is always here.

00:22:41.982 --> 00:22:43.363
It's always available.

00:22:43.593 --> 00:22:48.063
We make ourselves unavailable to it, but it is available.

00:22:48.308 --> 00:22:49.868
This is what we must understand.

00:22:50.011 --> 00:22:53.405
True maturity is having this focus, not because of your age.

00:22:53.527 --> 00:22:56.977
Only fools believe that age implies maturity.

00:22:57.166 --> 00:23:09.057
A person who has fully internalized this wisdom of Brahman, discovered the inner dweller for one second alone is mature.

00:23:10.977 --> 00:23:14.311
Just for one second, they've internalized this wisdom.

00:23:14.593 --> 00:23:15.613
They are mature.

00:23:15.861 --> 00:23:29.905
However, someone who has lived 50, 70, 90 years, and if all they've done is religious rituals and acts that look, religious acts that look spiritual, they are simply immature.

00:23:30.175 --> 00:23:32.999
This is the unfortunate truth.

00:23:33.234 --> 00:23:38.891
This is a very hard pill to swallow, a very hard truth to accept.

00:23:39.125 --> 00:23:48.484
But if we want to understand what the eternal dharma is, what the eternal path of righteousness is, then this is what we must, must embrace.

00:23:50.765 --> 00:23:58.112
That we are to only be on the pursuit of Brahman, of moksha, of liberation.

00:23:58.509 --> 00:24:03.828
A Karma Yogi is not one who does service for others or actions for others.

00:24:04.015 --> 00:24:04.484
No.

00:24:04.645 --> 00:24:09.701
A Karma Yogi is someone who performs actions, but for one goal, liberation.

00:24:09.981 --> 00:24:18.979
The Karma Yogi focuses on seeing all pairs of opposites as the same meaning likes and dislikes, hot and cold, pain and pleasure.

00:24:19.165 --> 00:24:22.195
That Karma Yogi sees all of them as the same.

00:24:23.375 --> 00:24:27.330
If you remember this was mentioned in verse 38.

00:24:27.557 --> 00:24:32.436
We must work on this because our mind is always pulled towards one or the other.

00:24:33.037 --> 00:24:35.436
Yeah, we are pushed towards one thing or the other.

00:24:35.636 --> 00:24:40.671
We must train our minds to be content with whatever way life goes.

00:24:40.874 --> 00:24:49.273
If there's pain, there's pain, if there's pleasure, there's pleasure, but you approach those with the same mindset, that same contentment.

00:24:50.594 --> 00:24:52.003
That is what is required.

00:24:52.003 --> 00:24:52.884
That is viveka.

00:24:52.903 --> 00:24:55.946
That is wisdom and keep focus on the target.

00:24:55.946 --> 00:24:57.586
Remember, the target is Brahman.

00:24:57.836 --> 00:24:59.817
The target is liberation.

00:25:00.134 --> 00:25:13.693
We must keep our mind focused on this and to conduct all actions and thoughts in that awareness and we get to that point through viveka, through discernment of what is real and unreal.

00:25:13.861 --> 00:25:16.441
I cannot emphasize this enough.

00:25:16.885 --> 00:25:19.976
Please take some time to think about this.

00:25:20.270 --> 00:25:22.510
Then you're living the Bhagavad Gita.

00:25:22.871 --> 00:25:24.760
Then you're living the text.

00:25:24.977 --> 00:25:26.656
This is the true Dharma.

00:25:27.067 --> 00:25:29.436
This is a true defense of dharma.

00:25:30.065 --> 00:25:33.262
I'm going to do verses 42 and 43 together.

00:25:35.452 --> 00:25:39.803
Most humans mistake the ultimate purpose of the vedic knowledge.

00:25:40.633 --> 00:25:56.423
They become confused by the flowery and poetic language, taking symbols and metaphors in a literal way and then conclude that rituals for material gain and harmony with nature are the final and ultimate vedic truth.

00:25:56.678 --> 00:26:16.267
Verse 43 Because their atma is still distorted by the karmas of unfulfilled material desires on Earth, they perform a variety of superficial vedic rituals, hoping to achieve their wished-for goal of intense pleasures in Svarga Loka, which is merely a higher material realm.

00:26:16.836 --> 00:26:20.106
These are very interesting verses and they're best seen together.

00:26:20.257 --> 00:26:26.528
Even Adi Shankara ji refers to them together and other gurus have a group them together as well.

00:26:27.518 --> 00:26:32.857
You see people who belong to the dharma, forget the main purpose, which is moksha.

