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Yoga Vasishta ~ SELF-REALIZATION ~ Yoga Vāsiṣṭha
Yoga Vasishta - also known as 'MahaRamayana' - is the Untold Story in the Divine life of Lord Śrī Rāma
God did not create our cosmos. The entire cosmos (incl. YOU and the zillions of universes in it) is a downright illusion. GOD alone is true and eternal.
Yoga Vasishta avers as above-mentioned and also proves it, beyond all doubts, via 100s of supremely profound questions** and answers which are a must-read for any avid seeker.

(**) What is birth? What is death? What happens after death? What is body? What is mind? What is soul? What is karma? Why there is suffering? Who suffers actually?
Are we real? Is this universe/cosmos real? Is ours the only universe? Is our universe endless or is it bounded? Who created it? What is beyond our Universe? ... .. .

"The goal of every life is knowing the Supreme, that is, attaining liberation; there can be no second aim." - Beloved Baba

"And thou shall Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. And thou shall Love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." - Lord Jesus Christ

"Love is the ceaseless flow of divine effulgence. Sages called this Atma, the indwelling Divinity." - Beloved Baba

"Every enlightened person on this earth, everyone who has been liberated, has had these virtues, and you cannot be realized without them. The first one is Compassion, the second one is Humility, and the third one is Service." - Sri Robert Adams

NOTE: Kindly please read this page only if your interest permits. Not otherwise. In other words, there is absolutely no compulsion on my part, in whatsoever manner, that you should read this page. I always and fully value your own understanding/feelings on spiritual matters. Of course, if you are already in the know-how of all that I have written in this page (which are purely based on my own humble understanding [and not based on my own experience] of the words of Mahans, matters presented in Yoga Vasishta, etc.), then you yourself obviously will skip reading this page. This aside, those of you who have landed in this page without knowing anything about me and if at all you wish to know all about me, please see the footer of this very page for full details. In short, I am a NOTHING entity (not even zero). God alone is everything. But, if you still see something of an entity in me, then please note well that I am very much a work-in-progress, with lots of faults still intact. I am striving my best, much like every other person who is not yet enlightened, to uproot my vasanas and perfect/purify myself 100%. That's all I am. God bless all.

Related pages: BABA.azhagi.com, M.T. Mind

The 7 books of Yoga Vasishta (Yoga Vāsiṣṭha)
The 7 books of Yoga Vasishta (900+ pages! totally) ----> Book 1 (31 pages), Book 2 (111 pages), Book 3 (181 pages), Book 4 (75 pages), Book 5 (112 pages), Book 6 (179 pages), Book 7 (219 pages), Intro to the aforementioned 7 books

A Divine Amma's sublime translation and explanation (of the 7 Books of YV), which I came to know later on - it is just IMMMMMMENSE, I have to say - http://www.narayanalakshmi.com/docs/Brhadvaasishta Upanishad of Narayanalakshmi/Sanskrit Yogavasishta of Narayanalakshmi

Who wrote Yoga Vasishta (the summum bonum of spirituality, in my humble opinion)
Sage Sri Valmiki who wrote Srimad Ramayanam wrote Yoga Vasishta too. The circumstances which led to the writing of Yoga Vasishta (the summum bonum of spirituality, in my humble opinion) has been well detailed in the above 7 books.

SATGURU
SatGuru Charanam. If you have your own SatGuru (God in human form) and your surrender is wholesome and 100% to your SatGuru, then you do not have any need for reading anything written in this page. Everything is taken care already. In fact, the opportunity to visit/read this page even would not have arisen, I believe. SatGuru Charanam.

GOD alone is true. Our entire cosmos (holding zillions of universes in it) is an illusion. God did not create it.
"The appearance of distinct countries, people, lands, sentient things, inert things, time, space and the entire lot is nothing but an illusion" - Yoga Vasishta (YV, for short)

YV says that GOD (Consciousness, Atma, Brahman, ..., ..., ...) alone is TRUE. This entire physical universe^ is an out and out illusion#. Our universe* was not created by God. It was not created by anybody else too. At the same time, this utterly false, illusory and mirage-like universe cannot exist without God. Sarvam Brahma Mayam.

(^) with all its planets, living things, non-living things, stars, moons, galaxies, supergalaxies, etc. etc. etc., incl. time and space. Of course it includes you too. You need have no doubt about it. The individual does not exist. He/she is a falsity.

(#) just like that making an appearance, existing for some period of time, and then disappearing - only to reappear later after some period of time. And, this cycle of appearance/disappearance continues endlessly.

This universe is exactly like the dream you have (while sleeping), which has absolutely no reality, and which just like that comes and goes, on its own, without any creator. In other words, you did not create your dream! Yet, your dream could not have existed without you. The starting point of the dream can never be known. However, it ends when one wakes up. Same way, the starting point of this universal dream also cannot be known. But, it ends, when one wakes up from it (i.e. attain enlightenment). When one wakes up from a dream (of the sleeping state), one realises that all the characters (incl. you) in the dream never existed and all the happenings which happened around them never really happened. Same way, when one attains enlightenment too, one realises that all the entities (incl. you) of this universal dream (i.e. of the waking state) also never existed. And, all the happenings which happened around them never really happened. The cosmos never existed and it is not existing even now (as is the case in everyone's deep sleep, every night). And, it will never exist in the future too. That is the plain truth.

(*) Ours is not the only universe. There are zillions and zillions of other universes like ours. All of them too are illusions, nothing but illusions. In other words, this whole cosmos (consisting of zillions of universes) is an illusion. God definitely did not create the cosmos or the zillions of universes in it.

Another perfect example is a mirage. Our universe's nature is exactly that of a mirage. A mirage appears as though it is really existing but it was always non-existent. Since it never existed in the first place, there is no creator for it. Your own eyes see it for some time and its your own eyes which don't see it after some time. So, as such, the mirage neither had a creation nor a dissolution. So is the case with our universe! It never existed in the first place. It is not existing now also.

To sum it up, on the substratum of Consciousness (GOD), the universe just appears, as though it exists (just like a dream or mirage), for some period of time (cycles of yugas). Afterwards, it ceases to appear, for an equally long period of time. That is all to it. Hence, there is no question of a creator or dissolver for the universe!

God = Atma = Self = Brahman = ... .. . = Love

"The Cosmos does not exist. It is an illusion. It never is, has been or will be. The creation of the Cosmos, the dissolution of the Cosmos, these billions of individuals emerging and merging, all this is but a dream. There is no individualised Jivatma at all, no separated Atma. ... .. . Those who cannot grasp this truth are under the influence of Maya or Delusion, it can be said." - Sathya Sai Vahini

"A figure on the screen in the cinema show appears to watch the whole world. What is the reality behind the subject and the object in the same show? An illusory being watches an illusory world. ... .. . You and the world are as real as the cinema figure and the cinema world." - Sri Ramana Maharishi

"'The Self-GOD' is within man, you are that SELF, all else is illusion of the mind’s creation, the mind that creates, preserves and destroys. - Sri Sathya Sai Baba

"This universe, my friends, is an optical illusion", "The only time you will awaken, is when your mind is destroyed." - Sri Robert Adams

"Self-knowledge reveals itself after the annihilation of the mind", "Love All Serve All", "Help Ever Hurt Never" - Sri Sathya Sai Baba

"To be free, shun the experiences of the senses like poison. Turn your attention to forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, simplicity, truth." - Ashtavakra Gita

Everything is GOD only (Sarvam Brahma Mayam)
Eventhough, except Consciousness (GOD), the entire physical universe is an illusion, still, an alternate viewpoint is also put forward in Yoga Vasishta by Sage Sri Vasishta. It is - "The entire universe is Supreme Brahman (GOD) only". That means, this universe comes into form because of a series of superimpositions on Brahman. The sequence of the superimpositions is as follows: the Unmanifested (Avyakta) results from a superimposition of Maya (nescience or ignorance) on Supreme Brahman. Intellectual Principle (Mahat) will result from a superimposition of Maya on the Unmanifested. The result of the next superimposition of Maya is I-consciousness (ahankara). Then follow the five elements (Pancha bhutaas) and finally the visible world, as a result of the five elements. In other words, whatever we experience everywhere and in every way is Supreme Consciousness. This is called as the “View of Superimpositions (Adhyaropa drishti).”

How this viewpoint stands in relation to the other viewpoint wherein apart from the ONE Consciousness (GOD), there is no separate physical universe and hence there is no entity anywhere and no experience whatsoever, is as follows - The five elements (Pancha Bhutaas) are the cause for all the visible physical objects. But compared to effect, cause is more real, as cause precedes the effect. Therefore, the visible world is unreal and the Pancha Bhutaas have to be real. This is Step One in our Process of Elimination. The purpose of the Process is to move gradually towards truth by elimination. Compared to the Pancha bhutaas, their causative principle viz. ‘Cosmic consciousness (Hiranyagarbha ahankara)’ is true. This is step Two. In the same way gradually, Intellectual Principle (Mahat) and the Unmanifested (Avyakta) are eliminated. At the end, the unchanging, Pure Supreme Brahman will be remaining. This is called the “View of Elimination (Apavada drishti).”

Either of the above two viewpoints can be adopted
Sage Sri Vasishta (actually^^, Lord Sri Brahma Himself) finally says - “Whichever viewpoint is adopted, what is obtained finally is one. And that is the Supreme Brahman. That pervades everything. That is Perfect (paripurna). That is Real."

(^^) Sage Sri Vasishta opines in Yoga Vasishta that he had no physical birth; he was just mentally created by Lord Sri Brahma. For me, personally, this gives me the feeling that Sage Sri Vasishta was actually Lord Sri Brahma Himself.

