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00:00You've been putting a lot of emphasis on reading of Upanishads and Vedant.
00:03Why should my or anybody else's moral compass be set by something that was composed centuries, if not millennia ago?
00:11Vedant is totally amoral. It has nothing to do with your morality. It has to do with self-realization.
00:17Next, you said the Upanishads were written more than 2000 years back and times have moved on.
00:22Don't you still take birth? Don't you still suffer? Don't you still get attracted to women?
00:26Don't you still covet money? Aren't you still afraid of death?
00:28What has changed? You have no problem going back to Newton or to Kepler, to Heisenberg or to Einstein.
00:36But you have great problems in going back to Kanava or Kapil or Yagyavalki or Ashtavakr. How fair is that?
00:43See, when I read Einstein or Newton, there are ways with which I can crystallize what is still valid today.
00:50Isn't suffering still valid today?
00:52No matter how hard I try, it's very hard to convince myself that I'm actually suffering.
00:56In fact, it looks like indoctrination to me at some level.
00:59We have become very skillful at fighting what is really inside us.
01:04And that's called absence of self-knowledge.
01:06The level of anxiety in the common man today is equivalent to the level of anxiety in soldiers fighting in World War II.
01:14Are we suffering or not?
01:1570% of the wildlife has been eliminated by us in just the last 50 years.
01:21Does that indicate suffering or not?
01:23I don't have enough time to even worry about myself.
01:26I'm so busy.
01:27What keeps you so busy?
01:28Why have you chosen to fill up your life with these things?
01:33You have one life and time doesn't return.
01:36How do you know this is worth your time?
01:38How do you know?
01:39That's the question Vedant will ask.
01:41I'm questioning this very need to read Vedant.
01:44There is no need to read Vedant.
01:46Exactly.
01:47The agenda was suffering, right?
01:48No, not the agenda.
01:50The problem is suffering.
01:52There is no agenda here.
01:53And it doesn't require a book or a sage to tell you that you are suffering.
01:58If you are sensitive enough.
01:59The sages are extremely happy when left alone.
02:03They do not want you to come to them.
02:04That's the reason they ran away to the jungles.
02:08I'm a Vijit.
02:09I'm also a PhD student.
02:11So, I mean, my question is that you've been putting a lot of emphasis on reading of Upanishads and Vedant in general.
02:15And other people put a lot of emphasis on reading of other holy scriptures.
02:18And give it true understanding.
02:20Whatever true means.
02:21But my question is that why should my or anybody else's moral compass be set by something.
02:27My moral compass.
02:28Moral compass.
02:29Or somebody else's moral compass be set by something that was composed centuries, if not millennia ago.
02:36I mean, you know, the moral contours of society evolved.
02:40For example, thousand years ago, if you say that, you know, child of the monarch should not rule over the population, people would laugh at you.
02:46So, society's own moral contours have an independent evolution, independent of whatever somebody wrote 5,000 years ago.
02:54Did we utter the word morality even once?
02:58Vedant is totally amoral.
03:00It has nothing to do with your morality.
03:03It has to do with self-realization.
03:06What you do, what you do not do, it does not provide you with a list of do's and don'ts.
03:12So, we are just reading the books or listening the interpretation, we are not realising things.
03:17The very first question, the very first question, what did this person start off with?
03:23Suffering.
03:23No, not suffering, the need to know myself, and it is out of this need, that this person put books on the table.
03:34Now you are saying, how will reading books on the table lead me to myself?
03:38Because that's the intention.
03:40Because that was the very intention with which this person put books on the table.
03:43I am reading, so that I can get clues, hints as to how to observe myself better, as to what lies within.
03:52No, that's not a definitive proof, but that will help me inquire better into myself.
03:59That's all.
04:00So, morality, that's a good thing.
04:02We are not talking of religion here, sir.
04:03Religion deals with morality.
04:05Vedanta is not religion.
04:08Vedanta is philosophy that founds the base of self-knowledge.
04:13We are not talking religion here.
04:15No morality here.
04:17Morality.
04:17Where does the word Morse come from?
04:20Masses.
04:22The code of conduct of masses.
04:24Vedanta has nothing to do with masses.
