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What is real and what is unreal?

The world's changing nature makes it ultimately unreal, while the unchanging essence within all is the only true reality. Brahman, the everlasting truth, is equally present everywhere, like the sky. What is born or created has limitation and will end; therefore, the changeable is unreal. This essence within you, me, and every atom is unborn and will not die. Individual qualities define a person as a thief, saint, or criminal, but the inner essence remains the Supreme. The space in a hall is permanent, but the hall itself will be removed, illustrating the changing nature of all things. Yesterday is now like a dream; you cannot make the past present. Keep nourishing memories and forget terrorizing ones. Concentrate on your spiritual practice in the time that remains. Do not dwell on meals or comfort. Time is great, not man, and destiny is shaped by karma, so we must be mindful at every step.

"Brahma satya, jagat mithyā."

"Therefore, what is changeable is unreality, and what is not changeable is the reality."

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

God is like the sky, equally present everywhere. This is non-dualism. "Brahma satya, jagat mithyā." That Brahman, which is everlasting, is the truth, and this world is unreality. The philosophy of Dvaita, dualism, does not accept this. Is it unreality that we are sitting here together? Is it unreality that we were singing bhajans? The answer is both yes and no. To say yes and no is not an answer, so what do they mean? "Brahma satya, jagat mithyā" means that whatever is born, created, or manifested has limitation. Whoever is born will die. What is created will be destroyed, sooner or later—maybe in a few billion years, there is an end to that thing. Therefore, what is changeable is unreality, and what is not changeable is the reality. That reality is Brahman, the Supreme One that is within you, within me, within other creatures, in every plant, and in every atom. It is the same one. The only difference is in individual quality. The individual becomes defined through this quality. Through quality, one is a thief; through quality, one is a murderer; through quality, one is a criminal; through quality, one is a good person; and through quality, one is a saint. But within that, the essence is the Supreme. That is unborn and will not die. The space in this room, this hall, was always here. It will be here. It is here. The hall will be removed someday. Maybe something new will be constructed. This is the changing nature of things. So, what is now will, after a few minutes, become like a dream. It is gone. You cannot make the past present. You can only make past and present exist in your memory and thinking. If it is a beautiful memory, then keep it, for there are some memories which are nourishment for your inner soul. If they are bad memories that terrorize your inner self, then forget them; try to overcome them. So, what was yesterday is today a dream. You can remember that dream, you can have similar dreams, but not that actual day. Therefore, "Brahma satya, jagat mithyā." In Vedānta, it is also said: abhyāsa—practice. Practice. You know, two days are gone, Saturday and Sunday. It is already Monday, more or less. Only four more days are left, that is all. In these four days, you can achieve many things. So, concentrate more on your practice. If you do not like eating, do not eat. That is healthy for you. Just drink nice, pure water; it is good. Or, when you are hungry, you will like this food. How is it? If you are hungry, then you will like this food. You do not like this food because you are not hungry, so do not think of your lunch or your dinner, your meal. Do not think of your comfort and discomfort. Think of your practice. Think of your practice. Tulasī Dāsī said humans are not the great. Great is the time. Tulsī Dāsī said, "Man is not that great in this time. Man is not that great in this time." When Kṛṣṇa was gone, then Arjuna had no more power to fight. So, who knows what will be tomorrow's time? Which constellation will come tomorrow? And which destiny will come to my life? And that destiny—which karma will sprout up? Which kind of karma will come out? Therefore, we have to be careful and alert at each and every step. We have to take every single step mindfully.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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