00:00Subhankar Majumdar from Patna, quoting from Ashtavakra Gita, Chapter 18, verse 46.
00:24Seeing the desireless lion, the elephants of the senses silently run away.
00:36And if that is impossible, serve him like courtiers.
00:44Acharyaji, it is said in the verse that if it is impossible to run away, then the elephant
00:58of the senses serve as courtiers.
01:01Acharyaji, I feel distraction and these distractions are not always pleasurable, but it is that
01:12now it takes lesser time for peace to restore.
01:19What is it that makes the elephants of the senses impossible to run away?
01:35Pranam.
01:50Subhankar, these two are in relation to each other, the lion and the elephant.
02:02They really do not have any objective strength.
02:10Their respective strengths are decided by their seer, by their experiencer.
02:21It is the experiencer that breathes life into them.
02:31It is the experiencer that you could say conjures them up.
02:39Otherwise they don't really exist.
02:42Whenever two are being talked of, take this as a sutra.
02:56Neither of the two really exists.
03:06Because the two would always be in relation to each other, the classical dualistic paradigm.
03:15You favor the lion, the lion is a lion then.
03:32You do not favor the lion, the lion is a squeaking puppy.
03:42Your proximity to the lion renders the lion its lionness.
03:51Your proximity to the elephant gives the elephant its magnitude and power.
04:04You tilt towards the lion.
04:07You abandon the elephant and the elephant would be reduced to a mere calf of a deer.
04:21What resilience would it then have in front of a roaring lion?
04:36If you find that the elephants of the senses are really too big upon you,
04:58they are trampling your resistance under their feet,
05:08then just see who is riding those elephants.
05:17It's you who is the mahout, the trainer, the controller, the rider.
05:35Are you getting it?
05:38You remember the Trojan horse looked so big but was its power rendered to it by its bigness?
05:55The deadliness of the Trojan horse did not come from its size but from the ones who were inside it.
06:16Similarly, the deadliness of the sense elephant does not come from its size
06:35but from the one who is at its center, in its interior.
06:51And in the interior of both the elephant and the lion sits Shubhankar.
07:10Who is the lion?
07:13Shubhankar choosing to be a lion.
07:17Who is the elephant?
07:19Shubhankar deserting the lion and favoring the elephant.
07:27These are not two distinct entities.
07:35We talked of the dualistic paradigm.
07:38The two poles of duality, are they ever distinct?
07:43They are just the two faces of maya and maya emanates from the truth.
08:01You go this side, this side becomes powerful, you go that side, that side becomes powerful.
08:11It's like the seesaw.
08:16Even the kids know the secret.
08:21You sit at one end of the seesaw and then you wonder, why the hell is this end so heavy?
08:34Why the hell is this end dominating the other one?
08:42Why is this end gravitating?
08:44Why is the other one leviating?
08:48Does the answer lie outside of your intention?
08:53It's your intention that is determining the shape of the seesaw.
09:01It is your intention that is determining the geometry and the winner.
09:10You sit this side and the other side would be hanging in the sky helplessly.
09:23Just get up, but get up carefully.
09:27If you are not careful, it would hurt your butt.
09:33Get up carefully and go to the other side.
09:38And the entire scenario would change, in fact reverse.
09:48The one who appeared so confident in his weight and victory would now be hanging listlessly in space.
10:11And his erstwhile position would have been usurped by the one who looked equally helpless just a moment back.
10:25You are the king, you are the decision maker.
10:38In mathematical terms, you could say L plus E is equal to K.
10:55Or L multiplied by E is equal to K, where K is a constant.
11:05L is the strength of the lion, E is the strength of the elephant.
11:18Forget K, because we are talking of something that is constant.
11:24Why not call it I?
11:27L plus E is equal to I.
11:34L and E represent the respective strengths of the lion and the elephant.
11:41And I is a constant.
11:46So, where does the strength of the lion come from?
11:51No, it does not really come from the lion.
11:53It comes from the reduced strength of the elephant.
12:02I is the decision maker, I can decide to invest itself fully in the lion.
12:09And then what happens to the elephant?
12:11It gets totally enfeebled.
