Episodes

  • 8 - The Spiritual Psychology behind Waking, Dreaming and Deep-Sleep States | Swami Tattwamayananda

    8 - The Spiritual Psychology behind Waking, Dreaming and Deep-Sleep States | Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 6 2019
    Verses: 43, 44, 45
    - The reality/unreality of dreams.
    - What is Pratibhasika reality?
    - 'Turiya' is present in all the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep, but also transcends them all.
    - Existence, Consciousness and Bliss, which are the natural characteristics ‘swarupa-lakshana’ (‘स्वरूप-लक्षण’) of the 'Sakshi ('साक्षी) or Brahman appear to inhere in the 'Vyavaharika Jiva' and the 'Pratibhasika Jiva'.
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    44 mins
  • 7 - Mind Going Beyond Mind | Swami Tattwamayananda

    7 - Mind Going Beyond Mind | Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 6 2019
    Verses: 32, 33, 35, 40, 41
    - Psychological problems can have no permanent solutions at the psychological level.
    - They can have permanent solutions only at the spiritual level.
    - Ascent in self-identity: Contrasting examples of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Valmiki, the great Sanskrit poet of India and the author of the ancient classic 'Ramayana'.
    - Only the non-participating Witness ( the 'Self' - साक्षी) is Absolutely Real because it is unchanging.
    - The appearance of 'Jiva' is only because of the association of 'Upadhis'.
    - The two powers in Maya:
    - The power of false projection (vikshepa-sakti)
    - The power of concealing the true nature of the reality (avarana-sakti).
    - 'Maya' is neither Absolutely Real, Nor Absolutely Unreal.
    - अवछ्छेदवाद, आभासवाद, and प्रतिबिम्बवाद further elaborated. (verse: 33)
    - Who is the highest devotee of God? How to reach that level?
    - The three levels of Reality in Advaita Vedanta explained.
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    56 mins
  • 6 – ‘Savikalpa Samadhi' (Meditation) Practiced with an External Object (Sound/Mantra) | Swami Tattwamayananda

    6 – ‘Savikalpa Samadhi' (Meditation) Practiced with an External Object (Sound/Mantra) | Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 6 2019
    Verses: 27, 28, 30

    - 'Madhyama samadhi' explained.
    - The great statement ('Mahavakya'): 'TATTWVAMASI' ( तत्त्वमसि )explained .
    - Analysis of the two 'padarthas': 'tat' and 'tvam' .
    - Importance of ' Śraddhā (श्रद्धा) for the student/ spiritual aspirant.
    - Link to the transcendental: its usefulness in everyday life.
    - Constant, natural effortless, spontaneous contemplation on Brahman.
    - Highest devotion (भक्ति), and the highest knowledge ( ज्ञानं ) are the same at the experience level.
    - Natural state of a 'Jivanmukta' ('liberated-in-life'):
    - How all delusions vanish with the dawn of Advaitic experience: the fetters of the heart are broken, all doubts and negativity disappear.
    - Every activity becomes an act of worship, every word becomes a sacred 'mantra', every thought becomes a meditation, the secular merges with the spiritual, and the whole life becomes spiritualized.
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • 5 - The Real and the Unreal in Everything That We Perceive and Experience | Swami Tattwamayananda

    5 - The Real and the Unreal in Everything That We Perceive and Experience | Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 6 2019
    Verses: 20, 26, 27
    - Everything in this world has five aspects, ie, the permanent, unchanging substratum consisting of Existence- Consciousness - Bliss ( सत्- चित् - आनन्द ), and the impermanent changing aspect, consisting of names and forms,
    (nama-rupa ) which constitute 'Maya'.

    - The Absolute Reality, Existence- Consciousness - Bliss (सत्- चित् - आनन्द) is beyond the five conditions of verbalization ( beyond the five categories of definitions, descriptions etc. (sabda-pravritti-nimitta).

    - Nirvikalpa-samadhi explained:

    - The mind of a person who has attained 'Nirvikalpa Samadhi' compared to a lamp kept in sheltered, windless place- it never flickers; it is always steady.

