Manana - Reflection on Vedanta: Recent Episodes
Swami Atmananda
Welcome to the 'Vedanta Manana Channel' of the International Vedanta Mission (www.vmission.org.in). We shall be posting short audio clips from the talks of our Founder & Chief Acharya Poojya Guruji Sri Swami Atmananda Saraswati ji here. These are excerpts which have been culled out from his various discourses on Vedantic scriptures. Language is Hindi & English mix. Hope these prove to be enlightening & helpful. Love & om
'What is Yogic state of mind'? Is it mere healthy body in sync with our pranas & a quiet mind, Is it a state of absence of thoughts, Is it an overwhelmed mind because of profound devotion unto God or Is it a state of absorption without any awareness of anything? None of these fully indicate a mind of a Yogi. It is rather best indicated by a mind of a student when he/she is listening to a profound revelation with an open & unconditioned mind, with no prior conclusions & conditionings. Such a mind is obviously quiet, highly attentive, humble - and with no thoughts. It is non-reactive, sensitive & intelligent with a very high degree of attentiveness, living just in that present moment. Such a mind alone learns and shall soon realize the truth of anything, including that of your own Self and God, the infinite non-dual Consciousness - the Brahman. This latter realization part is not the domain of Yoga but is Brahma-Vidya, for which Yogi has become competent now.
Realize that 'I am of the nature of Sat-Chit & Ananda', in me alone everything exists, and all my problems were just because of my erroneous attachment with my body-mind complex. Freedom is an already existing fact, we just have to know this deeply & clearly.
Episode-3: Sravana is seeing deeply the revelations of the scriptures, thereafter in Manana we now see deeply & question all that we had been believing till now. This manthan facilitates assimilation of knowledge.
Episode-2: Seeing is knowing, and its fulfillment is in assimilating what we see. We hold on to all that which we see - whether intellectually or merely by faith. Holding on by faith is blind and with conviction is your freedom & choice.
Episode-1: Importance & Nature of Seeing One in Many. A clip from Poojya Guruji's talk on Vedanta Saar, given at Indore in May 2017.