Dear Ashoka, Thank you. Swami Anubhavanandaji says that satsang is the best way for spiritual practice. At Bengaluru, we are fortunate to have a group of sincere seekers under the guidance of Dr.Thimappa Hegde. We discuss, (used to) meet once a week in small groups, and get together periodically in retreats. We listen to Dr.Hegde, study transcripts of talks by swamiji's, listen to audio and video talks and present our understanding in our meetings. We clear our doubts by interactive question and answer sessions guided by Dr.Hegde. For effective satsang, we require two constituents- 1. group of seekers in same path 2. teachings from great masters In this era of pandemic and with other worldly commitments, internet is a boon for spiritual seekers as it connects like minded seekers with one another and with teachings of great masters. Param Vedanta aspires to create a platform where like minded seekers get together. Welcome. Get your friends too. Ask questions. Your questions will get replies from fellow seekers. But, finally, the answer will be known only by yourself through inquiry supported by those replies. Links to teachings of great gurus will be shared in this website. Good resources are spread out in the vastness of internet. We will post and catalogue good quality links as resources. Please share such material, whenever you find some useful material in the web. Thanks to Sri P.S. Ramachandran for sharing Vedanta Academy's talks. To start with, please explore https://www.vedantahub.org/ . It is a treasure.

When we have faith in God’s Omnipresence, Omnipotence, and Omniscience, then we will have faith in God’s Omnipresence, Omnipotence, and Omniscience. No questions. Only faith. Sleep like an infant in mother's lap. That's why we have mothers. That is why we create God.

Imagine an ice-cube in a glass of water. What will happen if the water principle leaves the ice cube? The question seems logically implausible because the water principle cannot leave ice cube. If ice melts, water merely changes from one form (ice) to another (water in the glass). 1. Now, if we decide to call that unchanging principle behind the chair as ‘existence’. 2. ‘Existence is permanent’. Chair can stay or leave, but existence cannot ‘leave’ the chair (by definition). 3. If you take out chair from existence, what remains is existence. 4. Even if every’thing’ leaves existence, existence alone remains. Poornasya poornamaadaya, poornameya avashishayte.

Nicely explained. Thank you sir.

Yes.

Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati says that swadharma= ‘what is to be done by one’, that is, one’s duty. He explains that at a given time, place, and situation, what is to be done becomes evident. Then, doing that is swadharma. If it is not evident, then one can talk to learned people in society who can think and analyse the situation and understand what the proper action is. He quotes from Taittiriya Upanishad, Shikshavalli, Anuvaka 11, which gives this solution, when in doubt about the right course of action.

Chitta will be active in samadhi; (That is why one can remember the experience of being in samadhi, later) Ahankara (and chitta) will be active in sushupti (So that one can say that 'I' had a good sleep, later) Buddhi is the decisiveness faculty- predominant only in jagrat avasta.

Yes. By definition, Jeevan Mukta will need ahankara, for us to see him as one individual. But, for him, he would have renounced ahankara and would have attained Jeevan Mukti. So, Swami Anubhavanandaji says in one of his talks on Panchadasi, one can attain jeevan mukti, but one cannot become a 'jeevan mukta'. Instrument of 'Vision' is same for all- what we can see would be many objects Instrument of 'Touch' is same for all- what we can feel would be many different things Instrument of 'Manas' is same for all- what we can think differs from person to person Similarly, instrument of 'Ahankara' is same for all- what proportion of gunas we can have in it differs from person to person.

Ahankara is the sense of individuality. The notion of 'I am the doer'. Technically speaking, it is derived from total sattva taken from all the five elements. It is necessary for us to exist as sarira in one piece. We can imagine ahankara to be like a magnetic field around a magnet. The subtle and gross elements align themselves in its field to create a sarira. They fall apart when ahankara is removed. Colloquially, ahankara is spoken of as an egoistic word to be shunned. However, in vedanta, it is characterless like a plain television screen. It displays the knowledge/ action/ intellect of the person which can be predominantly satvic, rajasic or tamasic.

Om Sri Gurubhyo Namaha Meditation can be of two types- 1. Going beyond the mind with the aim of experiencing blankness 2. Staying with the mind to concentrate on knowledge of self Vedantic meditation refers only to the second type. It prepares the mind to receive self-knowledge. Allow thoughts to come and go as they please. Experience the thoughts as a passive observer. Contemplate on the observer who is different from the thoughts. The first type of meditation, though possible, is a temporary state. It has nothing to do with spirituality and does not help in pursuit of self-knowledge. Meditation, as such, does not give enlightenment.

Very well explained. Sukshma shareera is the term.

You have this job of pacifying a child scared of thunder and lightning, staying alone at home in a dark rainy night. Is it possible to explain him the physics of why the roar wont harm as it is happening far away? You need to tactfully assume the strength to assure the child that, if he finishes his dinner and sleep, you will certainly take care of the monsters in the clouds. You would not hesitate to promise him that you will always appear and protect whenever a thunderstorm terrifies him. There are 3 kinds of seekers in the spiritual path- For a sakama/ manda bhakta, God is the means to achieve the ends in the World. His ends are in the form of Artha, Kama and Dharma. For a nishkama/ uttama bhakta, God is the means to achieve his only end- Moksha. He strives hard to achieve Moksha through God. Jnani bhakta knows the physics of thunder and lightning. In these verses, Sri Krishna is talking to the manda/ uttama bhakta in Arjuna. Through Arjuna, He is addressing us. Jnani bhakta knows the physics of thunder and lightning. And he knows that Brahman has no intelligence or inclination to appear when you are in trouble. He does not bother. In fact, he cannot. Hard to digest.

