Class Summary for May 31, 2020 - Chapter-12 Slokas 16-19

Summarized by: Shivkumar Natarajan

We continued from verse 18 onwards watching 12 of Swamiji’s video’s Below is the Summary of each

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQjQLLAhd2o&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=418&t=0s

Gurudev continues on Lord Krishna’s 3^rd wave of values for Self-Redemption

1.       Self Reliant: Individual depends on nothing

2.       Cleanliness : As it is next to Godliness

3.       Attention: Alertness of the mind needed for the spiritual student

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6lOAgrw44A&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=418

1.       Lot of Sorrow exists in the world. Spiritual student needs to serve in his capacity as best as he can. He should not try to take the responsibilities of God. Leave the rest of worlds sorrow to the Lord and face and resolve once own responsibilities in life

2.       Rest with a prayer we surrender to Him and his infinite justice.

3.       Learn to be indifferent on things we have no control or the mind will have no energy in the creative field

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJTSatpaF9w&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=419

1.       Vain, unnecessary, empty vanity with regards to having done something

2.       We have not done anything that our forefathers have not done. Every generation does what they can contribute.

3.       Whatever I did is what the Lord made me do.

4.       21 Values gone through so far and each of these values are for quieting one's mind.

5.       However every person lives opposite of same. Making themselves miserable.

6.       World is not miserable, it is only the mind that is miserable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8zBC-SBe6c&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=420

1.       Lord defines the qualification of devotee who is dear to him

2.       One who never rejoices, nor frets about, or moans , no expectation, no joy or sorrow.

3.       This looks like the Lord likes a statue. Not a human being as a human by nature reacts.

4.       The words are intentional. They are meant to be analyzed and understood

5.       Like a kid who is glad to receive a gift and eagerly opens the present. Similarly this contradiction is a concealed treasure that is deliberately added for a student to dig there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0-PotHN3_c&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=421

1.       When does rejoicing come: Things happen in your outer world are in line with your inner vasanas or tendencies.

2.       When do we fret : Things received in outer world are not in line with your inner vasanas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HguwuGL8-yY&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=422

1.       When does one mourn. : If one has a attachment. If it perishes of its own nature then your reaction to it is called mourning

2.       Intensity of mourning increases with increase in your striving for the attachment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPTVs03Bb-U&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=423

1.       Lesser being (animals, plants) are expected to react to external things

2.       Man being a intelligent being is expected to act. However we do not act we react

3.       Note : We can understand to act as respond

4.       So long as people have vasanas we can only react.

5.       Saints/prophets alone can act. They alone see the world as it is.

6.       We see it via our likes/dislikes, our prejudices colored by our own past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpNch9ffglc&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=424

1.       Thus all condition above is people are only reacting and they cannot help it as they have vasanas.

2.       Only those who have cleansed it and are released from their BMI and are tied to their higher nature and are dear to me

3.       Nothing is conducive or not conducive anymore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8LuFrwln7c&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=425

1.       One who is equal to friend and foe

2.       One equipoised in honor/dishonor

3.       One equal to joy and sorrow arising out of heat and cold

Such a person is dear to me.

4.       The poet Vyasa is resorting to Idioms .

By stating experience of heat and cold, he refers to comfortable/uncomfortable experiences of body

By referring to Friend and Foe he refers to comfortable/uncomfortable experiences of emotional nature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOLwH_qmN4U&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=426

1.       By referring to Honor and Dishonor he refers to comfortable/uncomfortable experiences of intellectual nature.

2.       So all these idioms refer to BMI’s comfortable and uncomfortable actions

3.       We are what BMI dictates to us and dance to the situation

4.       Person who maintains his equipoise in all circumstances.

5.       Its our ego/egocentric desire together that is causing attachment.

6.       One who conquers it is equipoised

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPENprQ-pK4&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=427

1.       A spiritual devotee must be equal towards jeering and cheering

2.       Silent mind : Does not mean only physical (self-persecution). It means silence of the mind.

3.       It means no thinking of regret of past , worry of future

4.       It means surrendering and thinking of God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLwnPDUOD1Q&list=PLF6b7X7UirlJIAAovdfB4I-CQ9bGH5_Ew&index=428

1.       A spiritually student is fully content whatever is the external condition

2.       He wants/expect/hopes for nothing

3.       He is one who considers nothing as a shelter

4.       Only insurance is with Him

5.       That truly spiritual one is dear to me

Thus 36 values of life has been indicated.

Action Item: Group the 36 values into their high level sub category.

Take one sub category and consciously focus on the same for few weeks and then move to the next sub section.

