January 12, 2025 • 34 mins
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In this episode of The Bearded Mystic Podcast, host Rahul N Singh continues to explore the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, especially focusing on transcending the three gunas (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas). After a year-long break, he returns with in-depth reflections, answering Arjuna's questions, and elaborating on Sri Krishna's advice about staying neutral and accepting all states of mind. Singh also discusses the path from Saguna Bhakti (devotion with form) to Nirguna Bhakti (formless devotion) and how to stabilize in ultimate bliss and Formless Awareness. Through various verses, the podcast emphasizes the journey towards realizing one's true nature as Brahman. Tune in to deepen your understanding and further your spiritual journey.
00:00 Introduction
01:49 Chapter 14: Verse 22
05:18 Chapter 14: Verse 23
08:07 Chapter 14: Verse 24
14:30 Chapter 14: Verse 25
19:20 Chapter 14: Verse 26
27:19 Chapter 14: Verse 27
33:26 Concluding Remarks
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#podcast #spirituality #nonduality #bhagavadgita #advaita #nirankari
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome to The BeardedMystic Podcast where we are
(00:03):
waking and growing in oneness.
And I'm your host Rahul N Singh.
I've been a spiritual seekerfor over 20 years with a
deep interest in non duality.
Today we're continuing on withmy thoughts on the Bhagavad
Gita after like a year's break.
Thank you for joining todayand for taking out the time to
(00:23):
listen or watch this podcast.
A few things to talk aboutbefore we begin the episode.
To give your support, to TheBearded Mystic Podcast you can
now join my youtube membershipdo check that out and if you can
like comment and subscribe ifyou're watching this on youtube.
If you're listening to thison your favorite podcast
(00:44):
streaming app please do givethis podcast a five star
rating and review the podcastand do follow or subscribe
to get future episodes.
You can also join my discordchannel to have lively
discussions about spirituality.
The link is in the show notesand video description below.
(01:05):
And if you would like toask spiritual questions,
you can email me atbeardedmysticpodcast at gmail.
com.
Or if you'd like topersonally meet me via
zoom, that's also available.
Now let's start with the prayer.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
The manifested reality that isHari and the Formless Absolute
(01:25):
Reality that is Om are boththe Absolute Truth that is.
So let's do a recap of verse21, just the verse itself.
Arjuna said, O Lord, Whatare the characteristics of
a person which makes themtranscend the three gunas?
How do they behave?
By what pursuit do theyrise above the three gunas?
(01:49):
So in verse 22, Sri Krishnasays to Arjuna, Those who do
not resent the rise of eitherSattva's brilliance, or Rajas's
activity, or Tamas's delusion,and also does not yearn for
the subsidence of others.
So, you know, Arjuna does aska very important question.
(02:11):
If the three gunas are the waywe naturally interact with life,
then what does this look like?
Sri Krishna does notwait, but he goes straight
into the response.
What we find in our dailyinteractions is that Whether
something is good or bad, wekind of resent it in some way.
This resentment does notallow us to let life flower
(02:35):
into something beautiful.
Instead, we either feelthat we do not deserve it,
or we feel that it's notworth the value that we have
superimposed upon ourselves.
When we feel we do not deserveit, even with some faux
humility, we are avoidingnature from presenting itself.
We try to avoid doing whatis natural for ourselves.
(02:57):
Sri Krishna starts withthose who do not resent the
rise of sattva's brilliance.
Sattva is pure and clear.
Everything shines brilliantlyhere, it is radiant.
Everyone wants to look pure,but some may dress in white
because they think this iswhat purity represents, but
frankly, what we wear is notenough to bring about sattva.
(03:21):
Our mind must be cleansedand this only occurs with
the knowledge and realizationof Formless Awareness.
The more we remain in FormlessAwareness, when we are able
to stay in that nature andflow with that nature, then we
see the brilliance of sattva.
We will experience the clarityof body mind intellect, physical
(03:42):
and psychological clarity.
But is this possible forthe body mind intellect
to remain in sattva?
No.
This is when resentmentcan come across.
If we go into the hyperactivityof rajas or the delusion
and heaviness of tamas, wewant to go back to sattva.
And this is what SriKrishna means by saying
we do not yearn for thesubsidence of any of them.
(04:07):
So how are we meant to be?
We accept it all.
Sometimes we are intamas, let that pass.
Sometimes we are insattva, let that pass.
If we dislike any of thegunas, we are getting back
into the likes and dislikesand this shows our mind
is not in sthita prajna,a mind steadied in wisdom.
(04:28):
That wisdom remember is theGyana, this Formless Awareness.
A situation may come upthat you may love being in
the state of hyperactivity.
You want to keep doing somethingor thinking about something.
The mind does not stop.
It's always thinkingof the world.
What am I doing this weekend?
(04:49):
How do I deal with this?
What will I eat?
What will happen if thishappens or that happens?
Now the state of sattva,despite being beautiful, and
brilliant is not appreciated.
For someone in rajas, theywill resent this state because
everything that needs to bedone gets done by the flow
of existence of prakriti.
(05:09):
So you see where rajasdoes not like this.
So life is about acceptanceand this is how we
need to approach it.
Now verse 23,They who remain seated with
lofty indifference not shakenby the interplay of the gunas
and who remain stable andunwavering understanding that
(05:30):
gunas alone are operating.
Sri Krishna is describingwhat we need to be doing here.
First of all, we must withinus have some acceptance
that we are Brahman, weare Formless Awareness.
Our identity is not withthe body and mind intellect.
Our intellect alwayssupports this wisdom, but
(05:51):
remember, the intellect canbecome dull by tamas too.
So to keep it shining, we muststay in Formless Awareness.
Now, Sri Krishna describeslofty indifference and we can
use a real life example here.
Now, when you are on a planeand you look down at what looks
like a vibrant city, maybeit's New York or London, now
(06:14):
you're looking at it from above.
The millions of lives in thatcity, you do not care, nor do
you care about what is happeningin the dwellers of the city.
You are indifferent to it.
Someone got the wrong coffee,the bagel was something they
really looked forward toand are enjoying every bite.
You are indifferent to thatbecause that's not your
(06:34):
experience, you're not dealingwith being in the city, you're
seeing it from right above.
Likewise, we mustsee life, experience
life, in the same way.
You are in sattva,be indifferent.
You're in tamas, be indifferent.
Don't be arrogant in sattva anddon't be depressed with tamas.
Both are just aspects ofnature, modifying and therefore
(06:59):
they're not who you really are.
Which is this Atman , thisFormless Awareness.
Let the gunas play their games.
Let them intercede andsupersede each other.
Do not be worried by it.
If you are in sattva,do not worry if the
mind starts chattering.
Let it happen.
Do not be perturbedor disturbed by it.
Do not feel hesitationor agitation.