12:15The elephant is now starved.
12:21It is now merely hollow bones and loose skin.
12:33Or the I can invest itself fully in the elephant.
12:39Or the I may decide to split itself 50-50.
12:49And then there would be a war raging between the lion and the elephant.
12:53And you would say, Oh my God!
12:56Maya is as powerful as the truth.
12:58No, Maya is only as powerful as you want it to be.
13:06You are not being puppeted by Maya.
13:11Maya depends totally on you for her sustenance.
13:19If you ever find her dominating you, you must know that this is what you have wanted.
13:31Are you getting it?
13:33Never forget your essential reality beyond your immediate fact.
13:45You are really, really all-powerful.
13:52Though that is not testified by the way you live, eat, breathe, act, decide, think.
14:05We live lives of helpless compulsiveness.
14:14Looking at the way we exist, it becomes impossible to believe that we are omnipotent.
14:26But that indeed is our essential reality.
14:30Which means we really can never be puppets.
14:37Which means whatever is happening to us is with our due consent.
14:48And unless you acknowledge this, there can be no remembrance of your true self.
15:04If you will remain insistent that you are struggling, defeated, limited, forced,
15:25then your belief will become your false destiny.
15:44Spirituality consists of no instrument for your welfare other than your own realization.
15:59Does spirituality involve the use of muscles or machines?
16:12Often the use of intellect is useful only till a point in the spiritual process.
16:21Finally, the only instrument that helps and works is your acknowledgement, your own power.
16:52The fellow is sitting in the car, on the driver's seat, having pulled the handbrake
17:16with the maximum power he can.
17:25And he is begging all and sundry to push the car from behind.
17:35So one fellow comes and is asked, Sir, who are you?
17:45He says, My name is Yoga.
17:50Sir, my car is stuck.
17:54Can you push it a little?
18:01So Yoga goes and starts trying.
18:04A lady arrives.
18:08Quite devoted she appears.
18:11Beautiful and athletic.
18:14Ma'am, who are you?
18:17I am Bhakti.
18:20Can you assist a little?
18:23Just lend a hand.
18:27A wrestler comes over, having built himself through sustained action over maybe many decades.
18:37All muscles.
18:40A hundred kilograms.
18:43Six and a half feet.
18:46What's your name, Sir?
18:48I am Karma.
18:51Sir, you are most well placed to help me out.
18:59Kindly push this car.
19:04Then a sober looking meditative fellow comes over.
19:06What's your name?
19:07I am Gyan Prasad.
19:10Prasad Sir, can you join the other three?
19:18One fellow comes madly dancing.
19:21What's your name?
19:23I am Tantra Singh.
19:28Sir, can you just put your clothes together for a while?
19:36And help those gentle souls in the behind.
19:44Remember you have to push the car.
19:50He too joins them.
19:52And all this while, our man on the driver's seat is doing just one thing.
20:01What?
20:03Ensuring that the handbrake remains firm and tight.
20:13Spirituality, therefore, is about addressing your intention.
20:23At least, that's how I have always looked at spirituality.
20:31Bhakti, Karma, Gyan, Yoga, Tantra, Mantra, Jap.
20:37Who will help you when you are on the driver's seat?
20:43When the handbrake is in your hand, who will help you?
20:48Do you want to be helped?
20:52They all made together.
20:56Keep pushing, but the vehicle won't move an inch.
21:03Not only that, if one of them starts to succeed,
21:08you may get anxious and angry and decide to run the vehicle in the reverse gear.
21:18And you will find all four or five of them running helter-skelter.
21:22They were pushing you forward and you actually decided to run in the reverse.
21:32Who can help you? Who can save you? Who can push you?
21:37You are the driver. You are the master.
21:44You hold the gear. You hold the brake.
21:48You hold the key.
21:50You are the key, Shubhankar.
22:01Bhakti is of great help. So is Gyan. So is Karma.
22:07Provided you really want to be helped.
22:20What is lion-ness then?
22:25Lion-ness is your decision to be helped.
22:35What is elephant-ness then?
22:39Elephant-ness is your decision to stay as you are.
22:53Are you getting it?
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