Ask Swami with Swami Sarvapriyananda | Nov 24th, 2024

[@VedantaNY]

List of questions with timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:53 - How can I reconcile devotion and non-dual knowledge? 23:27 - If I realize I am pure consciousness, do I also have a vision of God with form? 31:21 - What is Mahat (universal intelligence) in the Samkhya philosophy? 34:24 - Is it possible to practice Bhakti without God or deities? 36:28 - Can you talk about your experience with the monk who said "we are missing it a thousand times every moment"? 54:03 - Can consciousness remain by itself without appearing as objects? 59:13 - Why should I strive for enlightenment? 01:09:00 - How can I keep up study of Advaita without losing interest? 01:14:33 - Is the experience of nothingness in deep sleep the same as the experience after death, or for enlightened souls? 01:18:15 - Does everyone have to go through experience/enjoyment in the world before enlightenment?

[@Nostalgiahiu]

Namaste, how can we send questions to Swamiji? Please help.

[@Vinithra330]

​@@Nostalgiahiu you can mail to id mentioned in Vedanta society of new york website or there is already a Playlist of Ask Swami in the same channel. May be your question is already asked by someone

[@Nostalgiahiu]

@@Vinithra330 thank you so much.

[@mariavonegidy112]

Blessed teacher Swami of Swamis, thank you .. blessed I am to hear this exquisite wisdom, this immaculate teaching. Thank you so much..

[@AmiraAroraOfficial]

Koti Koti Pranam Swamiji 🙏🏼

[@Pallasathena-hv4kp]

First question: Love of God DOES give you Jnana! It DOES show you who you are! All the perceived points to who you are ❤🙏 You explain it so much better, Swami 🙏 Love of our own personal God hones our ability to realize God is everywhere.

[@divyaraj5629]

I had the same question and Swami answered it beautifully. But I still have a problem and it is that I am not able to develop the Bhakti within me. It may have something to do with how I was raised. I was raised as an atheist. How can I force myself to be devotional to God? I really want to get in the Bhakti path. Someone told me that I should take a leap of faith. But how exactly would I do this? I try to sit and think of God but I don’t feel anything.

[@Aliceinwonderland-l2w]

@@divyaraj5629try other paths. They’ll take you to the same place.

[@Pallasathena-hv4kp]

@ I was an atheist for over a decade and prayed to God to give me Bhakti for him. And he is. It’s developing slowly, but it’s there and I put in some effort too. Sri Ramakrishna said if we walk one step towards God, he runs 10 steps towards us 😊

[@brahmanatman8576]

@@divyaraj5629 First Question, How can I reconcile devotion and non-dual knowledge? This question comes from not understanding who God is. God is not just immobile but mobile as well, he's not just formless, he is with form as well. God is a Living conscious omnipotent presence who is very much capable of loving just as much as we are. we must not limit God to his formless nature because that is only a part of him and not his entirety. This misunderstanding comes from believing that God is only brahman pure consciousness. We don't truly understand God unless we experience God ourselves. when we experience him then these questions vanish. God is not just Pure consciousness awareness, he is conscious living being, eternal, he can speak to us, he hears us and loves when we devote ourselves to him. He loves his devotees when their actions are in accordance with his words. All God Truly request of us is to Love him and love others as if they were The Lord Himself. Love for God will take you straight to him. Amen

[@brahmanatman8576]

@@divyaraj5629 For one you must cultivate your faith in his existence and cultivate Love for God. Don't be discouraged if you cant feel him yet. To Feel the Lord your heart must truly desire the Lord more than the world, you cant feel him with your current state of mind. start by doing meditation and focus on God or a preferred image of your choice that represents God. Also make time in your days of rest to put devotional music for God and chant away. sing to the Lord. pray to him and request that you may have Love for his lotus feet. when you pray, do not pray for things of this world, but pray that you may cultivate Love for him. Love for God eradicates passions for the world. When you begin to cry for the lord and develop tears at the thought of God, you can rest assure that you are doing extremely well, and you are not far from seeing him.

[@bardobox]

Swami Sarvapriyananda, thank you for all your talks! I think I can help those who asked the first two questions about reconciliation of devotion vs knowledge. First, if the questioners continue to practice, one day this will not be a question. It will be clear to them, so keep practicing. Second, with continued practice you become the love you feel for God. I realized that there was not enough love that I could give to God until i became his love and I-am my love for God. I think that when you become the Love Itself and you know that your total being is that Love the devotion and the wisdom becomes One.

[@scottwyckoff5483]

Thank you, I feel blessed for this knowledge

[@DistilledHealth]

Thank you Swami!

[@kunalvats2067]

1:21:42 he always gives the best teaching in the last part...❤

[@DelRealSergio]

Brilliant ❤

[@drrsnagpal]

Thankyou, Swami Ji 🙏 🙏 🙏

[@wrestlingcommunity]

Thank you Aloha from Chicago.

[@kengemmer]

Thank you Swamiji. A “very nice session”, indeed!

[@Devanshsays]

Namaste swami jii 🙏🏻♥️

[@Tanujsky]

I will ask more questions once these are clarified. Tatvmasi Swami Ji

[@Rishibhai-_-]

I love that there are many people from "other" sects and beliefs and can ask related questions from swamiji without any reservations.

[@InterceptingwithGora]

Thank you

[@MacShrike]

Thank you. Especially 01:18:15 + was very powerful for me.

[@jyotsnapathania9590]

Om shanti

[@jyotsnapathania9590]

Pranam swami ji

[@rajukunjukrishnan472]

Pranam Guruji 🙏

[@aarjukr]

धन्यवाद स्वामी जी 🙏🙏🙏💐

[@Pallasathena-hv4kp]

Pranam, Swami 🙏

[@rajivikrishnan596]

A wise person said, " Be careful what you wish for. You will get it but it will never be exactly what you wanted." Every situation has its pros and cons. You will never be truly satisfied or at peace when you get what you want.

