Avadhūta Gītā Retreat | Session 2 | Swami Sarvapriyananda · Vedanta Talks - Swami Sarvapriyananda · Radar

Consciousness as the Continuous Witness2:18 – 6:25

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:18

Through the grace of God alone, the desire for non-duality arises in wise men to save them from great fear.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:30

Reorienting ourselves again is already...

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:33

Because of nice snacks and all, uh, we didn't come back to our body-mind identity.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:38

[laughs] Now we have to, uh, center ourselves, uh, in our Advaitic identity, in our real nature.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:48

I'm aware, I'm conscious.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:49

Nobody denies it.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:51

Then we notice that this consciousness is the light through which we have ex-we experience everything.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:56

It is sakshi.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:58

All that we see, hear, smell, taste, touch is because of this consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:03

All our waking, dreaming, sleeping, our inner, uh, intellectual, emotional lives, our personal story, all the activities we do in our lives, indeed our entire life is lit up by this.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:17

This is sakshi, one.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:20

And this consciousness, again we notice that it is continuously there without this-- not the slightest gap in consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:29

You know, all of these are contested.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:32

This is not that it's, uh, so easy.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:35

There are schools of thought which will say, "Hey, wait a minute.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:37

Stop.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:38

There is a gap in consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:40

Consciousness is interrupted.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:41

There are flashes of consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:43

Consciousness is not one ever-shining continuous light.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:48

No.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:49

It comes and goes, flashes on and off." Who says this? It is the Buddhist school of kshanika vijñānavada, the momentary cognition, momentary flashes of consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

4:00

They say there are-- Yes, it-- the, we are consciousness, but we are a series of flashes of consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

4:06

What would the non-dualist say to that? I'm just giving a sample of an argument.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

4:10

Uh, all of these things which I went through, the 12 points which I-- we went through in the morning, really if you go into them, each of them have been contested, debated.

Consciousness as the Continuous Witness2:18 – 6:25

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:18

Through the grace of God alone, the desire for non-duality arises in wise men to save them from great fear.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:30

Reorienting ourselves again is already...

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:33

Because of nice snacks and all, uh, we didn't come back to our body-mind identity.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:38

[laughs] Now we have to, uh, center ourselves, uh, in our Advaitic identity, in our real nature.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:48

I'm aware, I'm conscious.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:49

Nobody denies it.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:51

Then we notice that this consciousness is the light through which we have ex-we experience everything.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:56

It is sakshi.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

2:58

All that we see, hear, smell, taste, touch is because of this consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:03

All our waking, dreaming, sleeping, our inner, uh, intellectual, emotional lives, our personal story, all the activities we do in our lives, indeed our entire life is lit up by this.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:17

This is sakshi, one.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:20

And this consciousness, again we notice that it is continuously there without this-- not the slightest gap in consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:29

You know, all of these are contested.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:32

This is not that it's, uh, so easy.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:35

There are schools of thought which will say, "Hey, wait a minute.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:37

Stop.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:38

There is a gap in consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:40

Consciousness is interrupted.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:41

There are flashes of consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:43

Consciousness is not one ever-shining continuous light.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:48

No.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

3:49

It comes and goes, flashes on and off." Who says this? It is the Buddhist school of kshanika vijñānavada, the momentary cognition, momentary flashes of consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

4:00

They say there are-- Yes, it-- the, we are consciousness, but we are a series of flashes of consciousness.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

4:06

What would the non-dualist say to that? I'm just giving a sample of an argument.

Swami SarvapriyanandaHost

4:10

Uh, all of these things which I went through, the 12 points which I-- we went through in the morning, really if you go into them, each of them have been contested, debated.