01.30 Happiness: 4 I Am Real Self, A Pure Consciousness

The Happiness series is a journey to discover inner happiness by understanding our real nature followed by simple, easy, and effective practices, free from cult, dogma, belief, and religion. Listen, Learn, practice, and Enjoy.

Transcript

Realize that I should start asking to share your experiences. So sometime people do not want to share, So let them not share. So that's a part of the tradition. And you see in this, In the second chapter of this current text that we have undertaken in the, In the Saturday session. So it's a constant interaction. The teacher teaches and the master, The master teaches and then the seeker answers. So answer means the seeker is sharing the experiences. That is the beauty of this Gita, Ashtavakra Gita. And if we, So it's not a comparison. But it's a learning, Oh, This is another way to share your experiences. And you will find out that many such experiences, Many such experiences are like the one Stephen asked that question. So, So once all these experiences in 25 verses is explained by the seeker, Then the master returns. Master again talks about it. Are you really settled? Have you really reached to that state of, That state of the consciousness? You see that it's such a beautiful. So we have to understand in context that this seeker is the master. It's that this seeker is the highest level of a seeker. So, Yatha prakash prakashayami Yatha prakashayami ekah Dehamenam tatha jagatah Atahamam jagatah Sarvam athava nakinchana It's such a beautiful sharing of the experiences by the seeker. So if we translate that into English and then we will understand. So how he is sharing the experiences. He says that now I realize that I'm revealing this body. Body is not me. I am revealing this body as the sun reveals the rays. Even so, Do I reveal this universe? Can you see the such a beautiful experience? As I alone reveal this body, Even so do I reveal the word. As a result, Therefore, Or as a result, We can say that as a result, Or therefore, Mine is all this universe and verily nothing is mine. That is the translation. So, Yeah, You see the unification. If the body is me, Then your body is also me. That is the meaning. And if this body is not me, The entire universe is not me. And I am pure consciousness. Look at the height of the experiences shared by this greatest seeker. So Janaka was a great seeker. And seeker has two qualities, The searching and seeking. So when you search, When you seeking, Seeking is done by listening, Learning and contemplation. We were just talking to Stephen, You know. Yes. So when you are contemplating and reflecting, The mind becomes pure and searching is nothing but practice in time. If seeking is intense, Now see that if seeking is intense here and now, You do not need to practice. You are in meditation here and now. So the master in the first chapter realized that this guy is the greatest seeker. So let me talk. Let me give the summary. Now we have to understand this verse a little deeper. Water does not change even if it manifests as waves, Foams, Flood. Include the flood also. The water remains the water. Can I say for the time being that this wave, Foam and the floods are nothing but emanation of water. But the essential nature of the water does not change. The same way the real self is all pervading eternal, Full of permanent peace, Love and wisdom, But manifests as body, Breath, Mind, Thoughts, Doer and joy. If I say, Please keep a smile on the face. Okay, So what happens? Smile, Smile is expressed on the body. But if the mind is not there, You cannot smile. And if the consciousness is not there behind the mind, Forget about having a smile, Expression of the smile. So means what the master, What the seeker is saying, This is my experience. The way, The wave, The foam and the water and the flood are different emanations of the water. This body, Breath, Mind, Intellect and ego are simply emanations of my real self. I am none of them. Can we have that experience? Janaka declares his experiences that real self reveals the body, Mind, Thought, Senses. Without real self, Nothing can be known or revealed. Does it mean that I'm the real self? Yes, That reveals the universe of pain, Pleasure, Sorrow, Happiness, Doer, Enjoyer. Let us go a little deeper. What makes you the highest level of a seeker? Viveka and Vairagya, The discernment and, And dispassion. Discernment is just a contemplation. So what do you contemplate in discernment? You separate real from the unreal. You are 100% clear at every moment in your life. What is that? That anything that is changing is unreal and there is something behind that is never changing identity. Real is never changing and unreal is ever changing. So it needs only an awareness. Body is changing, Yes. Breath is changing, Yes. Mind is changing, Yes. Intellect, Ego, Everything is changing. That is not me. That is not me. Nacha, Prana, Sangau, Navai, Pancha, Vayu. I'll take up that later. So what is left? So what we do in through the contemplation, We filter out whatever is changing in so-called me. We reach to that unreal. So that makes you a highest level of a seeker. Now see the