(07:21):
Let the gunas playtheir timeline out.
Remember, it is not you.
Our task is to remain stable,to be aware of it and just be
in the peace that is Brahman,in the supreme, in Krishna, in
our Guru, in Formless Awareness.
This is all we need tostabilise in if we feel
a ripple of instability.
(07:43):
So once we are stablewe can observe and then
our understanding cannotbreak at all that this is
just the gunas operating.
If you feel hyperactive, ifyou feel lethargic, or if
you feel at peace, all theseare the states of the guna.
We must remember our owntrue nature, which is
(08:04):
Brahman, Which AwarenessVerse 24.
They who remain equipoisedin sorrow and happiness, rest
firmly in oneself, considersa clod of earth stone and
a piece of gold with equalimportance is evenly disposed
towards a desirable anddetestable poise, accepting
(08:27):
praise and blame alike.
When we face sorrow or we facevery happy times, we live in
two states of both of them.
One state is that we can'twait for sorrow to end and
the other is we can't waitfor happiness to arrive.
The other aspect is we donot want happiness to end and
the other is that sorrow iswaiting around the corner.
(08:49):
The sage sees both of themand is always centred and
stabilised in their true self,in this Formless Awareness.
They understand that theseare nothing but modifications
of the mind, determinedby the consequences of
actions that we take.
But the true self thatwe are is never affected
(09:11):
by happiness or sorrow.
It is not impacted byany of these two states.
But remember, humannature, driven by the
ego, will be led by both.
I've seen it.
We get excessive in both sorrowand happiness, especially
when society expects us to.
(09:32):
We get happy that we gotthe Mercedes, the BMW or
the Porsche, but we seethat happiness die down.
But why do we get happywhen we purchase it?
Because we think ithelps our personal brand.
But say something happens to thecar and you have to take it to
the mechanics at the dealership.
The thing you were showingoff is showing you its
(09:52):
price too when it comesto fixing the problem.
I'm not saying do not buy suchcars, but if we are buying it
because we just want to drivesuch a car, that is fine,
but if we buy it to proveour wealth to others, its
value is already decreased,hence Sri Krishna says, be
(10:12):
equipoised, be balanced, juststay in your own true nature.
Then he gives us avery beautiful example.
Something to show us thatit's a tangible practice.
See a clod of earth,stone, and piece of gold
with equal importance.
Without the earth, thestone and gold cannot exist.
(10:34):
Say it is a nice diamondring that you have both
diamond and the gold needsthe earth to be formed.
So understand that it isfrom the earth that this
diamond and gold is there inthe form of a ring for you.
Appreciate all of itand see all as the same.
(10:54):
But we are the opposite.
If we know that a diamondhas more value than gold
then we see it differently.
But this is for the marketto see the difference.
We are not the market,we are the Atma remember.
One thing I want to addhere, because we live in a
world where there is so muchconsumerism that it is crazy.
(11:15):
We buy things but wehave no value for it.
We just buy whatever someinfluencer on social media
tells us, whatever wethink we need, all with
the impulse of one button.
We need to stop thisbehaviour if we want to
learn sacrifice, surrender.
It is these little things.
So see, the clod of earthwith equal value as gold
(11:35):
and precious stones.
These are from theearth, from the universe.
It's all a manifestationof Brahman.
Ultimately, Brahmanis all of it.
So this is how to see allwith equal importance.
Therefore, you automaticallyestablish by not
being inclined towardsdesirable and detestable.
(11:57):
So it is all aboutraag and dvesh here.
We do not chase the desirableand avoid the detestable.
Life will bring both, nomatter if you're in poverty
or if you're a billionaire,so the sage surrenders both.
They will not chase thedesirable, nor would they
avoid the detestable.
They will be centered.
We will not detest theunfavorable things, nor will we
(12:20):
desire only favorable things.
A sage is balanced because thisAtma, this Formless Awareness,
does not require anything,nor does it avoid anything.
Just one reminder ofFormless Awareness, we
should automaticallyreach a level of poise, of
balance, of centeredness.
Now the next bit is achallenging one, accepting
(12:42):
praise and blame alike.
How can we do this?
In today's times, especiallyas a content creator, I have
received both praise and blame.
Some praise me for the very samething that I am criticised for.
But we have to understand,all of us, when it comes to
life, anyone praising us,anyone blaming or criticising
(13:03):
us, is doing so to the bodyand mind, never to the True
Self or Formless Awareness.
We must remember this,these words that are
thrown to us, whetherlovingly or with harshness.
We are to go beyondthe instant reactions.
We should look at the wordsand discern, with our strong
(13:23):
intellect, establishedin Formless Awareness, in
steadied wisdom, whetherthey have any merit at all.
If they do keep doing whatis good, if they do not,
then keep trying to improve.
But see both the same, bothpraise and blame, they are
two sides of the same coin.
(13:44):
When we were kids, ourparents played the game
of praise and blame.
Our siblings play the game, ourteachers play the game, then
we grow up, then our workplaceplays that game, our friends
play the game, so does our loveinterest, and then our kids grow
to play that very same game andwe play that game with them.
See, Sri Krishna wantsto break this cycle.
(14:06):
This game of praise andblame has to come to an end.
He's not saying for younot to compliment others.
We must complimentand provide feedback.
But do so with love,with compassion, with a
feeling of equality, havingacceptance of the same.
When it is given to us bringingcompassion and understanding
(14:27):
rather than harshly reacting.
Verse 25They who are even towards
honour and dishonour, impartialtowards friends and enemies,
and has renounced all senseof undertaking, is said to
have transcended the gunas.
(14:47):
Sri Krishna is continuingand relatively the same thing
is said here, remaining thesame, being even towards
honour and dishonour.
We mentioned this briefly inthe previous verse, when we
are honoured we want it toremain, when we are dishonoured
then we want it to end.
These also bring intheir own reactions.
(15:08):
For example, if we feel weare being dishonoured, it will
keep playing on in our mind.
We do not get invited somewhere,we feel we're not being honoured
here, not respected, we thenget angry and we then ask other
people if they were invited,all these feelings come up
and they are unnecessary.
(15:28):
A wise person is beyond allthese things, these social
games, they're beyond them.
They do not see ashonour or dishonour.
So how can we be impartialwith friends and enemies?
It sounds so difficult.
One thing to note, put familyin the group of friends here, as
we are friendly towards family.
But yes, familycan be enemies too.
(15:51):
We feel so comfortable withour friends, but with our
enemies, we tend to avoid them.
We cannot stand them and we arehappy to stand with our friends,
but you see, even friends donot last, even enemies do not
last, everything modifies.
You must have experiencedthis yourself.
When you can be best friendswith someone and suddenly
(16:12):
you fall out with themand you cannot be around
that very same person.
We have seen when peoplewho we disliked end up
becoming our friends..
Sri Krishna is telling us to seeboth alike and to be impartial.
And trust me, thisis good advice.
Now let's look at this inthe perspective for Arjuna.
He has to fight this war, sohe needs to see all alike, if
(16:35):
he is to be mentally ready forthe carnage that is to ensue.
But what about for us?
If we were impartial tofriends and enemies, then
what does this bring?
We are able to removebias first and foremost.
We then see that if somethingis suggested, we hold the
word or advice to its merit.
rather than to who said it.
(16:56):
So satsang, which is the companyof the holy, it helps with this.
When we hear others speak,we just look at the words
rather than the personality.
This is challengingto do but we must try.
Being impartial is importantbecause if relationships
are subject to modification,then remember a friend
can become an enemy and anenemy can become a friend.
(17:17):
So therefore, keep yoursecrets to yourself.
There is no need to share it.
We have seen it when there isa breakdown in relationships,
the very vulnerabilities youentrusted your loved ones
to know, they turn thosevulnerabilities against you.
Also, the highest value inour lives should be the truth.
So if we stay with thetruth, regardless of the
(17:40):
messenger, the truth matters.
Sometimes we blur facts becauseof whom we listen to and
our relationship with them.
Listen to all.
Use your intellect.
And surrender it all.
Go to Formless Awareness.
Renounce all sense of doingaction or performance.
Just let go of it.
(18:00):
We must renounce not only thefruits of our actions, but even
that we are doing the action.
Remember, the Atmadoes not do any action.
Only the body and mind does.
And we are Formless Awarenessand we use compassion
towards the actionsof the body and mind.
A very subtle point butimportant to understand.
(18:22):
Now sometimes people maysay that can a criminal
renounce all sense ofundertaking, of performance?
How is that a good thing?
But when there is malice,there cannot be renunciation.
It can be disassociation butnot renouncing psychologically.
A criminal will be doingthings from an ego, hence
they cannot truly renounce.
(18:44):
So renounce all youractions to the supreme.
This is pure being.
This is the way to be.
So whoever can practice whatwe've just spoken of in the
past few verses has gone beyondthe gunas of sattva, rajas and
tamas, they have transcended.
Formless Awarenessis beyond the gunas.
(19:04):
The one studied in wisdom,stabilized in wisdom, has
transcended the gunas.
Therefore conquer and severthe identification of body,
mind, intellect and understandyou have always been your true
nature of Formless Awareness.
Verse 26 Whoever worships Me,the Supreme, with unswerving
(19:27):
devotion, transcends thesegunas very well and is
fit to become Brahman.
So, who is fit to be Brahman?
Or better asked, who is willingto realise they are Brahman?
Who is ready to take the fullplunge into this realisation
that they are nothingbut Formless Awareness?
(19:49):
To take our full efforts to thisrequires our full attention.
How can we exercisethis attention?
How can we bringit to its fullness?
How can we expand it?
The answer is givenhere by Sri Krishna.
The fitness of such a personis seen through one way
when we worship the Supremewith unswerving devotion.
(20:11):
Right now, can we say thatour devotion is steady,
composed and fully directedtowards the Supreme?
Or is our devotion justsome entertainment for
a few hours in the week?
Or just a ritual?
Is it based on conditions?
Sri Krishna wants us to beunswerving in our devotion.
(20:31):
We do not take quickdrifts into materialism
again, into Maya.
Our mind must be consumedwith worshipping Brahman,
this Formless Awareness,being in Formless Awareness.
So let's contemplate.
There is Saguna Bhaktiand Nirguna Bhakti.
And some of us cando both, three ways.
Most can do Saguna Bhaktiand only a rare few
(20:53):
can do Nirguna Bhakti.
So let's explore thethree of these together.
Think of which way suits youand be unswerving towards
it, like how you drive verysafely that you are not
swerve in one direction to theother, you have full control
over the car because you aregiving your full attention
and focus on the driving.
So let's go into thesethree forms of bhakti.
(21:15):
First is Saguna Bhakti.
This is devotion to a form, toan Isht Devta, seeing the Guru
as the eternal, worshippingeven Sri Krishna, or this
is devotion of the form.
An image.
Even though this is afirst step, but it is a
very important first step.
When we can be devotional toa form, it opens the door to
(21:35):
seeing the whole manifestationas a form of the divine.
There has to be an expansion.
You visualize the Guru andthen you expand the Guru to
be the face of everything.
Then automatically, 24x7 isthe darshan of the Guru, or we
may praise the many attributesof the Guru or of Ishwara, the
personal aspect of the divine.
(21:57):
We may read the VishnuSahasranama and enjoy the
many attributes of Vishnu.
We may read this very BhagavadGita and immerse ourselves in
the Virat Roop of Sri Krishna.
This is a great first step,and it allows the intellect
to transcend beyond itself.
If devotion doesn't transcendthe intellect, it remains
(22:21):
like a ritual, a practice.
The point is to go frompractice to a living reality,
and this first step does this.
There is something aboutseeing the object, the
form of your devotion beingmanifest in this universe.
Some people find that sagunabhakti is difficult for them,
but I have noticed that evenif they jumped to Nirguna
(22:42):
Bhakti, it is challengingfor them to stabilize.
Somewhere, the vasanas, withinthe latent impressions, they
arise again, and this couldhave been dealt with during
the Saguna Bhakti step.
When you offer it all, evenyour ego to the divine,
then naturally, wherewill the mind go next?
There is something aboutseeing the object, the form
(23:03):
of your devotion, beingmanifest in the universe.
Even seeing thevasana as the divine.
Weird, right?
But it works.
The second one is theimmersing of the Saguna
Bhakti into Nirguna Bhakti.
And when this is experienced,bliss starts to dawn upon us.
We will get sprinkles ofbliss and transcendence
(23:24):
at the same time.
My personal opinion is thatNirguna Bhakti arisen from
Saguna bhakti gives limitlessbliss, but this will be a
point for the next step.
The second step,let's understand it.
Now we all love our form ofdevotion, whether that's our
Guru, Sri Krishna, Shiv Ji,the Divine Mother, anyone,
(23:45):
and we have started toexperience that this divinity
is manifested in all objects.
No object can escape thisdivinity, and you perceive
it with all the senses.
Now when you've immersed inthis for some good time, a
single thought will appearin the mind, and that is, is
there a difference betweenmyself and the divine?
(24:05):
Is there a subjectobject relationship?
In Saguna Bhakti, there isstill a relationship of two.
There is a union like amarriage, but it is dualistic.
There is me and myobject of devotion.
Even that object of devotionis powered by me alone.
So this intense momentbetween Saguna and Nirguna,
(24:27):
those questions appear.
You can sense the oneness andyou feel the lightness of it.
You start to see the formsdisappearing into formlessness,
but the forms do reappear.
