Episodios

  • Vivekachudamani 20 From Intellectual Understanding to Emotional Common Sense - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 20 From Intellectual Understanding to Emotional Common Sense - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 27 2025
    116th verse: “Even one who is intellectually advanced, who knows scriptures, who understands the subtle truths and who is convinced of his learning – even such a person, by the power of Tamas, looks upon the unreal as the real and the real and unreal. This is the strength of Maya.”

    Such a person does not have the power of discretion. What he may know intellectually, he is not able to translate into common sense in real life. He remains a slave to sensory enjoyments. He is like a parrot which is fed food, can speak, but remains imprisoned.

    Maya is beyond definition and intellectual comprehension. We can feel that Maya is working when we have inner conflict, when we want to do certain things, but the mind does not cooperate.. This happens due to accumulated samskaras over past life cycles.

    This ignorance of our true nature is not an absence of knowledge at an intellectual level. It refers to the state in which we live (at an emotional level) without awareness of our true nature.

    Maya operates with two powers: Avarana-shakti, which conceals the reality. Therefore, we are not aware of our true nature as Atman, the divine spark that is present everywhere and in everything. The second power is Vikshepa-shakti, which projects something false. Due to this projection, we interpret ourselves as something other than our true nature. We superimpose the world and its impermanence on Atman.

    Knowledge can be of two types: (1) Knowledge from our intellectual conviction, but without full realization of the knowledge (2) Full realization of the knowledge where there are no doubts left. The person mentioned in the 116th verse does not have this absolute spiritual realization, and remains bound to samsara, the cycle of birth and death.

    One may ask: what is the problem with being reborn again and again. We recognize that this cycle is a problem only when we have spiritually evolved.

    Despite what is stated in the 116th verse, reading scriptures and associating with higher ideas plays a very important role in spiritual life. The 19th verse describes the four qualities – Sadhana Chatushtaya Sampatti that seekers should practice. There is a practical application of these four disciplines. They give us a higher perspective on life.

    117th Verse: This verse mentions “abhavana”, which means absence of the right understanding of the truth. It also mentions “viparita-bhavana”, which means presence of a contrary or wrong notion. Due to these two factors, we interpret (wrongly) our body and experiences to be Absolutely Real. He remains engrossed in doubts.

    Doubts do not disappear at the intellectual level. When we evolve spiritually, our doubts cease to be doubts, our questions cease to be questions.

    When we spiritually evolve, we are able to transcend the positives and negatives in life and look upon both of them with equanimity of mind.

    When we start our spiritual life, a secondary personality begins to emerge. Initially, its voice is weak. When we persist in our efforts, it gets stronger in its fight with the previous personality. Finally, the earlier personality disappears and only the new personality remains. Buddha’s Jataka tales are an illustration of this. In each life cycle, previous memories tried to drag him back. But he fought those obstacles and a new Buddha emerged.

    118th verse: “Such a person remains in deep spiritual slumber (with ignorance, sleep, inertia, laziness and natural tendency to mistake), like a pillar that is dull.”

    Spiritual awakening refers to the realization that health and wealth will perish and that we need to bring something higher in life to make it more meaningful.

    Ignorance, laziness, sleep, and inertia are natural characteristics of tamo guna. When we are full of tamo guna, we do not even have the capacity to understand Vedanta. Our emotional system does not co-operate. To enjoy higher spiritual ideas, our emotional system has to evolve. Without this evolution, it is difficult to sustain the interest in higher ideas.
    Más Menos
    1 h y 14 m
  • Vivekachudamani 19 Avarana and Vikshepa Shakti - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 19 Avarana and Vikshepa Shakti - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 20 2025
    The entire text is built around answering seven questions from the student in the 51st verse. The seven questions are: (1) What is this bondage? (2) How does it come about? (3) How does it exist and what sustains it? (4) How do we come out of it? (5) What is anatman? (6) What is the supreme Atman? (7) How do we differentiate between atman and anatman?

    The teacher starts by answering the 5th question first: “What is anatman”, by discussing different sarira (body). There are three sariras: Sthula sarira (gross body), sukhshma sarira (subtle body, the personality behind the gross body) and karana sarira (lack of understanding of our true nature).

    Karana-sarira is the actual cause of bondage. We forget our true nature (ignorant) and mistakenly identify ourselves with the physical body. It is called Avidya, Mithya, or Maya.

