Nama Retreat. Session 4

Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji Thank you. Kripa Sindhu Bhavacca, Patitanam Pavanibhyo, Vaishnavebhyo Namonamaha. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda, Sri Advaita Gadadhara, Sri Vasadhi Gaurabhakta Vrinda, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare I am a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a person who is a Hare Krishna. so again thank you very much for coming for these lectures where we are trying to understand how turn our body from the instrument of bondage into the instrument of devotion the human body is given to the soul specifically for this purpose to help the soul to develop bhakti and in this way get free from the enslavement of matter the soul belongs to the higher energy of the lord but somehow or other it has become weakened by the intimate contact with Maya. And this humiliating condition in which we are all in is painful. So we spoke a little bit yesterday about this, how the bondage, material bondage, what is the mechanism of material bondage, how the material emotions which is the purpose of our existence. We exist here to experience some emotions, some emotional states. And it's equally true in case of material existence and spiritual existence. In both cases, the goal is to experience some emotions. Spiritual emotions or material emotions, emotions are emotions. but if these emotions are the instrument of our ego or the byproduct of our ego the product of our false identity then these emotions are called material and if the same emotions are the product of spiritual ego, spiritual understanding of my identity, spiritual relationship in which I want to enter, then this is spiritual emotions. Somebody asked this question in the big stack of questions which I have. You know, if I cry being separated with my guru, is it material, is it sentimental as somebody says, or is it really spiritual? No, it's spiritual. Because where these tears are coming from. These tears are coming from this understanding I'm spiritual living entity and I want to realize my relationship with Krishna and the only way for me to realize this relationship with Krishna is to enter into relationship with Guru. Because this ego, this form of ego, this structure of ego is there. Then whatever is produced by this ego is spiritual. of course there is serotonin and dopamine in the background but it doesn't matter the chemical mechanism may be similar of course it may be different in some cases too but the emotion itself the movement, the energy which is produced in the heart which pushes us in certain direction in life pushes us to act in a certain way is actually spiritual. So don't be fooled by wise advices of some philosophically minded devotees. You are sentimental. No, you are spiritual. Because your understanding of who you are is spiritual. Your structure of your ego is spiritual. I am the spirit soul and I am entering into the maybe, you know, slightly material to a certain extent but still the very basis of it the very spine of our ego is spiritual. So we were talking about this and we were talking how the material emotions are in most cases the emotions of stress. And the cause of stress this understanding that I want the world to be the way I want it to be, and the world somehow or other always behaves differently, and therefore it creates a very justified indignation in myself, you know, how dare he is, how dare it is to behave not the way I want it to behave. you know we basically all want to make the world rotate around us and it's a pretty difficult job you know but still we try and as a result we become frustrated and this frustration is called stress you know this is what it is we are trying to make everything my way and ultimately we are hitting highway and highway of samsara highway of this punarjanma so that's what is going on so this is what we were discussing yesterday and we were also trying to understand how emotional mechanism within our body works and how it produces certain chemical reactions and how these chemical reactions in turn also influence our mind. How they're interconnected and this interconnection actually helps us to break through this vicious circle. So this is more or less a little recap of what we did yesterday. And of course we also saw how the soul is looking into the mirror of false ego and by looking into the mirror of false ego mind, the mirror of the mind adopts the qualities of the mind the stable and very pure soul looking in the mirror of the mind adopts the quality of dirty mind or imitates the quality of dirty mind thinks that he is the same so today we'll speak, it's very important what we are going to do today because it will give us the key, very important understandings and keys of what our spiritual practice should be in reality. So we will look at the role of ego in the emotions. I spoke about the structure of emotions, how they enslave us. Now, today, we will look how the ego is the switchboard, how it switches on and off different emotions and how it ultimately can produce spiritual emotions and how to get rid of the false identity false ego so that we will all speak about today and the most the best news of today's presentation will be that to get rid of ego is very easy. Shila Sanat Nagaswami, I will quote this verse in the presentation. He quotes Yoga Vasishta and he says, some authorities like Vasishta say that to get rid of ego is as easy as to pluck a flower or to blink an eye. So within a blink of eye, we will get rid of our ego, no problem. So that's the hope for today. So let's begin with this. So this ego is a switchboard. Yeah, I will show you how it works physiologically. So this little plan, we first speak about the tensor fence, which is exactly speaking against the holy name. And this tense offense is speaking about the pernicious effects of false ego, how the false ego precludes us from experiencing the real holy name. Then we will discuss a very difficult question. Who experiences emotions? Is it soul or ego? because in Srimad Bhagavatam itself there are two completely contradictory statements. In one statement it is said that the experiencer is the soul. In another statement it is said, no, it is ego experiencing this. So we will resolve this apparent contradiction. Then we will look in the nature of citta, of our mind or heart, which has reflective abilities. and then last three points of our plan for today we will go a little bit in depth about the three aspects of false ego we will see the three distortions and three illusions created by ego and ultimately we will try to understand the three steps how to purify our ego, how to get rid of the false ego. So that's the plan for today. So as I'm trying to connect these things together, because sharanagati means to get rid of the false ego. Sharanagati means to surrender. Sharanagati ultimately means atmanikshepa. And atmanikshepa means I'm throwing myself to the Lord. I'm giving myself completely to the Lord. so that's ego and as I said the bhakti starts only after Sharanagati, only after Sharanagati is completed and therefore in the descriptions of the ten offenses of the holy name in Padma Purana, the tense is this is the last offense to the holy name the last but not the least it's actually the most important