Class Summary for April 23, 2023 - Bhagavad Gita Chapter-7: Slokas 23- 26

 Summarized by Bala Dhandapani :  

Class started with Omkar, Prayer, Pranayama and Meditation. 

Salient points from April 16^th class were discussed, specifically from Gurudev’s videos: 

• Incomplete feeling when goes after material pleasure, completeness can be felt when one pursues a spiritual path  
• Discussion on Free Will 
• Sastras give/show direction to attain Brahman, each one need to put the effort and realize directly. 

Discussion on Meditation  

• With practice one can attain “no thought state” during meditation,   
• May get a glimpse of the thoughtless state during meditation, practice to extend the state. 
• Brain is wired to have thoughts, hence it is tough to achieve the no thought state, but doable with practice.  
• For beginners, Gurudev starts off with Introspection.   
• Turiya State is a meditative state that exists throughout in the waking state, dream state and deep sleep state, but we do not realize it.   
• Make meditation as part of Sadhana 
• With Sadhana bad vibes will be removed 
• If one tries, state of Samadhi can be achieved even in this lifetime,  if not – it is a cumulative effort.  All the efforts are not lost, can be achieved in the next birth.  

Types of Karma 

Sanchita karma – Sum of past karmas of jeevatma from previous births 

Prarabdha Karma – karma that we are born with in this birth or those Sanchita karma that have fructified

Agami Karma – Consequences that we face in this life that does not fructify in this life time that will be carried over to the next life.  (future)

When we truly surrender, all the mountains of Karma are wiped out by Bhagavan. 

Bhagavan will support Shraddha and Sankalpa.  

 

Exercise for the class (timing and team to be announced in subsequent classes) 

1. Who are the four types of devotees, does this categorization by the lord promote discrimination?
2. Explain how the lord indicates support to any belief system or follower-ship ?
3. What is Para Prakruthi and Apara Prakruthi ?
4. Explain what is Maya and how we can traverse though it ?

Class Summary for April 16, 2023 - Bhagavad Gita Chapter-7: Slokas 23- 26

 Summarized by Sridhar.V :  

Hari Om.

The class started off with our Omkar routine followed by prayers and Pranayama & meditation.

We did a recap from our last class where in verses 23 to 26 from Chapter 7 were discussed.

Summary of discussion from previous class and stories/ examples were

• Hope for the infinite and don’t settle for finite things.
• Lord will provide you with the seed but its up to the individual to seed it, raise it and have the faith in his effort 

            that it will fructify.

• Free will or Purushartha is available to all of us, and hence its up to us to decide and choose our actions in this

           lifetime so that the results of those actions will carry forward in a positive way ahead of us.

• We cannot continue to do wrong things in life citing helplessness as the reason (our Prarabdha or vasana’s). 

            Everyone is provided with a conducive environment and hence cannot chose to act as puppets in the hands 

            of the puppeteer.

We watched 5 videos of Gurudev for verses 23,24,25 and 26.

Excerpts from the videos and shloka’s:

Verse No 23- Running after balloons in life:

·       Fleeting desires for finite objects, even when fulfilled through the impermanent activities ,would surely prove to 

        be ephemeral.

·       Finite actions undertaken in finite fields, employing finite instruments cannot but produce,as a result- whether joy or 

        sorrow- only a finite result.

·       The above statement is in contrast to a pure philosophical truth, where in the Lord says” those who devote 

        themselves to ME, come to ME. Seekers of happiness in the world of sense objects can gain insignificant success 

        in the fields of sense enjoyments however if the same effort is applied by them in the right way of constructive 

        living, they too can come to discover their real identity with the eternal SELF.

·       Due to deluded ego, it comes to identify itself with its finite envelopments and reveals in a world of its endless 

        number of objects in this jagat.

 

 Verse No 24: - Nothing is permanent

·       Unintelligent people run after finite things in life, only to weep in despair after the same is lost or gone, but they 

        are not permanent.

·       People who lack discriminatory abilities to perceive the subtle truth that shines in through the vast disturbances 

        of the endless plurality, fail to realize the immutable and the peerless SELF. In their extreme preoccupation with 

        the everchanging glory of the prakriti.

Verse No 25 : Understanding Real Nature

·       We behave as though we are but the egocentric entities and that are not we are unable to come to terms with the 

        absolute reality.

·       For eg: a boy who was raised in an orphanage by a rich man on purpose, suddenly decides to take him away from 

        the orphanage and raise him with proper education and life. However, it takes time for the boy to forget his initial 

        beginnings at the orphanage and his past. Similarly, human beings after having lived in the prison of Body, Mind 

        and Intellect for a long time, fail to comprehend the idea that in essence we are the Infinite, the Immortal.