Even the ego can comeup here and ask if
there's any room for it.
This little period of Sagunaand Nirguna, stay with it.
(24:48):
Don't force nirguna bhakti.
There is no need to.
Be in the natural flow of itbecause this complete oneness
only happens in saheja bhaav.
It is done very naturally.
Very uniquely, and onceyou enter into Nirguna,
you will remain there.
So, what is NirgunaBhakti, the third step?
The highest form of bhakti,the most beautiful, and yet
(25:11):
only a rare few can do this.
This is when Saguna dissolvescompletely, and the idea of
an 'I' practicing devotiondisappears, the ego identity
is silenced, the object ofdevotion dissolves into Nirguna.
It appears that that there isno thing here, nothing at all,
no space, no time, no image,no color, no boundary, all
(25:33):
sensory perception rescinds intoitself and is seen as empty,
it is absolute formlessness,even your body is dissolved
away, the mind is dissolvedtoo, so just formlessness.
Before when you saw theform of the divine in all
forms, Here you experiencedthe formless in all forms.
(25:56):
In essence, you know thatthe true state of the forms
are formlessness, and theonly thing that remains is
this pure Formless Awareness.
There's no identity here,it's a complete merging.
It is completely non-dual.
Here we transcendthe gunas completely.
Here, only God is, Nirankaris, Nirguna Brahman is.
(26:17):
This is highest devotion.
This devotee is in theworld but not of it.
It appears they do SagunaBhakti but remember, all
forms are now formless,nothing but the formless, the
attribute less is perceived.
Here, bliss is immeasurable,limitless, independent.
This is the absolute stateof oneness, of Jeevan Mukti.
(26:41):
My experience is that theBhagavad Gita leads us
to this Nirguna Bhaktiwhere forms exist.
But the understanding is soclear that it is the Formless
that nothing can shake you.
What people think is nothing istruly everything, or to be more
precise, the only thing that is.
(27:02):
So all these three steps orthree aspects of bhakti are
great, but remember the stages.
We are to transcend fromform into formlessness.
This way we may be unswerving inour devotion towards the Divine.
Verse 27.
I am the abode of immortaland immutable Brahman,
(27:26):
also of eternal dharma aswell as ultimate happiness.
And this is what NirgunaBhakti is about, knowing that
the form is the formless.
Again a lot of people wouldthink that Sri Krishna
is saying this about hisown form that should be
worshipped, So many peoplefail to understand what Sri
(27:47):
Krishna is trying to portray.
He understands that histrue nature is Brahman.
There's no doubt aboutBrahman being the ultimate
reality and Krishna is that.
But for some reason, peoplestill fall under that
trap that it's Krishnathe form that is supreme.
There's nothing wrong withthis, but to capture the
(28:08):
full essence instead of partof the essence, we have to
understand that Sri Krishnais the Guru here, and the Guru
is a direct representationof the Absolute, of Brahman.
Look at the attributes thathe speaks of in this verse.
He's obviously talking abouthimself as this Formless
Awareness, as Nirguna Brahman,and nothing less than that.
(28:30):
He says that he is the abode,This is directly the moment
where Saguna and Nirgunabhakti merge with each other.
Before we go further, thehighest understanding with
this verse is that theabode is Brahman itself.
But anyway, Sri Krishna saysthat he's the abode of immortal.
Here, there is everlastingexistence because here there
(28:54):
is no limited self, there isonly immortality, there is
no cycle of birth and death.
Now this next word is important,the immutable, the changeless.
See anything that moves,changes, Sri Krishna is
speaking, there is movement.
It is changing.
This is the nature of form.
You can be a humbleseeker or an avatar.
(29:16):
You are changing.
But this Brahman, this FormlessAwareness is changeless.
This Atman is changes.
It does not modify.
It does not age.
It does not change inany way, shape, or form.
For something to bechangeless, it has to
be formless, as we know.
Even seemingly changeless thingslike rocks do change, they erode
(29:37):
in the great expanse of time.
So when we do understand thatSri Krishna's abode, dwelling
place, is of the immortal, thetimeless, the immutable, the
changeless Brahman, then weneed to transform our Saguna
Bhakti to Nirguna BhaktiIt is Eternal Dharma, the
Sanatan, the everlasting,because righteousness
always prevails.
(29:59):
The Dharma here is a dharmaof understanding that
truth is beyond time andit does not change at all.
The truth is Brahman.
The truth is formless.
The truth is Sat-Chit-Anandaexistence consciousness, bliss.
So when we read any scripture,like the Bhagavad Gita, we
see the truth because weknow with the passage of time
(30:20):
it will not dwindle away.
If you look at when people doubtspirituality, they only doubt
the cultural aspects, but onecannot doubt the highest reality
that is spoken of because to getto it, one needs to understand
it, and when you understandit, you become it, so to
refute it would be impossible.
For thousands of years, themessage of the Gita still
(30:41):
inspires because it is talkingabout how to attain either self
realisation or God realisation.
Something interestingcan be said here.
We can read the Gita to bebetter humans but I implore
you that we use the Gita asa spiritual map that leads
to our own inner divinity.
Where we start as Arjuna butwe end up being Brahman through
(31:05):
Sri Krishna's eternal words.
The eternal dharma is alsothe same dharma of every
living being, to understandwhat it truly is which is
this Formless Awareness.
The eternal dharma is livingwith the natural order
of life and in Sikhismthey call this the hukam.
(31:26):
Those that live in dharma orhukam are true self realized
or god realized beings.
Then this is the abodeof ultimate happiness,
of anand, of bliss.
Before knowing bliss, weknow the temporary nature
of happiness relatedto the body and mind.
But when it transcendsbeyond, we experience bliss.
(31:48):
One can never experiencebliss as in relation
to the body and mind.
It is transcendent ofboth of those things.
So when we understand that truereality is Brahman, Formless
Awareness, then we are in theabode of ultimate happiness.
And we can never leave that,we can never depart from that.
Bliss is so tangible thatit appears intangible,
(32:11):
but once experiencedyou can never doubt it.
Hence, once on the spiritualpath, we may get a slight shower
of bliss appear in the mind forsome moment, but enlightenment,
jivanmukti, is when we are fullyimmersed in the ocean of bliss.
Then there is only blissthat surrounds because only
Formless Awareness remains.
So let's, let us understand thisa bit more, when we understand
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that the jiva and brahmanare one and the same, this
is the ultimate realisation.
If the jiva believes it isseparate, then then it will
believe that it will perish,or it changes, or it modifies.
The jiva is one andthe same as Brahman.
And when we realize that theinner consciousness that we
have, this jiva that we haveis one and the same as Brahman,
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then we can enter the abode.
Otherwise, our dwellingplace is the body and mind.
But with enlightenment,with the darshan of the
Supreme, the jiva's dwellingplace is Brahman itself.
