A Gyaan Yoga Meditation | Advaita Vedanta Wisdom

Embark on a transformative journey of self-realization through Gyaan Yoga, the path of knowledge and understanding rooted in the ancient wisdom of Advaita Vedanta. This guided meditation invites you to explore the true meaning of Gyaan—not just intellectual knowledge, but the deeper knowing that arises from within.

In this practice, we dive into the essence of non-dual awareness, guiding you to experience the union between knowledge and your inner self. By meditating on the meaning of understanding and discovering the infinite source of wisdom within, you can transcend mental concepts and ground yourself in the knowing of Gyaan, the foundation of all meditative and wisdom traditions.

Transcript

Try to scan your body from the top of your head,

Slowly to the soles of your feet to see if there's any part of your body needs adjusting,

Relaxing.

And as you become more and more comfortable with your posture,

Bring your attention to your breath and see that your breath is natural and normal.

And now bring the third dimension,

Your mind,

Into the equation.

So as such we don't have to do anything for the mind,

But ensure that there is a smile on your face,

There is a smile on your face and as you smile I'd like you to be more and more attentive of this smile and see if you can really experience your smile.

See how it is softening the muscles in your face,

Softening your eyes,

Your forehead.

See how it is softening your cheeks and lips.

See how your smile is affecting your entire face.

Genuinely smile and welcome this current opportunity to meditate like this.

Your body is relaxed,

Your breath is natural and normal and your mind is smiling.

And as it smiles,

Let go of any anticipation as to what is next.

There is no next.

It is just this,

You in your stillness being your essential awareness self.

And during the whole meditation we will come back to this,

We will return to this awareness self over and over and over again.

This presence is going to be our reference.

This is our home where we will return over and over.

Just continue to breathe in,

Continue to remain present in your presence.

Now let's talk about effort.

If there are any effort to be here like this,

Know that the effort is just a thought,

A bodily sensation,

Something you can see,

Something you can observe.

So that effort is not needed.

Because there can't be any effort to be what you already are.

Any effort is like a wave in an ocean rising and trying to find the ocean.

It's like a thought rising from your own awareness and trying to correct the awareness.

See if you can confirm that,

See if you can see that today.

That isn't your tendency to get it right,

To correct it.

Just like that,

A wave rising and trying to find or correct the ocean.

A thought rising and trying to fix it,

Trying to control it,

Manage it.

And see how futile it is.

Because your presence that is making all this happen is already here.

The intelligence that is listening to my words,

Which doesn't need even a microsecond to understand,

To know,

Can't be managed with your thoughts,

With your efforts.

Clearly see this,

Clearly understand this.

The presence that we are talking about,

The presence that is experiencing this,

Is always here.

And this presence has two essential qualities.

See if you can find those two essential qualities of your presence that is here right now.

Just softly explore your presence and see if you can find those two essential qualities.

The one,

The first is that you are here,

Which means you are,

Which means the being,

The self,

The existence that is.

So that is the first quality that you are,

The here-ness,

The presence.

You can't deny this.

You can try,

But you will never be able to say that you are not.

So that's the first essential quality of your presence,

That you are.

And the second essential quality is that you know,

That you know that you are,

That you know that you are.

So the knowing is the second essential quality of your presence,

Being and knowing.

And this being and knowing is very beautifully captured in one word,

That is awareness.

Aware means knowing and ness means being.

Awareness suggests being.

So awareness is describing two essential qualities of yourself,

Of your presence,

The being-ness and the knowing-ness.

And really that is what you essentially are,

The being and the knowing.

So in the whole meditation,

We will come back again and again to this presence and exploring the nature of your presence.

So in a way it is an active meditation,

It is not meditation where you are progressively building so that one day you can know what awareness is,

What your real self is.

This meditation starts with that.

We start with the final destination and then we explore and then we try to remain in this as long as we can.

But again my words will fail you because it is really hard to talk about awareness.

For example,

I said that we will try to remain in awareness,

Because you can't really try to remain in awareness because everything happens in awareness.

So your effort to remain is just a thought.

You are already here and a thought is saying I want to remain here.

No,

But you already are here.

So that's why the notion of effortlessness is important,

Is that explore and know that your awareness is already here and all your futile attempts are not needed,

They are distractions.

So then you ease into your knowing,

Your knowledge,

Your understanding of your presence.

Know that you are here.

Be confident in your presence and know that this presence is all that you need and in fact the presence is all you have.

I'd like you to explore one more concept today.

As you sit here,

As you remain rooted in your presence,

Keep your mind eyes open,

Keep your ears open,

There's nothing else to do or understand.

Your wisdom will do the work that is needed to be done.

So the word understanding,

The word understanding is important to understand.

So imagine a scenario where somebody has told you a joke and just before the punch line you are still waiting in anticipation for the joke's end.

So that punch line can be delivered as a thought or you can see it as a thought or perception and then a punch line is delivered and then you laugh.

