# Intro to Vedanta part 12: Freedom from Suffering: Role of Guru and Scripture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YecivmG1n4k

[00:15] We shanty shanty.
[00:31] Very good. Welcome back.
[00:34] At the end of our last class, I suggested that uh in today's class, we would turn a page, so to speak, and begin the next part of our subject matter.
[00:45] I was wrong.
[00:49] We're not ready.
[00:51] Uh there is at least one or two uh topics we'll probably be able to cover in in today's class.
[00:56] Import extremely important topics which I realized only after our our class was over.
[01:02] So we want to return to this uh uh return to where we left off and where we left off was with that wonderful metaphor of the sun shining on the buckets.
[01:10] I just remind you of that and
[01:17] Then we'll pick up the thread.
[01:19] This is the sun.
[01:19] That looks like a good sun.
[01:23] And we got some buckets.
[01:28] And the buckets are reflecting the sunlight.
[01:38] And just to remind you of the uh this famous vantic metaphor, these are our buckets.
[01:45] These buckets are full of life water.
[01:50] Which means bucket is tula sharira.
[01:54] The water is sukshma sharer in general and mind in particular.
[01:59] We're going to focus on that mind today.
[02:03] And of course the sunlight is consciousness chit chaitana atma the truth of who you are.
[02:09] And the primary purpose of this metaphor which we we saw in last week's class is to demonstrate how consciousness is one.
[02:22] And many of you have heard so many times in Hindi a that that particular teaching is what's so nicely demonstrated here.
[02:31] One sun, many reflections, one consciousness, many individual experiences.
[02:45] So the reflection of the sun, the arrows going up in that direction, each of them represent our individual experience.
[02:56] And even though the consciousness is the same, the individual experiences we're all having right now are different.
[03:03] Why? Because the reflected sunlight is conditioned by the nature of the water.
[03:10] So one consciousness many reflections of consciousness where a conscious reflection of consciousness means your experience.
[03:18] Whatever you're
[03:24] experiencing right now that experience is reflected consciousness.
[03:27] Note the two factors.
[03:30] One is could you have experience if you weren't conscious?
[03:36] Experience absolutely depends on consciousness.
[03:40] Could you have experience if you had no mind?
[03:44] No.
[03:46] So you see it's a combination of those two factors.
[03:48] So like it's a combination of the light and the condition of the water that determines the nature of the reflection.
[03:56] In the same way, it is consciousness plus the condition of your mind that determines what you're experiencing right now.
[04:02] Very powerful teaching.
[04:05] So, we're done with the primary use of this metaphor, which is to demonstrate one consciousness, many manifestations or reflections.
[04:17] Now we're going to move on to another application of this metaphor focusing more on the water in each bucket.
[04:26] water represents as I said sukchma shar in general but we'll take it in a more limited sense today mind in general
[04:39] and turns out the nature of the mind is rather important.
[04:42] The nature of the mind determines the the the nature of the water determines the the nature of the reflection.
[04:51] Which means the nature of your mind determines your experience.
[04:53] Well, that's pretty obvious, right?
[04:56] If your mind is sad, what you experience?
[05:02] [laughter] Sadness.
[05:05] So that so mind is the crucial factor in determining experience.
[05:09] We can't do anything about consciousness, nor would we want to.
[05:14] Consciousness is already perfect and full and complete.
[05:21] But as we said right from the outset, the purpose of these teachings is to address the problem of suffering.
[05:30] Suffering occurs where, right?
[05:36] Even when it's your body that's hurting, you experience that suffering only in your mind.
[05:42] Right?
[05:45] If your body is hurting and you're unconscious or anesthetized, you you won't know that the body is hurting.
[05:53] So suffering is experienced in your mind.
[05:57] If the locus of suffering is your mind, the solution should probably applied there where the problem is.
[06:05] Where the problem is, there we need the solution.
[06:10] So, we're going to talk a bit [snorts] uh this evening about the nature of that mind and what we can do to make that mind prepared to remove this problem of suffering.
[06:24] Let's start with the nature of the water just for fun.
[06:29] It's it's nice that these
[06:32] Metaphors lend themselves to expansion and extension.
[06:36] Every teacher will do it differently.
[06:39] And anyway, over the years, I've got se several things that's nice to bring into to this particular uh metaphor.
[06:48] One is the nature of the water.
[06:50] What kind of water is in that bucket?
[06:54] And when I say what kind of water, I mean, is the water pristine and pure or is the water really murky and polluted?
[07:10] Is the water agitated?
[07:14] Now, these three expressions relate to three things that you're familiar with.
[07:18] We talk about the mind being sata uh rajasa.
[07:35] Or tamasa.
[07:40] So these are the adjective forms.
[07:43] Sat rajas and tamas are the nouns.
[07:46] These are the adjectival forms.
[07:49] So your mind can be satika very pure.
[07:54] Your mind can be rajasa very disturbed active passionate.
[08:00] Uh your mind can be tam.
[08:05] So in the metaphor that when the water is really thick with mud and dirt and pollution.
[08:13] That represents the tamasa nature of your mind.
[08:17] When the water in a bucket is really agitated.
[08:22] That very nicely would illustrate a rajasa mind.
[08:25] And notice how the nature of the water whether it's polluted or whether it's agitated will definitely affect the reflection right.
[08:39] so in the same way if your mind is is very tamasa that will affect your experience
[08:45] if your mind is very rajasa that will affect your experience
[08:50] now what is a satika mind in this metaphor
[08:54] the satwika mind would be a bucket full of pure water that's perfectly still
[09:01] very nice simple metaphor if the water is crystal clear and if the water is perfectly still
[09:10] that would represent the condition of satika.
[09:14] Notice the stillness means the absence of rajasa, absence of rajas and the um purity means the absence of tumas suggesting that a satwic mind is achieved by getting rid of tumas and rajas.
[09:33] Of course, you don't really need to get a satwick mind.
[09:37] What
[09:42] you need to do is get rid of the Reges and Thomas.
[09:45] What's left is a delightful mind.
[09:48] What a how and how nice it is to have have a mind that's pleasant there.
[09:55] Just just to make an observation here, you know, if you have imagine you're you're with a person a lot.
[10:00] Some of you at work, you're with co-workers or those of you who have a spouse, you're with your spouse many hours a day.
[10:08] You know, if your co-workers and spouse are very nice and congenial and friendly, that's very nice.
[10:13] But it's not always that way.
[10:16] Sometimes you're stuck for long periods of time with someone who's quite difficult.
