575. Swami Sarvapriyananda – Ethical Foundations of Nondual Spirituality

Swami Sarvapriyananda has been Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York since January 2017. He was a Nagral Fellow at Harvard Divinity School during the 2019-20 academic year. Prior to this, he served as assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of Southern California for 13 months. Swami joined the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in 1994 and received Sannyas in 2004. Before coming to serve in the US, he served as an acharya (teacher) of the monastic probationers’ training center at Belur Math in West Bengal, India (the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission founded by Swami Vivekananda, the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa). He has served the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in various capacities including being the Vice Principal of the Deoghar Vidyapith Higher Secondary School, Principal of the Shikshana Mandira Teacher Education College at Belur Math, and the first Registrar of the Vivekananda University at Belur Math. This conversation hosted by the Association for Spiritual Integrity explores the profound interconnections between ethics and Advaita Vedanta. An ethical life is foundational to the spiritual quest, a non-negotiable sine qua non to any real spiritual development. One can be good without being particularly “spiritual”, but there is no spirituality without goodness. But it is also true that ethics are a consequence of nonduality. For as long as thinkers have pondered ethics, they have searched for a foundation, a grounding, for ethics. Why should one be good and do good? The various answers thinkers have come up with through the ages – utilitarianism, deontology, and so forth – have all been found seriously wanting. Nonduality claims to provide a deep foundation for ethics. In this talk and Q&A, Swami Sarvapriyananda explores the philosophical and practical, as well as the individual and social dimensions of ethics in nondual spirituality. Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Transcript of this webinar. Recorded September 28, 2020 First BatGap interview with Swami Sarvapriyananda Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to the Association for Spiritual Integrity and Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:03:30 - The Importance of an Ethical Life in Spiritual Development 00:06:24 - Models of Enlightenment in Buddhism 00:09:16 - Ethics as the Foundation of Spirituality 00:12:11 - Spiritual Practices: Uparati, Titiksha, Samadhana, Shraddha 00:15:01 - Qualifications for Spiritual Life in Advaita Vedanta 00:17:54 - Oneness and Ignorance 00:20:46 - The Foundation of Ethics in Advaita Vedanta 00:24:02 - The Ethical Dilemma of Torture 00:26:42 - The Choice in Ethical Dilemmas 00:29:36 - The Problem of Ethics 00:32:26 - Ethics and Human Nature 00:35:24 - The Implication of Equality in Advaita Vedanta 00:38:28 - Ethics Rooted in Spiritual Nature 00:41:12 - The Ethics of Advaita Vedanta 00:44:10 - The Importance of Having a Set of Rules 00:46:55 - The Power of Self-Realization 00:50:00 - Caring for Others as Spiritual Practice 00:52:55 - Anecdote about Swami Shivananda and a Critical Visitor 00:56:02 - The Fullness of Advaita Vedanta and the Three Perspectives 00:59:03 - The Balance of Knowledge and Practice in Spiritual Life 01:01:55 - Training the Elephant 01:04:39 - Unethical behavior among spiritual teachers 01:07:26 - The Collective Guilt Complex 01:10:00 - Letting Go of Guilt and Repentance in Advaita Vedanta 01:12:59 - The Application of Advaita Vedanta to Human Reality 01:15:39 - Facing Suffering and Uncertainty 01:18:25 - The Challenge of Unethical Behavior in the Spiritual Community 01:21:24 - Independence in Advaita Vedanta 01:24:23 - Staying Grounded in the Presence of a Sangha 01:26:58 - Closing Remarks

Om Podcasten

The implication of the title - Buddha at the Gas Pump - is that ordinary people are experiencing higher states of consciousness once thought to be rare and difficult to attain. People everywhere are undergoing a shift or awakening to their true nature. For some, this shift has been abrupt and dramatic. For others, it has been so gradual that they may not have realized it has occurred. Such shifts, or awakenings, are not new: Christ spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven within, Buddhists speak of Nirvana, Zen masters of Satori, Hindus of Moksha, but these traditions generally regard these states as rare and difficult to attain. Many people are therefore skeptical of claims of higher states of consciousness. They find it hard to believe that apparently ordinary friends and neighbors might be experiencing something extraordinary. Maybe they expect Enlightenment to look as remarkable on the outside as it is reputed to be on the inside. This show will attempt to dispel skepticism and misconceptions by week after week, allowing otherwise ordinary people to relate their experience of spiritual awakening. The terminology is tricky, because there are no universally agreed upon definitions to describe this experience. So please forgive us if we use some unfamiliar terms. We will try to clarify our definitions as we go along. Perhaps, after a while, those listening will become convinced that genuine and permanent spiritual awakenings are not just a pipe dream, but are real and are becoming relatively commonplace. These podcasts are the audio track of a weekly interview show which may be seen as videos on our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/buddhaatthegaspump). Also see the main site: https://batgap.com. For search purposes, I will add the following to this description - batgap, Buddha at the Gaspump, Buddah at the Gas Pump.