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 journey through Vedanta continues as we explore the foundational texts and philosophical underpinnings that reveal our true nature as indivisible, eternal consciousness. We examine why the Upanishads stand as the ultimate authority in Vedantic philosophy and how other sacred texts serve to illuminate their timeless wisdom.
• Vedanta represents the culmination of spiritual knowledge that follows after ritualistic practices • The Upanishads are the primary authority, with the Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita serving to elucidate their meaning • Once blessed with true wisdom, karma no longer affects you as you realize you're neither the doer nor the enjoyer • Puranas are instructive stories, not direct truth – to understand deeper wisdom, one must turn to authoritative texts like the Upanishads • Traditional qualifications for studying Vedanta include mental purity and specific practices, but sincere desire for self-realization indicates readiness • The genuine longing to realize one's true nature is exceptional and suggests you're prepared for this knowledge • Regular awareness of formless consciousness brings peace and joy that confirms you're on the right path
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Bearded Mystic Podcast, and I'm your host, rahul N Singh. Before you go anywhere, please like, comment and subscribe and, if you haven't done it already, on your favorite podcast streaming app you can also follow me and rate and review. That would be highly appreciated. So today, as I mentioned yesterday, we will be looking at the Vedanta Saras series that we've started, and the purpose of this is to make sure we understand the basics of Vedanta. So when we come to my course or when that will be out, probably in the second half of the year, and then you have just generally, if you want to study the Upanishads, then it's really good for you to kind of get a grasp on some of the terms and the philosophy and some of the ideas that I talked about and some of the ideas that are talked about. So we know that we spoke in the first episode. We looked about how clear this consciousness is discussed and how we are to recognize our true nature, that which is indivisible, eternal and so forth, and it's blissful, so we understood that, and then to give gratitude to the Guru, the one who kind of guides us to move forward in spirituality. So we're going to start with the third verse, and he says Vedanta is the system of philosophy that regards the Upanishads as its ultimate authority. The Brahma Sutra, also known as the Sharirika Sutra, and other texts assist in elucidating its true meaning. So to really understand this, we have to begin with the Upanishads right. So before we go on to the Brahma Sutras or we go into the Bhagavad Gita, we have to understand the Upanishads. That is where the philosophy of Vedanta has come from. Now, the main issue that has occurred is that a lot of people just go straight to reading the Bhagavad Gita. Now, nothing wrong with that, but to truly understand the kind of depth of Sri Krishna's words, you have to study the Upanishads. I think you get a profound amount of understanding and gratitude towards Sri Krishna when you've read the Upanishads. So, for example, there's many times, say, in the Katha Upanishad, there's several references that Sri Krishna makes to that Upanishad. And so, and the reason for that is the reason why Sri Krishna makes to that Upanishad, and the reason for that is the reason why Sri Krishna, or the writer of the Mahabharata, rishi Vyasji, the reason why he did that was to show that whatever he's teaching is not different to the Upanishads. So the philosophy is not different and later on people have come up with different types of philosophy. But really it's Advaita Vedanta. That's in the Upanishads.
Speaker 1:
Someone can contort a meaning that may be dualistic, but really, if you deeply look into what's being said, it's referring to that indivisible Brahman and it's very clear that that's what your true nature is. So here, as he says that the Brahmasutras and the Bhagavad Gita, our texts and other texts, are basically explaining or expressing what the Upanishads are, so that's Vedanta. And again, when it says Vedantaads are, so that's Vedanta. You know it's the. And again, when it says Vedanta, that's the end of the Vedas.
Speaker 1:
Now here Vedanta really means, if you want to think about it, once, you've done with the rituals. Now, you could have been done with the rituals in your past life and that's why you have no Kind of drive to do it in this life. I certainly don't have any drive to do any of the rituals, and I'm not saying there's no benefit to them. There is. If you have a mind that's not steady, if you want to learn to control the senses, if you just want to conduct a good karma to address the previous karmas, that you've done. But again, I would say you know, one moment of there's two ways. One moment of transmission with the guru can instantaneously remove all karma from your all karmic debt completely, or once you've become enlightened, in that moment you find all your karma has been kind of removed. They dissolve away.
