(BONUS) Thoughts on the Upanishads - Isha Upanishad: Verses 7 - 9

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Enjoy the 3rd episode of my bonus series Thoughts on the Upanishads. The Bearded Mystic Podcast discusses the Isha Upanishad, Verses 7 - 9.

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Transcript

0:02

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Bearded Mystic Podcast and I'm your host, Rahul N Singh. Today we will be continuing on with my thoughts on the Upanishads. Thank you for joining today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode. Please do share this new series with your friends and family and this can help the podcast reach a wider audience. Today we will continue on with the Isha Upanishad, and we will be looking at verses seven to nine. Verse seven. When one realizes that all beings are indeed situated in the Self, when one sees that state of oneness, then what delusion and what sorrow can exist? What we can understand from this verse is that all beings are situated in the Self. Everything we see in existence is in the Self. There is no separation in this existence. There is nothing that is not Brahman. This is something we can establish here very clearly, that there is only Brahman and there's nothing that is apart from Brahman, and neither is something part of Brahman. There is only Brahman. This is a very crucial thing to understand and we have to have this true understanding to know that all beings have their place in the Self. So whatever being there is, we are not there to dictate why it's there, what's its purpose, even for human beings? Why are we so fixed on what is our purpose when really it's about knowing what is aware of the purpose that we are living. And that is the answer in itself. But again, we don't get access to this type of knowledge. This type of knowledge is very exclusive and only meant for a very few people because only a few people can grasp that intellectually. To have that true understanding, we need to understand what is the Self. And we know that the Self is that which is changeless. We know from the previous episodes that the Self is that which, you know, moves swifter than the mind. You know, it's vast, it's everywhere. All beings are in the Self and the Self is in all beings. We understand this from a very fundamental experiential level and something that we are absolutely aware of. This understanding then becomes a realization. It transforms into realization. When we integrate these teachings, that's what matters. So once one is in oneness, how can there be delusion or sorrow? Delusion and sorrow is only there if there is the other or something separate to us. In oneness everything is united. Everything is unified. And remember, anything that is unified and united, we are connected with all the time. We see it as our own limb of the body. We don't see it as something separate than that, and that's the difference. So they can't be delusional about what religion we are, whether we are the body and mind, whether we are our vasanas, our karma. None of those will happen and neither will there be any sorrow. Why should I be sad if somebody has more than me? If somebody says something that hurts my feelings. At the end of the day, what happens to the sages is that, yes, the abuse may happen, the harm may occur, but there will be a very centered awareness, which will be like, well, that is not me. The person that is talking to me doesn't know that we are one and the same. See, nobody's talking about someone being better. That is where a lot of spiritual people get caught out. Once you understand that you and the other, even though one that is not nice to you, that is horrible to you, when you see them as one and the same as you, meaning Consciousness Awareness, don't get stuck in the identity of the person or the karma of the person, or the vasanas of the person or the jiva of the person, or the tendencies of the person, the habits of the person. No. Only awareness is one and the same. This is what we must understand when we are talking about the state of oneness. That's the only state of oneness. When we are in duality then there is the appearance of separation, and this causes delusion. We understand this very clearly, and that's very true. Think about it, when you are in duality, when you think there's you and another person and there's this appearance of separation, there's a division. How are you going to really connect with someone? When we fall in love with somebody, that falling in love is merely recognizing that we've always been connected. That's all it is. And this love was always there. For example, you don't love your partner any less. You may like them less, but you always love them the same. It's the liking which may dwindle because the liking is based on our mind and body and dependent on the circumstances or karma in that regard. When there's duality, then the biggest delusion is I'm the body and mind and there's the Atman, and then there's God, and then there's this. There's the devas, there's this and that. All this are mere delusions. Now, I can only say this on this podcast because it's exclusive. I don't usually say this on the other ones because not everyone is ready for this. There's only awareness. No god, no deva, no 'you' as in a separate self. No jiva, there's only awareness. No vasanas, no karma. Nothing like that. How can you be attached to anything when you are everything? And I let that car pass. That is also one and the same with me. You see, if I am annoyed with that noise, I will not see that car, that