    In the rope-snake analogy, we mistake the rope for a snake, crack on the floor, a stick or a thin stream of water. There is no source of this misunderstanding as the snake, crack, stick or water stream never existed. Similarly, due to our past samskaras, we mistake ourselves for many things which are not our true nature.

    Maya cannot be defined. We think it is real, as long as we are not spiritually enlightened.

    111th verse: Maya is not “sat” not “asat” nor a combination of sat and asat. Maya is neither different from Brahman, nor non-different from Brahman, nor a combination of difference and non-difference. Maya is neither endowed with parts nor devoid of parts, nor a combination of the two. All of us experience Maya in our everyday life. It is beyond logical comprehension, cannot be explained in words or cognized with the mind, and is a great wonder.

    113th verse: Maya functions at the level of three gunas: Sattva guna, Rajo guna and Tamo guna. Tamo guna functions as Avarana or concealment. Rajo guna functions as Vikshepa or false projection. Sattva guna functions in the form of our natural interest to explore higher truth.

    Sri Ramakrishna describes the three gunas with the story of three thieves. Three thieves ambush a traveler in a forest. The thief representing Tamo guna says: “Let’s kill him and take all his belongings.” The second thief representing Rajo guna says: “Let’s give him some blows and bind him to a tree.” The thief representing Sattva guna takes the traveler to the road and shows him the way to the village.

    The sattvic aspect of Maya is called Jnana-shakti. It helps us take us beyond Maya.

    114th and 115th verses: Maya operates with two powers: Avarana-shakti, which conceals the reality and Vikshepa-shakti, which projects something false. Avarana-shakti is the cause of Vikshepa-shakti . These two together keep us bound to the world. The 115th verse describes concealment and the 114th verse describes false projection.

    The 114th verse lists different types of false projections on our true nature: desire for external objects, anger, greed, pride, jealousy, egoism and extreme competition.

    When we see the sunlight reflect on a mother of pearl, we mistake it for silver. We do not know that it is the outer shell of an insect – its true nature is concealed. We project a false identity (silver).

    116th verse: “Even one who is intellectually advanced, who knows scriptures, who understands the subtle truths and who is convinced of his learning – even such a person, by the power of Tamas, looks upon the unreal as the real and the real and unreal. This is the strength of Maya.”

    This ignorance of our true nature is not an absence of knowledge at an intellectual level. It refers to the state in which we live (at an emotional level) without awareness of our true nature.

    There is a gap between the truth of Vedanta and our understanding of Vedanta. Vedanta emphasizes Sukta, Yukta, Swanumbhuta (reading/listening, contemplating, experiencing) to evolve spiritually close this gap. When we do deep contemplation on spiritual truths, we can verify that a spiritual idea is as real as things in physical life.

    When we try to use what we know, then what we know becomes common sense.

    Más Menos
    57 m
  • Vivekachudamani 18 What is Maya? - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 18 What is Maya? - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 13 2025
    The entire text is built around answering seven questions from the student in the 51st verse. The seven questions are: (1) What is this bondage? (2) How does it come about? (3) How does it exist and what sustains it? (4) How do we come out of it? (5) What is anatman? (6) What is the supreme Atman? (7) How do we differentiate between atman and anatman?

    The teacher starts by answering the 5th question first: “What is anatman”, by discussing different sarira (body). There are three sariras: Sthula sarira (gross body), sukhshma sarira (subtle body, the personality behind the gross body) and karana sarira (lack of understanding of our true nature).

    If we analyze the nature of this world, it is subject to change. It does not have permanent existence. It is called anatman in Vedanta.

    Karana-sarira is the actual cause of bondage. We forget our true nature (ignorant) and mistakenly identify ourselves with the physical body. It is called Avidya or Maya.

    This ignorance is not absence of knowledge at an intellectual level. It refers to the state in which we live (at an emotional level) without awareness of our true nature.

    110th verse describes Maya.

    It is avyakta. It does not have a verifiable dimension, such as name and form. Greed, anger and jealousy exist because of a lack of awareness of our true nature.

    It is paramesa-sakti. It is God’s power.

    It is Anadi – it does not have an origin, but it does have an end. It comes to an end when we realize our true nature.