result, The matter and the consciousness. We are understanding this sutra. This sutra, What the sutra, What the verse is, Yatha prakashyami ekadhehe dehamenam tatha jagatah. Very beautiful. So now understand, Matter evolves life. Understand, Oh, If I say scientifically, Yes. Matter evolves life. How come? Because the life is involved in the matter. If the life is not hidden in the matter, Then matter cannot evolve life. Life evolves the mind because the mind is involved in the matter, In the life. Do we see? We say billions of years ago there was only matter and then there was a spur, A complex substance and that has evolved the life which we say protoplasm. And one unit of protoplasm is cell. Cell contains life. That is how the science explains. So here our master explains that the life is already involved in the matter and it found the right environment. So the matter evolved the life. So mind was already involved in the life, Finding the right environment and time. The mind evolved out of the life. So there is a process of evolution going on. We don't have any control. So if the matter evolves the life, Life evolves the mind. It means there is still something which is evolving. There is something by natural understanding. So what is that is evolving through the mind. It is nothing but the real self. That is how yoga and the Eastern wisdom says. What is that real self is Satchitanand. What is Satchitanand? It is absolute existence, Consciousness and bliss. So having understood that, Now we should go little deeper to the principles of Eastern wisdom. Now see that and it is, It can be understood and reflected upon. What is the problem? This is my body and I see a lot of people in front of me. I see their body and the mind says their bodies is not me, But this body is mine. That is the problem. Definitely at the level of society, When we live in the transactional reality, We have to take it for granted that my body is different from yours. But at the higher level of the consciousness, Can you figure out that my body is it really different from your body? The answer is no. Both are made up of the matter. But why something within me says that this is my body and that is your body. That is the ego. Ego is a part of the delusion and delusion enters into the mind and the mind brings an identification with this body, Not with that body, Even when both consist of the same matter, Same material. So the master is, The seeker is saying, Narrating the experiences. If I say this is my body, Then every body is mine. Big why? It is essentially made up of the same matter. It is the same universe. And if this body is not me, Then none of the things in the material universe that is changing is me. Do I live into that state of experience? Once I live into that state of experience, Then what happens? I am living in and with my real self. I experience permanent peace and happiness, Love and wisdom. See the other perspective of this verse. You see the beauty that we are understanding how the seeker is experiencing, Sharing his experiences when he reaches to that ultimate state. So now see that waves are a manifestation of water. Now see that. Just look at the manifestation. Your house, My house, Highway, Any place which you name, Workplace, House, Street, Is nothing but the manifestation of the space. Do you see that? Can I see that all the time? Yes, It is nothing but the manifestation in the space. Material universe is nothing but the manifestation. What I see, It appears. It does not remain forever. Hence, It is manifestation. Body does not remain forever. Hence, It is the manifestation. It is an expression. It remains at a particular time and place and it does not exist at another time and place. Hence, It is not real. And then I abide in that real self which is pure consciousness, Which is love, Wisdom and the truth. See that. When we break the limitations that is caused due to the ignorance that this is my body, That is your body, That this is my house, That is your house. When we break that limitation through the contemplation and reflection, We find there is only one. There is only one universe outside and there is only one real self. Matter unmanifest is real self and the real self manifest is universe. Another principle coming from the Eastern wisdom. What it says, The matter and the real self, The world outside that we see and the real self are the two sides of the same coin. How come? That material universe, When it is unmanifest, Is the real self. How can you say? How can you say that? In deep sleep this entire world ceases to exist. I think we all are sure in deep sleep this entire universe ceases to exist. Unmanifest. And the real self is manifest. Matter unmanifest is real self and the real self manifest is the universe. That is what he says. Emanations as the rays of the sun emanates from the sun so this body, Mind, Breath, Intellect and ego emanate from the real self. Don't believe, Don't accept that these rays and emanations are the real self. So the Master employs two methods here. One method is known as Neti Neti. We are something, Recognize. What is that something? So mind in ignorance says I am something. What am I