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Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 24.05.2017, Advait BodhSthal, Noida, India
Context:
~ What do these verses mean?
~ How can mind know the Total?
~ Why the mind can't know the total?
~ What is absolute total?
~ Why can we never know the Total?
स यथा वीणायै वाद्यमानायै न बाह्याञ्छब्दाञ्छक्नुयाद्ग्रहणाय वीणायै तु ग्रहणेन वीणावादस्य वा शब्दो गृहीतः॥
~ बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद, श्लोक ०९ .
As the various particular kinds of notes of a drum, when it is beaten, cannot be grasped by themselves, but are grasped only when the general note of the drum or the general sound produced by different kinds of strokes is grasped;
(~ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Verse 09)
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 24.05.2017, Advait BodhSthal, Noida, India
Context:
~ What do these verses mean?
~ How can mind know the Total?
~ Why the mind can't know the total?
~ What is absolute total?
~ Why can we never know the Total?
स यथा वीणायै वाद्यमानायै न बाह्याञ्छब्दाञ्छक्नुयाद्ग्रहणाय वीणायै तु ग्रहणेन वीणावादस्य वा शब्दो गृहीतः॥
~ बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद, श्लोक ०९ .
As the various particular kinds of notes of a drum, when it is beaten, cannot be grasped by themselves, but are grasped only when the general note of the drum or the general sound produced by different kinds of strokes is grasped;
(~ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Verse 09)
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00As the various particular kinds of notes of a drum, when it is beaten, cannot be grasped
00:13by themselves, but are grasped only when the general note of the drum or the general sound
00:19produced by different kinds of strokes is grasped, and as the various particular notes
00:24of a conch, when it is blown, cannot be grasped by themselves, but are grasped only when the
00:29general note of the conch or the general sound produced by different kinds of blowing is
00:34grasped, and as the various particular notes of a veena, when it is played, cannot be grasped
00:40by themselves, but are grasped only when the general note of the veena or the general sound
00:45produced by the different kinds of playing is grasped.
00:54We never know the total.
00:58These senses are limited, the mind is limited, the grasping power is limited, we look at
01:09only the partial and we are not humble enough to admit that we are men of parts.
01:18What do we do?
01:19We term the part as the total.
01:23As persons, obviously, the total is beyond our reach, but if the total is beyond reach,
01:33one still has an opportunity and that opportunity is to be totally humble, that opportunity
01:40is to humbly admit that all that this mind can know is little and partial, but you know
01:49the partial and you think of yourself as very clever.
01:53You start concluding, you start acting, you start deciding and doing, and that is hell,
02:00that is foolishness, and then you wonder why you stumble upon every step, then you wonder
02:07why life has been so harsh upon you.
02:16That cliched metaphor of the blind man feeling the elephant is age-old and still so relevant
02:31and the totality, the reality is much bigger than the elephant, just as we are much much
02:44more blind than the blind man.
02:49It is quite possible that one day the blind man will be able to feel, touch and know the
02:59entirety of the elephant, but it is not at all possible that even if unlimited time is
03:06given to us, we will be able to one day know the truth using the intellect and the senses
03:12and the mind.
03:16The truth is not a function of time, the truth is not a function of experience, you can have
03:20all the experience of the world and still you would be as distant from the truth as
03:26anybody else if you do not have the humility to admit that you are just a part, a figment,
03:36a fraction, a negligible grain of sand in an endless desert.
03:54What Yagyavalkya is saying is not an invitation to know the total, that is the way of science.
04:05It says I will know everything that constitutes the universe, that can never be known because
04:10if you want to know all that which is apparent, then you will also have to know the one who
04:21is looking at the appearance, you will have to turn inside and turning inside is not the
04:29province of science.
04:31So the way of science is bound to fail.
04:38Using the mind, using the sense, using this dualistic apparatus, you can never know the
04:43total because the total is not only that which is there, but also that which is here.
04:52In fact, the more you look for that which is outside, the more you will be pointed towards
05:04something which is inside.
05:09Those who want to know the reality of the world have to turn inside to look into the
05:16reality of consciousness and those who want to know consciousness must fall very very
05:23silent so that they can watch the entire movement of consciousness.
05:28Movement can be watched only in stillness and silence.
05:33So to know the world you will have to come to consciousness and to know consciousness
05:37you will have to come to stillness and silence.
05:43Why not be directly still?
05:45Why not be just silent?
05:47Why not just bow down and surrender?
05:51Are you kidding?
05:55The total is available in silence, in noise, in movement, in appearance, in grasping, in
06:03holding, in intellect.
06:06Only the little will be available to you which is all right for day to day living.
06:15After all, when you are thirsty, you do not drink the entire ocean for practical purposes.
06:20A tumbler of water is enough.
06:22But you must know that that which you are holding in your little hand is just a little
06:27bit of water.
06:29The oceans are incomparable to that which you are holding in your hand.
06:36Are you getting it?
06:52When you are still then that which is to be known is known just by itself, without reason,
07:05without cause, without preparation, without desire.
07:14In your silence, all the mysteries are solved.