That laugh is again a perception or activity or thought.

But the understanding that took place between the punch line and your laughter,

You would never be able to put your finger on it.

That is your presence,

Your intelligence at work and all concepts,

Everything that is understood really,

It takes place in that presence in a timeless manner because there is no time on which you would be able to pinpoint when your understanding takes place.

It is when you let go and sink in your source of your awareness,

That's when the understanding takes place.

So today in this meditation you have touched that understanding,

The source of your awareness a few times already.

That is the understanding I am talking about.

It is not a concept.

Knowing a full concept and grasping the information and remembering,

That is not understanding.

Understanding happens instantaneously.

Every second,

Every moment and always in present,

That is understanding and knowingly be rooted in the understanding is the essence of what is also known as Gyan Yoga.

Gyan means knowledge,

Knowing and Yoga is to be one with.

To be one with your knowing,

Your knowledge,

Your understanding itself is the essence of your meditation,

Gyan Yoga.

And all it needed was for you to remain open with your own awareness and allow your awareness to do all the work on its own,

Without thinking,

Without needing to control or manage,

Hence the principle of effortlessness.

So again remain effortless,

Affirm that you are already home,

There is nothing to do,

There is nothing to undo,

There is no control or management needed and it is just this ordinary present moment,

It is always here and always perfect.

Keep your eyes closed or open,

Doesn't matter.

Remain rooted in this presence.

Allow everything to unfold,

To come and go through this presence and see that your presence is not coming and going,

Your presence is not coming and going,

Your presence is not even covered by your thoughts or events or perceptions.

Your presence,

Your awareness is 100% available in all moments,

In all experiences.

So in this meditation you are prioritizing your awareness and not the objects of your awareness.

The objects of your awareness are coming and going,

But your awareness is witnessing all the moments.

So the other metaphor that is used for awareness is the sky.

Sky like open transparent awareness is watching unto itself and it sees the clouds,

The clouds of emotions and the birds are thoughts.

So the sky looking inward is present,

It allows the clouds to come and go,

It allows the birds to fly freely,

That is your thoughts are coming and going freely as they want,

But your sky is not affected by the birds.

The emotions that move slowly like clouds,

But nevertheless they will also go.

Only thing that remains is the spacious sky like awareness.

I would really like you to know it intimately,

Confirm it in your understanding.

Every instant,

That is the power of this meditation,

Which starts with the ending of all progressive paths.

Progressive paths go slowly,

Makes you ready for this revelation,

Whereas the non-dual Advaita path starts here and that's where we are starting,

Starting as awareness,

Abiding in awareness and abiding as awareness.

And if you really touched,

If you really know,

If you really understood any of these few concepts,

Understandings that we talked about,

That is sufficient.

Everything else that I am doing is just trying to bring you back,

Trying to keep you marinated in this presence.

I am trying to keep your mind not occupied so to speak,

But remain open to this discovery,

To this finding and showing it,

It's true self,

Seeing mind and thought like rising waves in ocean,

It's a very strong metaphor,

It's a very appropriate metaphor at this stage,

So that your mind can understand and help you in this exploration,

So that it doesn't create any hindrance in this exploration.

Ultimately what your mind wants and needs is this happiness,

Is this peace that you are experiencing right now.

So when it knows,

It also abides,

It becomes your friend,

It is your friend,

In fact it is also a part of you,

It's never apart from you,

Nothing is ever apart from you,

It is always your manifestation,

Your creation,

You,

You as in awareness,

You,

Not small you.

The sitting like this,

Exploring,

Remaining marinated in the essence of Gyan Yoga,

The knowledge,

Helps not just your mind,

But also your physiology to abide in this,

Abide in this reality,

Abide in this truth,

Truth of your awareness,

Truth of your real existence,

The reality,

And lot of other things may be taking place in a background that we may not know as we sit here like this,

And that is not of our concern either,

Let that happen on its own,

Our job,

Our aim is to effortlessly sit here in this presence,

As presence,

And all the work will be done on its own,

Any impulse to manage,

Control,

Observe,

Get it right,

Undo,

Are all futile,

Not needed,

In fact they are disrespectful to awareness,

It is exactly like that wave rising in the ocean and trying to control the ocean,

So remain confidently here in your presence,

With a smile,

And know that you are home already,

Bring that smile in the foreground,

See how it is feeling on your face,

See how it is seen in your awareness,

This smile,

And become one with this happiness,

With this smile,

So let go of any separation between you and your smile,

You are the smile,

Let go of any separation between yourself and smile,

Know that you are this smile,

Your presence is smiling,

It is vitally important to sit like this,

Remain marinated in your awareness,

In your practice,

Not to achieve awareness,

Because awareness is already here,

Your presence is already here,

The miracle has already taken place,

But it is to affirm your mind and your physiology,

That this is the reality I have explored and I wish to stay here,

And you will see that the things will align for you,

To manifest the peace and happiness that you already have and were looking for everywhere else.