From Beloved Baba's Divine Discourse
"When the objective world is ignored, set aside, denied or discovered to be immanent in the Divine, the jeeva (individualized being) is no more. When the jeeva is no more, the Ishwara (Cosmic Being or personalized God) is also superfluous and disappears. And when the Ishwara has faded out, the Brahman (Absolute Reality) alone Is. Where there is no child, how can a mother exist? It is a word with no significance. When a personalised God, a personality separate from the rest, called jeeva, and the mental creation of that jeeva, called prakrithi (the objective world), are non-existent in the developed consciousness of man, maya, the progenitor of all three, cannot persist."
- Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba (Source: saispeaks.sathyasai.org/discourse/sadhguru-speaks)

God - Cosmos - Individual
Every seeker would have come across spiritual texts which tell that the whole thing called 'Life' comprises of just three matters, on the whole - God, Cosmos and Individual. And, as per the Divine words of our "Gods, Avatars, Rishis, Gnanis, ...,", out of the 3 matters of "GOD, COSMOS and INDIVIDUAL", only GOD is REAL. Cosmos and Individual are totally UNREAL.

This universe (incl. time and space) is just a creation of one's own mind
"This universe with its innumerable objects, its concepts of time and space, and its varied laws is only a creation of one's own mind. Just as the mind creates a world in the dream state, so it also creates an imaginary world in the waking state. The only difference between the dream and the waking states is that dreams are short and the waking state is relatively longer. Time and space are only ideas of the mind." - Sage Sri. Vasishta (Source: http://yogavasishta.org/book3a-ch1-60.html)

Bondage results because of one's belief that this Universe is real
"Bondage consists in our belief in the reality of the visible world. So our release depends on the negation of phenomena that are apparent to the senses." - Sage Sri. Vasishta (Source: http://yogavasishta.org/book3a-ch1-60.html

The Plain Truth - This universe was never born
"The universe was neither born, nor maintained, nor dissolved; this is the plain truth." - Ribhu Gita

The Ribhu Gita forms the sixth section of the Sanskrit work known as Siva Rahasya. It is the teachings of Lord Siva in Mount Kailas to His devotee Ribhu.

The Cosmos does not exist at all
"The Cosmos does not exist. It is an illusion. It never is, has been or will be. The creation of the Cosmos, the dissolution of the Cosmos, these billions of individuals emerging and merging, all this is but a dream. There is no individualised Jivatma at all, no separated Atma. ... .. . Those who cannot grasp this truth are under the influence of Maya or Delusion, it can be said." - Sri Sathya Sai Baba (Sathya Sai Vahini)

Yoga Vasistha (Yoga Vāsiṣṭha) - the ultimate treasure house of the ultimate knowledge
If you can "diligently" read the abovementioned 7 books of Yoga Vasishta - not 'here and there' but in order - then, in my personal humble opinion, there is nothing more## for you to read, in the field of spirituality, in terms of understanding spirituality 100%. You might think "Oh. Every spiritual seeker says so about some spiritual treatise or other.". Honestly, that is not the case with Yoga Vasishta (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Vasistha).

Yoga Vasishta (YV) is the ultimate treasure house of the 'Ultimate Knowledge'. I am saying this after years of study of soooooooooooooooooo much of spiritual stuff, since 1990. Yes, the divine (that ONE supreme Consciousness) made me plunge into spirituality, in an unexpected moment (happy moment), in Dec 1989, when I was 22.

You will believe what I say about Yoga Vasishta if only you can read all of the above 7 books, one after the other, where Sage Vasishta explains to the depths - all about Consciousness (God), Cosmology, Creation, Evolution, Life, etc. through various means - allegorically, medically, scientifically, mathematically and what not. The stories of the past narrated in YV (films like Matrix, Back to the future, Inception, etc. are mere copies of these YV stories) are a supremely fascinating read. Some of the matters provided are unheard of and mindboggling. Even if you finish reading upto the 3rd Book, you would have realised to a great extent, the truth of all that I have written so far about YV. You would have perfectly understood how this whole universe along with the zillions of other parallel universes are all nothing but mere illusions. In other words, this or any other universe was not created by God. These understandings will help you realise how you shall put as much efforts as you can to attain Self-Reaslisation (same as GOD-Realization, the ONE AND ONLY GOAL of life), get out of this (incredibly grand)illusion once for all and remain in Consciousness (i.e. Truth, the birthless, deathless, unchanging, eternal Reality - GOD), for ever, eternally.

Yes, self-realization is Himalayanly tough^^, particularly with the attractions of this world, pains (due to physical challenges, diseases, injuries, old age, etc.) and vicissitudes of this life. But, even amidst all that, we (incl. me, of course) shall always try try try try try, to whatever extent we can. I have been thus trying since 1990. It is tough beyond words to still the mind, which is the sole requisite for self-realization, as per all Mahans. A 'Nothing Entity' like me definitely needed a SatGuru (God in human form) around me all the time - to guide my each and every step, so that I can still (in other words, extinguish and annihilate) my so-called mind. My sincere prayers for you to get your own SatGuru. My sincere prayers (from the very depths of my heart) for GOD-realization for AAAAAAAAAALLL......... in this very birth itself..... Sairam.....

(^^) An extract from Book 3 of Yoga Vasishta is as follows:
Sage Sri Vasishta: Lord Sri Rama! The illusionary appearance of the world is like cholera. It has been there for a long long time. It cannot go away that quickly. Self-inquiry is the only mantra to be out of it. 

(##) Only with respect to understanding spirituality to the hilt. Otherwise, one may need to keep reading one or other matter related to spirituality, in order to maintain focus. Reading/hearing/seeing spiritual matters alone can help us remain focussed since they serve as a great SATSANG when somebody does not have their own SatGuru yet. If you have your own SatGuru, then of course, His words are the only thing which matters primarily for you. You would not be perhaps reading this page even, in that case.

SatSang
Having written about SATSANG above, my humble opinion is that after reading Yoga Vasishta, you may opt to do this - Along with whatever you are reading so far for your Satsang needs, you may read the divine words of Mahans "Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, Beloved Baba, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsar, Sri Maha Periyavaa, Sri Gautama Buddha, Sri Ramana Maharishi, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Sri Robert Adams, Sri Rumi, ..., ..," also, if at all you wish to and if at all you feel like. Their divine words, in great abundance, even as PDF files (for instance, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharishi), can be found very easily in the net in very many, very many sites. Books carrying their divine words are also available, if you are accustomed to reading books. For instance, Silence of the Heart is a book carrying the divine words of Sri Robert Adams. A 'MUST READ' in my opinion, perhaps as the very first book after reading Yoga Vasishta.

A note on the above-mentioned 7 books of Yoga Vasishta
After my dearessssssssssssssst Amma reached the Lotus Feet of my Beloved Baba (in May 2019), I was finding it soooooooooooo tough. So, I was searching in the net on certain matters, including 'life after death'. I understood that there were millions who were going through the untellable ordeal of losing one's dearessssssssssssssssssst amma or appa or son or daughter or betterhalf. In relation to 'life after death', I saw Bhagawaan Sri Ramana Maharishi mentioning about the "Story of Leela" in YV, in answer to a particular related question. So, I searched on the net for a "comprehensive" YV (since I had already read 'YV Saaram' earlier many years back). I searched and searched and searched, looked at many translations/commentaries, downloaded some and finally zeroed in on the best commentary (on the 7 books of YV), for which only I have given the 7 links - right here - in this very page. For me, personally, in my own personal humble opinion or judgement, these were/are the best commentaries. It might differ for others. One more thing. I am not compelling anybody to read YV. If you have not read YV so far OR you are not interested to read YV even hereafter, so be it. Of course the inner desire exists in me (in the form of "யான் பெற்ற ஆறுதல்/விவேகம் பெறுக இவ்வையகம்") that each and every individual in this world should read YV and benefit much the same way as I got benefited.

For me, my amma is not only my dearessssssssssssssst but greatessssssssssssssst too. I know she only made me read Yoga Vasishta. Sairam Amma Sairam.

Note: If you are interested to read the full verse-by-verse translation of YV, then it is available in epub and mobi format at http://www.shivabalayogi.org/Books/Yoga_Vasistha.htm. It is the complete Yoga Vasishta full Mitra^^ translation (of 1891), updated in Modern English and annotated. (^^) An extract from the aforesaid web page: Project Gutenburg made electronic versions of the complete 1891 translation of Yoga Vasistha Maharamayana by V. L. Mitra available to the public. Mitra’s translation is the only complete English translation of this work which is considered the finest exposition of Advaita (Non-Dual) philosophy. It is long since out of print.

Well, on 09-Dec-2020, I happened to come across this wonderful site yogavasishta.org which presents Sri. Mitra's book in a divinely exciting manner. Please do not miss out visiting this site. The associated facebook page for this divine site is - facebook.com/vasishtayoga. The author of the aforesaid website has echoed similar feelings like mine. The cover photo of his website, as of 09-Dec-2020 says: "YOGA VASISHTA MAHA RAMAYANA - THE ONE & ONLY BOOK YOU MUST HAVE TO READ BEFORE YOU DIE..."

Treasure Treasure Treasure! ETERNAL Treasure! - Divine Amma's translation and explanation of the 7 books of Yoga Vasishta
narayanalakshmi.com/docs/Brhadvaasishta Upanishad of Narayanalakshmi/Sanskrit Yogavasishta of Narayanalakshmi - this Divine page is the one which has Divine Amma's translation and explanation of the 7 books of Yoga Vasishta. What can I say! Immense! Immense! Immense! In my personal humble opinion, one shall not miss to read these translations and explanations. Please note that there is one other introductory page giving meanings of Sanskrit terms.

I profusely thank Shri. Ramachandran sir for emailing me about Divine Amma's above translations+explanations in Dec 2021. It is not just on Yoga Vasishta but Divine Amma has translated so many other ancient scriptures of ours. Divine Amma's works are available in http://www.narayanalakshmi.com/docs/. One will be dazed and amazed, if they get to see/read the aforesaid 'volumes of spiritual treasures' Divine Amma has provided us with, so far. All the treasures are downloadable as PDFs. Sairam. Sairam. Sairam.....

Note: I have read only a few portions of Divine Amma's translation+explanation so far. They are also sooooooooooooooo pulling, much like the commentaries I read first (as destined by the Divine).