07:21You just know and you do not even want to know how you have come to know.
07:28In fact, the question looks quite stupid.
07:33You do not feel like asking what is the source of this knowledge.
07:46Having really been determined to know, you go past little curiosities.
07:58Most of us are only mildly curious in the name of knowing.
08:02So what do we want to know then?
08:03We want to know just a few rungs of the infinite chain of cause and effect and that satisfies us.
08:13We say, oh now we know.
08:19You want to ask why that wall has blisters over there?
08:26Why is the paint coming off?
08:31And some knowledgeable soul comes and says that is because maybe there is some seepage
08:36of water and you say, ah, now I know.
08:39Two rungs of the chain of cause and effect and your curiosity is satisfied.
08:48We are only very feebly curious.
08:53Ours is the curiosity of the mediocre mind.
08:55We do not really want to know.
08:57We just want some possible explanations.
09:03You do not ask why is the water seeping?
09:06And if you ask why is the water seeping, you will have to ask why is that cause there?
09:11And then you will have to go one step backwards and again ask and again ask and again ask
09:14and again ask.
09:17That is an infinite chain.
09:22The really intelligent man gives up the path of curiosity.
09:26He understands that there are really things without a cause.
09:37Then he starts living in the present.
09:40To live in the present means to not to bother about the cause because the past appears as
09:48the cause of the present.
09:50That is how it appears, right?
09:52Whatever is happening now is happening because of something in the past.
09:56If you are wedded to curiosity, then you are wedded to memories because all curiosities
10:02will only take you back to the past and memories.
10:07The really intelligent man does not bother for the cause.
10:10He will not ask why are people fighting?
10:12He will just see them fighting and say, ah, now that is something that I do not like.
10:17Asking for reasons of the conflict will only take you backwards and backwards and backwards
10:22and backwards and backwards and ultimately you will reach the age of dinosaurs and still
10:26you would not know the complete reason.
10:29You would still be as far away from the source reason as you were in the beginning.
10:34So he will not ask why are people fighting, he will just say, ah, now come on, that does
10:38not look good.
10:39Finished.
10:40Why does it not look good?
10:41I do not know.
10:42It does not look good.
10:43So stop.
10:45But the man of intellect looks for reasons.
10:48He thinks that solutions can be obtained by going into reasons and his little intellect
10:55does not let him know that reasons never come to a finality.
11:00There are reasons after reasons after reasons after reasons after reasons.
11:07The total is available to you but not through the route of intellectualization, not through
11:14the route of causation.
11:15The total is available to you right now.
11:19If people are fighting, that is the total that begs no reason or cause.
11:26It is the only thing that is real, yes, people are fighting and that is it.
11:33Now do not look for reasons, reasons will become justifications.
11:36Are you getting it?
11:40If you are tense and sad and disappointed and anxious and ambitious, do not look for
11:46reasons and if you want to get rid of your anxiety and ambition and disappointment, again
11:53do not look for a method, methods are reasons.
11:59If you are looking for reasons in the past, you will also look for methods in the future
12:06and past and future will remain, what you will lose out on is life which is here.
12:17If you are looking for reasons of everything and you cannot be contended with things without
12:23reason, you can never have God in your life because God is the ultimate reasonless being.
12:32God does not have a father, God has no reason or cause behind him and you look for reasons
12:37for everything.
12:38If you want everything for a reason, then you can never have God.
12:42God has no reason, God was never born.
12:46God does not come from anywhere, no reason, no cause, no effect, only that, only this.
12:57The total is available in silence, the total is available when your mind is not wandering
13:02here and there, not in past, not in future, not in causes, not in future effects.
13:10You see this and you know, just like this, that is the total, are you getting?
13:18It is counter to common sense.
13:25If you will start applying intellect, you will only get contrary arguments.
13:35The mind will say when you want the total, obviously, you look for this and that, you
13:40look far and wide.
13:43The way of spirituality is different, the reality is very different.
13:45When you want the total, you have to stop looking here and there.
13:49The total is available here, here, here, not there, not there.
13:59When you stop looking, the total comes upon you.
14:07Let me be a little more exact, when you stop looking for the total, looking for, when you
14:14stop looking for, the total comes upon you.
14:18The total will not be available as a sum of fragments, never, are you getting it?
14:36Well, Maitreyi got it quite quickly and that proves that she already had it.
14:44Yajnavalkya didn't even have to speak this much, he just pointed and even as he was pointing,
14:53Maitreyi was smiling faintly, husband and wife both knew, that both know.
15:03It's fun teaching the other when one does not need to teach and it's great fun learning
15:09when everything has already been learned.
15:17That's the game being played between the husband and wife here.
15:21He has already taught everything, she has already learnt everything and now it's such
15:26fun, like fighting after you have won the war, just for fun, nothing is to be gained,
15:41no fear, no accomplishment.
