TV Channel

The Brahman in this world, the presence (Anwesenheit), the Highest Self in this world, the Divine Self in this world, and the Divine Self in this body—we heard about this yesterday according to Śaṅkarācārya. The teaching concluded with the statement: Ahaṁ Ātmā Brahmaiva Sarvātmatayā Sthitaḥ Iti Nirdhāritaṁ Śrutayā Brāhmaṇīya Saṁsthayā. In this world, in all these beings (bhūtas), God Himself, the essence (Bhāva), is present in all. And therefore, it is the Brahman, the Self. This has also been proclaimed by the Śruti and the Upaniṣads, such as the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad and so forth. Now comes the topic of Prapañca-Mithyātva. Prapañca—we spoke about Prapañca yesterday. It also sounds beautiful. Let's say Prapañca. It almost sounds Czech. Prapañca. What is understood by Prapañca? Prapañca is everything that one busies oneself with. Now you begin with this, and now you begin with that, and now you want to do this, and now you want to accomplish that, and you wish to achieve this. So everything is dunyākā prapañca—worldly prapañca. Also efforts, but not efforts in a beautiful sense; rather, everything is meaningless. Everything you do is somehow prapañca; it is a disturbance. There is vikṣepa (distraction) within, there is kleśa (affliction) within. Vikṣepa, kleśa, vṛtti—all of it is contained within. Prapañca, dunyākā prapañca. One stands above things, Nivṛtti. Nivṛtti means everything is accomplished. For example, a retiree who retires means he has now completed all his tasks, work, duties, everything. Now he should finally quietly withdraw to his hermitage, or to the hut, or to his weekend house, or to the farm if he has one. So withdraw and meditate on God. Sādhana, āsanas, prāṇāyāma, mantra, meditation, reading, perhaps writing—that is everything. And eat moderately. One must also take a break from eating. And that is difficult. Such a person can live healthier and longer. But, as I said, one loves interest more than the capital. People always say, you put money in the bank and ask, how much interest will I get in return? That is it. They say especially on the interest, not on the principal. And so it is that people once again pay attention and engage with their grandchildren. Grandchildren are the interest. And here this and that and... then travel there and do this and do that. So pensioners are more stressed than before. That means they are the ones who create Prapañca. They are caught in prapañca-stress. Prapañca again. So, Nivṛtti and Pravṛtti. Pravṛtti is that state where your vṛttis, your thoughts, your feelings, your desires, everything—your concentration, your efforts to still achieve something—remain worldly. And that is Pravṛtti. And Nivṛtti is the best. Nivṛtti is practicing yoga in daily life and teaching whenever someone comes. Also, give teachings. What is Mithyā? Mithyā is meaningless. Mithyā is illusion, deception. And that is why it is said that in this world, as we have said before, Jagadī Brahmarūpatā—Brahman itself exists in this world. And now, what is not Brahman, and what is in this world, what is the prapañca and what is the result, the meaning of this prapañca is. The experienced one sees this world as transient, impermanent, and insubstantial, like a dream that vanishes in the very next moment. You have a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream, everything is so beautiful, and suddenly the alarm rings and in a few seconds everything is gone. The dream is gone. And so is the Saṁsāra; everything is a dream. What was yesterday is today like a dream that has been. And therefore sometimes people say, "Oh, wonderful, beautiful, wonderful." It is beautiful, but it is a dream. It will not last much longer. So within seconds, everything changes; nothing remains. Is this the reality? And when we come out of the dream into this world, the dream is gone and this world is here. Is this reality? We sleep and enter the world of dreams, and this world disappears. That is the reality. Everything we do around is a dream. It is like a child building a house on a sandpile and then destroying or demolishing it again. So it is. It is like a dream that vanishes in the next few seconds. That is untruth, that is unreality. And so this Saṁsāra is in decay. Vevār means action, that is to act, to work, to do something. What we are doing here, according to culture, according to the country, according to the law, the governing society. So, according to what we do and preserve, we act in accordance with cultures and upbringings. But what is there? Nothing. For example, someone works a lot, wants to become very famous, and achieve a higher position, like director of everything or president of the entire country or something