Questioner (Q): Next one comes from Ron Jagannathan. He says the core philosophy of Advaita Vedanta is experiencing Brahma. Ramana Maharshi advocated direct enquiry for the same. How many people have experienced Brahma this way? How long does the training usually take?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Ron, that's not the core philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. Brahma is not an object to be experienced. In fact, Vedanta or Advaita Vedanta are not at all about Brahma so much. Even though they name themselves as Brahma Vidya. Practically, when it comes to you and me from our perspective, it is about dissolution of the experiencer.
Not adding another experience to the experiencer's kitty. You see, the experiencer is a sucker for experience. He is thirsty. He is thirsty because all his life he has been taking in things that have not only not quenched his thirst, but have actually worsened it, exaggerated it. So, he is in a deep problem. His throat is burning. He looks this way and that way and wants to experience more and more. That's our situation. That's the general situation of mankind. He wants to add to this long list of the objects he has experienced.
And he says fine, I now have Advaita Vedanta. I want to experience Brahma as well. The trouble here is, this experiencer exists only in his own dimension. And therefore can experience stuff only in his own dimension. So, all the stuff that he experiences is bound to have a certain commonality. This Brahma that he wants to experience will not be very different from the men and women and the food and the drinks he has experienced so far in his life. Are you getting it? See, can you experience something in four dimensions? Can you? But you have experienced a lot. Such a great diversity of experiences you have. But do you see that that diversity is actually not diverse really. All the objects that you have experienced so far belong to your own dimension and which is the dimension of three dimensional perception in space. Have you ever experienced anything that is not inside time?
So, in your lifetime you have experienced so much but all the objects that you have so far experienced all belong to the stream of time and therefore they all are similar or even same. Now if you insist that you must experience Brahma, what kind of Brahma would this be that has become an object of your experience? It would be a three dimensional Brahma belonging to the stream of time. Otherwise you cannot experience it. And that is exactly what the experiencer wants. He says, I want to remain as I am. Give me something more to consume. I have consumed so much, so much, so much, so much. Now give me Brahma also.
The trouble is if it keeps insisting it will get some kind of a Brahma to consume. So many people get Brahma and they walk around all puffed up. We have experienced Brahma. It's not about Brahma. It's about, I repeat, the dissolution of the hungry experiencer. And once that hungry experiencer is gone, there is just Brahma. For whom? Not for you. You are gone. You are not there to experience Brahma. It's like asking, if I die, will I come to greet you? No, you are gone. Then if I will not experience anything after I am gone, why should I die at all? Of what use is dying to me?
After all, if Brahma is useful, it must come to me in my lifetime and become a part of my experience. Sir, if you are insisting, Ron says, that the real thing is about the dissolution of the experiencer, then why should I be interested? I am the experiencer. If I am gone, what benefits will I avail?
Sir, your dissolution is the biggest benefit you can avail. Why? Because you are unhappy with yourself. Are you alright? No, you are not. Please understand. You have a sore somewhere on the body. Let's say you have a tumor in your arm. If you have a tumor in your arm, that tumor dissolves. Is it good or bad for you? Is it good or bad for you? Because you are unhappy with the tumor, right?
You have a tumor on your arm and what do you feel about the tumor? You are unhappy with the tumor. So once the tumor goes away, that itself is quite a relief. Or do you want something in exchange for the tumor? Do you tell the surgeon, sir, if you are taking away this tumor, make sure that you give me an equal weight of jaggery at least.
You know, something I should have. This tumor is some 80 grams. Give me at least 8 grams of something in return. Do you say that? That's foolish. Because it is sufficient for you, it is enough that the tumor has been taken away. Now what if your entire existence is a huge tumor? You will not easily agree. So let me make it easier for you. Are you happy with any bit of yourself? What is the definition of a tumor? A tumor is something you are not happy with, right? Are you really happy with your finger? Tell me. Seriously, don't you want to improve it? Don't you subconsciously wish it were better?
I mean, is there a person who is perfectly happy with his body and your finger is a part of your body? So if tumor is something you are unhappy with, then actually you are unhappy with every bit of yourself. Are you happy with your past? Are you happy with your wife? Are you happy with your qualifications? Are you happy with the marks you got? I am not talking of being moderately satisfied. I am talking of being perfectly contented. Are you perfectly contented? Don't you secretly wish you had a better wife or husband? Don't you want that your score sheet read 100% instead of 86%?
I mean, that's the marks you obtained in your graduation. That's, I know, too high for you. Maybe 66%, but let's keep it at that. Do you understand this? We are not happy with any bit of our existence, which means we are actually just one big palpitating tumor. So it is enough that this thing dissolves. Don't ask for anything in return. This is called Brahma Attainment. When there is nobody left to attain anything. Are you getting it? So don't cultivate the hope that one day you will have some kind of a supernatural outrageous experience and then you can call yourself, label yourself as some kind of a brahmgyāni and then go about the town drumming your newfound status and achievement. That's not the thing. Getting it?
When you ask how many people have experienced Brahma this way? Sir, you know, Brahma is the dissolution of this question. When your mind will be able to transcend such superficialities, that's the Brahma state. Brahma state of what? Nothing. Brahma. Brahma in its own state.
Similarly, how long does the training usually take? What is some kind of a commando training or something? What are you expecting? It's actually quite hilarious. I can't help imagining what your imaginations are. How long does the training take? What does long signify? Time. See. Mind. What is it asking for? Something in time. As long as this question is there. Where is the possibility of Brahma realization?
It's not as if your questions are all answered. It says that these questions start appearing trivial. You don't want to ask something stupid. That's the Brahami state. Getting it? These things just don't appeal. Something else has been obtained. I mean, again, the words will mislead you. Something very ugly has been shed, dropped. And you are very content with what you have lost.
There is a contentment that appears to come on attainment. And there is a contentment that arises on dropping stuff. When you come to the latter, then you will know what Ramana Maharshi was saying. Self-enquiry. In self-enquiry, you do not come upon great diamonds and jewels hidden in your mind. Self-enquiry reveals to you all your sicknesses. When you throw the light of awareness on them, you find that those sicknesses vanish. What remains? Absolutely nothing, sir. It's a blissful absence. An absence in which there is just nothing of your usual bickering and tensions and squabbling. None of these. And that's bliss. Getting it?
