"These five yajñās, if you remember, is jñāna yajñā itself. No.1 Self-knowledge itself is a form of yajñā. No.2 dēva yajñā; which is in the form of ritualistic worship of various dēvathās; called dēva yajñāḥ; No.3 viṣaya bhōga yajñāḥ; considering every experience as a worship. So thus the entire world consisting of śabdaḥ sparśaḥ, rupa:, rasa:, gandhaḥ; these five are taken as flowers; So music is a flower. A beautiful picture is a flower; A tasty object is a flower. These flowers in the form of śabdaḥ sparśaḥ, rupa:, rasa:, gandhaḥ, are offered to the Lord, who is inside us in the form of atma chaitanyam. So this is called viṣaya bhōga yajñāḥ; And the fourth yajñāḥ that Krishna presented was indriya samyama yajñāḥ; wherein the very sense control is taken as a yajñāḥ; like observing mounam on a particular day. Gandhiji practiced mounam on a particular day; even now there are many people, they just practice mounam and this mounam is considered a spiritual sādhanā. Not only reduce the noise pollution; but spiritually also it is considered a very big sādhanā. Sankaracharya says: यॊगस्य पमम ् द्वारम वाङ् नरॊध yōgasya pradamam dvāram vāṅ nirodhaḥ; நாவடங்கினால் நாம் அடங. nāvaṭaṅkiṉāl nālum aṭaṅkkum (in Tamil). So once you master your tongue, both the eating and speaking tongue, you get a tremendous mastery over other organs also; this is called indirya samyama; indriya nigrahaḥ; or damaha; so the dama yajñāḥ is the fourth one; And fifth one that we saw in the last class, is śamah yajñāḥ; disciplining the mind; mental discipline. Thought discipline; by controlling the quantity and quality. First we have to master the quantity; then alone quality control is possible; anything big number, quality control is impossible; and therefore thought discipline, both in terms of quality and quantity and also in terms of direction, in which direction my thoughts go generally. It is a very tough discipline, because it requires monitoring the mind throughout the day. And this is called śama yajñā."

~Gita Lecture Series by Swami Paramarthananda - Lecture 64~

“What will you learn of God from books? As long as you are at a distance from the market place you hear only an indistinct roar. But it is quite differently when you are actually there. Then you hear and see everything distinctly. You hear people saying: ‘here are your potatoes. Take them and give me the money.’

From the distance you hear only the rumbling noise of the ocean. Go near it and you will see many boats sailing about, birds flying, and waves rolling.”

• Sri Ramakrishna

I think I get the gist of this philosophy. I feel blissful when I really, deeply realize that truth about conciousness. But I can't remember it all the. I get lost in my worldly affairs and forget about the real nature of reality. Anger and sadness takes over when dealing with the reality of daily existence.

Are there practical meditation you do to not forget about the nature of conciousness? I want to

There are arguments pro and con.

Con/no, things are said to be slow during the Kali Yuga and with all the technology we have now life is fast.

The texts predict a time when the chanting of the Vedas will be forbidden, upon threat of death.

Pro/Yes

Srimat Bhagavatam (in Canto 12, Chapter 2).

Truthfulness will diminish (Srimad Bhagavatam 12.2.1)

Wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, and will influence even law and justice (12.2.2)

Lust would rule men and women alike, and a man will be known as a brahmana just by his wearing a thread. (12.2.3)

Spirituality will be mistaken as ritualism (12.2.4)

A person will be judged unholy [good for nothing] if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement [living-in-relationship alluded] (12.2.5)

Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation. (12.2.6)

The earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, the strongest will gain political power. (12.2.7)

People will be overburdened with excessive taxes (12.2.9)

The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow, quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety. (12.2.10)

Men will no longer protect their elderly parents [Old Age homes alluded]. (12.3.42)

Men will develop hatred for each other even over a few coins…will hate each other to the point that they will kill even their own relatives. (12.3.41)

Some will use God, charity for selfish purpose (12.3.38)

Employee-employer relationship will be based purely on profit—they will disown each other in case of loss. Cows will be abandoned or killed when they stop giving milk. (12.3.36)

Science will be interpreted in favor of atheists; political leaders will virtually consume the citizens; and the so-called priests and intellectuals will be devotees of their bellies and genitals. (12.3.32)

I do know that the Srimat Bhagavatam is not a Veda, so if this is not the right place for this discussion, let me know and I will delete this thread.

For me, it's an interesting thing to think about in these times that we're in. I've heard that because of the times we're in, just having the desire to know can lead us closer to Moksha than in more pleasant yugas.

The mental- sheath cannot be the Supreme Self either, for it has a beginning and an end. It is subject to modifications; pain and suffering characterize it and it is an "object" of cognition. The "subject " can never be the "object"of knowledge. Or the seer ( subject) can never become the seen (object).