Ramana Maharshi was once asked- ‘How should we treat others?’ He answered- ‘there are no others.’ For a jnani, once he identifies himself with Brahman, there are no others... the whole play of life and death becomes literally inconsequential. With that perspective, he is not harming/ destroying any one. This is Sri Krishna’s first and strongest level of argument to convince Arjuna not to grieve. Further, He persuades Arjuna to fight by explaining the next levels: of dharmic duty and world views.

Avyakta= Not manifest. What is meant by 'not manifest'? We call something is manifest if it is perceivable by our sense organs. Some things are perceived only by one sense organ and not by another. Some are perceivable by two or more sense organs. But if there is some ’thing’ which is not perceivable by any of our sense organs, we are accustomed to outrightly deny its existence. So, 1. Any thing which is perceivable by Hearing, Touch, Vision, Taste and Smell = is called Prithvi 2. Anything which is perceivable by Hearing, Touch, Vision, Taste only = is called Jala 3. Anything which is perceivable by Hearing, Touch, Vision only = is called Agni 4. Anything which is perceivable by Hearing, Touch only = is called Vayu 5. Anything which is perceivable by Hearing only = is called Akasha 6. Anything which is perceivable by no sense organ = is called Avyakta Vedanta calls that ‘stuff’ which is not perceivable by any of our sense organs as ‘unmanifest’= Avyakta. So, what constitutes that stuff Avyakta? 1. Consciousness/ Brahman/ Atma; and 2. Maya Verse 2.25 identifies Atma as Avyakta.

We need to understand the basic tenets of Karma Yoga to play our role in the materialistic world full of relationships. Swami Paramarthananda gives an analogy which helps us practically- Suppose there is a five-test series of cricket. Your team has won the first three matches. Practically, you have won the series because already the score is 3-0. Now imagine, how will be your play in the fourth and fifth matches? Your team will sincerely play them, with an intention to win them too. But at the same time, you will have equanimity regarding the result. Whether you win or lose, despite sincere efforts, is not going to make any difference to the overall outcome. The only result that eventually matters is winning the test series. Our efforts while playing the worldly roles should be with the same equanimity. Your sincere efforts matter. Ishvara arpana buddhi. Whatever the result, embrace it gratefully. Results does not matter anyway in the ultimate scheme of things. Ishvara prasada buddhi. Swami Anubhavananda says, ‘there is nothing to do, nowhere to go’. So, stay in Kar-natak! Not easy, though!

1. Creation is a misnomer. Nothing can ever be created. Vedanta recognizes the process as manifestation from un-manifest form. 2. Brahman and Maya are both beginning less principles. 3. Yes

Raga= attachment Shoka= grief/ sorrow Moha= delusion Swami Paramarthananda describes the problems of samsara is because of these three reasons. It is true that 'moha' is used as 'desire' colloquially. Here, these are technical terms used in a specific context. One essential habit during our study of Gita is to align ourselves to the meaning as specified by the Guru.

I am seeing a pen in front of me now. I can perceive it because of the light which is getting reflected from the pen. If light were to be absent, I could not have perceived the pen. If pen were to be absent, the light would have just passed through. So, the light is not playing an active role in my perception of the pen. Adding ‘light’ to the ‘pen’ is not an active process and does not involve any effort from the ‘light’. However, presence of light is mandatory for my perception of pen. Now, just replace pen with Maya (or anything in the world which you perceive... any matter, including your thoughts) and light with Consciousness, Brahman or Atma. I am seeing a World in front of me now. I can perceive it because of the Consciousness which is getting reflected from the world. If Consciousness were to be absent, I could not have perceived the World. If World were to be absent, the Consciousness would have just passed through. So, the Consciousness is not playing an active role in my perception of the World. Adding ‘Consciousness’ to the ‘World’ is not an active process and does not involve any effort from the ‘Consciousness’. However, its presence is mandatory for my perception of World.

Technically, Arjuna seems to be in 'anticipatory grief'. Anticipating the inevitable disaster. Kubler Ross noted five stages of grief in 1969. Though her stages are not universally accepted, we can see Arjuna going through them- denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Curiously, a sixth stage of grief was later added by her co author David Fessler in 2019: 'Finding Meaning'. Sri Krishna, the ultimate psychotherapist, silently allows Arjuna to go through the initial phases of grief by catharsis, and, only then, imparts the real 'meaning' of his grief.

Good questions Avinash. Difficult to answer in few sentences. Please stay with classes regularly. Revise Tatvabodha classes. Avoid searching other sources for sometime, because it may be confusing initially. For the purpose of following our classes and going further, note that atman= brahman. Can't create anything on its own. Brahman.. that is your self, with maya, create everything.