Thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 6: Verse 29 - Verse 32)

Hello, and welcome to The Bearded Mystic Podcast and I'm your host, Rahul N. Singh. Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode. Today, we will be continuing on with my Thoughts on the Bhagavad Gita, but before we do begin that, there's a few important announcements to make. Please do give your support to the Bearded Mystic Podcast by signing up to the Podcast's Patreon page for ad free and bonus episodes and other benefits depending on the tier that you select. The details are in the show notes and video description below. You can also sign up for those exclusive bonus episodes with Supercast and Apple subscriptions on the Apple Podcast app.

00 AM Eastern Standard Time. there is a free virtual meditation session along with discussion and q and a for around an hour. Please find the details in the show notes and video description below if you are interested in meditating with us. Sometimes we need some personal help with our spirituality or we have questions that we personally want to ask and as a friend, I would love to help. you through a one-to-one meeting via Zoom. You can find the details in the show notes and video description below. Please like comment and subscribe if you're watching this on YouTube. If you're listening to this on your favorite podcast streaming app, please rate and review the podcast and do follow or subscribe to get future episodes. Let's do a recap of the last episode. We discussed the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, specifically verses 24 to 28. Sri Krishna wants us to control the senses and abandon the desires that keep us rooted in the world alone. Sri Krishna wants us to always choose the Truth of Formless Awareness over anything else. Sri Krishna puts forward how the Atman, this Formless Awareness stabilizes the restless mind of incessant chatter. Sri Krishna also guides how the yogi calms down the mind and no longer goes according to their desires and therefore attains ultimate bliss. Sri Krishna further on explains how this ceaseless joy, this ananada is gained through direct contact with Formless Awareness. Today we will be going through chapter 6, verses 29 to verses 32, and it is our 50th episode of my Thoughts on the Bhagavad Gita. And it's been one exhilarating journey to be discussing the Bhagavad Gita with you. We've gained a lot of knowledge, a lot of wisdom. We've put a lot of things into practice. It's been incredible for me. I've never studied the Bhagavad Gita in such depth until today, and every time I look at a verse now I just see new things. I can see how the understanding is just expanding. This Formless Awareness is becoming more and more apparent, and the Real seems to be true regardless of whatever happens. This occurs when we study and we put it into practice. Let's begin with verse 29. One permanently yoked in such yogic practices sees an atma inside of all incarnated beings. An atma yoked through yoga sees all other beings as atmas, exactly resembling their own immortal self. The first part of the verse is, one permanently yoked in such yogic practices sees an atma inside of all incarnated beings. This is a very wonderful first part of the verse, very clear on how we should see the other. If we think we are all different and divided and separated, well, I think this verse is putting that to rest. Now, one who is permanently in that union is the one who completes the yogic practice by discerning, by using their viveka of what is real and unreal. What they do is continuously practice this, and as they continuously practice it, it becomes their very own nature. In fact, They discover their own nature through this method, and this is what happens when we fully commit to the yogic practice. The yogic practice of yajna can also be utilized. Where we devote every action to Brahman, to this Formless Awareness, to the Self by remaining as Formless Awareness. Whatever we offer to the world, whatever gift we give to others, whatever word we say, we offer it to Brahman, we give it to Brahman. For example, in the true sense of a Yajna, you know when they do the fire ritual, they say that Brahman is the fire. Brahman is the ghee. Brahman is the spoon, Brahman is the fire-wood. They see Brahman as everything, and that's what you can do as a Yajna. Every single action that you do, every single thought and emotion and feeling that you have. Everything that your senses project is nothing but this one Brahman, this undivided wholeness. Those who are always steady in Prajna, remember in that state of mind where they have that unfluctuating awareness of Formless Awareness, that unfluctuating awareness of Nirguna Brahman. They are steady in sukha and dukha, in comfort and pain. No matter what happens in life, whether they're completely in pleasure or they're going through a painful situation, they are the same, meaning it's not that the body's not gonna feel pain. But what will happen is the mind is so steady now that the mind can