Wisdom of the Mystics: Atmananda Krishna Menon Ji

Transcript

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

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Singh.

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

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Today we will be continuing on with the wisdom of the mystics, and we will be looking at the teachings of Atmananda Krishna Menon.

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And as you know, last month we looked at the teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj, and today we'll be looking at the teachings of Atmananda Ji.

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We're going to delve deep in some of his quotes and they are very, very wonderful.

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And I think the most amazing thing about when I was looking at these quotes was, was how direct he is and how even if you have just a basic understanding, and even if you don't, he kind of speaks to you at a level where you can understand, which I find happens a lot with Rupert Spira.

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He has this command where you're just able to understand what they're talking about.

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You know, you just know that they can directly not only get to your intellect, but actually touch your heart at the same time, because that's what spirituality should be doing.

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It's not just literally an intellectual mind game.

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It's also very much, something that plays out in the heart and that's where devotion comes up.

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Let's start with the first quote of Atmananda Ji's.

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Waves are nothing but water.

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So is the sea.

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Likewise the Jiva and the Lord are nothing other than Sat, Chit and Ananda Before I begin with this, one of the interesting things that we can see from this is that he uses the word 'jiva' and then says the Lord.

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And I would imply there that the Lord here may be either the isht-devta or Saguna Brahman or any of the deities that we may worship, like Sri Krishna or Ganesh ji or Shiva Ji.

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It could be any of those and what he's trying to say is that they are sat-chit-ananda which is basically Nirguna Brahman.

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Or they're integrated Brahman that we know where you have the world and it's wonders, and yet in that world you have the essence of that Formless Awareness.

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That's one thing I wanted to mention if I don't, later on, according to my notes.

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The ocean, the rivers, the waves, the streams are all different names, but they all contain only one thing.

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They're only made up of one thing, and that is water.

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No matter which way you look at it, they're just different names for water.

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Likewise, this Jiva, this individual soul, if we may use that word, and the Shared Being also known as Saguna Brahman, are one and the same.

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As we know Rupert Spira uses this term called the Shared Being, and I find it to be quite useful.

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Even here we can see that it's on about the same thing.

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The Jiva, the individual and the Lord is one and the same because if everything is that sat-chit-ananda, then it's not going to be anything different, right?

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It's gonna be one.

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There may appear to be different and we may get trapped into thinking I'm an individual soul with my own karma, with my own vasanas and all sorts, and then there's the Lord.

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It's different and I have to worship it and there's a separation between us.

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All that may appear to be, and we all may appear to have different names and labels that us humans have more or less given.

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If you asked a lion, if it's called a lion, or it's species, it's called a lion, it will probably be be like, no, not really.

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I'm just, I am or not even that.

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There's no words to explain it.

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It's human beings that have created this language and to some degree it helps us.

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But in other aspects, in spirituality, it's, it's a paradox, right?

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They all appear to be different, so the jiva, the Lord, Saguna Brahman, the Isht-Devta or our Guru and they may have different names and people fight over these different names, but they are made from that one thing alone.

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And that is, That Formless Awareness that we always talk about.

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If you are aware of the object, it's all good.

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The objects are the ones that change, but your awareness does not change regardless of what it is aware of.

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Even to the point where it is aware of emotions, intentions, thoughts, and obviously actions and objects itself.

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Atmananda ji says they are nothing other than sat-chit-ananda.

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Once we understand they are this existence, sat meaning existence and that's obviously what we refer to as the Shared Being, borrowing from Rupert Spira.

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And that means that it is encompassing all that is in existence.

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All the universe, the solar system, all the living beings and species, the rocks, the stars, everything that we can think of, even what we do not know about, like what happens on the other side of a black hole, all of that, every atom, all of that is the Shared Being because it's all one and the same.

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And the point to that is that the source of everything eventually comes from Brahman.

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If there is this reflection of existence, it's because of Brahman that there is a reflection and it's nothing other than Brahman.

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The next one is chit, which is obviously Pure Consciousness.

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It's Pure Consciousness itself.

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It's Formless Awareness itself.

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It's the eternal witness and the observer, it is the Purusha, the Witness Consciousness.

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It's Nirakar, it's Formless, it cannot be contained by any word, by any shape.

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It cannot be contained in any way, and that's what Pure Consciousness is.

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It's just the observer that remains untouched by the experiences of existence.

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And because it's untouched by any of the experiences of existence or objects or emotions, sensations, and all sorts, it's always in ananda, which is bliss.

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We are always in that balanced state of happiness and that sameness of happiness.

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So if you think about our life, we are always fluctuating in happiness.

