# Is Meditation ITSELF the Key to Enlightenment? One Guru's Struggle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-QAHy-cShQ

[00:00] foreign
[00:01] [Music]
[00:12] [Applause]
[00:13] [Music]
[00:21] what exactly is the role of meditation
[00:25] in spiritual life
[00:27] how does meditation help you get
[00:29] enlightened
[00:31] these questions have been debated for a
[00:33] long time by practitioners of advaita
[00:36] vedanta and by many others
[00:39] here's a story about my own guru swami
[00:42] dayananda that shows how the role and
[00:46] purpose of meditation is often
[00:49] misunderstood
[00:52] in his twenties the future swami
[00:55] dayananda was already so dedicated to
[00:58] advaita vedanta that he gave up his job
[01:02] to focus his entire life on it
[01:06] he spent countless hours engaged in deep
[01:09] study of vedantic texts and in important
[01:13] practices like breathing exercises
[01:16] fasting and meditation
[01:19] but
[01:20] after nearly a decade of single-minded
[01:24] effort his pursuit suddenly came to a
[01:27] complete stop and his life was plunged
[01:31] into a state of crisis
[01:33] what happened
[01:34] well he had been told that his efforts
[01:37] would eventually lead to a profound
[01:41] experience during meditation
[01:44] in particular he expected to reach
[01:47] samadhi a state of absorption in which
[01:51] he would directly experience the
[01:54] limitless supreme bliss of atma the true
[01:58] self
[01:59] and become enlightened
[02:01] but in spite of years of intense study
[02:04] and practice
[02:06] that experience never came
[02:08] and he failed to get enlightened
[02:11] his failure led him to question the
[02:14] validity of everything he had learned so
[02:17] far
[02:18] he was taught that to become enlightened
[02:21] the conceptual knowledge he gained
[02:23] through vedantic study had to be
[02:26] converted into direct personal
[02:30] realization
[02:31] and that conversion takes place through
[02:34] the practice of meditation
[02:36] in the white heat of meditation he was
[02:40] told realization of atma finally takes
[02:43] place
[02:45] he would later learn that those
[02:47] particular instructions were not at all
[02:51] consistent with the teachings found in
[02:55] traditional texts like those written by
[02:58] shankara who clearly explained the
[03:01] upanishads and other vedantic scriptures
[03:04] about 1200 years ago
[03:07] contrary to those traditional texts my
[03:11] guru was taught that gaining
[03:13] enlightenment is a matter of theory and
[03:16] practice
[03:18] vedanta provides a theoretical basis for
[03:22] the practice of meditation
[03:24] and deep meditation
[03:27] leads to the state of samadhi
[03:29] in which atma is experienced
[03:32] as supreme bliss
[03:35] after a while he began to wonder if atma
[03:40] the true self is to be experienced in
[03:42] meditation then
[03:44] who is it that experiences atma
[03:48] who experiences that supreme bliss
[03:52] who is the experiencer
[03:57] he reasoned that anything you experience
[04:00] is separate and different from you the
[04:03] experiencer
[04:05] like right now while watching this video
[04:08] you're different from everything you see
[04:11] on the screen
[04:12] in the same way while meditating you're
[04:16] different from everything you experience
[04:19] in your mind
[04:20] in fact a metaphor sometimes used in
[04:23] vedanta says
[04:25] all your experiences are projected on
[04:29] the screen of your mind so to speak
[04:32] and you are the conscious observer of
[04:36] everything projected there
[04:39] so
[04:39] if you are the conscious observer of all
[04:42] the experiences that arise in your mind
[04:46] then
[04:47] how can atma which is your true nature
[04:50] be something you experience in
[04:52] meditation
[04:54] atma isn't an object you can observe in
[04:57] your mind like other things
[05:00] based on this reasoning my guru came to
[05:03] understand that
[05:05] certain parts of what he had been taught
[05:08] were somehow defective
[05:10] yet he couldn't dismiss the non-dual
[05:14] wisdom of the ancient rishis the
[05:16] teachings on which the tradition of
[05:19] advaita vedanta is based
[05:21] so he concluded that vedanta itself was
[05:26] not defective
[05:28] but instead
[05:29] something was missing
[05:31] some kind of key that could unlock the
[05:35] wisdom of the rishis and lead him to
