Summarized by Soumya Nair
Class started with Prayer, Pranayama and Meditation.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter6th :recap: Dec 4th
We went through all recap questions from previous class/ chapter 6.
What are the two fold means to control the mind
The two fold means a person need to practice are Abhyasa and Vairagya.
Should a man of realization necessarily withdraw from the the world and day today duties to maintain divine consciousness ?
The question is asked in the context of leading a Grihastha life. And hence the answer would be No. The person of realization can continue with his or her transactions in the current world. Realization is more a state of mind.
What are the intelligent moderation required for successful meditation
Enough food ( not more or less), sleep and selecting a conducive environment
Who is the highest Yogi
Highest Yogi is the one of all the meditators who has submitted his mind , intellect and Shradha to Brahmanan/God
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7th
According to some reviewers of Geeta, the 18 chapters falls into 3 sets of 6 chapters. The opening 6 chapters of Geeta explains the significance of Tvam, You , the seeker , student and Arjuna being the student.
The second six chapters from 7 - 12 explains the term Tat/God/Brahman. Arjuna is still confused about the concepts as he understands Krishna as one among us and not able to understand him as the supreme and this is when lord Krishna shows his Viswaroopam as per chapter 11.
The last six chapters express the meaning of the term Asi , equal sign where the seeker is the sought.That Arjuna is no different from Krishna.
We then watched an introduction video to chapter 7 by Swami Chinmayananda.
From chapter 7 the focus is on Brahman/ God and how to follow the path to Brahman. There are two a Nirguna or formless and a Saguna or with form aspect of Brahman.
We chanted slokas 1 to 6
Summary
Sloka 1 : Naturally the doubt of all seekers including Arjuna before they start meditation, as to how it’s possible for a limited mind to understand and embrace the unlimited. So Krishna assures Arjuna that he would explain the entire science and technique, which clearly show how a meditator by fixing his integrated mind upon the contemplation of the Nature of the self can come to experience the Divine. From this chapter mind is to be understood as an integrated mind firmly meditating and not as a debilated or disintegrated mind.
Sloka 2:Krishna is promising that he would not only deliver to Arjuna the explanation of Divine but also during the very discourse take him to the highest peak of Self -rediscovery.
Sloka 3: Here Krishna shifts the entire responsibility for not realizing the self upon the individual seeker himself. Of the thousands that hear and understand all the theory only a few sincerely apply themselves to live fully the vedantic way of life, And among a thousand sincere seekers only a rare few will come to know ME/Krishna and My/Krishna’s real nature. If we take the 8 billion population in this world we are a lucky few who is on this path and having a conducive environment to follow this journey.
Each one has a journey , Krishna is giving you the need full it’s up to you to put in the efforts but for sure He gives you the guarantee that you will reach the destination. How much time it will take is something that He cannot say but it depends on the effort we put and could be in this life time or next or several lifetimes away.
Sloka 4 &5:The five elements ( earth, water, fire, air, ether ), mind, intellect and ego constitute the eight fold Prakriti or lower Prakriti or represents the lower nature of self.
The self also possess the higher prakriti which is the pure consciousness or awareness. It is this livening factor / consciousness/ spiritual spark that makes us function and make us act intelligent or Divine .
Sloka 5: The higher and lower prakritis are intertwined. The idea that lower prakriti has risen from the higher is likened to the way by which pots (lower) of different shapes and colors are all made from the mud (higher). Just as mud is the truth in all pots the higher prakriti is the essential reality in all objects of lower prakriti. Thus these two are the womb of all beings, and God is the source and dissolution of the whole universe.
Mud pot : Perishable : Shara
Mud. : Non Perishable : Akshara
Mud is also higher pervading : Uttham Purusha
Glimpse of chapter 10 and 11
Subjective analysis about knowledge can be theory , it has to be lived or applied to become wisdom. Knowledge is in sight but the wisdom is from the insight or applying it. Like the example of a faulty computer chip , the issue was not known reading the manual or theory but on testing finally it was found to have a bug and was finally rectified thus being the insight.
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