Chinmaya Mission - Gita, Upanishads and Ancient Knowledge

Chapter 2 Verse 48

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Chapter 2 Verse 13: Gone and going? Your physical body is a rental package. 

Chapter 2 Verse 11:

Chapter 2 Verse 10: Face your life with all its challenges with the right mental attitude. You can reach the highest!

Chapter 2 Verse 7: Correct meaning of prosperity, your well-being? What is the right path for you?

Chapter 2 Verse 3: This is not time to run away from life. You change and the world will change.

Chapter 1 Verse 7: Our thoughts belie our fears, expectations and self-estimation. Mind is made up of thoughts. Be aware of your thoughts!

Chapter 1 Verse 3: Our thoughts belie our fears, expectations and self-estimation. Our mind are made up of thoughts. Be aware of your thoughts!

Just like peeling back the layers of a flower, if one can slowly peel back all the layers, the Atman will be revealed. The body, mind and intellect are covering it yet with self effort, through detachment and discrimination one can uncover this Truth and revel in bliss. Any being who strives to live like Nachiketa can also achieve and realise this Truth.

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At the start of a spiritual seeker’s journey, desires have to be given up with will and effort. For the realised person, the desires leave him without effort. When a seeker is prepared and the knowledge takes place, the bliss that remains removes all desires. Kathopanishad instructs one to cut the knots of the heart. When these knots of ignorance, desires, actions are cut, this seeker realises he is immortal. When ignorance is removed, everything else drops away and immortality remains!

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Having heard the means of knowledge, listen to Swami Tejomayananda expand on meditation. Meditation is withdrawal of the mind and turning the mind’s attention towards itself. When the senses, mind and intellect become still, the mind is not wishing for anything, the senses are not perceiving and the intellect is not judging. It is not the same as deep sleep! It is a conscious withdrawal. Once a person has seen this Truth, the knowledge is never lost. That person can continue to function in the world but ignorance is no longer. Faith is integral to this process. Faith in the knowledge, the Guru and existence of Truth.

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Although the Atman is unknown to us now, is it unknowable? Can we experience it via our senses or through perception? The Atman does not fall within the range of our sense perception. Kathopanishad shares the method of gaining this knowledge; listening, reflecting and then meditating. The student needs a purified mind and to have gained knowledge from a Guru. When a qualified student approaches the teacher, the Guru gives the knowledge. That is called Shravanam. Once we have heard, Mananam or reflection is required to  slowly reduce the mind’s attention from external objects to the internal. And finally, meditation.

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One lives as though life will last forever. Yet we have no idea when we will face death. Knowing this, one should focus on gaining knowledge in this life and not wait until the next! Even if the efforts do not lead to realisation, the results of our efforts will lead to a purified mind and gaining knowledge. Devotion to the Guru is a perfect way by which to purify the mind. Don’t wait. Do it now. Here and now – this is the best place, best time to purify the mind. Just like a clean mirror shows shining reflections, a purified mind allows one to clearly realise the Truth.

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The whole world, the forces of nature, our bodies, they all function in harmony with the laws of nature. By seeing the effects of the laws of nature, we are led back to the cause.  Samsaara is likened to the tree which can be cut down, through developing vairagya and viveka. This Samsaara we experience is only there because of our ignorance of our true nature. Once we see that there is a cause behind every effect, we see that it is Ishvara who is the cause behind everything.

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Swami Tejomayananda states clearly that there should be no doubt about whether one can experience this Truth. Instead of asking “can I experience this?”, ask how can I experience it. Try to understand this Truth instead of simply thinking “I don’t understand”. By knowing It, does one find fulfilment in life.

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What is the result of gaining knowledge of the Self? That person experiences abiding, everlasting bliss. Regularly, we get what we want and we experience some short term peace. Yet the peace and bliss gained from knowledge is everlasting. The more we look for this peace externally, the more we struggle and the more we are keeping ourselves separate from it.

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How to explain the nature of this Atmatattva (essential nature of the Self)? Swami Tejomayananda gives a number of vivid examples to remind us that this Atman is everywhere. It is not energy, it is consciousness which manifests as life. Air does not have any particular shape, it takes the form of its containers. For example, when you blow a balloon, you breathe in air which is transferred to the balloon and then back to space when the balloon bursts. Just like this, the Atman is the same in all of us and is expressed as many because of the many Jivas and upadhis that exist. Again the Rishis remind us to wake up to the one alone that is appearing as many, that One is what you are.

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Nachiketa wanted to hear more. What happens after death? The body becomes one with the elements yet what happens to the jiva? With self effort, we can impact this jiva’s journey. Kathopanishad points out that it is so very rare to get a human body, with a desire for spiritual knowledge. This wonderful life is because of all the past work we have done. Difficulties in life will always exist but do not brood over problems. If everything is always good, you never understand the totality of life. Everything is a learning opportunity. Abide in noble qualities; noble thoughts, devotion and knowledge. We can always beautify, sanctify and improve. We must count our blessings!

