Brahman is Not Known Through Sense Organs or Inference

Brahmanubhuti – Talk 1
Natureof Brahman
https://youtu.be/HKut8JboLaQ
My Pranamsto all Atmajyothis; Divine lights of the Self.
Let us contemplateon the teachings of SriShankara, aboutthenature
Brahman. Whyshould we contemplateon the natureof Brahman? Brahman is
the supreme reality; the supreme truth; the basis of all existence – the basis of
our life. When we arenot aware of the basis of our life, we live in ignorance.
And this ignorancecauses suffering. To know Brahman is the supremegoal of
life. Howeasy or howdifficultis it to know Brahman? Brahman isSelf-evident–
the presence of Brahman is Self-evident. The universe which we see consists of
time, space, living beings, and non-living beings. Everything in this universe has
some amountof dependenceon the other. There is nothing in this universe
which can exist without dependence. Trees are dependent on sunlight, water is
dependent on rivers, rivers aredependent on oceans, and water itself is
dependent on molecules of oxygen and hydrogen. Dependencyis the law of
nature. Withoutdependency, there is no life.
Brahman is Self-dependent. Brahman isnot dependent on anything else.
Brahman being the substratum of everything, it is Self-dependent. Everything
else is dependenton Brahman, butBrahman itself is not dependent on anything
else. The world consisting of living matter, living beings like us and non-living
beings like stones, mountainsand rivers. Brahman is all pervading reality, which
means it pervades living and non-living.
How does it pervade living beings? Living beingslike us have Consciousness and
Brahman is that Consciousness in us. The essence of non living beings like
stones and mountainsis also Brahman. Theessence of living beings is
Consciousness and the essence of non-living beings is existence. Brahman
pervades the entire Universe as Consciousness and Existence. Brahman has no
parts. Everything else has parts, for example, a chair, or a car which has multiple
parts. Human beings have multiple parts. But Brahman as no parts, freefrom all
parts. The entire Universe is pervaded by onewhole Brahman.
Just because Brahman is in you, in him, in her, it doesn’tmean that Brahman is
fragmented. Brahman isTotality. Brahman is immutable – it doesn’tchange
with time. Everything else in naturekeeps changing with time, and changeis the
law of nature. Brahman never changes. The change can be supported only if

there is something changeless. The changeless Brahman supportsevery change
in the Universe. But Brahman itself is unchanging. Everything in the Universe is
just an appearancein Brahman.
Brahman is not dependenton time and space, buttime and space both depend
on Brahman. Allliving beings and non living beings are dependenton Brahman,
but Brahman is not dependenton them. Brahman is PureConsciousness.
We acquireempirical knowledgewhich is related to the world and spiritual
knowledge which is related to the knowledge of the Higher. Empirical
knowledge is obtained through sense organsand spiritual knowledge is through
scripturesand all this knowledge finally points to Brahman in the ultimate
sense. It is because the changing will ultimately lead to the changeless. Realizing
Brahman is to know that Brahman is the essence of me as the ‘Self’ and essence
of everything, and this is the way to become free from ignoranceand suffering.
Brahmanubhuti – Talk2
https://youtu.be/2tJGPZ3Bt8w
Brahman is the all-pervading reality. Howdo we knowBrahman? Whatis the
means of knowing Brahman? Isit possible to know Brahman, becauseBrahman
is subtler than the subtlest? Our eyes cannoteven see an atom, or a molecule.
Whatabout subtler than the subtlest? Howto see? Howto know?
The world what we experience and Jiva, myself, which is the experiencer, the
empiricalSelf, and the Ishwara, who runs the universe, the Lord, all of them are
appearancesin Brahman. Theyare not absolute reality. They are relative reality.
Brahman is the absolute reality. So, how to know Brahman? Theserealities,
whether it is Jiva or the world or the Ishwara, theLord, areunreal in an ultimate
sense. Because Brahman aloneis the reality. Howto know Brahman who is the
ultimate reality? Whatare the means of knowledge?
We have means of knowledge in terms of sense organs, whatis called
pratyaksha, what is available to the sense organs. Or we have something called,
anumana, which means guess work, or tarka, logic or what you call as inference
– ‘thisis possible’; or intuitive knowledge; or knowledge from the scriptures.
Which of these means of knowledge can give us and lead us to the experience
of Brahman? Letus contemplate on each of these means of knowledge to see
the limitations in them, and discard what cannothelp us to lead to Brahman.

Based on that, we shall see how to experience Brahman based on the valid
means of knowledge in the coming talks.
Brahman cannotbe known through Sense organs
https://youtu.be/R2s5GcU-Nvg
Let us contemplatewhether we can know Brahman through sense organs. The
knowledge through sense organsis called ‘pratyaksha’, which meanswhat is
visible to us. All knowledge in the world comes to us through sense organs.
Through eyes, ears, tongue, touch, smell – the five sense organs. These sense
organsilluminate everything in the world and give us knowledge of the object.
But the sense organscannotilluminate Brahman, the supremereality, which is
all pervading. The question that comes is that if Brahman is all pervading, can
the sense organsindicate Brahman? Itis notpossible, because sense organs
themselves have limitations. Eyes can see forms, butthe eyes cannotsee what
is formless. You can smell something, butfor that, an odour is required. If there
is no odour, thereis no smelling possible. That meanseach sense organ
operates on a quality of an object. If the quality is not there, then the sense
organscannotperceive it. Brahman has no qualities by which the sense organs
can perceive it. No form, no smell, and no touch. Something which has no
qualities cannot be perceived by the sense organs. Sense organscan perceive
only matter, for which there are qualities. The Consciousness has no qualities
which can be perceived by sense organs.
By nature, sense organsthemselves are inert. They don’thave the capabilities.
The eyes don’thave the capability; the eyes get the capability because
Consciousness is reflected in the eyes. Consciousness is not a propertyof the
eyes; Consciousness is coming from the Self. When that Consciousness is
superimposed on the eyes, eyes can see. When the eyes see an object, again
Consciousness is reflected on the object. So there is a perception of the
qualities of the object. The sense organstake and give the inputto the mind.
Mind conveys it to the intellect, and intellect to the Self. Now, the mind and
intellect are also inert. They arealso productsof matter. They themselves don’t
have Consciousness. The Consciousness illuminates them, and because of that
they perceive the object. There is no way the sense organscan perceive the
Consciousness. Sense organsarealways directed outwards. But Consciousness

is the innermostnature. How can sense organs, which are directed outwards,
experience something as deep within as Consciousness?
It is like an electric bulb. The electric bulb emits light and gets illuminated when
the electricity passes through it. But the bulb has no way of knowing that
electricity is the cause of light. Similarly, the sense organsoperatebecause of
Consciousness, butsense organshave no way of knowing Consciousness. Sense
organsare like five blind men, trying to understand theelephant. One touches
the trunk, another touches the tail, another touches the legs, and one touches
the teeth, butnone of them can make out what the elephant is. In the same
way, even though Brahman is all pervading, presenteverywhere, there is no
way that the sense organscan understand or give the knowledge of Brahman,
because Brahman hasno qualities which can be perceived by sense organs. So,
the experience of Brahman through senseorgansis altogether ruled out.
If someone says, ‘I saw Brahman,’ thatmeans he didn’tsee Brahman.
Somebodysaid ‘I saw God; Brahman,’ thatmeanshe has not seen it, because
the sense organscannotsee Brahman.
https://youtu.be/BQawWEPVVto
Let us look at other means of knowledge, called inference and reasoning.
Inferenceis called ‘anumana’ and reasoning or logic is called ‘tarka’. Can
somebody know Brahman through inferenceor reasoning? Exampleof
inferenceis – there is smoke on top of the mountain, and by that we infer that
fire is there. Similarly, because this world is there, can somebody infer that
there is Brahman? Itis not possible. Brahman cannotbe known through
inference. Inferenceor anumana is limited to the objects which are perceivable
by senses. Brahman cannotbe perceived by the senses. Smokeand fireare both
perceivable by the sense organs. That is why it can be inferred. Thereis a logical
relationship there. But you can’tlogically infer something that cannotbe
perceived by the senses that it is there. Brahman is beyond anumana. You
cannotknow Brahman through inferenceor anumana.
Whatabout logic or reasoning? This is tarka. Thereare people with very well-
developed sense of logic or tarka. But all logic is in the domain of experience.
You cannot have a logical inferenceor reasoning for whatever is beyond the
domain of experience. You cannot attain that through reasoning. Tarka goes

slightly beyond anumana. Anumana hasa relationship between two objects, but
tarka or reasoning can go beyond anumana, to some extent. But, by and large,
they aresimilar; though, in both cases, it requiresa relation between two
entities, which are in the domain of experience. For all that arenot in the
domain of experience, you cannotreason. There is no way you can obtain it
through reason.
One example of reasoning is – there aretime-to-time rains, and because there
are rains, there is Brahman. You cannotinfer like that. ‘Thereis a world which
you can see, and because of the world which you can see, there is Brahman.’
You cannot infer like that.
So, both tarka and anumana, or reasoning and inference, failto reach Brahman.
https://youtu.be/gu9CVoil8sUT
Let us take two other valid means of knowledge, which people respect, shruti
and smruti. ShrutimeansScriptures, Upanishadsand Vedas. Smrutimeans
realizations. Shrutiis a revelation and smruti is a realization. Shrutiis like Vedas.
There is no authorship for that. It has come from Brahman directly, from
Consciousness directly. There is no human mind or human being who has
authored the shrutis.
The examples are all Upanishads, Vedas. There is no human mind which has
come into picture. It is called revelation. It is revealed. Whereas, the smrutis are
realizations. Thereare many sages, who do meditation, they have realizations.
They write texts called ‘Smrutis’. Now, becauseof their meditation, because of
dharmic practices, they have developed extraordinarysiddhisor spiritual
powers. Because of that they areable to see something, which ordinaryhuman
beings cannotsee. This is called realization.
We have to give respect to realization, no doubtaboutthat. Because they are
all great beings, they have done lot of tapasya and they have acquired lot of
power, through which they are able to understand something, which normal
human beings cannotunderstand. Even these smrutis fail to reveal Brahman,
because still there is a limitation of human beings. Even though, these
realizations have happened through the Rishis, even though their mind is pure,
but still there is a mind. Because there is differentspiritual practice, different

Rishis may say in differentways. So, still, there is a limitation. That is called
realization. Pancharatra, and 18 puranasallcomeunder the categoryof Smritis.
Smritiis the realization of Rishis. Ramayana and Mahabharata are called itihasa
- historicaldocuments. Whereas Vedasand Upanishadscome under the
categoryof revelations. It has come directly from the pureConsciousness. No
human mind has come into picture.
Of these two (shrutisand smritis), shrutis are able to give direction to the Truth.
Tatvamasi (You are That), Ahambrahmasmi, Sarvam Khaluvida Brahma - all
these arerevelations or shrutis. Shrutisare moreauthentic. But, even, shrutis
can only pointto the Brahman. Theycannotshow you Brahman. They can only
show direction. Because, even in shrutis, the sentences have a duality in it. Tat
Tvam Asi, which means ‘That You Are’ where, ‘you’ and ‘that’ both are real.
But, Brahman is non-dual. Thereis no other. So, at best, Shrutiscan showin a
clearest way directionsway to Brahman, butShrutisthemselves cannotreveal
Brahman to you.
If somebody is studying lot of scriptures, will he realize Brahman? No. It can
help, butit cannotshow you Brahman directly.
https://youtu.be/28-_x_C2qbM
We have examined variousmeans of knowing Brahman, through sense
perceptions(Pratyaksha), through inference(Anumana), through logic (tarka),
through scriptures, Shrutis& Smritis. All of these can point to Brahman in some
way. But none of these can reveal Brahman. BecauseBrahman is beyond all
sense perceptions. Brahman is beyond the mind and intellect. Brahman is
witness of the intellect. To know Brahman, to experience Brahman directly
through these scriptures or through these means, it is notpossible. They are
definitely helpful. Because they are trying to help you remove the confusion
between yourself and the body, mind and intellect. By removing the
superimposition of body, mind and intellect on the Self, the truth of scriptureis
revealed. But that experience is called direct experience or Aparokshanubhuthi.
Aparokshanubhutiisa direct experienceof the Brahman.

