The document discusses the "hard problem of consciousness" in science. It notes that 96% of the universe is mysterious dark energy and dark matter, and only 0.01% of the universe is made up of atoms. Even at the atomic level, particles behave as waves when unobserved. The hard problem is how consciousness arises from atoms and molecules in the brain. Vedanta philosophy provides an alternative view that consciousness is fundamental and matter is a human construct. It teaches that one's true nature is the absolute reality or "Brahman" described as pure consciousness/existence/bliss.
The document discusses the "hard problem of consciousness" in science. It notes that 96% of the universe is mysterious dark energy and dark matter, and only 0.01% of the universe is made up of atoms. Even at the atomic level, particles behave as waves when unobserved. The hard problem is how consciousness arises from atoms and molecules in the brain. Vedanta philosophy provides an alternative view that consciousness is fundamental and matter is a human construct. It teaches that one's true nature is the absolute reality or "Brahman" described as pure consciousness/existence/bliss.
The document discusses the "hard problem of consciousness" in science. It notes that 96% of the universe is mysterious dark energy and dark matter, and only 0.01% of the universe is made up of atoms. Even at the atomic level, particles behave as waves when unobserved. The hard problem is how consciousness arises from atoms and molecules in the brain. Vedanta philosophy provides an alternative view that consciousness is fundamental and matter is a human construct. It teaches that one's true nature is the absolute reality or "Brahman" described as pure consciousness/existence/bliss.
00:06 approximately 40 minutes to solve the 00:13 mystery of existence so without wasting 00:17 any time I'm going to start talking to 00:21 Swami ji thank you for being here thank 00:23 you for having me and I'll just give a 00:26 very shortened introduction and then 00:29 we'll get going okay so how many people 00:31 here have heard the phrase the hard 00:35 problem of consciousness how many people 00:38 have not okay well if you'll go if you 00:43 do a google search and you ask what are 00:47 the 150 open questions and science the 00:53 first open question in science is what's 00:54 the universe made of and the answer is 00:58 we don't know because 96% of the 01:01 universe is mysterious dark energy dark 01:05 matter I'm not gonna go into that 4% of 01:08 the universe is atomic of the 4% of the 01:11 universe that's atomic 99.99% is 01:17 invisible interstellar dust so we can't 01:21 see it the visible universe which we are 01:25 now told according to the scientific 01:27 model is two trillion galaxies it's two 01:31 trillion galaxies so we live in the 01:33 Milky Way galaxy with a hundred billion 01:35 stars next door is Andromeda same number 01:40 of stars will go on and on keep going 01:43 two trillion galaxies 760 liyan planets 01:49 I don't even know how to write that and 01:51 according to current scientific models 01:54 trillions uncountable trillions of 01:57 planets possibly 60 billion habitable 02:00 planets in our own galaxy based on what 02:04 they called Goldilocks zone 02:07 that's only point zero one percent of 02:10 the universe 02:12 that's point zero one the rest is 02:14 unknown or unknowable and the point zero 02:18 one percent that's atomic if you go deep 02:20 into the nature of atoms they become 02:23 particles and then particles have this 02:26 mysterious behavior that when they're 02:30 not being looked at or they don't 02:32 interact with other particles they 02:34 become waves and unlike particles which 02:37 are units of mass and they have units of 02:40 mass and energy waves just exists as 02:42 possibility it's bottom line the 02:44 universe is made out of nothing so why 02:48 does it look like this that's the hard 02:52 problem of consciousness why does it 02:55 look like this how do atoms and 02:57 molecules in the brain or electrical 03:00 impulses create this experience this 03:02 experience the experience of your own 03:04 body the experience of your own mind and 03:08 actually most people now think this hard 03:11 problem is unsolvable if you think of 03:17 matter as foundational if matter is the 03:21 ontological primitive then the problem 03:24 is unsolvable so that's why we have 03:27 Swami ji he's going to solve the problem 03:29 for us very badly by telling us there is 03:33 no hard problem at all if if you take 03:39 the reverse point of view and that is 03:42 consciousness is fundamental and matter 03:46 is a human construct 03:48 but without now me going on and on Swami 03:53 ji vedanta has solved this problem what 03:57 is Vedanta well thank you for the 04:00 introduction Deepak Vedanta is the is a 04:03 philosophical system or a family of 04:05 philosophical systems based on very 04:08 ancient texts called the open Asians and 04:10 these Upanishads are the final the 04:13 highest teachings of the Vedas the Vedas 04:16 as we know are very ancient scriptures 04:19 of the other Hindu religion so these 04:21 Upanishads 04:23 they contain certain insights about who 04:28 we are what we are and what reality is 04:32 the Rishi's the ancient sages who came 04:36 upon these insights they found that by 04:39 knowledge of these insights by getting 04:41 these insights it actually it solves the 04:45 very human problem of the suffering the 04:48 problem of death of meaninglessness this 04:51 the the crucial human problems they are 04:54 actually solved if you have knowledge 04:56 about what we are and what this reality 04:59 we live in is is what we are 05:01 experiencing if you want me to put it in 05:05 one sentence and happily we can do that 05:07 the sentence is that thou art than urs 05:12 that - Amma see it means there is an 05:15 absolute reality of this universe which 05:17 can be known or realized and luckily for 05:21 us we are that absolute reality that - 05:24 Amma see means that that you are the 05:26 absolute reality of which the entirety 05:29 of this universe and the person you 05:31 experience yourself to be these are 05:33 manifestations of that one absolute 05:35 reality which is called Brahman in the 05:38 open oceans thomassie means that thou 05:43 art and this identity is the essential 05:47 teaching of Vedanta and they claim that 05:50 it actually can be experienced in life 05:52 it's not a speculation it