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Sometimes you're really happy, sometimes we are not so happy.

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Sometimes we are just not happy at all.

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But blissfulness is where when you're in that sat-chit-ananda state, when you're in Brahman, when you are, when you realize you are Brahman, then you know you are literally just smooth sailing in ananda.

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That's all.

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That's how it is.

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Our default state is sat-chit-ananda, that's what we are.

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And once the jiva understands that it's just a different name.

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Once we realize that the Lord, God or whatever we want to refer it to, any deity, when we realize that it is just this One Being, this One Self, this Formless Awareness, this Nirguna Brahman We're all good.

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It's all this sat-chit-ananda and that's what this first quote means.

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Tell me if something about this first quote has interested you.

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I think it's an amazing way of making me understand non-duality simply, and let me know if you found it as simple as I did.

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The second quote.

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When Consciousness thus begins to receive due attention, it becomes revealed in the objects as well, and they themselves will in due course, become transformed into Consciousness.

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First of all, we have to begin with bringing attention to Consciousness itself, our own awareness.

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While you are doing activities, while you are sitting down, while you are not doing anything, just observe yourself.

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And what we need to start doing is start paying attention to the one that is being aware, the one that is witnessing and watching and observing, and that's all we are doing.

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So we are, we are literally turning the attention inward.

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And when I say inward, I don't mean it is within me, it's everywhere.

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The only problem is that we think that this observer is only within, but we have to understand it's as infinite as existence itself.

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Remember it's Sat-Chit-Ananda, it has no limit at all.

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We begin with being aware of that Consciousness, being aware of awareness.

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And this is done like I mentioned, by sitting and observing.

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And it doesn't need.

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As I talk about this, you don't need to do any special rituals.

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You don't need to be on a special diet.

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You don't need to be sitting in a certain posture or doing a certain breath exercise.

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You don't have to be doing any of those things.

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There's no other requirement.

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It doesn't care.

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This practice doesn't really matter if you are drinking alcohol or taking drugs, or it does not judge at all because there is no judging element in it because it's just an observer.

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We have to understand that whatever requirements a religion puts on you, it's not due to Consciousness itself.

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It may be due to the fact that, not that they want to control you, but they've found a method that's worked for them and they want.

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To say, oh, well, you know, do this and it may work for you.

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So that's what it is.

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I wouldn't take it too seriously and I'm not condemning people or religions for doing this.

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All I'm saying is that you don't need to do any of those things in order to be aware of awareness.

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To be aware of Formless Awareness, you do not need any special requirement at all.

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What does help is if you, obviously you've had, previous studying in this or you've had some basic understanding of what non-duality is, and that's where my podcast comes to help you.

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And where my meditation sessions come to show you the practical side of it.

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What we have to continue on doing once we start being aware of awareness, being aware of Formless Awareness, then we just watch patiently.

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Don't rush it.

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A lot of people want to rush spirituality as if it's a TikTok video or a YouTube shorts or a reel that should finish in 30, 60, 90 seconds.

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No, you need to be patient with it.

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It is like watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

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You gotta be patient.

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It's like watching Inception.

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It's like watching Tenet, any Christopher Nolan movie where you have to pay real attention, not only to what you are watching, but even to what you are hearing, because he also plays with sound, so you have to observe in that way.

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Just watch and then observe the observing itself.

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Then watch the watching itself, watch the awareness itself.

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Be aware of the awareness itself.

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Start settling in that.

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It's not gonna happen straight away, but be patient and just sit down and observe.

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That's all.

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And then at this point, Consciousness is then seen for the first time.

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What I mean by that is not that you are not already in Consciousness and you are not already aware of this Consciousness, but there'd be a point where you would get rid of the notion that there's me and Consciousness.

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There's only just Consciousness.

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That is what I mean by seeing Consciousness for the first time.

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You literally are in the understanding and realization that I am Formless Awareness and that is all there is.

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I can't see or perceive anything else.

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Whatever I see around me is just a reflection of this Formless Awareness.

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That's all.

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And I'm not going to be against it.

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I, I'm not gonna see Maya as this really bad thing.

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I'm gonna see as just a reflection.

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Now, for example, this is why I don't believe that one should leave our homes and go to the Himalayas and become monks and, and stuff like that, or become a hermit.

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The reason why I don't believe in this is because of this very thing that you can literally do this regardless of what you're doing in life.

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And also you don't see Maya as an impediment.

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You see it as a tool to be used.

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Now, if you know how to use something, you can build something beautiful.

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And likewise, the Rishis and the Sages, who are mainly we're householders.

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Sri Krishna was a householder.