[10:21] And that certainly is a miserable situation to find yourself in.
[10:27] Well, your mind is a constant companion, is it not?
[10:30] Is your mind a good companion or a not so good companion?
[10:37] depends on the day, right?
[10:40] Sometimes the mind is a good companion,
[10:43] But sometimes it may not be a good companion.
[10:45] So, we're talking about very practical things here today.
[10:51] So, what we want to do not we're not even talking about spiritual life.
[10:54] We're just talking about daytoday life for the sake of of having a a pleasant experience in life.
[11:04] We want to remove to the degree we can the tamas and rajas from our minds and we do that through varieties of of sadinus.
[11:12] The the general usually the commentators like to talk about this and they say to get to get rid of the tumus you should do uh religious practices like uh puja and chanting and prayer and for um for rajas you should uh meditate.
[11:33] So you this is very simple advice to get rid of rajas.
[11:36] You want to the antidote as it were for rajas is meditation.
[11:39] You're focusing your mind.
[11:43] Quieting your mind and the antidote for all these impurities would be some pious activities, whatever, whatever they may be.
[11:51] So by applying these simple sadhas, the mind becomes a better companion and as a better companion, it just makes your life nicer.
[12:05] But of course, we want to go beyond that.
[12:08] That's what vidanta is about.
[12:11] So to go beyond it, here's, here's something to recognize that that perfectly satic mind which was represented by the um, the perfectly clear pristine water with absolutely still in the bucket.
[12:29] Let's examine that a little bit.
[12:33] In meditation, we deliberately quiet our minds.
[12:36] Why?
[12:42] Well, if we're trying to understand the
[12:45] truth of who we are
[12:50] and the mind is very agitated, this is a metaphor and it's a defective metaphor.
[12:55] I'll tell you right off the bat, but it it's helpful in one way and it's defective in another.
[12:59] We commented before that all metaphors are fundamentally defective.
[13:03] It's just a matter of where where is the shortcoming of the particular metaphor.
[13:07] Here's the uh example.
[13:10] Suppose you wanted to see what's at the bucket bottom of the bucket.
[13:15] Suppose maybe you drop some uh some coins in the bucket and you want to be able to see those coins at the bottom of the bucket.
[13:24] Well, if the water is terribly polluted, you won't see those coins.
[13:29] Or if the surface of the water is really agitated, you won't see the coins.
[13:37] Only in the absence of the uh muck in the water and the absence of the turbulence on the surface of the water only then can you really see those coins
[13:52] on the on the surface on the surface on the bottom of those of the bucket.
[13:56] So in the same way when the tamus and rajas is removed from your mind rajas we just said meditation meditation making your mind quiet.
[14:06] hopefully the meditation is preceded by a pious life by the way patanjuli in his in his yoga sutras before he even mentions anything about meditation he talks about yamas and nyamas many of you know that so living living a dharmic righteous life are considered pre-erequisites for meditation.
[14:30] So you know when Patanjali gives these eight angas most of you know this the eight limbs of yoga the first two of which are are yama nyama then comes asa posture and only several later will come dana.
[14:47] dana is number seven of eight one and
[14:50] two are yama and nyama.
[14:54] and you then you have to ask well what is the purpose of what is a righteous life.
[15:00] Yama means don't do this, don't do that, don't lie, don't steal, don't hurt.
[15:04] Uh nyama is you should worship God, you should do acts of kindness, etc.
[15:12] So what are these moral mandates doing in a system of meditation?
[15:20] Based on our discussion right now, you can answer that, right?
[15:21] So the yama and nyama is for the sake of addressing the tumus in the mind.
[15:28] [snorts]
[15:31] You live a pious life to remove that tamus and then the other steps are preparing you for dana meditation which then finally removes the um rajas.
[15:39] Okay.
[15:43] So through a process of meditation you can make your mind like that bucket with perfectly pure water and absolutely undisturbed and
[15:53] then you can see
[15:56] in meditation when your mind is like that perfectly clear quiet water then
[15:59] you can see
[16:03] see what
[16:06] and this is this is a crucial crucial point
[16:09] because you've probably heard someplace that what in deep meditation you'll be able to see the true self
[16:13] you'll see that atma you'll discover atma
[16:15] and this is the defect of the bucket metaphor
[16:17] are you beginning to sense the problem
[16:20] in This metaphor atma is represented by what
[16:23] The sunlight.
[16:28] So the sunlight is the one doing the
[16:54] Looking so to speak.
[16:57] Consciousness is the one doing the looking.
[17:02] In meditation, if you're looking for atma, who is looking?
[17:08] Right.
[17:11] This is really a dilemma and something that is so often garbled when it's taught or when it's uh discussed.
[17:20] So, let's be very very clear about this.
[17:23] Anything you experience in meditation by definition is an atma.
[17:33] Remember when we did our dria va there is a seer and a scene an observer and observed.
[17:41] Anything you observe remember we had this long discussion.
[17:43] Anything you observe by definition is different than the observer.
[17:51] Makes sense.
[17:53] That applies during the waking state.
[17:56] That applies during your dreams.
[17:59] Wouldn't it apply in meditation?
[18:02] Of course, it applies in meditation.
[18:05] Whatever you observe now is different
[18:08] from you. Whatever you observe in a dream is different from you.
[18:11] Whatever you observe in meditation is different from you.
[18:14] The truth of you, who you are is atma.
[18:19] So anything you observe in in meditation in deep meditation anything you observe is an atma correct
[18:23] absolutely correct so let's be very clear about this this is a proper understanding of adwita vanta scriptures
[18:26] or of the yoga dar scriptures the panjula yoga sutra any proper study will lead you to this recognition
[18:40] And the fact that it's often taught incorrectly
[18:50] you and there are plenty of of people
[18:58] Who will say that in deep meditation you see you discover you experience the true self?
[19:04] Anyone who says such a thing obviously hasn't undergone a traditional kind of study.
[19:13] Any proper study will lead you to to understand this very fundamental truth.
[19:16] Anything you experience in meditation is an atma.
[19:19] Then why meditate?
[19:29] So no matter I'm telling you no matter how deeply you meditate nor how long you meditate meditation in and of itself is not going to allow you to see or experience atma because atma cannot be atma cannot be seen as an object and when we talk about experience of atma let's just talk about
[20:00] If you want to experience atma, atma is consciousness.
[20:07] Is consciousness present right now in your experience or not?
[20:13] Consciousness is already present in your experience.
[20:15] Doesn't need to be experienced.
[20:17] It's already experienced.