driver as situated in the Self, but because I know all is in the Self, why would there be any conflict? There would be no need for any conflict. So when we think we're separate beings, then we ignore the very apparent, very real oneness. In fact, what happens with liberation, and this is a secret that you cannot avoid the oneness. The oneness is so obvious, is so clear. You can't break out of it. You literally can't. So we, we do not think we are separate beings. Now we find ourselves united with one and all. We are in sorrow, in suffering because we have a separate body and mind. We've established that, and in oneness, there is only bliss because when delusion is not there, when our likes and dislikes are not there, when sorrow and happiness is not there, what remains? Bliss. Realization is bliss. Fully integrating into Formless Awareness is bliss, and this is the Truth. When you are really connected into this oneness, when I what I mean by that, when you are aware of your connection to each and every living thing in existence, then there is bliss. There is ananda. Then the next verse. Verse eight. He who pervades all is radiant, bodiless, without sinews, pure, untouched by evil. He, the seer, the thinker, the all-pervading self-existent one has since eternity, given to each, materiality per his own nature. Very beautiful, very complex verse, very deep verse. And that's the thing about the Upanishads, they are more about not listening to my commentary as much as grasping what the teaching is saying, grasping that which cannot be spoken of, which is between the lines, between the, the words that I say. That's what happens with the Upanishads, more than any other scripture. One that will be similar will be like the very radical, non-dual text, which maybe one day we will do that, but it's very important for us to understand this. Let's go to the verse. This Brahman is pervading all. We know that there is no space where Brahman isn't. Is there any space where awareness is not present? If I ask you today to locate awareness, where, where to what extent would you go to? If I asked you to find a place where awareness is not? And say, you get to that place, but what is aware of that place? And you may say, oh, there's that tiniest corner of the universe that awareness is not there. What is aware that that tiniest place in the universe is located there? That's why. So it, it is everywhere. This Brahman is everywhere and within everything, we cannot escape. Formless. Awareness. And that's the beauty. We must embrace this, completely. It is absolutely radiant. It shines and removes the darkness of ignorance. That's what it means by radiant. It's radiant of wisdom, radiant of Gyana, of this Brahm Gyana, this knowledge of Brahman. Radiant self illuminating and it removes the darkness of ignorance. Ignorance of what? That we are, this body and mind. That you are Awareness itself, so it's absolutely radiant. It is bodiless as it has no name or form. It is Formless. We know this very clearly, and since it is not two, it cannot be stitched in any way, nor connected in any way. It's not a jigsaw puzzle. It's not a bunch of canvases put together. No, there is no way you could divide this one in any way. Even the appearance of name and form does not divide it away. There is not anything that is, fixing it together, there's no glue that's holding it together. What's the need for glue if there's no separation? You glue something because you have to place two things together and make sure it doesn't move. Therefore, this cannot be stitched in any way, so it's without sinews. It's pure, and it cannot be mixed by any element of thought, intention, emotion, etcetera. Nothing can mix it in any way. Nothing can blemish it in any way. Nothing can take away from it. Nothing can bring something to it. It is pure, immaculate. That's the way to see Formless Awareness. It's untouched by evil because it's never in ignorance. There's no good and evil there. Those polarities just simply do not exist. And it's beyond this transactional reality. It's beyond this Maya. It's beyond this material world. It's beyond all that. And then we have to understand that this Brahman is the Seer. The true witness. The true observer. Yeah. The real observer. A seer is that Rishi, that knower that is constantly connected and constantly in that state of being in Brahman, being in Formless Awareness, operating in, and as Formless Awareness, there may be the appearance to the world that there is a body and mind, but to that person, to that Seer, there is only this Witness Consciousness, that person remains the observer, the witness. Nothing attaches itself to life. No karma is accumulated to that person because they are just observing, even their own actions. It is the thinker of thoughts and the awareness of thought. That's also the way to see this. It is all pervading. There is no space where it is not present. It is everywhere. Never think of a place that it's not there. It is self existent because it has no birth and no death. If nothing is born, how can it die? So that means that Brahman is self-existent and it was never created by anything. It has no cause, and it has always been here. There's never been a time or a place where it has not been. It's always present. There has been no beginning of time for it, so it has been here for eternity. It has been here always. It is the awareness behind everything. Remember that whenever you are going through life, remember that awareness behind everything. Remember the awareness that is observing everything. The witness