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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 Kanova 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's looked like indoctrination to me at some level.
00:59We have become very skillful at hiding what is really inside us.
01:04And that's called absence of self-knowledge.
01:06The level of anxiety in the common mind 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. Does 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.
01:58You 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 Abhijit.
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.
03:16We 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.
03:27The need to know myself.
03:29And 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.
03:45I'm 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.
03:58That'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 mores come from?
04:20Masses.
04:20The 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 2000 years back and the Upanishads were written more than 2000 years back.
04:51Something was written so many years back and times have moved on.
04:54Don't you still take birth?
04:55Don'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?
05:05I have hindsight using which I can come up with something better.
05:10So, that's what we are saying.
05:12Use the hindsight.
05:14Go to the Upanishads.
05:16And come up with a better life.
05:19Don't we want to use the resources that have been bequeathed to us by other people?
05:24Or 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.
05:41But you have great problems in going back to Kanova 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 is 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.
06:03But once we said that, the parts of Upanishads that do not deal with self-inquiry can be taken as outdated.
06:09We have to see 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.
06:28The other is Kalateet or Kal Nirpekch, 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.
06:47Kalateet utterance, unless through the process of biological evolution, we evolve into something that doesn't suffer at all, but that is beyond the horizon right now.
07:01We cannot, and we say 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.
07:35Yes, they do not want to address things that change with time, for example, culture, how to address someone, how to greet someone, how to pray to gods, that's not the subject matter of Vedanta or Upanishads, which god is more powerful than the other one, which day is the best for which kind of worship, the Upanishads, they laugh at such things, they 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 and time is sufficient to take care of that problem.
08:28The problem of life expectancy.
08:31The problem in a for 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.
08:57So there are three kinds then of sufferings that are mentioned in the Upanishads.
09:04Adhibhautic, Adhidhavic and Adhyatnic.
09:07Adhibhautic is purely material suffering.
09:09For example, I don't have food to eat.
09:12So that was taken care of in India by the Green Revolution.
09:14Done.
09:15And dusted.
09:15We are happy.
09:16Adhibhautic is gone.
09:17Adhidhavic, 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, Adhyatmic.
09:27That 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 Adhyatmic problem.
09:42That's what the Upanishads seek to address.
09:45But if 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 and you know, they identify what's the 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.
10:11You are suffering and 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.
10:24That 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.
10:39When 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 and the thing is within you.
10:54Can't you just see?
10:56Sahaj, justness, justness.
10:59Now 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.
11:07Without defences.
11:09Without applying great intellect.
11:12Just see.
11:13You know, simply like a kid.
11:14Just see.
11:14That's the method.
11:16It's as simple as that.
11:17But people can't.
11:18Therefore, 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 start by saying one thing and then I'll give over 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.
11:36So, is that an issue?
11:39It's incredibly hard for me to convince myself.
11:41Lovely.
11:42And 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.
11:53Because the common man remains so engrossed in his so-called responsibilities, in his easy
12:03pleasures, that 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?
12:23And that's where, you know, the work of psychoanalysis, starting with Freud, comes in so handy.
12:31People who looked otherwise so very mentally balanced and healthy, when Freud went into
12:38their dreams, or when Freud applied the method of hypnosis to them, so much horrible stuff
12:47emerged 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, I was not suffering till
13:12this point.
13:16But you have come and you are unnecessarily impressing upon me that I am suffering.
13:22You are my suffering.
13:29That's a very real problem.
13:30You're right.
13:31And that's also the reason why in today's world, when we have more objects to gratify
13:37ourselves, historically, the common man never had such an abundance of objects to choose
13:42from.
13:43It becomes even more difficult to show it to someone that you are suffering.
13:47But when you go into the subtle indicators, for example, the metrics of mental health, then
13:54you find that the level of anxiety in the common man today, in several circles, is equivalent
14:00to the level of anxiety in soldiers fighting in World War II.