00:26:33.095 --> 00:26:35.285
They get focused on the poetic language.

00:26:35.412 --> 00:26:39.882
They get attracted to the flowery language and get amazed by it superficially.

00:26:40.018 --> 00:26:42.208
And I'm going to go deeper into that later on.

00:26:42.289 --> 00:26:46.771
They take each word literally and these people only become fanatics.

00:26:46.771 --> 00:26:48.061
They become fundamentalists.

00:26:48.061 --> 00:26:48.541
Why?

00:26:48.692 --> 00:26:50.251
Because they have no discernment.

00:26:50.281 --> 00:26:51.731
They have no knowledge of Brahman.

00:26:51.751 --> 00:26:53.192
They have no experience.

00:26:53.461 --> 00:26:58.642
How can they understand the Vedic scriptures, if they have no experience of Brahman.

00:26:58.916 --> 00:27:05.257
These people that only believe in the ritualistic portions of the Vedas for them, that is the only truth.

00:27:05.356 --> 00:27:14.380
They believe that all must be done so that they can live a life with success and power or based on wealth and influence, all based our senses.

00:27:14.557 --> 00:27:16.567
We've been listening to sancha yoga.

00:27:17.048 --> 00:27:30.587
So we know now the wisdom, we know that being part of these superficial vedic rituals because we want to attain pleasure in the future or in heaven it's all material.

00:27:30.729 --> 00:27:32.628
They ignore Vedanta.

00:27:33.868 --> 00:27:38.140
Yeah, these people, they ignore the Upanishads.

00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:44.769
They ignore the part of the text that talks about Brahman.

00:27:44.824 --> 00:27:52.203
Even though they believe in future lives is because it says so in the various, they have no real experience of understanding they have future lives.

00:27:53.503 --> 00:27:55.038
They just go by what the text says.

00:27:55.038 --> 00:27:55.939
Don't question it.

00:27:55.939 --> 00:27:57.229
They don't inquire into it.

00:27:57.605 --> 00:28:00.275
Someone may say they have faith, but it's not faith.

00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:03.190
Faith requires wisdom.

00:28:03.384 --> 00:28:04.314
That is faith.

00:28:04.596 --> 00:28:06.646
It's basically held firm by wisdom.

00:28:07.105 --> 00:28:11.180
They conduct all the rituals prescribed so they can go to heaven.

00:28:11.259 --> 00:28:18.873
So their ancestors are protected and happy, but can someone established in Brahman believe the ancestors will be protected?

00:28:19.012 --> 00:28:29.945
No, because of what we learned in verse 40, that everyone will face harmful karmic reactions if they are not focused on Brahman.

00:28:30.201 --> 00:28:32.001
These people may have knowledge.

00:28:32.392 --> 00:28:38.362
They have the appearance of knowledge, but yet they do not perceive the real wisdom that promises moksha.

00:28:38.602 --> 00:28:40.112
They're not interested in moksha.

00:28:42.521 --> 00:28:43.811
They have no interest.

00:28:44.586 --> 00:28:47.066
Their business does not depend on moksha.

00:28:47.833 --> 00:28:56.952
Their business depends that you do the rituals and that the hope will be that somehow you get what you did the ritual for.

00:28:57.103 --> 00:29:02.292
So if you want it to become something, if you wanted to have better health, that is achieved.

00:29:03.673 --> 00:29:07.942
This is what is a good selling point for them.

00:29:08.306 --> 00:29:11.155
You see, these people are blind to the true purpose.

00:29:11.333 --> 00:29:38.178
They ignore, like I said, that part of the Vedas that guides us to know our true self, to know the Atman, to know Brahman, their mind is still distorted by the unfilled material desires on earth because they haven't been fulfilled before they're still in that pursuit, even though they know that desires can never be extinguished, but still they're in the pursuit.

00:29:39.087 --> 00:29:44.634
Again, for them to know that they have to understand Vedanta, they have to come across Vedanta.

00:29:44.727 --> 00:29:51.773
Also when it talks about the Atman, what he's talking about really is the Jiva, and that the Jiva is under the influence of the body-mind.

00:29:52.221 --> 00:29:55.760
Therefore it does not know that it is the Atman.

00:29:55.760 --> 00:29:58.631
The Atman is undiscovered.

00:29:58.641 --> 00:30:00.631
The body-mind is not aware of the atman.

00:30:00.661 --> 00:30:03.141
It's not a living reality for the body-mind.