offense it's the most subtle offense but from this offense all other offenses grow, it's the seed of all offenses and I will prove this by quoting Shilajiva Goswami commentary on this particular offense so literally it is said, if somebody is devoid of love pretty to the holy name even though he heard the glory of Nam and still he doesn't develop any pretty love to the holy name he still considers himself and whatever is connected with him the most important Paramaha means the most important Namni sopya parada hrid so this is he is also a parada hrid he is also such person is also an offender so first question is of course how we can have pretty you know it's little strange to expect that we have pretty to the holy name from the very beginning so therefore Śrīla Jīvi Goswami explains priti rāhi tāha namni priti śraddha bhaktirva so the word priti here doesn't mean love the word priti here means śraddha the face in the holy name or devotion to the holy name basically when we hear the glory of the holy name this face should appear and enthusiasm should appear Yes, I will chant the holy name, I will serve the holy name, no matter what. So that's what it means. In the beginning, we should have faith after hearing this. We hear it again and again and again, and the faith should develop. If faith doesn't develop, the deep faith, real faith doesn't develop, that will create apparats. That will create apparats. And Srila Jivigaswami, he explains this particular offense in the following manner. So what it means that despite hearing the glory of the Holy Name, you still ahanta mamata adi ekatatpareena. Tatpare means context. literally the word means context or the meaning so basically what Srila Jiva Goswami here says is that even though you hear about the importance of the holy name you still bring everything into your own context you still remain self-centered because this is our usual way of seeing the world We're bringing it into our context. If something is contextual to us, if something is related to us, then we're interested in it. And if something is not really within our context, we are neglectful to it. So that's a very important process which we have to be careful about. Actually, the holy name is not within our context. We are in the context of the Holy Name. It's vice versa. We are the part of the Holy Name. We are the part of reality of the Holy Name. We are a tiny little part of reality of the Holy Name. But instead, we are trying to bring it under us. We are trying to make it serve us. And the most important word here is Anadaravan. Adar means what? Like, you all have Adar card? Adar means respect. Adar means respect. If you do it with Adar, with respect, with due respect, then the holy name will open himself to you. But because you are still the center, you didn't really remove yourself from the center, your ego is still in the center, you are still trying to bring everything into the context of yourself, then you remain anadharavan means this suffix pratyaya, vatpratyaya, anadharavan. this vatpratyaya in Sanskrit means that something is inherent to you. Please listen, it's a very important idea which I want to say. Unless we remove ourselves from the center, we will remain inherently disrespectful. The disrespect will remain our nature. Externally we may behave, and that's good, we may behave respectfully but if we're still in the center of our existence then this respect will remain our nature that's the most important thing this is the idea behind this Anadharavan Ityarthaha so yeah so yeah this is what I wanted to say so that's why it's very important to understand what is the structure of our ego, where it is and how it works how it produces different illusions how to get rid of this illusion so that will be the topic of today and in fact because we remain because we remain disrespectful in particular to the holy name so this last offense becomes the seed of all other offenses and ultimately it will give a big tree with a lot of juicy fruits of offenses to the holy name. So it's very subtle, very little, you know, seed, you know, I am in the center. I am the most important. Everything else is not so important. So from that to Satam Ninda, it's actually a very short way because it's a fast-growing tree. Very soon you will be offending left and right everyone trying to prove that you're the best devotee. And everyone should respect you. Otherwise he will commit an offense against the holy name. So that's how it works. So therefore this tense offense we have to understand very clearly and basically to get rid of the tense offense means sharanagati. And as I explained yesterday also, it's very important that this period of our devotional service from shraddha to niṣṭha is the period of planting the seed of devotion. The Bhakti Lata beach is not planted when you have shraddha. It's just thrown into your heart. Whether it will grow or not remains to be seen. Yeah, little seed is there, but it only really planted and rooted within your heart when you reach Nishta. In between, this is the painful planting period. We have little project to which we will all go tomorrow and the land there is not very good. So we know how difficult it is planting something And before to plant something, we have to dig the hole and put some cow urine and cow dung and so many other things. Before this seed or seedling can be really planted. So that's the process. And basically, this is the process of removing this tensor fence or adopting the process of sharanagati. or adopting the elevated emotions of Sharanagati. So, Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains this offense, the tense offense in Harinama Chintamani. Anyone who does not surrender in these six ways is the lowest of persons. Making the mistake of thinking in terms I and mine, he is worthless like a pile of ashes. you know it's like after cremating the body there is a pile of ashes such person is like a pile of ashes, he thinks I am the doer this family is mine I experience happiness and suffering as a result of my own efforts I am the protector I give shelter, this is my wife and this is my brother these are my daughters These are my sons. I earn money because of my efforts. All I do turns out well. In this way, all becomes good. Persons who have turned their faces from Lord Krishna, persons who think in terms of I and mine, speak in this way, they are very proud of what they think they know. they may have elaborate knowledge of various skills and crafts but because of their impious deeds they do not know that the supreme lord controls everything so that's the explanation of this offense by Bhaktivinoda Takur so by establishing how important it is to get rid of the false ego we have to really understand what this false ego is. And before this, we will see the role of ego in the experience of emotions. So, as I promised to you, there are two verses of Srimad Bhagavatam which speak completely different things. In the third canter, Lord Kapila says, Karaya karana kar tritve karanam prakritim viduhu. Bog tritve sukha dukha nam purusham prakritya ihparam. The cause of the conditioned soul, material body, senses, and the senses presiding deities, the demigods, is the material nature. This is understood by learned man, Viduhu. The feelings of happiness