16:09Because the ocean is the one goal of all waters, so the skin is the one goal of all
16:14kinds of touch, the nostrils are the one goal of all smells, the tongue is the one goal
16:18of all savours, the ear is the one goal of all sounds, the mind is the one goal of all
16:23deliberations, the intellect is the one goal of all forms of knowledge, the hands are the
16:28one goal of all actions, the organ of generation is the one goal of all kinds of enjoyment,
16:33the excretory organ is the one goal of all excretions, the feet are the one goal of all
16:38kinds of walking, the organ of speech is the one goal of all the Vedas.
16:46You will have many and unless you can directly look at the one in the middle of the many,
16:56you are not seeing anything, you are not seeing anything.
17:08You see so much, but have you ever seen that behind all the things that you see, there
17:21is just the one who, who sees.
17:28You get lost in all the diverse things that you, and you never are able to be one with
17:36the one who, that's what Yajnavalkya is pointing at.
17:45You taste so many different things, but do you know the one who is behind all tastes
17:52and that one, if he is not there, then no taste is any taste to you.
17:59Does a dead man not have tongue?
18:03Does a dead man not have eyes?
18:05Alright, forget the dead man.
18:09When you are asleep, do your eyes pop out?
18:16You keep your eyes somewhere else safe when you retire to sleep, the eyes are still there,
18:23but you cannot see.
18:25Do the eyes see then?
18:30Is it the eyes that see?
18:36Had the eyes been the ones that see, then eyes are there even with the dead man and
18:44the sleeping man.
18:45Why don't they see?
18:48Why don't they see?
18:51But as long as these eyes look only outwards, you will live in the illusion that it is the
18:57eyes that see.
19:01Alright, forget even the dead man and the sleeping man.
19:09When the mind is lost in thoughts, are the eyes seeing?
19:16Are the eyes seeing?
19:19You are sitting over here looking right in front and the mind is elsewhere.
19:25Now are the eyes seeing?
19:28So is it the eyes that see?
19:31Is it the eyes that see?
19:36Spirituality is just this one question, who sees?
19:41Who is the watcher?
19:44And asking this one question, one returns to himself, I am the seer, I am the watcher,
19:51the watcher am I.
19:52When I am gone, then these eyes do not see.
19:58When these eyes lose touch with me, then these eyes do not see.
20:03When the mind loses touch with the reality and is lost in imaginations, do the eyes see
20:09anymore?
20:10So I am the one to whom the eyes must be devoted if the eyes are to see.
20:17I am the one to whom the mind must be devoted if the mind is to see.
20:28We see a thousand things, but do you know why those thousand things are there?
20:33They are there so that you may accidentally or by sheer grace, one day start seeing yourself.
20:46Every single object in the universe is a messenger, is a pointer.
20:53It is telling you, you look at me, do you look only at me?
21:01Now come on, you cannot be so stupid.
21:05Do you look at me?
21:06You say yes.
21:07Then it asks, do you look only at me?
21:11Am I only that much?
21:17Am I just what I appear to be?
21:21But we fail to go beyond appearances, we fail to go beyond duality, we fail to go beyond
21:28this unidirectional approach.
21:36Other looking fails to turn into itself.
21:43That doesn't happen.
21:53These diversities exist so that you come upon the one, otherwise they have no role.
22:02And that is why the universe has a great purpose.
22:04The purpose of the universe is to show that it exists only as a proxy, as a reminder,
22:12as a pointer, as a shadow.
22:16And that is also the purpose of being born in this universe.
22:20You are born in this universe so that you may know the reality of the universe and hence
22:24transcend it.
22:31Everything here is singing a song that must act like a reminder.
22:40These walls, this air, these sounds, these people, these animals, the civilization, the
22:48cities, the rivers, the mountains, the greenery, all of these are telling us stories in their
22:54own way.
22:56If only we could listen to those stories, if only we could go to the crux of the song.
23:06Everything is telling us, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, come on, come on, read me, read me, listen
23:10to me.
23:11I am telling you of that, of that, of that.
23:15I might be partial, but I come from the total, please see the total in me.
23:22But we look at the partial and give it the status of the total by making it an object
23:28of thought and desire.
23:30That is the blunder that we commit.
23:32Are you getting it?
23:35It's like hugging the messenger when the messenger is bringing you news of the beloved.
23:41Now the beloved is gone and the messenger is suffocated in your embrace.
23:48And that is why we are suffocating the earth.
23:50We are suffocating everybody who comes in contact with us.
23:54We are so desperate for the beloved that we just pounce upon the messenger and the messenger
24:01wants to run away.
24:02He is saying, please, I am a little one, I cannot fulfill your desires.
24:09I have come to just deliver a message.
24:11Why are you taking me as the ultimate one?
24:17But we are so desperate, we can't wait.
24:21That is why there is a certain cuteness even in our foolishness.
24:27And that is why we are forgiven again and again.
24:30Because in whatever we want, of course, it is God that we want and God knows that.
24:38So he forgives us for our mistakes and miscalculations.
24:43He knows that, I know, I know, I know you are chasing that man or a woman, but I know
24:48you are chasing me.
24:51So it's okay.
24:54You can go about your business for as long as you want.
25:00You are not committing any sin.
25:02You are just mistaken.
25:03You are not evil.
25:04Hare Krishna.