can be 05:55 experienced and it must be experienced 05:57 in order to overcome suffering so this 06:00 is basically the core teaching of of 06:04 bailant and that absolute reality is 06:07 usually expressed in English as pure 06:11 consciousness yes pure consciousness or 06:15 pure existence the Sanskrit terms are 06:19 sucked 06:19 which means pure being or isness 06:21 existence chit 06:23 which means awareness consciousness in 06:27 itself but also happily and pun intended 06:31 Ananda which means happiness so joy or 06:34 bliss 06:36 so as swami vivekananda put it existence 06:40 itself consciousness itself and bliss 06:43 itself that is the nature of the 06:45 ultimate reality which by Dantas speaks 06:46 about so let's now use one terms for 06:50 convenience such it on unjust for lack 06:54 of for the economy of expenditure of 06:59 energy let's just use the word 07:01 consciousness absolutely and so 07:03 consciousness is the basis of every 07:06 experience we have whether it's mind or 07:08 body or the universe right right so give 07:11 your definition of consciousness and how 07:13 you would expect a theist questions for 07:16 me give you a definition in fact in fact 07:20 it is interesting that we live in 07:21 interesting times from I was just 07:23 talking to 07:24 Deepak a little while ago consciousness 07:27 studies has become very important in the 07:29 last twenty twenty-five years scientists 07:32 were not so interested in consciousness 07:35 until about twenty five or thirty years 07:37 ago but right now consciousness studies 07:40 is booming there are the psychologists 07:43 are obviously interested interested in 07:45 it neuroscientists are interested in it 07:47 linguists and philosophers and people 07:50 cosmologists are interested in it 07:52 computer scientists are interested in it 07:54 so you think that all of these people 07:57 interested so they know what they are 07:58 talking about but they cannot agree on 08:00 what they are talking about what is the 08:02 definition of consciousness they there 08:05 is no consensus there are multiple 08:06 definitions of consciousness but none of 08:08 them are acceptable across the board in 08:10 fact a friend of mine who is a 08:12 mathematician and a monk he told me that 08:16 I don't take this entire field of 08:18 consciousness studies too seriously 08:20 I said why ever not because it seems to 08:23 be what we are doing as monks he said 08:26 any field of study where you cannot 08:28 define this subject of study is not yet 08:30 a mature field of study all right now 08:34 what Deepak is asking me is give me a 08:35 definition of consciousness so I'm going 08:38 to give you a definition of 08:39 consciousness from the Vedanta 08:41 perspective where actually they are very 08:43 clear and what they mean by 08:45 consciousness get this 08:49 whatever you are aware of is not 08:54 consciousness it's it's a what is called 08:59 a vr- a definition a definition by 09:02 exclusion that means anything that you 09:05 are aware of right now you are aware of 09:06 sights and sounds and smells all of this 09:10 so there are objects of consciousness 09:13 you are aware of them and that which is 09:16 aware of them is consciousness 09:18 so then consciousness B is basically 09:21 awareness of experience right is the 09:24 awareness in which experience becomes 09:26 possible yeah so here you know I attend 09:29 these conferences that you're talking 09:31 about and people come up with all kinds 09:33 of definitions so some materialists say 09:37 consciousness is first-person experience 09:40 others say consciousness is the knowing 09:42 element in every experience but I think 09:45 the non-dual lists these days you know a 09:48 lot of non-dual lists in the West you 09:49 there they're saying the consciousness 09:52 the knowing element in every experience 09:54 so right now you know that you're having 09:56 this experience you also know that you 09:58 have a body you also know that you have 10:00 a mind so what is it that knows this 10:04 experience called 10:05 mind body world other non duelists have 10:09 expanded on that and so consciousness is 10:12 that in which all experience occurs all 10:15 experience is known and out of which all 10:18 experience is made so you started off by 10:21 saying consciousness is not anything 10:24 that is an object yes so this what is 10:28 this this is an experience in 10:30 consciousness right right look at the 10:33 words which deeper just use right now 10:36 the knowing element that by which 10:39 knowledge is possible now what we dontoh 10:41 would say is that if you carefully look 10:43 at knowledge all your experience and 10:47 eliminate mentally in your understanding 10:50 eliminate from your experience whatever 10:52 is objective by which I mean you're 10:56 looking at this beaker that is this jar 10:58 here this is objective because it's an 11:00 object of your 11:01 looking at it it's an object but what is 11:03 looking at it your eyes but you're aware 11:06 of your eyes your eyes are open closed 11:08 the guy's boring me so much I can't keep 11:10 my eyes open 11:11 you are aware of that so the eyes are 11:13 also objects in your awareness now you 11:17 are aware of your eyes with your mind 11:19 you're thinking about your eyes so the 11:22 thoughts in the mind you're also aware 11:25 of that so even the thoughts in the mind 11:27 are objects of awareness in this way if 11:31 you eliminate again in understanding 11:34 everything that is objective everything 11:37 that is an object in your experience you 11:40 are left with consciousness as it is and 11:42 don't try to catch it 11:43 ah now I will get consciousness as it is 11:45 you will never get it that way because 11:47 that would be an object so it is the you 11:51 the real you in fact one definition of 11:53 consciousness offered by one of the 11:55 disciples of the great Shankar Acharya 11:57 in Sanskrit are needham titanium very 12:02 elegant definition what is it not this 12:05 awareness from your awareness from your 12:09 experience just now if you eliminate in 12:12 your understanding everything that you 12:13 can call this this jar this body this 12:17 eye this mind this thought if you 12:22 eliminate that which shines upon all of 12:24 them that is consciousness from what 12:28 shines is the knowing element Swamiji 12:30 said you can't go looking for 12:32 consciousness because it is that which 12:34 is doing the looking right you