and distress of the soul, who is transcendental by nature, are caused by the spirit soul himself. So, boktritve, the boktra, the experiencer, the sufferer or the enjoyer of sukha and dukha, of this material world, is purusha, the soul, which is beyond prakriti. Purusham prakriti e param. This is what Lord Kapila says. And Lord Krishna says exactly the opposite thing. so in the spiritual world there are some disagreements as well it's not only in the material world Lamentation, elation, fear, anger, greed, confusion and hankering as well as birth and death are experiences of false ego and not the pure soul. So this is, again, very obvious contradiction. Here it is said that this is false ego and the soul doesn't experience this. There it is said that, no, actually, soul is the bog tree. He is the experiencer. So here, how Vishwanath Chakravartita Kuru reconciles this apparent contradiction in the commentary to the last verse. He says, fear and lamentation are not qualities of atma since one does not see these qualities during deep sleep. Very important observation. You know, when you go to deep sleep, do you have a fear in a deep sleep? Do you lament about something? No, you just happily sleep. You may have fourth stage of cancer. But if you happen to go to the deep sleep, you're very happy in this condition. You're not affected by all these turmoils which are taking place in your mind. You are peaceful there in a deep sleep. And therefore, this shoka, moha, bhaya, and everything else which is listed in the previous verse, shoka, harsha, the jubilation, bhaya, krodha, moha, loba, spriha, spriha means desire. so these are not part of the soul because when the soul is free from the supadis of gross and subtle bodies then the soul is basically peaceful and happy by its own happiness so and why? because at that point Ahankara also goes to sleep it would be nice to go into deep sleep and start chanting there it would be very pure chanting totally offenceless but unfortunately we don't know how to do it but then he reconciles or explains what Krishna means by stating that this is all the qualities of Ahankara. Though Ahankara is responsible for lamentation and fear, for all these emotions, very important, Ahankara is responsible for all these negative, stressful emotions which we talked about yesterday, Ahankara does not experience them since it is unconscious. Jadatva. Jadatvat. because it's jara, jara. It's unconscious. It's just mentor. It doesn't experience it. Tata danubhava. It doesn't have this anubhava, this experience of this. Thus, samsara does not belong to Ahankara either. So, basically, what is saying, what Lord Krishna is saying here, The same thing which we spoke yesterday is that Ahankara produces these emotions. But the soul looking in the mirror of Chita, of Ahankara, on distorted image, thinks, I am experiencing this. This is my experience. So we will go deeper into this thing. But first I wanted to show you a very interesting thing. how the ego becomes the switchboard of emotions and how it is very clearly could be seen from the structure of our brain the scientists who who studied the structure of the brain they discovered three distinct portions of the brain neocortex, the most developed part of our brain which regulate our higher activities like speech and so many other things, thinking and everything else. So this is neocortex. And this is rational or thinking brain. And basically, this is the abode of buddhi. This is the instrument of buddhi. Buddhi is a subtle element, but it uses the gross machine of the brain and the part of the brain which the body operates is this neocortex, very developed, rational, conscious part of our conditioned consciousness. Down the neocortex, there is limbic brain or emotional brain, the feeling brain. It's actually manas. Manus is the feeling mind which says, I like this and I don't like this and I very much like this and I hate this. So this limbic brain, no emotional system. And then down there, in the very bottom of the brain, there is reptilian brain. They say that this is, you know, development, evolutionary development, development, whatever they think it's okay with us as long as it agrees with our philosophies this reptilian brain actually is the instrument of ego neocortex is the instrument of buddhi limbic system, emotional system is the instrument of mind and actually when you study carefully this limbic system, you will see this dual nature of limbic system. There will be amygdala, left amygdala, right amygdala, amygdala positive thinking amygdala, negative thinking amygdala, you know, optimistic amygdala and pessimistic amygdala. You know, all this kind of emotion encoded into the mechanism of the brain. But the most important and hidden portion of it is a hunker. and it uses the stem area as its, you know, its abode. So ahankar is there. Ahankar is actually in the spine. And therefore when people, when their ego becomes damaged or loosened, what happens with them? It's actually the damage of this area and when their ego is very healthy, how they sit like? Just look around and see who is healthy and who is not. So this reptile brain is the area which regulates ego. But how it works, this is where I'm taking the title of this lecture from. Actually everything starts in the ego. All the basic instincts, especially the survival instinct is there in the stem area. That's why when you have hemorrhage in the brain, if it's in the neocortex, you may become a little impaired in your speech, but actually you are okay. If it's in the limbic system, it's more dangerous. But if the hemorrhage, if the insult, if this stroke takes place in the stem area, it's in practically 100% cases fatal or one becomes total vegetable. There is one glaring example, exception of this case, is Jayapata Kumaraj. he had huge huge damage of his stem area he's as clear as usual it's a miracle from the medical point of view it's a miracle but what I want to say is that this is the most important part and this part ego switches the emotional system an emotional system modifies our thinking process. This is how it works. Impulse is coming from ego. Then emotional system is being switched on in a certain way by our ego. And then this emotional system modifies our thinking process. That's how it is in reality. And therefore, I say that ego is the switchboard of emotions. This is where the bottom, emotional bottom are in our ego portion. So, and therefore in the next verse, we just read the 15th verse of the 28th chapter of 11th Kanto. In the next verse, Krishna says, Dahankara, which is the covering of Jiva. So this is the most subtle, or gross, I don't know. It's the deepest covering. There are many layers on our conscious atom of the soul. But ahankara is this deepest layer, which assumes the form by the gunas and karma, which is called by many names. Sutra, Sutra means prana, Mahatattva, body, senses, life, air and mind, and which is dependent on the Lord, made jiva, accept its quality for continuation of samsara. So we are going in the most deeper region of our conditioned consciousness, which is ahankara and which takes many shapes and forms. Sutra, Mahatattva, body, senses, life, air. This is where we will go and it will be a very dangerous journey. So let's be prepared for it. yeah