Audio/Video commentaries on YV in YouTube
I found the following series of YouTube videos (Part-1, Part-2, Part-3, etc., etc.) carrying the commentaries on YV (in Tamil) by Sri Rama Sharma extremely beautiful, laced with natural humour too, here and there. In a nutshell, divinely supreme and spiritually brilliant. This is a life-time golden opportunity for all true seekers to listen to these commentaries and get benefited.



What all helped me before reading Yoga Vasishta
It so happened that I read many related stuff too (mentioned in our puranas, etc.) before starting to read the 7 YV books. Those related stuff were on the 5 Koshas, Kalpas, 4 Yugas, how nature of people and longevity differ in each Yuga, how many lakhs of years comprise each Yuga, when is Pralaya (not the same as Maha Pralaya), when is Maya Pralaya, what all exactly happen - the sequence of events - during Pralaya and Maha pralaya, what are the 7 upper astral Lokas, what are the 7 lower astral Lokas, what is the exact structure of our physical universe## (and those of such similar zillions of multiple universes), etc., etc., etc. All these helped in understanding the commentaries in the 7 YV books in a supreme manner. Sairam..... Thanks a ton to my Beloved Baba and my dearesssssssssssssssst Amma for making me read YV and showing my SatGuru soon thereafter.

Note-1: The web references I have given above on koshas, lokas, kalpas, etc. are not the only reference links. I suggest you explore on the net and read more on them.

Note-2: I read the 7 YV books in order, one after the other. And not here and there, in each book. In the personal humble opinion of this child, reading the books in order only will give the right understanding and will be of right help to a seeker.
(##) this large pictorial representation of our physical universe is a must-see. Please do not miss to see it. It is a large picture.

Who said what on Yoga Vasishta?
  • Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

  • Yoga Vasistha is a very big thing. Yoga Vasistha needs to be read again and again, reading it once won’t work. If you read it every two to three years, something altogether different will come up. Read and ponder on it. You will gain new understandings.”

    Source: https://www.artofliving.org/in-en/wisdom/theme/7-astonishing-truths-from-yoga-vasistha, wherein 'the very first astonishing truth that is stated' itself is: The universe does not exist in the first place

  • Indian freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar:

  • "All of a sudden I fell upon the Yoga Vashistha, and I found it of such absorbing interest that I have come to regard it ever since as the best work on the Vedanta Philosophy. The propositions were so logical, the verse is so beautiful, and the exposition is so thorough and penetrating that the soul loses itself in raptures over it. Such a fine combination of philosophy and poetry is a gift reserved only for Sanskrit poets"

    "When I used to be lost in the reading of the Yoga Vashistha, the coil of rope I was weaving dropped automatically from my hands; and, for hours on end I lost the sense of possessing the body and the senses associated with that body. My foot would not move and my hand was at a stand still. I felt the deeper yearning to surrender it all. All propaganda, all work seemed such a worthless task, a sheer waste of life. At last the mind and the matter asserted their sway over the body and swung it back to work again"

    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Vasistha

  • Sri ShivaBala Yogi:
  • Everything one would want to know, he said, is in Yoga Vasistha.

    Yoga Vasistha is the book that Shivabalayogi recommended for people to learn more about his own spiritual philosophy, yogis and avatars generally, and the nature of creation.

    According to Shivabalayogi, it is the only book that accurately preserves a yogi’s teachings. Other scriptures, he would say, have been altered over time.

    Sri Ramana Maharshi, another great yogi of the 20th Century, often cited Yoga Vasistha. He encouraged the practice of self inquiry and one who reads Yoga Vasistha will find it to be the quintessential treatise on the practice.

    Source: https://www.shivabalayogi-writer.org/Yoga_Vasistha/Yoga_Vasistha.htm

    For the purpose of brevity, I have given only a few quotes/extracts above. You can explore more in the net to read who else said what on YV.

    Yoga Vasishta, the longest scripture, after Mahabaratha
    YV is the longest scripture (around 30K verses), after Mahabaratha. Mahabaratha had so many tales to tell but YV is just about one aspect only (Sarvam Brahma Mayam. Self-realization is the only purpose of Life. Self-enquiry is the way for it.) and yet the 2nd LONGEST. So, one can foresee the weight and depth of YV. Yoga Vasishta has sooooooooo much of ABSOLUTELY STUNNING stuff (stories, etc.) - all of them to explain CRYSTAL clearly, beyond any iota of doubt, to Lord Sri Rama (who asks question after question after question - 100s of such brilliant inquisitive questions) that this entire physical Universe is an illusion and nothing else but illusion.

    From Sri Sai Satcharitra
    There were also secondary meanings of Dakshina, in many cases, in which Baba did not want any pecuniary amount. To quote two instances - (1) Baba asked Rs.15/- as Dakshina from Pro. G.G.Narke, who replied that he did not have even a pie. Then Baba said, "I know you have no money; but you are reading Yoga-Vashistha. Give Me Dakshina from that." Giving Dakshina in this case meant - 'Deriving lessons from the book and lodging them in the heart where Baba resides'. (2) In the second case Baba asked a certain lady (Mrs. R. A. Tarkhad) to give Rs.6/- as Dakshina. The lady felt pained, as she had nothing to give. Then her husband explained to her that Baba wanted six inner enemies (lust, anger, avarice etc.) to be surrendered to Him. Baba agreed with this explanation.

    Our universe is a HOLOGRAM - some modern scientists too think so
    After completing reading Yoga Vasishta, one fine day, the thought "this universe is a hologram" flashed in my mind all of a sudden. And, this was/is the best way I could describe our universe, after reading Yoga Vasishta (yv). Actually, even prior to reading yv, I have read Mahans repeatedly saying that this universe is all Maya and nothing is real about it but I was not clear on how exactly it is an illusion. I was not able to visualise it or conceptualise it with 100% clarity. But, after reading yv, I had 100% clarity on that. And it was that clarity which made me conceptualise/visualise that "our universe is a hologram". Of course all the zillions of other universes are also holograms indeed. yv tells that indeed zillions of universes exist at any given point of time because of the fact that universes keep on getting created every microfraction of a second.

    Thereafter I searched the net on hologram and found out that Japanese have taken hologram to the next level by making you feel the hologram contents itself. i.e. you can touch and interact with the hologram. I also read how that is made possible.

         

    The knowledge of these things## strengthened my feeling that the best way to describe our universe is that "our universe is a hologram".
    (##) For instance, you can hear the narrator saying "hologram can be used to build an entire city or even the whole country" at 9:12, in the 2nd of the videos above.

    And, when I further explored in the net, I could see that some of the modern scientists too are thinking on the same lines. Some of the articles/videos which speak about this are:
    • bbc.com/earth/story/20160901-we-might-live-in-a-computer-program-but-it-may-not-matter

    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bwLtlA9eDM (Is the Universe a Hologram?)



    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmDKlcaAWO0 (Why do some scientists believe that our universe is a hologram?)



    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auJJrHgG9Mc (The magic of AI neural TTS and holograms at Microsoft Inspire 2019)



    • An extract from the first link (from bbc.com) I have listed above is as follows:
      "Are you real?", "What about me?" - These used to be questions that only philosophers worried about. Scientists just got on with figuring out how the world is, and why. But some of the current best guesses about how the world is, seem to leave the question hanging over science too.

      Several physicists, cosmologists and technologists are now happy to entertain the idea that we are all living inside a gigantic computer simulation, experiencing a Matrix-style virtual world that we mistakenly think is real.

      Our instincts rebel, of course. It all feels too real to be a simulation. The weight of the cup in my hand, the rich aroma of the coffee it contains, the sounds all around me – how can such richness of experience be faked?

      But then consider the extraordinary progress in computer and information technologies over the past few decades. Computers have given us games of uncanny realism – with autonomous characters responding to our choices – as well as virtual-reality simulators of tremendous persuasive power.

    • A divine quote from Siddha Gita is as follows:
        "Just as a mirror remaining unaffected presents within itself pictures owing to its clarity So also Chit (Consciousness) presents by its own power the objects illumined by itself within itself.".

        One needs to ponder over the above divine quote very well, in light of my (and few others of this universe's) feeling that our universe is a hologram. So, we can think of our universe as a sort of self-projecting hologram system, which is eternally powered to switch on/off any universe (one out of the zillions of universes) in cycles (ON[universe, lives begin] - OFF[after maha pralaya; no universe and life] - again ON[universe, lives begin]... .. .). During the ON/illumined cycle, the hologram system projects the universe inside itself, like a mirror. During the OFF/dark cycle, the hologram does not project anything. It is similar to a mirror which does not display anything in pitch darkness.

      The following divine verses from Sri Dakshinamurti Stotram also help to exemplify our thinking:
        1. This world is unreal like the image of a city in the mirror, it exists inside. Due to the power of Maya it looks as if it is manifested outside like in dream we see things outside ourselves. Salutations to Sri Shiva in the form of preceptor, who, at the time of self realization, makes one aware that Atma is without second (i.e. one)
        2. Like a tree inside a seed this world is not manifested initially. Later on it gets manifested due to Maya in space, time and various forms. Salutations to Sri Shiva in the form of preceptor who like a magician, through his yogic powers, transforms it by his own will.
        3. Who emanates from eyes and other sense organs like the light of a lamp kept in a vessel with multiple pores; by whose grace, I know that this light only illumines the entire world, salutations to Sri Shiva in the form of preceptor.
    As we can understand from the above, in a mirror, we do see the images in 3D, though they are appearing in a 2D flat surface only. Due to its inherent nature, the mirror which is a 2D only, is able to show the images in 3D. Likewise, the universe appears in 3D in Consciousness though it is not in 3D, in reality.

    Confirmation from my SatGuru
    Based on my above conclusions arrived at by me (intellectually, after reading 'Yoga Vasishta') that this universe is a self-projecting hologram (like in a mirror), I did ask about this to my SatGuru (whose advent in my life was in December 2019 - an extremely monumental moment indeed, after 12 years of intense prayers of mine to my beloved Baba, to arrive as SatGuru) and he readily confirmed - in December 2019 - that this universe is indeed like a hologram (where the objects are hollow and unreal) and it is indeed like the reflection in a mirror (where depth is seen but everything is in 2D actually and unreal). Sairam.....