    When awakening happens, we feel inner serenity and contentment, and we also become a source of serenity to those around us. Christ and Buddha had this contentment at their last moments.

    It is trigunatmika. It manifests through the three gunas: sattva (serenity), rajas (activity) and tamas (laziness).

    This world of name and form is a creation of Maya. It is a strange, mysterious reality. We understand it when we get out of it.

    Maya is composed of two sounds: “Ma”, which negates and “Ya” which is a pronoun and refers to something real. “Ya” refers to something “real”, but “Ma” negates it (not Real). It is only real in a relative sense.

    The idea of relative cannot be conceived with the idea of Absolute. The Absolute seen through the prism of time, space and causation is the relative.

    Maya can only be inferred. It does not have a visible form. It can be inferred when we reach a higher level of spiritual evolution. The unevolved only see the relative. The enlightened see both the Absolute and the relative. Ramana Maharshi saw this world as non-distinct from the Absolute.

    The 111th verse is a very celebrated verse, one that has been translated by Swami Vivekananda in many of his Vedanta lectures.

    Maya is a great mystery that cannot be defined. It is beyond "shabda pravirti nimittani" means it is beyond the five conditions necessary for us to be able to explain anything by words.
    Más Menos
    59 m
  • Vivekachudamani 17 The Subtle Body is an Instrument for the Atman - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 17 The Subtle Body is an Instrument for the Atman - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jun 6 2025
    Behind our external appearance (gross body) is our subtle body. It defines our personality. The gross body is just an outer shell of this personality.

    In the 98th verse, Shankaracharya defines the subtle body (Sukshma-Sarira). It has eight units (Puri-ashtakam): (1) Five organs of perception (2) Five organs of action (3) Five pranas (4) Five subtle elements (5) Antahkarana – mana, buddhi, chittam, ahamkara (6) Avidya (7) Kama and (8) Karma.

    Sukshma-Sarira is transmitted to next life – however, it is also non-eternal. Atman is eternal and it is the light that enables both the subtle and gross body to function. Atman reveals itself and other things.

    The 98th verse should be understood in the context of the law of karma and the law of incarnation. At death, even though our senses of perception and action are gone, the tendencies that they created are stored in the Antahkarana (mind, intellect, memory and ego). These stored tendencies in the Antahkarana are never lost. It accompanies the soul when it takes a new body.

    The law of karma should not be interpreted as fatalism. We can shape our future by purifying the antahkarana. We can purify the antahkarana by doing unselfish, noble activities, reading of scriptures and through holy associations. Through such actions, the existing storehouse of negative samskaras is nullified with a new storehouse of positive samskaras.

    Verses 101 and 102 discuss the three states of awareness.

    In the waking state, we identify with the physical (gross) body.

    In dream sleep state, our experiences are at the subtle/mental level. There are three differences from waking state: (1) kala bheda, difference with respect to time. (2) desa bheda, difference with respect to space (3) sukshma stula bheda, difference with respect to grossness of waking experiences and subtlety of dream experiences.

    When the mind alone is involved in the experience, it is subtle. When mind and body are involved in the experience, it is gross.

    Dreams cannot be totally separate or totally identical with waking state experience.

    The third state is deep sleep state, where we enjoy complete restfulness. It is different from samadhi. In samadhi, we consciously reject duality. In deep sleep state, the tools to reject duality are benumbed.

    Verse 102: The subtle body is an instrument for the Atman. The Atman itself is a witness and remains unaffected. The Atman manifests in its full glory in Buddha, because the subtle body is fully refined and pure.

    The gross body is the instrument for the subtle body. The subtle body is the instrument for Atman.

    In Vedanta, for anything to be a witness, it has to satisfy two criteria: (1) It has to be aware (2) It cannot be involved. Light reveals everything but remains unaffected. Same is the case with the Sun and the air.

    When a light bulb is dirty, only dim light comes through it. However, if it is clean, it emits light in its full effulgence. Spiritual practices act as the cleaning process for the subtle body.

    By Shunya, Nagarjuna does not mean nothingness or emptiness. It refers to the inexplicable nature of the highest experience. It cannot be explained. It can only be experienced. At the highest experience, the demarcation between subject and object disappears. You experience yourself as the awareness.
    Más Menos
    1 h y 3 m
  • Vivekachudamani 16 The Subtle Body - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 16 The Subtle Body - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    May 30 2025
    Behind our external appearance (gross body) is our subtle body. A movie actor or a diplomat may be impressive externally, which is their external appearance. Someone else may not be impressive externally but we may be impressed by their higher ideals and values. That is their subtle personality.