something? I am the body, I have the gender, I have the work, This is my home. I am something. I am something. So what the Master says, Become nothing. First method. How to become nothing? Neti Neti, By understanding, Contemplation and reflection that who you are and who you are not. What I am, What I am not. So that is the first step. So in understanding those, That is what we are doing directly on Mondays and Thursdays. It is the process of Neti Neti. So great Master Shankara wrote that very process. In that process he says, I know the breath is going in and out in the body, But I am not the body. According to Ayurveda and Yoga, The entire body consists of seven humors. So he says that they are undergoing into the material level. I am none of them. Then who am I? So you become nothing first. So what is that nothingness? That is what the Buddha says, Emptiness, But we have to continue the journey. So once we move from something to nothingness, Then what happens? We stay in that meditative state. So we move from nothingness to everything. So we become something in ignorance. Then we become nothing in purification of the mind. And from the nothingness we become everything. The Ram pervading, All pervading, Real Self. Satchitananda. Why it happens? I give a clue. It's a long journey of this path. Our perception is same. You look at me, I look at you. Our perception is same, But our projection are different. What it means? Here I see this Stephen as a human being. Now what is the projection? Stephen is a very good human being, But he is not a good human being for everyone. So do you see the projections are different? Now I'm saying an example. Everyone should be good for everyone, But that is not possible. Do you see that point of awareness? It is never possible. It is never possible. So our perception is same. Same eyes, It perceives. But because of the Garbh is present in the mind, Our projections are different. And because of that projection, Because of that projection, We fall into ignorance. And that ignorance creates the impurity in the mind and prevents the reality to be seen. And if we do the contemplation and reflection again and again, Followed by the practice, So what will happen? Your contemplation and reflection continues and after some time you see that when I practice, I live, I enter into an experience and that experience is still present and it constantly returns after a few minutes of contemplation and reflection. Then what happens? Then that practice drops because now you are practicing meditation 24 by 7. Natural, By default, By default. So the Master says, I recall another Master, It says, Uttama Sehja Vrati Madhyama Dhyan Dharana Adhamau Shastrena Chintacha Tirtha Tandama Dhama In that state the mind lives in a natural state of awareness without any projection. It lives in the state of a right perception that makes him realize that he is the real self. He is only the pure consciousness full of peace and happiness. That is what and how this seeker shares his experiences. We don't find any teaching of this seeker, The Master, The King, The Janka. But this is his teaching because he is sharing the experiences, The ultimate experiences in these 25 verses. So what he says again, If I take up, Remember now, Same verse, At Yatha Prakashyami Ekah Deham Enam Tatha Jagat Atahamam Jagat Sarvam Athava Nakinchina As I alone reveal this body, Even so do I reveal this universe. Yes, That is what it appears. Therefore, Mine is all this universe or it is not me at all. Becoming. It is the process either being to becoming. If you pick up and or becoming to being. From the becoming you are settled into the real self. From the being the emanations you emanate and you become. So that is what is his experience. So let us start our practice of meditation. Eyes are closed. You see, We are going opposite to the teachings of this Master. We say, OK, Let us start the practice. So it is again should be in the field of non-practice. Eyes are closed and you are aware of the body. Very good. Awareness of the body you feel you are aware of the body and mind is looking inside. You see all these elements enters into the practice. No issue. And now, You know, See, We don't compare. We want to enter into that experience. So you see the body. There is a. What is that? You feel the body that is steady. But become aware. Am I the body? No, It is manifestation. Simple. Why? Because it is always changing. Do I need to practice anything to know that the body is constantly changing? You have an answer. So you live into that awareness. And then the mind is looking inside into the space. Is anything inside or outside when you are not the body? See that it's a subtle level of ignorance, But for the sake of the practice, We see it. We do it. But the practice, The very practice melts away. When you are aware, There is nothing outside and inside. It is on one space. This is what this master is. This seeker is saying. Seeker is also a great master, Has become a master. So sometime you teach through your own experiences. You learn from your own experiences. Now you see again go to a little deeper, Being comfortable. Being comfortable, What I say. And