[05:38] enlightenment
[05:40] he spent many sleepless nights trying to
[05:43] discover that key
[05:45] but after a long frustrating search
[05:49] he finally gave up he surprised his
[05:53] friends by giving away all his books on
[05:56] vedanta
[05:58] his pursuit then took a very different
[06:00] direction
[06:02] he began to study the works of great
[06:05] mystics like william blake
[06:08] peter ospensky and lao tzu
[06:12] he also immersed himself in the
[06:14] teachings of jedu krishnamurti and
[06:17] brahmana maharshi
[06:20] then he happened to attend some classes
[06:23] given by a relatively unknown teacher in
[06:27] andhra pradesh named swami pranavananda
[06:32] in those classes he heard the very same
[06:36] vedantic teachings he had heard so many
[06:39] times before but there was a crucial
[06:42] difference
[06:44] swami pranavananda criticized the
[06:47] presentation of advaita vedanta as a
[06:50] theoretical basis for the practice of
[06:52] meditation
[06:54] he stressed the importance of a crucial
[06:57] but often unrecognized principle
[07:00] by saying that vedanta is a pramana an
[07:05] instrument of knowledge an independent
[07:09] and self-sufficient means
[07:12] for gaining
[07:13] direct personal realization of the true
[07:17] self atma
[07:19] this shift of orientation was the key
[07:23] that my guru needed to unlock the wisdom
[07:26] of the rishis
[07:28] and bring his agonizing struggle to an
[07:31] end
[07:34] [Music]
[07:48] what exactly is a pramana
[07:51] a pramana is a source of valid knowledge
[07:55] it's an instrument you use to gain
[07:58] knowledge of something
[08:00] for example your five senses sight
[08:03] hearing taste smell and touch together
[08:07] form a pramana called sense perception
[08:12] sense perception is the instrument you
[08:14] use to gain knowledge of colors shapes
[08:18] sounds smells and so on
[08:21] another pramana you use is
[08:24] inference when you see smoke rising from
[08:28] a mountain side you infer the presence
[08:32] of fire there
[08:34] so even though you can't see the flames
[08:37] directly
[08:38] inference gives you knowledge of the
[08:41] fire because you know
[08:43] wherever there's smoke there's fire
[08:47] in addition to sense perception and
[08:49] inference there's a third pramana you
[08:53] use every day
[08:54] when you read a book or browse the
[08:57] internet you're using a pramana called
[09:01] verbal testimony is a philosophical term
[09:06] for a pramana in the form of words
[09:11] specifically the words of authoritative
[09:14] sources
[09:16] those sources include knowledgeable
[09:19] teachers
[09:20] factual books scholarly articles
[09:24] and sometimes
[09:25] educational videos like this one
[09:28] obviously the validity of knowledge
[09:31] produced by verbal testimony depends
[09:35] entirely
[09:36] on how accurate the source happens to be
[09:40] it's really unfortunate that we're
[09:42] inundated nowadays by so much
[09:46] misinformation
[09:47] in mass media on the internet and
[09:50] elsewhere
[09:52] as a result it's become quite difficult
[09:56] to judge the authenticity of everything
[09:59] we read and hear
[10:02] so
[10:02] we have to be extremely careful when
[10:05] using verbal testimony
[10:08] advaita vedanta is so cautious that any
[10:12] verbal testimony regardless of its
[10:15] source is flatly rejected if it
[10:19] contradicts knowledge you've gained from
[10:21] other pramanas like sense perception and
[10:25] inference
[10:26] shankara himself
[10:28] boldly declared that he would even
[10:31] reject sacred vedic scriptures
[10:35] if they said that fire is cold
[10:39] this topic about pramanas is vast
[10:43] in western philosophy it forms an entire
[10:46] field of study called
[10:49] epistemology
[10:51] our discussion here barely scratches the
[10:54] surface
[10:55] but it's enough for the matter at hand
[10:58] before we continue it's important to
[11:01] note that
[11:02] simple experience
[11:05] is not accepted as a pramana like sense
[11:08] perception inference and verbal
[11:10] testimony
[11:12] all major schools of philosophy both in
[11:16] india and in the west
[11:18] reject mere experience
[11:21] as an instrument of valid knowledge
[11:24] why
[11:26] because experience only provides raw
[11:30] data so to speak
[11:32] it doesn't produce conclusive knowledge
[11:36] let me explain
