For Seekers by Seekers

Namaste is an Indian tradition. In these days of Corona virus threat people have switched from shaking hands to doing a namaste. Namaste symbolism is simply - I recognize the supreme Brahman in you. It also is a reminder to subjugate our ego to the Brahman. It is a fallacy to think that we are equal to the other person only if we shake hands (and that too firmly!). Namaste is a sublime representat...

Vedanta teachers use two words - Jvatma and Paramatma to denote the ‘soul’ within each living being’s body and the universal consciousness. This can be confusing for a layman as they will immediately assume that there are two entities now - they & Him. But this is not true. With an analogy of a pot, the Upanishads explain: Just as how the space within and without the pot are the same., the jivatma...

In the West, yoga means asanas/ postures. Period. In the East (India), it can mean anything - Bhakti (devotion), Dhyana (contemplation/ meditation), Raja (Spiritual practices), Pranayama (Breath control) or Karma yoga (doing our duties without expecting a particular outcome). But in this episode we present the definition of yoga as discussed in a book on Vishnu Sahasranamam: it is when we contempl...

Yogic 3 part breathing uses 100% of lung capacity compared to 10% what we normally use. Shifting the breathing style has immense benefits - better immunity, elimination of diseases, calm mind. In this podcast, we explain how to breathe right by dividing the lungs as three portions and exercising the surrounding muscles - diaphragm for the bottom third, inter coastal muscles for the mid section and...

Vedanta uses examples to teach us several esoteric concepts. Just as an ignorant person uses the sandalwood tree directly as firewood whereas a wise person knows the value and sells it in the market, we should recognize the rarity & uniqueness of human life. It can be used both for (1) eat, sleep, procreate or (2) to realize that there is a ‘higher’ potential in us. It’s up to us to figure out how...

Theory of reincarnation + theory of karma explains why twins lead totally different lives. The subtle body (emotional mind + rational mind + memory + ego + senses + prana) leave the physical body at death and look for a suitable new body to fructify their vasanas (desires). The theory of karma says that they get a new body (human, animal, plant, insect....) based on their karma - how well they hav...

Humans are the only species in this universe who are self-conscious. This leads us to, naturally find faults with our own being and / or compare with others. The comparision naturally leads us to make changes - either add or delete something to make us more attractive in line with our expectations. Why can’t we just accept our own selves, with all our warts and all and apply this unique ability to...

Sponsoring thought is the first thought occurring in us. This triggers successive thoughts that are entirely based on our mind set. In Japa, we chant a sacred mantra (a chant is a thought) over and over again, letting the mind not to diverge and to stay focussed with one thought. When the sponsoring thought and successive thoughts are the same, the mind’s nature of wandering away is reduced!

Brtruhari’s Vairagyashatakam describes that everything in this world is coupled with fear: if we have wealth, we are fearful of thieves or taxman; if we have physical beauty, we are afraid of old age; if we enjoy / over eat or drink then we are fearful of disease; if we are well learned then we are fearful of learned opponents who can bring us down.....the only thing that would make us fearless is...

B Gita Ch 2 and Kathopanishad explain death as an event when the embodied soul discards the physical body made of five great elements and moves on to find another suitable body to manifest the desires, thoughts, emotions. Death means packing up the subtle body - mind, memories, intellect, Prana and then finding a new body to play our our desires. The new body is governed by the karma we build - ca...

Upanishads say that the entire material world is permeated by Brahman. Because it is so intricately intertwines we miss noticing Brahman. So, Upanishads employ this unique method to say what all is NOT Brahman and then we automatically understand what Brahman is! This is known as ‘sabda pramana’ - proof of the words.

Subjective & Objective are two words that are grossly misunderstood by many. Science is said to be objective - which means it is all about objects perceived by five sense organs. But spiritual enquiry is said to be subjective - which means it is enquiring into the topic of I, the subject who is experiencing this world. Spiritual scientists apply logic, objective method of enquiry to understand the...

Arjuna faced a dilemma: Kill people he loved to win the kingdom or let go of the kingdom and be called a coward, and a person who did not do his rightful duty. His confusion was the result of attachment & emotional dependence on few people he loved. This attachment caused him to grieve the (imaginary) loss of their death, and this deluded his rational mind - he became incapable of taking any decis...

While this episode is controversial because of the wrong way caste system is implemented in Indian society since age immemorial, our scriptures are very clear: four castes exist because of the differing mental attributes and the preference to the type of work we all have, and NOT determined by birth. The head of the Brahman is imagined as brahmana (brahmin or the knowledge sharer, the shoulders as...

We often assume the stress of various roles we play in our life. By giving ourselves permission to not take on the tasks associated with our roles, we are letting our minds free to focus and concentrate. This meditation practice helps you to quickly center yourself, train your mind to concentrate on the breath - which is the essence of our life as well as build awareness of interdependence we all...

Just as gold can be made into different ornaments and as soon as each ornament is created (given a shape) by the goldsmith, we give it a shape and name - ear ring, bangle, necklace etc. but all of these are just gold + names + forms. Likewise the entire world is consciousness + names + forms. Take away the gold, name and form does not exist in ornaments. Same with the material universe.

Purushasukta imagines the entire manifested universe as a giant human body with the moon as the mind, sun as the eyes, ears as directions, navel as space, earth as feet etc. such an imagination is useful for us to not appreciate the mysteries of universe but also be able to meditate on the formless, shapeless, all pervading, all permeating consciousness principle

If a mere product manufacturer has the intelligence to create a user manual on how to use the product, let’s not forget the fact that the Supreme Intelligence- Brahman, which is the source of our intelligence, must have also thought through this. Yes, the Vedas are the user manual he has created for us to learn and use the universe for our benefit.

Unlike popular scientific Big Bang Theory, the Purushasukta says that the creation is a cyclical process and not a straight line. There is no Time =t0! Being cyclical it is a continuous process of creation, destruction. This is a powerful logical explanation that explains how anything can be created at all. Creation can NEVER happen out of nothing. So, explaining creation as a cyclical process whi...

When in deep sleep, we don’t recognize the universe - we know nothing. The Purushasukta says that the universe and the individual need to ‘interact’ for the universe to be validated. Else, the universe does NOT exist for us. This connection is presented symbolically in the sacrificial fire analogy as a ‘pouring in’ of the 21 elements we are built up with INTO the supreme sacrifice / yagna/ sacrifi...

The Brahman offered itself as raw material to create this universe and it was a selfless action. Looking around our immediate nature, we see only selfless actions. It’s only us as humans who have selfish desires & actions because for millions of births we have become conditioned by exercising our mind in wrong directions. This has to be undone.

Symbolism in idols reveals the mystery and shows us the path. Chinmudra - a hand gesture where index finger and thumb touch and make a circle reveals that we have to focus our efforts at achieving infinite bliss - which is the goal of human life. Listen to this to learn more how!

For any creation, we need two - material and intelligent causes. If we need to create a pot we need clay (material cause) and potter’s intelligence (intelligent cause). The supreme consciousness is the intelligent cause that uses its special power called Maya and creates the entire universe. The efficient and material causes of creation is the same - the consciousness itself, just like a spider is...

The supreme consciousness rapidly multiplies itself infusing its mysterious power called maya - the creative ability with itself to create the multifarious variety and the world. Right from space, air, fire, water, earth it also creates the several beings, non living things. Contrasting to His creation, when we wake up from deep sleep we create our world from ignorance - and apply our filters of e...

The entire manifested universe runs on certain principles - certain natural order. For example gravity works only downwards, or the order of food chain. The order of seasons etc. This natural order is determined by that consciousness and humans are expected NOT to violate this order.