So remember.
that Sri Krishna is talkingabout himself as the Supreme
Reality of Nirguna Brahmanand when we understand this,
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Jeevan Mukti is literallyin this moment itself.
And this leads us tothe end of chapter 14.
Let me know if you have anyfeedback or you would like to
share any questions that wecan answer in future episodes.
Do not forget to subscribe.
(33:40):
Do comment aboutyour views on this.
Leave a review and sharethis podcast with your
friends and family.
Do take care and let's end withthe mantra that we began with.
Hari Om Tat Sat the manifestedreality that is Hari and the
Formless Absolute Realitythat is or Om are both the
(34:00):
Absolute Truth that is.
Namaste everyone.
See you next time.
Hello and welcome to The BeardedMystic Podcast where we are
(00:03):
waking and growing in oneness.
And I'm your host Rahul N Singh.
I've been a spiritual seekerfor over 20 years with a
deep interest in non duality.
Today we're continuing on withmy thoughts on the Bhagavad
Gita after like a year's break.
Thank you for joining todayand for taking out the time to
(00:23):
listen or watch this podcast.
A few things to talk aboutbefore we begin the episode.
To give your support, to TheBearded Mystic Podcast you can
now join my youtube membershipdo check that out and if you can
like comment and subscribe ifyou're watching this on youtube.
If you're listening to thison your favorite podcast
(00:44):
streaming app please do givethis podcast a five star
rating and review the podcastand do follow or subscribe
to get future episodes.
You can also join my discordchannel to have lively
discussions about spirituality.
The link is in the show notesand video description below.
(01:05):
And if you would like toask spiritual questions,
you can email me atbeardedmysticpodcast at gmail.
com.
Or if you'd like topersonally meet me via
zoom, that's also available.
Now let's start with the prayer.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
The manifested reality that isHari and the Formless Absolute
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Reality that is Om are boththe Absolute Truth that is.
So let's do a recap of verse21, just the verse itself.
Arjuna said, O Lord, Whatare the characteristics of
a person which makes themtranscend the three gunas?
How do they behave?
By what pursuit do theyrise above the three gunas?
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So in verse 22, Sri Krishnasays to Arjuna, Those who do
not resent the rise of eitherSattva's brilliance, or Rajas's
activity, or Tamas's delusion,and also does not yearn for
the subsidence of others.
So, you know, Arjuna does aska very important question.
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If the three gunas are the waywe naturally interact with life,
then what does this look like?
Sri Krishna does notwait, but he goes straight
into the response.
What we find in our dailyinteractions is that Whether
something is good or bad, wekind of resent it in some way.
This resentment does notallow us to let life flower
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into something beautiful.
Instead, we either feelthat we do not deserve it,
or we feel that it's notworth the value that we have
superimposed upon ourselves.
When we feel we do not deserveit, even with some faux
humility, we are avoidingnature from presenting itself.
We try to avoid doing whatis natural for ourselves.
(02:57):
Sri Krishna starts withthose who do not resent the
rise of sattva's brilliance.
Sattva is pure and clear.
Everything shines brilliantlyhere, it is radiant.
Everyone wants to look pure,but some may dress in white
because they think this iswhat purity represents, but
frankly, what we wear is notenough to bring about sattva.
(03:21):
Our mind must be cleansedand this only occurs with
the knowledge and realizationof Formless Awareness.
The more we remain in FormlessAwareness, when we are able
to stay in that nature andflow with that nature, then we
see the brilliance of sattva.
We will experience the clarityof body mind intellect, physical
(03:42):
and psychological clarity.
But is this possible forthe body mind intellect
to remain in sattva?
No.
This is when resentmentcan come across.
If we go into the hyperactivityof rajas or the delusion
and heaviness of tamas, wewant to go back to sattva.
And this is what SriKrishna means by saying
we do not yearn for thesubsidence of any of them.
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So how are we meant to be?
We accept it all.
Sometimes we are intamas, let that pass.
Sometimes we are insattva, let that pass.
If we dislike any of thegunas, we are getting back
into the likes and dislikesand this shows our mind
is not in sthita prajna,a mind steadied in wisdom.
(04:28):
That wisdom remember is theGyana, this Formless Awareness.
A situation may come upthat you may love being in
the state of hyperactivity.
You want to keep doing somethingor thinking about something.
The mind does not stop.
It's always thinkingof the world.
What am I doing this weekend?
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How do I deal with this?
What will I eat?
What will happen if thishappens or that happens?
Now the state of sattva,despite being beautiful, and
brilliant is not appreciated.
For someone in rajas, theywill resent this state because
everything that needs to bedone gets done by the flow
of existence of prakriti.
(05:09):
So you see where rajasdoes not like this.
So life is about acceptanceand this is how we
need to approach it.
Now verse 23,They who remain seated with
lofty indifference not shakenby the interplay of the gunas
and who remain stable andunwavering understanding that
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gunas alone are operating.
Sri Krishna is describingwhat we need to be doing here.
First of all, we must withinus have some acceptance
that we are Brahman, weare Formless Awareness.
Our identity is not withthe body and mind intellect.
Our intellect alwayssupports this wisdom, but
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remember, the intellect canbecome dull by tamas too.
So to keep it shining, we muststay in Formless Awareness.
Now, Sri Krishna describeslofty indifference and we can
use a real life example here.
Now, when you are on a planeand you look down at what looks
like a vibrant city, maybeit's New York or London, now
(06:14):
you're looking at it from above.
The millions of lives in thatcity, you do not care, nor do
you care about what is happeningin the dwellers of the city.
You are indifferent to it.
Someone got the wrong coffee,the bagel was something they
really looked forward toand are enjoying every bite.
You are indifferent to thatbecause that's not your
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experience, you're not dealingwith being in the city, you're
seeing it from right above.
Likewise, we mustsee life, experience
life, in the same way.
You are in sattva,be indifferent.
You're in tamas, be indifferent.
Don't be arrogant in sattva anddon't be depressed with tamas.
Both are just aspects ofnature, modifying and therefore
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they're not who you really are.
Which is this Atman , thisFormless Awareness.
Let the gunas play their games.
Let them intercede andsupersede each other.
Do not be worried by it.
If you are in sattva,do not worry if the
mind starts chattering.
Let it happen.
Do not be perturbedor disturbed by it.
Do not feel hesitationor agitation.
(07:21):
Let the gunas playtheir timeline out.
Remember, it is not you.
Our task is to remain stable,to be aware of it and just be
in the peace that is Brahman,in the supreme, in Krishna, in
our Guru, in Formless Awareness.
This is all we need tostabilise in if we feel
a ripple of instability.
(07:43):
So once we are stablewe can observe and then
our understanding cannotbreak at all that this is
just the gunas operating.