like that. Yes, attained. But then, one day, everything is gone. These bones lie beneath the earth or in the fire. Or if you are lucky, then you bathe in the Gaṅgā. But what is the purpose of it? Everything we act and do, and what we pay attention to, all of that will end in the next few seconds. Such is this Saṁsāra. Such is this Saṁsāra, that we act according to our culture, our religion, or language, or customs. And we believe that it is the truth and the right thing, but in the end, it is overshadowed. Again nothing, again everything gone. It is a game, it is a play. Before the theater, coming onto the stage, the artists go to the dressing room and change into different kinds of clothes, apply makeup or paint, smear themselves, then come out and perform, and then leave again, and then... Others need different means to cleanse everything again, to remove makeup, as they say. What was the purpose? Why did you do that, and now why are you doing it again? So, Asatya in Satya, the unreal in the real and the real in the unreal, that is it. Just as we believe it to be real, it is the unreality. A dream. In the dream, you were very wealthy, very, very wealthy. And when you wake up, you can’t even buy your plane ticket for the trip to Africa. Where has the wealth gone? And so, in reality, what we have now is also just a dream. One day you will return. Nothing will come along. Not even your wedding ring will come along. Only your karma, your actions, your destiny. And so Prapañca Mithyātva. Everything you do is in unreality. It is Mithyā. Should I wash my hands or not? Should I have my beard nicely trimmed? Should I shave properly? But people will say, terrible, how I look. What’s the point of that? Do I have to look the way others want me to? And how long? So all is just temporary. Moving on. Then there is nothing again. This is the Prapañca. This is unreality. But still, it is real. We must behave in a certain way, we must dress in a certain way, we must eat like this, sit like this, not use our fingers, wash bare hands and wash bare hands, you must not do that. Now a girl has shared a paper house. You should never kiss your Svāmījī, but occasionally you may do so. That is beautiful. What is that? One carries a cross, one carries an Oṁ, one carries stars. So what is all this supposed to mean? Everything is prapañca. That’s right. So Śaṅkarācārya said, where is reality? Wake up and look there. Go in the direction where reality is. Once a disciple wanted to go to a great Melā, like the Kumbha Melā. And the master said, that was not a Kumbha Melā, but another kind of Melā, a Kīrtan. So he said, why are you going there? He said, yes, many people come, and many saints and sages and jugglers and also snake charmers and monkey masters come as well. The Master said, you may go, but go and sit only where the people are. He said, what do you think, Master? These are millions of people. He said, yes, I will give you a mirror and looked into the mirror. Wherever you see the people, there you sit. And he takes the mirror and goes to where the millions of people are standing around. He looks into the mirror and there are some pigs and some are donkeys and some are horses and hares, deer, and goats. And all kinds of visions, very rarely have two or three people ever stood together anywhere. Thus he spoke carefully and went with the mirror to the people who were truly human there. And what did he feel? As soon as he got closer, they said, "Oh friend, hello, how are you, where do you come from?" And "Come, don’t just sit with us eating or drinking and so on." So, human warmth was given. And not that he comes, how quickly can we steal his bag. That is a thief or that or that or a fraudster and so on. To have such a form of a person is not the person. The inner qualities. There are many, many people in the world, but there are few human beings. People are those who have human feelings. Humans are those who have feelings, like all living beings, and do not strike, do not kill, do not eat them. Ahiṁsā in the heart. So Human Dharma, what makes a man human? What qualities should we have that make us human? Not that someone kissed or someone gave a slap. A slap in the face is the best treatment for everyone. Those who have never been slapped in life are the saddest people. Those who have not received a slap are the confused ones. And they do not know how to create their life or master living. And those who have received slaps, they have undergone rigorous training, they are happy and they know everything, they are on the right path. Everyone should give themselves a little slap every day, in front of the mirror, yes. Effort, effort, make the effort yourself. A man comes who sells these, how do you say, these flakes? Fans, fans. Fans. And he comes and says, one fan, 10 shillings each, 10 shillings and a lifetime guarantee. 