Yog Vashisht covers topics like the nature of reality.
It’s a dialogue between sage Vashisht and Ram.
Sri Ram went through a period of dejection when he felt that, what was the point in ruling a kingdom and the pursuit of worldly pleasures, when everything was impermanent.
So His Guru Vashishta shows Him the path to spiritual freedom …
Yog Vashishta contains various stories that sometimes touches upon the absurd , which Vashishta tells Ram to make his point. These stories also talk about parallel Universes , the concept of time which varies for different dimensions and so much more…
Yet my dear Readers, most Bhaktas who believe in love and devotion to the Lord , achieve their aim with Bhakti ! So it is perfectly ok if you would not like to continue… 🙏😊
More soon !
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There are lessons and stories in Yog Vashishta which teach us that time is relative and our perception of time is limited. They teach us that a few seconds in this world could be a lifetime in another dimension… and probably the other way round too.
They talk about the power of Maya or illusion , and their constant message is that there is not much to fret about in this make believe world !
And didnt Einstein speak about the relativity of time ?
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And as we start a New year … let us think about the past year! what has passed is just dream like .
And If time is an illusion then what is the big deal about the past or the future?
And Scriptures have always spoken about ‘Living in the Now’
Osho says : Dive into the gap between two thoughts !
Or concentrate on the sky between two clouds !
But as for me the above thoughts do not make me stop living … Don’t worry! Just do your Best … and Leave the rest’
Happy New Year 🥳 2026!
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Yogavashisht uses stories to illustrate that time is relative… It tells us the story of the king who lived a whole life in a dream.
King Lavana sees in a dream that he is a low caste person , lives a hard life and faces many struggles.
When he wakes up , he questions reality.
Was his life as a king real, or his struggles as the life of the commoner? The story of King Lavana makes us think about what’s real and what’s just a construct of our minds. It’s like, if our experiences can change so drastically in a dream, how sure are we about our waking life?
This ties back to the idea of Maya (illusion) and living in the present. If everything’s transient and perception-driven, why get too attached?
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Quantum physics states that you do not ‘touch’ a table or anything in the ‘real sense’ as ‘atoms’ are mostly ‘empty space’ …
This leads to
What Yog Vashishta tells us … it says: Nothing is solid, reality is an illusion”_
Once all of you read the above note I shall send you a video of mine from one of the stories that appear in the Yog Vashishta … watching that video of mine, you will surely react by the following emojis 😵💫
😴😮🥹😅🙏
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Friends, I wonder how many of you watched the video and how many are confused and / or how many would like to know more… your answers come to me privately… so please do reply … but let me repeat that if you are into Bhakti , it is ok to remain there…
Let me tell you a story .
When Krishna left Vrindavan for Mathura , the Gopis were inconsolable.
Krishna’s friend Udho decided to go to Vrindavan and give some ‘gyan’ to the Gopis , calling them ‘uneducated’ Krishna solemnly replied : they are not uneducated , they are beyond education!
Anyway Udho went to Vrindavan and returned convinced that the Gopis Bhakti , their love , their total surrender was also a perfect ‘path’ to reach the Ultimate! What do you all think … I am a Bhakta by nature , but I am also curious and I have also heard that ‘Mukti Gyaan se hoti hai’ conflicting right? But at the moment , look deep into your souls and ask : Main koun hoon? Aur main kya karna chaahti hoon? Aur main kya karoon Prabhu ? 🙏
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Some responses from readers :
Aasha Chandiramani says:
Yes by now we have realised this Life is Maya or Illusion and yes we have to play the game as advised by Krishna because we are an active presence in this illusion, we are the son who is not yet born in the nanny’s story. We are living in the palace without walls, so we are being watched and we are watching. We are ultimately just the seers not doers ! But we will continue our worship 🙏
Nisha Shahani says :
Mukti pyaar or sirf pyaar se hoti hai!
i am like the gopis …everything comes full circle with love compassion & without ego …knowledge is important too but Love stands the test of time!
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So now I am going to tell you a story from YogVashisht which should blow your mind further.
Ready ? 😊
King Padma and Queen Lila lived an ideal life.
Queen Lila adored her husband Padma.
Lila wondered if when her husband died would his soul leave the world .
So Lila did a lot of penance until Saraswati Ma appeared to her.
Lila asked Ma for 2 boons:
1) when her husband Padma died , his soul should always live in the palace .
