Bhoomananda Foundation

In this audio, Swamiji says that the one that we refer to ‘I’ is itself what we seek in spirituality. So do we have to seek it? No! It is already there, we are always saying “I am”. There is no time when one is disconnected from the ‘I’, even in the state of unconsciousness. When we know it, the seeking itself terminates and one will be constantly in a state of awareness.

Self-Knowledge is far different from meditation, which is just a state. Swamiji urges all seekers not to miss the Consciousness. By repeated introspection, one must realize the Subject, the revealer Consciousness, which they are!

PR 26 Sep 2015

Mind is capable of producing a variety of emotions, all of which can be enquired into. In Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna says that all emotions can be made subject of spiritual enquiry.

An enquirer usually starts enquiring into three things–what is this world? Who am I? Who is God? Hindu dharma clearly says and proves, that all the three enquiries mean the same thing. Whether one enquires into the subject, or the object, or whether one enquires into God, all these enquiries are different and various in the initial level. But as one progresses, all of them converge into oneself.

One will introspect: “I become the thinker and thought becomes an outcome of my thinking process. The thinking process proceeds from me and rests on me. So, the thought outcome also will rest on me. So, there is nothing besides me, either as the thinker or as the thinking, or as the thought, the outcome. The three are seemingly different. In reality the content is the same!”

All the three are distinctions, given rise to by the inscrutable power of the inner eternal presence! They are only notional. So, the subject, the object, and the other, all these three are notions which the one inscrutable presence gives rise to. A seeker must go beyond the distinctions and reach the very source.

PR 19 Dec 2011

Our entire life is based on the three different states of mind or consciousness–the wakeful state, sleep and dream state. In the wakeful state, the sensory organs perceive and interact with sensory objects. The whole world is there only when one wakes up. When the mind wakes up, a number of objects are perceived. All objects get reflected in the sphere of the mind.

The same mind wipes off all object impressions and goes to sleep, where no object is felt, perceived or experienced. In the sleep state there is no body, mind, intelligence and ego. Everything gets suspended and one gets up and says ‘I slept’.

Sometimes one slips into a dream, where the mind proves its capacity to produce objects. The Consciousness or the mind produces a parallel world in which gross things are created.

So we have three different states of awareness and there is an inscrutable power which is capable of creating and uncreating anything and also bring about necessary changes in whatever is present. Swamiji says that the three states help one to understand that it is the same creational power that expresses itself in wakefulness, sleep and dream.

PR 17 Jan 2013

In this track, Swamiji says that all our experiences are in the level of the mind. Both the body and the world are experienced by the mind. All experiences belong to and are created by the mind.

Mind is unlike matter and energy. Being consciousness, sentience, it has got the inscrutable power of putting up any kind of a projection, display or manifestation. It manifests the wakefulness. It manifests the sleep, and it manifests the dream. The mind never undergoes any change whatsoever in producing a thought or no thought.

In reality, birth, bondage, seeking are only notionally there. The notion-producer, the consciousness alone is there, and all the notions are unfactual, not separate, not concrete, not objective, not at all there. When one understands this, he becomes free.

Shlokas chanted in the Track:

न निरोधो न चोत्पत्तिर्न बद्धो न च साधकः ।

न मुमुक्षुर्न वै मुक्त इत्येषा परमार्थता ॥

Gaudapada Karika 2.32

न कश्चिज्जायते जीवः सम्भवोऽस्य न विद्यते ।

एतत्तदुत्तमं सत्यं यत्र किञ्चिन्न जायते ॥

Gaudapada karika 3.1.48

PR 16 July 2012

Our body is an aggregate of matter and energy, and it does not have the power and potential to know, think, or decide. Our thinkers realized that rituals, prayers and hymns could not give them the answers they were seeking and therefore they took to contemplation and enquiry with the mind and intelligence. This enquiry led them to question whether there was anything imperishable in the changeful world.

There is a factor within, which is different from matter and energy and that is the Consciousness or Sentience. Consciousness is that presence, that prevalence or that expression which makes one conscious of other factors as well as oneself. As we have our sense organs to perceive the external, this is our inner presence which makes us conscious of other things as well as of itself. It’s the only third factor in creation, and this can be felt in a human body as one’s own self, ‘I’.

We know everything else because of the merit of this Consciousness which we call ‘I’. This ‘I’ possesses nothing, nothing can ever penetrate the body to become a product of the ‘I’. Just as the air is unattached to anything, this ‘I’ is the subtlest and remains unattached. This consciousness can only be known in one’s own living body and this is the only presence in the body. Not only that, this is the only presence everywhere. As it is all-pervading in the body, it is equally all-pervading wherever existence or appearances are there.

PR 25 Jan 2018

In this track, Swamiji speaks about the unimaginable spiritual dimension in us.

There is a dimension within us which does not belong to either matter or energy. It belongs to something called Consciousness. Consciousness is that which is capable of being Conscious of itself and of others. The Consciousness itself becomes Conscious of itself, and that is why we say ‘I’ and for saying ‘I’ we do not need the senses. The only way to research into Consciousness is through, by, and of Consciousness.

