Our consciousness expresses itself in six modes. 

1. Desire 
   The first is desire. Many types of desires arise in the mind. When desires are fulfilled, other desires come. So, one after another, desires keep coming, and then we get caught up in the whole cycle. Whether it’s small or big doesn’t matter. Desire is a mode. 

2. Knowing 
   The second is knowledge. You want to know about this and that, and you read books and acquire knowledge. You made a mistake, and you learned about the mistake afterward. When an action is finished, then the knowledge of the action comes to you. This is the power of knowing. 

3. Activity 
   The third mode is activity. Activities happen all the time. You keep doing some kind of activity, and every action is part of this energy. 

4. Becoming still and quiet 
   Fourth is the ability to become still and quiet. Everybody has this ability. We simply need to develop that. 

5. Understanding 
   Understanding is the fifth mode. Understanding isn't knowledge; it is judging. After you have knowledge, you judge whether it’s right or wrong, good or bad. Analysis or judgment is inside you as a power.

6. Presence 
   The final mode is presence, or just light.

How the six modes come together in Vedic ceremonies

In Vedic ceremonies, all six powers (modes) find their fulfillment. We don’t understand what’s happening, but the energy is high, and then you feel blissful, correct? 

You don’t understand what the chanting and ceremonies mean, but they’ve created a wonderful energy. You feel as if you are beyond thinking. 

Experiencing the present moment

That’s called experiencing the presence, and there’s very little knowledge or awareness about this in the world. We always say, “Live in the present moment.’ The present moment is so deep and vast that it invokes the presence there.

To experience presence, you have to see that the whole world doesn’t exist. The world isn’t real. The word 'real' means hanging onto the past or trying to design the future. 

When can you be in the presence, totally? When you let go of the other things. What are those things? Desire. Desire is not now. It puts you in the future. But when you know that your desire will get fulfilled or is fulfilled, what comes up is presence. That’s bliss.

Beyond the intellect

The only understanding left is that this whole thing is a dream. That discrimination is the only judgment that can take you to the higher self. That is, nothing is there. What the scientists have said today is that this world doesn’t exist. 

Your intellect is chewing on it, chewing and asking, ‘Why is this? Why is that? Why?’ 

That understanding either gets you into questioning everything and you become miserable, or there’s only one question, ‘What is reality?’ and that takes you to silence, with no answer.

Who am I? That’s also understanding. Who am I? This doesn’t exist. Then, the whole world is an illusion. Everything is changing. Nothing is permanent. 

Then, the presence comes, and you experience it through this knowledge and understanding. If you feel it’s not working or you’re not intelligent, then come and sit for the ceremonies to experience it yourself.

You can hear the rest of this talk in the following video: 

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Editor’s note:
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