can't 12:37 find it out there because it's that 12:39 which is looking at what's out there but 12:42 let's go a little deeper now that you 12:44 have right you have created the basis 12:47 now consciousness is not an object the 12:50 object is experience in consciousness 12:53 now this is also an object right what is 12:56 also magic and the thoughts are also an 12:58 object right so can we say let's say 13:02 you're a baby you just showed up in the 13:05 world which by the way has already been 13:07 interpreted for every baby for two 13:09 thousand plus years ever since people 13:12 started to speak in language 13:15 created culture and started telling 13:17 stories people started interpreting 13:21 experience and we are born into an 13:25 interpreted world before we are born you 13:27 see you're a baby of what you see here 13:30 is not a show you see a color a shape 13:33 right if you touch it it's a sensation 13:36 if you you know you can smell it taste 13:39 it if you want but or it make noise out 13:43 of it so these are sensory experiences 13:47 right without labels right but then 13:49 humans create labels and create 13:51 constructs we call that a show we call 13:53 this a hand we call this a body we call 13:55 this the world right and then we give 13:57 names and you were earlier on explaining 14:00 to me this is the whole phenomenon that 14:03 we call it nom Rupa right but this 14:06 naming creates a human construct of what 14:13 is really a sensory perception which in 14:17 turn is a mental activity which in turn 14:23 as you just say can conjugate an 14:25 activity in consciousness right so if we 14:27 take that naturally yeah then this is 14:30 also made out of consciousness ah this 14:34 is I think debugs favorite theme but 14:37 everything is made out of consciousness 14:38 but here's the thing here because that's 14:40 what one of the schools of Vedanta art 14:43 weight of a tanta you know this 14:46 Upanishads are speaking about so great 14:48 philosophers came along and they took 14:50 these open issues and they developed 14:53 very complex but very current and 14:56 consistent systems of philosophy based 14:58 on these oak initials so they became the 15:00 different schools of Vedanta one school 15:03 which is very well known is Advaita 15:04 Vedanta non-dual Vedanta there the idea 15:09 is that not only are you consciousness 15:11 but then everything else is also 15:15 consciousness now this might sound as 15:18 somebody told me recently a materialist 15:20 it's a wacky idea it's a crazy idea how 15:22 can everything be consciousness but it 15:24 goes like this 15:26 once you say that whatever is objective 15:29 is not consciousness that which is aware 15:32 of the object is consciousness then you 15:34 are left with the entire world of 15:36 objects the entire universe out there my 15:39 own body even the mind they're all 15:42 objects now you I am the consciousness 15:45 witnessing all of this now your question 15:47 is then what are these objects and 15:50 that's where Vedanta becomes very 15:52 interesting it says all of the things 15:55 that you experience in consciousness as 15:57 objects are actually nothing other than 16:00 consciousness itself you the pure 16:03 consciousness entirely subjective 16:04 consciousness appears out there as a as 16:09 a world set in space and time and full 16:12 of objects with the with the help of 16:14 name and form so this names and forms 16:18 another name for this is Maya name and 16:20 from nama Rupa so what you're seeing 16:22 here is you the consciousness in 16:25 yourself appears a mind a body with its 16:28 senses and the senses revealed to it and 16:30 universe of objects set out there 16:33 apparently in time and space including 16:35 this glass jar and all of this is 16:37 name-and-form interpretation as you said 16:41 somebody put it very beautiful in 16:43 language is the knife with which you cut 16:45 reality so this batch of color but what 16:49 it might look like to a baby but the 16:52 mother comes and explains this is a jar 16:54 of water and this is your body this is 16:56 your body and a concept of your body 16:59 that also slowly a baby learns over time 17:03 let us my bath given this understanding 17:06 and given the Vedic worldview and given 17:11 the fact that we as humans we can only 17:14 speak in language and explain things in 17:17 language and as soon as we create a word 17:21 we in a sense create a construct of the 17:24 fundamental reality which right now you 17:28 said is consciousness that to a massive 17:31 brahmasmi tattva masih given this 17:34 contract for our audience who is not 17:37 familiar with these terms can you help 17:41 explain the difference between Jeeva 17:46 Brahman and then let's go further after 17:50 that hey once it's an opportunity to get 17:52 we don't earn less than an hour we can't 17:57 waste time Vedanta 101 day yes that 18:06 absolute reality which Vedanta speaks 18:08 about is called Brahman 18:10 and the word Brahman etymologically if 18:13 you look at it in sanskrit it simply 18:15 means the vast that which has no limit 18:17 just the vast it's not the name of a 18:20 particular god or anything like that 18:21 it's just the limitless the vast the 18:25 infinite and by the way when you talk 18:28 about infinite a mathematician or a 18:30 scientist might want to ask ask you what 18:33 exactly do you mean by the infinite 18:34 because they are precisely defined 18:36 infinite more than one infinite in 18:37 mathematics for example where on tile is 18:40 a very precise definition of the 18:41 infinite it says that which is not 18:45 limited in space-time and object is the 18:50 infinite in sanskrit deja Carla was to 18:53 parichi the shown iam divided of 18:56 limitations in time-space and object 18:58 what are limitations in time born at 19:01 this time dying at this time created and 19:03 destroyed so that's a limitation in time 19:05 if you do not have a limitation in time 19:07 what happens your eternal there's no 19:11 point where your creator that is created 19:13 no point that it is destroyed no here's 19:15 a very important thing to understand 19:17 eternal doesn't mean stretching in time 19:19 forever eternal means timeless not in 19:22 time you're right it's not which 19:24 something which lasts a long time 19:26 that's one way of understanding eternal 19:28 but that's just a preliminary step the 19:29 real thing is you are time is in you you 19:33 might ask that