    - The five states of mind according to Yoga psychology explained:
    Ksipta, Mudha, Viksipta, Ekagra, Niruddha

    - Different forms of 'Samadhi': (a) with the help of an external object and,
    (b) with the help of an internal object.
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    50 mins
  • 4 - Maya, the Beginningless, Timeless Mystery | Swami Tattwamayananda

    4 - Maya, the Beginningless, Timeless Mystery | Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 6 2019
    Verses: 16, 17, 37, 38, 31

    - Jiva, The embodied Self , freed from the veiling and projecting powers of Maya, discovers its true identity with the non-participating Witness (साक्षी) .

    - Then we realize that all 'vikaras' (changes) belong to the world only.
    - What is 'Prarabdha-Karma '? How does it operate in our everyday life?
    - Shankaracharya's rejection of the Mimamsakas' obsession with Vedic ritualism.
    - Three approaches to Reality in Advaita: Paramarthika, Vyavaharika and Pratibhasika
    - अवछ्छेद वाद, आभासवाद, and प्रतिबिम्बवा: more details.

    - Constant contemplation, unbroken flow of awareness
    - The different schools of Advaita Vedanta: 'Bhamati', 'Vivarana' and 'Vartika'

    - The illustration from the Chandogya Upanishad: Spiritual awakening and the role of an 'Acharya' or a 'Guru".
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    57 mins
  • 3 - Atman in the Three States of Awareness | Swami Tattwamayananda

    3 - Atman in the Three States of Awareness | Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 6 2019
    Verses: 10 - 14

    - Waking (जाग्रत), Dreaming (स्वप्न), Deep Sleep (सुषुप्ति) and beyond: Turiya (तुरिय)
    - The 'I' consciousness in the three states of consciousness: 'THE WITNESS'.
    -The psychological and spiritual dynamics of ' AVASTHATRAYA '
    -'Avasthatraya- saakshi'.
    - The mechanism of Maya and 'adhyasa' (अध्यास:)
    - The mystery of Maya and how does it work in our life?
    - Concealment of our true nature and false projection.
    - The two functions of 'Maya' elaborated: the power of veiling the Reality and the power of projection, causing the expansive manifestations of the manifold creation.
    - The way out of Maya: Sadhana-chatushtaya (the four spiritual disciplines: Ref: class:2).
    - Shravana, manana, nididhyasana & devotion- (bhakti) eventually, through Moksha.
    - Atman, the non-participating witness.
    - अवछ्छेद वाद, आभासवाद, and प्रतिबिम्बवाद elaborated.
    - The spiritual aspect of perfect health.
    - The mystery of creation - in Advaita Vedanta.
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    56 mins
  • 2 - Identifying Ourselves as The 'Witness' (साक्षी) | Swami Tattwamayananda

    2 - Identifying Ourselves as The 'Witness' (साक्षी) | Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 6 2019
    Verses 1, 2, 3, 5

    A brief overview of the text and the topics discussed:
    -The eternal conflict: What we want and what our mind is willing to do.
    -The cause of problems in our everyday life: forgetting the impermanence of the worldly experiences.
    -The subject and the objects, the seer ('drashta') and the seen ('drshya'), the perceiver and the perceived, the witness and the witnessed
    -A phenomenological approach
    -The form is the seen and objectified.
    -Worldly objects and experiences change every moment.
    -Atman is the unchanging seer and the eternal witness (साक्षी), which is beyond immanence and transcendence.
    -Atman, the eternal, unchanging revealer of all, the 'light of all lights'.
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • 1 - A Brief Overview of the Text | Swami Tattwamayananda

    1 - A Brief Overview of the Text | Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 6 2019
    - 'Drg-Drsya-Viveka' is an introductory book on Advaita Vedanta, technically called a 'Prakarana Grantha (प्रकरण ग्रंथ),
    which teaches the identity and oneness of the individual Jiva and Paramatman.

    - Vedanta is not a new knowledge; it reminds us of our true reality; it is the re-discovery of our own true nature.

    - Atman (knowledge of Atman) is not something that could be produced or transformed or attained or purified.
    - (" न उत्पाद्यं, न विकार्यम्, न आप्यं, न संस्कार्यं " - Shankaracharya’s commentary on the Ishavasya Upanishad).

    Some important topics discussed are:
    -Spiritual sleep and awakening
    -The laws of karma and re-incarnation
    -The wheel of karma - vrtti - samskara - vasana - samkalpa and again karma...
    -The importance of Sadhana Chatushtaya (साधनचतुष्टय)
    -Different forms of 'samadhi'.
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    59 mins