    Well, mine is only an intellectual understanding and confirmation of the same from my SatGuru. But, how exactly (like a hologram or mirror) it feels in the state of self-realization, SatGuru alone knows. As all say, the state of self-realization is ineffable, as such. Mortals like me are just trying to understand it via different words, until we attain self-realization ourselves. That's all.

    The following words are of my My SatGuru's (translated by me from Tamil to English, to the best extent I could):
      "To THINK", is not at all our nature, basically. Enough said? There is no need to have thoughts at all. There is no need for emotions/feelings even, which are the base for the thoughts. There is no necessity for the "I" attitude/disposition to stand as a governing, separate living entity. This entire lot of falsehood and fantasy, all together, originating from ourselves, extends to our body, our home, our country, our sky, our five elements, and finally upto the end of our cosmos. Enough said?

      At all times, SELF alone is existing. TRUTH alone is shining. Nothing else exists. You are not there. I am not there. He is not there. She is not there. It is not there. They are not there. Nothing is there. Cosmos too is not there.

      The place where 'I' does not exist - i.e. where "I, me, by me, beside me, with me, to me, mine, in me do not exist" - that is BLISS

      'What is' is just only one thing. There too, nothing exists.

      There is nothing at all. An entity called 'individual' does not exist at all. Be Happy Ever.

      Everything {of the waking state} is false. Which character is true in the waking state? Body itself is false. While sleeping, it did not even feel that it holds your life.
    Like any other Avatar's or Gnani's or Mahan's words, my Satguru's words are also so so so many. I have just mentioned a few alone above.

    2D to 3D (vs) 3D to 2D
    Some people never can see the 3D image hidden in a 2D stereogram. For example, look at this stereogram here. I hope you are able to see our Lord Sri Ganesha in it, as much as I am able to see, with lots of details and levels of depth. It is sooooooooooooo easy yet for some people it is soooooooooooo tough to have that slight shift in viewing/focus so that the 3D image is visible, in all its beauty. Self-realization - I personally perceive it as something similar to the stereogram matter. In Self-realization, one's vision turns inwards, with a steady inward gaze/focus, so that this whole 3D projection of the cosmos becomes a 2D self-projection (a self-projected hologram, as discussed earlier in this same page). This eternal inward gaze is soooooooooooo easy as per Gnanis and yet it has eluded and continues to elude the majority (including me) till this date (Feb 2020). ஐயே, ஆன்ம வித்தை அதி சுலபம் (Heyyy!, the science of self-realization is extreeeeeeeemely easy) - Sri Ramana Maharishi. Its my sincere wish that people who know to read Tamil do read the verses of Sri Ramana Maharishi here. Praying (from the very depths of my heart) for GOD-realisation for ALL, at this very moment itself......... Sairam.....

    Like can only create like. God is spirit. It is impossible for spirit to create material. Therefore material creation is an illusion.
    Consciousness is not material and it is implausible to think that God is material. God is spirit.

    Like can only create like. “The essence of consciousness is not material so it cannot be the cause of a material thing.” (VIB.55.2). It is impossible for spirit to create material. Therefore material creation is an illusion. It exists only in consciousness.

    Source for above: The book "Yoga Vasishta by Valmiki" [The original Sanskrit attributed to Sage Valmiki translated to English by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891) edited by Thomas L. Palotas (2013)]

    Lord Sri Brahma (worshipped as the Creator of this Universe) Himself says that this Universe is an illusion.
    Sage Sri Vasishta opines in Yoga Vasishta that he had no physical birth; he was just mentally created by Lord Sri Brahma. For me, personally, this gives me the feeling that Sage Sri Vasishta was actually Lord Sri Brahma Himself.

    Sage Sri Vasishta
    Sage Sri Vasishta was called as the first sage of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy by Sri Adi Shankaracharyar. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasishtha)

    The Divine Voice of Sri Maha Periyavaa
    ஸ்ரீ மஹா பெரியவா அவர்களின் தெய்வ வாக்கு
    I am sharing with you all the following simple, so-easily-understandable words of our loving Sri MahaPeriyavaa (from the VERY FIRST PART of "தெய்வத்தின் குரல்" itself - https://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/part1kural4.htm)
    --
    'த்வைதம்' என்றால் இரண்டு உண்டு என்று நினைப்பது. 'அத்வைதம்' என்றால் 'இரண்டு இல்லை' என்று அர்த்தம்.

    எந்த இரண்டு இல்லை? இப்போது ஸ்வாமி என்று ஒருத்தர் இருக்கிறார். அவருக்கு இரண்டாவதாக ஜீவர்கள் என்ற நாம் இருக்கிறோம் என்று நினைக்கிறோம் அல்லவா! இப்படி இரண்டு இல்லவே இல்லை. ஸ்வாமி (பிரம்மம்) என்கிற ஒரே சத்திய வஸ்துக்குப் புறம்பாக எதுவுமே இல்லை. அது தவிர, இரண்டாவது வஸ்து எதுவுமே இல்லை. அந்த ஒன்றேதான் மாயா சக்தியினால் இத்தனை ஜீவர்கள் மாதிரியும் தோன்றுகிறது. இதெல்லாம் வெறும் வேஷம்தான்.
    ... .. .
    'எல்லாம் ஒன்று' என்பது பிரத்தியட்ச அநுபவமாக வருகிறபோது வரட்டும். ஆனால், இதுதான் உண்மை என்ற நினைப்பை இப்போதிலிருந்தே அடிக்கடி உண்டாக்கிக் கொள்ள வேண்டும்.
    ... .. .
    நமக்கு ஜன்னி பிறந்தால் அதற்கு முன் நாம் செய்த காரியங்களுக்கு விரோதமாகச் செய்கிறோம். நாம் முன்பு ஒரு புஸ்தகம் எழுதியிருந்தால் இப்போது அதை நாமே கிழித்து விடுகிறோம். எழுதியவனும் கிழித்தவனும் ஒரே பேர்வழி.

    இந்த உலகமும் ஒரு கனவுதான். உலக வாழ்வும் மாயா ஜுரத்தில் வந்த ஜன்னி என்று தெரிந்து கொண்டால், உண்மையில் எல்லாம் ஒன்று என்று உணர்வோம்.
    --

    If at all you wish to, you can read more and more by visiting https://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/part1kural4.htm and clicking 'Next', 'Next', 'Next'.

    The person (the thinker) does not exist
    "Formerly there was a person, the 'me' who was imagined. Now, by listening to the teachings of the Vedanta, that imaginary person is gone. He was only a product of imagination, yet he was being harassed too much. That jiva, who called himself as 'I,' disappeared by the instructions of the Guru. 'I' and 'you' have both vanished."
    - Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj
    Source for the above: https://www.facebook.com/Sri.Ramana.Maharshi.Teachings/posts/pfbid0q3KuDkhwaFYfaRHKRGR7TpYL25EXiQXgeVxrsLxZcYvosouythJXnGf5B6neCGPCl

    "முன்பு ஒரு நபர் இருந்தார், கற்பனை செய்யப்பட்ட அந்த ஒரு 'நான்'. இப்போது, வேதாந்தத்தின் உபதேசங்களைக் கேட்டு, அந்தக் கற்பனை நபர் காணாமலே போய்விட்டார். அவர் வெறும் ஒரு கற்பனையில் உற்பத்தியான ஒரு பொருளே, எனினும் அவர் மிகவே பெரிதும் தொல்லைகளுக்குள்ளாக்கப்பட்டார். தன்னை 'நான்' என்று அழைத்த அந்த ஜீவன், குருவின் அறிவுறுத்தலால் மறைந்தார். 'நான்', 'நீ' இரண்டுமே நிர்மூலமாக்கப்பட்டுவிட்டன."
    - ஸ்ரீ சித்தராமேஷ்வர் மஹராஜ்

    Note: Above is a humble Tamil translation of the Divine words here

    அன்பே சிவம் . பணிவே சக்தி
    பணிவே சிவம் . அன்பே சக்தி

    அன்பே அன்னை . பணிவே தந்தை
    பணிவே அன்னை . அன்பே தந்தை

    அன்புடன் பணிவுடன்
    உங்கள் விஸ்வநாதன்

    Sky is blue. Earth is flat. Sun is mobile. Really?
    கண்ணால் காண்பதும் பொய்; காதால் கேட்பதும் பொய்; தீர விசாரிப்பதே மெய்
    Reading the Divine words of our Mahans and the Divine words present in our scriptures regading the illusionary nature of our Cosmos and ourselves, I can now easily realize what our ancestors really meant by the above Tamil words ("kannaal kaanbadhum poi; kaadhaal kaetpadhum poi; theera visaarippadhae mei" meaning "what you see with your eyes is not true; what you hear with your ears is not true; Thorough investigation is the way to truth"). The cosmos/person and all that you see with your eyes are false. All that you hear from the Cosmos and the persons around you are also false since Cosmos/person itself are false. In totality, all that you experience through all your senses are false. What is truth is what you attain by investigation - by investigating yourself, THOROUGHLY, as to who you are really, in reality.

    To illustrate the above point, let us take the case of 'Sky is blue'. It is the simplest illusion one can think, which one experiences daily. Likewise, earth is flat, sun is mobile (revolving around the earth), etc. too.

    The above simple everyday illusions, experienced by mankind, day in and day out, can be easily explained by science to be false. But, for the naked eyes, they are very much true at any point of time and they would have remained true forever unless the so-called modern day scientists had proven them to be false. Of course, our seers knew it for ages that all these are illusions and that the entire Cosmos itself is so (a colossal illusion). But then, how many believe in the words of our scriptures/seers/rishis/mahans/Gods?

    People read all sorts of worldly books but are not read interested to read scriptures like MahaRamayana. Even people who are well-versed in Srimad Ramayana perhaps may not have read MahaRamayanam or even interesed to read it. Why? Well, nobody knows.