[11:38] in the evening when you watch the sunset
[11:42] the pramana of sense perception produces
[11:45] knowledge of the sun in the sky
[11:49] but
[11:49] your experience of watching the sun go
[11:53] down
[11:54] doesn't produce any additional knowledge
[11:59] that experience doesn't make you
[12:01] understand how the earth rotates on its
[12:04] axis
[12:05] or how the horizon is actually moving
[12:08] upwards towards the sun
[12:12] experience only produces raw data and
[12:16] that data has to be correctly
[12:18] interpreted
[12:20] but the problem is
[12:22] we all interpret our experiences
[12:26] differently
[12:27] one person might think the sun travels
[12:30] downwards
[12:31] but another trained in astrophysics
[12:34] would think the horizon moves upwards
[12:39] in the same way anything you experience
[12:42] in meditation is also subject to
[12:45] interpretation
[12:47] if you experience limitless supreme
[12:50] bliss you're likely to interpret your
[12:53] experience based on your personal
[12:57] orientation and background
[13:00] for example a buddhist meditator might
[13:03] think supreme bliss is a manifestation
[13:06] of the inherently luminous nature of the
[13:10] mind
[13:12] a christian meditator might think it's a
[13:14] state of ecstatic mystical union with
[13:18] almighty god
[13:20] a neuroscientist might think it's the
[13:23] effect of the chemical dopamine
[13:26] circulating in the brain and affecting
[13:29] its neurons
[13:32] since experience is subject to various
[13:34] interpretations it can't be accepted as
[13:38] an independent instrument of knowledge
[13:42] on the other hand experiences can
[13:44] certainly help you gain knowledge when
[13:47] they're interpreted correctly
[13:50] that is when they're interpreted
[13:52] according to valid knowledge you've
[13:55] already gained from sense perception
[13:58] inference and verbal testimony
[14:00] for instance suppose you watch the
[14:03] sunset along with someone trained in
[14:06] astrophysics
[14:08] when he explains how the sun's apparent
[14:10] motion is an optical illusion
[14:14] caused by the rotation of the earth
[14:17] his verbal testimony will give you
[14:20] knowledge
[14:22] the same is true for your experiences in
[14:26] meditation
[14:27] if you experience limitless supreme
[14:30] bliss
[14:31] that experience itself
[14:34] won't produce knowledge of atma because
[14:37] it's just raw data
[14:40] but if you interpret that experience
[14:44] with the help of vedantic teachings
[14:47] you can actually discover your true
[14:50] divine nature
[14:51] atma
[14:53] how
[14:54] when swami pranavananda said that
[14:57] advaita vedanta is a pramana not a
[15:00] theory he was referring to vedanta as a
[15:04] form of verbal testimony
[15:07] according to shankara and other
[15:09] traditional teachers advaita vedanta is
[15:13] an instrument of knowledge that's
[15:16] capable of producing knowledge of atma
[15:20] leading you to discover your true inner
[15:23] self
[15:24] but here we have to ask how can verbal
[15:28] testimony mere words
[15:31] lead you to personally discover or
[15:34] realize atma
[15:36] to answer this important question we
[15:39] first have to understand a crucial
[15:41] distinction between two kinds of
[15:44] knowledge direct knowledge and indirect
[15:48] knowledge
[15:49] sense perception produces direct
[15:52] knowledge because of the direct contact
[15:55] between your senses and the objects you
[15:57] perceive
[15:59] inference on the other hand can only
[16:02] produce indirect knowledge
[16:05] your knowledge of fire on the mountain
[16:08] is indirect because you can't see the
[16:11] fire directly
[16:13] but what about knowledge produced by
[16:16] verbal testimony generally produces
[16:18] is it direct or indirect
[16:22] well that's a bit more complicated
[16:28] indirect knowledge
[16:30] but there's an important exception that
[16:32] we'll see later
[16:34] here's a helpful example
[16:36] on a visit to india long ago i saw a
[16:40] beautiful waterfall at the foot of a
[16:43] little town named gangotri
[16:46] about 10 000 feet up in the
[16:48] himalayas over that waterfall flows the
[16:52] bhagirathi river
[16:54] the uppermost tributary of the ganges
[16:59] just now
[17:01] my verbal testimony gave you indirect
[17:04] knowledge of that waterfall
[17:06] indirect because you haven't seen the
[17:09] waterfall yourself
