Class Summary for May 03, 2020 - Chapter-12 Slokas 13-15 summary

Summarized by: Shilpa Sail

Started the class with meditation- it helps us to calm our mind and preps us for the class.

Discussed previous class topic which dealt with NirguNa Upasana, SaguNa Upasana, Nishkaama Karma, and Sakaama Karma.

Sai Sir shared an interesting story about Vyasa. Vyasa wrote the Bhrahmasutra, the four Vedas, Upanisads, and Mahabharata. All of them covered karma and jnana yoga still, he was not satisfied with his work. 

Then, Narada muni advised him to write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which deals with bhakti. Bhāgavatam is a compilation of stories of Lord Vishnu. It is a great source for implanting bhakti in devotees.

Mani Sir shared that his spiritual journey started with Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Chanted shloka 13,14, ad 15. The translatory of those shlokas are below.

Lord Krishna tells Arjuna (or us) what type of bhakta he likes.

Shloka 13 - Those devotees are very dear to Me who are free from malice toward all living beings, who are friendly and compassionate.

They are free from attachment to possessions. They are contented, steadily united with Me in devotion. Self-controlled. Firm in conviction and dedication to Me in mind and intellect.

Those who are not a source of annoyance to anyone and who in turn are not agitated by anyone who are equal in pleasure and pain and free from fear and anxiety.

A story about a supreme bhakta was shared by Mani Sir.

(Once upon a time:) there was a bhakta who was in Anandamaya state all the time. That person had elephant leg disease in one of his legs. He was in great pain and had difficulty walking, but he still was in a happy state. Looking at his condition a sage advised him to perform penance to relieve him from the pain. The bhakta performed penance and Lord appeared to him. Lord asked him what you want. A normal bhakta would have asked relief from the pain instead the supreme bhakta requested the Lord to give him elephant leg in the other leg. He told Lord that I have an imbalance in my leg. I would like to get the disease in both my legs. This story wonderfully portrays the quality of a Supreme bhakta and his thinking.

Later we discussed the qualities of a STiTHA PRAJNA.

36 values of a Jeevan Laskhanam are discussed in shlokas from 12 to 20 from the bhakti-yoga point of view.

1. Freedom from Hatred

We should not have hatred at all. No exception. The hatred component should be removed from ourselves. We cannot have hate for anyone as there is God in each one of us.  

It is very difficult to accept that our enemy has God in them. 

I liked the example that Sai Sir gave. Usually, with kids, when they do something wrong and we react in a very harsh manner. We say things that are not appropriate like- you moron, you monster. Do we really think our kids are monsters? NO. Actually, we hated the action the kid performed. But we react in a very severe way. The key is to free ourselves from hatred. 

Start each day from scratch with no preconceived notions. It is said that Krishna told Arjuna to kill all his enemies with love. Translate that to the person at work or any relationships in a family that you cannot get along. You hate the action they have done but we have to see good in others. 

Another approach is to separate the action from the actor. Keep experiences limited to that unique transaction or interaction. Do not carry forward the experience to the next interaction.

We have to try to practice these values in daily life.

 2.  Friendliness

Friendliness is an attitude.

One example that was shared in the class was of milk and water. When we heat milk, water evaporates. Now milk is unhappy that his friend water left so he wants to commit suicide and jumps out of the vessel. The lady of the house then sprinkles water to calm the milk down. Now it is reunited with its friend. 

Another story is Sudhama and Krishna’s. When they meet after a long time, Sudhama gives Krishna a handful of poha. Krishna relishes the food so much that he feels it is better than 55 bhoga. It is not the food the feeling of friendliness that filled Krishna.

3. Compassion

We need to have compassion towards everybody and everything at all times. Even on our bad days, we need to be compassionate. No selective compassion.

4. No sense of possession

It does not mean I don’t want to possess anything. I won’t buy anything. 

We have to imbibe in ourselves the thought that everything is coming from the Lord. Everything that is around us is from the 5 elements - Water, earth, fire, wind, and space.

These five elements are created by the brahman. It belongs to him so we have no possession.

We should treat the entire life as life on rent. It comes with an expiry date.

We are given this body for a certain amount of time. We have to take care of the equipment ( that is the body) and returning it with thanks. What we are returning is of great value. 

Don’t drink alcohol, practice yoga, keep it healthy. Return it with thanks. Take good care.