so the soul having nightmares in connection with Zahankar and actually we all nightmare of the soul when you come in front of the mirror look in the mirror and tell this is the nightmare of my soul Such a horrible nightmare. Don't look at yourself and say, oh such a night, some little cosmetics there. No, just say, this is a nightmare which I see now. So the mirror in which we see, Lord Chaitanya says, as Cheta Dharpana Marjanam, this Dharpana. And actually this Sanskrit word Dharpana is very interesting because Dharpa means what? Dharpa means pride. And Na means, yeah, all Russian-speaking devotees know what does it mean Na. Na means Na, to give. Dharpana means the giver of the pride. when we look in the mirror you know we are receiving the pride which the mirror is giving to us we are looking in the mirror so Krishna gave us this dharpana he gave to everyone of us this dharpana in which we can look and this dharpana is called citta or the heart or mind and you know and you can see you know you probably if you come to the mirror you know imperceptibly for yourself the expression on your face will change you know Acha So, this is the mirrored dharpana, citta dharpana. So, we will first see the nature of citta. Very important. Originally, the citta is very pure. Srila Prabhupada will explain in the purport of this verse it has the quality of svacatam purity it's unchanged it's not changeable I mean it's actually very sweet and shantatvam it's very peaceful so the original cita which we all have luckily, the original piece of mirror which is given to everyone of us has very amazing qualities purity undistorted and very peaceful so Kapiladev is comparing the original citta which we all have with apam. Apam means water. And in the original uncontaminated state, water before it contacts the earth. Even though it's not mentioned here, the earth, but Srila Prabhupada translates it in this way. So when the water, before touching the earth, it's clear, it's sweet, and it's unruffled. This is the three qualities of pure water. And this is the three qualities of pure citta, which we all have. The characteristic traits of pure consciousness are complete serenity, clarity, and freedom from distractions. so that's it is and Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport very importantly small short purport the pure consciousness one can perceive in the pure in pure consciousness one can perceive a slight reflection of the supreme personality of Godhead so when now consciousness becomes pure the dim reflection some reflection of God is there. It may be visible form of God. It may be just feeling he is there. Just very clear feeling, yes, he is there. Somebody is watching me. I'm not alone. I'm never alone. So that's the characteristic of pure consciousness. As in clear, unagitated water, free from impurities, one can see everything clearly so in pure consciousness or Krishna consciousness one can see things as they are therefore Prabhupada very proudly called his Bhagavad Gita Bhagavad Gita as it is so because it's as it is you know scientists will never say it's as it is they say you know I think it is maybe like this. And then, of course, they're sure that it's like this, but for the sake of courtesy and etiquette, they will say, oh, maybe like this. And somebody will say, no, no, you are actually wrong. I think it's like this, but I may be mistaken. But you are wrong, that's for sure. This is how they talk. Nowadays I listen to many scientists and they always say, yeah, I may be mistaken, but you're wrong for sure. So, one can see the reflection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and one can see his own existence as well. When the consciousness becomes clear, when the citta becomes clear, we can see our real nature, the real nature of our soul. this state of consciousness is very pleasing transparent and sober in the beginning the consciousness is pure so originally we have this ability this apparatus this instrument given to us by God and actually the purpose of spiritual practice is to reinstate our heart or our mind into its original pure condition. As you can see, if the water is very still, then you can see very accurately the reflection in the water. So that's what we want to achieve, ultimately. So, Vishana Chakravarthi Takura explains the same thing because Srila Prabhupada closely follows him, But to emphasize certain things, I will give the original Sanskrit for these three qualities. Svachatam. What is svachatvam? Svachatvam, you all know, svachabharat. You know, svachatvam means purity, cleanliness. When citta is clean, then bhagavat bimba grahitvam. It takes the reflection of Bhagavan. Bhagavat bimba. The bimba, the reflection of God, is reflected. Grahitvam. It reflects. It obtains the form of God. Avikaritvam. What is avikaritvam? The next quality. Avikaritvam laevikse parahityam. Avikaritva means that the pure consciousness free from the influence of low gunas it's very sattvic by nature citta is sattvic itself and when it's pure then there is no manifestation of tamagun and rajagun tamagun is manifest as how? what is the most important manifestation of tamagun? laia. What is laia? Sleep. Laia means destruction. Laia means destruction, not destruction. Laia means complete covering of the consciousness. Sleep. Laia means dullness. Sometimes you may not be sleeping, but it probably would be better if you slept because you are so dull. You are apparently awake but still you are so dull. So that's tamagun and vikshepa means vikshepa means destruction. Complete completely lost of concentration. You are not concentrated at all. You are just clicking all these pages in the browser and you are distracted. So that's the nature of pure citta, pure mind. No influence of lower goodness. Laevik, shepar, ahityam. and shantatvam ragadi rahityam. And the third quality of the pure consciousness is shantatvam, peacefulness. And it basically means that there is no lower emotions. Raga, baya, krota, etc. The stressful emotions which we talked about yesterday will be completely absent in the pure mind. You will be totally, completely happy and peaceful. So that's the quality, original quality of our cheetah. But when the false ego covers the cheetah, it's like very dark cloud covering the cheetah and the consciousness is hardly coming through this dark cloud as you see in this picture. Like sun rays can hardly penetrate these dark clouds of consciousness. so that's what a hankar is that's how the mirror of our mind looks now congratulations to all of you so you know some dim light is coming through but we don't really know and there is a lot of dirt in it and that's why we have to really clean it every day so the false siga is the transformation of cheetah in tamagun. First, Mahatattva, when Mahatattva transforms tamagun, then Ahankara appears, and then when Tamasika Ahankara is contacting with rajagun, and then senses and senses develops. So sometimes we say that senses are rajasic. No, they are rajasic transformation of tamasic ego. They're basically tamasic. Everything which is coming after false ego is tamasic. It's under the mode of tamas. So, everything which we see is tamasic. We perceive through this lens of tamagun. And this tamagun is very thick. The layer of tamagun is very thick. So, before