ABIDANCE AS BRAHMAN #13 - With subtitles and full transcript in the description.

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF ABIDANCE AS BRAHMAN #13

Abidance in Brahman is a series of spontaneous discussions between Advaita Vedanta Teacher Sacchidananda Acharya and his student Subodhananda.

This Satsanga takes a deep dive into Vedantic meditation, Nidi Dhyasanam.

Some topics include:
• Meditation is not a locus of Knowledge
• The purpose of Nidi Dhyasanam
• Preparation for Nidi Dhyasanam
• What meditation means from the perspective of Advaita Vedanta
• Advanced stages of Nidi Dhyasanam

TRANSCRIPT:

Subodhananda:

A couple of things to discuss, through my studies. So, what I'm studying at the moment - the last thing I studied - Swami Ji is talking about the importance of the intellect and how it is the only locus of knowledge. And, it's all very fine. No problem at all.

But what is the link from the intellect to the permanent and continuous recognition I am Brahman? Because the intellect is an impermanent phenomena. It's not Brahman, it's not part of Brahman. It's something else. It's not eternal.

So, what's the link between the intellectual knowledge gleaned through the buddhi, to the permanent and continuous recognition that I am Brahman? How do they connect? How does one lead to the other? Or...reveal the other?

Sacchidananda Acharya:

We do Sravanam and Mananam through study and through listening to the Guru, the Teachings, the Scriptures, especially the Upanishads, and then through Nidi Dhyasanam, we need to internalize; we need to assimilate this teaching that we have received through Sravanam and Mananam.

And Nidi Dhyasanam is not a way of Self-knowledge, it is the way of assimilating and internalization. So, altogether it will bring the permanent recognition and conviction that I am Brahman. Of course, together with a Dharmic lifestyle.

But other than that, there is no need for anything more. Because the problem lies in false notions, and in the misunderstanding of what is your real nature. You believe - you have had this understanding until now (whoever has this understanding) - that I am a human being, I am a distinct entity among other entities in this universe, or universes, and I'm apart. And there are others, other entities out there, and I am inside this body-mind complex, and I am a samsari. All these have to be deleted. They have to be changed into the full understanding, the profound understanding, that I have never been an individual entity. I've never been somebody among others, as a part in the universe, or universes, and there is only That - there is only this Supreme Consciousness that I am. And this has to be a permanent recognition and conviction.

And the only way that you can have an understanding, is intellectually. You cannot understand something with other means of understanding. That's why meditation, or, especially Vedantic meditation, Nidi Dhyasanam, is only for assimilation and internalization of what somebody has received from Sravanam and Mananam.

So, the means of knowledge is Sravanam and Mananam - the Scriptures. You cannot assimilate only with Sravanam and Mananam, because this function, what we call the subconscious mind, this mechanism,
will continue to maintain the false notions, which are: I am a samsari; I am a human being; I am a distinct being; I am inside this body-mind complex; I am a person; I am an individual. All these are wrong notions, wrong understanding. And these have to be removed. All these, wrong beliefs, should be removed.

How? Through Sravanam and Mananam. And, upon receiving, then you must also internalize, you must assimilate. And, the only way for assimilation and internalization is the Vedantic meditation, Nidi Dhyasanam.

But that, we don't do it through cessation of thought; thoughtlessness - as in other traditions or sects - but through direction of the intellect towards the Mahavakyams, the Great Statements. Such as Aham Brahmasmi, or Tat Tvam Asi, and so on and so forth.

Subodhananda:

So, meditation clarifies the understanding, or deepens the understanding?

Sacchidananda Acharya:

Not really clarifying, deepens, yes. And also assimilating, internalizing. It is different to have information and different for it to be exactly the truth in the heart of your heart. It is different to say, ‘Oh my Guru, Sacchidananda Acharya, he said that, in Advaita Vedanta, there is this understanding, that there is only Brahman, and I am That’. And different to say, after a long term study of the scriptures and long term, Nidi Dhyasanam, Vedantic meditation, ‘Now I am one million percent sure, I am in complete certainty, I recognize, and I am convinced without the slightest, doubt, that I am That, and there is only That’. And to have that, deeply, deeply inside, in the heart of your heart as your own truth,
not as an information.

