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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We explore Vedanta Saras starting from verse 7, examining various types of actions and their purposes while emphasizing that true spiritual knowledge transcends ritualistic practices.
• Different categories of actions: desire-driven (karmia), prohibited (nishida), daily (nitya), occasional (nemitaka), and penances (prayashitta) • Rituals can purify the mind but have limitations in leading to liberation • Blind faith and following traditions without understanding their purpose has little spiritual value • True worship (upasana) involves contemplating reality with attributes and cultivating gratitude • Spiritual practices should bring joy rather than being performed out of obligation • Self-reflection on our practices helps determine if they're aligned with our spiritual goals • The importance of putting your full heart and spirit into whatever spiritual practice you choose
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Welcome to another episode of the Bearded Mystic Podcast, and today we are going to be discussing Vedanta Saras, starting from verse 7. In the last episode we looked at how, in that, you know, kind of the summary of that episode is that Vedanta is about that spiritual knowledge that follows from ritualistic practices. The Upanishads are the primary authority and then, you know, obviously, brahma, sutras and the Bhagavad Gita elucidate their meaning. Once we're blessed with true wisdom, you know, karma no longer affects one because we realize that we're neither the doer nor the enjoyer. So neither the karta nor bhokta and Puranas are instructive stories, not direct truth. So to understand the deeper wisdom, one must turn to authoritative text like the Upanishads. So obviously we know that mental purity and certain specific practices are required to be ready to study Vedanta and to have realization and be ready for that. And the whole point is that one should have that longing to realize their true nature. And, uh, you know, regular awareness of formless awareness brings peace and joy, and that confirms that we're on the right path. Before we go any further, do join the discord server if you're not part of it already.
Speaker 1:
And um, and let's get started with verse seven. So verse seven is actions such as fire worship. So which is the jyotishtorma and similar rituals which aim to achieve specific desired results, like attaining heaven, are known as desire driven or karmia actions. So any ritualistic action that is done, more or less, is to attain something, whether that's you know, for heaven, for a better life in the future. So these rituals that people do, these good actions that people do, have a specific outcome. Now, vedanta is not about dealing with those things, but we should understand, if you do do those things, that this is what they achieve. So very simple, you know they kind of join to a specific outcome and that's what you want. Then, obviously, what are the prohibited actions? Because that was discussed in the last episode actions such as the slaying of a Brahmin, which lead to undesired consequences, like going to hell, are considered prohibited or nishida actions.
Speaker 1:
One thing I will say when it says the slaying of a Brahmin, that's anyone who knows Brahman. So not necessarily you know someone who's born in the caste, so to speak, but anyone that is a knower of Brahman is a self-realized person. If you slay them, you know you're going to go through a lot of inner turmoil, because when we get rid of good people in this world, there is a lot of suffering that follows, because those good people create good karma and because they create good karma they're, you know, we're able to gain so much from being in their company. So you know where humanity, humanity, could get better. What happens as a result is we, um, we reduce, we reduce the goodness that's in the world. Now I would even say, you know nowadays, you know, yesterday I did that episode about the.
Speaker 1:
You know, if your guru has an allegation, what do you do? You know how does Advaita deal with that. You know that was in the light of recent allegations in regards to Sadhguru. Now, that's one thing. But you know, is that would we count the slaying of character as going to hell? No, if there's a truth to those allegations and and this is a broader this is me, broadly speaking, not necessarily to anyone specifically, but character assassination would not be considered in this, unless, you know, if we find out that is untrue. So if there's allegations, I wouldn't call that the slaying of a Brahmin or a self-realized person.
Speaker 1:
So what are the daily Nitya actions? So daily rites are actions whose non-performance results in the harm, and examples include daily worship at the three junctures of the day dawn, noon and sunset, among others. So you know that can include like bathing, chanting sacred verses, deity worship. You know all those are good actions and they help to purify the mind. Doing nam japa now it says they're doing it three times in the day I don't think we have the capacity in our busy lives to do that, but anytime that we can remember god, remember our guru, remember any of the mantras and recite the guru mantra, that those are all good things that we can do and should do, and they're just there to help us build a foundation for spirituality and that's the main purpose. Then what are the occasional nemitaka actions? So those are actions.
Speaker 1:
Occasional actions are those performed on specific occasions, such as worship conducted after the birth of a child or funeral rites or whatever. But those things are, you know, just for specific occasions, not necessarily they have an importance that you need to do on a daily basis. So then you know, but that's naming the child. You know, the first intake of food, of solid food for babies, start of education, the thread ceremony that Brahmins do, and marriage and rituals to remove misfortunes also come under that. And you know, frankly, those things they're important, but I would always go back to Vedanta is not about those things. They can help you, they can purify your mind. There's a certain limit to what they can give you.