Directexperience of the Brahman can be had, taking the help of scriptures, one
has to go inside, and remove the superimposition of the Self and the non-Self.
The body, mind and intellect is the non-Self, and Self is the pureConsciousness.
One can have direct experience of Brahman, which is beyond knowledge and
ignorance. Itis pureknowledge, Kevala jnana. When I say knowledge and
ignorance, they belong to the categoryof Empirical knowledge or the Worldly
knowledge. The knowledge of Brahman is pure knowledge. Knowledgeof the
Brahman is purebliss, supreme bliss. It is a directexperience. One who knows
Brahman becomesBrahman himself. He is not separate from Brahman. He
becomes the Brahman himself directly. That is the significance of Brahman. He
becomes free from fear, he becomes freefrom all kinds of fear. He is one with
Brahman and experiences Brahman as non-dual Self. Thereis no other than
Brahman. Thisis the realization of Brahman.
Is it possible? It is possible. Whatare the characteristicsof Brahman realization,
we shall see in the upcoming talk.
Pranams.
https://youtu.be/5q8qSG1coO0
Today let us contemplateon the natureof experience of Brahman. In the next
couple of talks, we shall analyze, differenceaspects of experience of Brahman,
as per teachings of SriShankaracharya.
All our experiences in life involve a subject and object duality. I see the flower,
the flower is the object and I am the seer. There are threeaspects in this, the
seen, seer and the process of seeing. Or I would say, the object is known, the
subject is the knower and there is knowledge. So, there are three, the knower,
the known and the knowledge. This is the nature of our worldly experience or
empiricalexperience. This is the experience of the Jiva, the individual soul. In
any experience, there are three aspects. The known, the knower and the
knowledge. Withoutthat there is no experience. If there is no object, then there
is no experience. If there is no knower, there is no experience. Without
knowledge, there is no experience. These three factorsof experience are called
“Triputi”. ‘Tri’ meansthe threeaspects.

Whatabout Brahmanubhava? Theexperienceor Brahmanubhuti, the
experience of Brahman? Brahman isnon-dual. Brahman isthe subject, Brahman
is the object, Brahman is the knowledge. Thereis nothing other than Brahman.
It is pure Consciousness. Consciousness alone is Brahman. Itis non-dual. Which
means, thereis no subject, there is no object and there is no knowledge. Or I
would say that subject, object, knowledge all of them become one. The Triputi
disappearsin Brahmanubhava. Thethreefactorsdisappear in Brahmanubhava.
When three factorsdisappear, is there knowledge? There is knowledge, there is
a pureknowledge. Now, this pureknowledge is notrelated to any subject or
any object. Is there any experiencer? Thereis no experiencer. It is a experience
without experiencer. TheTriputidisappearsin non-dual realization. So, this is
the nature of Brahmanubhava.
Differentaspects of Brahmanubhava,wewill analyse further in futuretalks.
Pranams
https://youtu.be/PggQ_U_ECBU
Let us take up the topic of ‘Brahmanubhava’ or experienceof Brahman and go
little bit deeper into this topic.
In all the empiricalexperiences, in our day-to-dayexperiences, there are three
factors– the known, the knower and the knowledge. Now who is the knower? Is
the Self the knower? Is the intellect the knower? Is the mind the knower? Who
knows? There should be some knower. Self is the only thing which is conscious.
The rest are the intellect and the mind, which are notconscious. Intellect and
mind areunconscious. They are matter. They derive their power from the Self.
Because of the power from the Self, they appear to be conscious, but in reality
they arenot conscious.
Then who is the real knower? Is the Self the real knower? If the Self is the
knower, and there is knowledge of flower, there is knowledge of table, there is
knowledge of chair; and as you know differentthings, thereis a changewhich is
taking place in the knower, because of the knowledge. So, knowing is an
activity. The Self is without an activity, being infinite, being non-dual. TheSelf
has no activity in it. Self is pureawareness, pureConsciousness, without any
activity as such. The Self cannot be the knower because there is nothing else for
the Self to know. For the Self, there is no other. It is non-dual. And, nothing else

can know the Self. When somebody says, “I know the Self,” it means he doesn’t
know the Self. Nobody can know the Self; neither can Self know anybodyelse.
Because it is non-dual. Thereis no other in the Self. So, Self is notthe
knower. Intellect derives the power of Consciousness from the Self and
experiences the world as the knower. It is the intellect which becomes the
knower. Even though intellect is inert, because of the power of Consciousness,
which is super imposed on the intellect, intellect can be considered as the
experiencer, the Jiva, along with the reflected Consciousness. So now, the
intellect itself, made up of matter, derives the power of Consciousness. The
intellect is the empirical Self, or the Jiva. The confusion is between the Jiva and
the Sakshi, the witness. The Brahman witnesses the phenomena, and witnesses
the Jiva experiencing the world, without getting involved in that. The Brahman
is the witness, the Sakshiof the intellect. The Sakshi is not an action. There is no
action involved in that. Sakshiis merely present, thereis no action. Whereasin
intellect, thereis the action of knowing. The Sakshi is the one who witnesses the
Jiva. So, the confusion in all of us, or the Avidya or the ignorance, is that we
mistake the intellect for the Sakshi. The Consciousness, which is the Sakshi, we
mistake for the intellect. Wesuperimpose the Consciousness with the intellect;
super impose the characteristicsof the Consciousness on the intellect and
otherwise.
Intellect has the activity of knowing, because of the power of consciousness,
but we think that Self is the one who is knowing. We superimposethe activity
on the Self saying that the Self is the knower. Self is not the knower, because it
has nothing to know. Self is mere witness. And the Chit(Consciousness) aspect
of the Self is superimposed on the intellect. So there is a mutual
superimposition here.
The example for super imposition which I can give is – you are going on a boat
in a lake. Suddenlyyou start seeing the trees moving. Your boat is moving in
reality, but it appearsas if the trees are moving. The Consciousness of the Self
makes intellect to appear to be conscious. The activity of the intellect is
superimposed on the Consciousness, to say Self is the knower. Self is neither
knower, nor doer, because Self has nothing to do. It is infinite, it is pure and it is
non-dual. Thereis no activity in the Self. All the activity of Triputi, the knower,
the knowing and the knowledge, belongs to the empirical world of the Jiva and
the world. Because the Self is not a doer, there is no karma, and nothing will be
there on the Self – Sakshi.
And all experience of karma is experienced by the Jiva, individual soul, which is
the intellect powered by the Consciousness.

Pranams.
BB 9
https://youtu.be/fyFJbkykSeo
Let us contemplateon the experience of Brahmanubhutior realization of
Brahman. Aswe discussed earlier, Brahman is Consciousness. Brahman is bliss,
Brahman is existence. Brahman is Sat Chit Ananda. Allthat is there is Brahman
only. Thereis nothing separate from Brahman. Becausethere is nothing
separate from Brahman, nobodycan experienceBrahman. Neither Brahman
can experience anything because Brahman is all that is there. It is
Consciousness, it is Bliss. When you say experience of Brahman, thereis no
experiencer. Because the subject, object and knowledge merge in Brahman, as
everything is Brahman. Now, thequestion comes, is it possible to have such
knowledge? Is it not emptiness, void? And, also, there is no experiencer. Is it
possible to have such an experience at all?
For that SriShankaracharya givesexample. In deep sleep, there is no
experience. The subject, object, experience vanishes in deep sleep. But there is
awareness that there is nothing in deep sleep. The awareness continues in deep
sleep also. If the awareness was not there, the absence of subject, object,
knowledge would nothave been known. That means, in deep sleep also
awareness continues.
But the problem is, in deep sleep, there is ignorance. Objects arethere, but
objects have goneinto a subtle state. In Samadhi, or Turiya, which is a state
similar to deep sleep, but there is no subject or object. It is pure awareness.
Whatis the differencebetween deep sleep and Turiya or Samadhi? In deep
sleep, the subject and object were there, but have gone back to subtle
condition, causalcondition, or Sukshma Roopa.
Whereasin Samadhistate, subject and object, both are absent. The mind, sense
organsand the world disappear. They arenot gone to causal state, because
ignoranceis removed, they have disappeared. The world is nothing but
appearancein Consciousness. The body is nothing butappearancein
Consciousness. In Samadhi, thebody and the world disappear, notbecause of
ignorance, butbecause of removal of ignorance. Assuch you become aware
that there is nothing, butthis nothing is real. Whereas in deep sleep also there

is nothing, butthat nothing is outof ignorance. Now, do you understand the
differencebetween Samadhior Turiya state and deep sleep?
In Turiya also there are no objects, no world, no knowledge, no mind, no sense
organs, which is the same thing in deep sleep state also. But, in deep sleep, the
world was there, the body was there, mind was there, but all of them have gone
to seed state. In Turiya all of them have disappeared because they were never
there at all, it was only Maya, an appearance. So, Turiya is a state of real
knowledge and there is awareness. In deep sleep also, you come back and say,
there was nothing. In Turiya also, you come and say, there was nothing. But,
what is the differencenow? In Turiya, you know that therewas nothing at all
really. All is just appearance. Whereas, in deep sleep, if we come backand say
there was nothing, there was nothing during deep sleep, but the world is there,
everything is there. Ignorancehasnot gone. This is the difference. In Turiya, it is
not a state of void or emptiness. Thereis awareness of absence of the world,
body and mind, in Turiya.
So, that is the state of Jnana, the state of Brahmanubhuti. Now, can Self know
itself? Self doesn’tknow itself. Because, if Self knows itself, again it becomes an
object and the Subject – Object comes into picture. To give an example: eyes
can see everything in the world, it can see all the colors in the world. But, eyes
cannotsee itself. Eye is the subject. Similarly, the Self can see, become aware,
witness all the things in the world, butthe Self cannotsee itself. Because if the
Self sees itself, it becomes an object. It is a state of pureknowledge, pure
awareness which you reach in Samadhi. Samadhiand deep sleep, both are
similar. Except that, in Samadhiwhen you wake up, you know that the world
was absent, world was not really there. It is an appearance. Whereas, in deep
sleep, when you wake up, the world is still solid and real. In Samadhi, the
ignoranceis gone.
(Howto Attain Turiya State)
Now the question arises, how to attain that state of Turiya? By scriptures you
know that all this is Brahman. I see my body, I see the world, and from
scripturesI know that Self is nothing but Witness, Sakshi. Within me Self is there
as Sakshi. Now I have to understand the world in the right knowledge. World
includes the physical world, or the body/mind, which both belong to the world.
The Self is nothing but the Consciousness, which is my own Self, Atma.
Can we reduce the world which we see, the body into SatChit Ananda, oneof
these? Sat means existence. Does the chair exist? So, any object in the world,