discern that this pain is essentially unreal, and there's a way to deal with the pain. We don't have to make the pain part of our identity. That's an important message that Sri Krishna also has given in the Bhagavad Gita. Now, such a person also sees the Formless in each and every being. Remember sees the atma inside of all incarnated beings. We know that there is only one Atman. There's not two Atmans, there's not three. Therefore, it's the same Atman in all incarnated beings. They see the Formless, that Formless Awareness in every being possible. Every being that can be seen and every being that is unseen to the naked eye. Any being made from any element, gross or subtle is the Atman itself, that Formless Awareness itself, one does not see any other element than the Formless itself. That's all they see is the Formless, nothing more, they see Brahman as the only element in existence. Everything may have a name and form, but beyond that name and form, it's made of that same one essence, which is Brahman, which is Formless Awareness. everything we see or hear is nothing but Brahman itself. Then the second part of the verse is: an Atman yoked through yoga sees all other beings as atmas exactly resembling their own Immortal Self. Again, the Atman that is united through yoga that is totally immersed in union, in oneness, sees everyone as the same one. They cannot see anybody as different. This is the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita and a lot of people do not understand this. They still think that there are different atmas. No. They are one and the same Atman. Exactly resembling their own Immortal self. This is Sri Krishna's words. He's not saying they're all different. Everyone is the Immortal Self, the Immortal Atman, and they are nothing different. We are not to see them as anything different other than our own essential Self. That's what we need to see them as. That means whether it is a deva, whether it is Ishwara, whether it is Saguna Brahman, Maya, people, Avataras, gurus, criminals, just normal, easygoing citizens of the world, the Atman is one and the same for all. It is not different in any way at all, any shape or form it's the same thing. It's not got any different form, no different quality. It's one and the same. And remember the words 'exactly resembling', there is not one iota of difference, not one even slight mark of a difference. Everyone is that one Atman. Nobody is separate. Nobody has a different Atman. I want this to be clear and if this means that nobody has a different Atman, even Krishna has the same Atman that we have, or we have the same Atman as Krishna. Do not think even for a second that you are different to Krishna. The moment you do this, you lose that discernment between the Real and the unreal. This is the fundamental message here in the Bhagavad Gita. This verse itself proves that this text, the Bhagavad Gita is an advaitin text. It is purely Advaita Vedanta, and that's what it really brings out. That's the philosophy that is the base. Yes, there may be a possibility that Sri Krishna uses concessions here and there, but remember the core is the same. That which does not change is Real, that which changes is unreal. And what we do know is that this Formless Awareness, this Nirguna is changeless. Therefore, that is the only reality. That's the only thing that truly exists as a Reality. The context of the whole verse here is that Sri Krishna through this powerful verse is showing us the importance of union through yoga, that we see the Atman as one and the same in all beings. Then verse 30. For one who also sees Me pervading all that is, and sees that all beings are within Me, I am never again invisible to them, and they are never again separated from Me. An important disclaimer before I go into explaining this verse. This verse needs to be properly understood through a non-dual lens and I really mean this. Remember Sri Krishna himself is now Brahman. He is not an individual person. He is no longer the friend of Arjuna in the social context. He's a friend in the spiritual context in terms of the beautiful relationship of a Guru and disciple and remember it, neither is Sri Krishna a king or any other label. He's now a Guru, and the Guru is always Brahman itself. The Guru is always Nirguna Brahman, is always Formless Awareness. The Guru is no other than That. The 'Me' that Sri Krishna speaks of in this verse when he says, for one, who also sees Me' when he speaks like that, it is nothing but Brahman, this Formless Awareness. So let's get into this verse. The first part of it is for one who also sees me pervading, all that is. So the ground of existence. You remember the 'sat' from sat-chit-ananda is Brahman itself. Whatever is pervading is this 'Sat', is this ground of existence. A true devotee will always see Brahman as everything, wherever they look, there is Brahman. Here is Brahman. Wherever they go, there is Brahman, here is Brahman. Whatever they may be doing in every act, there is remembrance, there is Brahman. Here is Brahman. They