we surrender they are tamasic and therefore Bhaktivinoda Thakur says that you know, I am Adam when the false ego is intact when it's not really removed then we are lowest of the men and as soon as the false ego is removed by the process of surrender we become who? Uttam that's what it is that's what we are trying to do We are trying to become Uttang. And see, just imagine, this is the soul, the little tiny soul which emanates consciousness. It's covered by the layer of sattvic citta, conditioned consciousness, the first mirror which we have. And then on the top of this, we have this thick layer of ahankar, which is dirty and dark. And the little soul is inside it. And then something is coming from outside, and before it reaches the soul, it goes through this layer of ahankar. And what can reach to the soul when it's filtered through this layer of ahankar? only matter. This is the filter, material filter which we have. Only matter can, when we have ego, everything which we perceive is matter. We cannot really perceive anything spiritual because of this ahankaric consciousness. And therefore, when we chant holy name through ahankar, When now Ahankara enthusiastically chants the holy name. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Ram, Hare Ram, Ram, Hare Hare... It's not the holy name. It's material simulation of the holy name. As Bhakti Vinodta Kuru calls it, it's Namakshara. It's not Nam. It's not the name, it's Akshara. It's the syllables of the name. It's material sound because the ego is still there. And therefore there is this very famous verse from Premo Vivarta. Asadu Sanghi Bhai, all my brothers and sisters. when we have asadhu sangha when we are in the association with asadhu krishna namo nahi hoy unless we you know till the period when we still associating with something which is asad or asadhu then we will not be able to produce the sound of the holy name namakshara bahirai what we will produce Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Hare Hare. Bhatatabu Nama, kabunai. Never, never you will be able to produce the name. This famous story about Bhakti Vinodta Kuru traveling with Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati, who was still a child somewhere in Bengal, you know, sleeping in some dilapidated hut. And then in the morning, you know, the villagers come and say, how you survived this? There is a huge ghost which is living in this building. And Bhakti Vinodta Kruse says, yes, it used to live before. I chant in Hare Krishna, and it doesn't live anymore because it's liberated. So the villagers became very bewildered and they say, you know, dear sir, but this is the ghost of one priest and this priest always chants Hare Krishna. How you could liberate the priest who is chanting Hare Krishna by chanting Hare Krishna? He himself chants Hare Krishna. You know, what does your Hare Krishna do to him who already knows Hare Krishna? And Bhaktivinathakura says, he didn't chant Hare Krishna. He just chants Namakshara. he just chanted the syllables of the holy name not the holy name itself because of the false ego when the false ego is there you can only get the syllables because anything which can go through the false ego will become material the perception will become material and false ego is like this distorting mirror you know you stand in in front of distorted mirror. And you imagine, you know, I am like this. So, instead of clear mirror in which we can see our real self and the reflection of God, we only see distorted image which we imagined. That's how the false ego works. And it's the totality of all the deep samskaras and all vasanas which we brought from the past life. So this is our little soul, you know, living in this material world, having this heavy burden of the false ego. All the vasanas, all the samskaras, all the childhood traumas, all the bad experiences, all the, you know, everything else. and therefore, you know, this is how we live. And Ahankara becomes the anchor. And we may be chanting for many, many lifetimes, but we remain in the same place. You know, there is this famous story which Prabhupada told how the marriage party wanted to travel from one village to another village. Because it was late, they boarded the boat and they started drawing, and the whole night they were rowing and rowing and rowing and rowing. And then in the morning they looked and they saw that they're in the same place, in the same village. The whole night they were working hard. And then they figured out that the anchor was still there. So you may be chanting many rounds, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna. But you're still in the same place. You know, you started it and 50 years later you are in the same place like in this beautiful picture you started some time when you were in new bhakti and then 50 years later you are you are still chanting the same namakshara you are still so we have to very clearly understand this point that if the ego is there it's like anchor and we're not really moving in spite of rowing so hard you know so let's see more closely what this false ego is according to Kapiladev false siga has three aspects usually we say two aspects aham, mama but Kapiladev he analyzes it a little more carefully and he says karatritvam karatritvam means aham karatritvam means I'm the doer karanatvam means the senses, it's included into aham. I'm the doer and I have the senses. I know what is going on around me through the senses. And the third aspect is karyatvam is the product of my work which is mama. So basically it's the same. Aham mama is the structure of ego but aham is divided into this analysis, into two. Who I am? I am the doer and I have this body I am this body and karyatvam is the products of my work so this is the three elements of our false ego and this is the first element kartritva, I am the doer and there is another aspect of this kartritva, kartritva has two forms, one is I am the doer, I'm the hero another one I'm the victim but it's all kartritwa it's two sides of the same coin I'm the doer and you know, usually when I'm young I'm going to be the hero when I'm old I'm going to be the victim no problem so the frustration is there and this is, I'm this body and my senses you know, I'm I am this. This is Karanatva. I am this body. And Boktritva, I enjoy everything that belongs to me. So, very graphic thing. So, please listen very carefully. Original consciousness, citta, when it's clear, has three qualities. and when the false ego is lumped over it, then the original consciousness becomes distorted and this distortion takes three forms. Because of this first quality of false ego, Kartritva and the doer, when this Kartritva is very strong in us, we cannot really understand that God's hand is also there we cannot really perceive the presence of the Lord it's very difficult for people who they just say there is no God what is the point what is the need of God we have no need of God everything can be explained without God why do we need God for this because of this I am the doer they cannot see how God is doing they cannot see God's hand in the world and for them there is no need to have God there is this famous story of Napoleon and Laplace Laplace was the famous astronomer and mathematician and he brought the whole book which he wrote