That's why Nidi Dhyasanam is also indispensable, the Vedantic meditation. Otherwise, you will be a scholar. Somebody who is a scholar, he says, Chandogya Upanishad says that, Taittiriya Upanishad says that, Mandukya Upanishad says that. And if somebody will ask him and what do you say, what is your truth? What is your understanding? He will not be able to say that this is my own understanding as well, and I am profoundly certain through this understanding that there is only That, and I am That. He will say, I only teach what I have gathered as information from the Scriptures.

He will be in such a position. He will remain only a scholar. That’s why all are indispensable,
all the prescriptions from the scriptures and the Guru Parampara.

Subodhananda:

Yeah. On the point that I always bring up. In Vedantic meditation we're contemplating, we're not stopping the mind. (Yes.) On that point, when I was reading Vivekacudamani, Swami Ji did say, much to my delight, that it's really important to have a concentrated mind, free of worldly thoughts, before you start your meditation, or, you know, it's very useful.

Otherwise, if your mind is distracted, it's very, very difficult in the first place. But he said quite a few times how important it was to have a mind free of distraction and free of worldly or distracted thoughts as a good basis, so that you can contemplate the Mahavakyams without distraction.

Sacchidananda Acharya:

Of course, not only that, but the entire karma kanda section is for creating a conducive mind; creating a purified mind through chitta sudhi - purification of the mind. All karma yoga and all upasanam; any kind of worshiping or meditation on Saguna Brahman; any kind of form of God; is creating a conducive atmosphere in the mind.

So, in Advaita Vedanta we say, when you have enough purification of the mind, chitta sudhi, then you can enter, Jnana Yoga - Advaita Vedanta. And even if you don’t have enough chitta sudhi - purification of the mind - you can do in parallel; you can continue your karma kanda sadhana, and at the same time, you can dedicate some time in Sravanam, Mananam, Nidi Dhyasanam. If you want to combine, and if you are not yet completely ready, this also can work.

But without a conducive mind, without a mind which is purified and prepared enough, mature enough, of course you cannot contemplate the Mahavakyams, the Great Statements. Or even if you contemplate, you will be like a parrot which says, Aham Brahmasmi, Aham Brahmasmi, Aham Brahmasmi, but without any profound understanding or assimilation of any kind; internalization of any kind.

Subodhananda:

Yes, it's obvious that you need a clear, non-distracted mind before you enter into Nidi Dhyasanam,
because you're contemplating very abstract and profound things, so if your mind is distracted, how can you have the necessary focus?

It's like that old, it just came into my head, that old analogy of the candle in the wind. If the wind is blowing, the candle is flickering all over the place, then you are unable to use the light of the candle to read a book. But if there's no wind, and the candle is not flickering, then the light will be steady and you can use it to read with.

Sacchidananda Acharya:

Yes, and that's why we have all the previous, preparatory stages of karma yoga and upasana. Nobody can enter Jnana Yoga without having been prepared enough through karma yoga and upasanam.

In Advaita Vedanta we consider that you have already passed - through previous lifetimes - through these stages, and if you have an attraction, you feel an attraction for Advaita Vedanta, and Sravanam, Mananam and Nidi Dhyasanam, that means that you have already done enough work in karma kanda. And, now you are, if not 100% prepared, at a good level, prepared enough to enter Jnana Yoga.

But the Mahavakyams are the end stage of the Vedantic meditation. You don't start with the Mahavakyams, when you want to do Nidi Dhyasanam, the Vedantic meditation - you must be in the right conducive mind.

I mean, you don't come - let’s say from your job - and suddenly you sit down and you say, Aham Brahmasmi. There should be, even throughout the day, preparation for Nidi Dhyasanam.

You should be aware all day long; you should not be mechanical; you should have a Dharmic lifestyle in general; you should have enough Sravanam and Mananam as a preparation, before Nidi Dhyasanam.

Because Nidi Dhyasanam - the Vedantic meditation - is not, as most of the people believe, just, I’m sitting down, relaxing, visualizing, and then I can think about something. No, Nidi Dhyasanam is something very, very, very, profound.