    A plant or a tree is the gross aspect. The seed is the subtle aspect.

    In the 98th verse, Shankaracharya defines the subtle body (Sukshma-Sarira). It has eight units (Puri-ashtakam): (1) Five organs of perception (2) Five organs of action (3) Five pranas (4) Five subtle elements (5) Antahkarana – mana, buddhi, chittam, ahamkara (6) Avidya (7) Kama and (8) Karma.

    Sukshma-Sarira is transmitted to next life – however, it is also non-eternal. Atman is eternal and it is the light that enables both the subtle and gross body to function. Atman reveals itself and other things.

    The 98th verse and the few verses preceding it should be understood in the context of the law of karma and the law of incarnation. According to the law of karma, our actions produce two types of results – one that is visible and immediate, another that is invisible. For example, if we help a person, the other person benefits (visible result). But we ourselves feel “I did something sensible” – this is the invisible result, which is stored in our Antahkarana as samskara. We collect these tendencies in our Antahkarana through actions involving the senses and the mind.

    At death, even though our senses of perception and action are gone, the tendencies that they created are stored in the Antahkarana (mind, intellect, memory and ego). These stored tendencies in the Antahkarana are never lost. It accompanies the soul when it takes a new body.

    The law of karma should not be interpreted as fatalism. We can shape our future by purifying the antahkarana. We can purify the antahkarana by doing unselfish, noble activities, reading of scriptures and through holy associations. Through such actions, the existing storehouse of negative samskaras is nullified with a new storehouse of positive samskaras.

    Shankaracharya includes avidya, kama and karma in his definition of subtle body. Avidya means ignorance of our true nature. Kama means desire. Karma means action. When we are ignorant of our own real nature (avidya), we have kama, or desire for enjoyments, which compels us to be engaged in all kinds of activities (karma) to satisfy the desire.

    The 94th to 97th verses describe the components of subtle body discussed in the 98th verse.

    94th verse: “The five instruments of perception are sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. The five instruments of action are tongue, legs, hands, and organs of secretion and generation.” The verse refers to the subtle dimension of these instruments that leave impressions in the chittam.

    95th and 96th verse: “The Antahkarana is made up of four compartments: mana, buddhi, chittam, ahamkara.”

    Suppose you see an object from a distance when there is not enough light. It looks like a pillar but you mistake it for a human form. At that time, your mind is speculating - is it a pillar or a human form or something else? When you come close to it, you come to a decision that it is a pillar. Here the intellect, as the deciding faculty, is functioning. You remember that you had seen such a pillar the previous week. This memory comes from chittam. Finally, you identify yourself with the act of seeing a pillar the previous week. That self-identification comes from Aham.

    97th verse: “There are five pranas (vital force).”

    Breath is only the gross dimension of the vital force. One prana is given different names just like gold is given different names though ornaments.”

    99th verse: “When we are ignorant of our own real nature (avidya), we have kama, or desire for enjoyments, which compels us to be engaged in all kinds of activities (karma) to satisfy the desire.”
    Más Menos
    1 h y 4 m
  • Vivekachudamani 15 Going Beyond the Body Consciousness - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 15 Going Beyond the Body Consciousness - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    May 16 2025
    The message of the 85th, 86th and 87th verses is: “The human body is a wonderful instrument for attaining a higher purpose in life. However, if we look upon it as the supreme goal, then we are headed towards spiritual degradation.”

    One outlook on the body is the following: The body changes every moment. There is nothing remarkable about it. What is inside the skin bag, if it comes out, even crows won’t eat it. We use a sanitizer if we happen to touch anything that comes out of the skin bag.

    Another outlook on the body is the following: We can use the body to go beyond itself. To achieve any form of excellence, we have to lift our consciousness beyond the bodily level.

    86th verse: “Anyone who worships the body, is like the man who tries to cross a river on the back of a crocodile, not knowing that he will be killed mid-stream.”

    87th verse: “Associating our identity with the body is a great delusion. One who gets out of this delusion attains liberation.”