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Sri Rama was a householder.

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The world that they created, as we know is beautiful.

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Anyway, I digress.

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At this point, you'll see that even the objects that you observe, are you, the objects that you are aware of, are you and they're, they're not separate.

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They're not different.

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They're one and the same.

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And at this point, what happens is there is no difference between the subject and the object.

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You no longer say, well, there is me and the object.

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There is this unified oneness that is unbreakable, that cannot be touched in any way, that cannot be harmed in any way, that cannot be dissolved in any way.

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It simply remains there, steady and static as you could say.

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This oneness is only attained through proper discernment and dedication to the practice.

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Like I said, you gotta be patient and not rush to want enlightenment.

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You have to be calm and you have to wait for the right time.

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And it's taken me 13 years to be comfortable with whatever I have attained, and I haven't attained enlightenment.

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And like I have previously said, a disclaimer, if this is your first time watching me, I don't claim enlightenment anyway, even if I was and, um, never will.

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But what I will say is that regardless if you're enlightened or not, continue on with the practice and stay humble.

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Listen to that Kendrick Lamar track and, and literally sit down and stay humble and I mean it, and this is done when you are dedicated and at the same time you have that discernment of the Real and unreal.

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And what we have to understand is that the mind is very fickle.

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It goes from one thought to another, from one emotion to another, and it doesn't steady even after enlightenment.

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It will calm down for sure.

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It'll be a lot calmer.

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But if you think that it will not poke, its ugly head around the corner, or its beautiful head around the corner, well it could and you have to be alert.

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And that's where discernment comes in.

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Whenever you see a thought appear that doesn't seem to be aligned to spiritual living, then you will just observe it and you will see it for what it is, and therefore remain untouched by it because it's not you.

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It's an object that you are aware of.

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So you don't have to associate with it.

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You don't have to identify with it.

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And you don't have to feel bad for having that thought because it's not even your mind.

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On that level, every action you do anyway, and every thought you have should be more or less pure.

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But say one negative thought appears, I, I wouldn't kick yourself about it.

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This oneness, like I said, is attained through proper discernment.

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Once I understand that there's this thought that appears, that isn't really part of my day-to-day life as a spiritual person, so let me just observe that and understand that it is part of this existence, it's part of this network in the mind, and it's arisen from somewhere, probably from a past karma, and it's one with me, let me deal with it in the appropriate way, which is just to observe it and not entertain it any longer than it should.

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What I mean by entertain it is bring it into action.

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Not even take a single step towards action, just observe the thought or the emotion and let it dissolve by itself.

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And when you observe, it's kind of like when you, if you ever seen where someone catches the sun, a ray of the sun, the sunlight onto a magnifying glass and they place it on a piece of paper and that piece of paper starts burning.

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It's like that.

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That's what happens when you are observing the fire of the illumination of Brahm Gyana burns away the past karma right there and then.

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That's constantly there.

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You just have to access it.

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Like I mentioned, what you will understand, and it's a natural occurrence that happens, is that you understand completely that this body and mind are also objects to this Consciousness.

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They are within Consciousness.

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Consciousness has no form.

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You understand that it's just simply an object.

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By seeing Consciousness in the object, we see that even we are Consciousness itself.

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Once you understand that the objects are Consciousness, then you can then look into awareness and then you realize, well, I've always been this awareness.

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I've never stepped away from being aware.

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Something within me despite being so, despite being put in the background.

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It's still there.

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Now think about it as you've grown older.

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Each year that you've grown, you've watched yourself age, you've watched yourself grow.

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That watcher that's been watching has not changed weirdly enough, that observer hasn't, your body's changed, your thoughts have changed, your emotions have changed, but the actual watcher that is you has not changed.

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Yeah.

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The me that is watching all this never changes.

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When we say we've changed as a person, the personality has changed that's linked to our emotions, but, or our body has changed, but nothing else changes.

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The watcher does not change.

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Once we've established this and we've established that actually the essence of everything is awareness and if I can be aware of everything, then there is only awareness.

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I don't need to personalize awareness as my thing, because then it becomes an object.

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So you see awareness as the only thing, and at that moment there is oneness and all duality disappears, and it doesn't even remain there for a second.

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It's not there for a single moment more, so that duality completely dissolves away.

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The example I like to give here is like how salt dissolves into the water and becomes the water itself.

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You never see a grain of salt last unless it's Himalayan pink salt.

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Uh, it takes a bit more time, but that you could say is the stubborn ego.

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But otherwise, if we've been trained in spiritual practice and we've been diligent in our practice and we've been honest in our practice, then we'll be like that salt that instantly dissolves in the water, becomes the water.

