71 - Spiritual and Non-Spiritual Temperaments | Swami Tattwamayananda

-7th chapter: verses 14, 15, 16. 16th chapter: verses 1, 2, 3, 4<br />-The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on February 19, 2020.<br />-14th verse: “Those who take the help of Vidya-maya, they eventually transcend Maya.”<br />-Brahman is the only Absolute Reality. Vedanta defines something as real if (1) it remains without change in the past, present and future (2) It is beyond time, space and causation and (3) it remains without change in waking, dream and deep sleep states.<br />-The world we live in is a relative reality. It is not absolutely real, but it is not absolutely unreal either.<br />-The relativity of the relative world is understood only when we understand the absoluteness of the absolute reality, when we realize the supreme truth. Then we understand that our experiences in this world are relative.<br />-In a semi-dark room, we may mistake a rope to be a snake. When we bring light, what we formerly misunderstood to be a snake is now recognized as a rope. As a snake, it is unreal. As rope, it is real.<br />-Similarly, a jeevan-mukta, who has transcended the relative, he continues to live in the world. To him, the world as a distinct entity does not exist. He experiences the world as non-distinct from Brahman.<br />-In Vedanta, there are two levels. As philosophy, it is at the level of duality. As experience, it is non-dual. Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya is only an approach to the highest reality from a philosophical level. At the highest experience level, it is Brahma Satyam Jagat Satyam. To reach this highest experience level, we have to meditate on the absoluteness of Brahman, and the relativity of the world.<br />-Advaita, as an experience, is silent. Advaitic truth can only be experienced – it cannot be explained. Scriptures only help to remove wrong notions from our mind.<br />-In the 15th and 16th verses, Lord Krishna unfolds a unique kind of spiritual psychology illustrating that not everyone in the world is of the same type. He discusses the characteristics of people with negative trai