    Fortunately, the scientists (in whom only the majority of the world population have belief when it comes to matters related to the cosmos, body, mind, etc.) found out that the earth only revolves around the sun and not viceversa. Otherwise, even of this day, the general population would be believing and staunchly firmly (standing on one leg OR even standing upside down) asserting/affirming that sun only revolves around the earth, the earth is flat, etc. etc. etc. In relation to this matter, interested ones may please read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair. There are lots of other pages too. https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/who-first-claimed-planets-go-round-the-sun/ is one such page. You will get to know details regarding 'who proclaimed when' facts such as "earth only revolves around the sun", etc. and what happened when they proclaimed so.

    NOTE: The sun also rotates on its axis and also revolves (since our solar system itself revolves around the Milky way) but that is an entitely different thing. In any case, everything related to this Cosmos is an illusion. So, no point in going indepth into details on these matters.

    What is TRUTH, after all?
    You can see me using the word illusion (in contrast to TRUTH) very many times above. So, a question might arise as to what is TRUTH after all? I mean, if Consciousness is the only TRUTH and this entire physical universe (incl. you) is false, what exactly is TRUTH then? Well, the definition of TRUTH by Mahans is as follows (described in my own words, based on my own humble understanding of what I have assimilated from the Mahans' Divine words):

    TRUTH is that
    • Which is Eternal (i.e. always exists - no birth, no death)

    • Is Immutable (i.e. it does not undergo change in any manner, whatsoever, at any point of time)

    • And, is Self-Existent (i.e. it is not dependent on any other thing to exist).
    Apply the above definition to anything in this universe, including yourself. One can easily see that everything, including you and this universe itself (along with time and space), is false. Absolutely 1000000000000000% false.

    Well, to understand the above further more, please visit this page and muse over what is being put forth in these following succinct words of Sri Ramana Maharishi - "That alone is Real which exists by itself, which reveals itself by itself and which is eternal and unchanging".

    Let us now apply the above to our ENTIRE Cosmos (ENTIRE means, you, earth, planets, stars, galaxies, time and space - the ENTIRE LOT).
    - Is it eternal? NO. During MahaPralaya, it vanishes completely. And then, reappears anew. Some know this already.
    - Is it unchanging? NO. It keeps on changing every microsecond. It is in constant flux. You know this already.
    - Is it existing by itself? NO. It is dependent on Consciousness (as substratum) for its existence. In other words, it is not self-dependent. If the words "Consciousness (as substratum)" is not clear to anyone, then just think of your dream/thought. Where did your dream/thought happen? It did not happen inside your brain. It is IMPOSSIBLE. Your brain is so small to hold such huge things which you see in your dream/thought. You can imagine the entire Cosmos in your dream/thought. You know this already. So, your dream/thought is not happening inside your brain. It is happening somewhere, in some indescribable entity, which has no attributes. That 'somewhere', that 'indescribable entity' is Consciousness.

    With regard to the above, one can read the following too in 'Srimad Bhagavata Purana' (Source: https://archive.org/details/bhagavatapuranagitapress_201907/page/n1546/mode/1up)
    --
    Whatever has a beginning and an end is unreal because it is open to perception and has no existence apart from its cause. (23)

    Whatever is perceived as a cause or an effect is an illusion, because a cause and an effect are correlated to one another. Therefore, all that has a beginning and an end is unreal. (28)

    Though manifest (to us), the phenomenal world cannot be explained in the least degree independently of the Self. If it were (at all) capable of being so explained, it would turn out to be (self-effulgent) like the conscious Self and (as such) unitary as the Self. (29)

    There can be no diversity in that which is real. If an ignorant man were to recognize (such) diversity, it would be (unreal) like the distinction between the space enclosed by a pitcher and the infinite (expanse of the) sky, between the sun and its reflection in water, or between the air outside and inside the body. (30)
    --

    Let us consider the 1st statement above - "Whatever has a beginning and an end is unreal because it is open to perception and has no existence apart from its cause."

    'Whatever has a beginning and an end' - In other words, that which is NOT always existing.
    'Open to perception' - In other words, it is NOT constant in its nature; it keeps on changing or has variety/diversity
    'Has no existence apart from its cause' - In other words, it is DEPENDENT on something to exist.


    Anything TEMPORARY is fundamentally UNTRUE (வந்து போவது எதுவும் உண்மை இல்லை)
    Let us consider the case of some being (i.e. a living thing) which appears for 60 nanoseconds in the form of 'x' (say yourself), next 60 nanoseconds in the form of 'y' (say myself), next 60 nanoseconds in the form of 'z' (say, your friend) and so on and so on. Now, what kind of reality can you ascribe to that 'being'? Nothing at all. Yes, it does keep existing constantly but it keeps on changing form so that you cannot call it for sure as 'x' or 'y' or 'z'. So, fundamentally, that 'being' is untrue. Now, this is exactly our own life too. Instead of 60 nanoseconds, it is for 60 years (on an average). Only the time duration differs. So, our (temporary)life is also untrue for sure. If this is not understandable, then think of a span of billion of years (that is how long our universe itself indeed exists). In relation to that span of billions of years of our universe's life, every 60 years of your own life is actually 60 nanoseconds only, relatively. So, fundamentally, all lives are untrue. i.e. you yourself are not real (as a 'body-mind-breath-intellect-experiencer' bundle).

    Note: I just formulated the above example based on what I have understood by reading the Divine words in our scriptures and the Divine words of our Mahans.

    The only blasphemy
    The only blasphemy that exists is the fact that you believe that you are human. That's blasphemy, to believe that you are a human being. It's the ultimate lie. You are not what appears to be. No thing is what it appears to be. Then who are you? You have to find for yourself. Is there really a you? Are you really an individual? Are you separate from a tree, an animal, the world, the universe? Is there any separation? Find out. Do you really exist? Find out. Do you have a purpose in life? Find out. Again, it's blasphemous to believe that you were born as a human, and you prevail and you dissolve. That's true blasphemy.
    - Sri Robert Adams

    You, as a person, is an utter falsity | Freedom is from the person, not for the person
    Freedom is from something. What are you to be free from? Obviously, you must be free from the person you take yourself to be, for it is the idea you have of yourself that keeps you in bondage.”
    - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

    "Formerly there was a person, the 'me' who was imagined. Now, by listening to the teachings of the Vedanta, that imaginary person is gone. He was only a product of imagination, yet he was being harassed too much. That jiva, who called himself as 'I,' disappeared by the instructions of the Guru. 'I' and 'you' have both vanished. All of this, everything, without any doubt, is only Brahman. All actions, whatever they may be, are only Brahman. If the one from the one million is removed, what figure remains? How many should we count? If one is counted, many will have to be counted. Who is proud of that which is nothing? 'That' which is nothing, is Shiva."
    - Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

    Don’t talk about the person anymore. The person is apparently searching for Freedom but Freedom is from the person, not for the person. You need to be free of the person for no person has ever been free”
    - Sri Mooji

    Source: https://www.facebook.com/Sri.Ramana.Maharshi.Teachings/posts/pfbid02tRyHYAYFf1mzrYXzRvzqMQkazs3LzmDYjXWva4eDspkTMqfnwGohZbbRW3dUuvnwl

    No! None of these objects is real
    You are wasting your precious time thinking that all that you see in this objective world is true. No! None of these objects is real. Truth is eternal and is beyond the three periods of time - past, present and future. That Truth is Divinity. God is only one, now and forever. How foolish it is to think that the worldly vision which is subject to change from time to time is real. You are a student today. Tomorrow you will become an officer in an Organization and few years later you will be a retired officer. Then, which is true? Is it the life as a student or as an officer or as a retired official? ... .. . Thus, all that you see in this objective world and all the relationships between individuals are only temporary, never real and permanent. Divinity is not like that. Recognise the Truth that the Divine is omnipresent - yesterday, today and tomorrow.
    - Beloved Baba

    Source: http://www.saibabaofindia.com/dasara_discourse_27_sep_2006.htm

    If both myself and the cosmos are just a dream, then should I help others or not?
    By all means, we shall help each other. In fact, as Shri. John Wesley says "Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can". Personally, I have always felt that as long as one is dependent on this society (dependent on your internet service provider, dependent on a doctor, dependent on a computer service engineer, dependent on the milk provider, dependent on the newspaper provider, dependent on an auto's services, dependent on a housemaid, dependent on your loving pet dog to show you the way, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.) and thus availing help from others in innumerable ways, one is bound to help others too. How else it can be? In fact, as far as I can say, service to fellow beings has been prescribed foremost by all the Gods, Avatars, Mahans, Rishis, Gnanis, etc. And, when I read the following Q&A one day, in this page, I felt quite happy. Yes, by all means we shall help each other.

    Question:
    But we see pain in the world. A man is hungry. It is a physical reality. It is very real to him. Are we to call it a dream and remain unmoved by his suffering?

    Sri Ramana Maharshi:
    From the point of view of jnana or Reality, the suffering you speak of is certainly a dream, as is the world of which that suffering is an infinitesimal part. In a dream you have when you are asleep you yourself feel hunger and see others also suffering from hunger. You feed yourself and, moved by pity, feed the others who are hungry. So long as the dream lasted, all this suffering was quite as real as the suffering you see in the world is to you now. It was only when you woke up that you discovered it to be unreal. You might have eaten heartily before going to sleep, but you still dreamt that you had been working hard in the hot sun all day and were tired and hungry. Then you woke up and found that your stomach was full and that you had not stirred from your bed. But all this is not to say that while you are in the dream you can act as if the suffering you feel in it is not real. The hunger in the dream has to be appeased by dream food. The fellow beings you find hungry in the dream have to be provided with dream food. You can never mix the two states, the dream and the waking state. Similarly, till you attain the state of Self-Realization and thus wake out of this illusory, phenomenal world, you must do social service by relieving suffering whenever you see it. But even so you must do it without ahankara, that is without the sense of: ‘It-is-I-who-am-doing-it’. Instead you should feel: ‘I am the Lord’s instrument.' Similarly you must not be conceited and think: ‘I am helping a man who is below me. He needs help and I am in a position to give it. I am superior and he is inferior’. You must help him as a means of worshiping God in him. All such service is serving the Self, not anybody else. You are not helping anybody else, but only yourself.