If you feel hyperactive, ifyou feel lethargic, or if
you feel at peace, all theseare the states of the guna.
We must remember our owntrue nature, which is
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Brahman, Which AwarenessVerse 24.
They who remain equipoisedin sorrow and happiness, rest
firmly in oneself, considersa clod of earth stone and
a piece of gold with equalimportance is evenly disposed
towards a desirable anddetestable poise, accepting
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praise and blame alike.
When we face sorrow or we facevery happy times, we live in
two states of both of them.
One state is that we can'twait for sorrow to end and
the other is we can't waitfor happiness to arrive.
The other aspect is we donot want happiness to end and
the other is that sorrow iswaiting around the corner.
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The sage sees both of themand is always centred and
stabilised in their true self,in this Formless Awareness.
They understand that theseare nothing but modifications
of the mind, determinedby the consequences of
actions that we take.
But the true self thatwe are is never affected
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by happiness or sorrow.
It is not impacted byany of these two states.
But remember, humannature, driven by the
ego, will be led by both.
I've seen it.
We get excessive in both sorrowand happiness, especially
when society expects us to.
(09:32):
We get happy that we gotthe Mercedes, the BMW or
the Porsche, but we seethat happiness die down.
But why do we get happywhen we purchase it?
Because we think ithelps our personal brand.
But say something happens to thecar and you have to take it to
the mechanics at the dealership.
The thing you were showingoff is showing you its
(09:52):
price too when it comesto fixing the problem.
I'm not saying do not buy suchcars, but if we are buying it
because we just want to drivesuch a car, that is fine,
but if we buy it to proveour wealth to others, its
value is already decreased,hence Sri Krishna says, be
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equipoised, be balanced, juststay in your own true nature.
Then he gives us avery beautiful example.
Something to show us thatit's a tangible practice.
See a clod of earth,stone, and piece of gold
with equal importance.
Without the earth, thestone and gold cannot exist.
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Say it is a nice diamondring that you have both
diamond and the gold needsthe earth to be formed.
So understand that it isfrom the earth that this
diamond and gold is there inthe form of a ring for you.
Appreciate all of itand see all as the same.
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But we are the opposite.
If we know that a diamondhas more value than gold
then we see it differently.
But this is for the marketto see the difference.
We are not the market,we are the Atma remember.
One thing I want to addhere, because we live in a
world where there is so muchconsumerism that it is crazy.
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We buy things but wehave no value for it.
We just buy whatever someinfluencer on social media
tells us, whatever wethink we need, all with
the impulse of one button.
We need to stop thisbehaviour if we want to
learn sacrifice, surrender.
It is these little things.
So see, the clod of earthwith equal value as gold
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and precious stones.
These are from theearth, from the universe.
It's all a manifestationof Brahman.
Ultimately, Brahmanis all of it.
So this is how to see allwith equal importance.
Therefore, you automaticallyestablish by not
being inclined towardsdesirable and detestable.
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So it is all aboutraag and dvesh here.
We do not chase the desirableand avoid the detestable.
Life will bring both, nomatter if you're in poverty
or if you're a billionaire,so the sage surrenders both.
They will not chase thedesirable, nor would they
avoid the detestable.
They will be centered.
We will not detest theunfavorable things, nor will we
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desire only favorable things.
A sage is balanced because thisAtma, this Formless Awareness,
does not require anything,nor does it avoid anything.
Just one reminder ofFormless Awareness, we
should automaticallyreach a level of poise, of
balance, of centeredness.
Now the next bit is achallenging one, accepting
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praise and blame alike.
How can we do this?
In today's times, especiallyas a content creator, I have
received both praise and blame.
Some praise me for the very samething that I am criticised for.
But we have to understand,all of us, when it comes to
life, anyone praising us,anyone blaming or criticising
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us, is doing so to the bodyand mind, never to the True
Self or Formless Awareness.
We must remember this,these words that are
thrown to us, whetherlovingly or with harshness.
We are to go beyondthe instant reactions.
We should look at the wordsand discern, with our strong
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intellect, establishedin Formless Awareness, in
steadied wisdom, whetherthey have any merit at all.
If they do keep doing whatis good, if they do not,
then keep trying to improve.
But see both the same, bothpraise and blame, they are
two sides of the same coin.
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When we were kids, ourparents played the game
of praise and blame.
Our siblings play the game, ourteachers play the game, then
we grow up, then our workplaceplays that game, our friends
play the game, so does our loveinterest, and then our kids grow
to play that very same game andwe play that game with them.
See, Sri Krishna wantsto break this cycle.
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This game of praise andblame has to come to an end.
He's not saying for younot to compliment others.
We must complimentand provide feedback.
But do so with love,with compassion, with a
feeling of equality, havingacceptance of the same.
When it is given to us bringingcompassion and understanding
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rather than harshly reacting.
Verse 25They who are even towards
honour and dishonour, impartialtowards friends and enemies,
and has renounced all senseof undertaking, is said to
have transcended the gunas.
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Sri Krishna is continuingand relatively the same thing
is said here, remaining thesame, being even towards
honour and dishonour.
We mentioned this briefly inthe previous verse, when we
are honoured we want it toremain, when we are dishonoured
then we want it to end.
These also bring intheir own reactions.
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For example, if we feel weare being dishonoured, it will
keep playing on in our mind.
We do not get invited somewhere,we feel we're not being honoured
here, not respected, we thenget angry and we then ask other
people if they were invited,all these feelings come up
and they are unnecessary.
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A wise person is beyond allthese things, these social
games, they're beyond them.
They do not see ashonour or dishonour.
So how can we be impartialwith friends and enemies?
It sounds so difficult.
One thing to note, put familyin the group of friends here, as
we are friendly towards family.
But yes, familycan be enemies too.
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We feel so comfortable withour friends, but with our
enemies, we tend to avoid them.
We cannot stand them and we arehappy to stand with our friends,
but you see, even friends donot last, even enemies do not
last, everything modifies.
You must have experiencedthis yourself.
When you can be best friendswith someone and suddenly
(16:12):
you fall out with themand you cannot be around
that very same person.
We have seen when peoplewho we disliked end up
becoming our friends..
Sri Krishna is telling us to seeboth alike and to be impartial.
And trust me, thisis good advice.
Now let's look at this inthe perspective for Arjuna.
He has to fight this war, sohe needs to see all alike, if
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he is to be mentally ready forthe carnage that is to ensue.
But what about for us?
If we were impartial tofriends and enemies, then
what does this bring?
We are able to removebias first and foremost.
We then see that if somethingis suggested, we hold the
word or advice to its merit.
rather than to who said it.
(16:56):
So satsang, which is the companyof the holy, it helps with this.
When we hear others speak,we just look at the words
rather than the personality.
This is challengingto do but we must try.