[@UM8831-u8m]

Swamiji 🙏

[@syams957]

❤ Thanks Swamiji. Swamiji’s Mandukya series was really a breakthrough for me .

[@bhuvaneswarinatarajan2583]

Pranam Swamiji, thank you very much 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@rbaoki]

Pranam Maharaj,😂 This one was one of the greatest Q&A session ever. Thank You so much 🙏🌿 Warm wishes of a great New Year’s Eve celebration. May the vids of your invaluable teachings to reach and impact more and more people in the world. “…Jyotira jyoti ujvala hridi kandara, tumi tamo-bhañjana hãr,..” Eternal gratitude for all the knowledge received.

[@Tanujsky]

Swami ji, I am listening to you since 2019 on google podcast which is discontinued now. I make use of my office traveling time to listen to you. And i gained great insights from your teachings. Today i visited one Ashram and they say i can ask questions on your podcast. I have few questions. One is how to establish brahman in myself all the time. I know now by Sravan manan Nidhidyasna. And i am trying that. Second question : How to differentiate between right and wrong. Sometimes situations create where it is hard to distinguish. And if i identifies what is right how to decide which action i should take. May be because or courage i hesitate in taking right action. Third question: i know now who i am, but still i becomes sad when situations comes. I know this is maya but still it effects my inner self. This effect is now my test case to realise i am still on this earth and a human being 😂 If these situations will start not effecting my inner self. Family and friends will see me as a stone hearted man.

[@NadiaDham]

Even when in reality thinking of Differences vanishes from mind, I belong to you ,not that you belong to me just like Waves belong to the ocean... Now that Bheda does not entertain me anymore, I have become more of You

[@PoojaRani-vm5ie]

Look like Katre Sqn Cdr INSTR once upon a time.... anyways now that you remind me of sm1...JGD. HAPPY NEW YEAR SIR. 😊

[@giridharpavan1592]

1) shankaracharya - true love/bhakti is the attitude to find yourself.

[@rsc953]

EPIC

[@mankuthimmi]

🙏🙏

[@dilludillsYT]

🙏

[@matthiasbluem7857]

Does anyone know what Swamiji means when he mentions a forum on the internet?

[@divyaraj5629]

Same question here

[@sumitdutta7043]

Tell me the time stamp

[@rayo.]

This is an older session, isn't it? I remember many questions and several phrases...

[@Rishibhai-_-]

59:18 varun dhawan from Bollywood?🧐

[@pvgopiabnle]

@ 1:15:00 Experience after death. We experienced a lot of things including nothingness during the period of our last death and this birth. We remember no? Like that on thousands of death we experienced a lot like this untill we took our next birth. Right? Fantastic!!!!!! BUT REALLY, DID WE? 🤔

[@devotoderamakrishna]

Sri Ramakrishna lived with many devotees who cultivated the notions of impersonality. Sri Ramakrishna was very clear with them: the path of this age is love and devotion to God as taught by Narada Muni. This is Sri Ramakrishna's spirituality, but it is also his philosophy. He was not unfamiliar with the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta; quite the contrary, he knew it and knew how to explain its points, but he was clear in pointing out his fundamental disagreements with this philosophy. It is not possible to reconcile Advaita Vedanta with Sri Ramakrishna's teaching, even though Sri Ramakrishna showed respect for Shankara (since Shankara was undeniably a great spiritual personality and his work was fundamental in dispelling the problems of Buddhism). Sri Ramakrishna does not teach that there is only Brahman and that all diversity is the illusion of Maya. This is not what Sri Ramakrishna teaches. He teaches the doctrine of eternal souls, that there are souls of various types, that the avatara is God in person, he teaches the doctrine of the real presence of God in sacred images, he teaches the doctrine of Shakti, of the Divine Couple, he teaches the divinity of Caiatanya Mahaprabhu... Swami Sarvapriyananda is an extraordinary speaker, but his exposition leads one to understand that Advaita Vedanta is the truth, and that everything else is a step below it. The system in which the renunciants of the Ramakrishna Order and Mission are by definition advaitins dramatically compromises the transmission of the authentic teachings of Sri Ramakrishna.

[@akhitwr]

1:01:47

[@akhitwr]

44:06

[@akhitwr]

31:47

[@brahmanatman8576]

First Question, How can I reconcile devotion and non-dual knowledge? This question comes from not understanding who God is. God is not just immobile but mobile as well, he's not just formless, he is with form as well. God is a Living conscious omnipotent presence who is very much capable of loving just as much as we are. we must not limit God to his formless nature because that is only a part of him and not his entirety. This misunderstanding comes from believing that God is only brahman pure consciousness. We don't truly understand God unless we experience God ourselves. when we experience him then these questions vanish. God is not just Pure consciousness awareness, he is conscious living being, eternal, he can speak to us, he hears us and loves when we devote ourselves to him. He loves his devotees when their actions are in accordance with his words. All God Truly request of us is to Love him and love others as if they were The Lord Himself. Love for God will take you straight to him. Amen

[@michaelmcclure3383]

Obviously Ramakrishna's mimd was conditioned by devotion to kali, its surely not surprising that he returned to it after completing advaitic training.

[@rsn8955]

Guru is Greater than God...❤

[@piyush.pranjal86]

The highest form of Bhakti is Jnāna and the highest form of Jnāna is Bhakti. Karma and Rāj Yog support both. Pranām Swāmiji 🙏🏽🙏🏽🛕🛕

[@adv.madhusudananmp9045]

Pranams Swamiji ❤

[@swapankumarsarkar2722]

Pranam swamiji

[@allnone4277]

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@allnone4277]

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