5. No Ego

When you help somebody from a pity perspective ego is there. We create inequality in ourselves. The pseudo ego is fed. We need to take the ego out of our system. When we do something with compassion there is no ego.

6. Balanced in duality

Hot/Cold, Unhappy/happy, Lockdown/No lockdown. We should have an appreciation for all the extremes. Try to adjust in all the environments. Even if you have 1M or 100k or 10k, don’t get upset. Strive to stay satisfied with whatever you have.

7. Forbearance/forgiveness

Ability to bear any situation. Forbearance is beyond tolerance. The knowledge that I don’t have control over all situations. The ability to surrender and take it as it comes. Deal all situations with the same energy.

8. Contentment

It does not mean we should not aspire, but at the same time, we should be satisfied with our current situation. We should not get agitated. Try to live life in a peaceful way with what we have. Work towards your dharma.

9. Self-control/Yogi

Try to inculcate the qualities of a Bharmacharya. Have self-control/moderation in daily life.

Class Summary for April 26, 2020 - Chapter-12 Slokas 2-12 summary

Summarized by : Sunil Jyothi

We had a modified version of the meditation as we started the class. We were not guided during the scanning of our ishTa devata and we did that ourselves with minimal guidance. Few of us shared our experiences of how the mind wandered.

In such cases, we should work on bringing back the mind in a non-agitated way. Try switching to Japa mode. We can also do the chant a bit louder if it helps us focus, initially.

We briefly discussed the 4 levels of sadhana:

NirguNa upasana: meditating on the formless Brahman

SaguNa upasana: This was clarified. It could be meditating on one God with form. The slightly more advanced version of this is Vishwaroopa meditation which represents all gods and the entire universe. Meditating on the ocean, a rock or your breath could come in this category.

Nishkaama Karma: Selfless actions

Sakaama Karma with Karma phala tyaaga: This is the selfish action, done in a Dharmic way, and by giving up attachment to the fruits of the actions

Prasad spoke on Nishkaama karma by also clarifying sakaama karma. In Sakaama karma, giving up the fruit is more about giving up mental attachment to it than giving it up physically. So when you get a bonus at work, you take it. You essentially were not expecting it nor feel bad when you don’t get it. In Nishkaama karma, you expand to do your actions from a bigger cause perspective. This could be actions for the society or for your company than for your own self (which includes your family). Freedom fighters are one example of this. This helps purify our mind and leads us to SaguNa upaasana

Prasad clarified that results are of 4 types – Getting what you expected, getting more, getting less or getting opposite of what you expected. The results could be material (money, etc) or emotional (happiness) or intellectual. Nishkaama karma helps you accept the results across all these types.

Nishkaama karma was clarified a bit more. Doing for your society/company is Nishkaama karma. See what you can do for the benefit of the company. Can I work more hours without any expectation to help the overall company? Also, doing your swadharma is very important for Nishkaama karma. Swadharma is something that you have to define for yourself. As an example, Gandhiji’s wife was very happy about Gandhiji while his son felt that Gandhiji didn’t do as much as a father. From Gandhiji’s perspective, how he defined his swadharma might not be the same as the others who are influenced by it.

Moving from prayers where we include our individual family members to “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah” where we wish for the welfare of the entire society, knowing that this includes our family, is NishKaama.

Aruna, Bala, Sudha and Neelima spoke about Sakaama Karma with Prasada buddhi. This is accepting the results as God’s gift. This bring about peace of mind and quietens the mind. Helps with reduction of FIR. “Give your worries to Him. Do your best and leave the rest. Remember that there is an X factor that also influences the result in addition to your actions”.

Suffering is your resistance to the results. So work on reducing the resistance. An example of a child tightening the hand during injection was mentioned. Only when the child lets it go can the doctor administer the injection. We also talked about the Valley Of Despair concept of management. When we don’t accept the result, we tend to dive into the valley of despair with many negative emotions. Having prasada buddhi helps us shorten this valley and get out of it sooner.

The book” Who Moved my cheese” was also mentioned which is a great example of how to accept and move on.

Then a group of Prarthana, Sri and Sridhar talked about SaguNa upasana. This is for people with 40% to 60%  vasanas. Policing the intellect will help. Start meditation on a single or multiple form. Use Japa, either in your mind or also aloud. In this, it is still dualistic in the sense that the Yogi is different from Brahman.

Abhyasa Yoga applies more to saguNa Upaasana.

