The Bearded Mystic Podcast

Wisdom of the Mystics: Sree Narayana Guru Ji

May 28, 2023 Rahul N Singh Season 3 Episode 17
The Bearded Mystic Podcast
Wisdom of the Mystics: Sree Narayana Guru Ji
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In this episode, The Bearded Mystic Podcast discusses the wisdom of Sree Narayana Guru Ji. He was a teacher of Advaita Vedanta and a social reformer who expressed the unity of all faiths and spoke against the caste system. 

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Hello, and welcome to The Bearded. Mystic Podcast and I'm your host, Rahul N. Singh. Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode. Today we will be continuing on with the series called Wisdom of the Mystics, where we take a look at some of the mystics from the east and the west, and we look at a few of their sayings or their poems and get inspired by them. Before we do begin, there's a few things I would like to share with you. The Bearded Mystic Podcast does need your support, and you can do so by signing up to our Patreon page. On Patreon, there is ad free and bonus episodes along with other benefits depending on the tier that you select. Details are all in the show notes and video description below.

On Saturdays at 11:

00 AM Eastern Standard Time, there is a free virtual meditation session along with discussion and q and a that happens afterwards. Please find the details in the show notes and video description below if you're interested in meditating with us as a community. Please do like, comment, and subscribe if you're watching this on YouTube. And if you're listening to this on your favorite podcast streaming app, please do give this podcast a five star rating and do follow, subscribe to get future episodes. And most of all, share this with your friends and family who may be interested in topics and themes like we're discussing today. Last month, we looked at the teachings of Atmananda Krishna Menon Ji, and today we'll be looking at the teachings of Shree Narayana Guru ji and this was recommended to me by a listener of the podcast and I'm actually really happy that I got to learn a lot more about Narayana Guru ji because I didn't know much about him. I've heard about him, but reading his works has been incredible. There's a lot to grasp and he was completely non-dualistic, and not only in his words, but also in his actual practice. Now let's take a look into his teachings. The first quote. Oh, now, here, all this, together with us, Brahman takes and spreads out in his divine, expansive mirror and looks at with his vast eyes. Yet again, reveals from the eye. This is a play for Brahman. This is part of Brahman; no, Brahman is without parts, so it cannot be called a part of Brahman. Absolute genius. I love this. We explore right now Narayana Guru ji's teachings and mainly he's quite poetical, in his approach. There's a lot of depth to what he says. It's, it's like he takes you on the journey to understand the refinement of thought and the refinement of intellect that happens when one is thinking in a non-dualistic lens and focuses it on it in a non-dualistic way. The thing about non-dualism is that if you doubt it, you will forever doubt it, but if you seek to understand it, you will get to the end point. You will end up seeing how everything is non-dualistic and advaita. But if you doubt or question whether non-dualism is true or practical, you've lost, you can't, then you will not be able to understand the philosophy and what we see here is, a genius quote because you've just see Narayana Guru just abolish those that think there's parts to Brahman. Brilliant. Like for example, how can the Formless have parts? It can only have parts, if it's has a form, even subtle form. If it's Formless, it can't, it cannot have any parts. If it's Nirguna, it cannot have any parts. So we can see here how Narayana Guru ji absolutely hits a sixer with this. Those that understand cricket know what I'm talking about. Uh, so Here, when we look at this quote, we first have to use that intellect. And then we get to that point of insight, and that's what I felt when I was reading this because I felt what he said. I thought about it, had to like listen to myself read it a few times. Then I've read it a few times. Then I was like, ah, yeah, I totally get it now. It's a very deep one. This quote in itself is a great way of highlighting the oneness of Brahman and that there is no Nirguna and Saguna. It's just one. That's it. Simple. Brahman. No Nirguna and no Saguna. No need to put those two there. That's what Narayana Guru ji's saying. And on the ultimate level, I do agree with that, and I think that's the easiest way. There's only this Formless. There's only this Nirankar. Nothing else. Now for a second. We may entertain duality. So Narayana Guru ji says, oh, now, here, all this together with us. If you listen to that, if you read that, it's