you have to go back to this original form, which is the existence. Then you are
reducing the object to its essence which is called existence. Whatis the essence
of chair? Atoms, molecules, energy or existence. The ultimate is existence.
(Sat - Existence – The basis of every object)
The chair has a form, butthe basic of anything in the world is existence. The
basic of me is “I am”ness, which is nothing butConsciousness. Satmeans the
existence, what is there everywhere. Whatever you see, there is existence. Can
you see anything that is non-existent? Existence is the foundation of everything.
So, any object you see, you should go backto the basis of that, which is
existence. Your body also, you have to go back to its basis, which is existence.
As you meditate, and your mind becomes subtle and subtle, you will experience
body as vibration, which is energy. You will experience body as the light
particles. Or you will experience the body as the sound. These arethe 3 basic
rootof existence of your body. When you experience the body like that, you will
experience the world also like that, which is vibration, the energy, as light and
as subtle sound which is Omkara.
(Watch everything in its basic form)
You have to start looking at the world in basic form. The most basic form of the
world is existence. The most manifestform of the world is light, which is light
particles, vibration and sound. So, as you do that, your experience of all this is
God, all this is Consciousness, all this is Brahman becomesmore and more
deeper.
Now what you have to do is to learn to reduceyourself into Consciousness
which is Sakshi. Your body, mind and the world, you have to learn to reduce to
the basic form which is called existence. The chair exists, the table exists, fan
exists. Existence in the most subtle form, the light, sound and vibration. So, the
entire process of meditation is to go back from the gross form to the subtle
form, to the subtlest form, to the basic, which is existence. In me existence is
Consciousness, Sakshi. In the world, the existence is Sat or the presence. So, in
meditation, you have to reduce everything to the basic form. When you reduce
to the basic form, the entire world goes backto SatChit Ananda. Then you will
attain the Turiya state.
Pranams

BB 10
https://youtu.be/VV8X1L7vvfc
Let us contemplateon the process of meditation to enter into transcendental
state known as Turiya.
There are two types of experiences. One is experienceof the world, which I call
as ‘Loukika’ or ‘Empirical’, and another oneis experiencebeyond the world
‘Transcendental’ or ‘Turiya’. So, therearetwo, Empirical and Transcendental.
In empirical experience, there are three – the Subject(Knower), object(Known)
and the Knowledge. In transcendental experience, the knower, known and the
knowledge, all these three mergeinto pureknowledge or pureAwareness. This
is the transcendentalexperience. The experienceof the world or the empirical
experience is because of the mind. But, transcendental experience is not
because of the mind, but because of the pureAwareness, Sakshi. It is not a
mental experience, but it is Sakshi. To enter into transcendental experience is
called Samadhi.
(Samadhi)
People have a concept of Samadhithat it is a death like state where the heart
beat stops and the breathing stops, hence the mind also stops. But the real
meaning of Samadhiis not that. ‘Dhi’ means Buddhi, Samadhimeans, the
Buddhiwhich is purely balanced and non-judgmental which is a state of
Samadhi. Itis a state of Awareness. The Buddhiwhich is the highest faculty of
body, mind and intellect goes into a state of non-judgmental Awarenesssimilar
to Sakshi. It is not a state of heartbeat or breath stopping even though it looks
fantastic. The real meaning of Samadhiis, because ignorancehasgone, Buddhi
has non-judgmentaland Buddhihas taken the form of Sakshi. It is the state of
Awareness; it is the state of Samadhi.
(Howto enter Turiya State)
How to enter into a Paramarthika or Transcendental Samadhi state?
The Self is non-dual. Awarenessis non-dual. Thereis no way Awarenesscan
become awareof itself or know itself. Awareness can know everything. Eyes can
see everything – all colors– butcannot see itself. Tonguecan taste everything

but cannottaste itself. Like that, Self can become aware of everything, but not
itself. But, the problem is whatever Self becomes aware of something, it is an
object. In reality, there is no object. Because Self alone exists. The object is not
reality. Object is a dream-like reality, Maya or appearance. So, using your
sharpened Buddhi, you have to reducethose objects into the root form, you
have to go back to Sat (existence), Chit (Consciousness) and Ananda
(Happiness).
(SatChit Ananda)
I am seeing a chair. Whereis the chair? The chair is in my Awareness, my
Consciousness. This is the firstthing. Chair is existence, Satand Chit. Everything
that comes to your mind as an object should be reduced back to the form of
Sat, Chit, Ananda. Then the subject-object duality collapses. Then you enter into
a state of Turiya, which is like a deep sleep state, but pureAwarenessis there.
In Deep Sleep there are no objects, no body, mind and world. But, they did not
disappear; the body, mind and world have goneto a subtle state. The ignorance
of Buddhihas notgone. Now, in Turiya, because Buddhiis sharpened by using
logic and scriptures, Buddhihas become pureand it has taken the form of
Sakshi. That is why the world, body and mind areknown to be non-real. What is
reality is Consciousness. That is why you enter into a state of transcendental
state. This is how you enter into the state of Samadhi.
(Sahaja Samadhi)
But, the Samadhihasto be Sahaja Samadhior natural Samadhi. Your Loukika or
empiricalexperience also has to become transcendental experience, while you
are walking or talking. The momentyou come back from Samadhi, themind
takes over; the Buddhitakes over. Again, you see the world and the Names and
Formsare superimposed on your thoughtprocess. So you need to knowhow to
stay in the transcendentalstate while walking or talking, which is called Sahaja
Samadhi. Isit possible? Itis possible, provided you understand thatthe mind
stays either in the past or future. Mind cannotbe in the present. If you know
how to keep the mind in the presentall the time, then you are in Sat. That is
why you should develop your Awareness of Ajna and Sahasrara. When thereis a
pulsation or vibration there, your mind is not drifting into past or future. Itis in
the present moment. The vibration is energy. You start experiencing your body
as energy, and when you experience your body as energy, you start
experiencing the world as energy, Shakti.
(Experiencing Body as Energy)

As your mind becomes moresubtle, possibly you will experience the body as
light, and possibly you will experience your body as ‘Omkara’, sound. Becauseof
that, when you experience the world also, you experience the world as Sat-
existence, and vibration, which is energy, light, and Omkara. So, even in waking
state, you retain the state of Samadhiwhich is called as Sahaja Samadhifor
which, you need to meditate, make your mind subtler and experiencethe
energy form of your body and mind. And retain that energy form of body and
mind, with the help of Sahasrara, during walking or talking and all aspects of
waking state. So, you will experience God in waking state. And this experience
of God is actually ‘Saguna Brahma’.Whereas, in Turiya what you experienceis
‘Nirguna Brahma’ or ’Parabrahma’. Otherwisewhat happensis, in Turiya, you
enter into transcendentalstate, again you will come back and that state is lost.
You need to maintain the continuity.
Pranams
BB 11
https://youtu.be/N3nM2TMDbrQ
Today let us contemplateon Self Awarenessfor Brahman. Wehave told earlier,
all that is there is Brahman only, Consciousness only. Nobodycan know
Brahman; neither Brahman can know anybody, because all that is there is
Consciousness only.
Now the question comes, is Brahman awareof itself? If Brahman is aware of
itself, then Brahman becomes the subject and object. That is something other
than Brahman. So, itis notpossible. Brahman being aware of itself is not
possible. For example: the Sun lights up everything. Awareness of Brahman
shines everything in the empirical sense. Sun shines, in the light of Sun,
everything can be seen. But, does the Sun light itself? Fire burnseverything
which comes in contact with fire. If nothing is there in contact with the fire,
does fire burn itself? Similarly, Brahman being pureAwareness, can light
anything and everything in the empirical sense, but Brahman itself cannot
become Self-Aware. Because, if it becomes Self-aware, then there is a subject-
object duality.
(Realized Being)
Let us say, there is a person who has realized Brahman. Ishe aware of himself
as Brahman? Or is he consciousof Brahman Consciousness? Both are nottrue.

Because both convertthat Brahman into an object. He simply is Brahman. If
somebody says ‘I know Brahman’, then hedoesn’t know Brahman, because
nobodycan know Brahman. You can just be, without a subject/object duality.
That is the experience of Brahman. An experience, without an experiencer.
Natureof Brahman is pureAwareness, which is pureknowledge (Prajnana). In
that there is no other knowledge possible. It is pureknowledge. Even
knowledge as Brahman itself, invalidates that knowledge, because it becomes
subject-object duality. All that we can say is, Brahman is pureAwareness.
Pranams
BB 12
https://youtu.be/jwErbsEeBBE
We have differentstates of mind called waking state, dreaming state and deep
sleep state. Waking state is differentfrom dreaming state; dreaming state is
differentfrom deep sleep state. In spite of these different states, there is a
continuity of ‘ME’. A waker goes, dreamer comes. A dreamer goes, a deep
sleeper comes and deep sleeper goes and waker comes. Three differentbeings
are notthere. There is one single thread that is there, which is actually what I
call as ‘Self / me’. The waking state Consciousness is differentfrom dreaming
state; dreaming state is differentfrom deep sleep state. But the Self is same.
That Self is called as Sakshi, the witness, which does not change in all the three
states. One who is witnessing all these three states is called Sakshi. This is from
the empirical pointof view. Which means, from Jiva point of view, there is
Sakshi.
But, from Brahman pointof view there is no Sakshi. From the point of view of
Brahman, thereis nothing else, no other. Everything is Consciousness. When
everything is Consciousness, what is Sakshi, what is the meaning of witness
there? But from the Jiva point of view, from the empirical point of view, I can
say, there is Sakshi. There is a concept in the empirical Self. Empirical self says,
something which is beyond me is watching me. That is why I am constant. But,
that is from the empiricalpoint of view. From Brahman pointof view, there is
no Sakshiand sakshyam. The witness and the witnessed is not there. It is pure
Consciousness, infinity.Themoment we say, from the Brahman pointof view
there is Sakshi, Brahman is watching something, that means, there is an object,

other than Brahman, which bringsin duality. Brahman is Advaita, non-dual.
There is no other. There is no concept of Sakshi possible.
But then, manyscriptures say, Brahman is a knower, all knowing. So, this is
possible only from the point of view of the empirical Self, individual Self which
has a concept that Brahman is all knower. Brahman is pureknowledge, shuddha
chaitanya, PureChaitanya. There is no concept of Sakshi or sakshyam, witness
or witnessed in Brahman. Thatwitness concept is there for Jiva, to overcome its
limitations and realize Brahman.
Now the question comes – who realized Brahman? Can Self realize Brahman?
No, because Brahman is all that is there. Can we say that “The Individual self
realized Brahman ?” because the Individual self had identified falsely with the
body, mind and intellect due to ego. When the ignorancedrops, then the
Individualself can say, ‘I realized Brahman’.. When ignoranceisdropped pseudo
identity in the form of ego gets dropped. Dropping of theignoranceis called
realization of Brahman.
When we realize Brahman, individual self becomes one with the Brahman. Like
a salt dollthat becomes one with the ocean when it enters the ocean, the
Individualself which is alreadyone with the Brahman buthad forgotten its
identity, realizes, ‘I am onewith Brahman,’. Pseudo identitycalled ego cannot
claim that I realized Brahman since it disappears. In the firstplace it was never
really there at all. It is morelike a shadow. Individual self cannot claim that I
realized Brahman because it was already one with Brahman buthad
forgotten. In other words, nobodyclaims that I have realized Brahman. Silence
is the answer!!
In reality, there is nobodywho realizes Brahman. But, because the false
identification is dropped, then he can say ‘I realized Brahman’. Thefalse
knowledge is gone. There is nothing called Sakshi or sakshyam in Brahman.
BB 13
https://youtu.be/5toeA5HoKOs
Let us contemplateon the natureof the experience of Brahman.

