27 Jan 2021
[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on December 26, 2020, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]
[Śrī Ganesh asked: Swamiji, before I started learning spiritual knowledge from You, I had met a spiritual preacher named Appaji. When I asked him to teach me Brahma Jñānam, his response was as follows, “Brahma Jñānam is not something which you can get from the market. You have to do a lot of sādhanā (spiritual effort) for it”. After listening to that I felt that there is a hidden message in it for me, what do You think, Swamiji?]
Swāmi replied: Spiritual knowledge or Brahma Jñānam consists of three aspects. They are (1) knowing all the true details of God, which is that He is the creator, controller and the final destroyer of this creation, (2) knowing that the soul is not God and is only a tiny particle of the creation of God and (3) knowing that the soul should always aspire to be the servant of God forever, without ever aspiring to become God. These three aspects must be well-understood using very sharp logic to clear all types of doubts and questions. This completes the study of Brahma Jñānam. You must realise that the study of Brahma Jñānam is over when you become mad for God. Then, you must get involved in the propagation of God’s knowledge and devotion in this world. This completes both the theoretical and practical sides of Brahma Jñānam. The burning interest to know about God leads you to the first step called jñāna yoga, in which you will complete the theoretical side of Brahma Jñānam. This theory generates attraction for God, which is an intense interest and this is bhakti yoga. Both jñāna yoga and bhakti yoga become fruitful when the final karma yoga (practice) is done.
Keywords:
| Shri Datta Swami | What saadhana must I do in order to get Brahma Jnaanam?| Jnanam sadhana jnana
★ ★ ★ ★ ★