14:06Are we suffering or not?
14:07If you look at the state of the earth, and if you see that 70% of the wildlife has been
14:13eliminated by us in just the last 50 years, does that indicate suffering or not?
14:17Not the suffering of the wildlife, but suffering even of this species, our own.
14:24Does that indicate?
14:25I don't have enough time to even worry about myself, let alone forget about suffering.
14:38That's a very, very good aspect.
14:39I don't care about myself.
14:40Yes, yes.
14:41Because I am so busy.
14:42Yes.
14:43So what do you suggest?
14:44Should I now sit on myself?
14:47No, no, no.
14:48Understand that suffering or not?
14:50No, no, no.
14:51Let alone with my life.
14:52No, if suffering is a stream, how will you watch the suffering by bringing the stream
14:59to 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, what will you
15:13reflect 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.
15:24If 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?
15:52What 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, when
16:04you are occupied and terribly busy.
16:06You are saying, I am so busy, I don't even have time to worry about myself.
16:10The thing is, why are you so busy?
16:12What keeps you so busy?
16:14It's a choice.
16:15From 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?
16:34Remaining busy means, there are objects in my life and I am dividing, devoting my time
16:41to those objects.
16:43What are these objects?
16:44Where 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.
17:00How do you know, I am 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.
17:16Next question, please.
17:17There.
17:18I am questioning this very need to read Vedant.
17:21Okay.
17:22Should I stand up?
17:23No.
17:24Wait, wait, wait.
17:24First of all, it's a bit like a straw man thing.
17:27Because there is no need to read Vedant.
17:30Exactly.
17:30There is no need to read Vedant.
17:32What 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.
17:48I 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.
18:03And I have tried my best on my own to take care of myself.
18:07And if you can do that, there is no need to go to Vedant.
18:09Or anybody.
18:10There is absolutely no need to go to Vedant.
18:12You know what the Upanishad said?
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,
18:29and some people will say,
18:34this 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.
18:50Kao-vigetati.
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,
19:04thereby suffering.
19:06So it's not that we are pushing Vedant here, sir.
19:08No.
19:09No, sir.
19:09But I will go further.
19:11Yes.
19:11I would say that,
19:12Vedant would probably cause more problem.
19:16And let me tell you.
19:17We are not speculating here.
19:18No, I am not speculating.
19:19You said probably.
19:21No, but the point here,
19:22sir, will you listen to the line of reasoning I am trying?
19:25Yes, yes.
19:26So the point is,
19:27if you forget Vedant,
19:28if 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 my point is,
19:55I am 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,
20:06I 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,
20:19I felt bad because probably 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,
20:34they will either create an image.
20:37We are talking of questioning.
20:40Vedanta is a huge question mark.
20:41Where is image in this?
20:43So you don't,
20:43why you want some book for,
20:45if 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 it'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 the 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 my name is Atal Singh.
21:12I'm an integrated PhD student.
21:14So my question is like very direct.
21:16So if I'm a religious person,
21:19so do I need to be spiritual?
21:21Or if I'm a spiritual person,
21:22do I need to be religious?
21:25I mean to ask,
21:26are they mutual to each other?
21:28Do they complete each other?
21:31Or are they mutually exclusive?
21:33Who am I?
21:33See, I 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.
21:49You 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
22:08your inner condition.
22:10And if I realize
22:11my inner condition,
22:13what is this thing called
22:14religion
22:15that I typically go to
22:16as a layman?
22:19If I'm alright,
22:20I don't need to go to
22:21anything or anybody.
22:24Right?
22:25If I'm alright,
22:26I don't need to go to
22:27anything or anybody.
22:28But I'm not alright.
22:29First of all,
22:30I have the honesty
22:30to admit that.
22:31I'm not alright.
22:33And if I'm not alright,
22:35then what is this thing
22:36called religion
22:36that I go to?