are always in that experience of being Brahman, being Formless Awareness. Every corner that they look at, there is Brahman. Here is Brahman. Every particle contains Brahman alone. There is not a single particle in this whole universe, in this whole cosmos that is not this Brahman Itself. They see this Formless Awareness amongst all forms. Hence, it pervades all that is. Even space. Even that space that looks empty, Brahman is in that too. The text can even go further to say that even that which is nonexistent is also Brahman too, because it doesn't exist. It's also Brahman. Therefore, that's the beauty in this first part of the verse, everything that you see is this all pervading Nirguna Brahman. Then the second part of that verse that I'm looking at is and sees that all beings are within 'Me'. Every manifestation of existence is within Brahman. Brahman is the only existance, yet it appears within Brahman itself and the true devotee sees all beings within Brahman, meaning that they see Brahman first, then the name and form then the being. No longer just one look at their spouse or their children, or their mother or their father First they see this Nirguna Brahman. They see this Formless Awareness. Then they see the label afterwards. Obviously, we need the label to function well in society and to function well in the world. There's nothing wrong with that, but we have to understand that prior to any label, everyone is this Nirguna Brahman. Anyone we come across, whether we like them or we dislike them, they are always going to be Brahman. Then in the third part he says: I'm never again invisible to them. So once Brahman is realized as our own true nature, that is all we can perceive now. There's nothing else for us to perceive. I am never again invisible to them. wherever you go, wherever you look, from every corner, you see this All-pervading Self, even if you do not see it, say you're in the deepest sleep and there is this blank emptiness, even then Brahman is there. It's never invisible. You will always be aware of your own Formless Awareness. \ You will never now be unaware. You will always be aware. Remember here, invisible should not be taken literally. For example, we see forms everywhere. Maya everywhere. But we do not see Brahman, yet through Yogi practice, we unite with that Formless Awareness, and then we understand that this Brahman has always been here. We didn't have the knowledge before. Now that we have the knowledge, we have turned the invisible into visible. And what is that? Through Brahm Gyana, that insight into seeing that the forms are really the Formless and the Formless contains the forms. That's the way we have to see it. So no longer will the true self ever be invisible to us. Once we see It, we can never escape It. We are in its grasp forever, and that is a beauty of when this realization really dawns upon us, and that is the aim for all of us. The ultimate aim is to dissolve into that Formless Awareness, which is our True Self. The fourth part of the verse: and they are never again separated from me. How can one separate themselves from their True Self? How is that even possible? Once you see that you and Brahman are one and the same, how can there be separation? Can separation even exist in such a way? No, because separation is just an illusion. We think it's real, but essentially it's not when we do a deeper inquiry into it, therefore we can never be separated. Only the mind experiences a separation, but the Atman never feels the separation. Only the mind does. The mind says that you are a different person. You are a name and form. That is your identity. But when we have this Brahm Gyana, when we have this knowledge of Brahman, where we understand that actually this separation was always an illusion, we were always one and we will always be one. You can never be separated from Sri Krishna. In the world you continue all your activities, but remain connected forever with Brahman. The context of the whole verse is Sri Krishna provides us with a key insight into what happens when we connect with Him as Formless Awareness, and see all beings as this One. Verse 31. The yogi who sees me as present within all beings, who is perfectly established in a one pointed and unbreakable, intimate, and affectionate relationship with Me and who is absorbed in a fervent state of loving adoration for me, dwells within me wherever they go. A very beautiful verse. There's a lot to unpack in this verse. The first part of the verse is the yogi who sees me as present within all beings. The yogi must see Brahman present within all beings. That is a given. That is what you could say the natural state. That's the natural order for a yogi. There is no other way for the yogi to see people as, but Brahman Itself. The Yogi cannot say that Brahman is just in one person and not another. Brahman has to be in everyone and everything, but that doesn't mean that everyone is aware of this and is able to get that knowledge into a reality. For that, we need to study hard. We need to put a lot