In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna tells Arjuna not to analyze life when Arjuna says that he is often confused with life. We cannot reason out anything; our only responsibility is to witness and experience life.
Thanks to Swamiji for this presentation. Here are some of my thoughts. Sickness & Death is a natural part of life. Whatever exists in nature has an end. Covid-19 may be natural and/or man made (climate change, reduced natural immunity, our fast food culture full of processed food with preservatives & additives etc., love of instant coffee, instant information, instant relationships, selfishness, loathe of physical labor, over dependence on technology & arm-chair experts, information overload, laziness to introspect & correct our unhealthy habits and to think for ourselves & the collective Karma). Also we the public or middle & low income/status/ race (?) citizens do not have much control over the actions of the Government, Corporations & elite citizens. So, we are in the digital age , with a broken health care system. Most of the talk is about covid-19 damage, blame game, unemployment, economic slump, Stocks hitting bottom - creating more panic. After 50+ years of the invention of plastic, we are just recognizing the ill effects of its use. And the over consumerism & transportation of consumer goods & dependence on coal & petroleum & oil ( in the name of improving economy & business) has damaged our Climate & Nature beyond repair. We are not recognizing that everything in our Nature is interdependent. We will develop a vaccine for Covid-19, it will subside, but there will another superbug, another pandemic & panic, another vaccine -so it will go on...Instead, will we ever recognize that Nature is too smart & too big for us, we are part of it & dependent on it for our existence. Let us protect the Nature & mother Earth. It is important to recognize & accept that this crisis (Covid-19) is a great opportunity - to introspect our unhealthy habits & change them for better, to take care of sick among us, to develop patience & resilience, to be independent & do self-care (need to keep physical distance & pandemic) , to enjoy the neglected parts of our lives such as cooking dishes from raw ingredients, reducing our shopoholic & workoholic habits, keeping our personal hygiene & home hygiene, really paying attention to our kids & teaching them etc. Eventually, everything will pass on, nothing will remain the same.
Thank You for taking time to Publish this...Inspirational...Thoroughly Enjoyed...I think One who is Truly Wise is One who Always Uses Knowledge with Love...Ignorance of what Love Truly is produces evil as we define it. Amore💞🙏
I notice there are some people in the comments calling Corona pandemic as a moral evil. While it can be true, I still find value with what Swami Ji was explaining with the Tree or Horse anecdotes. We are so conditioned to see things as Good or Bad, due to our personal desires/attachment (Raga-Dvesha). We have to give up our ignorance of this conditioning at the same time we ask others (Terrorists, etc) to get rid of their ignorance because it is the same ignorance that is the foundation for all problems/miseries. The core teachings of Swami Dayananda Saraswati and also Ramakrisha (guru of Swami Vivekananda) is, All that there is God and nothing else. A division between natural and man made creates duality, which is false according to Advaitic philosophy.
There is a term called Neo Advaita where some people skip Karma and Bhakti yoga and Jump up the ladder to reach Jnana Yoga and thereby artificially claim that they are one with God and everything. But they have not realized the Self or Brahman (Absolute reality) through experience. Basically they are "All head" and "No heart" .
I am searching for this answer since some number of years and got to learn from you guru ji 🙏 You have not just answered a question, you helped me to progress in my spiritual journey by answering this puzzle 🙏🙏🙏
Hey mate, I love your videos. Thank you. Your story about good and bad has completely blown my mind, and its going to take a while for this to sink in. Keep up the good work my man!
Very nicely explained. The present situation, which has caused so much suffering and so many deaths, has raided many questions. It's just sheer ignorance of many leaders in some countries which has allowed the virus to spread so fast. That ignorance was based on their own personal agenda . Human lives and safety was not given much importance in the beginning. With proper knowledge and the right methods and priorities the same virus can be contained and soon eradicated in time, is slowly being understood.