    If both myself and the cosmos are just a dream, then what about rituals, ceremonies, etc.?
    62. O Queen among women, know that bathing in holy waters, repeating holy names or words (mantras), performing daily homa (sacred offering in specially prepared fire), worship, other oblations in lustrous fire, or any other means (sadhana) to be followed after great study, are never required for him (the earnest aspirant seeking liberation).

    63. Niyamas (strict rules of conduct such as what to eat, when to eat, how to eat, what to wear, where to sit and so on), worship of deities in sacred places, namarchanas (worship of deities by reciting sacred names), pitru-karmas (oblations etc., carried out for the sake of forefathers to help them reach a high state), pilgrimage to holy places which have come forth on earth, and observance of great vows, are all not for him (the earnest aspirant), if considered deeply.

    Source: https://archive.arunachala.org/docs/sri-devikalottara (Sri Devikālottara - as expounded by the Supreme Lord Sri Shiva to Devi Sri Parvathi)

    Ultimately, nobody is doing anything. No action is taking place anywhere
    Since the whole thing (Universe and the activities in it, either by you or by the nature) is just a mere dream, nothing is happening actually at any time. No one is doing anything, at any point of timec. To say that 'x did that', 'y is doing this', 'z has created/developed/discovered/invented this/that' is all utterly false. It is akin to saying that someone "REALLY" did this/that in your dream yesterday. Yes, think of your dream last night. Did action take place? Yes. You are able to recall them even - you saw some beautiful mountains, you heard the roars of a full-flowing river, you felt the sparisam of a gentle breeze, etc. etc. All these things did happen. I reiterate - you are able to recall them even. But, did anything really happen? NO. A Big No. And, you will defininitely agree with this 'Big No' because after waking up, you do know crystal-clearly that all that happened was a dream and hence no action ever took place. You know that without even an iota of doubt. But, that was not the situation when you were deep inside the dream. You thought everything to be real. Similarly, the Mahans having woken up from the cosmic dream (i.e. from this 'waking state' dream) crystal-clearly know that nothing is actually happening in the waking state, because it is after all a dream.

    Our great and sweet Lord Krishna says: "(14) Just as the dream experience brings many a woe to a man who has not yet woken — while the same surely does not infatuate him who has woken up — so what brings sorrow to the ignorant does not afflict a wise man."

    Source for the above: https://archive.org/details/bhagavatapuranagitapress_201907/page/n1515/mode/1up

    From the same above source (Book Eleven, Discourse 28 - The Highest Truth Discussed - in Srimad Bhagavata Purana), the following uplifting, spiritually intoxicating Divine words of our sweet Lord Krishna too.

    (13) "Even though phenomena (in the shape of the various bodies) do not exist (in the Self), metempsychosis (consisting in the experience of pleasure and pain) does not cease in the case of the embodied soul continuing to think of the objects of senses, even as calamities do not cease to afflict a man in the dream state so long as the dream is not broken, although the objects seen in it (including the body appearing in the dream) do not (actually) exist."

    (18) "... .. . What alone existed at the beginning of creation and will survive at the end of it exists in the middle as well and that is (Brahma) ... .. ."

    (20) That (one substance, viz., Brahma) alone is real.

    (4) Whatever is expressed through word (i.e., whatever is grasped through the senses) as well as whatever is contemplated with the mind is false.

    (37) The view of some self-conceited men that the duality (in the form of the body etc.), perceptible (with the senses) in the form of (so many) names and forms and consisting of the five (gross) elements cannot be refuted is a meaningless tall talk.

    (7) ... .. . Threefold appearance (in the shape of creation, continuance and destruction of the universe) in the Self has been declared (by the wise) as baseless. Know the threefold existence (in the shape of the perceiver, the perceived and the act of perception), being a product of the three Gunas, as brought about by Maya.

    (7) Therefore, no entity other than the Self existing apart from that, which is created and so on has been posited (by the Vedas).

    If God did not create this Cosmos&myself AND if this Cosmos and myself (as the body-mind-intellect-breath bundle) are false, then 'Who am I', as such?
    You are God, verily! Do not think that God is somewhere in a distant place. You yourself are God. Develop that confidence. However, when you consider yourself as God, you must develop divine qualities. Then only are you entitled to consider yourself as God.
    - Beloved Baba

    I have told this many times that you yourself are God. Your inner voice also teaches this truth through the sound of Soham (That I am). Your inner voice keeps reminding you of your divine reality but you do not pay attention to it at all. You follow what others tell you but do not believe yourself. In whom else can you have faith, when you do not have faith in yourself? Therefore, first of all you should develop self-confidence. Then only you can have self-satisfaction which will lead you to the path of self-sacrifice and ultimately to self-realisation.
    - Beloved Baba

    You are verily the Absolute Consciousness - Eternal, omnipresent and omnipotent.
    - Beloved Baba

    You are Brahman, the absolute reality. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, no matter how you act. You're still God. But you are not God the way you feel yourself as a human being. You are God as all-pervading, without your mind, without your thoughts.
    - Sri Robert Adams

    You are sat-chit-ananda, effortless, causeless, choiceless, pure awareness. You have no form and no shape. You have no existence. Yet you are. You are not this and not that. You just are.
    - Sri Robert Adams

    You are Parabrahman. You refuse to believe that. You still believe that you are human and your name is Mary, or Robert, or John, or Jack or Jane, and you are deeply embedded in that belief system. Therefore you also believe the world is real, conditions are real, the universe is real, ... .. .
    - Sri Robert Adams

    The wrong notion that the world is real and that you are the body has been so deeply implanted in you through birth after birth, that it can be removed only by means of a very potent drug, administered continuously. The drug, Ram Ram Ram, is to be swallowed and assimilated ad infinitum. Its curative essence will travel into every limb, every sense, every nerve and every drop of blood. Every particle of you will be transmuted into Ram. You must melt in the crucible and be poured into the Ram mould and become Ram.
    - Beloved Baba

    The following picture (created by me on 04-Jun-2023) can help one understand the above Divine words in a better manner, I thought. Hence, sharing the same hereunder. It would be ideal to recall Beloved Baba's Divine words (already quoted in this page) hereunder once again:
    'The Self-GOD' is within man, you are that SELF, all else is illusion of the mind’s creation, the mind that creates, preserves and destroys..

    In the image below, one can very well see the SELF (GOD) depicted in the very center, as the only eternal reality. All else (the person/individual as a bundle of body-breath-mind-intellect complex OR as an experiencer of bliss [AND] the entire Cosmos) being AN ILLUSION has been clearly marked out too. Sairam.....



    The above picture is related to this picture of 5 sheaths/layers. Please do see the aforesaid picture too. As in the aforesaid picture, I felt it will be great if I can also show how ATMA permeates everything and pervades everywhere. So, I coded the following illustration too (on 04-Jun-2023) some time after creating the above picture. I am sure both the above picture and the following illustration will be of help to any sincere seeker. (Note: 'Prana' is closely related to breath. If at all you feel keen, you can read more on it in the net in various pages - e.g. here OR here. As for me, personally, reading anything deeply on the 5 layers is not of much use because they are anyway illusions. So, I opted to use a more familiar word 'breath' instead of 'prana' which any viewer of the picture above OR the illustration below will readily understand).


    Cosmos
    ATMA
    ATMA
    ATMA
    ATMA
    Cosmos
    Body
    Breath
    Mind
    Intellect
    Bliss
    GOD
    SELF
    ATMA


    ATMA
    ATMA
    ATMA
    ATMA
    Body
    Breath
    Mind
    Intellect
    Bliss
    GOD
    SELF
    ATMA


    In relation to the above depictions, I wish one reads the following Divine words too, to hasten one's travel inwards (கடவுள்; உள் கட).

    Imagine a well with polluted and muddy water so that the bottom of the well cannot be seen. Similarly within man's heart, deep down in his consciousness, we have the Atman (Divine Spirit). But it can be cognised only when the consciousness is clarified. Your imaginings, your inferences, your judgements and prejudices, your passions, emotions and egoistic desires, muddy the consciousness and make it opaque. How then can you become aware of the Atman that is at the very base? Through seva (service) rendered without any desire to placate one's ego and with only the wellbeing of others in view, it is possible to cleanse the consciousness and have the Atman revealed.

    "Your mistake lies in your belief that you are born. You were never born nor will you ever die, but you believe that you were born at a certain date and place and that a particular body is your own."
    - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

    "You have no parents, you were not born, nor will you die. Either trust me when I tell you so, or arrive to it by study and investigation. The way of total faith is quick, the other is slow but steady. Both must be tested in action. Act on what you think is true -- this is the way to truth."
    - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

    Birth and death arise out of illusion. Every day in this world, many beings are born and many die. Birth and death happen according to the time and circumstances. Between birth and death, man gets deluded by the physical body and develops various relationships at the physical level. He identifies himself with the body and gets carried away by the feeling of I and mine. This is a grave mistake. As long as the body lasts, you are related to so and so. Once the body perishes, what happens to your relationship? True relationship lies at the Atmic level and not at the physical level. Prior to birth, who is related to whom? What happens after death? In fact, both birth and death are the results of bhrama (delusion) because of which you are unable to realise Brahma (Divinity). One who is enmeshed in this worldliness is unable to comprehend the transcendental principle.
    - Beloved Baba (https://saispeaks.sathyasai.org/discourse/you-are-god-yourself - YOU ARE GOD YOURSELF)

    From time immemorial, GODs, Avatars, Mahans, Rishis, Gnanis, ..., .., . are saying (repeatedly, firmly) that the Individual/Person is totally false (a mere imagination), the entire Cosmos is an utter Illusion, GOD (SELF) alone is true; You are that God.

    Someone like me believes the Divine words like above, immediately, firmly, because more than anything, the Great GOD Almighty himself is saying so. If we believe in GOD, we have to believe their words too - instantly and fully. Is it not? Otherwise, it would remain the greatest irony of all time. Is it not?

    In case you are one of those who are unable to believe Divine words like above instantly and have lots of doubts (or may be even fear) when you read Divine words as above, then, to get UTMOST CLARITY on this, kindly please read (if at all, if at all, if at all, you wish to; no compulsion of even the slightest kind from my end) Yoga Vāsiṣṭha FULLY.