behind everything and the substance of existence is Brahman, its own nature. So there's no other material to it. It is only Nirguna Brahman. Happiness is a glimpse of this existence of bliss. It's the Shared Being and it is the ground of existence. This is really what we are trying to understand from the materiality per its own nature. Now, verse nine. Into blind darkness, they enter who are devoted to ignorance, but into even greater darkness they enter, who take pleasure in knowledge. So those who are devoted to name and form are devoted to ignorance. Very simple. Even if you see the Guru as name and form, it's ignorance. You see Nirguna Brahman as some form and some name, it is ignorance. Your devotion is to ignorance. If you think there is something that is 'other', simply perceive that, that there is ignorance. That's how simple this is. Simple, but not easy to transcend, but constant remembrance of this will bring us to transcend this. Ignorance stems from the fact that we think that we are this body and mind. Simple as that. That's where the ignorance begins. This 'I' thinks it's the body. This 'I' thinks it's the mind and the 'I' is fixated to that. The Jiva then kind of, downloads this existence. And then when it receives Brahm Gyana, then it realizes oh there's only Brahman. Why did I even think I was this body and mind? The I', the true 'I' would be like, yes, this 'I' is the true one, and it is the body and mind that it is inhabiting. Nothing else. People go into deeper darkness when they follow only what the body and mind. That's what we need to understand. Now, people also go into this deeper darkness when they think that the truth has some sort of form, whether physical or subtle. You know, sometimes people see knowledge as something you can trademarked copyright, or something you can say is, a secret and only you have it, and nobody else can have it. We have the right way of giving it, or we have the only way of giving it. That is bringing the truth down to your level. Where the truth is meant is where it is. We have to rise there, not bring it down, and it can't be brought down. It's mere foolery to think so. So many in the world are devoted to ignorance. So many devoted to their desires, devoted to their wants. That's all they think life is about. And, and it. And literally life starts and ends there. But then the sages go even deeper than that. They say that's not everything. Don't go down that path of darkness. It is blind where you're going. You will not be able to see the truth. And it's true, think about it. How many people, there's 8 billion people in the world, over 8 billion. How many people are talking about the Upanishads? How many people are listening about the Upanishads? How many people are reading the Upanishads. Even in India where there's 1 billion people, over 800 million Hindus. How many of them have even listened to the Upanishads? How many of them have even taken in the wisdom of the Upanishads? How many of them have integrated the message of Upanishads Very few. This blind darkness is so enticing, it is easier to be in ignorance, more comfortable. You don't have to change. You can carry on doing what you want to do. But the sages also give a warning here, okay. They are blind. They are just doing rituals. They are just doing naam-japa. They are just doing meditation, going into trances. They are, they are being ascetics. They are doing vows of celibacy and all this. They have renounced the world or they're fully involved in the world, But those people enter greater, deeper darkness who have a subtle ego about their spiritual path. Oh, I know God. I have seen God. I'm enlightened. The whole world is in delusion. I am better. Well, if the world is in delusion, I am part of the world too. And if we are all connected, then if you are enlightened, the whole world is enlightened. But this subtle truth is not understood because somewhere deep down there is still a deeper ignorance. The other person doesn't know. My family member doesn't know. My friends do not know. Yes, in the beginning, we have to put in that special time for our sadhana, I mean, even with me, I find it's very important that I keep talking about these matters because the more I remember, the better for me and that's the way it is in spirituality. But don't think that because you know the other person is bad or the other person is in ignorance. That's why a Guru is very careful about what they say. A Guru understands that the other person is the same as me. They're not different, but that person doesn't see it, therefore entertains whatever the disciple or the seeker is asking. It's compassion and to wake them up sometimes, they have to utilize their ego. Yes. The Guru has to utilize their ego to wake up the disciple, because one has to entertain that there's a separation. Then when the job is done or when the moment has passed, then they go back to Formless Awareness, back to Oneness. That's the way they function. So we shouldn't have a subtle ego. Oh I've read the Upanishads, or I am reading the Upanishads. I'm studying the Upanishads. Even if you look at the podcast, we may get a thousand downloads a month and say for every episode, say I have 200 people are listening. Just say that. And how many people are on my Patreon? Seven or eight. Now I don't know the circumstances of the others but that doesn't make them any less. They may not need it, but we are not there to judge. Now, they may have a subtle ego thinking, well, they don't need to advance any further. Could be the case, but that's the hallmark of a true