[17:12] to get direct knowledge you have to go
[17:14] to gangotri
[17:17] so if the verbal testimony of vedanta
[17:20] can give you only indirect knowledge of
[17:23] atma then
[17:25] where should you go to get direct
[17:28] knowledge
[17:30] atma is already present
[17:32] here and now
[17:34] as your own true nature
[17:36] so going to a sacred temple or a cave in
[17:39] himalayas
[17:41] isn't going to help
[17:43] more than that to get direct knowledge
[17:46] of the waterfall you have to see it with
[17:49] your own eyes
[17:51] but
[17:52] atma can't be seen heard tasted smelled
[17:55] or touched
[17:57] so
[17:58] how can you personally discover or
[18:01] realize your true nature
[18:04] we have to inquire further
[18:07] [Music]
[18:21] the ancient rishis discovered that atma
[18:24] your true nature is
[18:26] satchita ananda
[18:29] usually translated as existence
[18:32] consciousness and bliss
[18:35] in this expression the word chit refers
[18:39] to your own awareness or consciousness
[18:43] the consciousness by which you're aware
[18:46] of everything you experience
[18:48] aware of what's happening all around you
[18:51] and aware of what's happening in your
[18:54] mind
[18:55] aware of your thoughts and emotions
[18:59] consciousness is fundamental to your
[19:02] nature because
[19:04] in essence
[19:05] you
[19:06] are an existent conscious being
[19:09] that is
[19:10] you are sat chit
[19:13] we'll come to ananda shortly
[19:17] since atma is your own consciousness
[19:21] that means
[19:22] atma is actually present in your
[19:25] experience
[19:26] this very moment
[19:29] present as awareness itself
[19:32] as your awareness of whatever is
[19:34] happening right now
[19:36] so you can't really say that atma is
[19:40] completely unknown to you
[19:42] you know that you're a conscious being
[19:46] but you don't know the true nature of
[19:49] that consciousness
[19:51] the ancient rishis discovered that
[19:55] your consciousness is limitless
[19:57] is unborn
[19:59] uncreated unchanging
[20:05] infinite
[20:06] and utterly untouched by worldly
[20:09] suffering
[20:11] your consciousness is the divinity
[20:14] within you
[20:16] all this is indicated by the word ananda
[20:20] that we skipped over before
[20:23] so
[20:24] even though you know that you're
[20:26] conscious
[20:27] the limitless divine nature of your
[20:30] consciousness can remain
[20:32] unknown completely hidden from you
[20:36] for knowledge of your true nature you
[20:39] need a pramana
[20:40] an instrument of knowledge
[20:43] according to traditional teachers
[20:45] advaita vedanta when properly taught
[20:49] is that pramana
[20:51] it can lead you to personally realize or
[20:54] discover your true nature
[20:58] but there seems to be a huge problem
[21:01] here
[21:02] if verbal testimony usually produces
[21:06] indirect knowledge
[21:08] how can the teachings of vedanta lead to
[21:11] personal realization direct knowledge of
[21:15] atma
[21:16] well here's the exception i mentioned
[21:19] before
[21:20] for something remote like the waterfall
[21:24] in gangotri
[21:26] verbal testimony can only produce
[21:29] indirect knowledge
[21:31] but for something that's not remote
[21:34] verbal testimony can indeed produce
[21:38] direct knowledge
[21:41] how
[21:42] there's a great example in the famous
[21:45] epic mahabharata
[21:47] that tells an amazing story about the
[21:50] mighty warrior karna
[21:53] shortly after he was born karna was
[21:57] abandoned by his mother
[21:59] queen kunti
[22:01] he was raised by adoptive parents and he
[22:05] never knew that he was really a prince
[22:09] decades later karna met queen kunti who
[22:13] told him that she was his mother and he
[22:17] was a prince
[22:19] he gained this knowledge through kunti's
[22:22] words through her verbal testimony
[22:26] but the knowledge he gained wasn't
[22:29] indirect like knowledge of the waterfall
[22:32] in gangotri
[22:34] kunti's words actually produced direct
[22:38] knowledge
[22:39] leading karna to personally discover his
[22:42] own royal status
[22:46] here verbal testimony could produce
[22:49] direct knowledge because it was
[22:52] knowledge of something immediately
[22:54] present
[22:55] karna himself
[22:57] not something remote like the waterfall
[23:01] certainly atma isn't remote
[23:04] it's present here and now as your own
[23:07] true nature
[23:08] so just as kunti's words enabled karna