Being impartial is importantbecause if relationships
are subject to modification,then remember a friend
can become an enemy and anenemy can become a friend.
(17:17):
So therefore, keep yoursecrets to yourself.
There is no need to share it.
We have seen it when there isa breakdown in relationships,
the very vulnerabilities youentrusted your loved ones
to know, they turn thosevulnerabilities against you.
Also, the highest value inour lives should be the truth.
So if we stay with thetruth, regardless of the
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messenger, the truth matters.
Sometimes we blur facts becauseof whom we listen to and
our relationship with them.
Listen to all.
Use your intellect.
And surrender it all.
Go to Formless Awareness.
Renounce all sense of doingaction or performance.
Just let go of it.
(18:00):
We must renounce not only thefruits of our actions, but even
that we are doing the action.
Remember, the Atmadoes not do any action.
Only the body and mind does.
And we are Formless Awarenessand we use compassion
towards the actionsof the body and mind.
A very subtle point butimportant to understand.
(18:22):
Now sometimes people maysay that can a criminal
renounce all sense ofundertaking, of performance?
How is that a good thing?
But when there is malice,there cannot be renunciation.
It can be disassociation butnot renouncing psychologically.
A criminal will be doingthings from an ego, hence
they cannot truly renounce.
(18:44):
So renounce all youractions to the supreme.
This is pure being.
This is the way to be.
So whoever can practice whatwe've just spoken of in the
past few verses has gone beyondthe gunas of sattva, rajas and
tamas, they have transcended.
Formless Awarenessis beyond the gunas.
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The one studied in wisdom,stabilized in wisdom, has
transcended the gunas.
Therefore conquer and severthe identification of body,
mind, intellect and understandyou have always been your true
nature of Formless Awareness.
Verse 26 Whoever worships Me,the Supreme, with unswerving
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devotion, transcends thesegunas very well and is
fit to become Brahman.
So, who is fit to be Brahman?
Or better asked, who is willingto realise they are Brahman?
Who is ready to take the fullplunge into this realisation
that they are nothingbut Formless Awareness?
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To take our full efforts to thisrequires our full attention.
How can we exercisethis attention?
How can we bringit to its fullness?
How can we expand it?
The answer is givenhere by Sri Krishna.
The fitness of such a personis seen through one way
when we worship the Supremewith unswerving devotion.
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Right now, can we say thatour devotion is steady,
composed and fully directedtowards the Supreme?
Or is our devotion justsome entertainment for
a few hours in the week?
Or just a ritual?
Is it based on conditions?
Sri Krishna wants us to beunswerving in our devotion.
(20:31):
We do not take quickdrifts into materialism
again, into Maya.
Our mind must be consumedwith worshipping Brahman,
this Formless Awareness,being in Formless Awareness.
So let's contemplate.
There is Saguna Bhaktiand Nirguna Bhakti.
And some of us cando both, three ways.
Most can do Saguna Bhaktiand only a rare few
(20:53):
can do Nirguna Bhakti.
So let's explore thethree of these together.
Think of which way suits youand be unswerving towards
it, like how you drive verysafely that you are not
swerve in one direction to theother, you have full control
over the car because you aregiving your full attention
and focus on the driving.
So let's go into thesethree forms of bhakti.
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First is Saguna Bhakti.
This is devotion to a form, toan Isht Devta, seeing the Guru
as the eternal, worshippingeven Sri Krishna, or this
is devotion of the form.
An image.
Even though this is afirst step, but it is a
very important first step.
When we can be devotional toa form, it opens the door to
(21:35):
seeing the whole manifestationas a form of the divine.
There has to be an expansion.
You visualize the Guru andthen you expand the Guru to
be the face of everything.
Then automatically, 24x7 isthe darshan of the Guru, or we
may praise the many attributesof the Guru or of Ishwara, the
personal aspect of the divine.
(21:57):
We may read the VishnuSahasranama and enjoy the
many attributes of Vishnu.
We may read this very BhagavadGita and immerse ourselves in
the Virat Roop of Sri Krishna.
This is a great first step,and it allows the intellect
to transcend beyond itself.
If devotion doesn't transcendthe intellect, it remains
(22:21):
like a ritual, a practice.
The point is to go frompractice to a living reality,
and this first step does this.
There is something aboutseeing the object, the
form of your devotion beingmanifest in this universe.
Some people find that sagunabhakti is difficult for them,
but I have noticed that evenif they jumped to Nirguna
(22:42):
Bhakti, it is challengingfor them to stabilize.
Somewhere, the vasanas, withinthe latent impressions, they
arise again, and this couldhave been dealt with during
the Saguna Bhakti step.
When you offer it all, evenyour ego to the divine,
then naturally, wherewill the mind go next?
There is something aboutseeing the object, the form
(23:03):
of your devotion, beingmanifest in the universe.
Even seeing thevasana as the divine.
Weird, right?
But it works.
The second one is theimmersing of the Saguna
Bhakti into Nirguna Bhakti.
And when this is experienced,bliss starts to dawn upon us.
We will get sprinkles ofbliss and transcendence
(23:24):
at the same time.
My personal opinion is thatNirguna Bhakti arisen from
Saguna bhakti gives limitlessbliss, but this will be a
point for the next step.
The second step,let's understand it.
Now we all love our form ofdevotion, whether that's our
Guru, Sri Krishna, Shiv Ji,the Divine Mother, anyone,
(23:45):
and we have started toexperience that this divinity
is manifested in all objects.
No object can escape thisdivinity, and you perceive
it with all the senses.
Now when you've immersed inthis for some good time, a
single thought will appearin the mind, and that is, is
there a difference betweenmyself and the divine?
(24:05):
Is there a subjectobject relationship?
In Saguna Bhakti, there isstill a relationship of two.
There is a union like amarriage, but it is dualistic.
There is me and myobject of devotion.
Even that object of devotionis powered by me alone.
So this intense momentbetween Saguna and Nirguna,
(24:27):
those questions appear.
You can sense the oneness andyou feel the lightness of it.
You start to see the formsdisappearing into formlessness,
but the forms do reappear.
Even the ego can comeup here and ask if
there's any room for it.
This little period of Sagunaand Nirguna, stay with it.
(24:48):
Don't force nirguna bhakti.
There is no need to.
Be in the natural flow of itbecause this complete oneness
only happens in saheja bhaav.
It is done very naturally.
Very uniquely, and onceyou enter into Nirguna,
you will remain there.
So, what is NirgunaBhakti, the third step?
The highest form of bhakti,the most beautiful, and yet
(25:11):
only a rare few can do this.
This is when Saguna dissolvescompletely, and the idea of
an 'I' practicing devotiondisappears, the ego identity
is silenced, the object ofdevotion dissolves into Nirguna.