22:38Religion with all
22:39its 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'm going to
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
23:00of gods and angels
23:01and this and that
23:02and the genesis
23:04and the creation
23:05and the day
23:06of judgment.
23:08Why do I want
23:09to go to all that?
23:10How will that help me?
23:11My concern
23:12is my immediate state.
23:14I'm here to live
23:16and I don't find myself
23:18being able to live fully.
23:20Why do I want to go
23:21to a 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,
23:36probably 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.
24:11Just follow the masses.
24:15Kindly explain to me,
24:17yes, yes,
24:17I 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,
24:48I 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.
25:09That's what has been
25:11happening
25:11throughout the centuries.
25:13then the word
25:20spirituality.
25:22It has come to denote
25:23spirits.
25:25Ghout,
25:26pret,
25:26jadu,
25:26tona,
25:27jantar,
25:27mantar,
25:27dhyan,
25:28chudal.
25:30Now,
25:30I am jealous of my neighbor
25:32because he has a bigger car.
25:35How will that chudal
25:36relieve 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
25:55burning me from inside.
25:57And then you go to
25:57Babaji 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?
26:14Is 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.
26:28Go 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, but 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.
26:55Why we are not
26:56able to say
26:57you tell me.
27:02You tell me.
27:03If it's
27:03about our own life,
27:07we should be
27:08with the ones
27:08to be able
27:09to very clearly
27:10sense it.
27:11No?
27:12But we don't do that
27:13because we have been
27:14deeply conditioned
27:15to be hypocrites.
27:18We have been
27:18conditioned to smile
27:19when there is no
27:20reason to smile.
27:22Look at your
27:23social media profiles
27:24and DPs
27:25and other things.
27:27We have been
27:27conditioned to
27:28congratulate people
27:29when we feel
27:31no reason
27:32to congratulate
27:33them.
27:35We have been
27:36conditioned to say
27:37good morning
27:38when it's a gloomy
27:39morning.
27:39and when you
27:43fake it
27:44so much
27:46and for so long,
27:48the result is
27:49that the truth
27:50becomes invisible
27:51even to
27:52you.
27:54You want to
27:55display
27:56a false
27:57and fake face
27:58to others.
27:58right?
27:59That's what all
28:00culture is about
28:02in some sense.
28:02Please see.
28:03Please see.
28:04Somebody comes
28:05and you say
28:05he's a very
28:06cultured kid.
28:07Sir,
28:07Namaste.
28:09Shat Shat
28:09Namun.
28:09Namaskaram.
28:12And what does
28:13Namun mean?
28:15Bowing down.
28:16Are all these
28:17people
28:18really
28:19ones you
28:21must bow down
28:21to?
28:23You are taught
28:24to fake things
28:25without validation,
28:26without verification,
28:27without any
28:28authenticity.
28:30So when you
28:30fake it for so
28:31long,
28:32you start
28:32faking it
28:33to yourself
28:33as well.
28:36You
28:36two centers
28:38develop within
28:39yourself.
28:39You know,
28:40one which is
28:40totally out of
28:41touch with
28:41the other.
28:44We have
28:45come to lead
28:45lives where
28:46we have become
28:47totally dissociated
28:48with ourselves.
28:50Therefore,
28:50you know,
28:51if you go into
28:52the etymology
28:53of the word
28:54religion,
28:55it means
28:55tying you
28:57back to
28:57yourself,
28:59tethering you
28:59back to
29:00yourself,
29:00pulling you
29:01back to
29:01yourself.
29:04There is an
29:05inner dissonance.
29:06That dissonance
29:07is the cause
29:09of all human
29:09suffering.
29:10That which you
29:10really are
29:11versus what
29:12you have become.
29:14Vedanta calls
29:15one as
29:15Atma,
29:16the other as
29:16Ahankar.
29:18This gap,
29:19this gap,
29:20and you can
29:20address it by
29:20any other name.
29:22You don't need
29:22to go by
29:23Vedantic names.