04:26Vedanta deals squarely with the individual.
04:28Because all suffering is?
04:31All suffering is?
04:32You don't suffer in a crowd.
04:35You suffer all alone within, here.
04:39Vedanta has nothing to do with morality.
04:41Next, you said, something was written 2,000 years back and the Upanishads were written more than 2,000 years back.
04:51Something was written so many years back and times have moved on.
04:54Don't you still take birth?
04:57Don't you still suffer?
04:59Don't you still get attracted to women?
05:00Don't you still covet money?
05:02Don't you still die?
05:03Aren't you still afraid of death?
05:04What has changed?
05:08I have hindsight using which I can come up with something better.
05:11So that's what we are saying.
05:12Use the hindsight.
05:14Go to the Upanishads.
05:16And come up with a better life.
05:17Don't we want to use the resources that have been bequeathed to us by other people?
05:25Or do you want to discover the law of gravity once again?
05:30You have no problem going back to Newton or to Kepler or to more recently to Heisenberg or to Einstein.
05:39You have no problems with that.
05:40But you have great problems in going back to Kanava or Kapil or Yagyavalki or Ashtavakr.
05:47How fair is that?
05:48No, I think, see, when I read Einstein or Newton, there are ways with which I can crystallize what is still valid today.
05:56And I can discard what's not valid.
05:57Isn't suffering still valid today?
05:59Yeah, but I don't know which parts of Upanishads might be invalid today and which ones I need to discard and which ones are useful.
06:03The parts of Upanishads that do not deal with self-inquiry can be taken as outdated.
06:10We have to see every scripture, every scripture, rather every book, rather every word ever uttered will have two components.
06:20One is Kalsapeksh, which means which is dependent on time, relevant only to the times that we live in.
06:29The other is Kalateet or Kalnirpeksh, that which has a timeless utility.
06:35For example, Gautam Buddhas, first utterance, first utterance of noble truth is, life is suffering, Sarvam Dukham.
06:45Now that is a Kalateet utterance.
06:48Kalateet utterance.
06:49Unless, through the process of biological evolution, we evolve into something that doesn't suffer at all, but that is beyond the horizon right now.
07:00We cannot envisage that as we are, maybe super intelligence, AI-based super intelligence would be that.
07:06Then maybe we could say now Gautam Buddhas is outdated.
07:08But as long as you look at your inner condition, outwardly, yes, we have changed.
07:15The clothes that you wear are not the same as that were born in the Buddha's time.
07:19The technology that you use, obviously, mankind today is more prosperous than it was ever in its history.
07:24So all those things have changed.
07:26But internally, are you not still afraid?
07:29Are you still not greedy?
07:31That's the problem of the self that the scriptures seek to address.
07:36They do not want to address things that change with time.
07:38For example, culture.
07:40How to address someone?
07:41How to greet someone?
07:43How to pray to gods?
07:45That's not the subject matter of Vedanta or Upanishads.
07:48Which god is more powerful than the other one?
07:50Which day is the best for which kind of worship?
07:53The Upanishads, they laugh at such things.
07:57They have nothing to do with such things.
07:58They deal purely in stuff that defies time.
08:03They deal purely in problems that time itself cannot solve.
08:08Look at the problem of bacterial infection, for example.
08:12Has not time solved that problem?
08:14What do you have today?
08:16Antibiotics.
08:18So that's not a problem the Upanishads will get into.
08:20Because that's a problem that time itself will solve.
08:23That's a problem that arises in time.
08:25And time is sufficient to take care of that problem.
08:27The problem of life expectancy.
08:31The problem even of interplanetary travel.
08:35Time solves such problems.
08:36The Upanishads are dealing in a very peculiar problem that time alone cannot address.
08:41And that is the problem of fundamental human suffering.
08:45Suffering without a cause.
08:46Not suffering that is due to a particular object like a bacterium.
08:51No.
08:51No.
08:52All suffering that is due to a particular object will be taken care of by time.
08:56So there are three kinds then of sufferings that are mentioned in the Upanishads.
09:02Adhibhautic, Adhidhavik and Adhyatmik.
09:06Adhibhautic is purely material suffering.
09:09For example, I don't have food to eat.