00:30:03.246 --> 00:30:05.046
Due to this, there is distortion.

00:30:06.155 --> 00:30:07.925
It distorts reality for us.

00:30:08.135 --> 00:30:11.046
We start thinking this material world is real only.

00:30:11.527 --> 00:30:14.346
Adi Shankara ji actually is pretty harsh.

00:30:14.730 --> 00:30:32.800
He calls such people who do this, who only believe in the ritualistic part of the Vedas, that's the karma kanda part as fools, who basically pick and choose what part of the Vedas they want to believe and completely ignore the Vedanta aspect, the knowledge about Brahman.

00:30:33.300 --> 00:30:35.340
He calls those people - fools.

00:30:36.353 --> 00:30:52.628
He goes for those people in Dharma, who only believe in the Karma Kanda or the ritualistic portions, they want you to really fulfill your desires and subtly their own desires and both people have endless desires.

00:30:52.781 --> 00:30:54.791
So no desire can be completely met.

00:30:54.981 --> 00:30:58.251
Each one is dependent on the other.

00:30:59.082 --> 00:31:03.281
Even though one is knowledgeable about the Vedas, they can read Sanskrit.

00:31:03.612 --> 00:31:04.932
Oh, they have such knowledge.

00:31:07.301 --> 00:31:12.005
In my opinion, learning Sanskrit is secondary compared to learning about Brahman.

00:31:13.598 --> 00:31:20.885
Learning about Brahman in English or French or German is much better than learning Sanskrit and just being part of the rituals.

00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:32.005
These people that believe in the ritualistic portions of the Vedas they promise you things like you will become Kings or presidents in this life or the next life.

00:31:32.005 --> 00:31:39.008
You'll become a doctor, an engineer, a rich entrepreneur, but they are unrealistic.

00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:45.631
Because you did a certain ritual does not mean you become Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos the next day.

00:31:46.681 --> 00:31:50.569
These people will promise you such things, and people are carried away by them.

00:31:50.837 --> 00:31:53.603
They believe them and they follow such people.

00:31:55.972 --> 00:31:57.913
These people give the flowery language.

00:31:57.942 --> 00:32:00.522
This is what Krishna is talking about.

00:32:00.522 --> 00:32:02.952
That flowery language, you will become this and that.

00:32:03.128 --> 00:32:05.169
These people keep others in ignorance.

00:32:07.669 --> 00:32:11.659
Like Krishna says, even heaven is just a higher material gain.

00:32:13.128 --> 00:32:13.459
Okay.

00:32:13.459 --> 00:32:17.788
You may not become a king of this world you will become part of heaven.

00:32:18.598 --> 00:32:20.278
It's just in the material gain.

00:32:20.278 --> 00:32:28.765
You will have endless joy, such promises are made in heaven, but it's all material.

00:32:28.934 --> 00:32:31.914
You'll have to come back onto the earth to attain mukti.

00:32:32.108 --> 00:32:34.388
Therefore, really it's not something to strive for.

00:32:36.398 --> 00:32:42.439
Is not anything special because you're still in the cycle of birth and rebirth.

00:32:44.118 --> 00:32:45.179
It's not moksha.

00:32:46.108 --> 00:32:55.964
If people say I want to go to heaven or you will see your loved ones in heaven, they don't have the correct understanding, especially when we say until we meet again.

00:32:57.494 --> 00:32:58.214
Who's we?

00:32:58.894 --> 00:33:00.055
There's only one Atman.

00:33:01.615 --> 00:33:02.594
Only one Brahman.

00:33:04.366 --> 00:33:07.666
How can we meet again with other people that have died?

00:33:09.656 --> 00:33:10.676
It's not possible.

00:33:13.027 --> 00:33:17.707
Not for someone who is on the pursuit of liberation.

00:33:17.856 --> 00:33:20.287
For them it's not going to be a possibility.

00:33:20.767 --> 00:33:25.537
Even if the texts say it's true, they will say, it's not worth looking at.

00:33:27.457 --> 00:33:30.497
Because they are more focused on Brahman.

00:33:30.894 --> 00:33:37.923
You see these people that focus on the rituals, you'll see them on TV, especially on the religious channels.

00:33:39.193 --> 00:33:47.534
They love convincing others, they'll even put other people up on the stage and tell them to share their experiences.

00:33:47.534 --> 00:33:48.163
What they've gained.

00:33:48.969 --> 00:33:57.909
Curing cancer, getting the best grades, going to Harvard, becoming president, all these things.