see, Maintain your awareness of the real and the unreal. Neck joint, Aware of the neck joint. So two things. One, There is an awareness and there is a neck joint. Then I say, When you are aware of the neck joint, You experience sensation, Being comfortable and steadiness. Now see, Awareness remains the same, But your experience from the neck joint moves to sensation, Being comfortable and steadiness. See the fact. See the truth. I'm not saying imagine. I'm not saying, You know, Dream and have a vision. Just see the fact. So awareness remains the same and my experience changes from the neck joint to the sensation, Being comfortable and steadiness. What is after that? There is only a space or you see emptiness. Now here, If the mind is pure, You discover the space is awareness and awareness is space. Reflect on this. You will find out that the space is nothing but awareness and awareness is nothing but the space. And the moment you see it is my house, The space in my house. It is delusion. It is ignorance. Let us reflect again. Look at the shoulder joints. Awareness one shoulder joint. Second shoulder joints is seen. Awareness is the seer. The mind moves to the next level of experience. What is that sensation? Comfortable steadiness and the seer is awareness is the same. Then the same seer enters into the space. The space is awareness and awareness is the space. This is what the seeker is sharing his experience in this verse. It is a play and a fun. So what happens? The meditation and mindfulness becomes play and the fun. It becomes a joy of conscious living. Okay, Looking at the hip joint. Awareness on one hand. Hip joint on the other. Hip joint is seen. Awareness is the seer. The mind moves to the second experience of sensation being comfortable and steadiness. Seer is still the same. Then the seer moves to another level of awareness is the space inside. What? The space is awareness and awareness is the space. This is meant for the higher level of the seekers. Simple. It does not mean that you need to spend a year in becoming a seeker. It can happen here and now provided your mind is ready to see as it is. The entire body. Who? Awareness and entire body. They are two different. One is the seer. Other is the seen. The seen is the body and the joints. Seen always changes. The world is always changing. But who perceives? Who is the seer? Did we talk about perceiver? The moment this perceiver becomes the projector, Then I fall into ignorance. By one example, We understood that. So in that state, Now see the thoughts are coming and going. You need not to worry which thought good, Bad, High, Low. A simple awareness is required that the thoughts are continuously changing, Repeating itself. That means thoughts are constantly changing and the change is not me. Let me witness this change. Whether the good thought comes or bad thought comes, High thought comes, Low thought comes. Let it come. Let it go. This is what the seeker is sharing his experiences. So just align with that seeker. Thoughts are, That is what I say, Being carefree. You see that I keep those basic steps similar, But their interpretation becomes deeper and higher and subtler. What it shows? Where the thought enters, Thought enters into the mind. If the thoughts continuously change, It means the mind is constantly changing. And if the mind is changing, I am not the mind. But I am who is aware that the mind is changing. You see, In the entire journey, We are not actually practicing. We are revealing inside that wisdom. That is all about the text. Yathaprakashayami ekadhehamenam tatha jagatah Oh, This is what it is. So let us see the emanations of the real Self and the real Self. The rays of the sun are different from the sun. The wave is different from the water. First step. Why we differentiate? Neti neti, Not this, Not this. To enter into the state of nothingness. Moving from something to nothing. So how we do it? Just being aware, Become aware of the world outside. Your body, Your room, Items there in the room, The sound and other stuff that you are aware. The world, It is the physical mind. The physical mind always projects and it has its limitations. That is why I said become aware of your room where you are meditating. So it has a projection. What is that projection? It's my room. It's my home. But the home is made up of the space. But the space cannot be divided. So how it can be my home? It is one. My home is nothing but the entire world. That is what the Seeker is saying. Okay. It means now look at the physical body. Become aware of the physical body from the top to the toes in the state of sensation. Being comfortable in steadiness and as you keep looking at the body from the top to the toes. The mind projects. What it projects? The body is alive but it is matter. Matter cannot be alive until it has emanations from the real self. Oh! So the mind continues to live in ignorance that this body is alive. But reality, The body is a matter. Now there is another teaching I am bringing in to your awareness. If I don't feel I am the body, Then you can never feel the universe outside. So first ignorance begins I am the body. Hence there is a word. I am the body. No, I am