As I told earlier, there aretwo types of experiences – experienceof the world,
or empirical experience, and second is experience of Self realization or
Brahman. Howarethey different? Anyexperience of the world requiresmind,
body and intellect. In the experience of the world, there arealways three –
the experiencer, the experienced, and the process of experiencing; the known,
the knower and the knowledge. This means that the experience in the world is
indirect, not direct, because there is an intermediary– a filtering mechanism.
The eyes, the senses, the mind, and the intellect filter outthe information. Our
senses are limited – they filter out some information; our mind is limited – it
filters out some information; our intellect is limited – it filters out some
information.
Any empiricalexperience in the world is not direct. It is indirect, through sense
organs. When I say indirect, it is like somebody wearing glasses. Instead of
seeing through the eyes, he has worn glasses. That means there is an
intermediate agency, which is called glasses. In the empirical experience or the
experience of the world, the mind, body, and intellect become the
intermediate. That is not direct. It is indirect. And there is Triputi – the knower,
the known and the knowledge.
But for the experience of Brahman or Self realization, there is no Triputi; there
is no knower, known or the knowledge. The knower, known and knowledge
become knowledge – pure knowledge. In the experience of Brahman, or
experience of Self realization, there is no intermediary. Thatmeans, it is
immediate; and it is direct. There is no mind, no intellect, and no body.
Except for the experience of Brahman which is a directexperience, every other
experience in the empirical world is indirect, and also, it is not immediate –
there is a gap. When I hear a sound, the sound takes some time to reach my
ears. When I see some light, there is a gap between the seeing and
understanding. You mighthave seen thunder and lightening. First, you see the
lightening and then hear the thunder; becauselightening comes first and
thunder comes later. There is a gap in the experience; there is a time delay in
the experience. There is an intermediaryin the experience of the empirical
world.
In Contrast, in Brahmanubhava or Brahmanubhuti or Self realization, there is
no intermediary. Thereis no mediating in this. There is no delay, it is immediate.
And there is no effort. For everything else, effortis required.

For everything in the materialworld, effortis required. If I have to see
something, I have to turn my neck. If I have to see a mountain, I have to go near
the mountain. There is an effortinvolved, there is an intermediaryinvolved, and
there is time or delay involved. In Brahmanubhuti, thereis no effort, because
you cannotput an effort. Thereis no intermediary like mind, body or intellect.
And it is immediate; there is no delay.
I will give an example for empirical experience and experience of the Self. You
go into a room, a dark room. When I ask ‘Isthere a chair in the room?’ You
might say, ‘I don’tknow, I have to switch on the light.’ You switch on the light
and see that there is a chair. Thereis an effortinvolved. Only then you can say
that the chair is there. In the same darkroom, I will ask you another question,
‘Areyou there?’ You won’t say, ‘I have to think whether I am there or not,’ or, ‘I
have to switch on the light to find out whether I am there or not.’ Your
experience of yourself is direct. It is immediate. It doesn’trequireany light or
any intermediate means, whereas everything else requireseffortand an
intermediary.
Brahmanubhava or Self realization is direct, without intermediaryor anything,
and it is effortless. I will give another example. There are ten people trying to
cross a river. And, there was a flood in the river. Once they crossed the river,
they counted themselves. They found only nine people. Suddenly, the person
who was counting starts crying, saying that one person has drowned. Then, he
recollects his senses and counts again. This time, he counts himself also.
So, Brahmanubhava isrecognizing what you alreadyare. Recognizing what
you are is recollection of what you are. It is not an effort.
Then the question comes aboutscriptural teachings and teachings from the
Guru. Brahman cannotbeknown without teachingsof Guru and teachings of
scriptures. But these teachings arestill for the mind and intellect. They are
not realizations. They arethere to help you understand Brahman in an indirect
way, not in a direct way. That is why these arecalled Paroksha, not Aparoksha,
indirect. Indirectly you will know Brahman, butthat is not Self realization. If
somebody has studied some 100 scripturesand he is well versed in that, does
not mean that he is Brahman realized. He has knowledge. This is called Jnana.
Brahman realization is not Jnana, it is Prajnana.
Whatis the differencebetween Jnana and Prajnana? Jnana, thereis a mental
understanding. Prajnana iswhatyou are. Itis a direct experience. There is
no intermediaryinvolved. Prajnana ispure Awareness. So, in the pure
Awareness, is there knowledge of the Self? No. The knowledge of the Self can

be obtained only when the intellect or Buddhi is there. That is indirectly through
books, and that indirectinformation is there for the Buddhi. But that is ok when
Self is associated with the Buddhibecause the Self is in the ignorance. To
remove the ignorance, you need indirect knowledge. But the momentSelf
dissociates with the intellect, Self doesn’t identify with the intellect, the mind
merges with the Self. Then it is a non-dual experience, there is no duality. Is it
real experience? It is real experience, there is no duality, it is direct and that is
why it is called Aparokshanubhuti. Itis immediate, it is effortless. And there is
no mind, body, and intellect involved.
Pranams
BB 14
https://youtu.be/ifLK7gEP8xw
Let us contemplateon realizing Brahman and what the means arefor that.
‘I am doing selfless service, Karma Yoga, or Yajna. Will it help in Brahman
realization?’ It will help in Brahman realization, butthat is notBrahman
realization; because this selfless service or Yajna will only help you to purifyyour
mind. Purification of the mind is an aid to the realization of Brahman, butthat is
not Brahman realization. ‘I have devotion’, without devotion you cannotachieve
anything in life. Without devotion you cannotattain the Self. Devotion is a
requirement, devotion to Atma Jnana, devotion to Brahman, devotion to
Bhagawan is very necessary.
Devotion means love. Even if you have to study for some subject, say
engineering or mathematics, if you don’thave love, you cannotstudy. It
becomes hard. A person who teaches also should have love for the subject, and
then only teaching will become good. Howcan you realize God, without love for
God? That love is called Devotion or Bhakthi. The devotion helps in keeping your
focus. Again, the focusis related to the mind. Devotion purifiesyou. But that
itself is not realization.
‘I do lot of breathing practice, or Pranayama, mymind becomes silent, my
breathing stops.’ When the mind stops by doing Kriya Yoga or Raja Yoga
processes, using Prana, you can still the mind. It is called ‘Manolaya’. Themind
becomes silent. But the ignoranceof the mind has notgone. So, pranayama can

help you, the breathing practicecan help you; Itdoes help you to calm your
mind. Does it help you to realize Brahman? No.
‘I have read all the scriptures from Vedanta, will it help me?’ Definitely it will
help you. It will help you to remove ignoranceof the Self. Jnana can nullify the
ignorance– Ajnana. But it cannot give Prajnana. Prajnana iswhat you are. Atma
Jnana is helpfulin removing the ignoranceof the mind, which means
purification of the Buddhi. These practiceslike the Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga,
Bhakti Yoga, Kriya Yoga, are helpful, they are purification practices. But Self-
realization is not a result of any action. Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga,
Kriya Yoga are all actions. Karma Yoga is physical action, Bhakti Yoga is mental
action, Jnana Yoga is intellectual action and Kriya Yoga is action at the energy
level. Brahma Jnana or Atma Jnana is not a result of any action, because
Brahman Jnana or Atma Jnana is effortless. It is your own nature. Itis a direct
experience.
So, body, mind, intellect and energyare related to Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga,
Jnana Yoga and Kriya Yoga. These Yogas help you to get purified. But Brahma
Jnana or Brahmanubhutior Aparokshanubhutiisa direct experience. These
practices help you to calm your mind and purifyyour mind. But direct
experience is effortless. It is immediate. It is not the result of some action. If it is
the result of your action, then you will say, ‘I will do some million times of
breathing and then I will get Brahman,’ ‘I will do some million times Japa, then I
will get Brahman.’ Theywill help you to purifyyour mind, they will help you to
make your mind calm, butBrahman experience is not a cause and
effect’. ‘Cause and effect’ is there in the empirical world. Time is there in the
empiricalworld. Brahman realization is beyond time, space, and effort. Itis
direct, it is immediate. It is notcausal.
BB 15
https://youtu.be/Xa47O85sfMg
Silence is the only way to communicatethe experience of Brahman. Once,
Seven Rishis went to Bhagwan SriDakshinamurthyand requested
Dakshinamurthyto teach about Self realization or Brahmanubhuti.
Dakshinamurthysatin silence for seventy two years. And the seven Rishis also
sat in silence in frontof him for seventy two years. He was communicating what
Brahman realization is about, because Brahman realization cannotbe expressed
through anywords, ideas or concepts. The words, ideas or concepts belong to

the category of mind and intellect. The experience of Brahman realization is
beyond mind and intellect. Mind, intellect and body are vehicles or instruments.
When there is a tube light, fan etc., and electricity goes through them, the tube
light is able to give light, and the fan rotates. But, fan and tube light can never
understand aboutelectricity. Similarly, the body, mind and intellect complex
can never understand Brahman experienceor Brahman realization.
When the mind is silent, free from ignorance, themind becomes onewith the
Brahman and that is the Brahman experience. And because the mind is absent,
the experience cannotbe communicated. Letus take two types of experiences
– oneis empiricalexperience and other is experience of Self realization or
Brahman realization. In empirical experience, which is nothing butworldly
experience, there is something to be known - ‘I know the flower’, ‘I know the
taste of sugar’. So, thereis an object and an subject. There is a separation
between the object and the subject. When there is separation between the
object and subject, you can explain that experience. Explanation may not be
correct, it may be inaccurate, but still the explanation is possible. For example,
you can say, ‘I ate a jilebi and it was very sweet’. Sweet is a word which
communicatessome idea to somebody. But how sweet it is cannotbe
communicated. But, if an idea is to be communicated, it cannot be
communicated to someone who has no experience of that. To somebody who
doesn’t understand sweet, even if you say sweet, he doesn’t understand. So, to
communicatesome idea, the person also should have had that experience.
Otherwise, you cannotcommunicateit. The communication maynot be
accurate, but communication can happen, through wordsand ideas, in the
empiricalexperience or experience of the world.
WhereasBrahman experience or the realization of Brahman is beyond thought,
word, or deed. It is beyond the physical, mental and intellectual. So, there is no
way you can explain it. Thatis why people who realize Brahman communicate
through silence. Somebodyasked Buddha, ‘Whatdid you realize?’ He said, ‘I
woke up - I was awakened’. He didn’tsay he realized something, because any
positive statement will restrict the scope. The positive statement can belong to
the category of empirical experience – known. That is why Upanishadsteach
the Brahman as ‘Neti, neti, neti’ - ‘Notthis, not this, not this.’ It teaches in a
negated way. Even the experience of Brahman realization, Advaita, is a negated
word. Advaita doesn’t mean oneness. Advaita means, ‘there is no two’; it
doesn’t say one. The experienceof Brahman cannotbe communicated through
a positive word, becausepositive word restricts the scope of communication.
For example, ‘That flower is red in color,’ is a very positive and accurate
statement. Now, it restricts the scope and points to an experience. SupposeI

