Q&A session lead by Swami Sarvapriyananda as part of a spiritual retreat at the Vedanta Society of New York on Mar 25th, 2017. List of Questions with Timestamps: 1:00 -- a) Involuntary thoughts are mostly negative and bad. How do we uproot them? b) If we are what we think, will these negative thoughts bring us suffering/misery? If we become what we think, then how does karma come into play? Some people seem to be positive thinkers, even if they are not necessarily good people. However, their lives seem to be quite good and peaceful. So it it our thoughts, or is it our karma that makes our destiny? 14:56 -- What exactly is meant by the term ""faultlines"" with regards to pointing out the ""errors in Maya?"" (referencing a previous lecture in which Swami Sarvapriyanandaji had used this term). 42:25 -- a) Could the Blissful experience of sleep be due to sleep related hormones (serotonin, endorphins etc.) rather than to the Bliss inherent in Consciousness? 45:47 -- a) In deep sleep, is the Bliss we experience the ""Ananda"" of ""Sat-Chit- Ananda?"" 48:23 -- b) Unconsciousness seems to be different from deep sleep, because it seems to be completely blank. Additionally, after coming up from that state, one doesn't feel rested or peaceful. On the contrary, one often feels uneasy. But ultimately, if it is Ananda, it should be there everywhere (in deep sleep as well as unconsciousness) shouldn't it? 50:50 -- c) So is it that the happiness of deep sleep is due to serotonin and/or other chemicals that are involved in neurochemical processes? 55:13 -- One can say that the substratum of human Consciousness is Pure Awareness. How can we extend it to include the whole material Universe, and posit that Pure Consciousness is its substratum? 59:22 -- Should we assume that each one of us has our own consciousness, and if so, what about events which affect all of us? How do we explain that shared public reality? 1:05:57 -- Is Consciousness separate from the brain? 1:12:52 -- a) Is it true that householders should not chant only ""Om,"" but instead use some syllable along with it (such as ""Hari Om"" etc.)? Will simply chanting ""Om"" (as a householder) have adverse effects? 1:14:42 -- b) Could ""namakam"" and ""chamakam"" (Vedic mantras) be used as worship mantras in rituals, upasana, self-Knowledge, God-realization, jnana etc.? 1:20:50 -- How is Consciousness experienced? How do we know/grasp it? What exactly is Consciousness, Atman, Awareness, Pure Consciousness, Brahman etc.? 1:26:16 -- The Awareness, or Consciousness (Atma, Chaitanya etc.) is common to all of us. Rather, we are That. Then what accounts for the differences between us (between Vivekananda and the rest of us, yogis who have extraordinary powers, psychic powers, siddhis etc.)? ► Support the Vedanta Society of New York: http://bit.ly/SupportVedantaNY Web: http://vedantany.org Soundcloud: http://Soundcloud.com/VedantaNY iTunes Podcast: http://bit.ly/vedanta-talks-itunes Google Play: http://bit.ly/vedanta-talks-google-play ABOUT VEDANTA Vedanta is one of the world’s most ancient religious philosophies and one of its broadest. Based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India, Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions. ABOUT US Vedanta Society of New York is affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order of India. In fact, this is the Order's first Center started by Swami Vivekananda, in 1894. It was a historic event, for the seed of the world-wide Ramakrishna Movement was sown here in New York over a century ago. Swami Sarvapriyananda is the present Resident Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York.