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And then by utilizing that example, once the object realizes what it is, once the jiva realizes it is Brahman, it becomes Brahman itself.

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It's not that it becomes Brahman, it understands it is always been Brahman.

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Once the object realizes what it is, then it understands that it has always been Consciousness itself.

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It's always been awareness itself and hasn't been anything different.

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The third quote.

00:21:50.913 --> 00:22:01.503
When objects are also realized as nothing other than Consciousness, one comes back to one's true nature, which is changeless and above all states, including samadhi.

00:22:02.074 --> 00:22:06.394
Now, this has to be truly understood because it's quite powerful.

00:22:06.394 --> 00:22:12.151
It's an interesting quote and whatever Atmananda ji has written here, we really have to think about it.

00:22:12.361 --> 00:22:16.635
Now, many of times people see objects as something bad.

00:22:16.635 --> 00:22:17.746
Maya is bad.

00:22:17.806 --> 00:22:19.125
My vasanas are bad.

00:22:19.215 --> 00:22:20.955
My body and mind is bad.

00:22:20.955 --> 00:22:23.145
It's distracting me from spirituality.

00:22:23.596 --> 00:22:25.036
My attachments are bad.

00:22:25.365 --> 00:22:27.526
My friends and family are bad.

00:22:27.705 --> 00:22:33.935
All sorts of excuses are given as bad because they distract us from spirituality apparently.

00:22:34.365 --> 00:22:44.786
Well, that thinking is nonsense in my opinion, anyone that turns around and says that these things are bad does not really understand the essence of everything.

00:22:45.355 --> 00:22:58.105
Even to say that vasanas are powerful, one should even ask the question, if your vasanas are powerful, if your karma is powerful, if your attachments are powerful, where do they get their power from?

00:22:59.306 --> 00:23:05.185
And if you look at the seed, the cause, it all arises from Formless Awareness.

00:23:05.786 --> 00:23:07.796
It all arises from you.

00:23:08.486 --> 00:23:22.030
So whatever you give attention to is eventually what you're going to end up becoming, whatever you imagine yourself to be, is what ends up happening, especially in spirituality.

00:23:22.030 --> 00:23:30.730
When it comes to the subtle elements like being attached, certain tendencies we have, certain desires we have, all those things.

00:23:31.151 --> 00:23:42.040
Realistically, we have to understand that all of this arises from Formless Awareness, and therefore there's no need to be so angry or upset about Formless Awareness.

00:23:43.330 --> 00:23:49.320
Also, I would like to go into, well, what is observing that these vasanas are more powerful?

00:23:49.661 --> 00:23:50.441
It's us.

00:23:50.500 --> 00:23:51.310
We are doing it.

00:23:51.580 --> 00:23:52.121
I'm doing it.

00:23:52.125 --> 00:23:52.931
You are doing it.

00:23:53.800 --> 00:23:55.901
Oh, my desires are so powerful.

00:23:56.770 --> 00:24:04.451
My desires want me to buy the next big car, my next big house.

00:24:06.836 --> 00:24:15.685
Jealousy has arisen, oh, my jealousy is so strong because my neighbor has got this, or another family member has this.

00:24:17.455 --> 00:24:19.346
All that power comes from ourselves.

00:24:19.596 --> 00:24:30.330
If we understand that, then we understand the power of Consciousness and if you are not seeking Consciousness, then you're happy living in delusion.

00:24:31.411 --> 00:24:32.191
Simple as that.

00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:38.131
No law of attraction nonsense is entertained here.

00:24:40.861 --> 00:25:01.570
You can if you want, I'm, I'm not condemning anyone, but it's your path you choose, but it's something that we don't, something that I don't think is actually a solid thing to practice, because once you understand who you are, what more do you want?

00:25:03.181 --> 00:25:04.276
I don't really understand.

00:25:04.276 --> 00:25:09.556
And if you do not understand the fullness of who you are, then that means you weren't complete in the first place.

00:25:10.425 --> 00:25:13.006
That is subtle things that we have to understand.

00:25:13.516 --> 00:25:23.836
Once we realize that objects of Consciousness, of Awareness and Formless Awareness itself are one, then we come back to our true nature.

00:25:24.105 --> 00:25:29.596
Then we automatically know who we are, what we are, and we are comfortable with it.

00:25:29.596 --> 00:25:32.895
We are happy in it, we are peaceful in it, we are calm in it.

00:25:33.496 --> 00:25:43.125
We are, we are in this steady state of mind, steady state of being.

00:25:44.355 --> 00:25:53.026
The other fact is, as we notice, our body and mind may change, even though we know we are one and the same as Formless Awareness.