say, ‘Thatflower is not red,’ it is a negative statement. Then, it can be pink,
yellow, green, purple or any other color, leaving open for any other color. That
is why Upanishadsteach experience of Brahman in the negative terms - ‘Neti,
neti, neti,’ because, what is Consciousness, cannotbe explained through any
words.
It is the Consciousness which gives the power to the speech, intellect, and the
mind. Just like electricity powers the tube light, buttube light can never
understand electricity, the mind, intellect and bodycan never understand
Consciousness. So, the experience of Self realization can only be communicated
through silence.
But then, it becomes difficultfor people to understand. Whatwill people
understand? Somewhere, you have to communicate. That is why Rishis used
positive wordsfor communication. Theysaid - ‘Sat-Chit-Ananda’,which means,
‘Truth-Consciousness-Bliss’. Theysaid, ‘Satyam-Jnanam-Anantam Brahma’,
which means, ‘Truth, knowledge, and Infinityis Brahman’. Theysaid, ‘Tat Tvam
Asi’, which means, ‘You Are That’. These areall abstractions which are helping
your mind to ponder over Brahman, butthey arenot accuratestatements. They
are notprecise, they areabstract statements. They will help you to understand
the nature of Brahman experience, because a human mind needs some
support. The supportis given in terms of teachings of Upanishads. These are
indicative of Brahman experience, butthey are notaccurate, because, no words
can accuratelyexplain the Brahman.
That is why Rishis said ‘Neti, neti, neti’ - ‘notthis, not this, not this,’ and left the
realization of Brahman open, as a direct experience; because, if you say, ‘Iti, iti,
iti’ - ‘this, this, this’, the mind comes into picture and tries to find out
something, an object, and conceptualizes. If you say ‘no, no, no’ the mind
cannotconceptualize. That is why it is said ‘yatho vacho nivarthanthe’ –to talk
aboutBrahman, the wordswill fail, the words cannotexplain it. It
is ‘anirvachaneeyam’.Thisis the natureof Brahman experience. You cannot
speak. You cannot communicate. You can only point out. The pointing out is
differentfrom the pointer. The pointer is differentfrom the pointed. If I show
the moon, my finger is here, but moon is there. You have to look at the moon.
All statements of scriptureare pointers. But, people catch hold of the pointer
and think that is the reality. No; the reality or truth, the absolute truth, can be
explained in no words. Wordsfail. Silence is indicative. But, there is also the
silence of the fool, and silence of the wise man. A fool also can be silent; a wise
man also can be silent. So, silence can be misunderstood. Thatis why, some
guidelines are given, and some pointers aregiven to help you.

Pranams.
BB 16
https://youtu.be/sPis47Z1lxo
Today let us contemplateon ‘Whatis reality?’ ‘Arethere gradesin reality, are
there parallelrealities?’ Let us understand. ‘Aretheremultiple realities?’ Reality
is something which doesn’tchange over time. That is called ‘Sat’ or ‘Satya’
which means reality.
Let me ask you a question. “You are seeing a wall or you are seeing a flower
here. Are they real? Arethey Satya? Or are they false?”
It is real until something which is more real than that wall or flower comes into
picture. Reality is a relative word. There is something which is absolutely real
and there is something which is relatively real. For example, this is a cup. Is this
cup real? Yes, cup is real; otherwise, I can’t drinka cup of coffee. But this is a
paper cup. Paper has taken the shape of a cup. Cup is relative reality and paper
is absolutereality. Paper can also take the shape of a boat or anything else.
Whereasthe cup cannottake any other shape. Cup is a relative reality, and
paper is an absolute reality.
(Satya and Mithya)
In Sanskrit, relative reality is called “Mithya”. Mithya doesn’tmean false or an
illusion. And Satya means absolute reality. In other words, Mithya means
dependent reality and Satya means absolute reality. So, paper cup is dependant
reality and that is why it is Mithya. Paper is Satya, absolute reality. Paper can
take the shape of many things, cup cannottake. Paper is Satya and paper cup is
Mithya. Now, you have understood, Satya and Mithya. Many people
misunderstand Mithya as false or unreal or illusion. No, it is dependantreality. If
there is no paper, there is no cup. But on the other hand, if there is no shape of
cup, still paper can be there. So, whatis dependent on what? Cup is dependent
on paper. Thatis why paper is absolutereality and cup is relative reality. Paper
is Satya, cup is Mithya.
Now, let us look at paper itself. Is paper absolute reality? Paper is made up of
molecules. So, molecules are Satya, paper is Mithya. Let us go onestep further.

Is molecule Satya? Molecules aremade up of atoms, and atoms are Satya, then
molecules is Mithya, paper is Mithya and paper cup is Mithya. Because Satya is
morefundamentalreality. Is molecule Satya? Is atom Satya? So again further go
back. Atom is nothing butenergy. Energyis Satya and atom is Mithya. Is energy
Satya? Energy is nothing butmovement in Consciousness. Consciousness is
Satya and energy is Mithya. Like that, absolute reality and dependantreality.
(Consciousness is Absolute reality)
Now, what is beyond Consciousness? Nothing. You cannot find anything beyond
Consciousness. Consciousness is absolute reality and Consciousness aloneis
Satya. Everything else is a relative reality, so it is Mithya. Mithya can go and
anything can happen to Mithya, butnothing will happen to Satya.
Let us take another example. Thereare gold ornaments; thereis a gold ring,
gold necklace etc. Ring is Mithya, gold is Satya. Is gold Satya? No, Consciousness
is Satya, by the same logic stated above. So, any logic you take, Consciousness
alone becomes the Satya. Everything else becomes Mithya. So, we should go
after Satya, because Satya alone doesn’t changeover a period of time. Satya
alone doesn’tdestroy. Mithya can change in shape, Mithya can get destroyed,
but nothing will happen to Satya. That is why, we say, we have to catch hold of
truth - Satya. If you catch hold of Satya, then you will become eternal and
immortal. So, go after Satya, which is Consciousness.
(Other viewpoints)
Now, people don’t take up the Consciousness as fundamental reality. Thereare
variousviewpoints, philosophies. Some, people say, there aretwo realities,
Consciousness, and matter. There are two parallelrealities. That means two
parallel Satyasor realities which are Consciousness and matter. Advaita Vedanta
view is that there are no two parallelrealities, there is only one reality. That is
Consciousness. Then you will ask, ‘Oh! There is a world I can see which appears
to be solid and I am conscious. The world is separatefrom me. There aretwo
realities. Somewhere, there must be something that is not correct.’ Thereare
no two realities.
(Consciousness is the only reality)
The world as a reality is an ‘appearance’ in Consciousness, butit is not a parallel
reality, it is Mithya, in that sense. World is not a parallelreality, there is no
another or one more reality, thereis only one reality. That is called
Consciousness. Thatis Advaita. There is no two. There is nothing other than
Consciousness.

For us, it appearsthat I am Consciousand the stone is dead, it is unconscious.
We feel that there are two realities, conscious reality and unconsciousreality.
There is Consciousness and unconsciousness, which I can see. There is
sentience and insentience. There are 2 parallel realities. But the second reality is
not absolute, it is only a dependantreality. It is dependenton Consciousness.
That is why it is called ‘Advaita’ or ‘non-dual’.
How is that, I shall explain in next talk.
Pranams
BB 17
https://youtu.be/gEDdnWMS-s0
Let us contemplateon the next topic - ‘You are infinite’.
Areyou infinite? ‘Yes, yes. I was 40kg when I was twenty years old and now I
have become 80kg – I have becomeinfinite.’ No. This has nothing to do with
your body. In essence you are infinite. All of our life, we keep on struggling to
become something in life – ‘I want to becomesomething in life.’ Our entire
struggle is – ‘I want to become importantin life.’ All I want is to be something
bigger. ‘I want to have name,’ which means, ‘I want to expand.’ ‘I wantto make
money,’ which means, ‘I want to acquiremorepower.’ All our life, we are trying
somehow to expand ourselves and become something infinite and larger. That
is our basic motivation.
Somewhere, we are not satisfied with what we are. There is a lot of
dissatisfaction. ‘I look very finite,’ ‘I look very small.’ But, what if, whatyou
understand is wrong? That is why Vedanta teaches us ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ – ‘Thatyou
are’ or ‘You arethat’. Now please understand, in ‘You are that’, ‘You’ is the real
essence of you, the actual you - the real you; ‘That’ means Brahman, the
SupremeReality. All encompassing infinite reality is you. ‘How can I be? I am so
small.’ – This is your question. ‘From small I want to become infinite. I am a Jiva,
individual. How can I become infinite?’ This is the question we have for ‘Tat
Tvam Asi’ – ‘That you are’. For thatthe answer is – Vedanta doesn’t say that you
have to become that. It doesn’tsay ‘TatTvam Bhava’ – ‘You have to become
that’. No. Then you will ask ‘I am feeling finite, how do I become infinite?’
Vedanta doesn’tsay, ‘You meditate for twenty four hoursa day for so many

years and then you will become that; from finite, you will become infinite.’ No.
By doing something you cannotbecome infinite, because, you already are. For
what you alreadyare, you cannot do something. ‘No, I am finite. I want to
become infinite. Should I have devotion, sing Bhajans, chanta name for a
million times?’ No, because you already arethat. ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ – You already
are that. ‘Should I do breathing practicessome million times to find outwhether
I am That; whether I am infinite?’ Sorry, no, becauseyou already arethat. ‘How
is that possible? I am feeling so miserable, so small.’ You arenot small, you are
infinite – that you have to recognize.
That is why you have to understand ‘Tat’ and ‘Tvam’ and ‘Asi’. When I say
‘Tvam’, it means ‘you’; so when you use the word ‘I’, whatdoes it mean?
Sometimes I use the word ‘I’ for body; sometimes I use the word ‘I’ for mind,
sometimes I use the word for intellect. ‘I am hungry’ – who is hungry? The body
is hungry. SometimesI will say, ‘I am sad’ – the mind is sad. Sometimes I say ‘I
am worrying’ – the intellect is worrying. So, you use the word ‘I’ under various
contexts. Then ‘I’ itself is changing. But, deep inside, you know that ‘I’ is not
changing. You arethe same ‘I’. So, thereis a changing ‘I’ in you, and an
unchanging ‘I’ in you. Deep inside, you know that you are the unchanging ‘I’.
But, while talking, while communicating, you confuseyourself for a changing ‘I’.
Deep inside, you knowthat you are not changing ‘I’. Now, Tvam refersto that
unchanging ‘I’. Thisunchanging ‘I’ isnot a thought. A thoughtcomes up and
goes. A thought sometimes says, ‘I am a body,’ sometimes says,’ I am the mind.’
When you wake up in the morning, thethoughtof ‘I’ comes. In deep sleep, the
thoughtof ‘I’ disappears. Butstill, ‘You’ continue, because in deep sleep you are
not dead. There is something in you that continues in deep sleep also. In deep
sleep, waking and dreaming states, all the states, something in you is
continuing. Thatis permanent. And thatis the real ‘I’. And what is the natureof
that? Natureof that is Awareness and Consciousness.
But, you confusethat real and unchanging ‘I’ in you and identify with the body,
mind and intellect. So, that is the problem. Now, the problem is not you
becoming infinite, butthe problem is removing the mistake of understanding –
correcting the understanding. Thatis the problem. If you are alreadyinfinite,
you cannotbecome infinite. So, if you are infinite, but you think you are finite,
then the correction can happen. Thecorrection is required for your
understandings – for the intellect, Buddhi. Thatis where you have to realize, ‘I
am not the body, I am notthe mind, I am not the intellect, but I am the pure
Consciousness.’ ‘Naanu naanembudu naanalla, ee deha, mana,buddhi
naanalla, sachidanandaatma Shiva naanu naane. Shivoham, Shivoham,
Shivoham.’