[20:21] Then what in the world are we trying to do with these teachings of vanta?
[20:26] What is the nature of the problem we're trying to solve?
[20:31] And now we can have some more fun with our diagrams here.
[20:35] So first question, who suffers?
[20:40] So if vdanta is a solution to the problem of suffering, who suffers?
[20:46] Does sunlight suffer?
[20:49] Suffering is definitely here in your experience.
[20:55] So this is then this represents suffering.
[21:03] is present in your experience
[21:06] suffering is present in your experience
[21:06] but I but the question I asked was who
[21:10] suffers
[21:12] a little different right so suffering
[21:15] can be present in your experience but
[21:17] I'm asking you who suffers
[21:22] sunlight doesn't suffer
[21:24] who suffers in this bucket.
[21:28] There's one ripple
[21:30] and the ripple says I suffer. [laughter]
[21:36] Think about it in when you're suffering.
[21:41] When you have a headache, it's always,
[21:44] "Oh, I have such a bad headache. I have
[21:47] a headache." There's always that I
[21:51] involved when you're suffering. I
[21:53] suffer. I am in pain. I feel terrible. I
[21:57] I I I. We're talking about a mental
[22:02] state.
[22:04] The one who suffers is the one who says,
[22:08] "I suffer."
[22:11] And the one who says I suffer
[22:15] is in your mind or in consciousness.
[22:19] Consciousness can't have a thought. I
[22:21] suffer. Consciousness as we discussed uh
[22:24] several times unchanging.
[22:27] So consciousness can't say I suffer.
[22:31] Then who says I suffer? It's one of the
[22:34] ripples in your mind.
[22:36] Even the I who says I suffer is a ripple
[22:40] in your mind. That particular ripple we
[22:42] call a hankara ego. So in your mind is a
[22:47] particular ripple. Part of the ripple
[22:49] says I the other part of the ripple says
[22:52] suffer.
[22:54] So whenever that particular ripple is in
[22:57] your mind
[22:59] then when that particular ripple this
[23:02] one
[23:04] nice and black cuz it's suffering. So
[23:08] when a particular ripple is present in
[23:10] your mind how does it reflect
[23:12] consciousness
[23:14] suffering. So what is the solution
[23:18] for this? Well, one solution might be
[23:23] have a perfectly pure mind.
[23:28] A mind that is like water which is so
[23:32] pristine, so pure, and a mind that is so
[23:37] quiet, so steady,
[23:40] a perfect mind. Do you think that's
[23:44] going to happen anytime soon?
[23:48] And I think I've given you the example
[23:50] in a prior class. Think about trying to
[23:53] get a perfect body. What kind of effort
[23:56] would be required to get a perfect body?
[23:59] All the effort in the world won't give
[24:02] you a perfect body. The body cannot be
[24:04] perfected. If your body cannot be
[24:07] perfected, then who gave you the crazy
[24:09] idea that a mind should be subject to
[24:12] being perfect? Silly. The body cannot be
[24:16] perfected. The mind cannot be perfected.
[24:19] Which means the mind will always always
[24:23] contain tamas and rajas. It is
[24:27] impossible.
[24:29] They have a mind that's totally free
[24:32] from tamas and rajas. What we do through
[24:34] our sadena is minimize
[24:37] the tamus and rajas. Like when you go to
[24:39] the gym, you're not getting a perfect
[24:41] body, you're getting a better body is
[24:45] the idea, healthier body. So we're not
[24:49] perfecting the body in the gymnasium.
[24:51] We're not perfecting the mind through
[24:54] sadena. We're reducing the rajas and
[24:59] tamas. Now, why
[25:03] our goal
[25:06] is to get rid of this
[25:10] this blip, this ripple that says I
[25:14] suffer. Notice it has two parts. One is
[25:17] the I part
[25:20] and the other is a sufferer part.
[25:24] This ripple.
[25:27] So and sometimes it's it's I am happy, I
[25:32] am sad, I am this, I am that. This we
[25:35] talk so much about identification with
[25:38] that the five uh koshas. So all of those
[25:42] identifications remember I am fillin the
[25:45] blank. Here it is. This is the I am
[25:49] fillin the blank thought right there.
[25:52] So,
[25:54] we've just said we can't perfect the
[25:59] mind.
[26:02] We had this discussion long ago, one of
[26:06] our very first classes
[26:10] in which I said,
[26:13] well, I'm actually I'm not sure about
[26:15] what I what I said. So, let me let me
[26:18] not uh let me not try to to recall.
[26:21] We'll just uh continue here
[26:26] when we had that lengthy discussion
[26:29] about identification
[26:32] when we discussed the five koshas just
[26:35] in the last couple of classes.
[26:37] We said the goal in vdanta is to remove
[26:41] all forms of identification.
[26:45] So when you have the I am fill in the
[26:47] blank if you can erase every possible
[26:52] thing that you might write in the blank
[26:55] and remember we said you're left with I
[26:57] am. I am is such ananda there's no
[27:02] problem there. So what would it take to
[27:07] remove all the identification?
[27:11] Well, the locus of identification,
[27:17] I hope you can see that it's a little
[27:18] small. Is that I
[27:22] that ripple in the mind that says I am
[27:29] fill in the blank.
[27:31] Uh the the the ripple that says I
[27:35] suffer.
[27:38] Suppose
[27:42] we could remove
[27:45] that eye.
[27:48] If you remove the eye, what remains is
[27:52] suffer
[27:54] pain.
[27:56] What rem what remains is pain in the
[28:00] absence of identification.
[28:03] This is a subtle concept. Let me see if
[28:05] I can make it a little bit more clear.
[28:09] uh we we actually we had this discussion
[28:11] where we differentiated pain and
[28:13] suffering. Remember it's possible to
[28:17] have pain without suffering. We had a
[28:21] long discussion on that. That's what
[28:24] we're describing here. If you get rid of
[28:27] that eye,
[28:30] what remains is pain.
[28:33] Could be mental pain. Mental pain is
[28:36] also pain, physical pain or mental pain.
[28:40] But the suffering part comes in as soon
[28:43] as you say I am suffering because
[28:47] immediately after you think I am
[28:49] suffering that's totally unacceptable to
[28:52] you.
[28:54] I am suffering is unacceptable under all
[28:58] situations.
[29:00] Just pain is pain is a fact.
[29:04] suffering is a problem. We made that
[29:06] differentiation before. So the vdantic
[29:10] solution
[29:13] is to admit the mind cannot be
[29:16] perfected. Body cannot be perfected.