Speaker 1:
So, yes, the only thing that remains is some remnants of previous karmas. But that's life. As long as you live in the body there will be karma to address. But will it affect you? That's the question. So when you're doing the karmakan, the ritualistic portion, then you are going to be affected by the karma that you do Because you are doing the karma. But if you have been blessed by the Guru With the knowledge, the Gyan, the wisdom, and if you or you are, you have realized the Self, you have realized Brahman, then after that you know Karma doesn't affect you because you realize you're not the kartha and you're not the bhokta. So you're not, neither are you the doer nor the enjoyer. So this is something that we can understand. So that's so. Vedanta addresses the person that is neither the doer nor the enjoyer, nor the enjoyer, so neither the kartha nor the bhokta. So that's one way of understanding what Vedanta is trying to address. Now, if you say after this that if there's no kartha and there's no bhokta, then can anybody enjoy heaven or feel they've done bad deeds to go to hell? No, then you're not following Vedanta.
Speaker 1:
Then you know, a lot of people quote the Puranas and they say you know, in the Garuda Purana it says this it says that nothing beats what the Upanishad says, nothing beats what the Brahma Sutra says or the Bhagavad Gita, it doesn't beat whatever that says. Puranas are stories. They are meant to show you something. They're not telling you the direct truth. And I had a discussion about this with a friend of mine and you know, even if many people believe the purana stories are real, it doesn't mean they're right. Just because you believe something is real doesn't mean you're right. You know. Only the truth is correct.
Speaker 1:
But if we keep saying that different degrees of falsity is right, then what is the purpose of becoming enlightened? What is the purpose of becoming self-realized or understanding the scriptures and just read your stories and your narratives and just be happy with it. Believe you go into 24 hells or 24 heavens. Believe that you will. This is the explanation for how a jiv goes into one life form to another. Yeah, nothing, these are just stories.
Speaker 1:
You know and, uh, you know, I'll put it this way. You know, if you want to understand shri krishan, then you read the Bhagavad Gita. If you want to understand Shivji, you read the Ribhu Gita. If you want to understand Sri Ram, then you need to read and understand Yog Vashishtha. So this is something we must grasp and we must understand. So that was a very long explanation for the third verse, but ultimately what I'm saying is the Upanishads are the ultimate authority. That is a text that you should keep reading and you know there's a really great. I don't think anything's come second to this.
Speaker 1:
If you really want to read an abridged version, there's obviously Eknat Israran's version of the Upanishads. It's very easy to read, very nice, very poetic, very good. But when it comes to you know really understanding the philosophy, when you want more than just you know the poeticness of it and you don't mind the repetitive aspects of the Upanishads, then Swami Nikkalananda has four parts to the Upanishads. I hope that the Advaita Ashram makes this into an e-book. It'd be very beneficial for everybody if it's an e-book. But yes, this book is very, is very, very. This four parts is very good because not only does it include the Mandukya Upanishad with the Gaudapada Karikas, but it gives explanations and introductions that were done by Adi Shankaraji. So I would recommend that you can get it on p. So, if you you know, it's free online. But again, I do believe that it's best if it was in a proper ebook. So I hope they are looking to do that. So, yes.
Speaker 1:
So then the fourth verse is since this text is a contextual or concise description of Vedanta, its essential aspects, or the Anubandha, are the same as those of Vedanta. Therefore, they are not discussed separately. So what it's saying here is that, really, the most essential points are going to be discussed. Nothing here or there is going to be discussed. The point is that it will use the same methodology. It will make sure that you understand this reality, and that's what we want. We want to understand this reality because that's essentially who we are. So once we can know who we are, we can be comfortable with reading the deeper aspects of Vedanta.
Speaker 1:
So he continues to say the four essential aspects of the Vedanta system are the eligibility of the seeker, the subject matter, the connection between the subject and the text and the purpose of studying the text. So obviously it's going to go into the four aspects and the other significant terms that have been, uh, that arise in the process. Um. So that's pretty clear. It's just telling you what it's going to do and we will look into the four essential aspects later on. Um, but the question is, you know, once, you've, once you know that well, you know you may be.
