James Swartz – Love, Ishvara and Informal Devotion to God – Talk 4

By reading Vedanta texts it is easy to misinterpret them.
Ignorance and knowledge are mixed up. Teaching makes
difference between ignorance and knowledge clear. Live your
life based on knowledge not on emotions. Isvara and action.
What is real? You see reality on the basis of your experiences.
Reflecting media. Three gunas and the mind. 2. Informal
devotion. Personal deity, ishta devata. Religion. Influence and
judgements of the family. God is a helpful concept in the mind.
God doesn’t judge. Dead gurus don’t judge. Living gurus make
you grow. In informal devotion you bring God down to your
level. Vedanta lifts you up to Gods level. Karma Yoga as the
beginning stage.

More: Vedanta Seminars.

More on: Vedanta.

Learn more about: Yoga Vidya.

You can sign up for: our online seminars.
You can also support us by: donating.

 

Play

James Swartz – Vedanta, Love and God – Talk 3

Existence is my nature. Love is my nature. Everything you do
is motivated by love. Stages of love (see chart in the video):
1. Love of objects. What do you love? Samsaris love objects.
Suffering comes because objects are not under their control.
God controls objects. Does the love of your life last forever? To
love god is the only option if you want to be free.
2. Love of god. Informal devotion.
3. Isvara. Who gave life to you? Gods laws in the creation.
Moral dimension. Isvara/God: creator, upholder or dharma,
giver of results. Gods grace. Law of pleasure and pain. Joy and
sorrow are connected. Is it wise to worship God? There is only
God. Dharma field is a field of laws. God is the rule giver and
the rules.

More: Vedanta Seminars.

More on: Vedanta.

Learn more about: Yoga Vidya.

You can sign up for: our online seminars.
You can also support us by: donating.

 

Play

James Swartz – Love, Existence and Scripture – Talk 2

Meditation on the silence. It is impossible not to love. You are
Love: Sat Chid Ananda. Every action is motivated by love of
the self. What is existence? Scripture as the appropriate
means of knowledge. You are not a person. The person is an
object known to you. Three states. Experience of the self?
Everything you see reflects you. What are you doing to be
aware or to exist?

More: Vedanta Seminars.

More on: Vedanta.

Learn more about: Yoga Vidya.

You can sign up for: our online seminars.
You can also support us by: donating.

 

Play

James Swartz – Big Picture of Vedanta – Talk 1

To direct love to the Self you have to practice. Love in
relations is dualistic love. Personal gods are symbols to
worship you own self. Symbols invoke the love that you are. Is
the joy in an object? Inquiry into love. Yoga is necessary to
understand nondual love. Love is the nature of the Self.

More: Vedanta Seminars.

More on: Vedanta.

Learn more about: Yoga Vidya.

You can sign up for: our online seminars.
You can also support us by: donating.

 

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 17 by Ira Schepetin

Revision and conclusion. What is the meaning of ignorance? The oneness of the individual and the supreme reality. The method of Vedānta. How to get a sattvic mind. Jñāni. You are the happiness you are looking for. You have to go beyond the gunas but in the end there are not even gunas. Direct experience of the self. Tat tvam asi. Neti neti.

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 16 by Ira Schepetin

How Ira met Swami Dayānanda. Q + A. Books of Shankaracharya. Study Brahma Sutras only with a qualified teacher. Vivekacūḍāmaṇi. Are Advaita Vedānta and Yoga Philosophy harmonious? Vedantic dhyana. Kaṭhopaniṣad and vedantic meditation. Books and articles of Ira.

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 15 by Ira Schepetin

Introversion of the mind and the witness. Intellectual knowledge is not helpful. Discriminative wisdom comes only to bhaktas. Bhakti means love of god. Unless you turn your mind to him he won´t reveal himself to you. The highest teaching in Vedānta is not this not this. Q + A. Ira and his teacher. Mumukshuttva.