Snakes have no free will? Could you expand upon that a bit? The topic of free will gets blurry in regard to that which acts upon one's free will such as samskaras. Would a snake have less free will than a human, dog, or other animals? thank you
I'm modern days they call it entropy, but as the Vedanta teaching and the spider analogy... God is the creator, God is the sustainer and God is the destroyer... God manifests as evil through humans...
Thank you Swamiji. I was fortunate enough to spend some quality time with you in your visits to Albany. That was many years ago. You are looking great. I agree with your insites as a student of Vedanta. What I am not sure of is corona is a natural phenomena as an earthquake. There are possibilities that this could be man made like 9/11,created by human greed. Thank you for your blessings and analysis.🙏🏿
Thanks Swami .One important factor that fans the ignorance is the GREED and AGGRESSION.When these clouds of ignorance is dispelled or dissipated only then , we can have a clear SPACE for peace and happiness.
Thank you Swamiji for this lucid, simple and arrow-straight elucidation of these road-block questions, without clearing which, the seeker cannot proceed.
very good presentation swamijee. swamijee, still we need to know way more about why sufferings by the beings despite the god. a much more analytical presentation to reconcile evil or bad with the god's presence is required.
The thing I never understand when I encounter Vedanta: if all is Brahman (which I accept) isn't ignorance Brahman also? It seems strange to me to speak of vast natural disasters as if they were neutral events, in harmony with a flawless cosmos that is beyond our judgement, but then speak of human ignorance, which is as natural as rain, as if it were a perversion or somehow outside of Brahman. I'd love a good answer on this.
The way I understand this is, Ignorance is a "thing" only as much as zero is a "thing" i.e. it's only a human devised information "place holder". In actuality this "thing" doesn't exist. Let's assume Brahman is all knowing for a sec. A human "existing in brahman" assumes his/her everyday topical and transactional ignorance whilst interacting with a vast intelligent world (also Brahman) to be "true and real" ignorance. This human "feeling of ignorance" peacefully co-exists with-in the all knowing Brahman without affecting it. Just as a wave (the vedantic trope) arise from the ocean and say gathers an ego (a sense of identity/individuality "automatically" giving rise to a sense of separateness) then feels proud, vain, egoistic, ignorant etc., but all those "feelings" felt by the individual wave has no material effect on the ocean it co-exists in. All these finally dissolves into water - the only real thing. So for the all knowing, ever present water, wave is nothing but water. Transient ignorance felt by a wave belongs to the wave and resolves itself out-of-existence when it meets its maker. Just as a fish doesn't see water, we don't see Brahman. As a individualistic wave "feels separate" from the source we take our identity, our understanding and lack thereof (ignorance) of the world and all other pieces of language and feeling based information to be real. So perhaps we take the lack of information (ignorance) also to be real. So as you said: "if all is Brahman (which I accept) isn't ignorance Brahman also?" Sure!. Your ignorance or my ignorance, your ego and my ego, your hate and mine" is also Brahman....in the sense that it exists "transiently, as false knowledge tied to our identity" within Brahman without affecting it. This ignorance (of stuff) dissolves with our identity into the all-knowing Brahman when we give up our identity. This emotional and lived recognition of what is real and what is not, is "I think" the goal of Advaita vedanta. This may not be a satisfactory answer at all but it is my best attempt based on a limited understanding. Best of journeys my friend.
@@ss-ud7hs thank you so much. I'm really grateful to you for your careful and thoughtful response. It all makes sense, and in fact what you've outlined is as I understand it. What I keep coming back to though is this. Maya is not an error that springs up within Brahman, or even breaks out of it. All is Brahman, therefore there is no error. Maya spins up the dream of our sensory, dual reality, but Maya is not something other than Brahman either. Therefore, our identification with ourselves as "the wave" is part of what we are meant to do, and not something that needs to be corrected.
Great theme... "Just as calamity is due to disobedience, so deliverance from calamity can be obtained only by obedience." - Dr J.E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, Baha'i Faith
I think this is a really great presentation. you say there is no evil, only ignorance. still, you don't answer the question of why God,(or nature) has suffering and ignorance. why it isn't just perfect bliss?
