2 – God’s Effortless Play, and the Devotee's Transcendental Joy| King Nimi’s Questions 2-4

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The Essence of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana

Vedanta Society, San Francisco

3 episodes

9 months ago

This podcast contains discourses on the Srimad Bhagavata Purana by Swami Tattwamayananda.

The Srimad Bhagavata Purana is as sacred as the Bhagavad Gita, as authentic as the Vedas, and as metaphysically deep as the Upanishads. Its author is Vyasa. It is presented in 12 skandas.

It is given in answer to the question, “what should a dying man do?” The answer is to die with God’s name on your lips and God’s form in your heart. Containing innumerable classic devotional stories, dialogues, and characters, the Srimad Bhagavata Purana illustrates in an unforgettable way exactly how to do that.

Lectures and Topics:

1. Three lectures delivered January 24-26, 2016 at the Jain Temple in Milpitas, CA. The topic is the Dialogue between King Nimi and the Nine Yogis.

2. The first three out of four lectures delivered August 23 - 25, 2019 at the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of North Texas. The topic was Srimad Bhagavatam - A Blend of Knowledge and Devotion.

Speaker’s Introduction:

Swami Tattwamayananda, currently the Minister of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco, (originally founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900) served in various centers of the Ramakrishna Order in India as editor, publisher, and teacher of Sanskrit, Advaitic texts such as Sri Shankaracharya's commentaries on the 'Prasthanatraya' (the fundamental Sanskrit texts of Vedanta philosophy), Buddhism and Indian philosophy. He underwent traditional training in Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit, Vedic and Vedantic literature for many years, from his early days. Before coming to the United States in January 2012 he was teaching Sanskrit, Vedantic scriptures and Indian philosophy at the Training center in Belur Math, the institution that trains the monks of the Ramakrishna Order at the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, Kolkata, India. Apart from his traditional education, the Swami has also received modern University education in English literature, psychology, European history, and Western philosophy. He is frequently invited for lectures on Yoga, Vedanta, and traditional Hindu scriptures and for participating in interfaith dialogues.

For more:
Web: www.sfvedanta.org
Livestream: https://livestream.com/sfvedanta
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sfvedanta
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SFVedanta

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2 – God’s Effortless Play, and the Devotee's Transcendental Joy| King Nimi’s Questions 2-4 | 2016 Jain Temple| Swami Tattwamayananda

The Essence of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana

1 hour 18 minutes

6 years ago

2 – God’s Effortless Play, and the Devotee's Transcendental Joy| King Nimi’s Questions 2-4 | 2016 Jain Temple| Swami Tattwamayananda

-As we evolve in spiritual life, the direction is from the gross to the subtle, from the many to one, and from mechanical rituals to inner experience. In answer to the second question, the three stages in the evolution of a devotee are explained.
-In Vedanta, God and creation are realized to be one.
-A spiritual seeker is able to have the insight that all happy and unhappy experiences will change and make use of this insight while working and living life.
-In the 12th Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita it is said that a devotee of God will have santushta, a deep unshakeable transcendental joy.
-From a devotional standpoint, creation can be explained as the play of the lord. There is no definite reason for it, so it is not tiring.
-Question 3) Why should the perfect Brahman become the imperfect universe? How can we explain Maya?
-Maya is explained as Ma (negation) and Ya (pronoun indicating something). It is a something that exists in the relative sense but that does not exist in the Absolute sense.
-Shankaracharya’s Vivekachudamani says it is beyond all explanation and a great mystery. We can ask why for many relative entities but can we ever answer the question of why for the entirety of creation? A person of spiritual insight is not deluded by this.
-A person who is not able to see through Maya has a constant feeling of need to acquire and achieve, and is stuck in Samsara.
-Question 4) How do we get out of this Maya?
-The experience of a real devotee is that every moment is a celebration and auspicious. We gain a higher spiritual bliss. We can get this only by seeing the limitation of all worldly experience. It is not a life-negating philosophy.
-In order to achieve para-bhakti, the mind should instinctively go towards God.
-Svadhyaya, sravana, manana, nididhyasana are all important practices.
-The Chandogya upanishad’s illustration of a man trying to reach his destination is given.
-A seeker should 1) Make effort to get to the truth to obtain fitness to obtain God’s grace. 2) Meet a teacher and sincerely listen to his instructions about the route. 3) Remain steadfast in following the instructions and not get distracted.
-The meaning of taking refuge in God is also explained. We can become an instrument in the hands of God.
-We can link our mind to God by developing an intimate relationship. The 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita explains the stages in this practice.

The Essence of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana