Saraswati was an Indian spiritual teacher who held the role of Shankaracharya in a matha monastery of the Advaita Vedanta tradition. The poem touches on the highest teaching of the tradition which is that everything and everyone is made from one peaceful, eternal being.
A special thanks Jonas, a member of the community, for fusing the text of Saraswati and Rupert’s voice to create this stunning video.
From Jonas:
“It started to come to life on Christmas morning in 2020. I am very much drawn to being in nature, to capture stillness and silence in motion. The first snow that winter was magical and silence in the air was palpable. Throughout that in winter in Lithuania I kept recording and editing the footage, but even when everything seemed to be mostly done I didn’t feel it reached its completion, a crucial piece was missing. This year my friend Nirvan shared a recorded talk of Rupert reading a text by Shantanand Saraswati. I was immediately drawn to the vibration of these words and sights of winter landscapes appeared, this poetry matched the silence of winter I felt.”
I am That
If you begin to be what you are, you will realise everything, but to begin to be what you are, you must come out of what you are not.
You are not those thoughts which are turning, turning in your mind; you are not those changing feelings; you are not the different decisions you make and the different wills you have; you are not that separate ego.
Well then, what are you? You will find when you have come out of what you are not, that the ripple on the water is whispering to you, ‘I am That’, the birds in the trees are singing to you, ‘I am That’, the moon and the stars are shining beacons to you, ‘I am That’.
You are in everything in the world and everything in the world is reflected in you and, at the same time, you are that – everything.
Film Credits:
Filming and Editing: Jonas Urvakis
Photography: Aistė Jucytė - Urvakė
Producer: Okeano Spalvos - https://www.okeanospalvos.lt
Special Thanks to Nirvan Murrell