[29:18] Therefore, physical and emotional pain
[29:22] cannot be removed. And we're not trying
[29:25] to remove them. We're trying to remove
[29:27] suffering. Suffering occurs due to this
[29:30] identification. We want to remove that
[29:34] identification
[29:36] so that let the let the pain be there. I
[29:40] don't identify with it. So if my foot
[29:43] hurts,
[29:45] let the foot hurt.
[29:48] [laughter]
[29:49] What is it to me
[29:52] the conscious? What is it to me the
[29:56] unchanging
[29:58] conscious observer
[30:02] of the pain that arises in my mind?
[30:07] Who cares?
[30:09] That pain originating in the foot and
[30:12] arising in the mind. That pain is
[30:16] observed by me, an unchanging conscious
[30:21] observer who's utterly unaffected by the
[30:25] presence of pain.
[30:28] So who cares?
[30:30] Let the foot hurt. And the same applies
[30:33] for emotional pain. It's another kind of
[30:37] pain in the mind. Whatever is present in
[30:40] the mind doesn't affect the conscious
[30:42] observer. any more than the sun is is
[30:46] affected by whatever it shines upon.
[30:48] We've we've been through all of that.
[30:50] So, this is to make it very clear. What
[30:53] is it that we're trying to do is to
[30:58] remove suffering
[31:00] by putting an end to this
[31:04] identification.
[31:06] Identification
[31:08] means instead of saying I am unchanging
[31:13] consciousness,
[31:14] I say I am a human being with a foot
[31:18] that hurts.
[31:21] That's identification.
[31:25] Instead of saying I am unchanging
[31:28] consciousness, utterly unaffected by
[31:31] pain,
[31:32] what do I say? I am a embodied person
[31:38] with a foot that pains.
[31:42] That's identification. Suppose we can
[31:44] get rid of that identification. I'm not
[31:47] I'm this this body is not me. It's a
[31:52] thing. And the pain that's present. By
[31:55] the way, I don't have any pain. It was
[31:57] just I don't want you to think that I
[32:00] have a problem with my foot. I'm okay.
[32:02] This is just an example.
[32:04] So
[32:07] I just threw out my whole train of
[32:10] thought with that stupid joke.
[32:12] [laughter]
[32:15] So
[32:18] if if we can get rid of the
[32:21] identification with the body, then the
[32:23] body is just a thing. The pain belongs
[32:27] to the body and doesn't affect me. The
[32:30] unchanging consciousness.
[32:33] Now we're back to square one. Why do we
[32:37] have this identification?
[32:41] So notice the sequence
[32:43] we suffer
[32:47] because of identification.
[32:54] So I'm asking you now
[32:58] why do I why do we identify ourselves
[33:01] with our bodies and minds and our jobs
[33:04] and our roles and be and all that other
[33:07] stuff that we talked about so
[33:08] elaborately over two classes when we
[33:10] talked about those five koshas. Why do
[33:13] we enter into that that identification
[33:17] when the truth of who we are is
[33:20] unchanging consciousness? Why do we
[33:22] identify? The simple answer is
[33:25] ignorance.
[33:30] We say the words unchanging
[33:33] consciousness
[33:35] but it's not me. This is how we begin in
[33:39] vanta.
[33:41] In vanta we begin with the
[33:45] idea an idea. Vdanta says I am
[33:50] unchanging consciousness. That's what
[33:52] vdanta says. What do you say?
[33:56] Who cares what vdanta says?
[33:59] It's what you say that counts.
[34:04] If vdanta says you are unchanging
[34:07] consciousness, but you say I'm affected
[34:10] by pain,
[34:13] vante hasn't done its job yet. So you
[34:16] get the difference now. So what we're
[34:19] talking about when we speak about the
[34:21] absence of ignorance is when you can say
[34:26] with complete clarity and certainty, I
[34:31] indeed am the unchanging conscious
[34:35] observer of the changing conditions of
[34:38] my mind.
[34:41] When you can say that with complete
[34:43] clarity, complete conviction,
[34:47] without any doubts, without any
[34:49] obstacles, then you have removed the
[34:52] ignorance. Merely hearing some vanta
[34:55] doesn't instantly remove that ignorance.
[34:58] You in fact vanta can't remove it and a
[35:02] vanta teacher can't remove it.
[35:06] Only you can remove that ignorance. You
[35:10] have to see, you have to discover, you
[35:13] have to understand. Of course, vanta
[35:16] will help you, the teacher will help
[35:17] you, you have to do the hard work, the
[35:20] hard work of atma, vichara, self
[35:23] inquiring. So
[35:26] in order to remove the suffering, we
[35:29] have to remove this identification. In
[35:32] order to remove the identification, we
[35:34] have to remove the ignorance. How do we
[35:37] remove ignorance?
[35:39] knowledge. Okay, leading us to the next
[35:42] part of our discussion.
[35:44] Where is this ignorance located?
[35:48] Okay, more ripples.
[35:50] In fact, we could say every ripple is
[35:53] tainted or affected by that ignorance.
[35:56] So now how how to get rid of that
[35:59] ignorance? If we can get rid of that
[36:01] ignorance, then we get rid of the
[36:03] identification. If we get rid of the
[36:05] identification, we get rid of suffering.
[36:08] And here's the solution. We
[36:13] this being an introductory class I we're
[36:16] not we've chosen not to take a scripture
[36:20] but for this next part of the class I'd
[36:23] like to introduce one extremely
[36:25] important scriptural statement and and
[36:29] uh we'll just look at it and understand
[36:32] it and appreciate it. It's extremely
[36:34] profound. Comes from the mundaka.
[36:42] If you want to look it up, it's this
[36:46] verse and I'm going to give it I'll
[36:48] write it in Roman letters. You can all
[36:50] all uh understand it.
[36:54] And I would even recommend you write it
[36:56] down.
[37:08] Let me put that up here.
[37:36] Nasty crut
[37:42] nasty
[37:44] krypto.
[37:48] Let me just check that.
[37:53] Nasty. I think the uh
[37:56] drops
[37:59] karma brah.
[38:02] No wonder I missed something.
[38:05] That's not good. [snorts]
[38:08] I couldn't get that right because I'm
[38:10] missing something entirely.
[38:14] All right.
[38:25] Now it makes sense near Vom
[38:28] a yacht then.
[38:43] Yes.
[38:49] All right. That's the first half. Second
[38:52] half.
[39:02] picking on art. I don't want to make any
[39:04] more mistakes here. So, good me shape.
[39:18] All
[39:47] right.