sounds confusing what do 19:36 you mean time is in you 19:37 there aren't the means it in a very 19:38 simple sense when you experience time 19:42 right 19:42 that Tim just told us we're going to 19:45 wrap up by 8:30 so it's in Tim's 19:47 consciousness all the time that we are 19:50 going to wrap up at 8:30 8:30 is not 19:53 aware of Tim Tim is aware of 8:30 that's 19:57 all that we donto means when it says 19:58 that time is in consciousness and not a 20:01 consciousness in time another human 20:03 girl's room and no limitation in object 20:07 that's an interesting thing in Indian 20:09 philosophy limitation in object needs 20:11 this glass jar is just a glass jar it's 20:15 not the table it's not deeper or me so 20:18 each object has its own identity and 20:20 it's different from everything else 20:21 that's called limitation by object and 20:23 being infinite means it is not limited 20:27 to any particular object which means no 20:31 object in the universe is different from 20:33 Brahman 20:34 if no object is different from Brahman 20:36 there's no difference between Brahman 20:38 and any other object there is no second 20:40 thing apart from raman so that no second 20:43 means advaita non duality so brahman is 20:45 that non dual reality which is not 20:47 limited by time space or object the the 20:51 objects in consciousness cannot limit 20:56 consciousness consciousness is not 21:00 limited by its contents but no Atman 21:05 yes that's the second important concept 21:07 in Vedanta Atman means you 21:11 so when Vedanta says that thou art what 21:15 it basically means Brahman is equal to 21:17 Atman it means that that infinite 21:19 reality not limited by time space and 21:21 object is you you might say that sounds 21:25 cool but I can't really believe that but 21:28 it's you in a very special sense not you 21:31 as a body not you as the mind or as the 21:35 live in limited person but as that 21:37 absolute consciousness which shines 21:39 through that particular mind and body so 21:42 which in fact shines through and reveals 21:44 the person you take yourself to be so 21:46 that reality beyond the person that pure 21:49 consciousness is called admin and admin 21:52 is equal to Brahman is basically the 21:54 teaching of Earth 21:56 so if you say what is Atman the real me 21:58 or the real I which is the reality of 22:00 this Universal it's the self not the 22:03 selfie yes but Chopra is the selfie who 22:09 your name and your form is your selfie 22:13 at the moment through an act of 22:16 perception but when we say I what is the 22:19 eye that is experiencing this I think 22:23 the selfie idea struck me no in Vedanta 22:26 we keep saying that you have to find out 22:28 who am I or what am i because if you 22:31 discover that you've discovered the 22:32 reality of the universal self knowledge 22:34 I think that's the real selfie then you 22:37 instead of taking a picture of the body 22:38 if you could take a picture of yourself 22:40 as you really are that would be the 22:42 ultimate selfie I think that would be a 22:44 nice topic for a talk we ultimately what 22:47 is the difference between Atman and the 22:51 Sanskrit term Jeeva it's as we 22:56 experience ourselves right now if I tell 22:59 you that your pure consciousness you 23:01 might say Swami that sounds nice but 23:02 that's not how I see myself how do you 23:05 see yourself how do you experience 23:07 yourself we experience ourselves as 23:09 persons as embodied in bodies which are 23:13 born and change and age and decay and 23:15 die we enjoy and suffer so this being 23:19 which is definitely a conscious being 23:21 but which finds itself limited to a body 23:25 and mind this is called the Jiva and 23:27 even that body mind is an activity it's 23:30 not a noun it's a verb it's a changing 23:33 process right so in in pure 23:36 consciousness true the body is a series 23:39 of changes we can we all know it from 23:42 birth till now and eventually from 23:45 babyhood to childhood to being a 23:48 teenager to a young person middle age 23:50 and an old person it's like a stream of 23:52 changes in this physical matter that's 23:55 the body and the mind changes even 23:57 faster I mean today from the morning 23:59 till now how many times you've been 24:01 happy in irritated and curious and bored 24:05 mind changes continuously it's a series 24:08 of changes 24:09 at a subtle level we experience it 24:12 within yourself and this body mind 24:16 series of changes appearing in 24:19 consciousness having forgotten its 24:21 consciousness nature is what we call the 24:24 individual - Jeeva that's that the 24:25 vedantic understanding of the person and 24:27 this Jeeva is and correct me if I'm 24:31 wrong because you're not he's been at it 24:37 much longer than I am yeah but you have 24:41 to train me Jeeva is programmed by if I 24:47 may use that word by sanskara karma 24:50 vaasana' at a very fundamental level so 24:55 can you explain these terms our well yes 24:59 our story does not begin at birth and 25:03 does not end with death 25:05 we are very ancient creatures even the 25:07 most newborn baby is actually a very 25:11 very ancient creature we have existed 25:14 many lives before and they are possibly 25:17 many more lives ahead of us that's the 25:19 Vedanta world view this Jeeva existed 25:23 before this it came to this particular 25:25 body it existed in other bodies in other 25:27 worlds and so over an infinite period of 25:31 time through actions it has been 25:34 accumulating through cause and effect 25:37 what is called the law of karma the law 25:38 of karma to put it very briefly every 25:40 action has its reaction or its its 25:43 effect every cause has its consequence 25:46 and this is something very fundamental 25:48 in Indian philosophy the enormous 25:51 variety within Hinduism Buddhism Jainism 25:53 Sikhism all the Indic philosophies but 25:57 they all accept the law of karma that 25:59 there is causality now because of this 26:03 we are what we are today it explains the 26:07 differences between each Jeeva as 26:09 consciousness we are one one reality but 26:12 when you come to the mind and the body 26:14 and the person we are so different we 26:16 have different stories different 26:17 abilities different problems and 26:19 different possibilities all of these 26:21 differences 26:22 are the results of past Karma and what 26:25 we do with it right now generates new 26:28 Karma for future existences so this is 26:30 