This realization has to happen.
Now, you cannot becomeConsciousness, because you alreadyare
Consciousness. But you can correctyour wrong understanding and realize
that you are notthe body, mind and intellect. Then, you will be established in
Consciousness. This can happen through Jnana. Jnana isa way for realization.
So, another example I can give you – you can see the Sun rise in the east and
the Sun set in the west. By looking at this, we can think Sun is going round the
earth. That is whatpeople thought, until somebody realized, that earth is going
round the Sun, butthe Sun is not going round the earth. So now, people
corrected their understanding, and becauseof that they started having new
discoveries. Understanding gotcorrected. Hundredsof years ago, somebody
started exploring and they traveled from Europeto India – Europe to America,
and that was a discovery of a new continent. Similarly, earlier people
had thought earth is flat,nowthey understand that earth is round, so it is a
correction in understanding, earth looksthe same. Also, they realized that earth
is going round the Sun. So manynew discoveries started happening. What
happened? The basic understanding gotcorrected. Similarly, when your
understanding is wrong, and you identify with our body, mind and intellect, you
feel limited.
If we are Consciousness, we areunlimited. Howare we unlimited as
Consciousness? I am seeing the stars, I am seeing the moon, I am seeing the
whole sky, which is infinite. Now, where is that? Sky is there, is it not in your
Consciousness? Is it not in your Awareness? Everything is in your Consciousness.
Now let me ask you a question. Between two of my hands, how much is the
gap? You can see in inches – how manyinches? Ten inches, or twelve inches is
the gap. There is a gap between my hands. But, how much is the gap between
me and the space – my hand and space? How much is the distance between my
hand and space? Between two hands, there is a ten inch gap; between this
hand and space, how much is the gap? No gap. With the other hand and space
how much is the gap? No gap. Both handsare in space. Why are they in space?
It is because, space is all pervading reality. Spaceis everywhere. In that my hand
is there. Whatever is there everywhere, you don’thave a distance between that
and your hand or anything. Is there a distance between your body and space?
No, there cannot be, because space is everywhere. Spaceis subtler than the
body, which is why space is all pervading and in space you exist. There is no gap
between you and space.
Consciousness is subtler than the space, because in Consciousness space is
available. WithoutConsciousness you cannotunderstand space. So, how much

gap is there between Consciousness and space? It is zero. Howmuch is the gap
between Consciousness and your body? No gap. How much gap is there
between Consciousness and the Sun? No gap. So everything exists in
Consciousness. And who is that Consciousness? You are. Everything what you
perceive is in your Consciousness. Whatyou perceive is infinity – infinite sky.
That is in your Consciousness and who is that Consciousness? You arenot the
body, you are not the mind, you are notthe intellect; you are that
Consciousness. You are that Awareness. Everything is in Awareness. Since
everything is in you, you are alreadyinfinite. And you arefeeling miserable,
because you are wronglythinking that you are the body. You are identifying the
consciousness with a small body. Howdid the infinite identify with this finite?
There is one example. There is space in this room, and there is space outside.
Arethe space inside and the space outside the same or different? Hasspace got
cut because of the room? Spacecannotbe cut, because space is subtler than
the walls. But, space inside the room appearsto be small. Spaceoutside
appearsto be infinity. This applies to space because it is physical. But,
Consciousness is subtler than space, because in Consciousness space has
appeared. So, can Consciousness be cut – inside and outside? The
Consciousness is all pervading reality, which is you, which is infinite. But, just
like the space inside the room appears as room inside space, and space outside
the room appearsto be outer space, the conscious inside your body and
mind that appearsto be as you is called Individual Consciousness. Whereas, the
Consciousness outside, is the Universal Consciousness or God, or Brahman. That
is infinite, but you appear to be finite because of the limitations of the bodyand
mind.
If you really understand the natureof Consciousness, you will understand that
there is no body and mind which can limit the Consciousness. Consciousness is
same, one Consciousness, which is infinite. When space itself cannotbe bound
by walls, how Consciousness can be bound by walls? You, and the Sun and the
Moon, arein the Consciousness. ‘You’ means your body. Sun is also in the
Consciousness, there is no gap between Sun and the Consciousness; Moon is
also in the Consciousness, because there is no gap between the Moon and
Consciousness; your body is also in Consciousness. Your body, Sun, Moon,
everything is an object in Consciousness. Your problem is, you are identifying
the object in Consciousness with the Consciousness inside your body, and that
is why you think that my Consciousness is limited to that body. You have to just
understand that Consciousness is not limited by a body. Spacecannotbe limited
by a body, how can Consciousness be limited by a body? The space inside and
space outside are same, similarly the Consciousness inside and Consciousness

outside are same. Consciousness inside is called Atman, and Consciousness
outside is called Brahman or God. They are the same.
Whereis the confusion coming into picture? The confusion is coming because
of the Buddhi, the intellect. Intellect is causing the confusion. Intellect is causing
erroneousjudgmentsaying that ‘I am seeing the body’ – intellect cannotsee
the Consciousness. Intellect is saying that ‘I am the body’ because, what it sees
it thinks, ‘it is me’. The Consciousness, Atman, the individual within you, the
Consciousness in you, identifies with that erroneousintellect and thinks that it
is also you. That’s all. The momentcorrection happensin intellect,
Consciousness says, ‘I am infinite’ – Consciousness understands, ‘I am infinite’.
Or rather, thereis a feeling of infinity. So, realization is the result of clear Jnana
– Ajnana removal.
So do you understand whatthe meaning of ‘TatTvam Asi’ is? ‘Tat Tvam Asi’
means you are infinite. You are thinking that you arethe body, mind and
intellect – that is a wrong understanding. You alreadyareinfinite. Correctyour
understanding, and then you will feel or rather understand that infinity, and
that you are Brahman – thatAtman is nothing but Brahman. Thisis the
understanding which is required. And how can this happen? Itcan happen
through Jnana only. Shravana, Manana, and Nidhidhyasa. Jnana –not a general
and intellectual understanding. Finally, it has to be Nidhidhyasa. It hasto
establish as truth in you. You have to live that truth. Nidhidhyasa is not
meditation. Nidhidhyasa is contemplation to establish the truth. So, you have to
remove all your doubts. Then you will get established in the truth. ‘You’ means
not the intellect. It is the Consciousness. It no longer identifies with the body
and mind. Itidentifies with the infinite space. That is called ‘TatTvam Asi’.
For that you have to meditate on ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ – ‘I am Brahman’, ‘I am
Consciousness’.
BB 18
https://youtu.be/exI-iDbWRhI
Let us look at variousstates of consciousness or states of mind and see how
they arerelated or not related to Brahmanubhava or Brahmanubhuti.
Brahmanubhutiisdirect experience of Brahman.

Let us take up first deep sleep. Deep sleep, in Sanskritis called Sushupthi.
Sushupthimeans, becoming one with own Self, attaining oneness with own Self.
In deep sleep and in Brahmanubhava, therearesomesimilarities, and some
dissimilarities. In deep sleep, bliss is experienced. In Brahmanubhava also the
bliss is experienced. The bliss of Brahmanubhava isnowherecomparable, or
rather very differentand is of a very higher degree when compared to bliss in
deep sleep. Bliss in Brahmanubhava isfar greater or much greater than the bliss
in deep sleep. Both are blissful state. In deep sleep, there is undifferentiated
consciousness. You don’tknow what is happening outside. You don’tknow what
is happening inside. In Brahmanubhava also thereis undifferentiated
consciousness. But, in deep sleep, there is no awareness of anything and the
ignorance, the mind and sense organshave gone to seed condition /seed state
or causal state.
Also, in Brahmanubhava themind has becometranquiland because of the
discrimination the external objects are found to be illusory. The mind becomes
free from the thoughts. When the mind becomes free from the thoughts, it
becomes tranquiland it becomes one with the Self. You can know the presence
of the mind if there are objects. Because, mind reflects the objects and if there
are no objects, there is no mind. You cannotfind outthe mind. But, now, in the
world, there areso manyobjects. By proper discriminativeintelligence, the
Buddhi,if we understand the true natureof the objects, that they are not real,
that they areMithya, then mind becomes thoughtfree. Mind becomes silent
and mind becomes free from ignorance/Ajnana, and itbecomes one with the
Self. Then the experience of bliss is Brahmananda, theSupremebliss. The
ignorancein the mind is gone.
Whereas, in case of deep sleep, ignoranceis there. Even though mind has
become undifferentiated consciousness, the mind doesn’t become one with
Brahman, becausethe ignoranceis still there. Ignorancehasgone to seed state.
The moment you wake up, the seed comes up and again you feel the
separation. So, you go to deep sleep everyday, experience bliss and come back,
but again you come back with ignorance. Because, when you go to deep sleep,
you go with ignoranceand hence you come back with ignorance. In
Brahmanubhava, theignoranceisremoved through proper discrimination.
Sleep has a cause. Bodygets tired, mind gets tired, you get into sleep. Whereas,
Brahmanubhava iscauseless. Because, Brahmanubhava, you arealready
Brahman. Becauseof the ignorance, you are not recognizing it. The moment
ignorancegoes, you recognize your true natureas Brahman. Themind becomes
one with Brahman. Brahmanubhava isnot reversible. Whereasthe ignorancein

the deep sleep comes up again when you wake up. Even though there is
similarity between Brahmanubhava and deep sleep, Brahmanubhava istotally
different.
Don’tever confusethe Brahmanubhava with deep sleep. The similarity between
Brahmanubhava and deep sleep is the non duality which is present in deep
sleep also, there is no other. In Brahmanubhava also thereis no other. But, in
Brahmanubhava ignorancehasgone. Themind has become onewith Brahman
and there is non-dualitybecause ignoranceis removed. In deep sleep non-
duality is there because mind has gone into a seed state.
So Brahmanubhava or Brahmanubhutiand deep sleep are totally different. Even
though there are similarities. So, at the best, we can say, deep sleep is a
reminder for us, everyday, to attain the Bliss of Brahman. Itis a reminder for us.
So, go for the Bliss of Brahman. Deep sleep is like a reminder, but it is notthe
real Brahmanubhuti.
Pranams
BB 19
https://youtu.be/qIs0t8GhE8o
Let us contemplateon one moreexperience, death.
Aredeath and Brahmanubhava similar? When you arealive, there is a body, and
experience through the body, experience of the world and there is sense of
duality. Thereis a feeling that I am embodied, I am within the body, for the Self.
Obviously, in death, body is dropped which means there is a liberation,
freedom. Can this be a state of liberation? Can this be a state of Mukti? Can this
be a Brahmanubhava?
SriShankara, doesn’tagreewith this. First of all, he doesn’tagree or accept or
agree with the fact that, if you have a body, Self is embodied. The body is in
the Self, it is notthe other way. Self is not embodied within the body. But, that
is a common experience in people. That is because of the ignoranceof the
mind. The mind is superimposing the body on the Self and Self on the body.