2) That every time that she should call Ma Saraswati with a pure heart, She should appear .
When her husband, the King died, Lila asked Ma Saraswati: Where is my husband .
Ma Saraswati replied that there are 3 types of Spaces:
1) The physical
2) The Psychological
3) The Infinite Space of Consciousness
Now think about this… we ofcourse live in the physical world , then we live in our mind in the world that we create for ourselves , in our imagination , in the way we think and then there is the Infinite Space of Consciousness.
There are realms which we are unaware of which probably exist in various dimensions … time and Space is relative … as we shall learn in the above story… we shall continue with the story of King Padma and Queen Lila tomorrow… until then take care and God bless 🙏
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So as I told you yesterday that King Padma died and Queen Lila asked Ma Saraswati : Tell me where my husband is.
Ma Saraswati replied: What I shall show you will shatter your notion of reality !
Ma continued to tell Lila, the Queen:
As you wished, your husband’s soul has not left the palace, but this palace is not one reality.
Lila meditated again and she entered the Highest State of Consciousness.
She now saw the king looking much younger surrounded by his attendants .
When Lila returned to the palace, she saw the attendants in the palace too.
Lila wondered : How can the attendants be in two places at the same time?
Ma explained that is your husband ‘s next birth created by your husband‘s desires.
In this reality he is King Viduratha. ( not King Padma) Leela wondered how come he was in the palace dead and alive here Ma said that time and space are not absolute. They are constructs of the mind and they are relative to the conscious that experiences them…what may be a life for him here is just a moment in your world.
Quantum physics is also now discovering the above facts !
Doesn’t it make you marvel at our Scriptures and our Rishis ? My chest swells with pride and I think that yours should too 😊🙏 Do you know that our Scriptures state that we owe a debt to our Rishis for giving us this knowledge… and now, how do we clear that debt ?
And I say , by exactly doing what we are doing ie listening and understanding the words written in our Scriptures 🙏
More tomorrow
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Maya Shahani observes:
So very true Shakun. Gyan Marg is leading me to Bhakti Marg. I never believed in blind faith earlier. I always used to question why we are asked to perform all those rituals.
Now that Science and Spirituality are coming together through quantum physics, I marvel at the wisdom of our Rishis who had this knowledge so many years ago.
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After showing Lila King Padma’s next life as King Viduratha now Ma Saraswati takes Queen Lila to her past life .
In her past life Queen Lila was Arundhati, the wife of Sage Vashishta.
One day as Sage Vashishta saw a procession he wished to be a king.
This is how he became King Padma in his next life and Arundhati became Lila…
Ma Saraswati said: All these lives are lived simultaneously…Time and Space are not as are perceived.
An entire lifetime can be lived in the blink of an eye in one realm while centuries may pass in another…
Enough to think of, for today ?😊 More tomorrow
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Ma Saraswati continued to explain :
All these lives are lived simultaneously within the ultimate consciousness called ‘The Chidakasha, the eternal space of the mind. A strong thought, an important desire can project an entire reality, complete within its own sense of time and space. King Padma, Rishi Vashishta and King Vidhuraraths are but all the same consciousness, playing different rules in different dramas created by its own subtle desires. And
Mani Gandhi writes :
‘Truly Mind-boggling and cannot truly visualise how all this is possible! ! But of course it is. And only when we have reached a certain level will all this fall into place and our understanding will be completed.’
And I say to Mani and those on the Bhakti path , who find the above knowledge perplexing , just store this knowledge in the back of your minds , have faith and persevere in your path be it , Bhakti Karma or Dhyaan and slowly but surely we shall one day wake up from this dream world that we live in!
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My school friend, class mate 😊Mani Gandhi asks; Are all 7 planes of existence , or parallel universes, dreamworld? For the only reality is when you merge with the ultimate Divine , whatever that Is …
And I replied :
I believe that yes , all that we can explain in words is not ultimately Reality … because all Enlightened Ones say that ultimate reality cannot be explained in words , it can only be experienced. 😊🙏
I believe that Guru Nanak comes very close to putting it into words when after being enlightened he said ‘Ek Omkar, Satnaam, Karta Purukh …
On another note I asked Meta AI to explain if there is an experiment in Quantum Physics where atoms can be found in two places at the same time , and it replied :
- In quantum physics_particles_ (like electrons or atoms) can be in two places at once…😊🙏
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A friend asks:
I am still trying to understand Quantum Physics. Any simple explanation?