[23:12] to realize that he was a prince
[23:15] so too
[23:16] the words of vedanta can enable you to
[23:21] realize your true nature as
[23:24] satchitananda as eternal limitless
[23:28] consciousness
[23:30] in this way vedanta itself can lead you
[23:34] to personally discover or realize atma
[23:38] also consider the fact that karna was
[23:42] already a prince
[23:44] kunti's words didn't need to transform
[23:48] him in any way
[23:49] they only enabled him to discover his
[23:53] true royal status
[23:56] in the same way your true nature is
[23:59] already satchit ananda
[24:02] so you don't need to be transformed in
[24:06] any way
[24:07] you only need to realize atma your true
[24:11] nature
[24:13] one last point here
[24:15] did karna need to
[24:17] meditate on kunti's words to realize
[24:20] that he was a prince
[24:22] not at all
[24:24] simply understanding her words was
[24:27] enough
[24:29] the same is true for realizing your true
[24:33] nature
[24:34] when vedanta's teachings lead you to
[24:38] realize that your consciousness is
[24:41] eternal limitless and divine
[24:45] then nothing more is required
[24:48] simply put if the problem is not knowing
[24:52] the true nature of your own
[24:54] consciousness
[24:56] then the solution is knowledge
[24:59] knowledge produced by a pramana by the
[25:02] teachings of advaita vedanta
[25:05] as we discussed before the experiences
[25:08] you have in meditation can't produce
[25:11] knowledge on their own
[25:13] but that certainly doesn't mean the
[25:16] practice of meditation is
[25:18] unnecessary
[25:20] why
[25:21] you will never gain knowledge of atma
[25:25] unless your mind is fully prepared
[25:28] and capable of making that discovery
[25:32] to prepare your mind certain spiritual
[25:35] practices are
[25:37] indispensable
[25:38] including the practice of meditation
[25:42] so even though meditation alone can't
[25:46] make you enlightened
[25:48] if you don't meditate
[25:50] enlightenment will remain beyond your
[25:52] grasp
[25:55] [Music]
[26:12] from swami pranavananda my guru learned
[26:16] that vedanta is a pramana an instrument
[26:20] of knowledge for discovering the true
[26:23] divine nature of consciousness
[26:26] that fact turned out to be the key he
[26:29] needed to overcome his struggle and
[26:32] personally realize atma
[26:35] this key is found in many sanskrit texts
[26:39] and commentaries of shankara and later
[26:42] teachers of advaita vedanta
[26:45] then
[26:46] why wasn't my guru told this in the
[26:49] first place
[26:51] why isn't this so-called key to
[26:53] realization
[26:55] more widely known and taught
[26:58] well until fairly recently the texts and
[27:02] commentaries containing this key have
[27:04] been taught mainly in secluded ashrams
[27:09] and other monastic institutions in india
[27:12] where teachers and students are mostly
[27:15] sannyasis and brahmacaris hindu monks
[27:19] and celibate students
[27:22] orthodox teachers in those institutions
[27:25] used to think that advaita vedanta
[27:28] should never be taught in public
[27:31] why
[27:33] according to them
[27:34] only highly disciplined monks are
[27:38] capable of acquiring the full measure of
[27:41] mental preparation necessary for
[27:44] enlightenment
[27:46] their assumption is certainly debatable
[27:49] but its result was to prevent eduarta
[27:53] vedanta from being taught in public
[27:56] venues
[27:58] in this way
[28:00] the key to realization
[28:02] remained hidden away
[28:05] but in the past hundred years or so the
[28:08] teachings of advaita vedanta have begun
[28:11] to find their way out of secluded
[28:13] ashrams and into the mainstream of
[28:17] public life
[28:19] several important spiritual figures
[28:22] ignored the highly restrictive views of
[28:25] orthodox teachers and chose to bring the
[28:29] wisdom of vedanta to the masses
[28:33] they began to teach in cities and towns
[28:36] throughout india and later
[28:39] around the world
[28:41] in this way the traditional manner in
[28:44] which vedanta had been taught
[28:47] underwent a huge change
[28:50] that transformation was crucial
[28:53] without it so many sincere aspirins
[28:57] including me
[28:58] would have had no access at all
[29:02] to this body of sacred wisdom
[29:05] unfortunately the transformation that
[29:08] brought vedanta to the public
[29:11] also brought an unintended consequence