The Vedantic meditation is for those who are ready to assimilate and to internalize that there is only That, and I am That. But nobody can do that so easily. It needs a lot of preparation.

The preparation will bring you to that stage, where you now want to find out and to internalize, to assimilate what I am. What is my true nature?

But of course, if all day long you think about sense gratification, or how to accumulate things, or how to be somebody famous, or whatever; and you are just a normal person and you are just interested for the other purusharthas - which are karma and artha - like sense gratification and accumulation of wealth and worldly things; and if you are not prepared enough and with enough dharma purushartha – the goal of life; and suddenly you want to deal with moksha purushartha – the highest goal of life, Self-knowledge, Self-liberation – of course it will be impossible. You will just be a parrot who will say, Aham Brahmasmi, but it will be just the repetition of a parrot.

That's why it is a whole system, a whole methodology, which comes from beginningless time from the Guru Parampara and the Sastram, the Scriptures, and everything is indispensable. It is an entire system, an entire path, which is a combination of different, indispensable principles.

And then there comes a very mature stage where you can do the Vedantic meditation, even 24/7. An advanced stage where you know, and you declare throughout the day, there is only That, and I am That.

But this is the highest stage, and soon after this stage will come the permanent recognition and conviction that there is only That, and I am That. Whereupon, you don't need to do anything anymore, you don't need to do Sravanam, Mananam and Nidi Dhyasanam anymore. You don’t need to do anything at all. You just know.

And this profound understanding is what we call Moksha. It’s declaring, claiming your true nature as Brahman. Not even claiming, just abiding as That recognition and conviction on a permanent basis.

Subodhananda:

So, this ability to do meditation all day long doesn't come out of thin air. Is the necessary prerequisite for being able to be in a meditative state all day long, no matter what you're doing, does this ability only come because you've done lots of formal meditation, where you sit alone, in a quiet place on your own for an hour or two a day, for a long time.

And then, when you’ve developed these muscles through formal meditation - one or two hours a day, or however long – I don't know, what's the best – then you can then extend this into your daily life and your working activities? Or, do you do both? You do formal meditation and then, even at the beginning, try to extend it into you're working life, and it gets stronger and stronger.

Sacchidananda Acharya:

Yes. You cannot expect that you will sit down and be able to do Nidi Dhyasanam, the Vedantic meditation, which is the highest form, or the most profound form of real meditation. You cannot expect that all day long, let's say, you will be distracted and suddenly you will sit down and say, ‘Now I'll do Vedantic meditation and I will assimilate that I am Brahman’.

There has to be millions of lifetimes of preparation to arrive at such a mature stage, where you can just sit down and have this repetition with a profound understanding. Otherwise, it will be just the repetition of a parrot.

But for Advaitins, real meditation is Nidi Dhyasanam, the Vedantic meditation. All the rest, what you hear about meditation, for a Vedantin - and especially Advaitins - is not real meditation.

But there are so many people, and millions of ways of so-called meditation.

Some people they feel, or they believe, that meditation is just to sit down and to relax. Others, they believe that it is to visualize how to bring money in your life, or the perfect lover. Others, they believe that it is to bring kundalini in the sahasrara chakra, or in another higher chakra. Others, they believe that it is to go out of your body and to have an out-of-body experience. There's millions and millions of different ways of so-called meditation.

But for us - Advaitins - it is to do the Vedantic meditation, which means, to assimilate the Mahavakyams. A profound understanding, a claiming, a declaration that there is only That, and I am That. But not a declaration without a profound understanding, without recognition and conviction.

And you also don't need to sit down. You can do the Vedantic meditation even while
performing other activities - if you are a mature seeker of course. If you have a lot of preparation from millions of lifetimes, you can do the Vedantic meditation, even during other activities.

How? Simply by becoming aware of the truth that there is only That, and I am That. And by being aware as much as possible - to the best of your abilities. Whether you are working, or sitting, or drinking, or eating, or discussing, or doing whatever activity, to be aware that you are this Witnessing Consciousness and the body-mind complex, which is acting, is not your real Self. It is only a puppet, which, due to prarabdha karma, is unfolding its prarabdha karma.