Laws of thermodynamics gives right explanation for the existence of good and evil. Both are coexisting. In perfect balance but when something goes more, the Nature itself corrects it by both natural and moral ways.Equilibrium is the right word. Thanks 🙏
Good exists, but evil does not. By “evil,” we mean the antithesis of good, an exact opposite. A force working in opposition to an equal and contradictory force of good.
Judaic, Christian and Muslim philosophies are hardly Western. Rather, they were incorporated into the western world. I know, I am just referring to semantics here, nothing important. What I would refer to as Western thought would be the classical philosophy of the Greeks (who also had a certain amount of contact with other cultures) and Romans, the native mentality of European peoples (reflected, for example, in the Eddas) on top of the work of Western philosophy in the modern age. I wonder what your stance on that would be. Does a division between the East and West exist, really? Perhaps on a spectrum. The core of Western thought seems to be a highly fatalistic approach, in which we are simply subject to a complex network of events which we (or even the Gods) cannot control. What we can do, and what we are called to, is to handle the circumstances with honor and grace, and to make what we can out of the situation. Which sounds fairly reasonable.
Just as the characters in my dreams are all me, in this reality which is god's dream we are all god. God is all knowing and omnipresent but god is also asleep. Some of the dream charecters in this dream have realised that they are dreaming just like we do when we're having a lucid dream. These are the yogis and sages who's bliss cannot be disturbed but unfortunately most of us haven't experienced this kind of lucidity in the "waking world". Right now the dream is being hijacked by fear and it is slowly turning in to a nightmare. Its important that we remember that this is all a dream and that we are all one. If we allow fear to take over then it will echo just like 9/11 echoed in to Iraq etc. Its up to us to become lucid and realise that this reality is just a projection of our minds and with healthy and happy minds we can do anything.
It's hard to here the words about 9-11 maybe some day we will find out more truths about who is really guilty for that, but who ever did it followed ignorance, the lust for power and greed, led to an evil day.
Watch David Icke interview on london real on 9/11 and you will know. And watch the coronavirus David Icke interview on london real which is banned on youtube. Over 2hours and 34minutes long the interview is.
@@cosmicocean2868 well, it is a complex thing. The God who is nirguna, who has no form, who is the embodiment of the knowledge, bliss and consciousness takes forms, means he takes the form of saguna. But the thing is we claim to know the God, when we cannot, because he is beyond our little mind. We cannot understand who or what he really is. To be everything in order, whi h is cosmic law, Karma is created. So that proper justice can be given, good for the good and bad for the bad.
@@cosmicocean2868 well, ignorance is something that cannot be created, it is just the absence of knowledge. He did not create ignorance, but we indulge in ignorance because we choose not to acquire knowledge.
@@DudewithaGoodMood how can nirguna attributeless decide to become saguna? that means he has saguna desire, why does a nirguna nirakar brahman take form? does he have mercy? passion? if yes, then the entity that has passions is not nirguna...
The buck stops with the mind. You are neither the mind nor the body nor the ego. What affects the mind and the body and the ego do not affect the real you.
Dear Swamiji, I have a question to 24.30 in this Video. Can anybody do something to us that is not in our Karma? Thank you very much for your wonderful videos 🕉️🌞❤️
I don’t agree quran already write the bad things their false prophet did. Like pull the nail of the dead victim of their holywar. And many more. That is act of inhuman
Thank you for this video! It is very helpful for us to think about life. 9:00 Regarding why God did not create a perfect world without evil, I feel like love is required to be included in the perfect world, and love has to come from free will. With free will, we all chose not to love at some point, seemingly making evil inevitable. But God didn't create a world full of robotic "kind" angels, for it is not perfect. As a disciple of Jesus, I trust God IS on the way of making a perfect world: people (free will agents) wanting to be evil will be freely confined from goodness, and people wanting to be good will be justified to be good by Christ and enabled to be good by the Holy Spirit. God is too loving to force the former group to be with Him, the very definition of goodness; and He is also too loving not to provide a way to help the latter group to perfectly reconcile free will and goodness as shown in Him.