Class Summary for May 17, 2020 - Chapter-12 Slokas 16-19

Summarized by: Sudha Radhakrishnan

 Opening Prayers, Pranayama, Meditation

- Review of values discussed in the previous class.

It is important to understand, appreciate, and recognize all the values in context.  Following it blindly may lead to misinterpretation!

- Class:

We listened & chanted verses 16, 17, 18 & 19 where Lord Krishna continues to enumerate the values He sees in a devotee near & dear to Him.  Those are:

Not being dependent on anything = Attachment:
We spoke about happiness being a state of one's mind.  It is independent of anything we own or seek and, we need to tap into what's within us!

Cleanliness: It is necessary to be clean internally, externally & in mind level to avoid diversions.

Being vigilant/alert: If we are able to control the three energy losses, we will stay focused and be 100 % here, necessary for spiritual and everyday work.  

Indifference (after doing your best): Performing our duty to the fullest & then being indifferent to the results.

No Ownership: Giving up the I-ness & complete surrender while recognizing and realizing the presence of X-factor in all our actions. 

Balanced/Samathuvam state: No expectations between joy & sorrowful state and remain equipoised in all duality situations, such as:

Equal to Friend & Foe beyond likes & dislikes: For example picking a teammate for a project, based on one's expertise and not based on whether you like or dislike the person.

Equipoised in honor & dishonor: Treating favorable & unfavorable circumstances the same way.

Alike reaction to Heat & Cold, Happiness & Unhappiness.

Free from Attachments - Punya & Paapam: Feeling happy after doing something is punya, and feeling miserable after doing something is paapam.  When you exhaust these, we attain MOKSHA.

Equal to jeering & cheering: Ability to have a steady mindset in all situations whether we are ridiculed or praised.

When we are balanced and are able to deliberate & contemplate on the highest truth with a 'silent mind', we are then 'easy to please' and 'fully content' in our aspirations.

One who does not attach to anything permanent (a shelter) and is able to perform actions without bondage are all dear to the Lord.

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

Summarized by: Shailesh Vyas

Class Format -

• Started with Prayer
• Followed by meditation
• Nadi shodhna (Anulom Vilom)
• Recap of previous class - Where we discussed 9 qualities of stitha prajna. 
• Continuation (notes below)

In this class we continued the values from 9 to 18 that are described in Chapter 12 (verse 13-15).

10 .Firm conviction -

Stitha Prajna literal translation is firm conviction.

In order to stick to anything be it a philosophy or actions, one need to have firm conviction. One need to have “Viveka” to evaluate what falls within my conviction and what falls outside of it? Sadhana gives you strength to stay firm.

Gurudev once said - In Kaliyug, choice in good and bad is easy, choice between two goods will be interesting.

11 Surrendered -

Sometime people may see surrender as someone is weak, however that is far from truth. Surrender doesn’t mean inaction. Surrender requires firm conviction.

If you take surrender based approach, you do not get agitated, anxious. Surrendering to the LORD is the key.

12 World not threatened by you - 

Your action should not threaten others around you. We need to evaluate if anything we are saying or the way we are reacting is a threat to anyone.

Good example is Jainism culture follows this philosophy strictly, they even cover their mouth to not accidentally kill micobials.

13 Not afraid of the World -

While it is important that world is not threatened by you, at the same one shouldn’t be afraid of the World.

We discussed Draupadi’s example, she had enormous power being emerged out of fire . After she was insulted in Kaurava’s court, she could have finished all of people in court. However Krishna explains her that you should forgive all of them. Revenge is a selfish act (more like Sakam karma). If Kaurav can do something like this to a powerful lady, imagine the ordeal of an ordinary citizen in their kingdom. Krishna advise her to not take revenge but do justice (more like Nishkama Karma). This will be for larger good and not for her revenge alone.

14 Agitation less -

One has to stay calm and composed. Important here is, it says agitation less which means it should not even come to you. 

Agitation arises from three emotions - Joy, Envy and Fear.

15 Not overly excited -

One need to have a balanced state during both positive and negative times or during pleasure and pain. If life has all joy then joy has no meaning. Without Sorrow joy means nothing and vice-versa.

16 Not irritable - 

There should not be anything around me that should effect me. If you are irritable, your actions will threaten people around you.

17 Fearless -

If you are sure about your actions and your philosophy, if you have firm conviction, one should be fearless.

18 Free from anxiety -

Most of the time anxiety is related to worry about future or things that are not in your control. Our mental state should not be tied to external factors. One should be in control of keeping a balance act within oneself.

After discussing the last nine qualities, we watched Gurudev’s video’s explaining the same.

We wrapped up the class with closing prayer.

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.