highlighting the joyfulness and playfulness of this whole thing. Oh, now here, all this together with us. He says Brahman takes and spreads out in his divine expansive mirror. Brahman creates this mirror. And what's the reflection? This maya. It's brilliant. So he says it's all a mirror of the same One. This Brahman is not different to us, but if we entertain separateness, then even then he's still with us. This is now here, all this together with us. You may say this is separate. This is separate, but it's together with us. Brahman takes and spreads out in his divine expansive mirror and looks at with his vast eyes, you your own vision. You, yourself, you see all this objective existence. That's what he's saying. And if I didn't make it clear, this divine expansive mirror is this Formless Awareness. This Formless Awareness within us looks at the world as a reflection of its own self. He looks at this reflection with his vast eyes. You see this world with your eyes that see this whole world. And again, withdraws it all into the one eye, meaning the sensory information of the reflection goes through the eye. And then from the eye, we process what the senses have given to the mind. It withdraws it all into the eye. There's the seer and then the seen. This is the seen. And then yet again reveals from the eye. Then we say within the mind. The mind then says, this is what you're seeing. The brain processes it and says, this is what you're seeing. The seeing and the seen is happening, and the wonderful thing is, He says this is a play for Brahman. This is a simple play. It's nothing complicated, nothing serious. In fact, if you capture what he said here, it's everything you need to know about non-duality, everything. Very beautiful. And then he says, well, this is part of Brahman. In fact, in common language, sometimes I also say this, this is part of Brahman, this is part of God's, this is part of this Formless Awareness. Sometimes I say this and then I realize afterwards, oh, should I correct myself or not? You know, like, I dunno whether I should, and then, but now I think I can because if Narayana Guru ji can do it, then that means. I should follow suit, follow what the teachers done, and adapt. We hear people say this, it's in Visistadvaita it's said, and some people say it now that we are a part of God, an ansh of God, or you are a part of God. And when you get mukti, when you die, then your Atman will meet the Param-Atma. Your soul will meet God. That's what they say, and then Narayana Guru ji says, this is nonsense. No, this has not happened. Who gave you this silly idea? Brahman is without parts. Narayana Guru ji makes it very clear that there are no parts to Brahman at all. Don't get yourself entangled in a mess of duality. One cannot call even the reflection in the mirror as part of Brahman. It is Brahman. There's only Brahman. All is Brahman, and Brahman is all simple. Keep it that way. Keep it that way. It's all easy. Spirituality, non-duality is simply understood. No other philosophies needed. No other idea is needed. No other concept. Just this, this first quote, more than enough, but we have to first intellectualize, then go into insight. This is why Brahm Gyana is essential, because Brahm Gyana helps us to understand these very simple teachings, very direct teachings, but they're not easily understood, but very beautiful. Then the second quote. Man is of one caste, one religion, and one Brahman, of one same womb, one same form with no difference at all. This is very amazing. In fact, the greatest thing about Narayana Guru ji is that he's also a social reformer and believed that caste was a huge problem, and at the same time expressed the ideas of advaita vedanta. If you think about it, if you say that you believe in advaita vedanta and then you believe in the caste system and you believe in the varna system, whatever you want to call it here, you're a problem. You don't get non-duality. You are not, you are not understanding the truth. How can you divide others? This says man is of one caste. When he says man human, humans of one caste, one religion, and one Brahman. What is the ultimate religion? Being in awareness of Brahman! How somebody gets it? Does it matter? That religion is enlightenment? Simple. Jivan-mukti, that's the only religion. He makes it clear now that humans are of one caste Not just Hinduism has caste, other religions have caste too. So let's not just point the fingers at Hindus. I think we should be open enough to say other religions do too. And within those castes, the four main castes, even in Hinduism or in Indian culture, shall I say, there's subcategories of that too. I know for a fact some religions say this Gurdwara or this temple is for one caste, this other temple or Gurudwara is for another one. Someone of a lower castee cannot come here. It happens. It may even happen in the states. I don't know, but