And I replied :
You may ask AI or Google to know about the experiments that prove the theories that appear in our scriptures but,
The experiments are not easy to understand… suffice to know that scientists have proven the above facts… the scientists speak about atoms , and aren’t we made of atoms… ?
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In the last note we learned how an important desire can project an entire reality .
I , Shakun have also heard that to reach the Ultimate State, either all our desires are fulfilled , over lifetimes or are extinguished by ‘Gyaan’
So coming back to the story of Lila , when she returned to King Viduratha’s palace , she ‘saw’ that the king had a young wife who was ‘She herself, Lila! In a younger form! 😯
This happened because of King Padma’s attachment to Lila from his own past life!
Later King Vidhuratha died , defeated, in a battle with King Sindhu.
Why? How?
Ma Saraswati explained that they both got what they desired!
King Sindhu won because of his deep desire for Victory whereas King Vidhuratha had wanted Enlightenment!
The moral of the story is let’s ask ourselves: What reality are we creating for ourselves?
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For those who have read, the above story , please think:
1) Does the story make me feel that there is more to Hinduism than i knew?
2) Does it make me feel proud to be born a Hindu?
3) Did I understand the story
4) Do I need to ponder upon it ?
5) Does it make sense to me?
6) it is just a story, a fairy tale to entertain.
7) What stood out in the above story for me
think about it! 🙏
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And Maya Shahani replies:
This is definitely not a fairy tale. It makes a lot of sense to me. I am proud to be born a Hindu and this story made me realise there is more to Hinduism than I knew. It made me feel lighter and less anxious as I realised this world is conjured up by our consciousness which has so many different levels.
Thank you for raising our levels of consciousness Shakun. 🙏
And I reply to Maya:
Yes Maya I am so happy to note the above. Thankyou 🙏
Salome Roy Kapur says:
How do we break this never ending spiral
Through developing a feeling of no desire which is extremely hard to attain
But one can work towards it by
Repeating Neti Neti Neti
Not True and living completely in the present moment with no thought of yesterday or tomorrow.
My reply to Salome:
Yes you have it right, Neti Neti ( not this , not this) is the way and a constant asking : Who am I !
Mani Gandhi says:
The above story tells us of how our future lives are shaped as per our desire. But above and beyond that is the fact that it is only the projection of the ultimate reality that is what we call God. He is projecting himself into all this drama and between him and the drama he has put the curtain of Maya so that the play is authentic for his entertainment. So what we understand is that we have the freedom to shape our next lives, but beyond that is the larger drama which is being , controlled by God? I don’t know if my understanding is correct or I’m going wrong somewhere.
Therefore, if the whole thing is a dream and a drama, why do we have to be punished for our sins punishment at that time and in that life is very real even though in the largest sense it may be a dream ??
And my reply to Mani:
I agree with all you say… but you also say that if the the whole thing is a dream why do we have to be punished by our sins … I believe that that is the rule for the people who are ‘dreaming’ . It is very clearly mentioned that once awakened thr sanchit ( accumulated karmas) over the years get burnt away. So yes , I believe that in the larger sense , it is a dream … a Leela.
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A young friend says:
Hi Aunty, hope you’re doing well. I struggle with what Mani is asking …We have to work through our Karmas I think, given our karma is likely ‘imprints that stay with us across our dreams/reincarnations’. Imprints = gene expression???!!!
And I replied:
Yes they remain as long as you really discover , your true Self… Karma and death is what our planet is known for . It is called ‘Mrityu Lok’and Karma Bhumi … these karmas or call it examinations are important to ‘cleanse’ ourselves to take a step higher 🙏
Nisha Shahani says:
Very right & appropriate, LIFE is a stage & we are all playing out part …so if you are participating in this drama by being a part of it & without being a part of it and by being an observer even for the part you are playing you will not be pulled down by any atrocities …i believe just lead your best life & everyday be a better version of yourself & do
your BEST & leave the rest to GOD ….SURRENDER .
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Viveeta Khemlani says: I watched the movie twice for it to sink in and both times I felt that life is an illusion and it is all manifested in our desires . It is complicated but truly makes sense and if this is Hinduism I am proud to be one . 🙏
Veenu Deepak says:
And even though one believes it is all a dream, we still suffer pain and pleasure in life.
And I replied:
You say ‘we believe’ and I say: only when ‘we know’ do we stop ‘suffering’…
Shakun Kimatrai 