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 14 by Ira Schepetin

Discussion of the three states. The beauty of Vedānta is that it is based on common experience, not on mystical experience. Pūrṇa anubhava. 2 experiences: being aware of something or being not aware of anything. The states are not in the world. The states are not in time. Avyakta and deep sleep. Dream and waking are both private. Are you the
witness of the dream and the waking state? You are not in time because time is in the states. Is sleep the self? The Bhagavad Gītā has not to be studied sequentially.
Deliberate superimposition Bhagavad Gītā ch. 13, 13. īśvara and māyā. The world is imagined by ignorance. Ramanuja.

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 13 by Ira Schepetin

Nirvāṇaṣaṭka. Morning remembrance prayer. Vedānta and modern science. No conflict between science and Vedānta. Science makes statements about the waking state. Vedānta is a subjective science: its about your own experience. Analyse of the three states according to Gauḍa-pādas kārikā.

 

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 12 by Ira Schepetin

Vedānta is not a business. The highest teaching of Vedānta. The method of Vedānta: deliberate superimposition for the purpose of teaching and negation of this teaching in the end. Mutual superimposition. 3 identifcations: knower, doer, experiencer. adhyaropa and apavāda. Tat tvam asi. Role of the teacher. You are everything. Is samadhi necessary?
Making the knowledge of the self firm? How many jñānis are there?

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 11 by Ira Schepetin

2 ways to get vairāgya: 1. seeing the defects of happiness from objects (it has a beginning and an end) 2. understanding that objects are not real. Bhagavad Gītā ch. 13, 7-11. Spiritual sadhana: developping qualities. Humility is knowledge because it leads to knowledge. Cultivate the qualities through effort. Only if a person has these qualities
direct knowledge can arise. Bhagavad Gītā ch. 13, 12. If you negate everything existing and non existing the self remains. There is no other way to teach the self except by
negation: neti neti. Is vers 13, 12 a contradiction? That which is devoid of all duality is described by adhyaropa and apavāda,” i.e., by superimposition and negation, by
attribution and denial. Intuition of the self. After negation of objects, even the mind, the self stands self revealed.

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 10 by Ira Schepetin

Story about Swami Satchidanandendra and Kirtan. The concept of avidyā / ignorance. Best source is adhyāsa bhāṣya: Introduction to the commentary of Shankaracharya
on the Brahma Sutras. 2 notions of ignorance: Shankaracharyas notion of mithyā jñāna and Padmapādas notion of mithyā ajñāna. Avidyā and māyā. Waking ego, dream ego and the witness. Vedānta is no dogma. Ego is kṣetra. Every quality is an object to the witness. Sadhana: act to get rid of tamas. Do your duty with no desire for the fruit of your action to overcome rajas. Sadhana to become free from actions (naiṣkarmya): no attachment to saṅkalpa, karma, karma phala. Freedom from the gunas. Jñānaniṣṭha. Jñāni. Bhagavad Gītā ch. 18, 66.

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 9 by Ira Schepetin

Explanantion of the shloka Brahmanandam paramasukhadam. Shankaracharyas critique of other schools of thought. Knowledge as the solution to remove ignorance. 3 types of ignorance: 1. not knowing as the root. 2. Misconception. Adhyāsa. Superimposition. 3. Doubt. Ancient vedantic position. Five fundamentals of Vedānta: 1. The witness 2. Nature of ignorance 3. Difference between doing something and knowing something 4. Absolute and relative perspective 5. Method of Vedānta.

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Intuition of Reality – Vedanta Talk 8 by Ira Schepetin

Review of the first two Shlokas of chapter 13 Bhagavad Gita Bhasya. Witnessing consciousness: unique teaching of Vedanta. Paramahamsa. Witnessing consciousness is identical with the supreme reality. Avidya: mixing up of subject and object. Forms: Not knowing, misconception, doubt. Verses 3-6: Kshetra. Ira and his teacher Swami Atmanandendra. Wise and Dharma. Jnana Sadhana is necessary. Q & A: Jnani versus Jnananishta. Role of a Guru.

More Vedanta Seminars you will find here.
More on Vedanta you will find here.
English Community, Blog, Seminars you will find here.

Play

Swami Vishnu Devananda chants “Mahamantra” (original voice)

Swami Vishnu Devananda chants the Mahamantra!
Chant with him and enjoy his original voice and his energy!

For more English yoga videos, music, blog posts, etc., please visit our English pages here.

Play