We are sometimes unable to concentrate in saguNa upasana and this is due to our likes and dislikes. Doing more nishkaama karma will help address this.

Class Summary for April 19, 2020 - Chapter-12 Slokas 12

Summarized by : Prarthana Gururaj

We began with Swami Chinmayananda’s videos on shlokas 9-11. In these he divides Vasanas by percentage and prescribes the most practical path towards reaching God.
For those with about 20% Vasanas – Nirguna meditation should work
Those with 40% Vasanas - the mind is under some pressure as it attempts to find the steadiness it needs, use Abhyasa yoga (Saguna) where you maintain a strong desire to reach the Lord. So as the mind travels topic to topic, the intellect has to do a stronger job of policing the mind.
60% Vasanas – When the mind runs after sense pleasures, the intellect can police it back to focus but when the person himself runs after sense pleasures, consider this a gorge of Vasanas and the individual is perpetually in the field of OET. Here the individual remains in the world of objects but attempts to remain oriented to the Lord, by performing NISHKAAMA karma.
80% Vasanas – Do all your Sakama Karma while attempting to forget the fruits of the action.
The Goal is to reduce Vasanas to the point that the mind is able to remain in the task at hand and remain oriented to the Lord while doing them.

There was a discussion on being cautious to not make listening and reading about topics related to our spiritual growth a golden chain and therefore another Vasana. Vasanas can replace one another.
In Kali yuga, all the different paths to reaching God are needed in a combination.

Shloka 12: Divides Bhakti into 4 levels or kinds depending on the analysis
Abhyasa Yoga – meditation on God without full knowledge of God.
Jnanam – Thorough study of scriptures to obtain an understanding of Brahma but no meditation. Here Jnana becomes more of an ego boost for the ‘know it all’ personality
Dhyanam – Someone who has a combination of knowledge and meditation and resists the feeling of superiority but is unable to orient to the Lord during activities of daily living.
Karma Phala Tyaga – One who can dedicate all fruits of action to the Lord and take only the Prasadam.
Here the Prasadam tends to become peace of mind, equanimity and balance.

This does not mean that we should not respond to the Prasada and we must take the necessary steps or further actions needed based on what the Prasada is. However our ‘FIR’ response is within our control and we can proceed with the next task.

Class Summary for April 05, 2020 - Chapter-12 Slokas 9-11

Summarized by : Sree Sekhar Palaparthy

 

We started the class with opening prayers, pranayam and meditation.

COVID-19 video
We first watched a Covid-19 video by Pujya Swami Swaroopananda, where the message was
how this crisis is Mother Nature's way of ensuring, we begin to lead lives of greater substance
and offers guidance on radiating goodwill to the world through prayer, positivity and inspired
service.

Un-conscious Bias:
The class discussed about the "Un-conscious bias" training videos, where couple of key points
were called out: Firstly, to appreciate the fact that we all have "un-conscious bias"(pre-
programmed routines) within us, which drives us to make certain decisions based on situations.
Secondly this training materials helps providing few ways of managing these biases, better.
With reference to this, "Atomic Habits" book by James Clair was suggested to practice breaking
bad habits and cultivating good habits. Another book named "Power of Habits" was also
recommended in the same context
These training videos provide scientific way of managing these "un-conscious bias" and our
scriptures also provide "Saadhana" as a common tool to better handle these biases. We have
an opportunity to take best of these both worlds.
The un-conscious bias could be potentially understood as an effect of previous vasanas and the
vasanas that are being cultivated in current birth.

Chapter#12; Slokas #9, 10, 11
In earlier classes we have seen 2 levels/options of Upasanas (in order starting from highest
level)
1) Nirguna upasana: This is to meditate upon brahman which is formless; For doing this
upasana, one has to prepare himself and attain certain qualities (for instance Dispassion /
Desirelessness / Discipline and Detachment - 4Ds)

2) Saguna upasana: Meditating upon Vishwaroopa (multiple) form or any object in the nature
(for instance a tree/sun/ocean).
In sloka 9, Lord SriKrishna is providing more options for meditation

3) Abhyaasa Yoga: Meditating upon Single form/symbol and keep practicing it. This could be a
"Ishta devata" OR Kula devata. One shouldn't forget the fact that the single form is a
representation of the formless Brahman, as that would lead into confusion around beliefs and
faith. For instance , we salute the flag of our country to show our respect/patriotism. The fact is
that, flag is the representation of the country itself. This same analogy can be used to remind
ourselves that the "single form" represents the single truth i.e Brahman

4) Nishkaama Karma: Performing actions without expectation /without materialistic gains.
Selfless action. The perfect example we can refer to is a tree. Despite of our behavior towards a
tree, it always provides shade, fruits/flowers/ branches and so on.
If meditation is not possible, then perform Nishkaama karma.