This can be done throughout the day, no matter the activity. To be aware, and to be knowingly Brahman; knowingly, the Witnessing Consciousness. You are the Witnessing Consciousness, but you are not knowingly that.

So, if you can do this transition or this shifting, where, rather than believing that you are a somebody - a body-mind complex - you are 24/7 in this recognition and conviction that I am That which is witnessing the body-mind complex; and the body-mind complex is only a ghost – and I have nothing to do with this ghost – then you don't need to sit down and to do a formal meditation practice, or sadhana.

Subodhananda:

But it's good to do formal meditation until you get to this more advanced stage?

Sacchidananda Acharya:

Of course, whatever you do in that direction, finally, it can be very helpful. Of course, it is much more easy to find a quiet place, nobody to disturb you, and to do the Vedantic meditation in such a friendly and conducive environment, where nobody disturbs you. You are peaceful. You don't feel cold, you don't feel hot, you don't feel hungry. You have, let's say, one hour that nobody can disturb you, and then you can focus on the Mahavakyams. Of course, it's much easier.

But the point is, can you do that 24/7? And especially when there are very difficult situations
when somebody, let's say, is insulting you. Can you remember this moment that I'm not inside this body-mind complex? I am not enclosed in this body-mind complex? And the other one who seems that he will insult me, is just the same Consciousness; one Singular Consciousness. And I am not inside the body-mind complex that I used to believe that I am inside, but I have no location. And the other one does not exist, and there are no others, and there is no me - as a body-mind complex - there is only Singular Consciousness, that I am.

Subodhananda:

Not so easy.

Sacchidananda Acharya:

Yes, more easily said than done. But this is the purpose, and this is the final result of a good practitioner. Meditation should be done 24/7 - sooner or later. It should be a way of living, of Pure Awareness; Awareness, being Aware of Itself. Constantly recognizing that I cannot be the observed - the body-mind complex. I must be the one who is witnessing it, and the one who does not have personality. That which is beyond the concept of space and time, which is Pure Witnessing Consciousness. This is the final end result.

And soon after that, there will not be any need for any practice whatsoever. No Sravanam, no Mananam, no Nidi Dhyasanam. And even the Dharmic lifestyle will appear spontaneously,
without any thinking about it. You will just act Dharmically, without the need to think about it.

You just see everybody and everything as your own Self, as Singular Consciousness. Then there is no need of any practice, any Sravanam, Mananam, Nidi Dhyasanam, and any willingness to be Dharmic. A Jnani doesn’t need to be Dharmic, through will - through the will - he just is Dharmic because he sees everything and everybody as his own Self. He sees only himself, with capital ‘S’ - I don’t mean personal self.

Subodhananda:

But how does that make him Dharmic without will? How does that understanding automatically bring about this automatic Dharmic behaviour.

Sacchidananda Acharya:

Yes, how you can harm, let's say, somebody if you don't see the others as others, but you see them as your own Self, as the same Consciousness, which is permeating all the apparent others. How you can harm, how you can do something against this ‘Totality’ of Consciousness?

So, spontaneously you are Dharmic. No need to decide. Now, I need to be Dharmic. Now, I need to not fight with somebody. Now, I need to not to harm somebody, or something. Just like you go to walk in the street and suddenly you see an old lady, who is falling down due to old age. Do you really want to think, ‘Oh, should I help her or not?’

No. Spontaneously - because I know Subodhananda how moral he is and how compassionate he is - spontaneously, I will see Subodhananda to run to help this lady to stand up. Subodhananda will not think, ‘Should I become ethical?’ ‘Should I become Dharmic?’ ‘Should I go and help this old lady who has fallen down?’ Imagine this, on a very, very, very mature stage, how it becomes.

That's why you can see Jnanis always acting for the benefit of Loca Sangraham, for the upliftment of the society and the entire loka, the entire universe, without even thinking about it. Not deciding about it. They try to spread the Teachings. They try to uplift, to educate, to remove the false notions of samsaris - apparent samsaris.

There is not anything more glorious than to be a Jnani, or to be a Self-realized one. And of course, it is the highest purushartha; Moksha. And the highest gift that you can offer to the apparent humanity and the apparent others, is your own Self-realization. What else can be higher than that?