I know discrimination on the caste does happen. I have faced it myself. And what Sree Narayana Guru ji saying it's impossible to have many castes because there's only one Brahman. How can it be many castes? How can there be many religions? He says there is only one religion. All are just names, but the main essence is that there is only Formless Awareness, that's religion. People say, my God is different to your God. My God is better than your God. Your God is worse than my God. Your God is incomplete. Mine is complete. This is silliness. This is stupidity. This is ignorance of the greatest kind. Some even say, my devta does better than yours. My deity is better than yours. You believe in the Devi, I believe in this Deva. Anyone that's like that, Misunderstands the Truth. There's only one Brahman. Your God is not better. There's only Brahman. Call it God. There's only one God then. Simple. That way you get rid of any animosity that, oh, they're following a weird God. There's only one ultimate reality. Simple as that. You can say people have misunderstood it and Narayana Guru ji's saying the same thing. Once we understand that, then things are clear. And then he says, this creation has come from one womb, which is Brahman, or even on a material level. This earth has come from the universe, so we are all one. We made up of the same elements. So it's the one same form. It's not anything different, meaning it is all the Shared Being, Saguna Brahman. It's all Brahman. There's no difference at all. It's all one unity. The differences are just appearances. They just appear to be different. And there is nothing but Brahman. Just remember that. Simple, lovely quote and a lot to capture again from that. The third quote. Awareness is the ocean from where all the forms do come, with kind for mould, and as the root for the rows of waves. Interesting. This is in relation to Narayana Guru ji's social reformation, teachings on caste, and where does caste even begin? Or where does differences even begin, even of religion and all sorts? If we all arise from awareness and awareness, is that ocean? Why do we differentiate people with their caste? Is it even necessary today? Is it needed today? So where do all these forms come from? If awareness is the ocean from where all the forms do come with kind for mould and as the root for the rows of waves. If we are just waves in that same ocean, it's still the ocean, right? So this ocean of awareness is where all living beings arise from. We all have the same source. And we should all be shaped in kindness, understanding this, be kind. If we know where all forms have come from, then why do we have animosity? Why do we have hatred? Why do we treat other people differently due to the caste they belong to? All that is unnecessary. All that is silly. So we should have this strong base, this strong foundation of kindness. Being kind should be our natural response. And this root of kindness should be present. As we travel through life, we should be kind and respectful to others. Simple as that. That's all Narayana Guru ji is saying. And we have to remove any biases that we may possess, even analyze our unconscious ones. It's very important today to realize if we have any unconscious bias, not just towards caste, but race, gender, sexual orientation, all of those things. Today, people are crying because people are choosing their own pronouns. I dunno why that's a problem. Let people choose their pronouns. What's your problem? What's your issue? Let them. In, in one light we say, we believe we are all one family. And then the next second, did you hear what they did? Did you hear what they say? Have you heard about this? They decided this was their pronouns. Come on. We need to move forward, not backwards. Let people choose their pronouns. Let people decide their sexual orientation. Let someone feel what they biologically really feel. You don't have to judge. You don't have to discriminate. You don't have to treat people unfairly. If you feel like what you were biologically born with, fine. If somebody doesn't, they don't. Be kind and understand. That's, I say this, if spiritual people do not get this, I dunno who else will. And if non-spiritual people get it, shame on spiritual people. You claim all these big things. We do, we claim all these big ideas and we say we accept everyone, and then we have terms and conditions. That is not spirituality. We have to remove any bias we have. Now let's look at the fourth quote. The body is not real, a body-owner does dwell in the body, know this and dance. Swallowing body and owner together, remains One, know this and dance. I think Narayana Guru ji is pretty cool. He's pretty chill. First of all, he says the body's not real. We, we know the body's not real. Yeah, it's constantly changing. It's going through modification. We know it's not real because that which is real does not change. Therefore, any