[29:16] here's the problem
[29:17] for centuries advaita vedanta had been
[29:21] taught from the original sanskrit texts
[29:24] to make those teachings accessible to
[29:27] the general public they had to be
[29:30] translated into english and other
[29:32] languages
[29:34] but when the original texts were
[29:37] replaced by
[29:38] translations a tremendous wealth of
[29:42] traditional scholarship got lost in the
[29:45] process
[29:47] further among later generations of
[29:50] teachers
[29:51] many didn't know sanskrit well enough to
[29:55] read the original texts
[29:57] they had to rely on translations instead
[30:01] but as we all know translations vary
[30:04] widely in their accuracy
[30:07] they also lack the clarity and precision
[30:10] of thought found in the originals
[30:14] as a result of all this
[30:16] the so-called key to realization the
[30:20] recognition that eduardo vedante is a
[30:22] pramana
[30:23] seemed to get lost
[30:26] it disappeared entirely from public
[30:29] lectures and from books written in
[30:31] english
[30:32] yet
[30:33] it never disappeared from traditional
[30:36] ashrams like that of swami pranavananda
[30:40] where the original sanskrit texts and
[30:43] commentaries continued to be taught
[30:47] unfortunately the popularized version of
[30:50] vedanta taught in public was no longer
[30:54] tethered to those original texts
[30:58] as a result it underwent several
[31:00] alterations
[31:02] a number of concepts that were
[31:05] completely foreign to the original
[31:07] teachings
[31:08] were somehow adopted
[31:11] for example instead of teaching that
[31:13] atma is the consciousness already
[31:16] present in your experience
[31:18] the popularized version of vedanta
[31:21] taught that atma has to be experienced
[31:24] in meditation
[31:26] as limitless supreme bliss
[31:30] instead of considering vedanta to be a
[31:32] pramana that can produce direct
[31:35] knowledge of atma
[31:36] the popularized version of vedanta
[31:39] presented itself as the theoretical
[31:42] basis for the practice of meditation
[31:46] in the 1950s my guru was taught this
[31:50] popularized version of advaita vedanta
[31:54] even though most of its teachings were
[31:57] consistent with the original texts
[32:00] the so-called key to realization had
[32:04] been lost
[32:05] leading to his long and difficult
[32:08] struggle
[32:09] after receiving that key from swami
[32:12] pranavananda
[32:14] my guru re-read all the scriptures and
[32:17] texts he had studied before
[32:20] but now
[32:21] he was able to understand them properly
[32:25] and use them as a pramana
[32:29] previously he had studied vedanta the
[32:31] same way you might study organic
[32:34] chemistry or world history
[32:37] to study academic subjects like these
[32:40] you have to learn all the main concepts
[32:44] and acquire a lot of important
[32:46] information
[32:48] but vedanta is completely different
[32:51] to study vedanta like an academic
[32:54] subject is like studying all the parts
[32:58] and features of a microscope
[33:01] a microscope is a powerful instrument
[33:04] it's a scientific tool that's meant to
[33:07] be used for research
[33:09] to gain knowledge you have to use the
[33:12] microscope you have to look through the
[33:14] lens
[33:16] not study all its parts and features
[33:20] similarly
[33:22] vedanta is a powerful instrument that's
[33:25] meant to be used it's not meant to be
[33:28] studied like an academic subject
[33:31] you have to look through the lens of
[33:34] vedanta so to speak to discover what the
[33:38] ancient rishis discovered
[33:40] you have to use its teachings properly
[33:44] as a pramana
[33:47] all too often advaita vedanta is taught
[33:51] and studied the same way as academic
[33:53] subjects where the goal is to understand
[33:57] concepts and acquire information
[34:00] but
[34:01] this approach strips it of its intended
[34:05] purpose
[34:07] swami dainanda learned how to use
[34:10] vedanta as a pramana
[34:12] and over a span of 50 years he taught
[34:16] many thousands of people all over the
[34:19] world
[34:20] students who attended one of his
[34:22] three-year-long residential courses
[34:26] also learned to use vedanta as a pramana
[34:30] in this way swami dayananda passed on to
[34:34] future generations of teachers
[34:37] the once lost key to realization
[34:43] [Music]
[34:55] [Applause]
[34:56] [Music]
[35:18] you