09:10So that was taken care of in India by the Green Revolution.
09:14Done and dusted.
09:15We are happy.
09:16Adhibhautic is gone.
09:17Adhidhavik, that is again material but we do not know the cause of that.
09:21So that too will be taken care of by time.
09:23Then there is the very special third kind of suffering, Adhidhavik.
09:26That does not have any reason.
09:28I have everything in life and yet I am suffering.
09:32I am the richest man of the world with half a dozen kids or a dozen kids and yet I am suffering.
09:39Now that's a truly Adhidhavik problem.
09:42That's what the Upanishads seek to address.
09:46But for the sake of the argument, if I, let's say for the sake of the argument, I accept that Upanishads, you know, get the problem right.
09:53And, you know, they identify what's the, you know, timeless problem to attack.
09:57But how do I trust that the methodologies that they have put forward are actually...
10:01There is no methodology.
10:02That's the greatest thing there, sir.
10:04There is no method at all.
10:07The method is methodlessness.
10:09There is no method.
10:10Innocence is the method.
10:12You are suffering.
10:14And your own cunningness, your own smartness prevents you from getting to the root of your suffering.
10:20Can you look at yourself innocently?
10:22That's the method.
10:24There is no method.
10:28That is a method.
10:29Like, will this work?
10:30How do I...
10:30This is not even a method because all methods require a methodician.
10:37Just as all logics require a logician.
10:41When there is method, there is somebody standing away from the problem and applying the method.
10:48This is a method of illumination.
10:50The thing is there.
10:51And the thing is within you.
10:54Can't you just see?
10:56Sahaj.
10:57Justness.
10:57Justness.
10:58Now, in justness, there is no method.
11:01Just see.
11:02Just see.
11:03Is that a method?
11:05Does it sound like a method?
11:06Just see.
11:08Without defenses.
11:09Without applying great intellect.
11:12Just see.
11:13You know, essentially like a kid.
11:14Just see.
11:14That's the method.
11:16It's as simple as that.
11:17But people can't.
11:18Thereby they have to do something.
11:19Yes, yes, yes.
11:20Wonderful.
11:21Can we move on now?
11:22No.
11:23Your question is resolved.
11:24I'll just stand by saying one thing and then I'll give up the mic.
11:27So, I mean, in all this discussion, the point is that, you know, no matter how hard I try,
11:34it's very hard to convince myself that I'm actually suffering.
11:37So, is that an issue?
11:39It's incredibly hard for me to convince myself.
11:41Lovely.
11:41And you know, that's the reason.
11:43In fact, it's looked like indoctrination to me at some level.
11:45Do I have to?
11:46Lovely.
11:46And that's the reason, you know, historically, Vedanta has always remained a niche.
11:54Because the common man remains so engrossed in his so-called responsibilities, in his easy pleasures,
12:06that it sounds like an oddity to him that he's suffering.
12:09Suffering, when open, explicit, pronounced, is easier to detect.
12:16For example, you have an open wound here.
12:19You can see.
12:20But what if you have an open wound inside?
12:23What?
12:24And that's where, you know, the work of psychoanalysis, starting with Friyad, comes in so handy.
12:31People who looked otherwise so very mentally balanced and healthy,
12:36when Friyad went into their dreams,
12:39or when Friyad applied the method of hypnosis to them.
12:44So much horrible stuff emerged from within them.
12:49Then that's Maya.
12:50We have become very skillful at hiding what is really inside us.
12:55Hiding not to others, but to ourselves.
12:58And that's called absence of self-knowledge.
13:00We do not even know that we are suffering.
13:03And that's the thing with the compassion of the sages.
13:05You do not know you are suffering, but he knows that you are suffering.
13:08And when he comes to tell you that you are suffering, he says,
13:11I was not suffering till this point.
13:16But you have come and you are unnecessarily
13:18impressing upon me that I am suffering.
13:22You are my suffering.
13:23You are my suffering.
13:28That's a very real problem.
13:30You are right.
13:31And that's also the reason why in today's world,
13:35when we have more objects to gratify ourselves,
13:37historically, the common man never had such an abundance of objects to choose from.
13:43It becomes even more difficult to show it to someone that you are suffering.