10 shillings and a lifetime guarantee. There sits a king or a director or someone like that, and he has said, what is he selling? He said he sells these fans. Yes, fans. Fans. He said, alright then, how much does it cost? He said, 10 shillings. And he said, it is guaranteed for life. I said, alright, then we will give two. One for the queen and one for me. He immediately gave 20 shillings and bought two. And he brings them to his wife, Evening, and himself as well. And the two of them sat there together and began to fan, and in five minutes I was exhausted. In five minutes, everything was torn apart; they only had these pieces in their hands, the piece of wood. The king was very disappointed. After five days, the same man comes, shouting loudly into the street, ten shillings each, lifetime guarantee. The king said, he is a Śaṭha (cheat). Call him here. He said, you are a fraud. He said, no, Sir, why do you say such a thing? This is my insult, an insult to honor. Why am I a fraud? He said, you are. You said a 10-cent coin costs a lifetime guarantee. He said, yes, Sir, I still have some. Would you like more? I promise you a lifetime guarantee. He said, but it didn’t even last five minutes, it’s already broken. He said, yes, Sir, I can well imagine that it is broken. You do not know how to use it. He said, well, how am I supposed to use it? So show me, how did you use it, what did you do? He said, quite normally, I held it in my hand and did it like this. He said, it is no wonder that it breaks. I am proud that he held on for five minutes. He said, how are we to use it? What is it for? He said, the wind, to the sparks. So what should I do? He said, hold it completely straight like this and then move your head. I can tell you, lifelong, it does not remain at all. Only hold it like this. That is how it is in life. What meaning does it all have? Therefore, Śaṅkarācārya said, prapañca mithyātva. Everything we do, what is the end of it? Sometimes we begin, and then we ourselves are the ones who end. We begin with something, then we stop, and then we dissolve. And so it is like a dream. The world is a dream. Every minute is transient. And what has passed, has passed, never to return. There is no going backwards. In life, there is no feedback loop. Feedback exists only in thought, in memory, in recollection—that is all. And memory and remembrance bring back such images that we try to experience with thoughts, but that is only in thought; it is not reality. And so the present moment is intense, and one should enjoy the present, but also not be attached to it. Be certain, it is transient, it will not remain. Every second, every minute comes to an end. Then, why are we bound here in this world? Everything is a dream. Therefore, Brahma is the truth, the world is illusion. Brahman is the truth, and this world is untruth, unreality, because it always comes to an end. But you do not end. You are the witness of the dream. In the dream, you yourself were the one who dreamed or is dreaming. And afterwards, when you are also awake, you are the same as when you have just awakened now. You are in this life, and you have dreamed before. So, the truth is neither this life nor a dream is the truth. The truth is that which is constantly observed. The knower, the one present, is always. And you are the presence in the dream, in waking, and in the plane of radiance. Before birth, during life, and after death, in astral planes, everywhere, you are the presence. And the true Self, the Presence, is the Brahman, God Himself, the Guardian, who is within you, and that is the reality. There is no dissolution for the two, nor is there any destruction. And so it is like a dream in the Jagad-Svapna, whether we are awake or dreaming. When we awaken, the dream disappears. And when we enter the dream state, this world disappears. That means in the Suṣupti and Jagrat Avasthā. Suṣupti is the state of deep sleep, and Jagrat is the state of wakefulness. Jagratī and Svapna, in both, in dream and in waking, both are unreal, both are changeable, constantly changing. You are also not a sleeper. The state of sleep is also not eternal, and the waking state is also not eternal. We see everything, we believe it has meaning, we create everything, we constantly strive, daily, to do something good. But what is meaning? How long will that stay with you? How long will it endure? And if one thinks like this, then surely there will be peace in this world. What are we fighting for? Why do we argue? Why do we wage wars? Who fought for this land and tormented and painfully killed them? And where are they now? No one knows. The land has