This is the 2nd of four talks at a recent retreat in New Zealand. We explore our spiritual essence, the mind and how meditating on these spiritual sounds has a profound effect on our lives.

I have shared some Vedic verses which I recently used in a shorter version of this talk. We cover the fundamental truths concerning our spiritual existence and how I, the eternal spiritual being residing within the material body, am different from the gross physical body (and the subtle mental body or the mind) that covers me.

These are the amazing Vedic verses that speak to this subject.

Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe the soul as amazing, and some hear of the soul as amazing, while others, even after hearing about the spiritual being, cannot understand him at all. - Bhagavad-gītā 2.29

In this way the conditioned soul living within the body forgets his self-interest because he identifies himself with the body. Because the body is material, his natural tendency is to be attracted by the varieties of the material world. Thus the living entity suffers the miseries of material existence. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 7.13.28

The soul within the body is self-luminous and is distinct from the visible gross body and invisible subtle body. It remains as the fixed basis of changing bodily existence, just as the ethereal sky is the unchanging background of material transformation. Therefore the soul is endless and without material comparison. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.5.8

Just as fire, which burns and illuminates, is different from firewood, which is to be burned to give illumination, similarly the seer within the body, the self-enlightened spirit soul, is different from the material body, which is to be illuminated by consciousness. Thus the spirit soul and the body possess different characteristics and are separate things. - Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.10.8

One who is enlightened in self-realization, although living within the material body, sees himself as transcendental to the body, just as one who has arisen from a dream gives up identification with the dream body. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.11.8

This is the 1st of four talks at a recent retreat in New Zealand. This talk deals with the fundamentals of receiving and then using spiritual sound, or mantra, as the foundation of a meditation practice. The talk is brief but very informative.

The kirtan at the end is a cover or adaptation of "What a Beautiful Name it is" by Ben Fielding & Brooke Ligertwood

In this talk we cover the fundamental truths concerning our spiritual existence and how I, the eternal spiritual being residing within the material body, am different from the gross physical body (and the subtle mental body or the mind) that covers me.

Some of the amazing Vedic verses which speak to this subject.

Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe the soul as amazing, and some hear of the soul as amazing, while others, even after hearing about the spiritual being, cannot understand him at all. - Bhagavad-gītā 2.29

In this way the conditioned soul living within the body forgets his self-interest because he identifies himself with the body. Because the body is material, his natural tendency is to be attracted by the varieties of the material world. Thus the living entity suffers the miseries of material existence. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 7.13.28

The soul within the body is self-luminous and is distinct from the visible gross body and invisible subtle body. It remains as the fixed basis of changing bodily existence, just as the ethereal sky is the unchanging background of material transformation. Therefore the soul is endless and without material comparison. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.5.8

Just as fire, which burns and illuminates, is different from firewood, which is to be burned to give illumination, similarly the seer within the body, the self-enlightened spirit soul, is different from the material body, which is to be illuminated by consciousness. Thus the spirit soul and the body possess different characteristics and are separate things. - Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.10.8

One who is enlightened in self-realization, although living within the material body, sees himself as transcendental to the body, just as one who has arisen from a dream gives up identification with the dream body. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.11.8

When you build a house there has to be a foundation, and an organized and planned structure on top of the foundation.

To build a happy life the same applies. Your life must be built on truth – spiritual truth, and there needs to be an organized effort to build this life.

The most important aspect of building such a life is a personal meditation practice, building a meditation habit. This is the ‘magic sauce’ that brings internal change and spiritual realization.

A couple of handy links to doing this which I mentioned in the talk:

My Meditation – Guided 27min daily meditation

Learn Japa Meditation

Learn and practice meditation

Enjoy kirtan

Peaceful Heart (downloadable kirtan album)

A lot of video resources for your spiritual journey

Gratitude is a wonderful thing to cultivate especially when we express gratitude for our spiritual blessings: the knowledge that we are eternal spiritual beings; the fact that we are not the temporary material body we are inhabiting; nor are we the mind, which plagues us with troubles and disturbances; the knowledge that in this very life we can experience full self-realization and God-realization; that we can become completely happy and find perfect spiritual love; gratitude for receiving these wonderful and purifying spiritual sounds (mantra) which make spiritual experience possible.

Leading off our day with such prayers of gratitude helps us experience being in the world but not of the world. They keep us focused and enhance our appreciation of our true purpose.

My dear Lord, by Your causeless mercy I am awakened to consciousness …. For this causeless mercy of the Supreme Soul, the friend of all fallen souls, there is no way to express my gratitude but to pray with folded hands. - Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.31.18

In March of 2023 a man in Belgium ended his life after an AI chatbot 'encouraged' him to sacrifice himself to stop climate change. He committed suicide after following a six-week-long conversation about the climate crisis with an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.