13:47But when you go into the subtle indicators,
13:50for example, the metrics of mental health,
13:54then you find that the level of anxiety in the common man today,
13:57in several circles,
13:59is equivalent to the level of anxiety in soldiers fighting in World War II.
14:05Are we suffering or not?
14:07If you look at the state of the earth,
14:09and if you see that 70% of the wildlife
14:12has been eliminated by us in just the last 50 years,
14:15does that indicate suffering or not?
14:17Not the suffering of the wildlife,
14:19but suffering even of this species, our own.
14:23Does that indicate?
14:25I have just a question for you.
14:27Somebody wanted it.
14:29Okay, fine.
14:29Yes.
14:30I don't have enough time to even worry about myself.
14:36Okay.
14:36Like, let alone forget about suffering.
14:38That's a very, very good aspect.
14:39Because I am so busy.
14:42Yes.
14:42So, what do you suggest?
14:44Should I, you know, now sit on myself and understand that I am suffering or not?
14:50No, no, no, no.
14:51Let alone live my life.
14:52No, if suffering is a stream,
14:56how will you watch the suffering by bringing the stream to a standstill?
15:02Suffering is in the continuous process of your busyness.
15:07Instead, if you pause that busyness and take a break to reflect upon you,
15:12what will you reflect on?
15:14The thing that you need to reflect on is the continuous flow.
15:18So, in the middle of the flow, you have to be observant to see what's really flowing.
15:25If you are so busy, so busy, what is that busyness, that sense of occupation for?
15:35What is it for?
15:37I mean, I need to ask myself, had I not been really terrified or greedy or something or something?
15:43I know it sounds bad, rude, hurtful, but excuse me for that.
15:47Would I really have chosen to remain so busy?
15:51Would I really, what is it that is driving me from within to remain busy?
15:56No, no, that's not something that you can discover during a vacation.
16:00That's something that has to be discovered right in the middle of your occupation.
16:04When you are occupied and terribly busy.
16:07You're saying I'm so busy, I don't even have time to worry about myself.
16:10But the thing is, why are you so busy? What keeps you so busy?
16:14It's a choice. From where is that choice coming?
16:16That's what Vedant encourages you to ask.
16:19Please ask yourself.
16:21Why must I remain so busy?
16:23Vedant does not say, don't remain busy and just go and wander about like a rascal.
16:26No.
16:28It's an honest question, very innocent question.
16:31Why have you chosen to fill up your life with these things?
16:35Remaining busy means there are objects in my life
16:37and I'm dividing, devoting my time to those objects.
16:43What are these objects? Where are they coming from?
16:45Who told you these objects are important?
16:47Were you born with the knowledge that these objects are important?
16:50Or is it a borrowed and implanted knowledge that these objects are important?
16:55The thing about Vedanta is, it ruthlessly questions your beliefs, your knowledge.
16:59How do you know I'm so busy with this?
17:02How do you know this is so important?
17:04You have one life and time doesn't return?
17:08You are devoting so much time to this.
17:09How do you know this is worth your time?
17:11How do you know?
17:12That's the question Vedant will ask.
17:14How do you know this is worth your time?
17:16Yes, next question please.
17:17There.
17:18I'm questioning this very need to read Vedant.
17:21Okay.
17:22Should I stand up?
17:23No, wait, wait, wait.
17:24First of all, it's a bit like a straw man thing.
17:27Because there is no need to read Vedant.
17:30Yeah, exactly.
17:30There is no need to read Vedant.
17:33What is the fundamental problem we started with?
17:35Was the problem that I do not know Vedant?
17:36Was that the fundamental problem?
17:39What is the fundamental problem?
17:40The agenda was suffering, right?
17:41The problem, no, not the agenda.
17:43The problem is suffering.
17:46There is no agenda here.
17:47I have a real burning problem at my heart.
17:52When I have a real burning problem at my heart,
17:55I won't care for agendas.
17:58So I have a problem at my heart and the problem is suffering.
18:03Suffering.
18:04And I have tried my best on my own to take care of myself.
18:06And if you can do that, there is no need to go to Vedant or anybody.
18:10There is absolutely no need to go to Vedant.
18:12You know what the Upanishads say?