Speaker 1:
Am I ready to read this? Do I feel like I can take in this wisdom and he answers this in the next verse, in verse 6, that the eligible candidate is someone who has studied the Vedas and the Vedangas so those are the auxiliary texts to the Vedas in the prescribed manner, either in this life or in previous ones. So if you have not read the auxiliary texts to the Vedas, don't worry about it. Maybe you've read it in your past life. This person refrains from performing desire-driven or prohibited actions driven or prohibited actions but diligently performs daily and occasional obligatory rites, having purified himself of sins through penance and worship upasana, his mind is pure and equipped with the four essential means of spiritual knowledge. Now that sounds like a long list of whether you should be, whether you're ready for this, and I asked Swami Sivapriyananda Jitis in my podcast with him that you know, in the Vedanta Sari he has this list of what people should be doing and, as a householder, you know how are you meant to take those words. And he's just like you know. It doesn't stop you from studying Vedanta. These are just guidances, these are just guidelines.
Speaker 1:
Now we can do things to make our mind pure as householders, you know, and we can. We can do karma yoga, one way to make sure we're not doing desire driven desires. Um, you know, or sorry, desire driven action, or we're not doing prohibited actions like harming others. You know that's killing or stealing, doing any of those things. You know, as long as we are fulfilling our duty, like if we're a householder, we're being there for our family, caring for our family, not being a burden upon them, listening to them, caring for them, being compassionate, those are those help us to become, you know, make our mind pure.
Speaker 1:
So making sure that we do not have any sort of resentment in the family life or with our friends or with work, that we're sincere, and you know we do good deeds. So whenever we are around, we are helpful to others, we are kind, you know, when it comes to these, some of the other actions that it talks about, like the Nitya and Nirmatika, you know, rites. We will look into those next time. We will look at other rituals and stuff that it talks about and what the prohibited actions are. But all I've got to say is, you know, from this moment of you, of us reading this, if you have a sincere feeling that you want enlightenment, that you want to be self-realized, that you want to be in the awareness of formless awareness, if you feel that this is what you want, then this text is for you, vedanta is for you and you can realize your true nature.
Speaker 1:
One thing that is important here and the reason why Vedanta Sara does this is to make sure that those people that are not ready to experience this reality because they don't really want to, they're still stuck in the rat race of the world, they still do not inquire into you know, maya, and see if it's real, then those people, ultimately they are not ready for that, for this knowledge. But if you are, you know, kind of wanting to, if that desire has come up that you want to realize your true nature, that comes across after a long time, like if you truly, truly feel that you want it. It doesn't come out of nowhere, you know. It's not something that people just feel like, oh yeah, I want to know god, or I want to realize god, or I want to realize my true nature, I want to realize brahman, I want to understand the philosophy of the upanishads. That is not a normal circumstance, shall I say. It's an exceptional, special circumstance when you feel this. So that's why I would say if you are ready for this, then just carry on with this series, even if you feel that, according to this text, you're not ready, but you feel that maybe, as you go along with this text, you may be ready. Along with this text, you may be ready. What I would do is just spend a few moments, you know, each day, being aware of formless awareness, and just keep doing that. And if it brings you peace, if it brings you happiness, if it brings you joy, if you feel like, yes, this feeling that I'm getting this experience I'm having, I want this to be with me all the time, then continue learning. You will benefit.
Speaker 1:
Okay, we'll end it there and we'll continue with the next verse later on, which will be about what actions should be performed, what actions are performed with desires, and we'll look at the prohibited actions and the nitya actions and the nirmithika actions and penance. So we'll look into the upasana aspect. So we will do those in the next couple of episodes. But let me know how you feel about this, tell me. Do you feel ready? Are you ready to um awaken to this non-dual realization? If so, let me know. Like this video comment and um, I think on my um podcast on audio streaming, you can actually send me a text. You can. You're free to do that too, and join my discord server if you haven't already. It's great if you can, and I shall speak to you soon. Take care, namaste.