[39:51] karma
[39:57] brahano has to be right. Yes.
[40:14] on our tum. V on our tum.
[40:18] Our tum.
[40:36] All right. This is one of the most
[40:39] fundamental and important
[40:43] statements you'll find in any scripture.
[40:47] The upanisheds as you know are the are
[40:50] portion of the vda. We said va anta the
[40:53] antabhaga the final part of the vda are
[40:56] the upupanishads. This mundaka is one of
[40:59] the most widely studied of the
[41:01] upupanisheds and this statement comes
[41:03] very early [snorts] in this upanishad
[41:06] and it really uh describes what we've
[41:09] been doing so far
[41:12] in very clear powerful precise terms. It
[41:17] says paricia
[41:20] having examined.
[41:22] Parika maybe I can put translation right
[41:25] up here.
[41:28] Having examined
[41:38] loan the worlds.
[41:44] Which worlds? world's like
[41:49] like America and India.
[41:53] [laughter]
[41:55] How's my accent?
[41:58] Amria and India
[42:02] or worlds like New Jersey or worlds like
[42:06] the mall or worlds like the pizza place.
[42:11] [laughter]
[42:12] All of these worlds. So,
[42:16] Kan having examined these worlds karma
[42:22] which are
[42:24] which are due to the accumulation of
[42:27] karma due to karma
[42:35] and I need to give some paraphrase now
[42:37] to make this more clear.
[42:40] Having examined the worlds,
[42:43] having examined what we can accomplish
[42:46] in the world through karma. I'm
[42:50] paraphrasing the first line. Having
[42:53] examined what we can accomplish in the
[42:56] world through karma. And as we discussed
[43:00] before, what we seek in life is perfect
[43:05] contentment,
[43:06] perfect peace. We don't want to be be
[43:09] peaceful and content some of the time.
[43:12] We don't even want to be peaceful and
[43:14] content 99% of the time. Remember the
[43:16] story I told about the happy pill? 99%
[43:20] of the time you can be happy. We don't
[43:22] want 99%. We want 100% of the time to be
[43:28] at perfect peace and contentment.
[43:32] And we understand very well by now that
[43:37] it's not possible.
[43:40] That's what the first line says. Karma
[43:43] parika loc having examined these worlds
[43:47] karmachan. What can be accomplished
[43:50] through our efforts in the world? What
[43:53] do we discover?
[43:57] What we discover is this.
[44:03] by action.
[44:11] These words are smashed together. Um and
[44:16] that's
[44:20] for our Sanskrit students.
[44:24] That which is
[44:26] and I'll have to explain this unmade
[44:31] uncreated.
[44:39] Nasty is not
[44:42] I have to paraphrase this one.
[44:50] Through our actions what we want to
[44:54] achieve is perfect peace and
[44:57] contentment.
[44:58] Please note that anything
[45:03] we achieve
[45:08] anything we achieve
[45:08] can be lost.
[45:11] In fact, not can be will be right.
[45:16] Whatever we accomplish in our lifetimes,
[45:19] what happens on when we die?
[45:23] Every bit of it is lost.
[45:27] Whatever we gain or accomplish through
[45:31] our efforts
[45:33] is lost when we die.
[45:39] This says
[45:41] cretana
[45:43] through our right there there's a play
[45:46] on words here. So if anything
[45:51] that we accomplish
[45:54] gets lost,
[45:56] that which doesn't get lost
[46:00] is not an accomplishment.
[46:03] It's tricky. Let me say that again.
[46:06] Anything we gain
[46:09] will be lost.
[46:12] Therefore, the only thing that won't be
[46:15] lost
[46:17] is that which wasn't gained,
[46:21] meaning that which was always there.
[46:25] I'll say that one more time because this
[46:27] is it. It's it's subtle, but it's really
[46:30] important. Anything gained is lost.
[46:33] What we want is perfect peace and
[46:36] contentment that doesn't get lost. Well,
[46:40] if it's something we gain, any
[46:42] contentment and peace you gain will go
[46:44] away.
[46:46] So the contentment and peace we want is
[46:48] a contentment and peace that doesn't go
[46:50] away.
[46:52] Which means you can't get it.
[46:56] Fortunately, you already have it
[47:01] ananda.
[47:04] You already are that which you want to
[47:08] become to use my my guru's words.
[47:12] So what we seek in life is not to gain
[47:17] contentment
[47:19] but to discover the contentment which is
[47:22] our true nature.
[47:24] So to paraphrase down that that line.
[47:28] So through this
[47:31] through this inquiry into what can be
[47:34] gained through action what we understand
[47:37] is
[47:39] by effort by action
[47:43] that which is unccreated that which is
[47:47] ungainained meaning your true nature
[47:50] it's a little subtle the Sanskrit is a
[47:52] little a little subtle here that which
[47:55] is not created means the atma you always
[48:01] have been.
[48:03] So that atma which you have always been
[48:06] which is full and complete nasti is not
[48:11] accomplished through
[48:14] by action. Your
[48:18] fullness and completeness that you seek
[48:22] which is unchanging
[48:24] is not accomplished through action.
[48:29] Action can create things which are
[48:32] transient, temporary. So if what we seek
[48:35] is something that's not transient, it
[48:38] cannot be the result of action effort.
[48:42] And of course we we've understood this.
[48:44] What we're trying to do is not to do
[48:48] something but to gain knowledge which
[48:52] destroys ignorance. We'll see that more.
[48:54] Okay. So the last part of this um with
[48:58] this recognition that no amount of
[49:03] worldly effort will bring
[49:06] uninterrupted
[49:08] contentment. I'm paraphrasing both
[49:11] lines. Having recognized that
[49:14] nerve dispassionat
[49:21] comes
[49:24] would come
[49:27] dispassion comes when you get it that no
[49:31] matter how hard you work in life you
[49:35] will never
[49:37] this is I I learned this I'm a I'm a
[49:41] slow learner I still remember in my 20s
[49:43] when I finally when I learned this this
[49:46] lesson. We all learn it at some point.
[49:48] What I learned is no matter how hard I
[49:52] work and no matter how smart I work, I
[49:57] will never be able to create a perfect
[50:00] life. Which means I was so dumb that up
[50:04] until my early 20s, I thought I could. I
[50:08] thought if I would just work hard enough
[50:10] and smart enough, I could have the
[50:13] perfect life. That's the optimism of a
[50:17] 20-year-old. By the time I was in
[50:20] mid20s, it was gone. This is just common
[50:24] worldly wisdom. Uh we go out into the
[50:27] world. My Puja Swami Diane used to say,
[50:30] you go out and get kicked around for a
[50:32] while.