00:25:54.675 --> 00:26:15.016
We have to understand that our true nature, that watcher within that observer within is changeless because Consciousness does not change regardless of what the objects portray through sense projections, through karma, through vasanas, through our desires, through anything that we observe.

00:26:16.096 --> 00:26:21.226
All those are just objects, but our awareness does not change because of them.

00:26:21.615 --> 00:26:23.685
Our Awareness does not become good or bad.

00:26:23.996 --> 00:26:25.550
It doesn't become right or wrong.

00:26:25.971 --> 00:26:40.221
Awareness is awareness, and when you operate from that source, from your true nature, then your every action is done with a lot more thought.

00:26:40.221 --> 00:26:48.205
Everything is slowed down a little, and actually this is why I'm always against the fast hustle culture.

00:26:49.256 --> 00:26:56.125
I believe true wealth is being steady and being consistent.

00:26:57.536 --> 00:27:13.615
If you are erratic, you won't get far in terms of real attainment, either you be consistent in being erratic or you be consistent in being calm.

00:27:13.885 --> 00:27:16.016
The main thing is about being consistent.

00:27:16.586 --> 00:27:19.615
Our true nature never changes.

00:27:20.125 --> 00:27:21.776
Our true nature remains the same.

00:27:21.836 --> 00:27:23.246
Awareness remains the same.

00:27:23.516 --> 00:27:26.006
It doesn't change in its quality at all.

00:27:26.675 --> 00:27:31.352
Atmananda ji says that these states is even above samadhi.

00:27:31.372 --> 00:27:33.172
Now what does he mean by that?

00:27:33.622 --> 00:27:36.061
How can these states be above samadhi?

00:27:36.112 --> 00:27:41.751
How can this being in true nature be above what people say is a great experience?

00:27:41.751 --> 00:27:46.281
Samadhi is the silence of the mind, the silence and the expansion of the mind.

00:27:47.332 --> 00:27:49.221
Who wouldn't want to attain that.

00:27:50.451 --> 00:27:53.602
Now we all think Samadhi is the highest.

00:27:53.811 --> 00:28:02.122
I did, and for many years I thought I wanted Samadhi and then now I don't.

00:28:02.751 --> 00:28:18.112
Not that it's bad or it's not worth going for or not worth striving for, but I realized how futile it was, and yet it provided me a lot of kind of growth as well.

00:28:18.112 --> 00:28:20.271
So I'm not going to limit it.

00:28:20.301 --> 00:28:25.132
If I didn't think about wanting Samadhi, I wouldn't be going on this path.

00:28:25.221 --> 00:28:27.382
I wouldn't be even thinking about this path.

00:28:27.412 --> 00:28:29.872
So I appreciate it regardless.

00:28:30.771 --> 00:28:41.031
If you think about it, if you're in Samadhi and you come out of it and you say, I was in Samadhi, what is Supreme then?

00:28:41.301 --> 00:28:45.196
The Samadhi or the observer experiencing the samadhi?

00:28:51.936 --> 00:29:16.967
It's obviously the observer and that's why, if you can recall the samadhi, the samadhi is actually an object and therefore it's numerous sensations that one gets from that samadhi, someone can turn around and say they're in this tearful state and they're, apparently they're in oneness and time slows down and or time passes by really quickly or, or whatever they say.

00:29:17.747 --> 00:29:22.217
But that's still an object and it should not be celebrated.

00:29:23.626 --> 00:29:24.797
Let me make that clear.

00:29:24.797 --> 00:29:28.886
There are a lot of people with enlightenment stories with this, with this type of story.

00:29:30.737 --> 00:29:35.727
It's not to be celebrated.

00:29:36.297 --> 00:29:46.571
In fact, they're missing the biggest clue and that should tell you to stay away or to be very skeptical about what they say.

00:29:48.342 --> 00:30:02.231
And that is not enlightenment, by the way, just because you say that several hours passed by when you were sitting in meditation, but you thought it was there, you were there for five minutes, you were just having a brilliant time.

00:30:04.182 --> 00:30:11.997
You know, some of my best experiences, I thought time had passed by, but I felt it was five minutes.

00:30:12.656 --> 00:30:23.136
Again, if you say that you felt that you were one with everything, well you felt you were One.

00:30:24.257 --> 00:30:29.832
But do you know that you are one with everything and does that disappear with time?

00:30:30.281 --> 00:30:33.260
So those are the things that people should ask.

00:30:33.301 --> 00:30:38.192
And what I find is people don't ask these questions because one, they watch it on YouTube.

