In December 2015, I started watching Advaita Vedanta videos on YouTube for the first time in my life. I really liked the following lectures:
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Who Am I — Part I (97 mins, YouTube) and Who Am I — Part II (96 mins, YouTube) by Swami Sarvapriyananda (monk at Ramakrishna Order) at IIT Kanpur, 2014.
Swami Sarvapriyananda has dozens of lectures online. Another lecture that I really liked is an exposition of the Bhakti Marga: The Way of Love (62 mins, 2017).
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Sadhana (57 mins, YouTube) by Swami Advayananda (President, Chinmaya International Foundation), 2015.
This lecture is helpful in understanding the connections between Advaita Vedanta (jnana marga) and mantra-based meditation (typically associated with bhakti marga).
I then chanced upon Atma Shatkam by Adi Shankaracharya, Who Am I? by Ramana Maharshi, Vijnana Bhairav Tantra (which has 112 techniques for conceptualizing the void), the Shiva Sutras in Kashmir Shaivism, and a few other texts which describe the essence of Advaita Vedanta. Browsing through such books gave me a better understanding of the concepts and introduced me to vocabulary to explain these concepts.
In early 2016, one question kept cropping in my mind: how does knowledge of 'Who Am I?' help us remove impurities of our mind and improve our personal conduct? Mere knowledge didn't seem to be sufficient.
In the lecture The Way of Love (62 mins, 2017), Swami Sarvapriyananda mentions that traditionally, Advaita Vedanta was taught to advanced students: those who had done several years of meditation, had renounced worldly belongings, and so on. An untrained student, even after gaining an intellectual understanding of Advaita Vedanta, keeps wondering, 'So what? How does this understanding impact my life?' I had the same questions in 2016. Today, it appears that many people can get an intellectual understanding of 'Who Am I?' question through reading books and listening to lectures online. Many of them must be wondering the same thing, 'How does this knowledge help me remove impurities of my mind and improve my personal conduct?'
After much analysis, it dawned upon me that development of non-attachment is the key. Non-attachment has to be inculcated in addition to having knowledge (of change, voidness and non-duality). Non-attachment is the bridge that connects an intellectual understanding of 'Who Am I?' with eradication of impurities of the mind. In other words, only by developing non-attachment can we experience positive states of mind like peace and joy. Mere knowledge of Advaita Vedanta concepts is not enough.
Another way to see the relationship between 'Knowledge of Who Am I' and 'Practice of Non-attachment' is through this line by Guru Nanak: 'Tera Bhana Meetha Lage'. Its literal translation is: 'Your Will is as sweet as nectar'. I like this line because it has two components: 'Tera Bhana' (Your Will) and 'Meetha Lage' (is as sweet as nectar).
Tera Bhana: Understanding 'Tera Bhana' (Your Will) amounts to understanding the 'Who Am I?' question. It amounts to understanding the boundary between 'I' and 'You'. This boundary becomes clear only through some meditation. The boundary is as follows: I am 'nothing'; I'm pure consciousness; I'm merely a 'witness' who gets to experience physical and mental phenomena; all physical and mental phenomena is You.
Meetha Lage: The 'Meetha Lage' (is as sweet as nectar) amounts to non-attachment. In other words, we practice to be peaceful and joyful in the presence of all physical and mental phenomena that we witness. In other words, we develop love for everything in our experience; in other words, we develop love for God by loving all of His manifestations.
Using Advaita Vedanta terminology, we have to understand 'Who Am I?' and practice 'non-attachment' in our daily lives. Using Sufi & Bhakti terminology, we have to understand the concept of 'Tera Bhana' and practice 'Meetha Lage' in our daily lives. Using Buddhist terminology, these two components correspond to developing 'awareness' and practicing 'equanimity' in our daily lives. Different terms, same practice! :)
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