Talks on spiritual and philosophical topics, mostly related to the path of knowledge and Advaita Vedanta or Non-dualism. Subjects such as the consciousness, mind, reality, metaphysics and various ways to study these are discussed.
(I apologize for bad sound quality in this episode, some parts are barely audible or are distorted.)
How does the ancient view of time different from current view? What is the nature of the time? What is time like in other planes of existence? What are causal bodies really doing? What is the relation between spiritual evolution and cycles of time? Let us explore together.
What is Self remembrance and how to do it? What are material objects, how are they created? Is the ancient knowledge valid? How can we get the lost knowledge back?
What is creation? Who is the creator? How is it being created or was created? Who's will is this? If everything is being created by the mind then why is there a history or archaeological records? What is the nature of historical time? Let us dig out some answers for these fundamental questions and solve them for once and for all.
What happens after death? Does everyone experience similar things after death? Is there any experience at all? How to know how death looks like? Let us venture into the unknown world of death and speculate. This is part 2 of 2 of the recording.
We are having a dual experience. We experience the opposites. If there is perfection, there is also imperfection. Yet, I the existence is absolutely perfect. How is that possible? How can we call this existence perfect when all we see is imperfection? Isn't our struggle against this imperfection that we find around us? Let us explore our own experience, and find out if it is really perfect.
A Guru is much more than a person. The Guru field manifests through many things and events. We are all connected to the same one Guru field. It is right here, right now. All you need is a deep longing for knowledge and a strong intention, and you will receive. Lets say thank you to this Guru field.
Is the existence infinite? Can such questions be answered? What happens when you try to answer such questions? Let us introspect and find out.
The individual mind, although it appears to be segregated, resides in a sea of minds, all present right here and right now. It is always influencing other minds and is being influenced by them. Supernatural influences are the ones, where the source is nonphysical. Its always our own tendencies that allow, other minds to influence us. Since a mind cannot remain unaffected by influences, it is useful to know which influences are beneficial for us, and which ones are not.
The individual mind is merely a concept, an idea, an assumption. There is no individual, except in the form of a temporary ignorance of the whole. Any mind, is always a group mind. An interconnected whole of potentially many.This realization turns our view of individual minds or a person, upside down.
What are the applications of occult techniques? What can go wrong when they are indiscriminately practiced? Why were they suppressed? Will they remain hidden forever? In spite of their power and effectiveness, such practices remain a double edged sword. However, there are some milder versions, which a seeker can learn and benefit from.
The techniques for manipulating the mind and to empower it, enhance it with various abilities, have been clubbed under the occult, and are generally called the left hand paths. Although they are condemned by great masters or traditions around the world, and were largely suppressed, they still survive, albeit in a corrupted and ruined form. These can be effectively used to bring the mind to a detached and desireless state very quickly, accelerating its evolution, but are ridden with danger and pitfalls.
In this part of the series, we read, about the collective illusion of the universal mind, the Ishvara. We learn that some teachings are sugar coated and diluted to suit the level of evolution of a student. The teachings of a creator and a creation are some among many such skillful means to purify a mind and bring it to nondual wisdom. Finally we see that there is only one ignorance of one Self, and liberation of one mind brings an end to all ignorance there is.
In this part of the series, we read about the mechanisms of Maya, the force, latent in the existence itself, which wakes up through minds and project an illusory experience. We also see how an illusion of ego arises, and how can one Self/existence appear as many egos. We explore the beginning and cause of the Maya.
Causality is just an idea, a concept, a creation of the mind. Cause and effect apply in a tiny area of the Ego and are related to survival. Cause and effect do not provide a convincing explanation for the reality or for our own direct experiences. Why does it seem like there are causes for events and there are effects of them? How does the mind create causation? If not in terms of cause and effect, how else can we understand this continuous change we call the experience?
Is the real nature of existence nothingness? Or is it eternally something? Why is there an experience of something instead of nothing? How is something being created out of nothing? If the experiencer and the experience are one, and if the experience is nothing but change, and if the experiencer is unchanging, how can it also be a change? These are very strange and puzzling questions. The answer is stranger and even more mysterious.
In this meeting, the concept of Entropy and self organization in metaphysics will be introduced. Metaphysical structures self organize via various processes and form ordered evolving structures called minds and worlds.
Links shared in this meeting:
Simulation example of self organization
In the second part on the topic of the universal mind, some ways and methods to explore the universal mind are discussed in brief. There are three broad ways to approach the Universal Mind:
1. Logic
2. Ordinary experiences
3. Extraordinary experiences
3.1 Everyday extraordinary experiences
3.2 Rare extraordinary experiences
3.3 Brute force methods
3.4 Elegant methods
3.5 Permanent experiences
In this meeting the concept of universal mind is presented in brief. Universal mind is all that which can be experienced, all that which is manifested. There are various theories and models of its structure and organization or ontology. Some of them are presented here. This is the part one of two on this topic.
Link to the images shared in the meeting.
Once the unity of the experience and the experiencer is recognized, a question arises - why is the experience so varied, why are there so many forms instead of a simple plain experience of being. How does this colourful drama of experience come into being. We will attempt to explain that via direct observation and form a theory about the arising of a diversified experience out of simple change and necessity.
Since all experiences are mediated via the mind, which distorts what is into a subjective impression of it, all we can experience is necessarily a distortion. That means, we cannot know what is, we only know that which is not. It also means, all we can have is ignorance, not knowledge. Any knowledge is refined ignorance, nothing more. Reality stands on the foundation of ignorance and is unknowable.