00:30:38.221 --> 00:30:42.721
Obviously, you can't answer the question unless you're small timer like me.

00:30:43.021 --> 00:30:46.501
I could possibly answer it, and even then I struggle.

00:30:46.501 --> 00:30:50.781
So imagine those with hundreds of thousands or even 10,000.

00:30:51.981 --> 00:30:53.451
It is pretty difficult, right?

00:30:53.451 --> 00:31:04.221
So we have to understand that unless someone gives a proper account that's verifiable, it's very difficult to accept.

00:31:04.971 --> 00:31:06.442
And I would always be skeptical.

00:31:06.592 --> 00:31:15.531
I wouldn't, I, I wouldn't just fall under the trap of being like, wow, they're enlightened because of this experience.

00:31:15.981 --> 00:31:24.531
Remember that experience is an object because the awareness is explaining that experience.

00:31:25.731 --> 00:31:28.102
That's the key to observe.

00:31:28.701 --> 00:31:32.152
And yes, I am saying that enlightenment is an object.

00:31:34.162 --> 00:31:43.942
If you start thinking you are enlightened or I am enlightened, if you have that thought, that that's an object too.

00:31:44.872 --> 00:31:55.622
Now someone may ask, well, what if you have nirvikalpa samadhi, when there is only Pure Consciousness, where no object is seen and neither is an observer seen.

00:31:55.942 --> 00:32:02.356
When there's a complete dissolution of everything, that is the highest state of being.

00:32:02.356 --> 00:32:08.061
Now nirvikalpa samadhi is the same as just being in awareness.

00:32:08.961 --> 00:32:12.152
And that is what I would say is samadhi.

00:32:13.211 --> 00:32:19.326
Now, for example, you still have to come outta that if you want to function in the world.

00:32:20.076 --> 00:32:27.876
What I would say is more,practical is yes, experience that in meditation, and you must, you must have that absorption.

00:32:28.557 --> 00:32:40.136
For example, when we do our guided meditation and I go through the guidance of Formless Awareness, and then there's silence for two minutes, I leave two, three minutes for silence.

00:32:40.527 --> 00:32:43.196
In that two or three minutes, it's more than enough.

00:32:43.227 --> 00:32:44.517
One minute is more than enough.

00:32:44.521 --> 00:32:46.047
30 seconds is more than enough.

00:32:47.186 --> 00:32:55.977
Just go, just absorb yourself into Pure Consciousness, into Formless Awareness, and that is all you need.

00:32:56.666 --> 00:33:01.076
That 30 seconds, maybe even less than that.

00:33:01.737 --> 00:33:11.186
What I want to say is, it's better to not just be in samadhi, but actually come out of it and live your day-to-day life, but in awareness.

00:33:11.396 --> 00:33:17.096
What I mean by that is there is this constant awareness within you.

00:33:17.156 --> 00:33:21.507
It doesn't shut down in any stage, like waking, dreaming, deep sleep.

00:33:22.096 --> 00:33:24.576
Basically I'm talking about the turiya state.

00:33:26.106 --> 00:33:29.007
You have to be constantly in awareness.

00:33:29.537 --> 00:33:34.366
That to me is the ultimate, being aware of awareness.

00:33:35.606 --> 00:33:37.527
We should never deviate from that.

00:33:37.737 --> 00:33:40.797
And Formless Awareness will never declare itself.

00:33:40.797 --> 00:33:44.336
Like I mentioned, it's never gonna turn around and say I'm enlightened.

00:33:46.376 --> 00:33:51.356
It doesn't know what enlightenment or ignorance is because those states don't exist in it.

00:33:51.896 --> 00:33:54.356
They are reflections, but not it.

00:33:55.946 --> 00:34:00.392
It is your true nature and there is no recognition of anything outside of that.

00:34:00.442 --> 00:34:02.571
There is nothing outside of your true nature.

00:34:03.112 --> 00:34:04.102
It's as simple as that.

00:34:06.124 --> 00:34:07.713
Now let's go to the fourth quote.

00:34:08.224 --> 00:34:11.253
It is this witnessing‘I’ that is the real ‘I’.

00:34:11.333 --> 00:34:17.793
Fixing attention there and establishing oneself in it, one becomes freed from bondage.

00:34:18.423 --> 00:34:24.893
So you know, the observer I, meaning I who observes these objects is the real I.

00:34:25.054 --> 00:34:37.304
So if I am observing through my eyes, this object of the microphone, that witness is the real 'I'.

00:34:37.893 --> 00:34:38.943
That's the true 'I'.

00:34:39.304 --> 00:34:40.353
The true I am.

