ADVENTURES IN ADVAITA VEDANTA...

Adventures in Advaita Vedanta, the philosophy and science of spirit. We are one you and I; are you curious why?..


Reflections on Discourse; 7


Hari OM

From 8/4/19 to 12/4/19, Pujya Swami Swaroopananda-ji presented evening discourses to the public at the Merrylands Civic Centre, NSW Australia. The focus of his talks this year was Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita, and more specifically, shlokas 1-32. Some of the learning and insights will be shared over several posts.

At the end of Saturday's post, we saw shloka 22. It is oft-quoted in Vedantic circles! It points to what many argue as reincarnation. However, if the context of the Lord's teaching is fully understood, rebirth itself is nothing but an illusion, just as each time we enter a dream we are dressed differently and may consider ourselves to be in a different body - and yet, yet, there is that Essential "I" which knows and sees all this and which remains unchanged.

Now; there are those who argue that when young people die, how can the body be said to be 'worn out'. The thing is though, our time in any incarnation is not determined by our age. The physical body responds only as long as the Essential "I" resides within it and if we 'die young' it is likely that the "I" (Aatmaa), in the individualised form of 'jiiva', has decided it requires only that much experience. There are physical things which take place, of course - be that an accident or disease - which ensure an 'early waring' of the biological vehicle. All this falls under the purvue of discussions on karma and praarabdha, which can be found in other texts in this blog. There are so many factors in why we live the length of time that we do.

The key point of this chapter - indeed the entire Bhagavad Gita - however, is to adjust our thinking to the eternal nature which is ours to experience, to put the world of plurality in its proper context and to help us work better within the framework of human life for as long as we must live it. Over all of this the watcher Self, that Essential "I", remains. Before we knew about beginnings or endings we just 'were'; existing in a singular entity. All our dreams are within us and, in the same way, all of us are within That Self, the Aatmaa.

That Aatmaa is almost impossible for us to comprehend. Shri Krishna attempts a further description of its nature in shlokas 23 and 24:

Weapons do not cut this Aatmaa,
Fire does not burn it,
Water does not make it wet,
And the wind does not make it dry.

This Aatmaa cannot be cut, burned, wetted, or dried up.
It is eternal, all-pervading,
Unchanging, immovable, and primaeval.