huge book about the structure of the universe This is how universe works. And he presented it to Napoleon and said, Your Majesty, here is my present to you. I figured it out how the world works. And Napoleon asked, you know, what part does God play in your picture of universe? And the proud answer was, Sir, I don't need this hypothesis. There's no need of this hypothesis. God is just hypothesis, and what is the need? I can figure out without him. Why do we need to assume that there is God? This is the result of this distortion. We're talking about the three distortions which false seeker comes. And for them, there is no God. You talk with atheists, and you can talk as long as you want. Nothing will happen. No God. Subjectively, there's no God. Subjectively, they don't feel that there's God. And for them, it's just a hypothesis. And why do you need this strange hypothesis? I can explain without him. So this is the first distortion which false ego brings to the consciousness. And that's why Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupada says that the most traditional and the main predominant religion in the world is always atheism. It's not Christianity, it's not Judaism, it's not Hinduism, it's atheism. Atheism is the traditional religion and everyone has this sort of notion. There is no God. Karanatva, the second aspect of ego. I am this body. What it does to us? It makes us sleepy and distracted. So sometimes you are sleepy? During Simad Bhagavatam class? Atmatatva Prabhu, he used to joke, he says that in Simad Bhagavatam it is said that when you listen to Simad Bhagavatam, then everything which is disturbing to your mind becomes destroyed. and when everything which is disturbing to your mind becomes disturbed, what you do? You sleep. That's why it's bona fide to sleep on the lectures of Srimad Bhagavata. It's the proof that Srimad Bhagavata works. No disturbance anymore in your mind, therefore you can peacefully go to sleep. But actually what I want to say is that the second distortion, the first distortion, you don't see God. There is no place for God in your picture of the world. The second distortion which is there is that you become distracted or you become lazy. You become dull. You become bored. And because you become bored, you know, this bored consciousness. Somebody you become bored. You're just bored. Of course, for devotees it's not so often actually. But most normal people, they're always bored. So because of this lion viksepa, we don't feel the natural joy. We're bored. There's not this natural, spontaneous joy which is there in a normal consciousness. That's the manifestation of false ego. So if sometimes you feel dull and distracted, it means that your false ego is still there, and it means that, you know, very quickly you should grab your chanting beats and start chanting with the emotions of Sharanagadi. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hari, Hari, Hari Ram, Hari Ram, Ram, Hari, Hari. So, distracted consciousness is a sign of unhappiness. And when it comes to a very acute degree, like depression, it's actually a manifestation of false ego. Depression is the result of false identity. and the result that we are separated from the natural state of our mind. This is the distracted mind as you can see. Looks familiar. So many thoughts running through it. And then the third aspect of ego, the first aspect, I'm the doer, and therefore I don't need God. It's a hypothesis. The second aspect, I'm the senses, and the senses tend to become very dull and influence me, and I'm distracted. And the third influence, I'm the experiencer. what do I experience when I have false ego I experience raga attachment dvesha, hatred, bhaya fear and other stressful emotions and I become completely agitated and as Lord Krishna says whereas there is a question of happiness when there is no peace so this is the three distortions of the false siga on the soul. The clear consciousness, original cheetah, is happy. It can give you idea who you are in relationship with God, and it's very, very still and peaceful. But when the false siga is there, it becomes agitated, it becomes unhappy, bored, and it becomes completely, you know, free from notion of reality. So this is the criteria of the purity of the mind. Somebody can ask, you know, Chetadarpanam Arjuna. How do we know if our consciousness is being purified by chanting? Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram. If the feeling of presence of God becomes more clear, that He is participating in my life, He is there, He's hiding. I may not see him very clearly, but here he is. Here he smiled to me. Or here he made some face to me. Or showed me, put me into some awkward condition where I could understand where I am. When you feel that God is present, Krishna is present in my life, he is guiding myself, then it's the sign of clarity. the more the more pronounced the presence of God in our life is the more clear our mind is when our mind is concentrated light and free from dullness it's also the sign of purity of the mind when we are distracted when we are dull this is the sign of impurity and when we feel peaceful this is another sign so we will tonight we will practice something, we will have some exercises to see how it works with the chanting today in the morning when you're still not dull and not so lazy I just wanted to finish it, I still have little to go we have to finish when? Okay. Just a few more slides. You know, if you are tired, you can go to sleep. No problem. So, interesting. We have pure mind, pure cheetah with three qualities. When the false ego is added to this pure mind, there are three distortions which take place. The three original qualities of the mind become somewhat distorted and according to the purity of the mind we are either remote from this original state or we are coming closer when we chant the holy name. Now there is very also interesting statement by Lord Krishna in 11th Canto where it is said that also the false sigur gives us three illusions. Three kinds of illusions. So Lord Krishna says, O descendant of Dasharha, this is of course Udava. He is the descendant of Dasharha. Just like the tree appears to move, When on a boat moving in water, the imposition affects our vision of the world. Like the earth's appearance of spinning, due to one spinning his eyes around, the imposition affects our own mentality. Like the world of a fantasy or dream, imposition is illusory. The imposition is illusory. Enjoyment of objects leads to samsara for the atma. I'm sure you understood everything. But in case you didn't, I will explain a little bit. So basically what Lord Krishna says here, it's very important. He speaks about three illusions which we have when the false ego is still very strong in us. The first illusion, and the illusion is that we attribute or impose qualities to some object or to ourselves which don't really exist. So the first quality which we impose upon ourselves, the three qualities, three illusions are there. the first illusion is that the comparison is there you know like more appropriate example for us you are riding on a train and you are looking through the window you are riding on a train you are looking through the window and you see strange phenomena all these trees are running you think they