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.
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