The Bearded Mystic Podcast
Rahul N Singh host of The Bearded Mystic Podcast explores the Hindu philosophy of Advaita Vedanta or Nonduality in a very simple, direct and practical way.
Episodes include discussions into eastern scriptures like The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads etc and discussions about everyday spirituality.
Rahul has been on the spiritual path for over 20 years and has an open-minded approach to spirituality and finds that there is no one size fits all approach.
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The Bearded Mystic Podcast
Knowledge Is Bondage: Unpacking the Shiva Sutras
Knowledge can be a double-edged sword on the spiritual path. We dive deep into the second verse of the Shiva Sutras, exploring the idea that knowledge may bind rather than liberate. Throughout the conversation, we examine what it means to truly embody spirituality beyond intellectual understanding.
• Discussing the paradox of knowledge as bondage
• Exploring the analogy of a thorn for explaining knowledge and ignorance
• Emphasizing the difference between knowing and experiencing pure consciousness
Call to Action: Share your thoughts during our live session tomorrow at around 9 PM EST as we meditate and explore Mahadev's insights together.
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Hello and welcome to another episode of 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. So if you're watching this for the first time or you don't know the drill it's basically like comment, subscribe. If you're watching this on YouTube, if you're listening to this on your favorite podcast streaming app, then please do follow it, subscribe to it. Also, give us a rate, rating and review. Five stars, please. That would be great, and it just helps people. Uh, it just helps bring audience reach when we show more engagement.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, we have to deal with the realm of the level, which is a transactional level, of the algorithm on YouTube and the podcast streaming apps. Be, I will be hosting a live on youtube tomorrow around nine, ten o'clock between that time, so I literally just come on, uh, the live will just spontaneously appear it. There won't be any plan for it, so I might put up. I might do that, actually, and we'll carry on looking at the Shiva Sutras and maybe we'll do like a 10-15 minutes of just listening to some mantras associated with Shivji, with Lord Shiva. So the second verse of the Shiva Sutra, and this is like the biggest warning on the spiritual path. If there is anything, it's this one, it's Jnanam Bandaha.
Speaker 1:So knowledge is bondage. Interesting because when we think about knowledge, we think knowledge frees us. When we think about knowledge, we think knowledge frees us. And an example to give here, to explain this sutra very beautifully, is that I recently had a splinter. So, back in the day, in order to get a thorn out or you know, a piece of wood, whatever it was, you'll use like a thorn. So if there's a thorn inside your hand and you want to take it out, you use a thorn to take that thorn out. So same thing you use knowledge to take ignorance out. But do you keep both thorns for, like some memorabilia? No, you just throw it away. So same thing with knowledge.
Speaker 1:Eventually, you have to let go of the knowledge, because knowledge is still in the realm of the you could say maya it's still in the realm of name and form. So, although that knowledge will liberate us, yes, but are we meant to keep remembering the knowledge once we're liberated? No, that would be, that would be missing the point. So, when we have knowledge, when we have that knowledge of Brahman, when we understand that, as in the first sutra, which was Jaitanyam, is, is the self. This pure consciousness is who you are, is what you are. So once you know that you have to let go of that knowledge because all that what would happen is is it doesn't become your experience as the self, it becomes the knowledge that you have of yourself, which is weird, like it's got to be. You got to feel that your pure consciousness is going to be so intimate, so close, that it should be similar to how somebody calls your name and you instantly look right. So that's how embedded it has to be. Again, this is an example. Don't take it like to. There's no need to take it beyond what the example is showing.
Speaker 1:So knowledge can be binding and it can keep us stuck on this spiritual path. I've noticed this a number of times when we we're on the spiritual path and all you have is scriptural knowledge. So you know, all you have is you can recite the scriptures left, right and center, and I've interacted with a few of those on my podcast and I'm like well done, you know you got good memory, but I where is it emanating from your energy? If nobody can sense it from you? Nobody can sense that sense of calmness, serenity, compassion, benevolence. Then, chetanyam, this consciousness is not necessarily your being yet, or you've not accepted it as your being. You're still stuck in name and form. So if we're stuck in scripture and Sri Krishna warns us against this and Shivji is also warning us against this, that you cannot do that when we are stuck in the scriptures in fact, I think Sri Krishna talks in flowery language of the Vedas yeah, here you can say that it's the same thing.
Speaker 1:The knowledge shows us that we are limited, we have a body and mind, and that is not who we are. We are this, pure consciousness. Consciousness pure chaitanyam um atman. We are this, the self is pure consciousness, nothing more is needed. Then, yeah, shivji gives the ultimate in the first and then the second one is like okay, I know what you may do with this, you may just keep repeating this as some form of knowledge, but has it become experiential for you? Has it become your actual being? Are people seeing this in you when they interact with you? Are they feeling that they're talking to pure consciousness and not a limited body and mind? Are they talking to the limitless? Are they talking to the infinite? So that's something we can truly understand and truly address in this.
Speaker 1:When we understand that pure awareness is our true nature, then the only thing left is the embodiment. If we keep holding on to the knowledge oh, I am pure consciousness, I am pure consciousness, and it's just literally something we remember and repeat and repeat like a parrot, it means nothing. Yeah, the whole point of knowledge is to get us on the direct path to realization. And, literally, realization can happen in an instant. It doesn't take us long. In fact, if you understand the first sutra of the Shiva Sutras, you don't need to read the rest of it. Yeah, and yet what happens is we cannot accept the first verse. So then, shivji, you know the Sri Krishna, they have to take the long road. They give the ultimate in the first, but then they take okay, let's take it step by step so you can understand, so you can grasp what this is.
Speaker 1:So once we've established that we are pure consciousness, and this is now what we embody, this is what we imbibe, this is how this is from where we function, then that's all that is needed. Then we drop that knowledge, we don't make it into memory and we just rest in the awareness of formless consciousness. That's all we have to do Awareness of formless consciousness. That's all we have to do and that's what Shivji is guiding us to do. So if you want to know more about the Shiva Sutras, we will go deeper into it tomorrow at 9, 10 o'clock, and that would be Eastern Standard Time, and we'll listen to some mantras. We will contemplate on Mahadev's form and just remember actually that if we are to, even if we focus on Mahadev's form, it takes us to the formless. So if our meditation is still stuck on form, we have not understood Mahadev's instructions or Mahadev's true being. And that true being is the same true being in you. Yeah, ultimately, all is Brahman. So that's all we need to understand. All is the one.
Speaker 1:So let's look forward to tomorrow. I probably will go over the third verse tomorrow and then we will go into the fourth verse and fifth and so on and just see where we go um in the um, in the interaction tomorrow. Do share your thoughts on the live, do share your comments. It's interactive. It's not necessarily just me talking, although that's what I have to do, but you can also interact. I will answer questions. We will then do the meditation on the mantra together. So we'll get some bhajans on and we'll just meditate and, yeah, just be in the awareness of that formless being that was named Shiva. Thank you very much. See you tomorrow, namaste.