5) Sakaama Karma: Selfish action, but as an offering to the God. If Nishkaama karma is not
possible , then perform Sakaama karma. Any action should be done with an intent of accepting
the outcome of it with prasada Buddhi. Options 4 and 5 are essentially the summary of "Karma
Yoga" (Chapter# 3).

Most of us can relate and put an effort to practice Level 5 and Level 4 to move to the other
higher levels. Selfish actions which we do, if done with prasada buddhi it would lead to
Nishkaama karma. In Kaliyuga, we need to practice either a combination of all these options or
a subset of these options (barring exceptions), to ascend in our spiritual journeys. Cleanse your
mind to make it ready before doing the meditation.

An example of inspection department providing a certificate for cleaning of ashram premises
was discussed to explain how Nishkaama karma and Sakaama karma are inter-twined. Sakaama
karma approach would be to clean the premises to get the certificate, whereas Nishkaama
karma approach would be to change the goal to keep the premises clean, and leave the
expectation around the certificate.

The common theme in all the 5 options above is "Ishwara". The connection between "Ishwara"
and "Jeeva" (ishwara Sambhanda should be appreciated). Three use cases of this "Ishwara
Sambhanda" are 1) Jeeva and Paramathma are the same 2) Jeeva is an extension of "Ishwara"
and 3) Jeeva is the "body" and bhakta of "Paramathma"
We will continue with verse 12, followed by values......

Class Summary for Mar 29, 2020 - Chapter-12 Slokas 6-8

Summarized by : Neelima Turaga 

We started the class with opening prayers, pranayam and meditation. 

During this ongoing crisis of the Covid 19, it is very easy for us to get overwhelmed and anxious. We briefly discussed ways to keep ourselves calm and peaceful as much as possible.  It is very important to keep up our everyday Sadhana, and if possible enhance it further. It also helps to see and appreciate even small things in our day to day life and being grateful for all that we have. We should try to see the goodness in people, no matter the situation or the equation we have with them. Seeing the goodness in everyone and everything is easier said than done. However, it can be started slow, and with conscious effort and practice, this can be achieved. It again depends on the sadhana package we are  following. Sadhana helps develop vairagya or detachment. We then reach a point when we are able to reset our perceptions about the people we are interacting with. We need to do this reset everyday !

We discussed some examples for this. One was about a small businessman in India, who purchased books, shirts etc from Chinmaya ashram very frequently. He ran a business with all handicapped staff. Curious as to why he bought so many things so often, someone asked him. His answer was that he bought them to gift them to certain people who he had business interactions with and who expected bribes from him. Gifting these items was his way to touch the good side of them and influence them in a positive way, which might reduce their desire to take the bribes in future. He chose to see the goodness in people. 

Another example was the story in which Lord Krishna was asked to manage the footwear of people. He did even that job with utmost love and commitment. It shows that whatever be the work, whoever be the persons we are interacting with, we can give our best and also see goodness or Brahman in everyone. 

We watched Gurudev's videos for Shlokas 6, 7 and 8. A brief summary is as follows :

There are two pre requisites for successful spiritual seeking. Firstly, all the actions should be surrendered to the Lord, for He is the highest goal to be reached. Every action should be guided by the aspiration to achieve the goal. The mind cannot be allowed to dissipate into other things that can deviate us from the goal.

Secondly, for sometime everyday, bring all mental attention to the Lord EXCLUSIVELY.

A person can choose either a path of devotion or a path of contemplation. When all actions, physical, mental or intellectual are oriented in the Lord, all the emotions and thoughts become one with him. With steady contemplation, the vasanas are exhausted. As the vasanas are getting exhausted, the mind and and intellect become more steady. Steadier the mind, greater the contemplation. Greater contempletion in turn reduces the vasanas. After these cycles of vasana exhaustion, a time will come when one is uplifted from the shore less ocean of death and plurality. How long this takes, depends on the amount of vasanas each person has.