karma now karma has two effects one is 26:34 it gives us this life and the other is 26:36 it has an effect on our minds so the 26:39 effect on our minds our individual likes 26:41 and dislikes whether you prefer this or 26:43 that whether you hate this thing or that 26:45 thing those individual preferences are 26:47 called some scars and they exist in the 26:50 mind in the subtle body that's what the 26:52 Jeeva takes away after death yeah 26:55 so the Karma the sense cara the 27:00 vaasanas' is that the personality with 27:04 which say you'd have to i didn't you 27:07 have identical twins they have the same 27:09 fertilized oh but any mother will tell 27:13 you that they're two different 27:15 personalities is that coming from sense 27:18 Farah 27:18 true true I mean even children in the 27:21 same house or do you mentioned twins but 27:23 parents know how different they are 27:25 so these differences though they come 27:28 from the same parents they're probably 27:29 brought up in the same kind of 27:31 environment nature and nurture both seem 27:33 to be similar but then there's 27:35 tremendous difference between children 27:36 so that comes it's inherited from past 27:38 lives that's the vedantic understanding 27:41 of how we are so different completing 27:45 this map step by step then even in 27:49 Iraida we talk about physical body 27:53 culture ears sukshma sharir subtle body 27:56 mind intellect ego causal body explain 28:01 this map just a little bit the physical 28:03 body the subtle body the causal body 28:05 okay that's an important concept but one 28:09 thing I want everybody to know is 28:11 Vedanta it's not speculation 28:14 it's not even metaphysics it's firmly 28:17 grounded in experience who's experience 28:19 your experience in my experience so when 28:21 you talk about a physical body subtle 28:23 body causal body it's all experiencial 28:26 and right now you can see it right now 28:28 what is the physical body that which you 28:30 can see you can see it you can touch it 28:33 taste it smell it did 28:34 this is this the physical body yes that 28:36 which you see which you can weigh that's 28:38 the physical body now within this 28:41 physical body is what Vedanta calls a 28:43 subtle body how do you know do you just 28:46 have to close your eyes and look inside 28:48 you see you I'm happy 28:50 that's the subtle body I'm unhappy 28:52 subtle body I remember I forget I want I 28:55 dislike I understand I do not understand 28:58 all that you directly experience within 29:01 yourself this first-person experience 29:03 which we are having right now that's the 29:05 subtle body and beyond that Vedanta 29:08 talks about something a little more 29:10 obscure called the causal body which is 29:14 the blankness which we experience in 29:16 deep sleep if you right now try to 29:18 experience yourself beyond the subtle 29:20 body what is it that it is which is 29:22 experiencing the subtle body you tend to 29:24 hit a blank wall if you see tripe right 29:26 now that is the causal body and Vedanta 29:29 says the real you the Atman is not the 29:33 physical body you are not this body is 29:35 not the subtle body not even the mind 29:38 not even the person is not even the 29:40 causal body but that consciousness in 29:42 which all of these are experienced and 29:45 the way I put it is you are you can 29:47 drive a car that doesn't make you a car 29:49 you are embodied we have a body 29:53 president that doesn't deny that you're 29:54 experiencing a body and a mind that's 29:56 all there but you are not that you're 29:59 not limited to that so every day Swamiji 30:02 we go through this experience waking 30:04 dreaming deep sleep right so we 30:11 understand breaking this is waking 30:13 unless somebody's dozed off yeah always 30:16 a problem will be done everybody's in 30:18 the waking okay then the dream state we 30:22 also experience every night yes and deep 30:25 sleep we also experience every night but 30:29 in deep sleep there is awareness right 30:35 not conscious experience for awareness 30:38 he is touched upon a very important 30:41 subject if we are saying that your 30:44 awareness I am awareness and this is 30:47 constant 30:47 body changes mind changes then somebody 30:51 might ask what about deep sleep 30:53 whatever the stages we call unconscious 30:56 are under under anesthesia there's no 30:59 awareness there's no consciousness there 31:00 so where are there is this pure 31:01 consciousness vedanta talks about 31:03 vedanta insists there is consciousness 31:05 there and that's where you begin to 31:08 understand what way dontoh means by 31:10 consciousness see a fundamental 31:12 difference has to be understood here in 31:14 in concepts normally in ordinary 31:18 discourse especially here in the West we 31:20 take the mind to be consciousness so 31:23 hearing smelling touching talking 31:25 thinking desiring willing remembering 31:27 this is called consciousness but what 31:30 Vedanta says is this is consciousness 31:32 plus the activity of the mind so all the 31:36 changes that you say see are the mind 31:38 but consciousness is not the mind it X 31:41 it reveals the activity of the mind and 31:43 when the mind shuts down in deep sleep 31:46 the blankness that nothingness that you 31:49 experience in deep sleep it's still an 31:51 experience I put it this way deep sleep 31:54 is not an absence of experience it is an 31:57 experience of absence so that's what 32:01 we're on you know you know experience 32:03 comes when consciousness has an object 32:05 in deep sleep consciousness has no 32:08 object because the world is not revealed 32:10 body as shut down 32:11 I mean body is not we are not using the 32:13 body to experience the world the mind is 32:16 shut down there are no dreams so because 32:18 there are no objects it seems to be 32:20 nothing but you do wake up and then you 32:23 do say I slept like a log I didn't know 32:26 anything 32:27 I slept like a baby this this phrase is 32:31 there the similar phrases are there in 32:32 every language showing that it's a 32:34 common experience across all all of 32:37 humanity so that means it's an 32:39 experience it's not nothing so there is 32:42 consciousness in deep sleep that's what 32:45 in fact a recent book which talks about 32:48 the phenomenon of conscious that 32:50 consciousness is there in deep sleep 32:52 it's called waking dreaming being by 32:54 Evan Thompson was a philosopher in the 32:57 University of