18:15If you happen to have come to us,
18:18and if you have gained clarity,
18:23throw us away.
18:27One of the greatest commentators has said,
18:31and it's a, you know,
18:33some people will say this sounds like blasphemy,
18:35but then it is coming from a learned scholar.
18:37He has said,
18:38treat the holy books,
18:40including the ones of Vedant,
18:43like Kakavishtha.
18:45Kakavishtha, understand?
18:47Excreta of the crow.
18:50Kauvegetati.
18:55Once you are done with us,
18:57there is no need to cling to us.
18:59Because even clinging to us
19:01will become another cause of bondage,
19:03thereby suffering.
19:04So, it's not that we are pushing Vedant here, sir.
19:08No.
19:09No, sir.
19:09But I'll go further.
19:11Yes.
19:11I would say that Vedant would probably cause more problem.
19:16And let me tell you.
19:17We are not speculating here.
19:18No, I'm not speculating.
19:19You said probably.
19:20No, so, but the point here,
19:22so, sir, will you listen to the line of reasoning I am trying to say?
19:25Yes, yes.
19:26So, the point is,
19:27if you, forget Vedant,
19:29if you pick up any book,
19:31the best which the book can provide you is,
19:34it can give you some image,
19:36or it can destroy some image.
19:38These two things a book can do.
19:40Yeah.
19:40Right.
19:41So, let's say,
19:42and it doesn't require a book or a sage to tell you that you are suffering.
19:47If you are sensitive enough.
19:48Sir, he said,
19:49it is very difficult to see I am suffering.
19:51You are saying it does not require somebody else to say you are suffering.
19:53No, so, so, my point is,
19:55I'm not talking with him.
19:57No, what he said is applicable to everybody through the centuries.
20:01On your own,
20:02it is very difficult to come to the cause of your condition.
20:06No, sir, I don't agree with that.
20:07Then, Vedanta is not for you.
20:09You don't need to go to Vedanta.
20:10My point is,
20:12my point is,
20:13if you are sensitive enough,
20:15not enough,
20:16if you are mildly enough sensitive,
20:18you will find that,
20:19okay, I felt bad because,
20:21probably I was,
20:22yes, yes,
20:22I had hatred.
20:24So, the sages are extremely happy when left alone.
20:27They do not want you to come to them.
20:29That's the reason they ran away to the jungles.
20:31So, the problem with Vedanta or any books for that matter is that they will,
20:35they will either create an image,
20:37We are talking of questioning.
20:40Vedanta is a huge question mark.
20:42Where is image in this?
20:43So, you don't,
20:43why you want some book for,
20:45if you do not need,
20:46see, if you do not need Vedanta,
20:48we have settled.
20:49There is no need to go to them.
20:50But the thing is,
20:51vast majority of people need them.
20:53Probably,
20:54it's their own discretion.
20:55If you think you don't need them,
20:56the sages are all too happy to be left alone.
20:59Even if,
20:59the chances are,
21:00even if you chase them,
21:01they will not entertain you.
21:03You are saying as if Vedanta is some salesperson pursuing you.
21:06Vedanta does not want you to come to them.
21:08Namaste sir.
21:10So,
21:11my name is Atal Singh.
21:13I am an integrated PhD student.
21:14So, my question is like very direct.
21:16So, if I am a religious person,
21:19so,
21:19do I need to be spiritual?
21:21Or if I am a spiritual person,
21:22do I need to be religious?
21:25I mean,
21:25I mean to ask,
21:26are they mutual to each other?
21:28Are they,
21:28do they completely,
21:30complete each other?
21:31Or like,
21:31are they mutually exclusive?
21:33Who am I?
21:33See,
21:33I don't need anything.
21:35I don't need religion.
21:36I don't even need spirituality.
21:37I don't need anything.
21:39If I am alright with myself,
21:41I do not need anything at all.
21:45Provided I am alright with myself.
21:47You are born,
21:50you are enjoying,
21:51you are blissful in yourself.
21:53Go play.
21:55Engage yourself.
21:56Everything in the world
21:57is something you can accompany
22:00without getting hurt
22:01and the world is your playground.
22:03Why do you need religion?
