Çilingir Sofrası 14 / Hint İrfanı, Vedanta (with english subtitles)

0:02***translated by Prof.Dr. Nükhet Kardam*** Çilingir Sofrası 14 / Indian Wisdom, Vedanta

0:04Let’s see how we might be inspired by ancient Indian wisdom.

0:10I hope it won’t be boring.

0:12Sinan: Of course not.

0:15I did some research, distilling some of these teachings.

0:20We already know that there are many

0:23different kinds of Thought around the world.

0:26There is no culture that doesn’t have its own Thought.

0:28Thinking is the basis of culture.

0:33There are also many different philosophical perspectives

0:37Some complement each other, others are opposites.

0:41One of the most ancient Wisdoms come from India

0:50And has influenced others that came after it.

1:01It has its own myths. It is a major culture.

1:06It has a basic teaching,

1:18It is known as Veda.

1:23Or Vedas in plural

1:29The basic concept of this teaching is ‘Vedanta’.

1:37This is the basic concept and I will explain why.

1:43This philosophy might seem rational,

1:47but its main focus is mystical.

1:50It is mystical because it is based on mystical experiences.

1:54Philosophy is generally understood through concepts, through thinking,

2:00what we call logos.

2:03Anyone can explore these concepts and can learn from them.

2:11But there is also mystical thought.

2:13How can something be both mystical and experienced as thought?

2:18Mystical means something that cannot be expressed by words

2:21The word comes from “Mysterion’

2:26There is the ‘Three monkeys’

2:30I didn’t see,

2:31I didn’t hear,

2:32I didn’t speak.

2:35Mysterion is symbolized by these Three Monkeys.

2:41There is an experience where I don’t see, I don’t hear, or I cannot speak of it

2:47But it exists. We live it in the darkness of the night.

2:56That’s what we call mystical experience.

3:02Our existence is based on our senses,

3:06we speak

3:08then we create knowledge.

3:13Of course, the five senses contribute to creating knowledge.

3:18But can we abnegate sensate experience and go beyond it?

3:23Yes, and that is what we call mystical experience.

3:28The function of Vedanta emerges from mystical experience.

3:34In the West, they call this ‘Meditation’.

3:37We use this word (Meditasyon) in Turkish as well.

3:42It is used in French and English and is equivalent to ‘Tefekkür’ meaning thought processes.

3:50But in the Vedanta teaching,

3:55Mystical experience does not use thought processes or cannot be expressed in speech.

3:59It is the kind of experience that cannot be explained in words.

4:03So ‘tefekkür’ would not be the right word to define mystical experience.

4:08Buddha has called it Nirvana

4:11Or it has been called ‘Moksha’ meaning freedom,

4:16or ‘Diana’ translated as meditation,

4:19but it doesn’t correspond to the mystical experience we are talking about.

4:21This experience is not sensate.

4:25There are no images.

4:29It seems like such an experience would be impossible.

4:33It goes beyond thought, beyond the mind,

4:37Mind needs speech. If we can’t speak, how can we express thoughts?

4:42So how is this possible?

4:48Is there any awareness in mystical experience?

4:50Or what do we mean by awareness?

4:51It may be too early to discuss these questions

4:54Since we just started exploring this ancient Wisdom.

4:59Let’s first look at what they mean by mystical experience.

5:02We said there is no perception in mystical experience.

5:07That means there is an experience but there is no awareness. But is that true?

5:12There must be more to it.

5:15We can use the term “mystical philosophy” here.

5:19Mystical philosophy means that we carry

5:25the mystical experience to our consciousness and interpret it.

5:31Interpretation of the mystical experience in the mind

5:35This is very interesting.

5:41Even though we said mystical experience excludes sensate experience,

5:48there is darkness, blindness,

5:53like a black hole,

5:55it is still valuable to find ways of comparison.

5:58For example, we have dreams, and in our dreams we have sensate experiences

6:04We perceive things in dreams. So it seems there is no comparison to mystical experiences.

6:13We have a will in our dreams, we see different desires in dreams,

6:20but what we don’t have is an awareness or a consciousness.

6:24We can’t say, let me stop this dream and restart it somewhere else.

6:29I heard that some people are capable of doing this, but I am talking about general experiences.

6:32Sinan: So you don’t have any control over your dreams

6:34When we are dreaming we see what is projected on the screen.

6:39It is like being in a movie theater.

6:44Then we wake up

6:46And leave the movie theater and ask each other how the movie was.

6:50This time, we are not interpreting the movie simultaneously as we are watching it

6:56Instead, we are now outside the theater, and someone asks us what we thought of the film.

7:02Now we are talking about reinterpreting the film, thinking about the images we saw

7:10Almost like creating our own film, we start to tell a story,

7:15This happened, that happened etc.

7:18In a logical fashion.

7:21Just like dreams may be translated into stories that we tell

7:34In the same way we can talk about our mystical experiences afterwards.

7:39Where is the problem?

7:41In dreams, there are visions, there are sensate experiences,

7:43so that when I talk about them,

7:46I can compare it to something that exists.

8:04Such as I can tell you that I saw a flower

8:07The flower was yellow.

8:08And you would know because you have probably seen a yellow flower.

8:10I can tell you I saw water, and you know water.

8:13But in a mystical experience, there is darkness.

8:16No images.

