Sunday Wisdom Sessions by Vedantin

E72 Know Your Personality

0:00 Know Your Personality - In this session, we explore the three gunas — tamas, rajas, and sattva — as a practical tool for understanding your own personality. The Bhagavad Gita's eighteenth chapter provides a precise framework for assessing how these qualities show up across your body, mind, and intellect. The goal is not simply self-knowledge, but a structured path from inertia to action, and from action to lasting inner peace. 46:32 Q&A Q1 Are we born with gunas? How do we change them? 50:50 Q&A Q2: If we are born with the gunas, does that also mean they come from our vasanas? 52:18 Q&A Q3: In rajas you desire without analyzing, and in sattva you analyse but with flow. Is overanalysing tamas, rajas, or sattva? 56:22 Q&A Q4: If you grow up in poverty and have to convince yourself that you are better than everyone around you to get out of that environment, there can come a point where that same mindset starts working against you. Would you describe learning to manage that part of yourself — your ego — as a form of emotional or intellectual maturity? 59:03 Q&A Q5: Sometimes calmness is interpreted as not caring. How do we prevent this?

E71 The Technique for Inner Wellness

What does it mean to be truly well? While we invest enormous effort in improving the world around us, our homes, careers, and circumstances, we rarely turn that same attention inward. Drawing on Vedanta, one of the world's oldest philosophies, this session explores a practical framework for inner wellness rooted in the relationship between the mind and the intellect. The mind, our feeling and impulse centre, constantly pulls us towards desire, distraction, and attachment. The intellect, when developed, gives us the capacity to observe the mind, make clear decisions, and relate to the world with greater freedom. When the intellect is in charge, we are no longer victims of our desires, our anxieties about the future, or our expectations of others, and that shift is the foundation of a life lived with energy, clarity, and contentment.

E70 Questions & Answers

0:00 E70 Questions and Answers 0:48 Q&A Q1: Why do we become attached to the spiritual path itself? Isn't it important how we practice spirituality? 17:33 Q&A Q2: A question is arising about suffering, the mind, and self-control. The mind has a tendency to want to relive experiences it likes and avoid experiences it doesn't like, thus lingering in a past perception. With regard to trauma, is it useful to fully feel one's own suffering rather than engage the super ego, use defensive awareness, or spiritual bypassing as a way of avoiding it? Out of one's own suffering, potentially what arises is deep compassion and the capacity to engage fully and with empathy with the suffering of others. To engage the intellect prematurely and practice self-control will certainly reduce the attachment, and as a consequence the individual may experience less suffering, but potentially it could also give rise to more emptiness. Many sages and wise beings lost a parent in early childhood — Shankaracharya, Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi — and became wise and deeply compassionate beings. 25:33 Q&A Q3: Can Vedanta and a biblical environment overlap in the same environment? I'm asking from the point of view of a workplace. 31:52 Q&A Q4: How do I recognize the real 'I' in daily life rather than just understanding it intellectually? 44:06 Q&A Q5: How does one determine whether one is fulfilling another's need or is aggravating their desires? Is it necessary to make this discrimination?

E69 The Rise of the Human

0:00 The Rise of the Human 48:21 Q&A Q1: How do I know if my reasoning is weak? 50:12 Q&A Q2: I have great difficulty in knowing myself. How can I improve?56:30 Q&A Q3: Could you elaborate on what happens when we die with perspectives from Advaita Vedanta and other spiritual and philosophical traditions? There seem to be many diverse views on this — which one do we believe?

E68 Return to Authentic Self

00:00 Return to Authentic Self The lecture features the below: Concept of God Gross and Subtle Intellect Distinction Understanding States of Consciousness Enlightenment

E67 Beyond the World into I

0:00 E67 Beyond the World into the I52:59 Q&A Q1: In which state would you say you manifest and create from, given the info you may receive?55:52 Q&A Q2: Will being smart help to have a good subtle intellect?