    Praying (from the very depths of my heart) for GOD-realisation for ALL, at this very moment itself, which is the only permanent solution for permanent freedom from all sufferings of all types (spiritual, mental and physical), for now and ever.

    OM Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi (praying for peace for all at all 3 levels - spiritual, mental and physical). Sairam.....

    LOVE - Cosmic Love
    "The root of all religions, the substance of all scriptures, the rendezvous of all roads, the inspiration of all individuals is the principle of love. It is the firmest foundation for man's mission in Life. It is the light that ensures world peace and world prosperity. Fill every word of yours with love, fill every act of yours with love."
    - Beloved Baba

    "Love is the ceaseless flow of divine effulgence. Sages called this Atma, the indwelling Divinity." - Beloved Baba
    Love for Love's sake; do not manifest it for the sake of material objects or for the fulfillment of worldly desires. ... .. . Treat everyone - whoever he may be - with the all-inclusive compassion of Love. This constructive sympathy has to become the spontaneous reaction of all mankind. Saturate the breath - while you inhale and while you exhale - with Love. Saturate each moment in Love. Love knows no fear. Love shuns falsehood. Fear drags man into falsehood, injustice and wrong. Love does not crave praise; that is its strength. Only those who have no Love in them itch for reward and reputation. The reward for Love is Love itself.
    - Beloved Baba

    Love is your life, your friend, your relative, your food and your everything.
    - Beloved Baba

    All are born in love, are sustained by love, and live in love. Never forget love; imprint it on your heart.
    - Beloved BABA

    Think of something that you really love, or someone that you really love with all your heart. Multiply this by a jillion million trillion, and you'll understand what I'm talking about. This particular love is like no thing that ever existed on this earth, consciously. There is nothing you can compare it with. It is beyond duality, beyond concepts, beyond words and thoughts.
    - Sri Robert Adams

    People have strange ideas about liberation, imagining that it involves going to heaven and having eternal existence there. That is not the meaning of liberation. It means achieving Selfless Love that is constant, unabating, and total. This is the state that one must seek to attain; it is only when this state is reached that one is truly liberated. - Beloved Baba

    In the name of liberation, seekers are trying out all sorts of spiritual paths. All such exercises can at best confer temporary satisfaction. The path of Pure Love alone can truly get you there and confer permanent bliss.
    - Beloved Baba

    Start the Day with Love
    Spend the Day with Love
    Fill the Day with Love
    End the Day with Love
    This is the way to God
    - Beloved Baba

    Only when there is a second entity is there scope for thoughts and counter thoughts. But when there is only unity, and that is Brahman, there is no scope for thoughts and counter thoughts. This is the state of amanaska, meaning a state devoid of mind. There is only love in this state. That love is the truth. In fact, truth and love are one and the same. When truth and love unite, the world loses its identity for you and you see Brahman everywhere.
    - Beloved Baba

    L o v e

    Few of my Quora answers on spirituality
    (most of these answers were given by me "after" I had read Yoga Vāsiṣṭha)
    What follows are my answers in Quora, to questions related to spirituality, most of them having been answered "after" I had read Yoga Vāsiṣṭha. I do not know anything by myself. Obviously. So, whatever answers I have given are completely based on my humble understanding of what Mahans have prescribed us. You may read my following answers, "if at all" you wish to, esp. if you feel that they will help you in the form of SatSang.

    By saying it thousand times like many scriptures say that ultimate reality, absolute truth or universal consciousness or brahman exists, can I make some sense to a person with scientific bent of mind, who needs some proof?
    https://www.quora.com/By-saying-it-thousand-times-like-many-scriptures-say-that-ultimate-reality-absolute-truth-or-universal-consciousness-or-brahman-exists-can-I-make-some-sense-to-a-person-with-scientific-bent-of-mind-who-needs-some/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Is the universe infinite? Is there anything that is without a beginning or an end?
    https://www.quora.com/Is-the-universe-infinite-Is-there-anything-that-is-without-a-beginning-or-an-end/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Could Earth's existence be temporary?
    https://www.quora.com/Could-Earths-existence-be-temporary/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    How did the universe come into existence without a creator or higher intelligence? What is the explanation for the development of life and the universe from nothingness?
    https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-universe-come-into-existence-without-a-creator-or-higher-intelligence-What-is-the-explanation-for-the-development-of-life-and-the-universe-from-nothingness/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Is there any evidence to support the idea that we are the only living beings in the infinite universe?
    https://www.quora.com/Is-there-any-evidence-to-support-the-idea-that-we-are-the-only-living-beings-in-the-infinite-universe/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Who is the sustainer of the universe?
    https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-sustainer-of-the-universe/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Is there any evidence to support the idea that we are currently dreaming and only think we are awake?
    https://www.quora.com/Is-there-any-evidence-to-support-the-idea-that-we-are-currently-dreaming-and-only-think-we-are-awake/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is the reason for the creation of the universe? Can it exist forever?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-reason-for-the-creation-of-the-universe-Can-it-exist-forever/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Do any books exist which have all answers for our questions related to the universe, science, philosophy, etc. (including religious queries)?
    https://www.quora.com/Do-any-books-exist-which-have-all-answers-for-our-questions-related-to-the-universe-science-philosophy-etc-including-religious-queries/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is an example of an illusion which can be easily explained scientifically?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-an-example-of-an-illusion-which-can-be-easily-explained-scientifically/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What can destroy an individual's karma?
    https://www.quora.com/What-can-destroy-an-individuals-karma/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is beyond this universe? Is it possible to reach it? Is it possible to live there forever? What is life like there?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-beyond-this-universe-Is-it-possible-to-reach-it-Is-it-possible-to-live-there-forever-What-is-life-like-there/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Do humans have the potential to develop superpowers such as flying/levitation, telekinesis, etc. through spiritual practice or scientific means?
    https://www.quora.com/Do-humans-have-the-potential-to-develop-superpowers-such-as-flying-levitation-telekinesis-etc-through-spiritual-practice-or-scientific-means/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What role does gratitude play in your spiritual practice?
    https://www.quora.com/What-role-does-gratitude-play-in-your-spiritual-practice/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Is everything predefined?
    https://www.quora.com/Is-everything-predefined/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    If everything has an origin, then what was before that origin?
    https://www.quora.com/If-everything-has-an-origin-then-what-was-before-that-origin/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Was the universe and life on earth created by an intelligent creator, or were they created by natural forces alone like scientists say?
    https://quora.com/Was-the-universe-and-life-on-earth-created-by-an-intelligent-creator-or-were-they-created-by-natural-forces-alone-like-scientists-say/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Is suffering personal?
    https://www.quora.com/Is-suffering-personal/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Who created the universe and nature?
    https://www.quora.com/Who-created-the-universe-and-nature/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    At birth, do we come into the world or come from the world?
    https://www.quora.com/At-birth-do-we-come-into-the-world-or-come-from-the-world/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan?prompt_topic_bio=1

    What is the purpose of your existence in this world?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-purpose-of-your-existence-in-this-world/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Who created humans?
    https://www.quora.com/Who-created-humans-1/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is the definition of suffering? Is there such a thing as suffering that is not caused by anything?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-definition-of-suffering-Is-there-such-a-thing-as-suffering-that-is-not-caused-by-anything/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is the definition of truth? Is there an ultimate truth in this universe, or are all truths relative?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-definition-of-truth-Is-there-an-ultimate-truth-in-this-universe-or-are-all-truths-relative/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Why did God create the world and everything in it?
    https://www.quora.com/Why-did-God-create-the-world-and-everything-in-it/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Why could no Godman ever answer this simple question, "why did God create the world"?
    https://www.quora.com/Why-could-no-Godman-ever-answer-this-simple-question-why-did-God-create-the-world/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    How can souls be immortal if they are born? Anything that is created is sure to get destroyed.
    https://www.quora.com/How-can-souls-be-immortal-if-they-are-born-Anything-that-is-created-is-sure-to-get-destroyed/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Is the world full of illusion?
    https://www.quora.com/Is-the-world-full-of-illusion/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    If we take birth here according to our past karmas, then how did the first person arrive on this planet because at the beginning of time there was no karma?
    https://www.quora.com/If-we-take-birth-here-according-to-our-past-karmas-then-how-did-the-first-person-arrive-on-this-planet-because-at-the-beginning-of-time-there-was-no-karma/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Does each part have its own consciousness?
    https://www.quora.com/Does-each-part-have-its-own-consciousness/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    If the soul can pass through anything, then how is it possible that the body holds a-soul inside it?
    https://www.quora.com/If-the-soul-can-pass-through-anything-then-how-is-it-possible-that-the-body-holds-a-soul-inside-it/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    If Atman is nothing but pure consciousness, then who would get the karma phalitam, the Manas or the body?
    https://www.quora.com/If-Atman-is-nothing-but-pure-consciousness-then-who-would-get-the-karma-phalitam-the-Manas-or-the-body/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is the purpose of life? How can a family person not abandon his wife and kid but still attain Nirvana?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-purpose-of-life-How-can-a-family-person-not-abandon-his-wife-and-kid-but-still-attain-Nirvana/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Does I really exist, or am I a dream in another's mind?
    https://www.quora.com/Does-I-really-exist-or-am-I-a-dream-in-anothers-mind/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Does coming back to the Earth multiple times make more sense than just living once since that would be a waste of a universe? Does progressing from lower forms of life to higher make more sense than reincarnating randomly between levels of life?
    https://www.quora.com/Does-coming-back-to-the-Earth-multiple-times-make-more-sense-than-just-living-once-since-that-would-be-a-waste-of-a-universe-Does-progressing-from-lower-forms-of-life-to-higher-make-more-sense-than-reincarnating/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Should I-depart my family in order to find the holy guru who can drive me towards spiritual enlightenment?
    https://www.quora.com/Should-I-depart-my-family-in-order-to-find-the-holy-guru-who-can-drive-me-towards-spiritual-enlightenment/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    If there is plenty of scientific and medical research which shows that consciousness is fundamentally linked with brain function, where is the (reputable) evidence to suggest that consciousness may be independent of the physical organism?
    https://www.quora.com/If-there-is-plenty-of-scientific-and-medical-research-which-shows-that-consciousness-is-fundamentally-linked-with-brain-function-where-is-the-reputable-evidence-to-suggest-that-consciousness-may-be-independent-of/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What do you think about reincarnation?
    https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-think-about-reincarnation/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is the meaning of illusion and what are the types of illusion?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-illusion-and-what-are-the-types-of-illusion/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Where were humans before his birth? If we cant remember then could it be that we are not living in the real world?
    https://www.quora.com/Where-were-humans-before-his-birth-If-we-cant-remember-then-could-it-be-that-we-are-not-living-in-the-real-world/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    When did time start? What is its beginning? Something must have existed before the universe came into existence?
    https://www.quora.com/When-did-time-start-What-is-its-beginning-Something-must-have-existed-before-the-universe-came-into-existence/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    At what point did time begin?
    https://www.quora.com/At-what-point-did-time-begin/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    If we are not body or mind then why do we allow conditioning in mind and everyday thought process?
    https://www.quora.com/If-we-are-not-body-or-mind-then-why-do-we-allow-conditioning-in-mind-and-everyday-thought-process/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Who are we, what do we do and why are we here?
    https://www.quora.com/Who-are-we-what-do-we-and-why-are-we-here/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    We understand that the world we live in is an illusion, the Atman is the only truth. Does it mean that time is also an illusion?
    https://www.quora.com/We-understand-that-the-world-we-live-in-is-an-illusion-the-Atman-is-the-only-truth-Does-it-mean-that-time-is-also-an-illusion/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is one spiritual message you want to share?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-one-spiritual-message-you-want-to-share/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Is most of spirituality just a bunch of woo woo? Are there any proper intellectual ways to think about spirituality?
    https://www.quora.com/Is-most-of-spirituality-just-a-bunch-of-woo-woo-Are-there-any-proper-intellectual-ways-to-think-about-spirituality/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    How can I begin spirituality on an intellectual level?
    https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-begin-spirituality-on-an-intellectual-level/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Is one's body a repository of a huge amount of memory?
    https://www.quora.com/Is-ones-body-a-repository-of-a-huge-amount-of-memory/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is the spiritual reason for our birth?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-spiritual-reason-for-our-birth/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What are the books that will teach me about atma or soul? What it is? And what its nature?
    https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-books-that-will-teach-me-about-atma-or-soul-What-it-is-And-what-its-nature/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What is the spiritual purpose of our lives?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-spiritual-purpose-of-our-lives/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan?no_redirect=1

