Is There a State of Blankness?

Pravrajika Divyanandaprana is a monastic member of Sri Sarada Math and is currently the Editor of the English journal Samvit published in New Delhi. She has been Principal of Nivedita Vidya Mandir School from 2014 to 2019. She specializes in Yoga-Vedanta. In addition to studying the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature, she has extensively studied the Yoga-Vedanta texts based on these twin philosophies which include the Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Raja Yoga, Upanishads, and the Prakarana Granthas (auxiliary scriptures of Vedanta like Vedantasara, Vivekachudamani, etc.) along with their commentaries. A gold medallist and topper, Pravrajika Divyanandaprana has a unique combination of knowledge in the conventional sciences and traditional Yogic and Vedantic texts. Pravrajika Divyanandaprana has been lecturing all over India since 2010, including at the Indian Institute of Technology campuses in Madras, Delhi (she has spoken many times at Vivekananda Study Circle of IIT-Delhi), Kharagpur, Mumbai, and Kanpur; Indian Institute of Science Bangalore; Delhi University; Vivekananda International Centre; Ramakrishna Mission; Engineering and Medical Colleges in Mumbai, Pune, and Kolkata; and sometimes in schools. She offers courses on Yoga-Vedanta every semester at IIT Delhi. The courses are available on YouTube at IIT’s official channel: NRCVEE IIT Delhi. She has traveled to hold classes or deliver lectures in South Africa at Cape Town, Durban, Ladysmith, and Kwa Zulu Natal University among other places. Subsequently, she traveled to Ireland, Great Britain, UAE, and recently to Canada for talks, lectures, and scriptural discussions. She has spoken at Imperial College and Logan Hall, London University in 2013. In May 2018, she was in Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, and Nova Scotia where she gave a number of talks on Self-Knowledge, exploring the Subjective Sciences, and finding the interface between Subjective-Objective Sciences. She has extensively traveled in the US and addressed Vedanta Societies of Iowa, Washington DC, and so on. Purdue University hosted her talk on Mind Management recently. LinkedIn Page "Eternal Truth" YouTube channel with many videos, including the Upanishads classes mentioned in the interview. If you subscribe to the channel, you'll be notified when classes resume. VivekaVani YouTube channel with many more videos. Books: Science of Happiness (Amazon India) Self-Discovery (Amazon India) U.S. Book Contact - (Ask to be notified when books become available.) Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Summary and Transcript of this interview Interview recorded May 1, 2022. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:06:06 - The Importance of Method and Sadhana 00:11:18 - Samskaras: The Building Blocks of Character and Behavior 00:16:12 - Importance of Manana and Dwelling on Scripture 00:21:02 - Becoming Intensely Aware 00:25:39 - Intensified Awareness and Conscious Knowledge 00:30:43 - The Significance of Being and Becoming 00:36:01 - The Science of Happiness and its Connection to Awareness and Advaita Vedanta 00:41:32 - The Source of Awareness 00:46:50 - High Energy Output and Engagement in Activity 00:51:54 - The Power of the Spirit and the Meissner Effect 00:57:21 - Universal Values of Ethics and the Mind 01:02:42 - Ending Mental Afflictions with Ashtanga Yoga 01:08:04 - Mediums and Psychics in Vedantic Perspective 01:13:22 - Engaging in Various Yogas 01:18:36 - Developing Vairagya 01:23:57 - The Ramakrishna Math and Mission 01:29:00 - Renouncing the Essential Bliss of Life 01:34:21 - Finding Happiness Within 01:39:33 - Distinguishing between different types of happiness 01:44:33 - Understanding the Factors of Happiness 01:50:07 - Experiencing Bliss in Samadhi 01:55:31 - Peace within the Radius of the Realized Being