identity with his body would be ridiculous. Right. If you know it's not real. Why would you say that's you? Yeah. Why would you identify with something that is nonexistent in spirituality? Not practically, but on the ultimate level. I know practically we have to accept we have a body, and that's why he says here, a body-owner does dwell in the body. What is that body-owner? What is it? It's only that Changeless Jiva itself, that is the body-owner. This Jiva dwells in the body. It observes all the activities related to the body. We can feel the presence of the jiva if we actually really connect with it. Feel that the jiva that is now identified with the bodies within the body, it dwells in the body. Without it, there is no body. This body will not function. And he says, know this and dance. Once you know this, you can be joyful and absolutely be in bliss in life, be in absolute happiness, in absolute peace. Dance. That's what he's saying. If somebody knows that they are eternal, would they be crying or would they be celebrating? Every breath is a celebration. On one hand, every breath is taking them to the end of the body, but at the same time, the moment they inhale is another opportunity to live this life. So they must enjoy. So he says dance. Narayana Guru ji is pretty cool. And then swallowing body and owner together. I'll give you another way of looking at it. The body-owner can also be the mind. We can say that the mind or the ego owns the body, but it's not that. That's one explanation that you could use, but I would go with jiva. Swallowing body and owner together remains One. Once this body has dissolved, once this jiva has dissolved, what's left? This Brahman. Jivo Bramaiva Naaparah. Adi Shankara Ji's words coming true yet again. So when death comes for this body and swallows it together. Swallows the jiva, the identification that the Jiva is separate to Brahman. Once it swallows all of that together, what remains? This one because this Brahman is the source of everything. This Brahman is the only thing. If there is only this one, then we can be in this knowledge and rejoice. We can be in a pure state of happiness and ecstasy. Know this and dance. There's only the One, this jiva, this body, this mind is all gonna be swallowed up by death. But what remains? This One! This body and owner is only your reflection of that One. Know this and dance. I like that. It's pretty cool. The fifth quote. Ocean of liberation gains clarity all at once - this is one way. Once the separate beingness stops, that very day, the supreme path opens. Wow. What is this ocean of liberation that Narayana Guru Ji's talking about? It's none other than this Formless Awareness, this Brahman itself. This is the ocean of liberation. This is where freedom is. This is the ocean of freedom. When you understand that there is only Brahman, there is only freedom. Only liberation. Freedom from what? The identification, the attachment of the body and mind. We are finally detached. That's liberation. Through knowing this One, we get all the clarity at once. Everything that was needed to be understood, gets understood because you then start looking at the world, the text, everything, spirituality, everything is done through the lens of that Brahm Gyana, that vision of Brahman. Once that is done, once, you're looking at everything with the insight of Brahman, that's liberation. You get all the clarity at once, it all starts making sense. What was once really hard to understand is now simple. That's why I said in the very beginning, if you seek to understand non-duality and stick with it, you will get it. But if you doubt its practicality for a second, you lost it forever. Not forever, but you know, you, you've lost it. And it's hard to get out of that cycle of, uh, thoughts. It's hard to get outta that cycle of thinking then. We see all of this as the One and therefore, that is the only clarity that remains. Brahman is the only clarity. That's the only clear thing. That's the only clear thing. This is one way. Then we enter that ocean of liberation. It's one way. There's no two way. You can't come back. Once you've got that clarity, that's it. Then it has to be utilized in every aspect. Then he says, once this separate beingness stops, once we get rid of this idea that we are separate, once we are free from this false identity, especially the one that is always changing, always modifying. Once we remove that as our identity, what remains? This Brahman. We are no longer veiled by any ignorance, and we understand the truth. Instantaneously. What does Sree Narayana Guru Ji say? Once this separate being stops that very day, the supreme path opens. We are now open for that vast Brahm Gyana to take its rightful place in our heart, the Supreme Path. The one way ticket to Brahman. That's the supreme path. Don't think there's going to be a return ticket here. In fact, you are