British Columbia they said 32:59 that even in deep sleep you have to 33:01 admit 33:01 business and he makes him interesting 33:03 comment at the very beginning he says 33:05 that consciousness studies didn't bring 33:08 in 25 years ago it began with the 33:11 Upanishads 5000 years ago and he makes a 33:14 tremendous statement he says we should 33:16 not date our history from you know ad 33:19 and BC we should date history from 33:23 before opening shots and after opening 33:25 shots they are so important yes 33:26 tremendous assertion he makes let's talk 33:29 about deep sleep and the relations is 33:32 deep sleep what kind of a flute window 33:35 to what death okay now now we are moving 33:43 into grim subject we go into in India 33:47 when they do a cremation or frequently 33:50 but what Vitas yeah you know Lord 33:53 Krishna says the real you is not subject 33:56 to birth or death water cannot wet it 33:59 wind cannot right right it's got a 34:01 shattered fire cannot burn it's it's 34:03 ancient weapons cannot leave it its 34:06 unborn it's not subject to death right 34:08 and you know many Swami's like yourself 34:11 when they say what you know what happens 34:14 to you after death is their answer is I 34:17 was never born which is very confusing 34:20 to people but what is the connection 34:23 between say waking dreaming sleeping and 34:27 Toria and death all right 34:30 you use the term Talia which is a common 34:33 term in Vedanta it literally means the 34:35 fourth what do you mean by the fourth 34:39 Vedanta looks at it this way there are 34:41 different procedures methodologies if 34:43 you will for discovering ourselves as 34:45 pure consciousness and anybody can try 34:46 them out one of the methodologies is to 34:49 use our common experience of waking 34:52 dreaming and deep sleep to come to an 34:56 intuition of ourselves as the witness 34:58 consciousness of waking dreaming and 35:00 deep sleep when you are when you are 35:04 identified with this person this this 35:07 waking person you are called the Waker 35:09 call it the first when you are 35:12 identified with the person you are in 35:14 the dream 35:15 you're not aware that you're dreaming 35:16 it's a dream which you realize later but 35:18 you were there in the dream as a person 35:20 that person is that is we call it the 35:23 dreamer 35:24 then deep sleep that consciousness 35:27 associated with deep sleep when you wake 35:29 up and say I slept like a baby 35:31 call it the third the deep sleeper so 35:33 you have the Waker the dreamer and the 35:35 deep sleeper and these are the three 35:38 which we are used to we think of 35:41 ourselves as this is our experience and 35:43 what Vedanta teaches us the insight 35:45 crucial insight of a Dante's you are not 35:47 the first the Waker not the second 35:49 sleeper the dreamer not the third the 35:52 deep sleeper but what it calls the 35:54 fourth the consciousness in which all of 35:57 these are appearing and disappearing so 36:00 the consciousness is apart from these 36:03 three and yet underlying all of these 36:05 three that forth is called Torian and 36:08 that is not subject to good that is not 36:10 subject to Burton did what is subject to 36:12 birth and death the body what is subject 36:15 to change the mind but the to do itself 36:19 is the witness of the birth and the 36:21 death of the body Bert and the aging in 36:24 the decay and the death of the body it 36:26 itself does not is not born with the 36:28 birth of the body it itself does not age 36:30 with the aging of the body itself does 36:32 not die with the dying of the body and 36:34 the changes of the mind to do itself 36:37 repeats the changes of the mind the 36:39 Mundaka Upanishad this is a classic text 36:41 of Advaita Vedanta it says that that you 36:44 are datoria 36:45 you are not the Waker dreamer or deep 36:47 sleeper and the whole point is to 36:49 realize yourself as datoria and it's not 36:52 really the fourth really when you come 36:54 to an understanding of it it is the one 36:56 which appears as the three so now we we 37:04 both were talking about 37:05 Wittgenstein the German philosopher and 37:08 Wittgenstein said in one of his writings 37:15 our life is a dream we are asleep but 37:18 once in a while we wake up enough to 37:20 know that we are dreaming so by tonight 37:23 whatever happened today will be a dream 37:27 your childhood is now a dream 37:30 what happened five minutes ago is a 37:32 dream what happened to my words but they 37:36 reach you there God so actually this 37:40 right now in a sense the waking dream 37:44 because it's ungraspable right one 37:46 minute ago is ungraspable and so this is 37:51 a waking dream in what we might say a 37:53 lucid now and the reason I'm bringing 37:56 this to our attention right now is this 38:00 waking dream is frequently referred to 38:02 as Maya well you're right because it's a 38:05 projection of consciousness but anyway 38:08 how does this all help us how does this 38:11 help us alleviate our existential 38:14 suffering what has this to do with the 38:17 five glaciers that they dont't talks 38:20 about yeah before I get to that I know 38:25 when you when deepak says this is all a 38:27 dream I would see some skeptical faces 38:30 it's oh no no this is real and the 38:31 dreams are dreams and this is real but 38:33 you know look at it this way what if you 38:38 imagine something eating a cookie you'd 38:41 say that's an imagination it's not real 38:42 and if I eat a cookie that's real but 38:45 now do this imagine eating a cookie and 38:48 also remember that a cookie which you 38:51 ate maybe one day ago or two days ago 38:53 the memory of eating a cookie and the 38:56 imagination of eating a cookie they seem 38:58 very similar because both are in the 39:01 mind and mental and what Deepak says is 39:03 this very thing which seems very real 39:06 now is going to become a memory every 39:09 every fleeting second it's retreating 39:11 into memory when you compare that memory 39:14 with the fantasy came into this room 39:16 exactly right now if we imagine walking 39:19 us walking into this room it's memory 39:21 how is that different from the memory of 39:24 a dream every fleeting moment which we 39:27 call real is quickly at tremendous speed 39:30 disappearing into a dreamlike memory you 39:34 would still argue no but this particular 39:36 moment feels very real and Vedanta 39:39 agrees 39:40 to this present moment feels very real 39:43 