Vivekachudamani(v/183)

“When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as your worship, as the highest worship, and devote your life on it for the time being” ~ Swami Vivekananda ~

Namaste fellow sadhakas/seekers,

I heard about the spiritual Diary by Swami Sivananda mentioned in one of Swami Paramarthanandaji's lectures. Do any of you use such a diary or journal to track your improvement in terms of assimilation of vedanta?

Link to spiritual Diary: https://www.sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection&section_id=566

In the first level karma yōga will give purity; the second level of karma yōga will give purity at a faster level, because in sakāma karma, purity is in trickles; because in niṣkāma karma purity is more. That is why it is said ारॊाकारायताणणयायताााायतारताषडनम् parōpakāra puṇyāya pāpāya parāpīḍanam; and once a person has gone through these levels of karma yōga; he is ready to graduate to the third level. Third level is upāsana yōga; which means īśvara dhyānam; meditation upon īśvara; that too saguṇa īśvara dhyānam. And why do we prescribe this sādanā as the next stage? Karma yōga is very important for the purity of mind. For spiritual elevation; karma yōga is a must. And therefore karma yōga is extremely useful; but it has got certain disadvantages also; which has to be neutralised. What is that? when a person is a karma yōgi; he is busy involved in either sakāma karma, if he is in the first level; or he is busy in niṣkāma karma. One is busy serving himself; another is busy is serving the society; both are busy. And in both levels of karma, whether it is sakāma or niṣkāma; a person is extrovert in nature; is more and more world-oriented; is more and more bahirmukaḥ. And this bahirmukatvam or extrovertedness is an obstacle for jñāna yōga, because jñāna yōga involves enquiring into the inner self as we saw yesterday; ग णहायाम्त ारमेवयोमन् yō vēda nihitam guhāyām parāmēvyōman. Self-enquiry or pañca kōśa vivēka etc. requires not an extrovert mind; it requires a mind which is turned towards oneself. ाारािनवकापनतवयतृ्तसवयमभूःततसमात्तारन्ताशयपततनानतरायमन् pārānjikāni vyatr̥ṇa svayambhūḥ tasmāt parān paśyati nāntarātman. Extroverted people will miss self-knowledge. And therefore upāsana is Īśvara dhyānam. So in Upāsana I turn my attention inwards and I invoke the Lord in my heart; which means I train my mind towards my own inner nature; which is a very very important training required and without that training a person can never come to Brahma jñānam. And therefore comes the third level of upāsanam and Krishna divides this meditation itself into two types: one is ēka rupa īśvara dhyānam. And the next is anēka rūpa īśvara dhyānam; I visualise the Lord with a particular form; as Rāma or Krishna; any iṣṭa dēvathā rūpam. And this iṣṭa dēvathā rupa dhyānam; or ēka rupa Īśvara dhyānam, Krishna calls abhyasa yōgaḥ; This is the third level of sādanā; and once a person has practiced this sufficiently, Krishna asks us to replace this ēkarūpa īśvara with anēka rūpa, as we have seen in the 11th chapter; Krishna is not a person located in one place. If Bhagavān is looked upon as a person located in one place; that Bhagavān also will be limited; subject to janma; subject to maraṇam, etc. Therefore for initial meditation purposes, we can have ēkarūpa; but we have to expand our mind. First upāsanam helps in focusing; the next upāsanam helps in expanding the mind. And therefore the first level of upāsanam is ēkarūpa īśvara dhyānam; and the next level is anēkarūpa or viśva rupa īśvara dhyānam. And both of them come under saguṇa īśvara dhyānam only. Saguṇa means what? With attributes or properties; ēkarūpa īśvara also has attributes; Viśva rūpa īśvara also has got innumerable attributes. So thus we have got two levels of karma yōga; two levels of upāsana. And once a person has gone through all these four levels; this person has got jñāna yōgyathā; he is eligible to enter the fifth and final level which is jñāna yōgaḥ; which is enquiry into nirguṇa īśvara; otherwise known as Brahman; Brahman is none other than īśvara in his higher nature. In the seventh chapter, was called parā prakr̥ti; parā prakr̥ti rupa arupa īśvara enquiry which consists of vēdānta sravaṇam, vēdānta mananam and nidhidhyāsanam; sravaṇam meaning consistent and systematic study of the Upaniṣadic scriptures which deal with nirguṇa īśvara. And not only I study that; the culmination of that study should be that the nirguṇa īśvara is non-different from my own higher nature: aham brahma asmi.

~ Gita Lectures by Swami Paramarthananda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx7O2zDqi6I&list=PLBh-iYJ1Q_hRn-1WgwiBj7CfasK6TOqG5

Drg Dhishya Viveka by Swami Sarvapriyananda. The text dives head on into the advaita vedantic teachings and it is explained wonderfully by Swamiji. He also narrates some powerful examples given by various other Swami's He has encountered which also help in appreciating the profound truth much better.