cashing in on your return ticket that you had for many lives, but you didn't know. Now you know, the clarity is there. So once we stop feeling this separateness, What is left? Unity, oneness. How can anything be separate? Everything is Brahman, or shall I say, Brahman is everything. So once we grasp that, there is no separation between us and that Ultimate Reality, that Supreme Reality, we are ready for the self-revealing truth. Then we are ready. It will reveal itself to us, or we will find a spiritual friend, a Guru that will help us get there. We will fall in the company of the righteous people who will help us get there. He will tell us that this is the supreme path. Go for it. Oneness is the supreme path, and this is opened up for us, that very day. Once you forget that there is separateness, once you let go of separateness, that very day, you're ready for Brahm Gyana. You're ready for that knowledge, for that insight, you're ready for the Guru. You're ready for every situation in which you can understand that there is only Formless. Awareness. It'll be the first time, that very day where you will have that moment to have the clarity all at once, where you'll be able to perceive this Formless Awareness in everything, where you will remain fixed in this awareness of Formless Awareness. This is also open for us because the Guru guides us to this too. The Guru points us in that direction, and we go for it. And neither do we think there's a separate soul. I have a separate soul. You have a separate soul? So-and-so has a separate soul. God is a separate soul. All of that is done with, gone, eliminated. There's only one soul. There's only one Brahman. If I say there are two souls, that means separateness exist, but it doesn't exist. There's only oneness. Once we understand the fragility of duality, then we are ready for the supreme path. Once you see that duality has no legs to stand on, you will not even entertain it for a second, not even for a second. Someone brings in the idea of duality. Okay? You believe in it. Go, go, go your way. We don't want to disturb anyone who doesn't want to be disturbed. In fact, they're coming to you because they are disturbed that you are not following it. But anyway, let them go. They're fragile. Don't break them with the truth. They may not be ready for it. Their mind is not ready. Their intellect is not ready. Why disturb them? Let them be. That's the sign of a understanding person. You remember rooted in kindness. We have to be kindand understanding. For example, I post this on YouTube. I post my podcast on YouTube and on all the podcast streaming apps, whoever listens or watches it, that's their choice. They put themselves through it. Yeah. I didn't tell them to. It's the same way. If somebody personally comes to me with dualistic thinking, if they're not ready to have a conversation, I won't discuss non-dualism. There's no point, but neither do I have to accept what they say. I can just be like, okay, that's what you believe. Fine. I don't believe in it personally, but I respect what you're saying. We can end the discussion here. If they are then genuine and they ask, I want to know what you really believe, what do you think? Then you can share, but always be mindful, be kind. Then the sixth quote. Impossible it is to speak of your greatness that has come to be the space within; without the least of Your grace will I remain here, in vain, O' Siva. Once we've opened the space of the heart, once we've become lovingly detached to the world in our mind, once this space is absolutely vacant of any attachment, any identity, any concept, any object that we can perceive through any of our senses. When that space is vacant, then at that moment we feel the greatness of Formless Awareness. We feel the greatness of Siva and Siva here, meaning Nirguna Brahman. And he says It's impossible to speak of Your greatness. It's true. How can you praise the greatness of this One who is beyond words, beyond feelings, that's just experienced. All we have to do is remember this One, and it takes its rightful place within us automatically. We don't have to do anything. It automatically does it. Like I said, it's just impossible. How can you praise the greatness of this One? No word will ever do justice. Not a single word will do justice. Not a single emotion, not a single tear. Not even an ocean of tears will do justice to highlight how great this is, how great this oneness is, how great this Formless is, how great Siva is, how great Brahman is. All names are the same one. If, if every atom had a tongue, and it had all of eternity, it still would not be enough to speak of the greatness of this Formless Awareness itself. Impossible. And it's only because of the grace of that One that we can even transcend. Only because of that grace that space has been filled with this beautiful Formless Awareness, this amazing Formless Awareness, this