E66 Questions and Answers

0:00 E66 Q&A Session 0:46 Q&A Q1: What is the best way to deal with people who are on the gross level and cause unnecessary problems? How does one refrain from being upset and holding on to resentment, which we know is not good for us? How best can a person deal with this toxic behavior? 14:14 Q&A Q2: What is the difference between an unselfish and a selfless person with reference to their spiritual pursuits? 17:37 Q&A Q3: What is your relationship with A Parthasarathy, the author of the Vedanta books that you mention? 27:31 Q&A Q4: Where can I buy or access the books you recommended for learning Vedanta? 28:25 Q&A Q5: When it comes to how we show up on social media, I can't help but think of our "prostitute" archetype coming into play — the part of us that trades visibility, approval, or validation for attention. Do you think there are both positives and negatives to lean into? And if so, how can we stay aware enough to keep a healthy balance? 35:47 Q&A Q6: What is the best way to limit or stop wrong imagination or suspicion? For example, I always build up stories in my mind about close people doing things behind my back. Even though I know this is not the truth, I find it difficult to stop this kind of thinking. 40:28 Q&A Q7: How can self-inquiry and looking at the shadow help in breaking the mask when the mind or the intellect uses Vedanta as a defense mechanism? How to separate knowledge from internalised truth?

E65 Clarity and Confusion

E65 Clarity and Confusion

E64 Less is More

0:00 E64 Less is More 48:42 Q&A Q1: As far as taking loved ones for granted, do you think it is because our nervous system isn't used to love, kindness, or peace and therefore self-sabotages? If so, how do we prevent getting to that point or fix it? 51:45 Q&A Q2: How do we manage the desire for ongoing challenges in various areas? 54:24 Q&A Q3: It doesn't seem practical or realistic that one can be happy if they do not have the means to fulfill their desires, perhaps even basic desires. 1:02:16 Q&A Q4: Is it that we can't have it all and we should work to be content with that, or that we already have it all and we should work to realize that? What role does the spirit or atma have in managing desires?

E63 Questions and Answers

E63 Questions and Answers

E62 Freedom and Frustration

E62 Freedom and Frustration

E61 Irreplaceable

0:00 Irreplaceable 50:47 Q&A Q1: Why are we so resistant towards thinking? Is the intellect a 'muscle' to be developed based only on our intention? 53:20 Q&A Q2: When we're emotionally overwhelmed, we often make impulsive decisions that we later regret. What is the Vedantic approach to acting wisely when the mind is not peaceful? How do you calm an agitated mind? 55:45 Q&A Q3: Is there such a thing as performance anxiety? You may know all the answers and be prepared well, but get overwhelmed when it's time to execute. If so, how do you work on improving your mind for high-pressure moments? 59:48 Q&A Q4: What happens when you are living someone else's life? How do you search for your purpose and ability that you are good at in life? How does one seek happiness? 1:03:22 Q&A Q5: Is it possible to ever have the mind calm without the intellect supervising it? Can it become trained, or will it always require intellectual supervision? 1:05:45 Q&A Q6: What about the intellect results in resilience? What is the mechanism of resilience?

E60 The Pale Blue Ego

0:00 The Pale Blue Ego48:18 Q&A Q1: Is the sorrow that Arjuna expressed at the start of the Bhagavad Gita also a form of ego-driven emotions?50:39 Q&A Q2: You've mentioned about knowing our uniqueness, our role, and following that. How do you know for sure you're on the right path?54:55 Q&A Q3: How does one notice if they are slipping into an inferiority or superiority complex?57:30 Q&A Q4: How can one balance one's duties to family and community with one's need for autonomy and self-direction?

