3 - Ananda: Bliss as the Highest Spiritual Experience | Swami Tattwamayananda

Verses: III.4, III.5, III.6. This discourse was given on July 29, 2019 at the Lake Tahoe Retreat run by the Vedanta Society of Northern California by Swami Tattwamayananda.-Bhrigu and Varuna’s approach to going deeper in spiritual inquiry through tapah, austerity is reviewed. Matter, annam, and life-energy, prana, are the first two stages of Bhrigu’s understanding of Brahman, but he continues his inquiry. -At the next two stages of Bhrigu’s inquiry, he finds that the mind, manas and intellect, vijnana are Brahman. -The definition of the mind, manas, is given, “sankalpa vikalpa antahkarana vritti.” It reflects on and determines what the objects are. -The antahkarana is analyzed into the functions of ahamkara, chittam, manas, and buddhi-The intellect and the mind reflect the Atman. Depending on the samskaras stored in the chittam, they are able to reflect the Atman more or less clearly.-Finally, at the fifth stage, Bhrigu realizes Ananda, bliss, as Brahman. This Ananda does not refer to the Anandamaya-kosha, which is the bliss of enjoyment of the world. It is an unconditioned Ananda, which is our home. -In deep sleep, this bliss is experienced because the faculty of experiencing duality is benumbed. In Samadhi, this bliss is experienced with awareness and we transcend duality. -An Advaitin sees that he is one with the whole humanity so he has no quarrel with anybody. -The language of Samadhi is silence, mind and intellect come back from Samadhi empty-handed. -We are then able to see the changing as changing so that all anxieties are gone. We no longer interpret ourselves as the changing phenomenon of mind and matter. It is not a life negating philosophy but rather it allows us to work in the world without being shocked at its inherent imperfection. -At the philosophical level, the world is changing, and Brahman is Real. At the experience level, the so-called world is seen as Brahman, so the world is also seen as real, but as Brahman.-Some texts, such as Yoga Vasistha explain Brahman from the highest perspective where everything is seen as Brahman. Shankaracharya’s work also explains ways to reach the highest perspective starting from where we are in our evolution.-To change our life, we can create healthy samskaras through constant thinking of these higher ideas. Our mind changes and we evolve.