Because of this, there is a illusion that Atma is imprisoned within the body.
Atma is not imprisoned within the body.
(Atma is not inside body)
For example, I am sitting in this room. Thereis space in the room and without
space I cannotbe there. Within me also there is space. Within me and without
me there is space. But the space is not trapped within me. Because, my body
cannotlimit the space, bodycannot cut the space.
The Self, Atma, Consciousness is subtler than the space. So, no bodycan bind it.
There is no way the bodycan imprison Atma. But the mind creates
a condition as if the Atma is imprisoned in the body. That is why people say
‘Atma is in me’, as if the body is me and Atma is inside me. In reality, bodyis
in Atma. Nothing can limit or bind Atma.
So, from Atma’spoint of view, having a body or not having a body doesn’t make
differencewith referenceto its bondage. But of course, for the mind it makes
difference. When jivatma changes from onebody to another, the ignorance
doesn’t go and hence even after death, the ignorancedoesn’tgo. Do not
confusedeath with liberation. People think that after death somebody gets
liberated, which is nottrue. The liberation has to happen, by removal of
ignorance, when you are alive. Not after death.
Pranams.
BB 20
https://youtu.be/X_oayOAyio0
Let us understand theYogic process of attaining Nirvikalpa Samadhiand
Vedantic process of attaining Brahmanubhuti.
Yogis have the Nirvikalpa Samadhias the highest. That is a state of liberation
called ‘Kaivalya’ – ‘Kevala’. SriShankara doesnot agree with this. The Nirvikalpa
Samadhiand Brahmanubhutihavesome similarities, but they are different. The
process of Yoga tries to master the mind, controlthe mind, make the mind
subtle and dissolve the mind. It is called ‘Manolaya’. Hesays, mind cannotbe
fully controlled; it is like catching hold of wind. The dissolution of the mind is
not what is required for realization. Dissolution of the mind or Manolaya is

harmful. Thatis why SriShankara advises all Vedantic Sadhakassaying ‘Don’ttry
to get into Nirvikalpa Samadhi.’
In the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, asyogis say, there is no Awarenessof the
other, there is no Awareness of the Self, there is no inner or outer Awareness. It
is an indeterminate state. Sometimes the breath may stop, sometimes the heart
beat may stop, and pulse may stop; when a yogi enters into a state of Nirvikalpa
Samadhi. Themind has goneinto a ‘laya’ or suppressed state. SriShankara says,
‘This is not realization’. In fact, the bliss obtained from the practice of Nirvikalpa
Samadhiis a block in the path of realization – A block in the path of Self
realization.
(Nirvikalpa Samadhi& Brahmanubhuti)
In ‘Samadhi’, ‘Dhi’ meansBuddhi, theintellect. Intellect has to be balanced.
Intellect is the master of the mind; and the intellect has to be active and
balanced for attaining Samadhi. In Atmanubhutior Brahmanubhuti, thereis
discrimination between the Self and non-Self - Atma and Anatma. Thereis
discrimination between what is temporaryand permanent – Nitya and Anitya.
Based on the process of ‘Neti, neti, neti’, you arediscarding what is noteternal,
what is temporary, what is Mithya. In the processmind becomes deeply silent,
because mind hasnothing butthoughts and objects; and, the thoughtsand
objects which are Mithya are rejected. Mind is reflecting the objects. If the
objects are there, mind is reflecting the objects; if there are no objects, mind
doesn’t reflectanything. The presenceof the mind is felt only when the objects
are reflected. So, when the objects arediscarded through proper
discrimination, the mind becomes tranquil – it doesn’t get suppressed. The
tranquilmind becomes onewith the Self, Atma, or Brahman. So, in the mind,
there is fullAwareness, but there is complete tranquility – the silence. The
silence is not forced, silence is through discrimination.
(Yoga Philosophy)
SriShankara doesn’tagree with the Yoga philosophy. Yoga philosophy says, ‘The
Self identifies with the mind, mind is from Prakruti – nature; because of the
modification of the mind, the Self identifies with that, and when mind goes
through turmoil, the Self also goes through turmoil.’ Thatis why Yoga says,
‘Chitta VruttiNirodaha’ –‘make the mind silent’. Then, the Self will become free
from that. Sri Shankara saysthat this is not a permanentstate, because again
the disturbancewill come in the mind and again the Self will get attached to
that. As per Shankara, themind has no real existence at all – mind is Mithya. It is
an appearancein the Self. Like how a snake is experienced in the rope, the mind

is experienced in Atma because of ignorance - Avidya. The moment Avidya goes;
the mind is experienced as no differentfrom Atma, or Brahman. Itis because of
the ignorancethat the mind is felt as a separate entity appearing in the Self.
Mind hasno real, separate existence at all. The moment ignorancegoes; mind
becomes one with the Atma, or Brahman. Thisis the state of realization.
(Nidhidhyasa)
So, state of Nirvikalpa Samadhiin Yoga, and the state of Brahmanubhutior
Brahman realization are not the same. Kaivalya Jnana and Brahma Jnana arenot
the same. That is why SriShankara advises people not to go into experience of
Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Rather, through proper Jnana and discrimination, attain the
tranquilityof the mind; through contemplation and Nidhidhyasa realize the
Brahman – Brahmanubhuti. Don’tattemptsuppressing the mind – Manolaya.
Look for Manonasha, or destruction of the ignoranceof the mind. That is the
way.
(Brahma Jnana)
In Yoga, there is no conceptof the Self merging with Ishwara; or Atma merging
with Brahman, or Ishwara. Shankara doesn’tagreewith that. Shankara says,
‘Atma is Brahma’. So, thereis a differencein the philosophyof Yoga and
Vedanta. Kevala Jnana obtained through Yoga is not same as Brahma Jnana. So,
Brahma Jnana is proper – obtained through proper discrimination, in a state of
mind which is full of Awareness, but tranquil; not in a suppressed state of mind.
Hence, don’t confusethe Nirvikalpa Samadhi with Brahmanubhuti.
Pranams
Brahmanubhuti – 21
https://youtu.be/sSKMX1emepI
Let us contemplateon Nirvikalpa Samadhi in Vedanta, We
discussed Nirvikalpa Samadhiin yoga. In Vedanta also, many times
Nirvikalpa Samadhimentioned. Weshould notconfuse this Nirvikalpa Samadhi
with the Nirvikalpa Samadhiin yoga. Nirvikalpa Samadhiin yoga is
obtained through breath control, mastery over breath and prana,
Whereas, Nirvikalpa Samadhiin Vedanta is dueto processof jnana. They are
very different. Do not confuse with the other.

SriShankara speaks of Nirvikalpa Samadhiin ‘Viveka Chudamani’. People
confusethis, with Nirvikalpa Samadhiin yoga. They arenot the same. Sri
Shankara says, the mind has to be made Nirvikara. Nirvikara means without
disturbances. Howdo you make the mind Nirvikara? By taking up
the Sakshi bhava, by becoming the witness, mind becomes Nirvikara. The mind
which takes Nirvikara, becauseof Sakshi bhava or SakshiVritti, has to be made
tranquilby taking Brahmakara Vritti, or Akhandakara Vritti. Thiswill lead to a
realization called “Brahma Akhandarasa” or “Brahmanubhuti”.
(Steps in Nirvikalpa Samadhi)
The steps involved in Nirvikalpa Samadhi, asper SriShankara, ismaking the
mind Nirvikara. Becoming Sakshi, taking Sakshi Vritti. Any thoughtscoming, any
objects coming in the mind, the mind should not get involved in that. Because,
they areall Mithya, appearanceslike a wave in the consciousness. Don’tget
involved in that. Then mind becomes tranquil, mind becomes silent. This is
called Nirvikara. From Nirvikara, you have to take Brahmakara - of the form of
consciousness, of infinity. Nirvikara Vritti to Brahmakara Vritti. Nirvikara Vritti to
Akhandakara Vritti/ Brahmakara Vritti. From, Brahmakara Vritti you will attain
“Brahman” or “Akhandarasa”. Thishe calls as Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Ithas nothing
to do with the Nirvikalpa Samadhiin yoga. Do not confusethese two.
So, SriShankara speaks of Samadhiobtained through discriminativeintelligence.
Buddhihas to use discrimination, to find Atma and Anatma, Nitya and Anitya.
Based on that, Buddhi hasto discard, whatis not important and make the mind
tranquil, witness and from there Brahmakara Vritti hasto be obtained. From
there, Brahmanubhutihasto be obtained. This is the process of Vedanta. The
steps involved are Shravana, Manana and Nidhidhyasa. Thisis the way,
somebody has to approach Nirvikalpa Samadhiin Vedanta. Do not ever
confuse, Nirvikalpa Samadhiin yoga and Nirvikalpa Samadhiin Vedanta.
BB 22
https://youtu.be/WyHZnb3lRPE
Today let us consider the state of unconsciousness and Brahmanubhuti.
Somebodyhas become unconsciousor gone into coma either because of health
reason or because possibly he met with an accident, an injury to the head or

may be fits , a nervous system disorder somebodygoes into unconscious. In
unconsciousness, there is no awareness of the other, or awareness of the self.
There is no inside or outside. Is it not a non-dual state? Is it not similar to
Brahmanubhava?
It has some resemblance to Brahmanubhava, butitis not same as
Brahmanubhava or Brahmanubhutior realization. Itis non-dual, butthere is no
awareness and also there is ignorance. Ignoranceisnot gone. The self
ignorance, ignorancerelated to Self or ignorancerelated to the world has not
gone at all. So, it is a state of ignorance. Coming outof coma, still he will be
ignorant. And in the state of coma, sometimes it looks similar to deep sleep. In
deep sleep, the person who is sleeping will be peaceful, he will have some
regular breathing, whereasin coma it can be irregular breathing.
Also in unconsciousstate there is irregular breathing. Sometimes, in
unconsciousstate, the face can be distorted, indicating that there is some pain
or suffering. Whereas, a person who is sleeping, will have a peacefulstate,
peaceful experience. In other words, the coma or unconsciousstate, even
though it looks similar to deep sleep, even though it looks similar to
Brahmanubhuti, itis not common. Itis not same. Coma will notlead you to
liberation or enlightenment. It is a state of unawareness. Coma may also look
almost like death. Sometimes, breathing may stop, breathing may become
weak. In either case, it is nota state of awareness and ignoranceis not gone
and because of that, it is notsame as Brahmanubhuti. Nobodyshould confuse,
state of coma or state of unconsciousness as state of Brahmanubhuti.
Sometimes, what happens is, there areyogis or meditation
practitionersand through certain yogic or meditation practices they areable to
press certain nerve points. They put pressure on the nervouspoints, points in
the brain, or some part of the body. This will lead to a state of Samadhi, which
we call as ‘Jada Samadhi’. Jada Samadhiisalso similar to state of coma. There is
no awareness or jnana or no wisdom after you come outof that. So, nobody
should confuse either jada samadhior coma to be state of Brahmanubhutior
direct experience. It is said that, in jadasamadhi, some yogi is able to stop his
breath, heartbeatand stay there for long time.
There is one example: There was a monk who was meditating. He asked his
disciple to get one glass of water. The disciple ran to some near by place to get
one glass of water. In the meantime this monk enters into Samadhiand there
was a flood in the river. So, the monk was buried in the sand. After couple of
days, people were trying to dig there and find this monk, who was in a state of

