Class Summary for May 16, 2021 - BG - Chapter-5 Slokas 25-29

 Summarized by: Shailesh Vyas

Started with meditation, anulom vilom.

Initial Q&A -

• Talked about possible curriculum for the next session - Kaivalya Upnishad or Katho Upanishad. 
• Kaivalya Upanishad - Classified as Shaiva Upnishad. 
• How it relates with Chapter 10 and 11 of Gita.
• Talks about I am in everyone and everyone is in me.
• What can we possibly cover during summer break.
• Tatva Bodha or Atma Bodha
• Kindle Life

Recap of previous class

• We recapped from the previous class. Three realities - Absolute, Relative and Mithya. 
• Talking about examples like mom working in the field also knows back in her mind about sleeping kids.
• Fire of desire to be replaced by lamp of knowledge.
• Example 1 - Buddha is considered as one of the realized souls. Even he used to discipline himself whenever there was a desire developed within him. For e.g. if he ever got a thought that there is less salt in food, he used to discipline himself by asking for salt-less food during daily bhiksha. There were many similar examples like longer meditation or fasting.
• Example 2 - Once a person went along with Gurudev to watch a movie. All along he was worried about Gurudev's well being and whether he is doing everything right or not. Gurudev enjoyed the movie, came back and started talking from where he left. He asked Gurudev how can you be so normal? Gurudev said, the point of watching a movie was to enjoy that moment and not to get carried away with it.
• Example 3 - A person wins a multi-crore lottery. He was a heart patient, so everyone was worried about how we would share this news with him. It may cause a sudden shock and may affect his health. His family goes to the doctor and asks him to share the news. Doctor calls the person and makes sure he shares news with a completely calm environment. Person thanks the doctor and says since you are my doctor and I am alive because of you, I offer you 50% of it. Now hearing this news, the doctor has a heart-attack. 
• Point is, you should not be moved with either good or bad. Equanimity is important.
• Internally you need to be with self. This is the sign of a realized soul.
• We have to do dharma in all our roles. Play each role with the same intensity, knowing it's not permanent.
• Swami Paramarthananda - Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga.
• Raga and Dwesha (Likes and Dislikes)
• Get rid of Ahamkara (ego) and Mamkara (me, me, me)
• They are preventing you from realizing. You will know it by going through Gyan Yoga.
• Three methods that are most critical of all learnings - Sarvanam, Mananam, Nidhidhyasam.

Verse 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 translations - 

Verse 25 - 

Those holy persons whose sins have been purged, whose doubts are annihilated, whose minds are disciplined and who are devoted to the welfare of all beings, attain God and are liberated from material existence.

Verse 26 -

For those sanyasis, who have broken out of anger and lust through constant effort, who have subdued their mind, and are self realized, liberation from material existence is both here and hereafter.

Verse 27 & 28 -

Shutting out all thoughts of external enjoyment, with the gaze fixed on the space between the eyebrows, equalizing the flow of the incoming and outgoing breath in the nostrils, and thus controlling the senses, mind and intellect, the sage who becomes free from desire and fear, always lives in freedom.

Verse 29 -

Having realized Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all the worlds and the selfless Friend of all living beings, My devotee attains peace.

Theme and Discussions -

• Usage of word annihilated in Verse 25 - We always heard about Chicken and Egg or Tree and seed. We asked these questions when we were a kid. We never got a convincing answer. Fast forward today, we are not too worried about it, even though that question is still there and it is not answered yet. Point is, it no longer matters. It's just dissolved.
• Sublimation is similar.
• Even if we don't have an answer about seed and tree, we don't reject entire botany.
• As you progress in your journey, you start realizing on a grand scale of things, it doesn't matter.
• Sometimes it's Okay to not have an answer.
• Such a person sees ONEness in everybody, and behaves the same with everything in the world.
• He finds FREEDOM everywhere.
• FREEDOM - No dependency on external factors.
• e.g. a person in jail was still mentally free.
• He will keep all external contacts outside of self and the mind attention in between the eyebrows; keeping the breathing controlled in pranayama mode; intellect occupied in quiet contemplation.

Gurudev’s video (107, 108, 109, 110, 111) - Verse 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 - 

Video 107 - Is spirituality a dry life - Thoughts are rising (Ch 5, Verse 25)

Where flame has ended, flame represents thoughts. Thoughts cannot rise without your contact with world objects. Thoughts are rising because of the expression of desire, desires are there because of Vasanas. Those who have cleansed the vasanas. Mind is a thought flow. Those who have thoughts have ended, therefore the mind is transcended and you experience brahman. Full Self control at Body/Mind/Intellect, one may ask what is a pleasure in this? Is spirituality a dry life? Great rishis whose vasanas have exhausted, they do glide to a new dimension of consciousness called God Consciousness.

Video 108 - Quiet Vigilant, Alert (Ch 5, Verse 26)

With intellect you cannot perceive such an idea. If vasanas are ended there is no desire there is no disappointment and anger, in that state there is nothing between mind and intellect. Those who are self controlled at the physical level, thought level and contemplating to higher. Such a mind is quiet, vigilant and alert, he experiences "Brahmanirvan" infinite peace and tranquility.