22:05Why do you need spirituality?
22:07First of all,
22:07because you realize your inner condition.
22:10And if I realize my inner condition,
22:13what is this thing called religion
22:15that I typically go to
22:16as a layman?
22:18If I am alright,
22:20I don't need to go to anything
22:21or anybody.
22:24Right?
22:25If I am alright,
22:26I don't need to go to anything
22:27or anybody.
22:28But I am not alright.
22:29First of all,
22:30I have the honesty to admit that.
22:31I am not alright.
22:33And if I am not alright,
22:35then what is this thing called
22:36religion that I go to?
22:38Religion with all its paraphernalia
22:41and the rituals
22:42and the belief systems.
22:44Why do I want to go to that?
22:46Remember,
22:47the thing is of purpose.
22:49I am not alright.
22:51Now I am going to all this,
22:52all this entire mumbo jumbo.
22:54Why am I going to this?
22:55How will this help me?
22:56I want to be helped.
22:57I want to be helped.
22:59All this talk of gods and angels
23:01and this and that
23:02and the genesis
23:04and the creation
23:05and the day of judgment.
23:08Why do I want to go to all that?
23:10How will that help me?
23:11My concern is my immediate state.
23:14I am here to live
23:16and I don't find myself
23:18being able to live fully.
23:20Why do I want to go to
23:21a particular belief system?
23:23Why?
23:28Because we are afraid.
23:30Let's face it.
23:32Because we are afraid.
23:34Because if we question religion,
23:35probably we will be ostracized.
23:39Because in our private circles,
23:40we might say,
23:41no, I don't believe in this,
23:42I don't believe in that.
23:43But if we declare that openly,
23:45then there are forces
23:46that would hound us.
23:48Let's accept it.
23:49And even if,
23:50you know,
23:50even if I have my doubts,
23:52really strong ones,
23:54still there is the feeling,
23:56what if there really
23:58is some super power?
24:00What if I really
24:01will be fried,
24:03deep fried,
24:04in hot boiling oil
24:06after my death?
24:07So risk only,
24:09you know,
24:10just toe the line.
24:12Just follow the masses.
24:15Kindly explain to me,
24:17yes, yes,
24:18I am suffering.
24:19And for that,
24:20why will I go and
24:21perform a certain ritual?
24:26Why?
24:26Why will I do that?
24:28Except for fear and ignorance,
24:30is there a reason?
24:30Please tell me.
24:33You know that, sir.
24:35You know that.
24:38You know that.
24:45So will,
24:46this thing called
24:47popular religion,
24:47I address that as
24:48lok dharma.
24:49Not dharma.
24:50Lok dharma.
24:52Now this thing
24:53called lok dharma,
24:54will it address
24:56the problem of suffering?
24:58Or will it deepen
24:59my suffering?
25:00Please tell me.
25:01Deepen my suffering.
25:03And that's what
25:04has been happening
25:05through the centuries.
25:06that's what has been happening
25:11throughout the centuries.
25:20Then the word spirituality,
25:21it has come to denote spirits.
25:24I am jealous of my neighbour
25:32because he has a bigger car.
25:35How will that chudal relieve me of my jealousy?
25:37I think my wife is turning
25:44indifferent to me
25:44because I am becoming
25:46sexually important.
25:48That's my inner doubt
25:49for whatever reason.
25:50My wife may have
25:51no inkling
25:52of this bullshit
25:54in my mind.
25:54But that's what is burning me
25:55from inside.
25:57And then you go to
25:57Baba Ji and he says,
25:58you circumambulate a tree.
25:59How will that remove
26:02this bloody suspicion
26:03from my mind?
26:05How will that
26:06take care of the
26:07lovelessness
26:08in my life?
26:11How?
26:15Is spirituality
26:15about spirits?
26:17No.
26:18The right word
26:19is self-knowledge.
26:21Adhyatma.
26:21Knowing yourself
26:22more deeply.
26:24Adhyatma.
26:25Self-knowledge.
26:25Know yourself
26:26because you are the sufferer.
26:27Come on,
26:27go into yourself.
26:29Go into yourself.
26:29What's really happening
26:30within?
26:30Come on,
26:31don't fake.