[50:33] He liked that expression. You go out
[50:35] there, you get kicked around for a while
[50:37] and you lose that optimism. [laughter]
[50:40] You you you discover the reality that
[50:44] suffering is inevitable. Difficulties
[50:47] are inevitable. With that recognition,
[50:54] you gain a certain kind of dispassion.
[50:57] Meaning knowing that the world is not
[51:01] the ultimate
[51:03] [snorts] solution to your problem, which
[51:06] means no no amount of worldly effort
[51:08] will bring you perfect contentment. Then
[51:11] you cease
[51:14] focusing exclusively on worldly
[51:16] activities. Dispassion
[51:20] here means turning your attention away
[51:24] from this this obsessive
[51:27] effort to get to acquire more more more
[51:33] the typical uh mindset.
[51:36] I can't you can't you know I catch
[51:38] myself you can't see the typical
[51:40] American mindset nothing American about
[51:42] that right it's universal more more more
[51:46] yeah I don't think there's any country
[51:48] on the planet where people don't think
[51:51] like that more more more but having
[51:54] recognized that more more more will
[51:57] never make you content
[52:00] then you stop being obsessive
[52:03] about more more and more.
[52:06] And when you stop obsessing,
[52:08] it gives you some inner freedom to turn
[52:11] your attention elsewhere.
[52:15] Thus far, your attention has been
[52:17] fixated on the world more, more, more,
[52:19] more. And as long as you're fixated on
[52:22] the world,
[52:24] you're not going to get anything else.
[52:25] Remember the 10th 10 men 10 the 10 boys
[52:29] as long as they're looking out in the
[52:31] jungle. They'll never find what they're
[52:33] looking for. As long as we're fixated on
[52:37] finding contentment and happiness in the
[52:39] world, we will never find the perfect
[52:41] contentment we seek. So nurvum
[52:45] dispassion ayat would arise. Dispassion
[52:49] comes with this discovery that worldly
[52:53] effort will never lead to perfect
[52:56] contentment. Therefore, let me not
[53:00] obsess with worldly accomplishments and
[53:03] acquisitions. Let me instead turn my
[53:07] attention to spiritual growth. This is
[53:10] the idea of the first part. We left out
[53:13] one word brahanaha
[53:16] which could refer to a member of that
[53:18] cast but here it's really referring to
[53:21] an attitude the attitude of a brahana
[53:25] one who is one who is a brahana in their
[53:29] head this is actually the subject of the
[53:31] sentence this is the one who having
[53:36] examined the world having and becomes uh
[53:40] dispassionate Who examines the world?
[53:44] Who becomes dispassionate? One who is
[53:48] like a braha. Brahmana here cannot mean
[53:52] the member of the cast because this is
[53:54] addressed to everyone. So brahana here
[53:57] means someone who is who is engaged in
[54:04] a dharmic life in a pious life and
[54:08] engaged in spiritual inquiry. So brahana
[54:13] here in fact one kind of loose
[54:16] definition [snorts]
[54:17] is someone who seeks brahman is a
[54:20] brahana very loose definition not really
[54:22] accurate but it gives you the sense
[54:24] we're after here so don't disconnect
[54:28] this word from the cast in your mind
[54:30] we're talking about one who is you know
[54:33] the the word we use in English someone
[54:35] who is spiritual that's what brahmana
[54:38] means in his context someone who is
[54:40] spiritual
[54:42] Spiritual means the opposite of worldly.
[54:44] Worldly means one who's obsessed,
[54:47] fixated on getting happiness and
[54:49] contentment in the world. But this
[54:51] brahana is one who's no longer fixated
[54:54] on getting happiness in the world.
[54:56] They've begun this change of values. And
[55:01] that's what this nirved dispassion.
[55:04] Nirvatum is a synonym for vyraam
[55:08] dispassion.
[55:10] So
[55:12] with this understanding of the
[55:13] limitations of what can be accomplished
[55:15] through worldly efforts, you gain
[55:19] dispassion and turn your attention
[55:21] towards spiritual growth. That's the
[55:24] first half. The second half
[55:28] [clears throat and snorts]
[55:28] t vigana
[55:31] vigana vigana artum artum for the sake.
[55:36] Vignana means ghana not knowing
[55:39] knowledge. Vigyan artum. For the sake of
[55:42] knowing cut that for the sake of knowing
[55:47] that knowing knowing what
[55:57] that mysterious word in a prior line
[56:02] that which is not created that which
[56:05] can't be gained. Remember we said
[56:08] anything you gain gets lost. So the only
[56:12] thing that won't be lost is that which
[56:14] isn't gained. That which you've always
[56:17] had and always will have. That's what
[56:19] aaha means. And what is that which you
[56:23] cannot gain because you already are that
[56:28] such atma. So tvyanum for the sake of
[56:34] discovering that for the sake of knowing
[56:36] that notice it's talking about
[56:41] first half said anything you do
[56:44] will not bring perfect contentment. So
[56:47] we're not doing we're engaged in a
[56:50] process of knowing.
[56:53] Doing will always be limited for the
[56:56] reasons stated in the first half. But
[56:59] knowing we can remove that veil of
[57:01] ignorance which prevents us from knowing
[57:04] our true nature as that unchanging
[57:07] consciousness. Sovy
[57:10] for the sake of of uh knowing that what
[57:13] should you do
[57:16] a
[57:19] saha that person what person that
[57:22] spiritual person so saha he
[57:28] let me put in the translations so
[57:30] viganum for the sake of knowing
[57:39] For sake of knowing that
[57:42] where that meant that unccreated satiran
[57:47] atma for the sake of knowing that saha
[57:50] he what should he do? Abhigate
[57:56] should approach. Abhigate
[57:59] should approach.
[58:07] Who should he approach? You know the
[58:09] answer to that.