amazing Brahman, and it's all because of the grace of that one. It's that silent transmission with the saint, with the Guru that helps us to take leaps forward in our devotion, in our spirituality, leaps forward. He says, without the least of your grace, will I remain here? Even if I get a tiny drop of your grace, how can I remain here? In vain, being myself. How can I, when you are the only one, this space is now vacant. How can I remain here? How can I enter? I don't want to enter. And then on the other side, you could say, poetically because it is poetic. He can have several interpretations. You could say that Narayana Guru Ji asked if he's to remain here in vain, despite his attempts, will he receive that grace? But we know what he's really meaning here. Impossible it is to speak of your greatness that has come to be the space within. Without the least of your grace, will I remain here, in vain, O Siva? He knows he has had the maximum amount of grace. How can he remain here in vain? How can he super impose himself on that vacant space? Within that is filled with this one. He's no longer vacant because it's this One Only such a great being that has attained this greatness, only that person can say such things, and you can feel the words. You can feel the grace that moves him. You can experience it. You can feel it. Many people ask to learn how to do bhakti. They ask to lead the path that was set by the gurus. These are all empty words, not here. You can feel how he's filled with that grace of Siva. Even Siva would be moved by these words. Even Brahman would be like, you know what? Let me get rid of this superimposition myself. Not a single moment should you live in separation! Not a single moment should there be any vacant space? Now I'm going to fill that space with my presence. So don't think when I say space, don't think it's empty. See this space as just another veil, behind it is this awareness, behind it is this Brahman! That's the way to see this. Feel the maximum grace of Brahman. Empty all the contents in your mind, all your attachments, all your identifications, make it completely vacant so that in that space, the only thing that you will discover that remains is this Formless Awareness. That's what you have to do. And that's Sree Narayana Guru Ji did, and he's sharing that beauty with us. Then the last quote of the day, which is the seventh quote, we are doing two together because I think they join together quite nicely and I want us to contemplate. And the reason why I've kept these two verses together, and I've kept it till the last, is because it highlights the fundamental teaching of Advaita Vedanta. If you can understand this, we will get it. So if you didn't get it in the first quote, we should hopefully get it now. Where there is Consciousness, there exists the object of Consciousness, where Consciousness is not, there is no object of Consciousness either; thus, both by agreement and by difference it becomes understood. Just as the eye that does not see itself, so the Self does not see itself; therefore, indeed, the self is not the object of Consciousness, that which the Self sees is the object of Consciousness. Absolutely clear. But you know, I say this that it's absolutely clear, but I do ask myself. Would I have understood this years ago, like five years ago or 10 years ago? I don't know. And I thought I knew non-duality, but every time I read these sayings, I feel like I have so much more to learn. It it is really, actually, it's really great that that happens because one, you remain humble because what is there to brag about? Obviously if you are grasping things today that you knew you wouldn't grasp five years ago? Imagine what you'll grasp in five years if you're blessed with five years or 10 years or 20 years, imagine how much you can grasp then. So in that light, I was just wondering to myself like, I wouldn't have understood this and all kudos to people like Swami Sarvapriyananda Ji and Rupert Spira Ji, my Satguru and with their grace and many others who have helped me, or the wisdom of the mystics that I've talked about, all of them. I think without their teachings, I wouldn't have understood this. Not at all. I really thank them. Like they are that foundation, that root and, yeah. I'm lost for words now. Uh, so anyway, let me go back to the verse. As there is awareness, there will be an object to that awareness. Always. So whenever there is awareness, there will always be an object of awareness. There will be something that you are aware of. So for example, whether it's this laptop, this phone that you have, this microphone, the water bottle, the mouse, the room, the house, the earth, the universe, it's all an object and it all exists within you. There's only Consciousness. When there's no Consciousness, then the idea of an object of Consciousness cannot be. So if you think about what Sree Narayana Guru Ji's doing