of effort into our practice, and we really need to hone in on our spiritual attainment, our spiritual progress, and our spiritual practices. It is a must for us. It has to be understood that even in the most horrible and deceitful beings, to the most pious and celebrated beings, Brahman is present in them all. We may not like that fact, but it is true and we cannot run away from it. Once you understand what Brahman is, once you understand what Formless Awareness is, you will always be willing to accept it, even in the most testing of circumstances. And this is what sets you apart from the world. We must remind ourselves that Brahman is not karma, but that ground of existence. That's what we need to understand, that Brahman is never the act, but the ground of existence, the ground of Being. The second part of the verse is who is perfectly established in the one pointed and unbreakable, intimate and affectionate relationship with me. The yogi is obviously most obviously established in a wonderful and beautiful relationship with Brahman. That is understood. Osho used to say that the greatest love affair existence is between a master and disciple, between a Guru and shishya. Sri Krishna can also be seen as our Guru right now, and therefore we can have that affectionate relationship with Sri Krishna, the one that is bestowing us with wisdom through these episodes, who is our Guru in these episodes. Who has been guiding us towards self realization, towards understanding what we really are understanding our true self. That we are nothing but this Nirguna Brahman and Sri Krishna through the verses that we've gone through so far in these past 50 episodes. We are understanding here that Sri Krishna is our Guru. He is our teacher. While the yogi may entertain themselves as a name and form, then it also creates a relationship with Brahman in the early stages. Now, even though the relationship is one pointed, we are constantly remembering Brahman like a beloved. Just like Romeo seeks Juliet and Juliet seeks Romeo, the seeker seeks Brahman and Brahman is also seeking Brahman itself or the seeker itself. There's a beautiful, poem that is said by, I think it's by Bulleh Shah. You know, I kept on saying, Ranjha , Ranjha. And then I became Ranjha myself. And that's what happens when we keep on remembering this Beloved, this Nirguna Brahman, this Formless Awareness. The more we remain in the awareness of Formless Awareness, the more we get into that strong affectionate relationship, This intimate relationship that can never be broken, can never be taken away. It remains forever once we are connected. So we have this beautiful relationship with Brahman, with Nirguna Brahman, with Formless Awareness. And it is unbreakable, intimate, and affectionate relationship. There is a deep closeness, a deep unity. It is the deepest ocean of love that you can ever imagine. Mystics have gone so intimate in this ferver, in this heat of the moment, you could say in this passionate love, that they refer themselves as a bride, and Brahman is the groom and it's even in the Guru Granth Sahib Ji where this is referred to in a way where they call the Atman, the bride and Brahman, ParBrahm the groom. We are here to establish a deep and affectionate relationship with Brahman, whenever we feel like we are this name and form. If you feel you are separated, create that affectionate relationship. Even if you know you are not separated, just be in that closeness. Remain in that closeness and I'm sure that there will never be a day when you are far from this Formless Awareness. Then the third part of that verse is, and who is absorbed in a fervent state of loving adoration for me, dwells within me wherever they go. So that one has to be constantly absorbed in this life, absorbed in what? In this Formless Awareness. All their senses lose all balance in this love. They spiral into an abyss as this love takes over. This love just simply takes over our being and we are forever in love with that Formless Awareness, with this Nirguna Brahman. The fervent state just shows how feverish it can get, how it shakes one to the core of there being that is the type of intense love that we have towards this Formless Awareness, towards Nirguna Brahman. This extreme passion of loving adoration for Brahman is carried everywhere we go. Wherever we may go, we see Brahman in everything and we automatically fall in love again and again and again. All they can do is speak of their love for Brahman. That's all they care about discussing. This fragrance continues to spread everywhere. It does not stop in one's home or in one's room. It goes everywhere, to the office, to the school, to the college, to the university. Everywhere is this Formless Awareness. Every step, every breath speaks of that intense, passionate love for Brahman and this person is always living in Brahman wherever they go. they can never escape the inescapable, the all-pervading, the most beautiful and beloved, the ever most graceful antaryami, the inner dweller that is Brahman, and that is