seeker. Even the Guru I've noticed will never say they've learned everything, you know? A subtle ego is much more difficult to overcome. A subtle ego is formed when we think we are a spiritual self. A lot of people in spirituality today, I am an Atman, I am a soul. You are a peaceful soul. So that's all they say. Whether the person feels like they're a soul, they've not established this. Just by repeating it, one does not become a peaceful soul or a soul, or the identification changes If I keep saying water, water, water and there's a glass of water in front of me. By me saying, water, is my thirst going to be quenched? No, I have to pick up the glass and drink the water. So that's also very important to understand. So these, these little things is what makes a difference. Just because we think we're spiritual self, or even if one makes awareness into an egoic thing, we will not go anywhere. You will not achieve anything. We will not achieve the mighty vision of the sages, the Rishis of the Upanishads and what they've established. So a spiritual being doesn't have to refer themselves as a spiritual being, you don't have to say I'm spiritual. I mean, you can say it for fun, but remember who you're saying I'm spiritual. Who is aware that one is spiritual? And does that one that is aware, does that have a name? Does that have a form? Does that have a body? Does that have karma? Those are the questions we have to ask. True spiritual people do not just dwell on knowledge. They put everything into practice and they cause that integration. Integration is very important. Therefore, there's no point in being happy that, oh, I've got knowledge. Oh, I've read the Upanishads. Oh, I've read the Gita. Oh, I've done this. Oh, I've done that. I know the Lord. None of that. Also, since there is no separate self, knowledge, if not used, will constantly be something that highlights our difference. That's why it's important to integrate that oneness. Very important. So for example, we may think we are spiritual beings, but we live according to our desires . Now I know so many people that say, oh, I'm a soul. And then the next minute they're worrying about whether they have enough money. They're worrying about whether what to do with money. They're worrying about what next to do in life, what next to buy, what, you know, make amendments to the house and do all this type of things and buy a new car. And you know, I thought you were a soul. How does a soul have desire? Then they, they'll come up with some weird excuse. So, uh, it's my, it's my role in life. Just admit you are a soul and you have a body and mind but no. We may meditate, but our mind is never stable and jumps from one thought to another. We can't even be aware of our thoughts. We totally getting engrossed by our thoughts and we go so deep in it that we get into that incessant chatter that we don't know how to break the thought pattern, the stream of thought. we just do not know how to break the stream of thoughts at all. We may constantly store up the knowledge, but do nothing about it. We put it on the mantelpiece for show and expect that the whole world will worship us, or we have some great knowledge., but we have not utilized it. What's the point of having a million dollars in the bank if it's just sitting there? Neither have we put it into the savings account. Neither have we put it into investments. Neither are we spending it. Just looking, oh, I have a million dollars in the bank. Oh, I have a million pounds in the bank. I'm so happy. Utilize a million dollars. Do something. Donate it to charity. Do something. If you have no desire, donate it. It's like this with knowledge. Don't just put it on the mantle piece. Share it, but share it with caution. Share it with the caution that is the other person ready. This is why I wanted to do the Upanishads more on Patreon because I don't know whether the, whether every person in the audience is ready for this. At times. I know that I wasn't ready for the Upanishads when I read it. It's only when I studied it, and now I'm sharing that with you, that I'm sharing that treasure that I have. I'm not putting it up on the mantle piece. I'm saying here, this is it. This is what I have. But you may get something more from another person. Everyone's treasure is different. So go to Swami Sarvapriyananda Ji. Go to Swami Tadatmananda Ji, go to any other Swamiji that is teaching the Upanishads, Acharya Prashant Ji to Osho to J Krishnamurti. They are. Everyone will have their unique take and you can learn from everyone and create your own, integrate and speak, share. But like I said with caution. The Seers want true practitioners, not people who claim they have something. And this is one thing I'm going to end with. That don't think that, oh yeah, I'm now enlightened. The true practitioners, the real ones, the real rishis, they only speak from awareness. They don't claim that they're enlightened and everyone else is in ignorance. They will say, if you are ignorant, then I'm ignorant too. Now let's do something about the ignorance. They come down to the playing field, and if a Guru doesn't do that, then a Guru cannot help you. The Guru knows when to switch on ignorance and when to switch it off. Ignorance is now a tool not an identification, and this is what we can learn from the Rishis. So this is the end of the episode. Thank you very much for listening. Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti. Aum Peace Peace Peace. Namaste And before I end, thank you very much for supporting the podcast. It means the world to me. Thank you. Namaste.