Video 109 - Control at the time of contemplation. The conditions (Ch 5, Verse 27)

When can you say an individual is liberated, conditions are enumerated one by one. Contact with the outer world is kept outside. By contact it means sense organ (touch, hear, smell etc). Eyes turned between the two brows means withdraw attention from outside of the world and try to experience overwhelming peace and tranquility. Not expecting to see anything.

Pranayami would say keep your prana and apana equal. Anything (seeing, hearing, feeling, touching) you take in is Prana and anything you throw out is Apana (even words). These are transactions, I see and I respond.

When your thoughts are quieted, your breathing is subtle.

Video 110 - How to think exclusive on the Lord? Exclusive attention (Ch 5, Verse 28)

A student went to Vivekananda when he was bathing in Ganges. He said think of the lord exclusively without any thought. How can I do that? Vivekanada pushed his head down in water and asked him what were you focussing (or thinking) on while you were in there. What did you want in there? Person said only air to breathe. Like this you have to turn your entire attention to him. 

Icha, Bhayam, Krodh these three are interrelated. If there is no icha or desire, there will not be any fear or anger. He has liberated himself from shackles around the world.

Video 111 - Unmask (Ch 5, Verse 29)

Whenever in Gita, Krishna refers to "I", he doesn't mean that person. When you are sitting in meditation "I" refers to the ultimate reality/true self. True self function through the BMI is the individuality that all of us are calling as "I". Electricity conditioned by, expressing through, masked by bulb. Light is not electricity, electricity is expressed through a bulb. 

This PFT individuality is divine, the Lord expressing through BMI. All Vedanta is saying Unmask yourself.

Subjective analysis - 

Learn to be happy with yourself.

Ended class with Meditation and Summary of class.

Class Summary for May 2, 2021 - BG - Chapter-5 Slokas 19-24

 Summarized by: Sree Sekhar Palaparthy

We started the class with initial prayers, naadi shodana pranayama and brief meditation.

No thought state:

 We looked at a question about how to meditate upon “No thought” state. Meditating is not doing anything but is to get to a state over  time by consistent practice of Sadhana. The silence between the Om is what to focus on

 Thoughts are like series of events in mind and watching them could help breaking the sequence of other thoughts; End of the day introspection i.e., reflection of a day’s activities before going to sleep, definitely helps along with regular Sadhana

 2 approaches to settle down the intense flow of thoughts, before starting the meditation, could be to do

o Japa (chanting a nama and listening to it)

o Pranayama

Handling situations

 We discussed about the current Covid situation and how people are reacting to it,

 First set of people are ready to accept the fact, by doing what can be done, and not worrying more about it

 Second set of people are panicking/fearing about what is to come

o Based on one’s own package/vasanas, lead them to react one way or the other

 Gurudev, even during his last moments was able to share his teachings to the nurse serving him which made her become his follower/disciple. One can reflect upon how Mahatmas and gurus deal with the situation of facing death fearlessly.

Verse 19,20,21,22,23,24 translations:

Sloka 19:

Those whose minds are established in equality of vision conquer the cycle of birth and death in this very life. They possess the flawless qualities of God, and are therefore seated in the Absolute Truth

Sloka 20:

Established in God, having affirm understanding of divine knowledge and not hampered by delusion, they neither rejoice in getting pleasant nor grieve on experiencing the unpleasant

Sloka 21:

Those who are not attached to external sense pleasures realize divine bliss in the self. Being united with God through Yoga, they experience unending happiness

Sloka 22:

The pleasures that arise from contact with the sense objects though appearing as enjoyable to worldly-minded people, are verily a source of misery. O son of Kunti, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise do not delight in them

Sloka 23:

Those persons are yogis, who before giving up the body are able to check the forces of desire and anger; and they alone are happy

Sloka 24:

Those who are happy within themselves, enjoying the delight of God within, and are illuminated by the inner light, such yogis are united with the Lord and are liberated from material existence

Discussion points:

 Knowledge needs to be lived at a point, as mere knowledge doesn’t help to realize

 Intellect always tries to relate to something, however, realization is even beyond intellect

 We all need to practice detaching  the lower cause and attaching to a higher cause (example: giving up watching TV, and practicing yoga or reading a Bhagavat Gita sloka etc)

 Real happiness doesn’t come from anything which is material, including any objects/persons

 A wise person/realized one would be very sensitive to any desires or attachments, like an eyeball is sensitive to even a small particle in the eye

 One needs to keep the dependency of happiness away from the materialistic objects/persons

 Passion and anger can exist, as long as you are controlling them and not the other way around. To be able to do so, one needs extreme practice (Sadhana)

o As a drunken person, has no control over the car, similarly one who has un-balanced attachments and desires, has no control over his path towards the ultimate goal

 One has to replace a fire of desires with a lamp of knowledge

Gurudev’s video on Sloka 19

 The realized one, or one who knows the absolute reality becomes the absolute reality.

Examples:

o when a river reaches the ocean, the existence of river as an identity ceases and it becomes one with the ocean

o when the dreamer wakes up; he realizes that the dreamer was none other than himself, and in waking state dreamer becomes the waker

Conclusion:

Finally, we ended the class with an example (story) about how a mom working in a field has a part of her consciousness on the baby lying in the cradle at all times; similarly, we need to transact in this world, but always have our consciousness focused on the Brahman (reality)