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How do we know that the Self is separate from the body? Kathopanishad clarifies that man does not live purely because he breathes. Instead, Swami Tejomayananda elaborates on what causes bodies to function.  In every body, there is an individual jiva. When the jiva leaves the body, what remains? The functions of the body stop. This implies that there is something other than the body that causes it to function. The physical, physiological and senses work only because they are enlivened by Him, clarifying that the Atmatattva is separate from the body.

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Why do I continue to feel bound if this Atman (the Self) is liberated? Even though the Atman is free, since I do not know it, I feel I am bound. However a precious thing you may have, the joy is only in knowing its preciousness. If I have a diamond ring, the joy is not there if I do not know it is a diamond. Similarly if I do not know myself, there is no joy. Once I realise the Self, there is only bliss.

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Kathopanishad shares that the same consciousness that is there today will be there tomorrow. This consciousness does not change and is one and the same everywhere. Yet, we are unable to see this oneness. Instead we see differences, which in turn cause likes and dislikes, indifference or love, meaning we experience a range of emotions. Once we see past these differences, the experience will be one of only joy. The joy we think is true joy, it just isn’t.

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There is an actor in a play. The actor knows he is playing a role. If he starts to identify fully with the role he is playing, he will lose sight of who he really is. Similarly, Swami Tejomayananda reminds us that we too are playing a role and shouldn’t lose sight of who we are. Once we understand that this Chaitanya in Its pure form is in the body, is the same Chaitanya that is present everywhere, we need not go searching elsewhere. Instead, this Truth can be experienced through a purified, cultured, disciplined mind, which has remained close to a Guru. One has to put in a certain amount of effort and then let the magic happen!

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Kathopanishad shares that there are two types of people; one is action oriented and one is knowledge oriented. For example, in the spiritual field, there are those who are interested in rituals and those who are interested in enquiry, in the nature of the truth. Just like the pujari keeps the fire alive, the knowledge of the seeker should be kept alive. This inner lamp of knowledge should not be put out. Kathopanishad reminds us to be alert.

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Swami Tejomayananda reminds us of one of the most powerful outcomes of understanding this Truth; we become fearless. As long as one identifies with the body, mind and intellect, one remains in fear of numerous things, health, wealth, loss of power etc. Yet the cause of fear is ignorance and wrong notions. When a person enquires and recognises his true nature the cause of fear is removed. Once we recognise that our true nature is infinite, we are freed.

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Can an inert object know another inert object? Can the body, senses or mind know themselves? Kathopanishad sheds light on the true Knower. The Chaitanya which is unborn and imperishable, that alone is the illuminator. We only know a table is a table as a result of a thought. It is only when my thought goes to something that I know it exists. It is the Chaitanya that powers that thought, that allows us to see in a dream and in the dark.

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What are the obstacles to gaining this knowledge? Through our senses, we see only the outside world and not our true selves. Our mind continues to become more and more extroverted. Yet, one can overcome this obstacle and use his senses to guide his mind towards the Self. When we see something, think, who is the Seer? Who is the one doing the seeing, hearing, thinking? The mind can be used to enquire about the true nature of the Self, to look inwards instead of outwards.

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In this talk Swami Tejomayananda reflects back on what Nachiketa has learnt from Lord Death to date. Through listening, reflection and meditation on this knowledge, the one who realises that Brahman as his own self attains greatness. He realises he is Ananda, goes beyond joys and sorrows. Any man who realises this Truth becomes great, most revered and worshipped. But the wise person is not bothered by this at all.

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Swami Tejomayananda reiterates the urgency of this quest, reminding us not to waste our time. Every moment is an opportunity to turn towards Self knowledge. This knowledge will take us beyond pairs of opposites, beyond joys and sorrows. Now is the time to arise, awake and take action to wake up from this sleep in which we are suffering. This knowledge is the subtlest of the subtle and so not easy to gain but this knowledge must be known because the fulfilment of life is the result.

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How often should we meditate? Twenty four hours a day! How do we achieve this practice of constant meditation? This talk expounds on practical meditation; how do we do this? How do we withdraw our attention from our senses and slowly turn our attention within, from the individual I to the Totality. We are reminded by the great saints that even if this process is difficult, like walking on a razor’s edge, the results are more than worth the effort.

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Although the Upanishads, logic and the Guru all say you are the Self, we can't accept this. And although no one tells us we are the body we readily accept we are the body. This is the power of Maya! To know our true self we need a purified mind, clarity of knowledge and the grace of a Guru. By focusing our minds on what our hands are doing, we gain single pointedness which in turn leads to subtlety of intellect which enables meditation which leads to recognition of the Atman

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How do we move from the subtle to the subtlest? Our physical body first appears in subtle form but before that it exists in unmanifest form, just like a tree is in unmanifest form in a seed, and butter is in its unmanifest form in milk. Similarly, before the total mind was manifest, it was unmanifest. By peeling back these layers, we are moving towards our Self. What we call our individual mind cannot exist without the total mind. The individual jiva cannot exist without Mahan Atma (Totality, Ishvara, God). Know that you are part of the totality, that without it, nothing is possible.

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Swami Tejomayananda dives into the Kathopanishad as it highlights That which is higher, subtler, more pervasive and most intimate. Subtlety is measured by the greater pervasiveness of one factor over the other. Listen in as Swamiji logically leads us to that which is the most subtle, taking us on our inner journey.

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