00:34:41.224 --> 00:34:44.853
The seer that watches and sees that is Formless Awareness.

00:34:45.123 --> 00:34:46.804
That is Pure Consciousness.

00:34:47.353 --> 00:34:48.833
There is no separate 'I'.

00:34:48.853 --> 00:34:55.333
There is no 'I' here, and then another 'I' as you or the world out there.

00:34:56.563 --> 00:35:02.923
There's just one 'I', and this I-ness from the body and mind simply just does not exist.

00:35:03.643 --> 00:35:10.574
When you try to locate this'I', when you try to see where does it begin from, you find it has no beginning and no end.

00:35:10.844 --> 00:35:15.251
And therefore, if it has no beginning or end, it's not contained just in the body and mind.

00:35:15.251 --> 00:35:17.920
It must be something that transcends it.

00:35:18.110 --> 00:35:20.846
We have to understand what it is that transcends it.

00:35:21.655 --> 00:35:29.313
Once we understand that, then we must fix our attention to continuously be an observer.

00:35:29.393 --> 00:35:32.393
Take your time and just fix your attention there.

00:35:32.398 --> 00:35:38.452
Like I mentioned, be in that absorption for a bit and we must watch and then become the watching.

00:35:39.257 --> 00:35:44.358
That's when you know you're established in it because when you are watching, that means you're completely the watcher.

00:35:44.628 --> 00:35:46.697
There is no separate identity now.

00:35:47.157 --> 00:35:50.728
There is no separate I-ness or there's no 'me' and 'my mind'.

00:35:50.728 --> 00:35:56.588
You know, there's just 'me' and my mind is contained in'me', not 'me' and 'my mind'.

00:35:57.097 --> 00:36:00.068
We must become completely established in it.

00:36:00.068 --> 00:36:00.217
Yeah.

00:36:00.217 --> 00:36:03.518
We must try our best to be completely established in it.

00:36:03.967 --> 00:36:09.458
And we do not need to move to any other place because there is no other location.

00:36:09.668 --> 00:36:11.588
What other location is there to go to?

00:36:11.887 --> 00:36:20.318
You don't need to go to the other side of the universe, just be here and you're at every point in the universe.

00:36:21.338 --> 00:36:26.768
When we are one in Consciousness, when we are one in awareness, then we become freed from ignorance.

00:36:26.958 --> 00:36:28.838
Avidya disappears completely.

00:36:28.838 --> 00:36:35.137
There is no ignorance at all that I am this separation, that I'm separate to all of this.

00:36:35.168 --> 00:36:37.117
I'm separate to others.

00:36:37.358 --> 00:36:40.148
I'm separate to the world and to other living beings.

00:36:40.358 --> 00:36:49.907
That separateness is disappeared, that separateness is resolved and thrown in the trash really as a concept.

00:36:51.228 --> 00:36:55.594
When we are one in Formless Awareness, we also are never bound to another object.

00:36:55.643 --> 00:37:24.677
Even if you're in a marriage and like me, or you're about to become a dad like me, you are not bound . You love them, that detachment increases your love, it enhances your love and it makes you more complete in your love because it does not require you to restrict them in any way.

00:37:25.338 --> 00:37:29.688
You love them for what they are, and you recognize yourself in them.

00:37:30.228 --> 00:37:39.557
You know it's all the same thing, and that's why your love is more pure and it comes from more from a place of understanding and a place of compassion.

00:37:42.628 --> 00:37:46.288
In this sense, we attain true freedom.

00:37:46.797 --> 00:37:52.318
This is what freedom really is when you are detached, yet you act responsibly in the world.

00:37:52.677 --> 00:37:56.728
You have to be nice to your spouse, to your partner, to your parents, to your children.

00:37:56.878 --> 00:37:57.958
You have to be nice to everyone.

00:37:57.963 --> 00:37:58.768
You have to be good.

00:37:58.838 --> 00:38:24.172
If someone's being rude to you, then I would say, if it's a continuous habit of theirs and if it's a behavior that's continuously reoccurring and it's not stopping in any way, and it's not reducing in any way despite your attempts to try to solve that situation, then I say you do have to show a different side, but you don't have to let go of awareness to do that.

00:38:24.532 --> 00:38:31.373
You can do it in awareness, and it's done with the greater good in mind, and that's the whole point of having discernment.

00:38:32.722 --> 00:38:49.922
In the end, really jivanmukti is about knowing what the real'I' is, what this real I am is, and being established and being completely dedicated to this truth, to this true 'I'.

00:38:51.172 --> 00:38:53.992
Now let's go to the fifth quote.

