Moment to Speak

Contentment is steady and everlasting. It is to Ātman (inner self or spirit) as happiness is to mind. Contentment strives for "enough," while happiness strives for "more," ultimately leading to insatiation. It remains in a steady state of inward consciousness no matter the outward situation. The practitioner of contentment remains always in equilibrium irrespective of the situational opposites of distress and happiness, hot and cold, pleasure and pain, etc. The Srimad Bhagavad Gita (2.56) endorses this by stating that a sage of steady wisdom is someone whose mind remains calm in the face of adversity, who does not crave pleasure, and who is free of attachment, fear, and anger. Contentment is one of the highest achievements of human beings and what the scriptures have already scripted. It emphasises finding contentment in the present rather than striving for more.  Contentment basically means that "right here, right now, everything is perfect as it is, regardl...

The Cosmic Self, or Brahmān , of infinite manifestations, according to Yoga-Vasistha (2.10.11), exists by itself; it passes through and supports the whole in the form of vacuity and understanding, and as light to all living beings. Nevertheless, the Samsāra ,  or the world of birth and death, created by the creator becomes entangled in an incessant round of perpetual perceptual wheel of despair, miseries, birth and death. All the living beings are subjected to this cycle as they are ensnared to their own destiny. The term destiny, as stated in Yoga-Vasistha (2.9.2-2.9.4), highlights the advantageous or disadvantageous outcome resulting from the completed actions of effective endeavour. Yoga-Vasistha asserts that all the diverse goals individuals may have once harbored in their minds ultimately become their acts. In subsequent lives or generations of sentient creatures, we refer to the strong and unwavering determination of an action from a previous existence as destiny. Conseque...

The transient leads to the transient, the eternal leads to the eternal, and Self-knowledge to Self-realisation. That is the prophecy, and that is the Reality. Yes, the Katha Upanishad discusses the idea that the transient leads to the transient. Eternal is Brahmān, the Cosmic Self, or the Absolute Existence. The Katha Upanishad (1.3.15) states that aśabdamasparśamarūpamavyayaṃ tathā'rasannityamagandhavacca yat | anādyanantaṃ mahataḥ paraṃ dhruvaṃ nicāyya tanmṛtyumukhātpramucyate || 1.3.15 || It is soundless, touchless, formless, imperishable, devoid of taste, eternal, and scentless; it is beginningless, unending, beyond the Mahat (refers to a primordial principle of the nature of both Pr adhāna  and Puruṣ a) , and unchanging, through which man eludes the grasp of Death. Eternal is devoid of sound, touch, form, decay, taste, and aroma; consequently, Brahmān is described as imperishable, for whatever possesses sound and similar attributes is subject to deterioration. Howeve...

The drama of life is central to the unfolding processes of the Samsāra Chakra (wheel of birth and death). Samsāra , itself, is an expansion of Māyā , the illusory power of Brahmān , the Supreme Being, or the Cosmic Self. The drama of life is found in the encirclement of Māyā . Since it is a drama, and it is neither real nor unreal. The Jiva , the living substance of a living being, unfolds its journey from inward, or subject, to outward, or object, depending on its elevatory priority fixation. The Jiva is only relatively real. Its individuality lasts only so long as it is subject to unreal Upadhis or limiting conditions due to Avidya . When Avidya , or ignorance, deludes it, the Jiva identifies itself with the body, mind, and senses. Avidya causes the Jiva to think, act, and enjoy itself. In reality it is not different from Brahmān or the Absolute. The Upanishads declare emphatically, " Tat Tvam Asi ," or That Thou Art ( Chandogya Upanishad , 6.8.7). The finest and s...

In the history of mankind, the Upanishads and the Srimad Bhagavad Gita remain as gospels in the domain of the spiritual and temporal continuum. They, according to sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda , stand as gospels in the realms of spirituality and temporal existence throughout human history. These two seminal texts, he continues to say, present the art of living in harmony with the spiritual realm on one side and the temporal on the other. The primary concern for humanity is to attain awareness of Reality, specifically that Existence is singular and absolute. Brahmān is the essential core of all existence and non-being; it embodies the unified, undivided realm of consciousness. . Adi Shankaracharya unequivocally states, “ Brahmān is the ultimate reality, the world is illusory, and the individual soul is identical to  Brahmān , as elucidated in the sacred texts of Vedanta” ( Brahma Jnanavali Mala , 20, Adi Shankaracharya ).  Brahma Satyam : Brahmān is the ultimate re...

Eternal is Ātman (Self) spiritual. Evanescent is psychophysical, or temporal-material world. Ātman represents the unchanging essence beyond birth and decay, separate from physical manifestations and unaffected by creation cycles. It embodies the eternal aspect of existence and the divine, striving to surpass the temporary universe. Every being exists, whether in a latent or manifest condition, with the light of Brahmān . The spiritual and material represent a dynamic interplay between the eternal and the transitory. The decision lies before humanity, as Yoga-Vasistha asserts that self-realisation is achieved through personal endeavor. Sage Vasistha teaches Sri Rāma that becoming free of the soul, whether it is in a body or not, means letting go of sensory objects. This implies that the emancipation of the soul from sensual pleasures results in its lack of awareness of physical objects. He asserts that, although we perceive the living, emancipated Sage Vyasa as a corporeal being, h...

B rahmavidyā , as the name indicates, is the wisdom to meditate upon Brahmān (the Ultimate Reality, or the Absolute Existence). It is initiated through a self-realised one through the yardsticks of truthfulness, equanimity, detachment, forbearance, honesty, sincerity, and willingness to learn, practice, and meditate upon Brahmān . It expounds on the teachings of Brahmān and of moksha , or liberation of Ātman from the cycle of reincarnation, or bondage from the body-mind-intellect complex. Thus, Brahmavidyā is the science of Brahmān, or the Cosmic Self. It is to awaken the consciousness of Self to be with the Cosmic Self (Brahmān) . It is a cognitive framework capable of encompassing the entirety of existence at any moment. To learn the Absolute necessitates the inclusion of all elements associated with the object of contemplation in our cognitive processes—not alone the intrinsic components of the object itself, but also the relationships it maintains with other objects. Factors ...