is making us think, he says whether Consciousness is not. If you say there's no awareness, then there cannot be an object of awareness either. You cannot say there's no awareness and say there is this object. You cannot say there's this laptop, but no awareness. There's no perceiver, there's no Consciousness. He saying that's impossible. So he says, both by agreement and by difference it becomes understood. Now the higher thinking is this. So what becomes understood, so what he's trying to say here is that as long as you are aware of an object, there is Consciousness, there is awareness. Where Consciousness is not, there is no object of Consciousness either. Once Consciousness doesn't have to fall into observing an object, once awareness is not aware of an object, and it's aware in awareness of its own awareness, then there is no separation between the subject and the object. This is what he's trying to say. So he says, thus, by, both, by agreement and by difference, it becomes understood. So even if you think different or think both ways, it's understood. Now to bring further clarity to this, Narayana Guru Ji explains this in the next verse. So he says just as the eye does not see itself, so the Self does not see itself. He says that just as the eyes do not see itself, this is true as we don't see our own eyes until we look in the mirror. Right? Right now I can see my eyes because I'm looking into the camera. On the screen, there's a reflection of me. I can see my eyes, but otherwise, from this state, from here, I do not see my eyes. Yeah, I only see a reflection of my eyes. I actually don't see my eyes. The eyes do not look upon its own Self. Right? Like I said, even if you're looking in the mirror, it's just a reflection, not the actual eyes. Likewise, he says the Self does not see itself. To say that it sees itself is not correct because awareness does not see itself because it's not an object to be seen. Awareness isn't seen. Awareness is just awareness. He makes it absolutely clear here that the self is not an object of Consciousness. He says, how can it be an object of Consciousness? The Self or awareness is pure awareness itself. Awareness is not an object itself, so he makes it clear that the Self is not an object of Consciousness at all. Indeed. If the Self does not see itself, that means the self is not an object of Consciousness. That which the Self sees is the object of Consciousness. He makes it absolutely clear if you didn't get it that time, he makes sure in the second line you will get it. So whatever the self does see is an object to that awareness. So using the analogy of the eyes, we can understand what Formless Awareness is. So let me go back. It's worth taking that in again, just as the eye that does not see itself. So the Self does not see itself. My eye cannot see itself. It can only see a reflection of it in the mirror. Likewise. The Self does not see itself, but it can only see itself through the reflection of Maya. Okay, interesting. Yeah. Therefore, indeed the self is not the object of Consciousness because it cannot see itself. It's not an object. Whatever it perceives through the senses, it's processed by the mind. It becomes an object of awareness, an object of Consciousness. Therefore, the Self is not an object of Consciousness. Because that which the Self sees is the object of Consciousness. So whatever one sees is an object of Consciousness. We even see our thoughts, we even see our dreams. These are all objects of Consciousness. They're all happening to Consciousness. So what's the only thing? Consciousness. Formless Awareness, Brahman. And that is, the end of today's episode. Thank you very much for listening. Please do share this podcast with your friends and family who may enjoy this content. Do follow me on social media to keep getting updates? Join the Bearded Mystic Podcast WhatsApp community group to continue the podcast discussion and details in the show notes and with the description below. Like I mentioned in the beginning, it's really great if you can support the Bearded Mystic Podcast through Patreon. There you get ad-free and bonus episodes, like I mentioned, and other benefits depending on the tier that you select. Do check out the details in the show notes and video description below. And I really do appreciate any help that you can provide for the podcast. Please do rate and review the podcast on your favorite podcast streaming app. Do like and comment on this video and subscribe on this YouTube channel. And do follow or subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast streaming app that you are listening to this episode to right now. Thank you very much for listening and we'll end with the Soham and Shanti mantra. Soham Soham. I am That I am That Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti Aum Peace Peace Peace Namaste

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