[58:12] And there's guru gurum aa ava means only
[58:16] here
[58:19] which which means
[58:23] for the sake of knowing your true self
[58:26] should you talk to your uh your friend
[58:29] at work? Should you go to Atlantic City
[58:33] and talk to the people who are hanging
[58:36] out in the casinos? Should you you get
[58:39] the point? So you have to go to the
[58:43] right person and that's what's going to
[58:47] be told in the final line. What is it
[58:50] that determines
[58:54] a genuine guru? And be before we we
[59:00] discuss this we have to acknowledge that
[59:03] in sadly in our modern times the words
[59:07] guru and swami and syasi have in some
[59:11] measure fallen
[59:13] in disrepute and it's really sad
[59:16] especially in India you know in the
[59:18] newspapers just every little scandal
[59:21] possible will be plastered all over the
[59:24] paper and you
[59:27] Yeah, that's what, you know, I'm not
[59:29] complaining. That's what journalism is
[59:31] about. They're they're supposed to do
[59:32] that. They have a responsibility to do
[59:34] that. But the problem, as you all know,
[59:38] for a thousand good sadus, there's one
[59:42] troublemaker
[59:44] and the one troublemaker gets into the
[59:47] newspaper and and the and the thousand
[59:50] others and 999 others who we never hear
[59:54] about them. So the troublemakers are
[59:56] there and some of the scandals are
[59:58] really obnoxious. I absolutely true. But
[01:00:02] how sad it is in modern times when you
[01:00:06] know somebody wearing this dress is no
[01:00:09] kind of no longer respected in the way
[01:00:13] um as generations before due to this uh
[01:00:17] due to this modern situation.
[01:00:20] Okay, that being said, the guru we
[01:00:24] should seek out should be a proper guru.
[01:00:27] The word sudguru is usually used in this
[01:00:30] context. Sat meaning true, a true guru,
[01:00:33] a proper guru. And there are two
[01:00:35] important words here that describe that
[01:00:38] sudguru, the true guru. Shrotriam and
[01:00:42] brahanam
[01:00:44] shrotriam. And I'm not going to write up
[01:00:46] definitions because they each word
[01:00:50] requires a paragraph.
[01:00:53] I mean we can kind of give give short
[01:00:57] short answers. So we'll start with
[01:00:58] Brahma Nishtam. Nishta means being
[01:01:01] established. Yeah, we can write. No
[01:01:03] reason not to.
[01:01:05] So Nishtam means established.
[01:01:11] Brah in Brahman. It's a compound word
[01:01:16] established in Brahman. What does it
[01:01:20] mean to be established in Brahman? I'll
[01:01:23] tell you what it doesn't mean to say
[01:01:25] vanta says everything is Brahman.
[01:01:30] So what
[01:01:32] to be established in Brahman is to say
[01:01:37] aam brahasmi
[01:01:42] I am that Brahman which is the reality
[01:01:48] of the cosmos.
[01:01:50] I am that Brahman. So it's this very
[01:01:54] personal direct knowing
[01:01:59] just like you know who you are as you
[01:02:02] know whoever you are whatever your name
[01:02:04] is and whatever your history is. So this
[01:02:07] brahagyani this enlightened one is one
[01:02:10] who knows himself or herself to be
[01:02:13] Brahman in the same way as you know
[01:02:16] yourself to be who you are as an
[01:02:19] individual.
[01:02:22] So this is very clear direct knowledge.
[01:02:27] Now notice and it makes sense. So the
[01:02:30] guru you want should definitely be the
[01:02:33] guru. If you want to discover that
[01:02:35] truth, you should have a guru who's
[01:02:37] already discovered that truth. But
[01:02:40] that's not enough. There are two
[01:02:44] two qual two qualifications here. Merely
[01:02:48] being enlightened won't necessarily make
[01:02:51] you a good teacher.
[01:02:55] Different is it?
[01:02:58] When you were in college, did you ever
[01:03:00] have the experience or you could imagine
[01:03:02] an experience of a um really super
[01:03:06] intelligent professor maybe like a a
[01:03:09] Nobel Prize laurate standing in front of
[01:03:12] the class and this guy is such a genius.
[01:03:16] He goes to the blackboard and he writes
[01:03:18] all this stuff. No one can understand a
[01:03:22] thing [snorts]
[01:03:25] because he may have all this knowledge
[01:03:29] but he may not have the skills to
[01:03:31] communicate it
[01:03:33] different right
[01:03:36] to have knowledge and to be able to make
[01:03:38] others know are two different things. So
[01:03:43] in the same way it's possible to be
[01:03:46] enlightened and not be a skillful
[01:03:50] teacher. In fact we loosely use the word
[01:03:53] mystic to describe such a person. a
[01:03:57] mystic is is the one who who's
[01:04:04] that that sad who who's been smoking all
[01:04:07] this uh marijuana who who's who says
[01:04:11] Brahma
[01:04:12] [laughter]
[01:04:14] now
[01:04:18] the the sad and giving the sadhu the
[01:04:20] benefit of the doubt that he is actually
[01:04:22] enlightened by saying
[01:04:25] does it make you enlightened Ed, he may
[01:04:28] be enlightened
[01:04:30] but his incoherent blabber [laughter]
[01:04:34] is not going to help you much. I'll give
[01:04:38] another example. Um kind of a a tricky
[01:04:41] example. You know Sri Raman Maharshi was
[01:04:45] one of the greatest enlightened saints
[01:04:47] of our modern of our modern era. But
[01:04:51] have you noticed that he had in his
[01:04:54] absence
[01:04:57] a lineage of students
[01:05:02] of his
[01:05:03] didn't manifest
[01:05:07] right?
[01:05:09] So just just to make a distinction. So
[01:05:13] my my guru is no more but he's left
[01:05:15] behind hundreds of teachers who are
[01:05:18] teaching all over the place.
[01:05:22] How many students of Shri Ramana
[01:05:25] Maharshi
[01:05:27] are
[01:05:29] teaching around the world? Now this is
[01:05:32] please don't misunderstand me. This is
[01:05:34] not a criticism. I have so much love and
[01:05:36] respect for for I stayed there at that
[01:05:39] ashram and I was so moved to sit and
[01:05:42] meditate where where he used to uh to
[01:05:45] sit out. I'm so pleased. I have nothing
[01:05:47] but respect and admiration for for for
[01:05:50] the person. But I'm pointing out a fact.
[01:05:54] He was enlightened but he didn't undergo
[01:05:58] a traditional vdantic study. He picked
[01:06:02] up things here and there but he didn't
[01:06:04] undergo a traditional study which meant
[01:06:07] he was enlightened but he
[01:06:12] I believe it's correct to say he lacked
[01:06:16] the tools or methodologies
[01:06:19] to make others enlightened and I have no
[01:06:23] doubt that some people were enlightened
[01:06:24] by him but people who were unusually
[01:06:28] mature utuma adhikaradis So someone who
[01:06:32] was an extremely mature student could
[01:06:35] easily have been enlightened by by Shri
[01:06:38] Ramana's uh instructions. But I think
[01:06:41] for most common people you know just to
[01:06:46] give a very practical example. So
[01:06:48] suppose you came here for our first
[01:06:51] class
[01:06:52] in in September. I sat here and I said,
[01:06:58] "Find out from where the sense of I
[01:07:05] arises."