E59 Insanity

00:00 E59 Insanity 53:17 Q&A Q1: Are our likes and dislikes created by our inner unfulfilled desires, and does the intellect help keep that in check? 55:41 Q&A Q2: If we use our intellect for every decision, won't we lose the joy of spontaneity? 57:06 Q&A Q3: If we are under the influence of the mind, how do we begin to retake control, because the mind does not come under control willingly? 59:24 Q&A Q4: Is it possible to change our vasanas over the course of evolution, or are they static? 1:00:52 Q&A Q5: Please give some examples on how to set up a higher desire. Click on the link and submit your question to be answered in a dedicated Q&A session https://tinyurl.com/SWS-Question

E58 Redefining Education

0:00 E58 Redefining Education53:08 Q&A Q1: Being in academia, we want to impart liberal education, but what if the participants are interested in education which is servile?55:16 Q&A Q2: What are some of the ways to reflect individually on the matter one has studied?57:22 Q&A Q3: In trying to do this differently against the system, are we not to be alienated and therefore will be unhappy?1:01:21 Q&A Q4: Is it assured that swadharma will be able to sustain us when there are bills to pay? How do we focus on what we like and not do it for the money? Click on the link and submit your question to be answered in a dedicated Q&A session. https://tinyurl.com/SWS-Question

E57 Wisdom for Life

Live in London 2026 00:00 Wisdom for Life (Recording of live session with young professionals in London – May 2026) 54:20 Q&A Q1: Can use of the intellect lead to “overanalysis”? 56:00 Q&A Q2: We may doubt our own ability to make a good choice due to the inherent uncertainty of future events. How does one manage this? What is the role of “gut feel”? 57:56 Q&A Q3: Can contentment lead to complacency? 1:00:16 Q&A Q4: If we suffer from high anxiety, we are often told not to analyse our feelings or make sense of them. Instead, we should try to do some breath work to calm down. Could you comment on the efficacy of this advice? 1:03:25 Q&A Q5: Can therapy help address the root cause of anxiety? 1:04:20 Q&A Q6: If one is able to reach a state where negative emotions don’t affect us, does that also mean that we won’t enjoy positive emotions?

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E56 Intelligence is not Intellect

00:00 Intelligence is not Intellect 54:01 Q&A Q1: Can the intellect also be a function of our vasanas? Are some people born with a stronger intellect than most others? 54:55 Q&A Q2: What does intelligence quotient (IQ) mean? As IQ measurement instruments stand today, are they measuring intelligence or intellect (as defined by Vedanta)? Is there any overlap of IQ and intellect? 56:07 Q&A Q3: Is there a semantic problem? Intelligence in the military sense is knowledge, but in the academic sense, it is the processing power of the student. Is intellect therefore a synonym for academic intelligence? 58:05 Q&A Q4: How do we train for emotional intelligence? 1:00:03 Q&A Q5: The intellect seems to have two roles. One is the ability to discern and discriminate. The other is to control the mind and ensure we act according to our obligation. It seems reflection can help with the first, but how can we work on the second?

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E55 Inspiration & Success

00:00 Inspiration & Success 51:58 Q&A Q1: Is it possible to work by initiative alone? Can we get rid of incentives altogether? What about a paycheck? 56:48 Q&A Q2: One of the ways to have more initiative is to work for a higher ideal – something beyond our selfish desires. But when you work for a larger cause, since it affects more people, could that create more anxiety? 59:00 Q&A Q3: When we achieve a goal, our mind will then immediately want something higher. Since this is never ending, will we always feel a lack of contentment?

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E54 Relating

00:00 Relating 52:50 Q&A Q1: How is making an effort to relate to people different to letting people treat you badly? 58:02 Q&A Q2: How is assessing and relating different to manipulation? 1:00:30 Q&A Q3: Do parents require a special formula for relating to teenagers? 1:03:48 Q&A Q4: In an area where emotions are involved, how do you know if you are accurately assessing the other person? 1:06:27 Q&A Q5: What do you do when your assessment of a person is proved incorrect and you are not sure how you got it wrong? What do you need to do for a new assessment in order to relate?

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E53 Objectivity

00:00 Objectivity52:59 Q&A Q1: How do I know whether I am being objective as opposed to being indifferent or giving up?55:15 Q&A Q2: In areas where we have strong attachments, when something negative happens, it is often difficult to remain objective. For example when a loved one is hospitalised or is in danger. In such situations, what can one do to return back to objectivity or minimise the damage caused by our lack of objectivity?57:45 Q&A Q3: Is the disarray in the world because there are too many objective people in the world or too few?59:05 Personalisation leads to lack of objectivity

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