Ask Swami with Swami Sarvapriyananda | Apr 12th, 2026
5/4/20261 hr 22 min
Q&A session led by Swami Sarvapriyananda at the Vedanta Society of New York on Apr 12th, 2026.
List of questions with timestamps:
00:00 - Invocation and opening
01:40 — Is enlightenment just a brain event, or different from dissociation and neurological experiences?
19:17 — How does one move from witness-consciousness to Turiya in practice?
29:31 — What should one do when mantra japa brings up disturbing thoughts and impurities?
40:41 — If awareness and experience seem mutually dependent, how can awareness be the ultimate reality?
51:22 — How should a student deal with pressure, competition, and still find life’s real purpose and peace?
01:12:53 — Can the Katha Upanishad’s chariot analogy be reinterpreted through chidabhasa and reflected consciousness in Advaita?
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📙 Books by Swami Sarvapriyananda
Lecture Series by Swami Sarvapriyananda
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📖 Scriptures Taught by Swami Sarvapriyananda
• Aparokshanubhuti | Swami Sarvapriyananda
• Bhagavad Gita | Swami Sarvapriyananda
• Brihadaranyaka Upanishad | Swami Sarvapriy...
• Dṛg Dṛśya Viveka | Swami Sarvapriyananda
• The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna | Swami Sarv...
• Isha Upanishad | Swami Sarvapriyananda
• Katha Upanishad | Swami Sarvapriyananda
• Kena Upanishad | Swami Sarvapriyananda
• Mandukya Upanishad | Swami Sarvapriyananda
• Mundaka Upanishad | Swami Sarvapriyananda
• Vedantasara of Sadananda | Swami Sarvapriy...
🪔 About Vedanta
Vedanta is among the world’s oldest spiritual philosophies and one of its most inclusive. Rooted in the Vedas, India’s sacred scriptures, Vedanta upholds the unity of all existence, the divinity of the soul, and harmony among religions.
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This is the official channel of the Vedanta Society of New York, a spiritual institution affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order of India and holds the distinction of being its first established Center, founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1894. Swami Sarvapriyananda currently serves as the Resident Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSwami Sarvapriyananda· Host0:00
[singing] Om Asato Ma Sadgamaya Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya Mrtyor Ma Amrtam Gamaya Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi. Om lead us from the unreal to the real, lead us from darkness into light, lead us from death to immortality. Om peace, peace, peace. Namaste and good morning, everybody. Um, so this is a session of these question answers, basically, what we call Ask Swami. Uh, we have questions coming in from all over the world, and our intrepid team collates, sifts through those questions and presents a few, uh, for discussion in every one of these sessions. So Diane will share with us some of those questions, and then I'll call upon you, the audience here. Those who are