awareness. So when I see that I am awareness, I am not the body. This body and your bodies are essentially become one. I perceive them as one. They appear many. I appear with a beard. You appear without beard. Appear but same matter. So let us go little so-called deeper. So when I realize this body and the others are essentially one, Then we are aware of the breath. There is awareness on one hand and the breath is moving on the other. See that. So here the mind becomes subtle naturally. Why? The moving breath is not perceived through the sense organ. It is felt. It is experienced. But why we picked up to make the mind subtle? But why more the mind becomes subtle, Greater the purity because it can perceive the things without projection. Do you see that? It is purely a fact. There is nothing that we can see. We are imagining. Nothing is imaginary. We are not creating any imagination. Knowledge remains same. Practice changes depending on our challenges posed by the mind. You are looking at the breath is. Now can you really say the breath is going in and out? I am not the body. Just for a while. Ask yourself, Can I say breath is going in and coming out? I am not the body. What? Is this breath moving horizontally in a straight line? In a deeper meditation we experience. Yes, Because of ignorance we say that this breath is going in and coming out. So what is in is me. What is out is not me. See that. So it means there is only one life force permeating in everyone here and now. What a sense of oneness here and now. Not intellectually but as a living experience. See that. What a beautiful way. Again I am repeating, Let it enter into your mental consciousness and the mind should live into that awareness. When I am not the body, Now I am looking at the breath. I see the breath is moving. I am not the body. So is the breath going in and out or it is one horizontal movement of the breath? Our masters declare that this breath remains extended to ten fingers from the nose. So once we become aware of that ten fingers from the nose, We experience it is only one life force pervading everywhere. Let us go so called. You know now it doesn't look nice to say that go deeper than the breath. Because we are not referencing the body. Body is not a reference point now. So deeper or subtler than the breath are the thoughts, Feelings and images. Just an awareness. Thought coming and going and awareness on one side. Then that awareness still remains on one side. You have a feeling, Good, Bad, High, Low, Pain and pleasure, Jealousy and hatred. All these experiences enter into the mind on one hand. They are constantly changing. And the awareness on the other. Is that awareness different from these experiences taking place in the mind? The answer is yes. Do I see that? Yes. I am already there. If I see that, If I identify, Then I am not there. Why I identify? Because first I am the body. Then I have the mind. Then I have the thoughts. You see everything starts from the projection that I am the body. That is one. But when I am not the body. Leave aside. Done. That is the beauty of this meditation. First you do it. You experience it. You live into it. When you live into this experience, Your mind will undergo a change. And when the mind undergoes a change, Your responses to your relations, The people outside will also change. People will notice it. But you will continue to enjoy that state. Oh, I know that is why that is why people around me are responding like this. It is because of my journey of the self discovery. That becomes one of the most profound experiences in our life. Your response changes. Now your responses are not based on the ignorance of the mind. They are based on the truth. Okay, Now going behind the thought means what? Nothingness. Why? The mind cannot transcend. Mind if transcends the thought. I am correcting it. The mind cannot perceive what is behind and beyond the thought. There the mind has no entry. So I enter into the state of nothingness. Only the space. Did we understand? Behind all these thoughts, Feelings, Images, Nothing but the space. And from where I started. Are you fully aware that space is awareness and awareness is space? That is the state of nothingness. Here and now. You don't need to do so much of labor. How do you see and know and realize and understand that the sky is not blue? How do you know and understand that the wave, Flood, Foam, Clouds are nothing but the water? The waves are still seen but you know it is water. Flood is seen, Scary, But still it is the water. Same way you see means you know, Means you are aware. In spite of the fact that thoughts are moving, The body is there, The feelings and the sensations are there. They are all emanations. But I see the state of nothingness. See that. So the seeker is narrating a very profound and deep experience. So we don't compare. We just inspire. Let us live into that. Even for a few seconds to see what happens to us. Now from that awareness where the space is awareness and the awareness is space. So either the entire world is me, Mine, Or nothing is mine. So when I limit myself with my body, With my own mind, That me and mine causes