are just running you know what happens with these trees why they are running? They are not running. The train is going, right? You are moving, but you think that the trees are moving. So in the same way, what happens, the first illusion which is there is that I am doing. I am doing. This is the very common illusion which we all have. I am doing. I am the doer. I am the speaker. I am the speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam. No, Shukadev is the speaker of Shavakotam. He may speak through you, he may not speak through you. If he is merciful to you, you will say something worthwhile because he will speak through you. I am not a doer. God is doing through us something. But we don't understand this because we think I am the doer. This is the first illusion, I am the doer, and that's why we don't understand how God uses us. How God uses us in all circumstances. You know, I remember, it really moved me once. I was with Sivradhan at Maraj, and he just, in passing, he said something which really struck me. He said, you know, he said, it's very interesting to observe what God can do through you, such an insignificant living entity. You know, this is the vision of a devotee. He is observing what God is doing through you. And he's amazed. Really? How is it possible? how is it possible that you know we really have to understand God is working through us you know whether we are materialist or whatever God is using us as puppets his energy is there, he is moving his plan is there you know and this is the first illusion which false gives to us, we don't understand how God is working and we think I'm the achiever. You know, you're not the achiever. You cannot do anything, you know. Often oftentimes I cannot fall asleep. This is, you know, the sign of old age. And one of the philosophical questions which I think when I cannot fall asleep is that you know, I am such a powerful person, but I cannot fall asleep. I want it so much, but it doesn't work. We think I'm in control, but ourselves, we cannot fall asleep. We cannot really, we need mercy of God even to fall asleep. We want to speak about everything else. So, this is the first illusion. I am the doer. No, no, you are not the doer. Sleep in peace. You are not the doer. Be peaceful. God is working through you. Just pray to him and watch the miracles which he will do through you. He can do miracles. You know, if you remove this notion that I am the doing, and let the perfect puppeteer to use you in his hands. So this is the first illusion which Lord Krishna explains. The second illusion is very interesting. The second illusion, Lord Krishna says that, you know, like little child, sometimes child starts rotating. How you call this? Spinning. Yeah, the child starts spinning, spinning, spinning, and then he stops. and then what he sees yeah the whole world is spinning and he says oh amazing you know I made it the whole world is spinning around me so but actually the world is still there it's the same world is not spinning you know you attribute the quality of spinning into the world So this second illusion is very interesting. It's basically what Krishna wants to say to Udhava, is that the second illusion which the false sigur gives is the illusion that you, the soul, the spirit soul, pure spirit soul, has certain qualities which in reality you don't have. Like the quality of spinning you attribute to something else. in the same way when you have this false conception of yourself you have so many different ideas of who you are I am so intelligent, I am so humble, I am this, I am that but it's all illusions you just attribute these qualities to your soul and the soul is beautiful servant of God but you have these ideas I am bad, I am this, I am that. You know, this is what it works, you know, because we are separated from our real self. And the third example which Lord Krishna gives is that, the third illusion is that I experience something which in reality I don't experience. Like somebody who dreams, he thinks he experiences it even though he doesn't experience it. It's interesting because who you are? You are in reality soul. What is the function of the soul? The function of the soul is to observe. The soul is observing. Next time when you suffer, just say to yourself, I am not suffering, I am just absorbing the sufferings. And you will immediately notice that the suffering will become less. Because you add the observance to the sufferings. You are already observing the sufferings, but you don't understand that you are observing the sufferings. You think you identify with the sufferings which you have. So it's a very important technique. Why Lord Krishna says that what is this? Because with the consciousness, we observe all these changes. Somebody of you had some sufferings in the past. Please raise your hand. Okay. It's good to know that I'm not alone. Misery likes company. But where it is now? Is it important now? It's gone. You are the observer. At that time you were observer and now you are observer. And you are the same. You know, and whatever suffering will be there, it will be passed. But as observer, you are not the sufferer. You are not the experiencer. So that's the illusion. When we are going through this acute emotional state, we think we are experiencing it. But in reality, we are not experiencing it. It's just something which is happening outside of the soul, really. So this is the three illusions, three distortions of the false ego, and three elements of false ego, which actually disturb the pure nature of our even conditioned consciousness when it's sattvic. So after having these three illusions, three qualities of the false ego, three distortions, we will have three steps of purification from false ego. And that will be the end. As a result of this lecture, you will walk out completely purified from the false ego, and you will enjoy your lunch like anything. Undisturbed by the false ego. I know the time is coming. So, as I explained to you, Sanatanga Swami says in Brihad Bhagavatamrita, Svaramata Vahankara Tyaga Matrena Siddhati Sukaro Ativa Ativa Sukara Very easy. Tatyaga It's very easy to get rid of Tiaga. If one just gives up his false ego, he attains self-satisfaction, Svaramata. He will be Svarama, Atmarama. He will be very joyful. This abandonment of false ego is quite easy. Actually, not quite easy. Very easy. Sukhara, Ativa Sukhara. This has been determined by the knowers of the truth. Actually, you know, if I understand very clearly these illusions, then Tatva Vedibh, all the people who went through this path and went through all this experience, they say, actually, it's not so difficult to get rid of false ego. And as I said in the commentary, Sanatana Goswami says Bhakti Shastri says it's very easy to give up that false siga how it has been deduced knowers of the truth such as Vasishta have analyzed the process of abandoning false siga it is said in yoga Vasishta api puspa vadana lat api netra nimilanat same as you plug the flower or you close the eyes. So just open your eyes and close your eyes. That's it. No false ego anymore. Open it again. No problem. Is it easy? I'm the soul I'm observer I'm the spirit soul I don't have all these things God is there he is doing through me you know I'm actually very peaceful and I'm not disturbed by this I have this clear consciousness but listen this is the real solution of course this is also solution to blink eyes as much as possible and ultimately achieve the freedom from the false ego. But this is the real solution. What it means. Actually, it is easy. How it is achieved. Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains in the purport to the same offense, dance offense against the Holy Name. Turning away from the waves of sense pleasures, one should seek out saintly devotees, associate with them, and serve them. Gradually, gradually, one's thoughts will be fixed in the Holy Name. One will go beyond Maya, beyond the realm of eye and mind. Hearing the glories of the holy name, one will turn away from thoughts of eye and mind. One will become a surrendered devotee. They who surrender to the holy name are great souls chanting Lord Krishna's holy name. They attain the great treasure of love of God, of love for Lord Krishna. Prema Mahadana. So basically, his advice, what it means, how to change the false ego, How to get rid of false ego? Just be in the saintly association. Just develop the ego within this saintly association. Just develop the ego in entering into relationship with saintly people and all the problems of false identity will be removed very easily. Whereas if you remain in Asat Sangha, then there is no chance. you will always be reminded you will always be feeding your false prides and you will never understand the reality so the only way to understand reality is to hear how pure devotees chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram and chant together with them and serve them as Bhakti Vinod Takur says then gradually you will understand it's a very natural condition. It's a very joyful condition to serve the devotees, to serve people, to you know, to take prasadam in their association and to do everything. And this way you will be able to get rid of this concept of I and mind. You know, if you are in this Mahatsanga, Mahatsanga, Mahatseva, Dvara, Hurmi, Muktes, you know, it's very easy to become free, as it is said in Simad Bhagavatam. And, you know, you don't think about yourself. When you are in really saintly association, you don't think about yourself. No need. You are completely free from this ideas, strange ideas to prove to somebody that you are very special, that you are very, you know, that you will achieve something, it becomes very insignificant. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupada, he experienced his own meeting with his spiritual master, Gorky Shortas Babaji. He said, I came to him and I am very educated. I have these degrees, I am this Siddhanta Shiromani, I'm the Jyodhi Sacharya I know Sanskrit I know English I know this, I know that and I come to this simple illiterate man who is sitting somewhere chanting Hare Krishna and I look at him and I try to understand whether he noticed my glories or not And to my complete dismay, I understand that he doesn't notice my glories. He couldn't care less about my glories. He just completely neglects it. And all of a sudden I understand my glories are not so important. I don't need them. I can't be happy without them. I can be happy without all these false identities. I can be happy just sitting with him and chanting, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Ram, Hare Ram, Ram, Hare Hare. He said, my conception of myself shrank to the impossible degree of smallness. all of a sudden I became very tiny just by catching his look upon myself just by being in his presence I became real one and as one devotee says when you are very big your problems are also very big but when you become very small there is no room for problems no room is there you know, you just remain who you are and that's what it is they who surrender to the holy name are great souls chanting Lord Krishna's holy name the great treasure of love for Lord Krishna, Prema Mahadana so I guess that's it oh yes, three steps of purification, sorry so So following from this, it's very easy to deduce. Just a few minutes, just a couple of minutes. There are three steps, basically. According to the three qualities of false ego. First, we have to stop enjoying the fruits of our labor. It's an opposite order. the last manifestation of false siga is this tendency to enjoy of karetva this is mine you know so we start destroying the false siga from this mine conception nothing is mine I'm not really trying to enjoy what is mine whatever I have I give to Krishna that's the first step the second step Yeah, Srila Prabhupada explains this. In the material world, we are producing so many things. And this is called advancement of civilization. But factually, the advancement of civilization is the manifestation of false ego. Like all the people are very proud. We are modern people, advanced people. It means they have big false ego. By false ego, all material things are produced as objects of enjoyment. You know, next time when you take your smartphone, just look at the smartphone and say, this is the manifestation of my false ego. And it really is. Look in your picture gallery and you will see it. One has to seize increasing artificial necessities in the form of material objects. The step number one, you know, just limit to the bare necessities, you know, the use of all these facilities which we may have. So that's the usual standard practice. The second one, limit your contact with the senses or purify this. This is, I'm talking about the normal spiritual path, not bhakti yoga. Bhakti yoga is much more tender and much more flexible. But usually what people do, first they limit to the maximum. They become very poor, like this Mother Teresa, which is explained. Then they try to go to monastery or do pratyahara, and they close their eyes and they close their ears, and they hardly eat anything. And the third step, the final step of destroying the false sigurd, they give up their pride. And they start serving others and, you know, wash feet and everything else. So in bhakti yoga, it's much more, this is what they do in other traditions. In bhakti yoga, it's much more tender, much more flexible. So first is yukta vairagya. So we understand, you know, I'm using this. I'm using so many facilities, no problem. Even smartphones are okay if they're not misused. So we are not really, you know, we just engage the material energy into the service. Second, we cautiously regulate our interaction with the sense objects. And four regulative principles is about this. So again, nothing really special, just caution or precautions when we use our senses. And the third one is that we follow Vaishnava etiquette. We respect people. We pay obeisances. We are not insulting anyone. We are not overusing the social media, which is the best instrument of insult and offense. And we use the proper language. And we enter into proper relationship with our spiritual master and become humble. And in this way, this is the three steps to weaken or to completely remove the false identity. And this is the program which we have. And this means surrender. And we should do it very conscientiously and properly. and in this way we finished with the third session which is called Ego as the Switchboard of Emotions because we got rid of our ego already. Thank you very much. Have a good day.