In the previous episode, the sage Yajnyavalkya was saying that the different things we see around, are all one in reality. The differences are only superficial. If we look deep, we see that everything is one.
Yajnyavalkya gives couple of examples to explain what he is saying. He says
Yajnyavalkya gives couple of examples to explain what he is saying. He says
“When you hear sounds from different drums, even though each drum produces its characteristic sound, you look for the commonality between these sounds and infer that the sound is from some drum.
Each drum may have a different shape, the sticks used to beat the drums may be different, but still you can recognize the sound as a drum sound.
Similarly with any musical instrument. You look for the underlying commonality and come to your judgment.
So, whatever is in this universe is the one and only Brahma that appears to be different because of the bodies it is temporarily encased in. If you look beyond the bodies, it is the same Brahma that exists.”
Yajnyavalkya gives another example to illustrate how the same Brahma pervades the entire universe. He says
“Take a salt crystal. It is salty inside as well as outside. The saltiness is all pervading. If you dissolve this crystal in water, and taste it from any part of the resulting solution, it is uniformly salty. The salt may not be visible, but it exists in the entire solution.”
So, what we identify as we is not the real we. We are just a form taken by the real We or the Brahma that appears different because it is circumscribed by our body and the Mind. Once you remove these limitations, what remains is just the Brahma.
How do we remove these covers that envelop the Brahma?
When one meditates and reaches the ultimate state of Samadhi, the Mind stops functioning stage by stage. Once that happens, the meditator becomes one with the Brahma. He sees nothing else. He has no separate identity.
The separate identity was created by the body and the Mind. And once the body and the Mind cease to blur the reality, the real We or the Brahma becomes apparent.
But how does that give you lasting peace? Remember, the story started with the Matreyi’s question “How do I get lasting peace?”. Let us see that in the next episode.
A
story of Yajnyavalkya and Maitreyi from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,
which is part of Yajur Veda. Upanishads are concluding parts of
ancient Indian Vedic scriptures believed to be at least 5000 years
old. The interpretation is by Dr.King (Copyright © 2019 Dr. King).
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