00:38:54.507 --> 00:38:59.617
Atma is that changeless, one rasa, into which thoughts and feelings merge.

00:39:00.007 --> 00:39:07.777
To see it, enter it and establish it as the ‘I’, removes all delusions and brings in lasting peace.

00:39:08.206 --> 00:39:13.186
We know the Atman, which is Brahman itself, is not the individual soul.

00:39:13.577 --> 00:39:16.657
We know that the Atman, which is Brahman, is changeless.

00:39:16.666 --> 00:39:23.146
We understand this completely, and our awareness is also changeless.

00:39:23.907 --> 00:39:33.567
We know this from our own experience because when we are the witness, when we are this awareness, Formless Awareness, we know this awareness doesn't change in any way.

00:39:33.686 --> 00:39:53.711
Like I mentioned before, if you grow from a toddler to childhood, to teenage to middle age to elderly, the watcher in all those stages of life, has been untouched by the experiences of the body and mind as it changes and it decays and it slows down.

00:39:55.601 --> 00:39:57.762
Yet that watcher remains the same.

00:39:58.032 --> 00:40:00.492
The observer within remains the same.

00:40:01.871 --> 00:40:09.101
One thing one can say is, does the atman here refer to the mind?

00:40:09.461 --> 00:40:10.632
In this case, no.

00:40:10.871 --> 00:40:16.001
It's pretty obvious that he's talking about Formless Awareness because he says it's changeless.

00:40:16.242 --> 00:40:18.762
The mind, as we know, does change.

00:40:19.411 --> 00:40:31.476
The other thing I want to say is we don't even have to go far as looking at the stages of life that we observe, but even thoughts, thoughts are different in quality, when we observe each one, none of them are the same.

00:40:31.806 --> 00:40:38.414
Whatever thoughts that we have that are projected in the day, the multiple thoughts, we can observe them.

00:40:38.414 --> 00:40:45.923
The watcher remains the same regardless of the quality of thoughts, regardless of the thoughts that are projected.

00:40:46.284 --> 00:40:49.193
That screen of awareness does not change in any way.

00:40:49.554 --> 00:40:51.054
It's not moved in any way.

00:40:51.054 --> 00:40:52.463
It stays as it is.

00:40:53.463 --> 00:40:56.793
Then 'rasa' here means the one essence.

00:40:56.893 --> 00:41:06.914
The only essence there is in every object is this Atman, this Jiva, this Formless Awareness, which we know is Formless Awareness eventually.

00:41:07.273 --> 00:41:15.313
It's only an individual when we think it's an individual, when it realizes it's Brahman, it becomes this Formless Awareness.

00:41:16.123 --> 00:41:19.393
Therefore the essence is in every object.

00:41:19.873 --> 00:41:36.550
Now, our thoughts and feelings all merge into one essence known as the Atman if you think about it, all the projections on the screen becomes the screen itself, and gets absorbed into the screen.

00:41:36.610 --> 00:41:41.590
Or you could say it's like salt that dissolves into water, becomes water itself.

00:41:41.931 --> 00:41:46.420
Likewise, our thoughts and feelings all merge into that one essence known as the Atman.

00:41:46.525 --> 00:41:54.050
Therefore, the Atman is unchanged by the contents of diversity or of duality, it's not influenced by it in any way.

00:41:54.920 --> 00:42:01.791
The question that may appear for us is if we want to remain in Formless Awareness, and that may be our whole endeavor, right?

00:42:01.791 --> 00:42:03.831
That may be the whole thing we are looking for.

00:42:05.240 --> 00:42:07.101
What do we need to do to get there?

00:42:07.420 --> 00:42:08.740
, I wanna know how to get there.

00:42:08.740 --> 00:42:09.460
So tell me.

00:42:09.960 --> 00:42:28.070
Well, once we see this Seer, once we observe the observer, once we are aware of the one that is aware, we must fully enter into it through our viveka, so through our discernment and be established in it and see it as the eternal 'I'.

00:42:28.181 --> 00:42:30.431
So discern what is real and unreal.

00:42:30.641 --> 00:42:42.130
Get rid of everything that is unreal and go straight fully into that which is real, which is changeless, which is this watcher and observer and be established in it and see it as the eternal 'I'.

00:42:42.521 --> 00:42:44.710
Do not see as anything other than that.

00:42:44.710 --> 00:42:46.360
It's the eternal 'I am'.

00:42:47.891 --> 00:42:50.590
This 'I-ness', remember, does not change in any way.

00:42:50.681 --> 00:42:53.800

Wisdom of the Mystics: Atmananda Krishna Menon Ji

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