00:33:58.419 --> 00:34:00.219
And they have a missionary zeal to them.

00:34:00.219 --> 00:34:00.398
Yeah.

00:34:00.429 --> 00:34:13.418
More people should do this and they bring people into the fold and promote the idea that they can live better lives if they follow these rituals in the Vedas.

00:34:13.809 --> 00:34:23.735
If they recite these particular mantras, if they do this particular pilgrimage, however, do we not ask why these people have not attained heaven right now?

00:34:25.666 --> 00:34:27.735
Because they obviously came back onto the earth.

00:34:27.766 --> 00:34:31.686
These people who believe in the ritualistic part.

00:34:31.885 --> 00:34:34.306
And can they tell you the experience of heaven?

00:34:34.528 --> 00:34:38.068
Do you we not ask them why they are not Kings or presidents?

00:34:39.659 --> 00:34:41.068
Why they take medicine?

00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:45.219
Why they do not have PhDs?

00:34:45.313 --> 00:34:46.032
You know what's funny?

00:34:46.672 --> 00:34:49.672
They will claim to be free from such things.

00:34:50.572 --> 00:34:51.623
They will claim that.

00:34:53.362 --> 00:34:56.873
But if they really were, would they be promoting this?

00:34:57.353 --> 00:34:58.132
They wouldn't.

00:34:58.340 --> 00:35:04.670
I do not say on this podcast to go and become a king, that if you recite this mantra, this is what you're going to attain.

00:35:05.150 --> 00:35:07.820
If you do this ritual, this is what you're going to attain.

00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:09.550
What do I talk about here?

00:35:09.670 --> 00:35:10.860
I just talk about Brahman.

00:35:11.260 --> 00:35:12.990
That's the only thing that's important.

00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:15.150
That's the only thing I know.

00:35:15.534 --> 00:35:20.510
I don't know anything about rituals or anything like that, and I'm not going to bind you to them either.

00:35:20.605 --> 00:35:34.224
When people promote such ideas that by doing certain things, certain rituals, you will gain certain things because their minds are now distorted because now they're confused.

00:35:34.409 --> 00:35:36.248
They don't know anything about Brahman.

00:35:36.268 --> 00:35:38.159
They don't know anything about the Atman.

00:35:38.759 --> 00:35:39.869
They're not interested.

00:35:41.398 --> 00:35:49.771
They're grounded completely in the world, they're totally in the mess of the world, the chaos of the world.

00:35:50.161 --> 00:35:56.842
These people are just believers, but let me tell you, they have internal doubts and they ignore those doubts.

00:35:56.842 --> 00:36:11.818
They repress those doubts, but what happens is they ignore this repression because whenever they see someone else attaining something or they spread the message of what they feel they've attained, they will tell the other person.

00:36:11.818 --> 00:36:16.233
"Look because of me going here, I've now achieved this.

00:36:16.443 --> 00:36:18.034
Before I had this problem.

00:36:18.273 --> 00:36:24.273
Now this problem is solved." And they will promote it and they will get a new recruit.

00:36:24.514 --> 00:36:26.043
This person has been recruited.

00:36:26.043 --> 00:36:28.447
He will do, or she will do the same thing as well.

00:36:29.436 --> 00:36:32.317
That person will then continue to go to the next person.

00:36:32.530 --> 00:36:38.990
So it just continues and the group is made and each person is as deluded as the next.

00:36:39.432 --> 00:36:45.838
They really are just parrots and they will only parrot whatever the group says.

00:36:46.030 --> 00:36:50.786
But Krishna is warning us here that we are not to entertain such things.

00:36:51.775 --> 00:36:54.445
It's not allowed for us.

00:36:55.346 --> 00:36:55.615
Yes.

00:36:56.416 --> 00:37:02.746
I'm not going to deny and Krishna does not deny that these rituals have some value.

00:37:02.925 --> 00:37:03.525
They do.

00:37:03.943 --> 00:37:14.262
But now that you've discovered Sankhya Yoga, now that I have read and discovered Sankhya Yoga and listened to it, spoke about it.

00:37:16.853 --> 00:37:20.273
The target for me has to be moksha, has to be liberation.

00:37:21.472 --> 00:37:23.552
It has to be about the discovery of Brahman.

00:37:25.083 --> 00:37:28.853
Therefore all my actions should be devoted towards this.

00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:30.079
All actions.

00:37:30.163 --> 00:37:37.619
Who cares about rituals that can make you powerful and wealthy in this life or the next, the fact is you're still trapped.