what we need to always remember that we have this solid relationship with Brahman itself. So the context of the whole verse is that we adore Sri Krishna, but in his Formless roop, in his Formless form, which is Brahman. And we create a connection that can never change because we associate it with the Changeless Brahman. That's the ultimate goal of every spiritual seeker is to become Formless, is to connect with that which is Formless. That is our Guru. That is our teacher. That is the Ultimate. Now we go to the last verse of today. Verse 32. O Arjuna one who continually sees the Atman in all living entities, as in the essence, the same as their own Atman, even while experiencing dukha material miseries and pain or sukha 'the joys and pleasure of matter' is said to have attained the peak of yogic adoration. So let's look at the first part of this verse. O Arjuna, one who continually sees the in all living entities, as in essence, the same as their own atman. This is a very important lesson and should be considered as a conclusion to the other verses. We must see that the Atman is in all living entities and is the same as their own atman. It's not anything different. It's one and the same. If we think we have a different , then we are deluded. Anyone that thinks that the devas have a different Atman, they are deluded. Anyone that thinks God has a different Atman, they are extremely deluded. Anyone that thinks Sri Krishna has a different Atman, then they are absolutely deluded. We must continuously, without any break, see that our essence is the same. We all share the same being, which is called the Atman here, which is Sat, which is Real. We need to continuously see the Atman in all living entities. This is not just merely someone saying something. This has to be our lived experience. Then the second part of the verse is, even while experiencing dukha 'material miseries and pain', or sukha 'the joys and pleasures of matter' is said to have attained the peak of yogic perfection. Let's be very clear here on this podcast. We can never escape dukha. We can never escape the material miseries and pain. The world is full of suffering and pain. We know this for sure. We see it to the ones that we love and we see it around us in our own household. The world also contains the joys and pleasures of the world. So yes, where there is maybe a sad time, there is also a happy time, a time that allows us to forget that real sadness we was feeling back in the day. The world also contains the joys and pleasure of matter. This momentary joy gives us the dopamine hits of bliss. Yet we still search for that everlasting state. How do we get there? How do we get to that blissful state? We must remember that this body and mind is material and will experience both sukha and dukha. The one who still sees the same Atman in all, they will face the trials and tribulations and success and celebrations of the world. Yet they see it as real for the body and mind alone. The person who remains balanced and in pure awareness reaches a peak of yogic perfection, meaning their union with the truth is unbreakable. The context of the whole verse is that Sri Krishna provides an important lesson that the Atman is one and the same for all, and the world is full of sukha and dukha. We cannot change that. That's the nature of the world, and our body and mind will experience this no matter what happens, regardless of how enlightened we get. Regardless of our spiritual attainment, regardless of that ceaseless bliss that is there in the background. Regardless of how grounded we are in Formless Awareness, we will experience sukha and dukha in the body and mind. But remember that yogic perfection lies in accepting that what we experience in the world and we happily accept it as an experience, but we do not allow it to define us as who or what we are. That is the end of the 50th episode dedicated to my thoughts on the Bhagavad Gita, and also beginning next week will be my thoughts on the Upanishads, which is exclusively for Patreon subscribers, Supercast subscribers, and Apple subscription subscribers too. Thank you very much for listening. Please do share this podcast with your friends and family who may enjoy this content. Follow me on social media to keep getting updates. Join the Bearded Mystic Podcast WhatsApp community group to continue the podcast discussion. Details are in the show notes and video description below. If you would like to support the Bearded Mystic Podcast, remember to check out the podcast Patreon page, details are in the show notes and video description below. Please do rate and review the podcast on our website, www.thebeardedmysticpodcast.com. Please do like and comment on this video and subscribe to this YouTube channel. Please do follow/subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast streaming app. Thank you very much for listening. Let's end with the Soham and Shanti mantra. Soham Soham. I am That, I am That. Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti. Aum Peace Peace Peace Namaste.