5:30 PM - 6:30 PM IST
Ātmanastu Kāmāya: Why Everything Is Loved for the Sake of the Self
Why do we love what we love? Yājñavalkya’s answer to Maitreyī in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad is startling: nothing is dear for its own sake, but for the sake of the Self.
We love our relationships, our experiences, our possessions, and even our ideals, believing that they hold something precious for us. But what is it that makes them precious? What are we truly seeking through the many objects of our love and desire? Could it be that, beneath all our pursuits, we are searching for something far more intimate than anything the world can offer?
Ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyaḥ: the Self is to be seen, heard, reflected upon, and contemplated. Yet, how does one “see” what is closer than all that is seen? How does one know the very Self through which all knowing becomes possible? And what does this profound inquiry have to do with the objects of our love, our deepest longings, and the search for lasting fulfilment?
In this talk, Swamini Brahmaprajnananda ji will guide us through Yājñavalkya’s teachings to explore the nature of love, the mystery of the Self, and the possibility of discovering what we seek in everything we hold dear.
Speaker
Swamini Brahmaprajnananda Saraswati
Swamini Brahmaprajnananda Saraswati Ph. D has dedicated her life to serving Sanatana Dharma by teaching Advaita Vedanta. Seamlessly flowing from the breadth of self-mastery to the depth of self-discovery, her teachings span the full range of the tradition: regular online Vedanta courses, workshops, and residential retreats in India and internationally; faculty teaching at the Hindu University of America of three core courses; one-one mentoring sessions with disciples, and a podcast Vedanta: The River of Wisdom, along with video teachings that reach students across the globe. She is the founder of SHINE (Spiritual Heritage of India for Next-gen Empowerment), a teaching program to help children live a powerful life of Sanatana Dharma.
She is the author of You Matter: Insights from Vedānta which helps beginners to Vedanta, glide into the teachings.
A direct disciple of the revered Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati, she completed an intensive three-year residential course in Vedanta, Sanskrit, and Vedic chanting at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam across Coimbatore and Rishikesh — one of the most rigorous programs of traditional Vedantic learning available today. Prior to this while balancing her work commitments she had deepened her study over twelve years under Swami Brahmavidananda and later Swami Sakshatkrtananda, the Acharya of the course in the gurukulam.
Before entering monastic life, in a career of 15 years, Swamini Brahmaprajnananda served as Country Head (India) of an international humanitarian organization whose work transformed the lives of over 150,000 street children. She has a Ph D in Philosophy and an M.Phil in psychology.
A trained psychologist by background, she carries that understanding of the human mind into the heart of the wisdom of Vedanta, pointing students to what they truly are, boundless and ever free.