attachment, Attachment, Desire, Desire, Delusion, Delusion, Ignorance. But when I am not living into that ignorance, So the seeker is sharing in two ways. Either the entire universe is nothing but emanations of the real self and the real self is only one. It cannot be two. So nothing is mine or everything is mine. You know what happens? That sense of kindness, Compassion is natural because you are me and I am you. There is no difference. Can I see that? We started our journey by doing nothing and we are still doing nothing. Our journey was simply seeing the word as it is and seeing the truth as it is. That is why the meditation and the mindfulness are known as non-practice. And I keep that element you have seen in every practice so that you have a glimpse of what exactly we have to, Where we have to reach. Shanti, Shanti, Shanti Bringing your awareness. We will share the experiences but we return in a specific way. First bring your awareness on the right hand. Your awareness on the left hand. Lift both the palms, Place it on your eyes, Open the eyes inside the palms. Know your experiences and bring the hands down. How are you David and Jerry? Very, Very good. Very, Very deep. My body felt heavy. In fact I felt I was like leaning over. Like this pulling over. A couple of points I caught myself. But no, It was excellent. Excellent. Very good. Deeper experience. How are you Jerry? Sir, I love the message that we are same, Same. So I love that. And it is just a good space. It is a good space. The thoughts can come and go, Noises, But the space is a good space. It is always the same. Yeah, That's another beautiful way of saying that, Narrating your experiences. You see that it is not philosophical that we are same. In reality we are the same. In reality there is only one real self, Means there is only one consciousness. And as we proceed further, The seeker gives at least 20 different metaphors. Understand this. Be clear. And what is the beauty? The moment we understand we are essentially one. I would say it is more a selfish approach. You experience the kindness and the compassion and calmness and the peace within you. How are you Sam? I am doing well. It was very deep and peaceful. I found myself towards the end going back to the three alms that we were doing on Thursday. Going through those towards the end. It was good. I found myself, I guess, Enjoying how easy it is to get to this spot. I mean, Again, As I mentioned, It happens very quickly now. Pretty much as soon as I close my eyes we are there. I guess contemplating a little bit how hard it can be sometimes during the day with everything going on outside and all of your thoughts. How would you just, What would you say to yourself if you needed to stop? I guess that is the question for you for the end. What do you say to yourself when you catch yourself with all the thoughts again? That's, Yeah, I always love explanations and sharing of experiences by younger. You see that the point is that sometime it becomes very difficult. Just become aware. Tell the mind, Are you crazy my mind? Stop this nonsense. Let me go into the same experience. Because you have experienced it before. I am doing it. And yes, The second point is also very important. Other practices also helps you. As you said, The three Aum. Yes, Other practices, Their experiences returns to your mind and helps you, Rescue you. How are you, Stephen? I'm good. I think in a combination of what I shared with on Thursday between the front of my mind and the back of my mind and the lesson today and my white light flashing last night. I experienced it all in today's meditation. Especially with the message and the lesson itself that we are all one. Immediately jumped into the back of my mind during the meditation. I felt this draw to my heart. And as I went to my heart and got to my heart, I felt I wasn't alone. When I was in my heart. And then there was a flash of light. And I could actually recognize that all of you were in the heart with me. That's good. And then when I realized that and I started contemplated, I realized that it wasn't there physically, But we're all there as one emotionally. And then I started asking myself, What is this about? And the first three words that came to my mind was peace, Love and happiness. Yes, Beautiful. And I just settled. And next thing I know, We had our hands on our eyes. Beautiful. That's a deepening experience. You see that when our mind says, Honey, We are one. That experience of oneness is different from this experience. I'm just helping you compare. You may say, My honey, We are one. That is totally a different experience than this sense of oneness. That sense of oneness comes from the deeper, Higher consciousness. See that? And the oneness with the honey comes, You know, Somewhere it has some physical element. Whatever you do. So that is why we need to understand. So beautiful. Stephen, How are you, Kate? Beautiful experience. One thing I noticed was the awareness of consciousness beyond breath and then breath and non-breath, Which went away with the Sanskrit. So when you started chanting the Sanskrit, All that was just. . . Beautiful. That's wonderful. Beautiful experience. How are you, Vaibhav?