Speaker 1:
But we shouldn't be too engrossed in those things. For example, like if you're meditating three times a day but at the same time you have blind faith, then the meditation has no value or has very little value, you know. So one has to understand the purpose. Some people say, well, you know, this is what we the purpose, you know. Some people say, well, you know, this is what we've been doing all of our lives. My parents did it, so that's why I'm doing it. That's blind faith, that's just blind worship, that's just blind um following of religion. And this is not what we're meant to do. We're meant to be aware, alert of why we're doing things and how they help us.
Speaker 1:
So then he goes to the next bit, which is praya, shitta, which is penance. Actions performed to absolve one of sins are referred to as penance, such as fasting according to the phases of the moon Chandrayana. So you know, people do different fasts. People may do Maundrat, where they have a vow of silence. You know, someone could do any number of penances that are prescribed in the Vedas.
Speaker 1:
And again, those things are related to the body and mind. Everything that we've looked at about the daily rites, the occasional rituals, the fire ritual, the penance, all related to body and mind, none of these are related to the true nature of who we are, and that's where we have to understand that these things aren't meant to be taken too seriously. If you, I don't do any of those things that have been mentioned, um, but does that mean that one cannot be available to to kind of, well, I say I don't do any of those things, I do meditate, I do, do have a certain practice, but one shouldn't be so, so bound, you know, bound by the, these rituals. If they're binding you, where you cannot focus on your true nature, then there's no, there's very little point. So, yes, we can do these fasts, we can do these things, and they may be very helpful. Um, we may do penance, we may want to, you know, get rid of the sins that we've done in previous lives. We consult a bandit and they tell us what to do. All those things are good and and nice, but, again, is it going to take you to mukti, is it going to take you to liberation? And that's what we've got to ask. So, again, when we're doing these rituals, we must ask questions to see, you know, how are they helping us? So that's verse 11.
Speaker 1:
Then let's look at what Upasana is. So mental activities directed towards the contemplation of reality with attributes, or Saguna Brahman, are called worship. An example is the practice described in Shandilya Vidya. So actually this is mentioned in thehandogya upanishad, where we talk about the worship of reality with attributes and that's called shandilya vidya and what it is it's about. We understand that this world, it's originated, it's sustained, it dissolves into this reality. Everything comes from brahman. Nothing escapes brahman or consciousness. So if we understand that that's the way it is, we worship those attributes. So we may see it as all pervasive, or we may see it in our heart and we may feel it in our heart. And we may feel it in our heart, we may perceive God to be omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. All those things are very, very good and they help us.
Speaker 1:
You know, when we focus on the attributes, that's worship. So you know, you see people say you know God, you're amazing, you know what's in my heart. You know there's very poetic pieces on that and that's what is meant by a persona. I like a persona more. That's what I like to do, you know, if I want to praise the divine. Thank you for that experience of oneness. Thank you for showing me the interconnectivity with everything. Thank you for showing this illumination of consciousness, things like that where we can be grateful and it's just cultivating gratitude. And that's what true worship is, when we have that gratitude for the realization that has been given to us from aligning and abiding in Brahman. So we will continue the rest tomorrow or the day after.
Speaker 1:
But main thing to contemplate here is do those practices which really bring you joy and you're really inspired and motivated to do. Don't do them because you're obligated. Whenever we do something, we're obligated, our heart isn't in it, and when our heart isn't in it, we're not going to reap the benefits that are available from doing such things. So, most importantly, remember to you know, be motivated, put your full heart into it, put your full spirit into it, full love and compassion into it, and and it will reap many, many benefits. So that's the episode.
Speaker 1:
If you liked what you heard, please do like, please do comment and do share this with others that are wanting to learn about Vedanta. This is a great way for us to understand the deeper meanings. It's going to get deeper as we go along and therefore it's going to be really important that we we may only do one verse in the in a session because of the depth. So remember to to just self-reflect upon the daily actions, any of the rites and rituals that you do and how, or any of the worship that you do, and how it makes you feel, and if it makes you feel joy, brilliant.
Speaker 1:
If it doesn't make you feel joy, then ask what is missing? What am I not getting from this? Am I doing this because I have to do it? Where is the love for the divine? And that's something that we can think about. Okay, thank you very much for listening. Do subscribe If you listen to this on your favorite podcast streaming app, do rate and review it and join my Discord server, and everything is in the show notes and video description below. Truly appreciate it. Take care everyone. Namaste.