[01:07:06] That's my instruction from first class.
[01:07:09] Find out from where the sense of I
[01:07:13] arises. And then I sit like this for the
[01:07:16] remainder of the class.
[01:07:20] And and again, I'm not, you know, I have
[01:07:22] nothing but love and admiration for him,
[01:07:24] but I think this is a fairly accurate
[01:07:27] portrayal
[01:07:29] of what took place
[01:07:32] in in his asham so many many years ago.
[01:07:36] So he was absolutely brahanish but he
[01:07:41] lacked the the the
[01:07:44] traditional learning the teaching tools.
[01:07:49] The teaching tools you've heard me say
[01:07:52] before that vanta more than anything
[01:07:55] else is a methodology.
[01:07:58] I said before what makes vanta unique is
[01:08:01] not what it teaches but how it teaches.
[01:08:05] its methodology.
[01:08:08] So I believe that Ramana lacked that
[01:08:12] methodology because that methodology
[01:08:14] comes through traditional scriptural
[01:08:17] learning and shria
[01:08:20] means one one who has a scriptural
[01:08:22] learning.
[01:08:29] So who is the ideal guru is one who is
[01:08:33] both established in Brahman having
[01:08:36] discovered the truth of oneself and also
[01:08:40] learned in the scriptures means having
[01:08:45] gained not only knowledge of one's true
[01:08:49] nature but also gaining knowledge of the
[01:08:52] methodology used by vanta to lead others
[01:08:56] to learn just like you know in I don't
[01:08:59] know how it is in India in this country
[01:09:01] if you want to teach high school you
[01:09:03] know just having a a uh a bachelor's or
[01:09:06] m if you want to teach math having a
[01:09:09] master's in mathematics you can't teach
[01:09:11] math
[01:09:14] you have to get a degree in teaching
[01:09:19] so because they recognize just knowing
[01:09:21] mathematics won't make you a good
[01:09:23] teacher of mathematics so you have to go
[01:09:25] back to school and learn how to teach.
[01:09:28] So that's what the shria uh the word
[01:09:31] shria then means one who has gone
[01:09:33] through a traditional scriptural
[01:09:35] education and is thereby empowered to
[01:09:39] use the methodology of vanta to help
[01:09:42] others learn by the way the other side
[01:09:45] is also true it's pos it's possible for
[01:09:47] someone to be enlightened brahanishtam
[01:09:51] means enlightened without being a
[01:09:53] shotria without being learned in the
[01:09:55] scriptures like shrihana I I think um
[01:09:58] but the contrary is also true. It's
[01:10:01] possible to be shrotria
[01:10:03] to be immersed in scriptural learning
[01:10:07] and not be
[01:10:10] brahanisha.
[01:10:12] It's also defective. Both are defective.
[01:10:16] That so here
[01:10:21] give that
[01:10:23] just to give an example for this long
[01:10:25] ago.
[01:10:32] So yeah and it doesn't come anyway the
[01:10:36] shrotria is the one who is a teacher who
[01:10:39] says
[01:10:41] according to vanta your true nature is
[01:10:45] satirananda
[01:10:47] now that's a true statement according to
[01:10:51] vdanta your true nature is satirananda
[01:10:54] as opposed to that's a shtria as opposed
[01:10:57] to someone who is both shria and brahan
[01:11:01] and said
[01:11:03] I have discovered my true nature to be
[01:11:05] satiran
[01:11:08] and your true nature is also that same
[01:11:12] such anandanda and then that teacher if
[01:11:15] that teacher is a shtria will then use
[01:11:17] the methodology of vanta to help you
[01:11:20] know so the shrotria who's not a brahan
[01:11:24] there's a scholar a pundit and there's a
[01:11:27] role for scholars and pundits especially
[01:11:30] in universities
[01:11:32] but when it comes to teaching vanta
[01:11:36] it's not the right place for a scholar
[01:11:39] for a pundit so the requirements are two
[01:11:43] the guru should be brahta established in
[01:11:47] Brahman uh established in that knowledge
[01:11:49] of reality the reality of him or herself
[01:11:52] and also
[01:11:55] skilled in using the scriptures to lead
[01:11:58] others to know. Last word summit panhi
[01:12:02] is a very strange reference literally it
[01:12:06] means the one who seek first of all suru
[01:12:09] ma abig you could you should seek out a
[01:12:13] guru how and it describes summit are
[01:12:16] these twigs that are offered into a
[01:12:19] sacrificial fire summit pani means in
[01:12:23] your hands you should have sacrificial
[01:12:25] twigs
[01:12:27] did you bring
[01:12:29] >> [laughter]
[01:12:31] >> I'm being silly. So, but in ancient
[01:12:35] times it was pretty important. The idea
[01:12:37] is the student was showing up at the
[01:12:40] guru's gurukulum
[01:12:42] and the student was going to live there
[01:12:45] and part of the activities in the
[01:12:47] gurugulum were daily rituals and they
[01:12:49] required a daily supply of the summit.
[01:12:52] So the student as a member of the guru's
[01:12:55] extended family, the student was
[01:12:58] responsible for ashram chores
[01:13:03] including collecting summit twigs for
[01:13:07] the rituals. So obviously it's a very
[01:13:10] archaic example. Um in modern times
[01:13:14] summit pani means you give a donation.
[01:13:18] That's a that that's that's exactly what
[01:13:21] it is and you all do and it's because
[01:13:25] you give some donation that we're able
[01:13:27] to run this ashum and keep things going
[01:13:30] nicely. So this is what it means. It
[01:13:32] means you you know you you're what is
[01:13:35] the American expression? You're not a
[01:13:37] freeloader.
[01:13:38] [laughter]
[01:13:42] So here
[01:13:44] the gurus the guru's requirements are
[01:13:47] here and the uh shisha's requirement is
[01:13:50] here. Don't don't be a freeloader. All
[01:13:54] right. So this is an extremely important
[01:13:58] teaching that comes in this munda ka
[01:14:00] panished and I wanted to include it. I
[01:14:03] think now we're ready I think in the
[01:14:05] next class we'll flip the page so to
[01:14:07] speak and start our next topic. But it
[01:14:09] was important to include uh this
[01:14:11] material before we we proceed. Okay.
[01:14:47] Om shanty shanty shanty. Hey.