00:37:37.864 --> 00:37:44.217
What we need to understand is that how do we conduct these actions in the awareness of Brahman?

00:37:44.835 --> 00:37:51.521
You see, you can still go to work, go to school, study, do all the things you want to do.

00:37:51.521 --> 00:38:07.538
Go hiking, go to the nightclub, anything, but if you remember Brahman, if you devote all that action to Brahman and you do not think about the result of what has happened, you just do the action, then you are on the way towards purification.

00:38:07.641 --> 00:38:12.114
Remember that, when I talk about having this awareness, it has to be in the background.

00:38:12.356 --> 00:38:19.958
For example, if I have to do some analysis at work, I have to be focused on the analysis at work.

00:38:20.829 --> 00:38:25.472
But for a few seconds where I can have a break, I can remember Brahman.

00:38:25.550 --> 00:38:26.971
I can focus on Brahman.

00:38:27.164 --> 00:38:30.878
This is something I can do and this is something that can be practiced.

00:38:31.672 --> 00:38:35.936
Now we're going to conclude, but let me just end with this thought with you.

00:38:36.132 --> 00:38:45.889
That now myself, the one that is speaking on this podcast and you the listener of this podcast can no longer be in the pursuit of wealth and power.

00:38:46.063 --> 00:38:54.306
Our pursuit is to discover the inner dweller, to pursue liberation, to pursue moksha alone.

00:38:54.643 --> 00:38:56.922
That is the only thing available to us.

00:38:57.076 --> 00:39:09.715
However, if power and wealth are the results of our actions, even though our actions are in the awareness of Brahman or they're based on the viveka of what is real and unreal.

00:39:09.976 --> 00:39:11.115
Then, so be it.

00:39:11.445 --> 00:39:14.775
Let that be what you attain in the world.

00:39:15.028 --> 00:39:24.608
There's nothing wrong with power and wealth as long as you are in the awareness of what is real and what is unreal, you see everything as the same.

00:39:24.909 --> 00:39:26.228
You're powerful one day.

00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:27.159
Amazing.

00:39:27.416 --> 00:39:28.746
You're powerless the next day.

00:39:28.896 --> 00:39:29.465
Amazing.

00:39:29.666 --> 00:39:30.951
You're wealthy today.

00:39:31.041 --> 00:39:31.731
Amazing.

00:39:32.300 --> 00:39:33.530
You're poor tomorrow.

00:39:33.710 --> 00:39:34.371
Amazing.

00:39:34.867 --> 00:39:46.780
But I do pray that each person listening to this podcast, even me, the speaker of this podcast, that may we be on this path of awareness.

00:39:48.420 --> 00:39:53.380
May we discover Brahman and whatever obstacles are in the way.

00:39:54.340 --> 00:40:03.280
May our mind be purified in the knowledge of Brahman, in the knowledge of Sankhya Yoga that we've been learning in these podcast episodes.

00:40:03.552 --> 00:40:06.239
May we also be full of peace.

00:40:06.559 --> 00:40:08.599
May we be full of prosperity.

00:40:09.039 --> 00:40:18.338
May no one on this path face any difficulty and may their worldly life be full of success.

00:40:18.338 --> 00:40:21.789
Full of richness, full of wealth.

00:40:21.992 --> 00:40:28.764
So that they can just focus their time on this pursuit on moksha, on liberation.

00:40:29.574 --> 00:40:32.784
This is my prayer and I sincerely mean it.

00:40:33.032 --> 00:40:38.762
I really hope each one of us can get there and each one of us supports each other.

00:40:39.148 --> 00:40:42.675
Like I mentioned, I want to do a Q and a on the Bhagavad Gita.

00:40:42.675 --> 00:40:44.365
I will let you know about the date.

00:40:44.516 --> 00:40:48.476
This is how we can come together as a community and learn from each other.

00:40:49.106 --> 00:40:51.146
So do check out my Patreon page.

00:40:51.565 --> 00:40:54.576
Remember a new episode is uploaded every Sunday.

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Do follow my social media accounts.

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There in the video description and show notes below.

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On TikTok I do lives now and then.

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So do you follow me on there and get notified whenever I go live?

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Sometimes it's impromptu.

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Please do rate and review the podcast, whether it's on apple or whether it's on any streaming platform that allows you to give a review.

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Please do so.

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Do take care, stay safe out there and stay happy.

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Take care everyone.

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I'm going to end this episode with these four words, because I feel it's important that we understand and feel this.

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Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.