Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta 140 - Expressions of the Divine | Swami Tattwamayananda
Jun 16, 2023
01:03:59
Title: Expressions of the Divine
15th Chapter: Verses 12, 13, 14, 1512th
12th verse: “There is one all-pervading, immanent, omnipresent, and supreme divine reality which is the Atman. This Atman is the divine light that is present in every being. The light that is in the sun, in the moon and in the fire – that light is nothing but the light of the Atman.”
Our creativity and our ability to think and work are all expressions of this divine principle. Just as electricity manifests in different ways depending on the gadget it powers, similarly, our skills are like outer shells that manifest this divine principle.
In whatever profession one may be, if that person reaches a level of human excellence – that perfection is a spark of the divinity within him.
Wherever we find a super abundance of serenity, spiritual wisdom, intuitive power and human qualities such as sacrifice – all these are expressions of the divine.
We can manifest this divinity through spiritual practices such as Yama and Niyama in Vedanta or Ashtanga Yoga in Buddhism. Then our mind becomes pure and reflects this divinity in more effulgence like a pure mirror.
Lord Krishna says: “This light comes from Me.” “Me” here does not refer to Lord Krishna as a human being. It refers to Atman.
13th verse: “This divine principle, which enters the earth, enlivens everything. When we look around in nature, we see trees, mountains, valleys, water, plants, food grains – these are all expressions of the divine.”
Nature is not meant for our exploitation. We are all visitors on this mother earth. Vedic mantras emphasize harmony and balance of nature. Let the earth, clouds, skies, plants, trees and the entire cosmos remain pure, undisturbed, and in perpetual peace and harmony.
Satyam means truth. A person will not deviate from the path of harmony if he practices truthfulness and feels content.
Ritm is the central principle of inherent harmony that exists in nature.
Dharma refers to the ethical and moral principles through which one practices Satyam. For example, it is immoral to pollute the earth and therefore against Dharma.
14th verse: “It is this divine principle that resides in every being, eats and digests the food, and nourishes the body.”
There are four types of food referred to in this verse – food that we chew, that we drink, that we swallow and foods such as ice-cream that belong to the first three categories. The divine principle manifests as the digestive faculty in the human body.
Even the act of preparing and eating food is divine. Every secular activity can be given a spiritual orientation – as we evolve spiritually, the line of demarcation between secular and spiritual disappears.
We can think of our entire life as a divine act. There is a mantra in Rigveda which means: “Let every thought become a meditation, let every word become a mantra, let every action become an act of worship, let every travel become a pilgrimage, let every movement become a circumambulation around the deity, and let the whole life become an offering to God.”
15th verse: “This divine principle is present as the indweller in every living being in this world. It manifests as memory, knowledge, ignorance and forgetfulness.”
The ability to forget and to be blissfully unaware in ignorance is also a gift from God. Without the ability to forget no one can live in this world.
The highest advaitic experience cannot be explained. It can only be experienced. The mahavakya “Aham Brahmasmi” – as an expression is not non-dualistic; it represents only the penultimate state; in its experience dimension it is non-dualistic.
The language of duality is verbosity; the language of the infinite non-dual experience is silence. The role of the scriptures is to remove the wrong notions that are in our mind.
15th Chapter: Verses 12, 13, 14, 1512th
12th verse: “There is one all-pervading, immanent, omnipresent, and supreme divine reality which is the Atman. This Atman is the divine light that is present in every being. The light that is in the sun, in the moon and in the fire – that light is nothing but the light of the Atman.”
Our creativity and our ability to think and work are all expressions of this divine principle. Just as electricity manifests in different ways depending on the gadget it powers, similarly, our skills are like outer shells that manifest this divine principle.
In whatever profession one may be, if that person reaches a level of human excellence – that perfection is a spark of the divinity within him.
Wherever we find a super abundance of serenity, spiritual wisdom, intuitive power and human qualities such as sacrifice – all these are expressions of the divine.
We can manifest this divinity through spiritual practices such as Yama and Niyama in Vedanta or Ashtanga Yoga in Buddhism. Then our mind becomes pure and reflects this divinity in more effulgence like a pure mirror.
Lord Krishna says: “This light comes from Me.” “Me” here does not refer to Lord Krishna as a human being. It refers to Atman.
13th verse: “This divine principle, which enters the earth, enlivens everything. When we look around in nature, we see trees, mountains, valleys, water, plants, food grains – these are all expressions of the divine.”
Nature is not meant for our exploitation. We are all visitors on this mother earth. Vedic mantras emphasize harmony and balance of nature. Let the earth, clouds, skies, plants, trees and the entire cosmos remain pure, undisturbed, and in perpetual peace and harmony.
Satyam means truth. A person will not deviate from the path of harmony if he practices truthfulness and feels content.
Ritm is the central principle of inherent harmony that exists in nature.
Dharma refers to the ethical and moral principles through which one practices Satyam. For example, it is immoral to pollute the earth and therefore against Dharma.
14th verse: “It is this divine principle that resides in every being, eats and digests the food, and nourishes the body.”
There are four types of food referred to in this verse – food that we chew, that we drink, that we swallow and foods such as ice-cream that belong to the first three categories. The divine principle manifests as the digestive faculty in the human body.
Even the act of preparing and eating food is divine. Every secular activity can be given a spiritual orientation – as we evolve spiritually, the line of demarcation between secular and spiritual disappears.
We can think of our entire life as a divine act. There is a mantra in Rigveda which means: “Let every thought become a meditation, let every word become a mantra, let every action become an act of worship, let every travel become a pilgrimage, let every movement become a circumambulation around the deity, and let the whole life become an offering to God.”
15th verse: “This divine principle is present as the indweller in every living being in this world. It manifests as memory, knowledge, ignorance and forgetfulness.”
The ability to forget and to be blissfully unaware in ignorance is also a gift from God. Without the ability to forget no one can live in this world.
The highest advaitic experience cannot be explained. It can only be experienced. The mahavakya “Aham Brahmasmi” – as an expression is not non-dualistic; it represents only the penultimate state; in its experience dimension it is non-dualistic.
The language of duality is verbosity; the language of the infinite non-dual experience is silence. The role of the scriptures is to remove the wrong notions that are in our mind.