The Consciousness wakes up and through the senses it perceives the world. The entire range of perception is subsisting, resting upon the consciousness and in the evening when we sleep, the whole extensiveness is wiped off. A knower of Self says: “Everything is mine. If I am not there, nothing is there.” This is the spiritual wealth one gains. This entire universe including space is resting upon and supported by the supra-material source and that is what is the consciousness.

PR 25 Jan 2016

An exalted subjective worship and prostration is described by Swamiji in this talk.

After listening with all sincerity and fidelity to Sage Ashtavakra, King Janaka declares the magnitude, magnificence and potential of the immortal spiritual Presence ‘I’. The body, thoughts, emotions, intelligence, ego are merely matter, energy presence, mere objects. Even the perceived world is a mere perception of the perceiver spiritual Presence, during the waking state. This very world gets totally wrapped up into the subjective ‘I’ Presence in the seep sleep state. The ‘I’ Presence, which animates and activates the body, mind, intelligence etc. is neither born nor does it perish.

Swamiji speaks about the mystery of creation, enlightening us on this lofty Source within, where the mortal body carries the immortal Source. Life lived with this Knowledge of the Majesty of ‘I’, removes all deficiencies and lacks, and in fact there is only fulfillment and reconciliation with all the transitoriness of life.

All devotional and religious worships are man-made, but this knowledge devotion of the Spiritual ‘I’ Presence, although exclusively worshipped by few, is still very prevalent in Indian civilization, as revealed in scriptures like Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita.

Shlokas chanted in the Track:

मत्तो विनिर्गतं विश्वं मय्येव लयमेष्यति ।

Ashtavakra Samhita 2.10

अहो अहं नमो मह्यं विनाशी यस्य नास्ति मे ।

ब्रह्मादिस्तम्बपर्यन्तं जगन्नाशेऽपि तिष्ठतः ॥

Ashtavakra Samhita 2.12

PR 24 Jan 2016

In this beautiful talk, Swamiji again recapitulates the concise and rare statements of Yajnavalkya. When the Consciousness or Brahman manifests through the body-mind personality, then we have the awareness. When the body falls, the individual Self gets merged in the Universal Consciousness.Swamiji discusses the last and beautiful verse which says that this Consciousness is indeed beyond all duality. Swamiji says that the only reason we miss the Self is because of the tendency to look for something different. When we look for something different from us, we are objectivizing the Self. The Self cannot be revealed by anything else. Swamiji repeatedly reiterates that the Consciousness is beyond all duality. Through this talk, we understand the need to do introspection to fully understand and absorb the concepts presented in this text.Swamji ends this beautiful seven days session with a short story saying that human personality has Godly, human and demonic traits. To overcome the demonic traits, we must cultivate good qualities like self restraint, compassion, liberal attitude and love for others. The process of inculcation of virtues will lead us to the ultimate goal of immortality, assures Swamiji. Verse Discussed: (2.4.14)

In this talk, Swamiji continues to discuss the verses where Yajnavalkya is trying to help Maitreyi understand the Supreme Truth with the help of various examples.

Swamiji makes us understand the difficult and profound verses and helps us grasp the core message in each of them.

Discussing various examples of the Upanishad, Swamiji helps us to understand that the Infinite and manifold creation has emerged from the Transcendental Oneness. He says that in the process of our search for that Oneness, we start from the variety of this creation. We have to reach the oneness from the variety. For this, we have to make the divergent mind convergent. We have to shift our identity from the mortal body to the imperishable, eternal Soul.

Swamiji introduces us to a profound concept by saying that when Consciousness is reflected in a living body-mind personality, the body becomes conscious or aware. When the body falls, the individual identity is not there anymore. Giving examples from Kathopanishad, Swamiji says that when the body falls, the individual Self is no longer there. It gets merged in the Universal Consciousness.

Swamiji clarifies a common misunderstanding that Atma is something in the objectude.

Shloka Discussed: (2.4.10 to 2.4.13)

In this talk, Swamiji continues to unravel the loftiest and most beautiful truths exposed by Sage Yajnavalkya to Maitreyi.

Swamiji says all problems of our existence arise due to our identity crisis. We feel that we are the limited body-mind personality. This constriction makes us small and separate from others. We reject others on the basis of our likes and dislikes.

Swamiji gives us a remedy for this problem too. He says that our willingness to own others without any discrimination increases our fondness for others and expands our mental horizon. Our Sadhana is to give up attachment, hatred and selfishness and to embrace everyone as our own.

Swamiji proceeds to discuss the beautiful verses where Sage Yajnavalkya says that It is Consciousness that reveals the whole creation. It is present in all our perceptions, being transcendental and changeless. Illustrating these characteristics of the soul, Yajnavalkya gives the examples of musical instruments like the drum, conch and veena. When various notes are played on them, one cannot distinguish the different notes played on them but one will be able to understand the fundamental note of the instrument. Similarly, the whole world is changeful and manifold but in interactions with the world, it is possible to identify the Brahman which is the Substratum, the Revealer, and the eternal presence.

Verses discussed: (2.4.6 to 2.4.9)