because you are here you are reality 39:48 this moment borrows its reality from you 39:50 see wherever you are that feels real to 39:53 you imagine even in your dreams when you 39:56 are actually in a dream you don't know 39:58 it's a dream it feels very real it feels 40:01 very real at that time it's because of 40:03 the presence of consciousness and that 40:05 present moment which lends reality to it 40:07 so the only continuity in any experience 40:11 is that which you say I when you say 40:13 where are you you say I'm here right but 40:17 if you go inside the body there's no one 40:19 there because this body is in I being 40:22 experienced my mind is being experienced 40:24 not that high is the only invariant in 40:29 every dreamlike experience absolutely 40:33 only constant and absolutely we're a 40:36 baby and when you were a teenager 40:38 different body different mind but the 40:41 invariant is that luminous consciousness 40:44 right and brings that experience the 40:47 light of awareness that brings that 40:48 experience right to what we call reality 40:51 I'll make a small distinction here when 40:53 you say I that I is not the ego yes it's 40:58 the I would call it the witness of the 41:00 ego yeah the ego comes and goes so when 41:03 you are deeply absorbed in something 41:05 playing a game of tennis or something 41:07 like that or immersed in a beautiful 41:09 musical experience you lose sense of 41:12 self so you'll see has the eye gone then 41:15 the ego is not apparent there but 41:17 consciousness that's always there 41:19 otherwise you wouldn't have that 41:20 experience at all so that's what he 41:21 means by the luminous eye but going back 41:23 to the very important question which 41:25 deeper cast what good is all of this 41:26 what's the point of all of this the 41:29 point is its most important thing in our 41:31 lives the whole point of this and of all 41:34 of Indian philosophies the different 41:36 schools it doesn't have to be at the 41:37 weight of a rant it could be Buddhism it 41:39 could be Nia Sankhya the whole point is 41:42 overcoming suffering and attainment of 41:46 true lasting peace and happiness how 41:50 does that work think about it 41:52 where is 41:54 suffering there is suffering in the 41:56 world suffering of the body suffering of 41:59 the mind but that consciousness which 42:03 reveals the body mind in the world does 42:05 it suffer in itself you will see no I 42:08 tell you a very funny story this person 42:13 goes up to a Swami in the Himalayas and 42:15 asks Swami I'm in great suffering I'm 42:20 suffering I'm miserable helped me and 42:23 the Swami says are you aware of your 42:26 misery he says yes of course that's why 42:29 I've come here I'm unhappy I am deeply 42:31 aware of my unhappiness that's why I've 42:33 come to you miss Swami says if you are 42:36 aware of your unhappiness of your misery 42:39 then that misery is an object and you 42:41 are the consciousness aware of that 42:44 object you are aware of their object 42:47 means you cannot be that object you are 42:49 aware of unhappiness means you cannot be 42:52 unhappy you are aware of unhappiness in 42:54 the mind think about it well funny thing 42:56 is it works like this the person goes 42:58 and thinks about it and if you do that 43:00 you will see a certain distance opens up 43:03 between you as the experiencer and they 43:05 experienced unhappiness and he comes 43:09 back and says that you're right I am not 43:13 unhappy I'm experiencing and unhappiness 43:15 in the mind and I'm so peaceful now and 43:18 the Swami expulsion immediately no you 43:21 are not peaceful you are the witness of 43:23 the peace in your mind 43:26 and that's important because the moment 43:29 he distances himself from his 43:31 unhappiness and he thinks I'm at peace 43:33 you're trapped again because that's the 43:35 peace in the mind and the mind is 43:36 changeable it will change into 43:38 unhappiness again in this thing that I 43:39 was very happy at the Rubin Museum but 43:42 now we have stepped out into Times 43:43 Square I'm unhappy now both of them are 43:47 appearances and disappearances in the 43:50 mind and this is not speculation if you 43:52 look at it this is an accurate report of 43:55 what's actually happening 43:57 Vedanta just brings it to your notice 43:59 more we noticed this the more we 44:01 stabilize ourselves in that witness 44:03 consciousness the more we are free of 44:07 the ups and downs of the mind and the 44:09 body and the world yeah so that's where 44:12 the whole purpose lies going back to the 44:16 five dishes yeah with this basis yeah so 44:19 you know the five clashes in yoga 44:23 actually yeah yoga not knowing the true 44:26 nature of reality grasping and clinging 44:29 that which is ungraspable fear of 44:33 impermanence identifying with the ego 44:36 the fear they're all connected right all 44:38 right so if we ask this question what am 44:44 I Who am I go through the process in 44:48 1880 Shankara charges migrate him and we 44:52 get to this source then all these things 44:56 disappear in a sense including the fear 44:59 of death right what in your view how 45:02 should we explain death 45:05 Ibrahim it's interesting is what what is 45:09 death in this scheme right you remind me 45:14 of this meeting I was in I saw me 45:17 there's something called meetup these 45:18 days yeah 45:19 and you see you see there's a something 45:22 called a philosopher's cafe in that 45:25 philosophers get together in the New 45:28 York ethical Society and they discuss 45:33 the the great questions of philosophy 45:34 and is it the five great unsolved 45:37 questions of philosophy 45:39 we're going to discuss it in such a 45:40 necessity so I turned up for that 45:43 meeting because I was attracted and what 45:45 are the five great question if you 45:46 google it or NOx good University Press 45:47 website you'll find the five great 45:49 questions of unsolved questions of 45:50 philosophy are I'm telling you this 45:53 because one of those questions is what 45:54 Deepak asked and four of the five are 45:57 related directly to consciousness the 46:00 first question is do we have free will 46:03 the second question they discussed was 46:07 what can we know if anything at all the 46:10 question of epistemology and skepticism 46:11 go to the limits of knowledge yes and 46:14 the third one is straightaway what am I 46:17 or Who am I that was the third question 46:19 which is the fundamental