remained here. So, the struggle arises from ignorance. And ignorance is the belief that it is mine, I am the owner, and it is mine to enjoy. But you cannot do that. You are only a guardian, an employee. Soon you will be gone. Everything remains here, only you do not. Therefore, be happy and content where you are, and strive for your divine realization. Let go of everything, forgive, understand. What moves with nothing will move along. Move with yes good sequence with the lord, Schilders died or title with July carriage, there is likewise so all three guṇas sattva, rajas, and tamas—the manifested body is created and formed by these three guṇas. Through the three Guṇas, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. And within all these three Guṇas are contained the three states, levels of consciousness: deep sleep, dream, and waking. All three of these are Mithyā and reality. Reality is the one who is present in all three times. I am dreaming, or I am deeply asleep, have I dreamed nothing, or am I dreaming nothing. I am awake, I neither sleep nor dream. Waking, sleep, and dream. In all three times, the one who is the knower of knowledge present is your true Self, Brahman. That is the reality. The other is everything, is unreality. Sattva, Rajas, Tamas, and the five elements—this body is created from them. And that is also changeable. And this state of sleep, dream, and wakefulness is strongly bound with the three Guṇas. Sattva-Guṇa is, so to speak, the dream state, and Rajas-Guṇa is a waking state, active. And Tamas-guṇa is a state of sleep. Tamas. Darkness. Walking. Being tired. Sleeping. That is Tamas guṇa. And a great deal of tamas guṇa is produced from eating grains. If you eat a lot of bread and cheese and then drink water, all the gas rises and you feel tired. And eat sāttvic food, more fruits and vegetables, then you will need little sleep, not so much sleep. The other kind of nourishment is a sleeping aid. He shows a great deal of Tamas-guṇa. And therefore, the witness of all these three—sleep, dream, and waking—is the Draṣṭā, the seer, and that is Citta-svarūpa. This is the Nitya and the Citta-svarūpa, the Eternal. Just as a person, through his disappointment, sees a pot, but in reality there is no pot, it is only the earth. A pitcher made of earth, shaped like a clay pot. Śaṅkarācārya says, there is no pot, there is no pitcher, it is only the earth. But you say, no, it is a jug. But Śaṅkarācārya says, no, this is earth, a piece of earth. You run after the form, that is it. But you think of this form, yet you have also forgotten the true form. The truth is, the earth is in the pot, not the pot in the earth. Where is the pitcher? And also like a shell or a shell that you find on the shore of a river or ocean or sea. And there it shines so beautifully, as if it were inside the silver. But there is no silver inside. Yet it shines, you see, it is silver. But it is not silver. That is an illusion. This is a Māyā. That is it. And such is the world. You see the world as a pot, but you do not see the reality of the world, the Earth. You think there is silver inside, very beautiful, but there is no silver inside. But you think that. It is your traditional mystic. And so it is in the same way. The ignorant one sees Brahman through his disappointment as Jīva. I am a living being. I am an individual within Brahman. Śaṅkarācārya said, how ridiculous it is to say that "I am," as if something exists in Brahman. No, that is not the truth. You are Brahman, you are the Self, you are not this jīva that is struggling here. He is reborn and dies and suffers and experiences pain and offense, and so on. If someone is offended, I immediately say, oh God, be still, this person has such great Jīva-Bhāva, suddenly offended. If this person brings a glass of water and the other does not, and the other suddenly feels offended, then I see that this person still has very strong Jīva-Bhāva. Are you offended? Then give me half a glass of cola. And so one sees, the Jīva-bhāva, the individual, does not see this reality in the Self, he does not see the Self. Just as a seed is in the earth, or earth in the seed, so the earth is as the seed, just as gold is in jewelry, just as silver is in shells, it is only in name, Essence-Mātra. Uṣṇīṣa-Prakāśa, in the same way, the jīva also exists in Brahman. The jīva believes, I am something, but it is nothing. It is only Brahman. A pot believes he exists as a pot, but in reality he is not a pot; he is only the earth. The jewel believes that I am a beautiful earring, but it is not. In reality, it is only gold. And in shells, you believe that it is silver. It is not silver, it is only a shell. And so it is that Jīva believes that I am a very real individual, an eternally