Thanks very much, dear Swamiji, for this teaching! Please allow me the following question: You said, that moral evil comes from ignorance and brought the example of the 9/11 terrorists. But if I think about the exemple of the mass murderer Ted Bundy, who raped and killed dozens of women, I can hardly recognize ignorance as a root, because he always realized the evil of his deeds and said in his last interview, that it was like an inner voice/urge that forced him (against his will) to do this horrible things. So wouldn't this exemple deny the theory, that (always) ignorance was the origin of moral evil? And by the way also deny the theories of an (absolutely) free human will and of the inexistence of evil forces (like demons or a so called "devil") who are capable to influence someone?
god is both positive and negative he she is good and bad dark and light .spring is rebirth summer is prime autum is decline winter is death.sat in the house last week it was raining very heavily miserable day .went out today bright sunshine gave thanks to the creator for the warmth upon my face.noticed the grass had grown considerably taller the oil seed rape is in full bloom .hares and deer were running in the fields.see some hen pheashants in a wood with a very mature cock bird his feathers were shimmering like precious jewels in the sunshine.he survived the winter as did the hens now they can sit in a dust bath and sunbathe in the sun.thought yes it was miserable wet and cold as the earth had to be waterd now it is bursting into life.gave up a ray of light for those who have passed in the past weeks.thanked my creator for being old but very healthy.will think back to these days when my time has come and will probaly be desperate to reincarnate as i love earthly life to much to not want to come back.yes there are horrible things on this earth anger pain hate ignorance .but i like being in a body to feel all of the sensations and to live.god is all powerful and all knowing both good and evil and we can become all knowing to if we incarnate enough times
I believe when Christ died on the cross and rose again He placed an absolute restraining order between those who remain in Christ and the enemy ::: but just like here on the earth sometimes if we have a restraining order we need we allow the other person to wiggle their way in and cause issues again and we find ourselves in a mess … this happens to nations and also to families and also to individuals… God can’t fix our own decisions when He already placed the restraining order but we break it and we do .. also He helps us even when we do and we call out to Him .. He can make the wrong right but there’s still going to be consequences we have to face for making the decision to break the restraining order … long as we stay in Christ in the Fathers care we are set apart and we have every promise of protection that Is in the Word .. we are completely fine and protected but who honesty lives like that .. we all have played with the devil and some of us want to and choose to and it affects those who love us who are around us .. maybe I’m wrong but I think the word of God is true and we have all the blessings we could ever imagine
Philosophy is not a one size fit all religion: if ignorance is evil then what about knowledgeable people who uses their intellect for evil through greedy desires.
skandan kumar It is different. But the story is that during the churning of the ocean, Gems, amongst other things came flying out What was seemingly a disaster, was gods play only. This also shows that everything in its essence is never bad as it seems. As God only does what is good for the welfare of earth.
Yes it is, it is meant to release your inner heaven/hell, people whom have/will die are technically the saved ones, people will tear each other in the street in the coming months unless something changes soon
For the first time, swamiji I have to disagree on only one part. You encourage to speak the “uncorrupted truth”. Yet you hide the real source from where fundamentalists get their ideology and moderates keep mum. Being politically correct is not speaking “uncorrupted truth”. 🙏
Where do you think the so called fundamentalists get their ideology ? Are we absolutely sure that they have a basis or \, is it more correct to say that they get their ideology from their own ignorance? As a vedanta student under our guru Swami Tadatmananda, I can tell you that those "fundamentalists" are not fundamentalists but ignorant people. Besides not understanding their own religion's fundamental teachings in full, they are also ignorant of their own divine nature. Also, those fundamentalists who commit terrorism are only a few and there are many many moderates who oppose such views. We need to understand that as well, otherwise, we are equally ignorant. I do not see Swamji's message as anything but absolute truth. Please come to our classes when they restart.