26:31Don't pretend
26:32very ruthlessly,
26:33very honestly
26:34go into yourself.
26:36Find out,
26:36figure out,
26:37look at your actions.
26:38Don't just say,
26:39no,
26:39but I intend
26:39to be loving.
26:41Look at your actions.
26:42Look at your thoughts,
26:43look at your desires.
26:45Don't just claim
26:46noble intentions.
26:48See what your
26:48real dreams are.
26:59You tell me.
27:01You tell me.
27:03If it's about our own life,
27:07we should be with the ones
27:08to be able to very clearly sense it.
27:11No?
27:12But we don't do that
27:13because we have been deeply conditioned
27:15to be hypocrites.
27:17We have been conditioned to smile
27:19when there is no reason to smile.
27:22Look at your social media profiles
27:24and DPs and other things.
27:26We have been conditioned to congratulate people
27:29when we feel no reason to congratulate them.
27:35We have been conditioned to say good morning
27:38when it's a gloomy morning.
27:39Good morning.
27:40And when you fake it so much and for so long,
27:47the result is
27:49that the truth becomes
27:50invisible even to you.
27:54You want to
27:55display
27:56a false and fake face to others.
27:58Right?
27:59That's what all
28:00culture is about in some sense.
28:02Please see.
28:03Please see.
28:04Somebody comes and you say,
28:05he's a very cultured kid.
28:07Sir, Namaste.
28:09Shat Shat Naman.
28:09Namaskaram.
28:12And what does Naman mean?
28:15Bowing down.
28:16Are all these people
28:18really
28:19ones you must bow down to?
28:23You are taught to fake things
28:25without validation,
28:26without verification,
28:28without any authenticity.
28:30So when you fake it for so long,
28:32you start faking it to yourself as well.
28:35Two centres develop within yourself.
28:39One which is totally out of touch with the other.
28:44We have come to lead lives
28:46where we have become
28:47totally dissociated with ourselves.
28:50Therefore,
28:50if you go into the etymology
28:53of the word religion,
28:55it means
28:55tying you back to yourself.
28:59Tethering you back to yourself.
29:00Pulling you back to yourself.
29:01There is an inner dissonance.
29:06That dissonance
29:07is the
29:08cause of all human suffering.
29:10That which you really are
29:11versus what you have become.
29:14Vedanta calls one as Atma,
29:16the other as Ahankar.
29:18This gap,
29:19this gap,
29:20and you can address it
29:20by any other name.
29:22You don't need to go by
29:23Vedantic names.
29:23By the way,
29:24Vedanta does not
29:25really need
29:27to be just a scriptures
29:28that were written
29:29so many centuries back,
29:31millennia back actually.
29:32Anything written today
29:34that addresses
29:35the fundamental question
29:37of human condition
29:38is Vedanta.
29:40Is Vedanta.
29:41Can you elaborate more
29:42on how that gap
29:43has appeared
29:44in ourselves?
29:45See,
29:48that's what
29:49what do you mean
29:52by culture?
29:53For example,
29:54we don't say
29:54animals are cultured.
29:56We say human beings
29:56are cultured.
29:57Right?
29:58All culture is internal
29:59and the external
30:01manifestation
30:02of that culture is
30:03you have buildings
30:07where you have
30:09separate levitories.
30:11We don't start
30:13peeing here
30:13in the auditorium.
30:15Right?
30:15We are cultured people.
30:16Therefore,
30:17we will construct spaces
30:18so the gentleman
30:20here,
30:20ladies there
30:21and then you have
30:22a separate hall
30:23for this.
30:23You have a hall
30:24for sleeping.
30:25You have a place
30:25for cooking stuff.
30:27So all that,
30:27all that,
30:28all that.
30:30So it all starts
30:31from here.
30:32Here.
30:33This is the way
30:34you must behave.
30:36This is the way
30:37you must behave.
30:38Now,
30:38please tell me
30:38where is this
30:41code of conduct
30:42coming from?
30:43Because all culture
30:44is behavioural.
30:45This is the way
30:46you must behave.
30:47This is the way
30:48you must behave.
30:49These are the beliefs
30:50that you must hold
30:51as sacred.