existing "I am." No, you are Brahman, the Truth. So, give up your power, your thoughts that you are a guru. You are not a guru. You are the reality, the essence, the original. The origin of the pot is the earth. And the origin of us is the Brahman, God Himself. So, then we have no more karmas. How beautiful. Take a sip for your well-being. Do not create any more karma. No more karma to create, right? Only to let go of what you have had until now. And so, just as a pot is on the earth, gold in the jewelry, silver in the shells, in the same way the Jīva is in Brahman, in Parabrahman. The difference is that the śabda, the name. A pot has only one name, nothing else. And when the pot is broken, one asks, where is the pot? It is gone. It is not gone, it is there. The Earth is still there. But the pitcher is gone. The gold has melted and the ring is gone. The ring is not lost, it is right here, there. But the form is gone. The reality is present. And therefore, your reality will always be there. And that is why one says Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi. What does one say? Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi. I am Brahman. I am Ātma. I am Ātma. Tat Tvam Asi. You are that one. So'ham. And so it is. Just like the blue color in the sky. Can you capture the blue color in the sky? Put your hand in, it will turn blue. We always say, beautiful blue sky. Let us go through the blue, the airplane flies very high above. And when does it land completely blue? Why then? Where is blue? That’s right. Yes, Thebe, Vio, Min, Nīla, Tvam, Yes, Ta, Ni, Ram, Maros, Tale. Just as the sky is blue, and just as water appears in the desert as a mirage, one sees much water, beautiful, a lake, beautiful, clear water. You can walk and walk, but as you come closer, you won’t even find a drop of water. But we see, we see very clearly, beautiful water waves. Oh, once I saw it, it was truly beautiful. And indeed, it was in Algeria. In Algeria, we traveled by car, intending to take a lunch break. And we said, somewhere under the tree we will sit and then have a snack, take a break, eat bread. We traveled 500 kilometers, and there wasn’t a single tree there. With this hope, tree comes, tree comes, there was no tree. And then we decided that we would sit and eat among the sattvas of our car. But it was noon, so we did not sit either. And there we stood and saw, truly very beautiful in a lake. Such pleasant water and all that. But the water, that is nothing at all. This is the steam that comes from the earth. It is a form of water. It is water, the steam that comes from the earth. With heat, but not in the physical form of water as we imagine water. And so it is, the blue skies and water are in the desert in the summer. And so the Vṛtti is from the people, and likewise the Brahman is in the vibration of the people. In your reality, Brahman is present, and everything else is just disappointment, as it is. Yatheva śūnyavelāyāṁ gandharvāṇāṁ puram yathā Yathākāśe cid-vid candratvaṁ tadvat satye jagat sthitam So is that in the śūnya, we are in the sea. And so with Gandharva, the wealth of Gandharva. And so with Svayambhū in heaven. And so is the state of the world in truth. There are not two moons in the sky. This is all just a perception. There are not two; there is only one that we see. And so is Saṁsāra; Saṁsāra is empty. Then why are you here? What are you crying for? Get up and hurry, and do something to awaken from this dream of illusion. Like the waves on the water, one wave after another, but in reality, they are not waves; it is all water. Just as a vessel is made by a potter, but in reality, it is only a potter. Thus, Brahman, the entire universe, is everywhere only the Ātman. One sees only Ātman, nothing else at all. Throughout the entire universe, everywhere there is an eternal, divine presence—it is your Ātman. You are that. That is the truth. That is the truth. Just as the river flows, just as your earth, or your scent, or fragrance, or the entire earth—such is the nature of existence. And just as on this Earth all living beings. And so it is in this Saṁsāra, in your Citta, you see the Śakti, all that which exists within you. And that is what binds you here, in this world. Therefore, you must free yourself from it. Do not be attached, don’t be a test to it. Liberate yourself from this. And to put it very briefly, Śaṅkarācārya said in his Ātma-Prakāśa or Āprekṣānubhūti, Prapañca Mithyātva, everything is the Prapañca. All reborn, die, that, that. Everything that happens around is a prapañca. Spring, summer, autumn, winter, snow, drought, rain, thunder, all is a prapañca. God also has so many prapañcas. And we have also entered into these prapañcas. So come out of these prapañcas.