question in 46:21 Vedanta then the the fourth question was 46:24 what is death and they and the fifth one 46:28 was what is justice but the fourth 46:30 question what is death and the 46:32 philosophers themselves said we are not 46:33 talking about death in the in the from 46:36 the point of view of a doctor which 46:38 Deepak is an expert in and he knows it's 46:41 an interesting topic for a doctor too 46:42 but in this system as a person what is 46:46 death to me if I'm not the body then 46:48 what is dead to me in Vedanta death is 46:51 the passing away of this particular body 46:53 you are embodying this this this 46:55 particular experience it stops because 46:57 this body cannot support the Jeeva any 47:00 longer maybe it's all maybe it's damaged 47:03 so it dies and the Jeeva moves on the 47:07 individual person moves on and all of 47:09 this is again an experience in 47:11 consciousness so in consciousness birth 47:13 and death of the body take place which 47:16 means you as consciousness even you as 47:19 Jeeva you are not subject to death in 47:22 that sense that you are not that death 47:23 is not the end of us that happens the 47:27 experience of body mind and the world 47:30 that goes with it right which is a 47:33 changing experience anyway right but not 47:36 to that which is the witnessing 47:39 awareness absolutely let me make a point 47:43 it's a subtle point but very interesting 47:45 you know when people say how do you know 47:47 a person exists after death the person 47:50 is dead obviously the body is dead and 47:52 you 47:52 Burnett or or you you bury it or 47:55 whatever it's gone so how do you know 47:58 the person is also gone but notice 48:01 something there's a very quick switch 48:03 which has happened which is a goes 48:05 unnoticed as long as I am Alive when you 48:09 see the person by that I understand I 48:12 this entity called server pre Ananda 48:15 which is encased in this body that's 48:18 what I understand as the person right 48:20 and death is understood as death of the 48:23 body but the moment apart the body is 48:25 dead the materialist will say that 48:29 person called self apparent is gone but 48:31 you at no point did you addint did you 48:34 see this person called server appear on 48:36 the disappearing you saw the body dying 48:38 and being burnt and odd order buried and 48:41 at no point did you actually see a body 48:46 that was a fixed entity as pre Ananda 48:52 that's another point it's a stream of 48:54 changes the stream intermittent flow of 48:56 sensations images feelings thoughts that 48:59 we call a body yes yes in fact this lady 49:03 she told me in in Santa Barbara she's a 49:08 nun there 49:08 she said recently Swami was passing by a 49:11 shop window and I saw my reflection in 49:15 the in the window and I thought who is 49:17 this old lady and this WOM it like went 49:21 by so fast I still think of myself in 49:23 there as a twenty-something I never 49:25 changed yes only the experience of the 49:28 eye change he has this body this mind 49:29 this this experience of the world all 49:33 right 49:34 so debt from a pedantic perspective or a 49:36 yogic perspective is the moving on of 49:39 the Jeeva from one non-functional body 49:42 to another experience in maybe another 49:44 body so you started off by saying this 49:46 is not philosophy this is actually not 49:49 even religion in a sense it's not a 49:52 system of thought it's based on 49:55 experience and knowledge directly and 49:58 that comes from a good 50:00 say yoga right in the word yoga implies 50:04 union with the self I would in fact it's 50:08 equally true to say that it's all of 50:10 these you can regard bailant as a 50:12 philosopher it as a philosophy and 50:13 certainly it is starting departments of 50:15 philosophy in India you can regard it as 50:17 a system of thought you can regard it as 50:19 a religion because if it's actually the 50:21 foundation of of religion I would just 50:24 look at it that way that is a foundation 50:26 but it's grounded in experience all the 50:30 time it does not talk about a single 50:32 thing which is different from what we 50:34 experience all the time so yes a direct 50:39 experience of this what we are talking 50:41 about there are techniques in yoga which 50:43 help us but maybe we'll talk more about 50:46 that no we have two minutes okay very 50:50 quickly Raja yoga bhakti yoga we have 50:56 everything done in less than an hour yes 51:01 and thanks to Deepak he structured it's 51:03 so wet you would say so what are the 51:07 procedures there are basically four 51:10 major classes of practices one class of 51:14 practice is what you might call 51:15 meditative practices and there's a vast 51:17 range in the Rubin Museum itself there 51:20 have been exhibits and talks and 51:22 demonstrations of various kinds of 51:25 mostly Buddhist tradition practices so 51:27 there's a wide range of meditation 51:29 practices in Hinduism you have the 51:31 potentially yoga Sutra which is a 51:32 classic manual of meditation so that's 51:34 one group the other group is based on 51:37 emotion and feeling the bhakti 51:40 traditions so that's called bhakti yoga 51:43 Live Love yes and then there is a third 51:47 group of practices which seeks to 51:50 convert our action work into spiritual 51:53 practice so what you might call in a 51:56 generic way doing good to others living 51:58 unselfishly living for a higher purpose 52:00 so all of that comes under karma karma 52:03 yoga how do I transform action from a 52:06 negativity from a prison into something 52:08 that frees me take takes me to freedom 52:10 but the one which is a personal 52:13 favorites I've saved it for the end 52:14 are the Gianna yoga the path of 52:18 knowledge which are like I just 52:21 mentioned the three stages waking 52:22 dreaming and deep sleep or the seer and 52:25 the seen trick Tricia or the method of 52:29 the five sheets the physical the vital 52:31 the mental the intellectual and the 52:33 causal sheet and so the Bliss sheet so 52:35 dear there are different these you might 52:37 call them philosophical investigate 52:40 spiritual philosophy science Sciences 52:42 which are investigation 52:43 directly based upon what you experience 52:45 right now to lead you to that intuitive 52:48 experience of I am that immortal pure 52:51 consciousness so yes before your file 52:55 directly verify but directly verify yes 52:58 okay so that's we're on tawa 53:11 you Up next