    Nachiketa’s story and his three boons from Kathopanishad are a good illustration of the evolution towards spiritual enlightenment. The three boons asked by Nachiketa represent three levels of evolution: (1) Good life in this world (2) Living the same good life for a long time in Paradise (3) A sense of everlasting contentment by understanding the reality beyond death, our true identity beyond the body.

    The 87th verse used the word “Moha”. It means self-delusion, obsession with the body. When we are within Moha, we are not aware of it. When we are out of it, we realize that we were in a trap. Moha is maha-mrityu, the great death.

    Who are the people that struggle for liberation? Those who realize the imperfection of the world and have an inner feeling and conviction of a higher possibility. Buddha is one of the best examples.

    88th verse: “We should get out of this Moha towards body, wife, children and others. By getting out of this trap, we get rid of this death in the form of delusion. Only then we can attain spiritual liberation.”

    When King Chitraketu’s young son died and he was lamenting, Sages Aṅgirā and Nārada helped him understand the temporary nature of the relationship between father and son, that the physical body come and goes, and that the Atman manifests in the body. This put a spark of spiritual wisdom in Chitraketu’s heart.

    89th verse: “The gross body is despicable. It is a skin bag that contains waste matter and filth.”
    Más Menos
    1 h y 3 m
  • Vivekachudamani 14 Renouncing Worldly Desires - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 14 Renouncing Worldly Desires - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    May 9 2025
    81st verse: “People may get momentary wisdom (Apata-vairagya) or renunciation due to setbacks in life. With this momentary wisdom, they try to cross the river of worldly life. Along the way, the crocodile of desire, greed and envy catches them. Renunciation should not be momentary. It should be stable.”

    Such people are compared to a fool who tries to cross a river sitting on a crocodile. One needs a solid boat or ship to cross the river. Real renunciation constitutes such a boat.

    The wisdom that comes from times of disappointments may not last long. After some time, strong desires emerge in the mind and can capsize the person, if the sense of renunciation is not very strong.

    Shankaracharya emphasizes the importance of tenacity and steadiness in spiritual life in the 326th verse. “Imagine a child playing with a ball at the top of a staircase. If the ball falls, it does not stop until it reaches the bottom. Similarly, in spiritual life, we should be very vigilant not to make mistakes.”

    While the verse emphasizes steadiness, a single mistake is not the end of one’s spiritual journey. Every little spiritual effort bears its result.

    83rd verse: “Spiritual path is very difficult if the mind is not ready and does not cooperate. Spiritual path is simple for those whose minds are ready, who listen to the teachings of ancient sages and draw inspiration from them. They are bound to reach their destination.”

    84th verse: If you want to attain Moksha, stay away from the toxic poison of worldly desires. Poison ends our life. Imbibe spiritual values such as contentment. Compassion, forbearance, and self-control. Spiritual values are like nectar that enrich our life.”

    Vedanta is not world negating. When one travels on a boat, the boat should be on water. Water should not enter the boat. Our life is like the boat and worldliness is like water. One should live in the world but remain unaffected by worldliness. Worldliness should not enter our life.

    Householders should mentally give up worldly desires. Sri Ramakrishna said that householders should practice mental renunciation. Monks should practice both internal and external renunciation. Janaka was a king but unattached to worldly possessions.

    Among the four levels of social structure, high importance was given to householders as they generate the wealth to support the other three ashramas. Householders who do not generate wealth to support their family are considered adharmis.

    85th verse: “We are bound in mysterious ignorance and a lack of awareness of our true nature. We have the wrong notion (avidya) that we are this body and that this world is meant for enjoyments. We should practice spiritual disciplines to get out of this bondage. One who does not make such attempts and keeps pampering the body, kills himself.”

    A Sanskrit verse says: “This human body is for someone else.” Upon death, in ancient times, it was eaten by animals and ancients. In modern times, after death, it belongs to the tube in the crematorium, the fire or the earth.

    The same human body can be a wonderful tool for a higher purpose. We cannot pray, meditate or study scriptures without this body. If we think of this body as the goal, we are lost.

    Beyond a limit, wealth is only an illusion. It is as good as non-existent. We own only what we make use of.
    Más Menos
    1 h y 8 m
  • Vivekachudamani 13 The Crest Jewel of Wisdom - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 13 The Crest Jewel of Wisdom - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    May 2 2025
    d
    Más Menos
    1 h y 2 m