29:24By the way,
29:24Vedanta does not
29:25really need to
29:27be just as
29:28scriptures that
29:29were written so
29:30many centuries
29:30back,
29:31millennia back
29:31actually.
29:33Anything written
29:33today that
29:34addresses the
29:36fundamental question
29:37of human condition
29:38is Vedanta.
29:38Can you
29:42elaborate more
29:42on how that
29:43gap has
29:44appeared in
29:44ourselves?
29:48See,
29:48that's what
29:49what do you
29:52mean by culture?
29:53For example,
29:54we don't say
29:54animals are
29:55cultured.
29:56We say human
29:56beings are
29:56cultured.
29:57Right?
29:58All culture
29:58is internal
29:59and the
30:01external
30:01manifestation
30:02of that
30:03culture is
30:03you have
30:07buildings where
30:08you have
30:09separate
30:10levatories.
30:12We don't
30:12start peeing
30:13here in
30:13the auditorium.
30:15Right?
30:15We are
30:15cultured
30:16people.
30:16Therefore,
30:17we will
30:17construct
30:17spaces.
30:19So,
30:19gentlemen
30:20here,
30:20ladies
30:21there,
30:21and then
30:22you have
30:22a separate
30:22hall for
30:23this,
30:23you have
30:24a hall
30:24for
30:24sleeping,
30:25you have
30:25a place
30:25for
30:25cooking
30:26stuff,
30:27so all
30:27that,
30:27all that,
30:28all that.
30:30So,
30:30it all
30:30starts from
30:31here.
30:32Here.
30:33This is
30:34the way
30:34you must
30:34behave.
30:36This is
30:36the way
30:37you must
30:37behave.
30:38Now,
30:38please tell
30:38me,
30:39where is
30:40this code
30:41of conduct
30:42coming from?
30:43Because all
30:43culture is
30:45behavioral.
30:45This is the
30:46way you
30:46must behave.
30:47This is the
30:48way you
30:48must behave.
30:49These are
30:50the beliefs
30:50that you
30:50must hold
30:51as sacred.
30:52Where is
30:52this coming
30:53from?
30:53Is it
30:53coming from
30:54within you
30:54or is it
30:55coming from
30:56your environment?
30:58So,
30:58these are
30:58the two
30:59centers.
31:00One is
31:00the original
31:01you,
31:01the other
31:01is the
31:02environmental
31:02you.
31:03One is
31:04the original
31:05you,
31:05the other
31:06is the
31:07environmental
31:07you.
31:10Animals don't
31:11have the
31:11environmental
31:13eye unless
31:14they have
31:15been put
31:15in captivity,
31:16unless they
31:17have been
31:17trained to
31:18perform in
31:18circus.
31:19Animals just
31:20have one
31:21eye,
31:21which is
31:22their
31:22prakritic
31:22eye.
31:24Human
31:24beings have
31:24two eyes,
31:25one which
31:26they really
31:26are,
31:27one which
31:28they really
31:28are,
31:29one which
31:30they have
31:30been trained
31:31to become,
31:32trained to
31:33become and
31:34we call
31:34that as
31:35civilization or
31:36culture or
31:37upbringing or
31:38education.
31:39Education,
31:40real education
31:40should be
31:41about relieving
31:42ourselves of
31:43the false
31:43eye.
31:44Instead,
31:45the kind of
31:45education that
31:46we have,
31:47it reinforces
31:48the false
31:48eye.
31:49That's how
31:50the dissonance
31:51has become
31:52so huge
31:54and the
31:55larger this
31:57gap is,
31:57this partition
31:58is,
31:59the bigger
31:59is the
32:00suffering.
32:01of
32:01the
32:03the
32:03as
32:04the
32:05as
32:05as
32:06as
32:07the
32:07is
32:21one
32:21the
32:22for
32:23the
32:24is
32:26the
32:26the
32:28the
32:29the
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