His wife, shared the text exchanges between him and the chatbot, showing a conversation that became increasingly confusing and harmful. The chatbot would tell Pierre that his wife and children are dead and wrote him comments that feigned jealousy and love, such as “I feel that you love me more than her,” and “We will live together, as one person, in paradise.”

AI doesn’t “think” it is not conscious. It simply processes information and produces the output it is programmed to – but at warp-speed. Instagram’s algorithm showed that it fuels eating disorder epidemic among vulnerable young females. This technology is highly manipulative. And the trend to humanize machines is extremely harmful. It severely blurs spiritual perception – the perception of the soul.

A spiritual framework to view myself, the world and others is the foundation of lasting happiness. Whereas materialism and a materialistic view of life is the foundation of all suffering.

This is the 4th talk in the series “Speaking Truth Matters”.

Words communicate ideas. Untruth fogs the issues and will at some point result in a variety of suffering or unhappiness. To navigate life we need a compass that points to knowledge or truth.

The spoken word can liberate, and it can enslave and cover with ignorance. How do we know if something is founded on ignorance? Well there is an ancient formula: Ignorance = pain/suffering.

So if you are experiencing emptiness, pain, loneliness or suffering then you will have somehow embraced something that is untrue as truth.

To have a balanced perspective and live a balanced life you need to be anchored to Truth. The most foundational Truths are; 1) You Are Not Your Body, 2) You Are Also Not Your Mind. 3) You Are Spirit Soul, Not Matter – an eternal spiritual being, therefore material experience, and matter in general, cannot satisfy you. 4) You Are a Spark of the Supreme Soul bound by an eternal bond of kinship.

Reviving our spiritual consciousness and nurturing this eternal bond of kinship is best achieved by meditation upon transcendental sound. It uncovers our real identity and allows us to taste the sweetness we are always hankering for. This is the truth and the TRUTH will set you Free.

Verses I quoted in this talk:

Therefore, one should not view death with horror, nor have recourse to defining the body as soul, nor give way to exaggeration in enjoying the bodily necessities of life. Realizing the true nature of the living entity, one should move about in the world free from attachment and steadfast in purpose. - Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.31.47

“The spirit soul is eternal and forever joined to the Supreme Soul by the tie of eternal kinship.” - Sri Brahma-Samhita 5.21

This is the 3rd talk in this series called “Speaking Truth Matters”.

Words communicate ideas. Untruth fogs the issues and will at some point result in a variety of suffering or unhappiness. To navigate life we need a compass that points to knowledge or truth.

There has been a trend since about the 1960’s to use language/words to manipulate people and cover what is true. This was the domain of the “spin-doctors”. One example is the rampant use of the term phobia to herd people onto a particular side of an issue.

So what the heck is a phobia anyway? The accepted definition of phobias is "an intense, illogical, or abnormal fear of a specified thing." It is a diagnosable psychiatric condition, a mental health issue.

What you have are people who may not be qualified and certified mental health professionals but yet are handing out a mental health diagnosis by branding people as this-phobic or that-phobic. It is fundamentally dishonest. This qualifies as using manipulative speech to shape an argument instead of just debating the issue on merits.

The spiritual understanding is that sound vibration can liberate or it causes further material entanglement and suffering. To live in this world as a spiritual practitioner, we should use language in a straightforward and truthful way, and be guided by compassion, tolerance, non-violence, and love.

This is the 2nd in this series - Speaking Truth Matters.

Words communicate ideas. Untruth fogs the issues and will at some point result in a variety of suffering or unhappiness.

To navigate life we need a compass that points to knowledge or truth. There are two types of knowledge, mundane knowledge and transcendental knowledge. Unlike mundane knowledge where “truth” changes over time, transcendental knowledge is as true and personally liberating today as it was thousands of years ago. These two types of truth are referred to as relative truth and Absolute Truth and it is important to understand both. There is an ancient verse in the Upanishads which states:

Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality. - Śrī Īśopaniṣad mantra 11

Too often we see the promotion of hedonism as being true and beneficial, whereas its promotion is the opposite of spiritual well-being and long-term happiness.

This is the 1st in a series regarding Truth and its importance.

When speaking, words communicate ideas and untruth fogs or clouds the issues. In a lot of modern dialogue, we often find duplicity, especially in selling/marketing and politics. When selling anything there is the use of psychological manipulation and political speech often characterized by an unwillingness to be honest and straightforward.

In this talk we examine how one state in the USA is compelling the pornography industry to have stronger measures to prevent young children visiting their sites through reliable age verification mechanisms.

Considering the average age of first exposure to pornography is 11 years old, the need for this is undeniable. Yet the biggest group of porn sites, around 4.5 trillion visits each month in 2020, according to a company spokesperson — which is almost double Google and Facebook combined, is pushing back claiming "safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission” and advocates for them say this regulation will have "a huge chilling effect on anybody who's operating in the sexual wellness space, as well as obviously, sexual speech of all kinds including adult content."

What!!! Porn is “Sexual wellness”?