Samadhi. Heartbeat was stopped, pulse was stopped, and he was almost in
death like state. They revived him and immediately after reviving, first thing he
asked was ‘whereis my glass of water?’ So, what happensis, there is not much
of wisdom, in such a state or either coma or jada samadhi. So, coma,
unconsciousness, jadasamadhi, all these things are not Brahmanubhuti, even
though they appear to be like that.
https://youtu.be/3MbAvO4sjXw
Today, let us contemplate on differentstates
of Consciousness versus Brahmanubhuti or directexperience.
Whatare the differentstates we consider? Deep sleep, unconsciousof coma,
state of yogic Samadhi called Nirvikalpa Samadhi or another state of
yogic Samadhi which is called Jada Samadhi and then Brahmanubhuti. The
differencebetween the other states of Consciousness and Brahmanubhuti, for
example, take deep sleep state, in deep sleep, the mind is withdrawn from the
world and mind goes to seed state. So, there is no wisdom possible. Even
though most of these states look similar to Brahmanubhuti, themind which is
responsible for knowledge, that function is withdrawn.
For example: I can see the world through these glasses. If the glasses aretaken
off, I cannot see the world. In deep sleep, the instrumenthas gone to seed
condition. Samething happensin unconsciousstate or Moorchavastha or coma.
In yogic Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the mind is controlled, graduallysubdued, and the
mind is merged with the rootelements called Moola Prakruti. Themind which is
a element that is responsible for knowledge is taken back to a seed condition in
case of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. In Jada Samadhi of yoga, the mind again goes into a
sort of dormantcondition. Whereas, in Brahmanubhuti, themind is active, the
mind is silent and mind merges with Brahman. Thatis why knowledge is
possible. Because mind is the one which is responsiblefor knowledge, wisdom.
So, what sort of the knowledge is gained by the mind in Brahmanubhuti? So, the
first knowledge gained by the mind is that it is not differentfrom Brahman, the
knowledge that I am onewith Brahman is gained. The second knowledge which
is gained by mind in Brahmanubhuti isthat the feeling of separation from
Brahman is illusionary. The third categoryof knowledge gained in

Brahmanubhuti isthat the world what you see in the mind is also not real. It is
an appearancein Brahman or Maya. Whereas, in other states
of Consciousness this type of wisdom is not available.
So, Brahmanubhuti or directrealization involves gaining of wisdom, because the
mind, which is the instrumentof knowledge is neither subdued nor it goes to
dormantstate, but it goes to stillness by viveka and vairagya which means right
kind of discrimination and detachment. Mind becomes calm, silent and merges
with Brahman. So, do not compareBrahmanubhuti and other states even
though they look similar, They are not same. Brahmanubhuti isvery
distinct, because the highest wisdom is gained in that state.
Pranams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsUaJ8yvU14
Let us understand ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ or ‘That Thou Art’ which is the greatest
vedantic teaching. We will contemplateon the deeper aspects of Tat Tvam Asi
with some examples.
Tat Tvam Asi has 3 aspects - That Thou Art. First, let us understand
‘Thou’ which means ‘you’. You or I. The whole purposeof Vedanta is to discover
the nature of ‘I’. Itis not discovering anything objective in the nature. Itis not
aboutearth, it is not about iron or sky or fire etc. It is to discover aboutyourself.
Everybody says, ‘I know myself’. If you ask somebodyto speak about
themselves, they have so much to say aboutthemselves.
Vedanta teaching says that your understanding of yourself is erroneous.
Discover the real you. The real you, is 'Tat', which meansGod. The real you is
Brahman or God. “Howcan that be? I am such a small finite being, Brahman or
God is infinite being. He is all powerful, howcan this finite being be same as
that infinite being?” For that, the Vedantic teaching says that our understanding
of ourselves is erroneous. Let us take the example of a coconut. Is this a real
coconut? If you remove this coir, what do you see? You see a hard shell which is
again called as coconut. Remove the hard shell and a white kernel is seen which
is the real coconut. Butthen, both the outer and the inner parts are called

as coconut. The outermostcovering is called as coconut, the innermostis the
real coconut.
Similarly, when you say “I”, you arereferring to the innermostaspect of you,
which is the realI. The outer is a covering, super imposition. So discover the real
I. But most of the people don’tunderstand this real I.
They are confused and attributedifferentthings to I. They superimposeso
many things to I. For example: when you drinka cup of tea, you
say, ‘I am drinking’, which actually means, that I is your Self and ‘ I am drinking’
means, drinking is happening through thebody, But what is happening is
that the body’sactions aresuperimposed on the Self. Thatmeans, outer layer
actions are superimposed on the innermostlayers, innermostaspect of
you. Vedanta says, this superimposition has to be removed, to find outthe real
I. That ‘I’ which you discover, will be infinite.
Your bodyis finite and this finite is covering the infinite. You are confusing
infinite with the finite because of the body. It happensin your language, when
you say, ‘I am walking, I am going, I am drinking’ you are superimposing the
physical actions of the bodyon that I.
And then, when you say,’I am unhappy’ or ‘I am happy’, you are
superimposing the mental aspect on that reality. That reality is ever
blissful and eternally blissful. That is the Supreme Reality which is you, the
innermostcore of you. But, you confuse that reality with your mental conditions
like happiness, sadness, sorrow, suffering, joy, anger etc.
Then you say, ‘Oh! I understand, I know’, because knowing is the primary
function in us. The knowing or the knowledge also comes with ignorance. The
knowing functionalityis that of the intellect. The ignorancefunctionalityis also
that of the intellect. So, when you say , “Oh,I know”, you also
superimposethat knowing or ignorance functionalityon I.
So, you are superimposing the body, mind and intellect on the I and
this superimposition is leading to confusions. This is because of
ignorance, Avidya. Vedanta tries to remove this ignorance.
Whatis the effect of superimposition? When you superimpose the body, the
infinite becomes finite. When superimposethe mind, the infinite supreme
reality which is eternally blissful appearsto be in sorrow or joy or
depression. When you superimpose on the intellect on that supreme reality,
then the Self appearsto be having knowledge and ignorance. The Self is beyond
knowledge and ignorance. It is of the natureof ‘pureknowledge’ which is called

‘Prajnana’. Theknowledgeis called Jnana. Ignoranceiscalled Ajnana.
Beyond Ajnana and Jnana, there is ‘Prajnana’, which is actually pure Awareness.
So by this superimposition, you are actually making that infinite to
finite. Vedanta is a process by which you understand and remove this
superimposition and discover your innermost infinite nature.
That ‘Tvam’ is not the apparent Tvam, but the real Tvam, the real inner
essence. This is the meaning of Tvam.
https://youtu.be/bX9SLQK_-_I
Let us continueour contemplation on the sentence “Tat Tvam Asi”. We already
discussed what is ‘Tvam’. Now, let us understand whatis ‘Tat’.
Tat means ‘That’. Whatis that? That is Brahman. Brahman comesfrom the
word infinite. That which is infinite, which is omnipresent, which is omniscient.
That, which is the Creator, Sustainer and the Dissolver of this Universe. We call
it as Ishwara or Bhagwan is ‘Tat’ - That. So, ‘That’, which is infinite, is here said
as ‘You’ which is the finite ‘Tvam’. You aresaid to be ‘That’ which is infinite
How is this to be understood? If you look at the superficialmeaning, it doesn’t
make any sense at all. When we try to understand the deeper meaning of ‘Tat’ -
‘That’, whatis ‘That’? We see this creation which is infinite in nature, which
consists of five elements called as ‘Panchabhutas’ - Space, Wind, Fire, Water,
Earth and then our Mind and Intellect. This is creation and this is superimposed
on the inner essence, the essence of existence.
Just like, I gave the example earlier. This is a coconut. If you remove the coir,
what you see inside is also called as coconutand when the shell is broken, the
white part which is seen deep inside is the real coconut. Similarly, the meaning
of the word ‘Tat’ has to be understood from a deeper level, not from the
superficiallevel. At the deepest level, Tat is the pure Consciousness, the
SupremeReality. Whatwe see is the manifested Reality that is
being superimposed on that SupremeReality. Wehave to go beyond
this superimposition to the deepest level to understand the
Absolute Reality which is pure Awareness or pure Consciousness and that is
‘Tat’.
The teachings of scriptureshelp us to understand this Absolute Reality which
is beyond the appearance and superimposition. This creation that we see is

superimposed on that Absolute Reality, pureConsciousness or pure Awareness.
This superimposition is called Maya and this can be understood from the study
of scriptures.
Vedantic teaching tells us that beyond this appearance called as creation,
beyond this Maya, there is absolute Reality, which is referred to as ‘Tat’ and you
are that ‘Tat’. If you look at the manifested Reality it is infinite and you compare
yourself as small body in that manifested Reality, you arenowhere there. But, if
you go deep inside, essence of that manifested Reality is the real Tat and you
are that. That is what you have to understand.
Pranams
Brahmanubhuti – 26(version 2)
https://youtu.be/OzPyIOga3ts
Let us contemplateon ‘Tat Tvam Asi'. On ‘Tat’ and ‘Tvam’ we have already
contemplated, let us understand ‘Asi’. ‘Asi’ means, ‘Is’ - ‘You are’. The essential
meaning of Tat and the essential meaning of Tvam, we have realized - it is
the SupremeConsciousness, PureAwareness, Prajnana, or Brahma.
Now, let us understand the meaning of ‘Asi’. ‘Asi’ implies, ‘You are the same’.
Now, who will understand they are the same? Because,
from SupremeReality’s point of view, there is nothing else which exists. Thereis
nothing else to be known, there is nobodyelse to be known, there is no
knowledge, no ignorance, thereis PureAwareness and there is only Prajnana or
the SupremeAwareness.
But, from the individual’s point of view, like me, there is something to realize. I
am suffering, asan individual. I am feeling I am limited, I have a body, mind and
I feel I am suffering. For me, there is something to realize. It is a great thing for
me, if I am able to realize that Reality. This is called Self realization, Atma Jnana,
also called as Brahma Jnana, because that SupremeReality is Brahman. Itis all-
pervading Reality of the universe.

Brahman is Not Known Through Sense Organs or Inference

Brahman is Not Known Through Sense Organs or Inference

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