It appears that that there isno thing here, nothing at all,
no space, no time, no image,no color, no boundary, all
(25:33):
sensory perception rescinds intoitself and is seen as empty,
it is absolute formlessness,even your body is dissolved
away, the mind is dissolvedtoo, so just formlessness.
Before when you saw theform of the divine in all
forms, Here you experiencedthe formless in all forms.
(25:56):
In essence, you know thatthe true state of the forms
are formlessness, and theonly thing that remains is
this pure Formless Awareness.
There's no identity here,it's a complete merging.
It is completely non-dual.
Here we transcendthe gunas completely.
Here, only God is, Nirankaris, Nirguna Brahman is.
(26:17):
This is highest devotion.
This devotee is in theworld but not of it.
It appears they do SagunaBhakti but remember, all
forms are now formless,nothing but the formless, the
attribute less is perceived.
Here, bliss is immeasurable,limitless, independent.
This is the absolute stateof oneness, of Jeevan Mukti.
(26:41):
My experience is that theBhagavad Gita leads us
to this Nirguna Bhaktiwhere forms exist.
But the understanding is soclear that it is the Formless
that nothing can shake you.
What people think is nothing istruly everything, or to be more
precise, the only thing that is.
(27:02):
So all these three steps orthree aspects of bhakti are
great, but remember the stages.
We are to transcend fromform into formlessness.
This way we may be unswerving inour devotion towards the Divine.
Verse 27.
I am the abode of immortaland immutable Brahman,
(27:26):
also of eternal dharma aswell as ultimate happiness.
And this is what NirgunaBhakti is about, knowing that
the form is the formless.
Again a lot of people wouldthink that Sri Krishna
is saying this about hisown form that should be
worshipped, So many peoplefail to understand what Sri
(27:47):
Krishna is trying to portray.
He understands that histrue nature is Brahman.
There's no doubt aboutBrahman being the ultimate
reality and Krishna is that.
But for some reason, peoplestill fall under that
trap that it's Krishnathe form that is supreme.
There's nothing wrong withthis, but to capture the
(28:08):
full essence instead of partof the essence, we have to
understand that Sri Krishnais the Guru here, and the Guru
is a direct representationof the Absolute, of Brahman.
Look at the attributes thathe speaks of in this verse.
He's obviously talking abouthimself as this Formless
Awareness, as Nirguna Brahman,and nothing less than that.
(28:30):
He says that he is the abode,This is directly the moment
where Saguna and Nirgunabhakti merge with each other.
Before we go further, thehighest understanding with
this verse is that theabode is Brahman itself.
But anyway, Sri Krishna saysthat he's the abode of immortal.
Here, there is everlastingexistence because here there
(28:54):
is no limited self, there isonly immortality, there is
no cycle of birth and death.
Now this next word is important,the immutable, the changeless.
See anything that moves,changes, Sri Krishna is
speaking, there is movement.
It is changing.
This is the nature of form.
You can be a humbleseeker or an avatar.
(29:16):
You are changing.
But this Brahman, this FormlessAwareness is changeless.
This Atman is changes.
It does not modify.
It does not age.
It does not change inany way, shape, or form.
For something to bechangeless, it has to
be formless, as we know.
Even seemingly changeless thingslike rocks do change, they erode
(29:37):
in the great expanse of time.
So when we do understand thatSri Krishna's abode, dwelling
place, is of the immortal, thetimeless, the immutable, the
changeless Brahman, then weneed to transform our Saguna
Bhakti to Nirguna BhaktiIt is Eternal Dharma, the
Sanatan, the everlasting,because righteousness
always prevails.
(29:59):
The Dharma here is a dharmaof understanding that
truth is beyond time andit does not change at all.
The truth is Brahman.
The truth is formless.
The truth is Sat-Chit-Anandaexistence consciousness, bliss.
So when we read any scripture,like the Bhagavad Gita, we
see the truth because weknow with the passage of time
(30:20):
it will not dwindle away.
If you look at when people doubtspirituality, they only doubt
the cultural aspects, but onecannot doubt the highest reality
that is spoken of because to getto it, one needs to understand
it, and when you understandit, you become it, so to
refute it would be impossible.
For thousands of years, themessage of the Gita still
(30:41):
inspires because it is talkingabout how to attain either self
realisation or God realisation.
Something interestingcan be said here.
We can read the Gita to bebetter humans but I implore
you that we use the Gita asa spiritual map that leads
to our own inner divinity.
Where we start as Arjuna butwe end up being Brahman through
(31:05):
Sri Krishna's eternal words.
The eternal dharma is alsothe same dharma of every
living being, to understandwhat it truly is which is
this Formless Awareness.
The eternal dharma is livingwith the natural order
of life and in Sikhismthey call this the hukam.
(31:26):
Those that live in dharma orhukam are true self realized
or god realized beings.
Then this is the abodeof ultimate happiness,
of anand, of bliss.
Before knowing bliss, weknow the temporary nature
of happiness relatedto the body and mind.
But when it transcendsbeyond, we experience bliss.
(31:48):
One can never experiencebliss as in relation
to the body and mind.
It is transcendent ofboth of those things.
So when we understand that truereality is Brahman, Formless
Awareness, then we are in theabode of ultimate happiness.
And we can never leave that,we can never depart from that.
Bliss is so tangible thatit appears intangible,
(32:11):
but once experiencedyou can never doubt it.
Hence, once on the spiritualpath, we may get a slight shower
of bliss appear in the mind forsome moment, but enlightenment,
jivanmukti, is when we are fullyimmersed in the ocean of bliss.
Then there is only blissthat surrounds because only
Formless Awareness remains.
So let's, let us understand thisa bit more, when we understand
(32:34):
that the jiva and brahmanare one and the same, this
is the ultimate realisation.
If the jiva believes it isseparate, then then it will
believe that it will perish,or it changes, or it modifies.
The jiva is one andthe same as Brahman.
And when we realize that theinner consciousness that we
have, this jiva that we haveis one and the same as Brahman,
(32:57):
then we can enter the abode.
Otherwise, our dwellingplace is the body and mind.
But with enlightenment,with the darshan of the
Supreme, the jiva's dwellingplace is Brahman itself.
So remember.
that Sri Krishna is talkingabout himself as the Supreme
Reality of Nirguna Brahmanand when we understand this,
(33:20):
Jeevan Mukti is literallyin this moment itself.
And this leads us tothe end of chapter 14.
Let me know if you have anyfeedback or you would like to
share any questions that wecan answer in future episodes.
Do not forget to subscribe.
(33:40):
Do comment aboutyour views on this.
Leave a review and sharethis podcast with your
friends and family.
Do take care and let's end withthe mantra that we began with.
Hari Om Tat Sat the manifestedreality that is Hari and the
Formless Absolute Realitythat is or Om are both the
(34:00):
Absolute Truth that is.
Namaste everyone.
See you next time.
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