8:21How can I talk about that?

8:23I can’t talk about it.

8:27Then you would say:

8:28how do you know that you lived this experience?

8:32There are certain symptoms of experiences

8:38But they are just symptoms.

8:40If you ask, how did they come into being? I would say I don’t know.

8:44Something appeared but you don’t know about it.

8:48So clearly, mystical experiences cannot be put into a rational structure.

8:54It can’t be transferred into literature or books.

8:58That’s why those who live mystical experiences say that

9:01those experiences are wordless.

9:04How can we call it knowledge if it can’t be expressed in words?

9:10We only know one kind of knowledge and that is rational knowledge,

9:14the kind that can be tried by others, that can be repeated,

9:22but mystical experience is not like that.

9:24So what is its purpose?

9:26What is this?

9:28Those who have mystical experiences say that

9:32this is a kind ‘soyutlanma’ (isolation)

9:35Not ‘soyutlama’ (abstraction)

9:36‘Soyutlama’ is an abstract thought process such as in mathematics.

9:41Not related to senses.

9:47This is not it.

9:49'Soyutlanma’ is different.

9:51That is an experience that is isolated from all senses.

9:54A purifying experience.

9:58Why would you be interested in such an experience?

10:03Because such an experience breaks the force or influence of sensate experiences.

10:09We are breaking down illusions.

10:15We are not talking about illusionists or magicians.

10:21Here illusions are about being fooled.

10:25Illusions are about being deluded. Our senses delude us.

10:31Like a mirage

10:33Like a mirage

10:36For example, let’s check out how films are made.

10:41Films are simulations of reality.

10:44Whatever we see is a simulation. If for instance someone is riding a horse,

10:50That means someone riding a horse was filmed at some point and now we are showing it on screen.

10:53But the reality of actually riding a horse is not there.

10:57The simulation is the same as the reality.

11:03The behavior, the colors, the images,

11:06How the horse is trotting

11:08Serhan: It was real when it was filmed.

11:10That’s what I mean. We filmed a reality

11:13And now we are reflecting it on screen.

11:15Are we reflecting that reality one to one? Yes.

11:20But it is not real, it is only real in the sense of cinematography. It is a different kind of reality.

11:29Tarkovski calls this “Sculpting in Time”

11:33We take time with cameras and transfer it into the movie.

11:41Movies have their own internal time.

11:44In fact, we cut scenes, edit out some scenes, add others.

11:50So we create a new version of time

11:53We think what we are watching is real,

11:59but turn off the TV or click the off button and it is gone.

12:02It disappears, It is not there anymore.

12:08Turn it on again, and you see all these activities,

12:11You see someone riding a horse, drinking water etc.

12:18It reflects reality

12:22And yet it is not real.

12:26I remember something right now.

12:33So Prophet Muhammed was being oppressed by deniers in Mecca.

12:43As you know, the deniers wanted to kill him

12:44Each tribe choose a gunman

12:48and said if we do it all together, no one can be blamed.

12:52We need to kill the person who is threatening

12:54Our existence, our freedom, our riches, our livelihood.

12:59He wants to take all of this away.

13:02At that time there were very few believers.

13:06Prophet Muhammed and his followers hear about this plan and decide to leave Mecca.

13:11They decide to move, to leave Mecca.

13:17And go to Yesrib, which is close and safer.

13:22They think that there are Jews, Christians and others in Yesrib who may protect them.

13:33So they move from Mecca

13:34to the town of Yesrib.

13:38In Arabic, Yesrib comes from the word ‘Serap’ (Mirage)

13:45A place where one sees a Mirage.

13:50‘Serap’ is not an illusion.

13:52What is the difference between an illusion and a mirage?

13:57You can imagine something that is not there.

14:05But ‘Serap’ or Mirage like a simulation,

14:08Taking a reality that exists in one place and

14:12Reflects it by the light in the atmosphere to somewhere else.

14:14Like a hologram.

14:18And you see an Oasis, you see water.

14:21And when you get there,

14:24You find out that there is nothing there.

14:26Interesting. Is this in my imagination? Did I dream about it?

14:31No, it is a physical event.

14:37So what we call simulation is exactly like ‘Serap’.

14:44In that region, in Saudi Arabia

14:46seeing an oasis was common,

14:50that means the atmosphere was conducive to it.

14:54They go to Yesrib, and settle there, and the deniers send their armies after them.

14:59These are well-known events,

15:02but what interests us is the aspect of ‘Mirage’.

15:05Prophet Muhammed is received well at Yesrib, and his wisdom and understanding is much appreciated.

15:12Yesrib has a king, but at that time king didn’t mean king of a whole country but more like a mayor of a small town.

15:26The king tells Prophet Muhammed that he would like to transfer his position to him

15:31because he is such a dependable, honest, knowledgeable person.

15:38He thanks him for coming to their town.

15:41And says that he would like to give up his position as king and transfer it to the Prophet.

15:49He knows that he is not as knowledgeable as the Prophet, but clearly he had discernment.

15:57But the Prophet says no.

16:01He says, you should continue being King.

16:05But I can be in charge of Justice. Like a Minister of Justice.

16:15The king accepts.

16:18***translated by Prof.Dr. Nükhet Kardam*** Çilingir Sofrası 14 / Indian Wisdom, Vedanta