    What is time (from a spiritual point of view)?
    https://www.quora.com/What-is-time-from-a-spiritual-point-of-view/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Which is the best book on mystical, spiritual, and universe experience reality?
    https://www.quora.com/Which-is-the-best-book-on-mystical-spiritual-and-universe-experience-reality/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    What does enlightenment mean?
    https://www.quora.com/What-does-enlightenment-mean-1/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    Few of my Quora answers on spirituality
    (most of these answers were given by me "before" I had read Yoga Vāsiṣṭha)
    What follows are my answers in Quora, to questions related to spirituality, with most of my answers having been given by me "before" I had read Yoga Vāsiṣṭha. I do not know anything by myself. Obviously. So, whatever answers I have given are completely based on my humble understanding of what Mahans have prescribed us. You may read my answers, "if at all" you wish to, esp. if you feel that they will help you in the form of SatSang.
    God
    1. Where does God live?
      https://www.quora.com/Where-does-God-live/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    2. Why did God create the world and everything in it?
      https://www.quora.com/Why-did-God-create-the-world-and-everything-in-it/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    3. How can I meet God?
      https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-meet-God/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Namasmarana
    1. Why is Namasmarana (remembering the name of Lord) given a lot of importance in Kalyuga?
      https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Namasmarana-remembering-the-name-of-Lord-given-a-lot-of-importance-in-Kalyuga/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Enlightenment
    1. What does enlightenment mean?
      https://www.quora.com/What-does-enlightenment-mean-1/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    2. What is enlightenment and how it can be achieved?
      https://www.quora.com/What-is-enlightenment-and-how-it-can-be-achieved/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    3. What is the purpose of spiritual enlightenment?
      https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-purpose-of-spiritual-enlightenment/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    4. Is enlightenment the end of the road for a seeker? Does an enlightened person not gain any further knowledge or experience?
      https://www.quora.com/Is-enlightenment-the-end-of-the-road-for-a-seeker-Does-an-enlightened-person-not-gain-any-further-knowledge-or-experience/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    5. Can you be spiritually enlightened, then lose it?
      https://www.quora.com/Can-you-be-spiritually-enlightened-then-lose-it/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    6. Do spiritually enlightened people have different kinds of brain activity?
      https://www.quora.com/Do-spiritually-enlightened-people-have-different-kinds-of-brain-activity/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Kundalini
    1. Which texts do you read for your kundalini awakening?
      https://www.quora.com/Which-texts-do-you-read-for-your-kundalini-awakening/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Goal of Life
    1. What do you want in life?
      https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-want-in-life/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Surrender
    1. What is meant by surrender in spirituality?
      https://www.quora.com/What-is-meant-by-surrender-in-spirituality/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Meditation
    1. What is Meditation? Is it an emptying of the Mind? Can one really do that?
      https://www.quora.com/What-is-Meditation-Is-it-an-emptying-of-the-Mind-Can-one-really-do-that/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    2. Is the emptiness of the mind the destination of meditation?
      https://www.quora.com/Is-the-emptiness-of-the-mind-the-destination-of-meditation/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Virtues - Gratitude, Forgiveness, etc.
    1. What do you think is your most important human virtue?
      https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-think-is-your-most-important-human-virtue/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    2. Is forgiveness a sign of cowardice?
      https://www.quora.com/Is-forgiveness-a-sign-of-cowardice/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Spiritual Quotes
    1. What are your top 5 favorite spiritual quotes and why?
      https://www.quora.com/What-are-your-top-5-favorite-spiritual-quotes-and-why/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    2. What are some best quotes regarding Spiritual enlightenment?
      https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-best-quotes-regarding-Spiritual-enlightenment/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    3. What's your favorite spiritual ocean quote or metaphor?
      https://www.quora.com/Whats-your-favorite-spiritual-ocean-quote-or-metaphor/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Spiritual Stories
    1. What is your favorite spiritual anecdote?
      https://www.quora.com/What-is-your-favorite-spiritual-anecdote/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Spiritual Books
    1. What are some good books for spiritual enlightenment?
      https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-good-books-for-spiritual-enlightenment/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    2. What are some books to read for self-realisation?
      https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-books-to-read-for-self-realisation/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Science vs Spirituality
    1. Do spirituality and science go hand in hand?
      https://www.quora.com/Do-spirituality-and-science-go-hand-in-hand/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    2. ஆன்மீகத்திற்கும் கல்விக்கும் தொடர்பு உண்டா?
      https://ta.quora.com/ஆன்மீகத்திற்கும்-1/answers/124346574
    Rebirth
    1. Does rebirth really happen?
      https://www.quora.com/Does-rebirth-really-happen/answers/98817928

    2. Reincarnation: Can humans ever be born again?
      https://www.quora.com/Reincarnation-Can-humans-ever-be-born-again/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    3. நான் ஏன் மீண்டும் பிறக்காமல் இருக்கவேண்டும்?
      https://ta.quora.com/நான்-ஏன்-மீண்டும்/answers/175423352
    Previous Life
    1. Is it possible to know about the previous life by any yoga? How?
      https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-to-know-about-the-previous-life-by-any-yoga-How

    2. How can I know who I was in my past life?
      https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-know-who-I-was-in-my-past-life/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    3. Why does some place that I visit the first time seem extremely familiar? Is it just coincidence or could it be spiritual?
      https://www.quora.com/Why-does-some-place-that-I-visit-the-first-time-seem-extremely-familiar-Is-it-just-coincidence-or-could-it-be-spiritual/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    Mantras
    1. What would be some prayers/mantras in Hinduism or Buddhism for wishing good health on someone else?
      https://www.quora.com/What-would-be-some-prayers-mantras-in-Hinduism-or-Buddhism-for-wishing-good-health-on-someone-else/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    General
    1. What are some of the greatest examples of presence of mind?
      https://www.quora.com/Humor-What-are-some-of-the-greatest-examples-of-presence-of-mind/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    2. Who was the spiritual guru of Steve Jobs?
      https://www.quora.com/Who-was-the-spiritual-guru-of-Steve-Jobs/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    3. Who is Nimkaroli Baba? Why did Zukerbarg and Steve Jobs visit his ashram?
      https://www.quora.com/Who-is-Nimkaroli-Baba-Why-did-Zukerbarg-and-Steve-Jobs-visit-his-ashram/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan

    4. Why can't people write Rest-in-Peace or any true wishes for a departed soul instead of just RIP?
      https://www.quora.com/Why-cant-people-write-Rest-in-Peace-or-any-true-wishes-for-a-departed-soul-instead-of-just-RIP/answer/விஸ்வநாதன்-Viswanathan
    The Clock to Self-Realization
      I love the 'Clock Analogy' given here - Should-it-be-Bhakti-Jnana-or-Karma-for-me - and strive to act as per it, as much as possible. i.e. keep ticking on with your work - tick tick tick tick tick tick (like the second hand of a clock which is usually hardly noticed and not given much importance) - so that the minute hand (Bakthi) moves after a while, which results after quite a long while in the movement of the hour hand (Atma Viswaasam - Self-Confidence), and thus ultimately leading to SELF-REALIZATION, the one and only goal of human life, as stated innumerable times by the Mahans.
    The Train to Self-Realization
      The 'Train Analogy' given here - http://media.radiosai.org/journals/Vol_08/01FEB10/01-conversations.htm - illustrates the 3 paths so so so beautifully. I have realised that the 'Clock Analogy' referred by me in the previous section shows the way to adopt for NOTHING entities like me, until self-realization dawns.


      Thanks a ton to RadioSai.org for the above image.

    Azhagi - God's Own App
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