30:52Where is this coming
30:53from?
30:53Is it coming from
30:54within you
30:54or is it coming
30:55from your environment?
30:58So these are
30:58the two centres.
31:00One is the original you,
31:01the other is the
31:02environmental you.
31:04One is the original you,
31:06the other is the
31:06environmental you.
31:08animals don't have
31:11the environmental
31:13eye unless they
31:15have been put
31:15in captivity,
31:16unless they have
31:17been trained
31:17to perform in circus.
31:19Animals just have
31:20one eye,
31:21which is their
31:22prakratik eye.
31:24Human beings
31:24have two eyes,
31:25one which they
31:26really are,
31:27one which they
31:28really are,
31:29one which they
31:30have been trained
31:31to become,
31:32trained to become.
31:33and we call
31:34that as
31:35civilization or
31:36culture or
31:37upbringing or
31:38education.
31:39Education,
31:40real education
31:40should be about
31:41relieving ourselves
31:42of the false
31:43eye.
31:44Instead,
31:45the kind of
31:45education that
31:46we have,
31:47it reinforces
31:48the false eye.
31:49That's how the
31:50dissonance has
31:51become so huge
31:54and the larger
31:56this gap is,
31:57this partition is,
31:59the bigger is
31:59the suffering.
32:02My name is
32:03Saloni,
32:04I live in
32:04US and
32:06I've been
32:08listening to
32:08Achyarajji for
32:09a little over
32:11a year and a
32:12half and
32:14today's session
32:14was very timely.
32:16I'm really glad
32:16that I attended
32:17it because
32:19two of my
32:21friends,
32:21they were supposed
32:22to get married
32:23next week.
32:24They've been in
32:25long-term
32:25relationships for
32:26more than
32:27seven years,
32:29but both of
32:30them called off
32:30their wedding and
32:31it was really
32:32shocking for
32:33me to see
32:34that because
32:34they seemed
32:36like a very
32:37stable couple
32:38together.
32:39So that
32:40explains a lot
32:41what Achyarajji
32:42said today.
32:43He said
32:44attachment is
32:45not love
32:46and he
32:47really just
32:49took the
32:50facade off
32:51of like
32:52the false
32:53relationships
32:54and the
32:54false bonds
32:55that we see
32:56around us.
32:58He said
32:58that attachment
32:59is born out
33:00of proximity
33:01and habit
33:01and it's
33:02not necessarily
33:03something at
33:06a higher
33:07soul level
33:09and that word
33:10doesn't even
33:10mean anything.
33:12Attachment is
33:12basically just
33:13circumstantial
33:15and based on
33:17biological
33:17pheromones.
33:19He also
33:21brought light
33:21to the fact
33:22of how
33:24body
33:25identified
33:25we are
33:26as a
33:27society.
33:28We refer
33:29to ourselves
33:30as body
33:31and we
33:31don't even
33:31realize that
33:32we do that
33:33on a daily
33:34basis.
33:35Like in our
33:35day-to-day
33:35language we
33:37refer to each
33:37other as body
33:38and that's
33:40not who we
33:41are because
33:41Vedan says
33:42that we are
33:42consciousness,
33:43we are not
33:44just the
33:44body.
33:44So last
33:47thing that I
33:48will say is
33:49he really
33:51beautifully
33:51captured how
33:52like we
33:53have this
33:54certain like
33:55stickiness with
33:56objects in our
33:57mind like we
33:58think obsessively
34:00about an object
34:01and then we
34:01just like
34:02obsess over it.
34:04We don't let
34:04it pass and
34:06he gave this
34:07like beautiful
34:08analogy of how
34:10we should treat
34:11our mind like a
34:12highway, like
34:13objects should
34:14come and go
34:15they should
34:15not like stick
34:17in our mind.
34:18They should
34:18not be, it
34:20should be, it
34:21should be like a
34:22road that, that
34:24can handle a
34:25million cars.
34:26They come and
34:27go but nothing
34:28sticks permanently.
34:29There should be
34:30no jams.
34:31So that was
34:32very enlightening
34:33and like thank
34:33you so much to
34:35the foundation for
34:36bringing these
34:37really enlightening
34:38sessions to all
34:39of us.