All of us recall, upon waking up, that during deep sleep we knew nothing at all. But even when awake, while claiming so much scientific and practically useful knowledge about the material world, each of us, if honest, must confess: “I don’t know myself.” In this lecture, a contemporary philosophical analysis will be attempted of the intriguing Advaita Vedanta phenomenology of this common ignorance about the self as a positive ignorance (avidya) not just an absence of knowledge. Is the Self best known as unknown?

Arindam Chakrabarti is an Indian philosopher who is a professor of philosophy at Ashoka University, India. He is the disciple of Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Calcutta in 1976 and 1978, respectively. He completed DPhil at Oxford University in 1982, under the supervision of Sir Peter Strawson and Michael Dummett.

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ABOUT VEDANTA

Vedanta is one of the world’s most ancient religious philosophies and one of its broadest. Based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India, Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions.

ABOUT US

Vedanta Society of New York is affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order of India. In fact, this is the Order's first Center started by Swami Vivekananda, in 1894. It was a historic event, for the seed of the world-wide Ramakrishna Movement was sown here in New York over a century ago. Swami Sarvapriyananda is the present Resident Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York.

Dr. Jeffery D. Long, the Carl W. Zeigler Professor of Religion, Philosophy, and Asian Studies, specializes in the religions and philosophies of India. He is the author of several books and numerous articles, as well as the editor of the series Explorations in Indic Traditions for Lexington Books. In 2020, he received Elizabethtown College’s Ranck Award for Excellence in Research, and in 2022, his book, Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds, received the Rajinder and Jyoti Gandhi Book Award for Excellence in Theology, Philosophy, and Critical Reflection from the Dharma Academy of North America. He has spoken in numerous venues, both national and international, including Princeton University, Yale University, the University of Chicago, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Delhi University, and has also given three talks at the United Nations.

► To support the Vedanta Society of New York: http://www.vedantany.org/donate

Vedanta NY Archives: / vedantanewyorkarchives

Web: http://vedantany.org

Soundcloud: / vedantany

iTunes Podcast: http://bit.ly/vedanta-talks-itunes

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5IrDmqX...

Facebook: / vedantany

ABOUT VEDANTA

Vedanta is one of the world’s most ancient religious philosophies and one of its broadest. Based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India, Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions.

ABOUT US

Vedanta Society of New York is affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order of India. In fact, this is the Order's first Center started by Swami Vivekananda, in 1894. It was a historic event, for the seed of the world-wide Ramakrishna Movement was sown here in New York over a century ago. Swami Sarvapriyananda is the present Resident Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York.

Swami Sarvapriyananda reads and discusses the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is an English translation of the Bengali spiritual text Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita by Swami Nikhilananda. The text records conversations of Ramakrishna with his disciples, devotees and visitors, recorded by Mahendranath Gupta, who wrote the book under the pseudonym of "M."

This session was recorded on Nov 23, 2021.

https://eddiestern.com

https://broomestreetganesh.org

Eddie Stern, founder of Broome Street Ganesh Temple and Broome Street Yoga, is an MSc, CYT, author of the bestselling

One Simple Thing, A New Look at the Science of Yoga and How it can Change Your Life, and researcher based in New York City. He is also the co-creator of the Breathing App and the Breathing App for Diabetes.

Eddie also has a love for the music, art, and design, and creates merchandise for the Broome Street Temple independently and in collaboration with with New York's most loved fashion designers.

Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches verses 1-5 from the fourteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This series of talks unfolds the highest truths of Vedanta through the study of "The Song of God".

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 14 Verse 1:

श्रीभगवानुवाच |

परं भूय: प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम् |

यज्ज्ञात्वा मुनय: सर्वे परां सिद्धिमितो गता: || 1||

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha

paraṁ bhūyaḥ pravakṣhyāmi jñānānāṁ jñānam uttamam

yaj jñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṁ siddhim ito gatāḥ

⧫ The Divine Lord said: I shall once again explain to you the supreme wisdom, the best of all knowledge; by knowing which, all the great saints attained the highest perfection.

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 14 Verse 2:

इदं ज्ञानमुपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यमागता: |

सर्गेऽपि नोपजायन्ते प्रलये न व्यथन्ति च || 2||

idaṁ jñānam upāśhritya mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ

sarge ’pi nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti cha

⧫ Those who take refuge in this wisdom will be united with Me. They will not be reborn at the time of creation nor destroyed at the time of dissolution.

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 14 Verses 3 & 4:

मम योनिर्महद् ब्रह्म तस्मिन्गर्भं दधाम्यहम् |

सम्भव: सर्वभूतानां ततो भवति भारत || 3||

सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तय: सम्भवन्ति या: |

तासां ब्रह्म महद्योनिरहं बीजप्रद: पिता || 4

mama yonir mahad brahma tasmin garbhaṁ dadhāmy aham

sambhavaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ tato bhavati bhārata

sarva-yoniṣhu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ

tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

⧫ The total material substance, prakṛiti, is the womb. I impregnate it with the individual souls, and thus all living beings are born. O son of Kunti, for all species of life that are produced, the material nature is the womb, and I am the seed-giving Father.

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 14 Verse 5:

सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणा: प्रकृतिसम्भवा: |

निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् || 5||

sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛiti-sambhavāḥ

nibadhnanti mahā-bāho dehe dehinam avyayam

⧫ O mighty-armed Arjun, the material energy consists of three guṇas (modes)—sattva (goodness), rajas (passion), and tamas (ignorance). These modes bind the eternal soul to the perishable body.

Swami Sarvapriyananda reads and discusses the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is an English translation of the Bengali spiritual text Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita by Swami Nikhilananda. The text records conversations of Ramakrishna with his disciples, devotees and visitors, recorded by Mahendranath Gupta, who wrote the book under the pseudonym of "M."

Swami Sarvapriyananda reads and discusses the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is an English translation of the Bengali spiritual text Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita by Swami Nikhilananda. The text records conversations of Ramakrishna with his disciples, devotees and visitors, recorded by Mahendranath Gupta, who wrote the book under the pseudonym of "M."