·       The above questions are unavoidable in the bosom of an intelligent seeker, when he in his aspirations come face 

        to face with the staggering revelations contained in Vedanta.

 

 Verse No 26: Nature of all knowledge:Omniscient

·  The Self, as the pure Consciousness, is the illuminating principle that brings the entire field of the mind and the 

        intellect under the beam of our clear awareness.

·  Just like how the Sun illumines every part of the world, the feeling is that the Sun is considered the only Seer or the 

        eye of the world, in as much as without the sun all organs of vision will be blind.

·  Similarly, the SELF can be considered as the SEER or KNOWER of everything in everyone at all times and in all 

        places. This omniscience of the Supreme is vividly hinted by the above example of Sun.

·  Unfortunately an egocentric limited mortal viewing the universe through the pinhole of his congested and constricted 

        mind,intellect and body fails to see the harmonious rhythm in the macrocosm. He who can open up his own self 

        from the bondages of ignorance and rise to attune himself with the macrocosm can certainly come to experience 

        the eternal SELF.

Subjective Analysis was also briefly discussed from previous class for verses 23-26.

In the next class, all of us would be summarizing the last 3 verses to wrap up Chapter 7.   

Links to videos viewed -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl_H2ZrKZkI&list=PLm6DKuwwu5zqslPPdj-sepdn-nTcFLImC&index=174&ab_channel=ChinmayaChannel      23-1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suAxpwAQM_4&list=PLm6DKuwwu5zqslPPdj-sepdn-nTcFLImC&index=175&ab_channel=ChinmayaChannel  23-2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Yns2nyX10&list=PLm6DKuwwu5zqslPPdj-sepdn-nTcFLImC&index=176&ab_channel=ChinmayaChannel       24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEMY-PPaVkE&list=PLm6DKuwwu5zqslPPdj-sepdn-nTcFLImC&index=177&ab_channel=ChinmayaChannel      26-1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZzpfo1qbTg&list=PLm6DKuwwu5zqslPPdj-sepdn-nTcFLImC&index=178&ab_channel=ChinmayaChannel    26-2

Class Summary for April 2, 2023 - Bhagavad Gita Chapter-7: Slokas 23- 26

Summarized by Shailesh Vyas:  

Started with meditation, anulom vilom.

Recap & Initial Q&A 

• Hope for infinite and not settle for finite.
• The Initial seed is from Bhagwan but you have to have faith in your effort.
• Nothing is free in this world.
• Discussed about symbolism Ram (Brahman) / Lakshman (Jiva) / Sita (Maya)
  
• Brahman walks in the front followed by Maya and then Jiva. This could also explain why Jiva has difficulty in experiencing Brahman as it’s clouded by Maya. 
• As long as Maya is aligned to Brahman it is ok to follow Maya
• Let Maya dissolve eventually
• Free will is given to us.
• We are given a conducive environment.
• Animals are instinctive.
• Never say we are puppets in the hand of a puppeteer.
• Example - Pope admitted to hospital and chose to do baptism. That's free will.
• Christians have hierarchy and the Pope doesn't need to do it.
• Faith and Fact
• Seven things - we should have faith in are mantra , tirtha, dwijaya (Twice born), deva (God), daivajna (astrology), bhesaja (medicine) and guru
• Dwijaya - Born twice. Some of the examples -
• During Upnayan sanskar, the priest tells Gayatri Mantra and it is believed that it's our second life as an adult.
• Sanyasi buried alive - They do their own procession and live as if he/she is living in the rental body.
• Our teeth are also dwijaya. We lose our baby teeth.
• Story
• Kannappa Nayanar believed in Shiva. He found in forest Pancham Linga in the forest that nobody was taking care of it. He was a hunter and didn't have a vessel. He carried it in mouth. Story went out, since he was a hunter he could only offer killed animals. He protected the temple during the earthquake. One eye started bleeding from the idol. He takes his eye out and puts on an idol and the idol stops bleeding. Later the second eye started bleeding. He put his feet on the second eye and started pulling the second eye. Shiva appeared and was happy with his faith.
• If someone else will see a person with foot on God will definitely question. To that Kannappa responds, put my feet anywhere where there is no God.
• Second story on faith -
• Shabri was told by Rishi Matunga that Ram will come one day and you have to guide him to a path. Thereafter she can continue her journey towards Moksha. Shabri prepared every single day as if Ram could appear anytime.
• She even tasted a few (v/s all) berries and stocked a lot for Ram and Lakshman.

• Subjective Analysis
• Learn to recognize the ultimate objective of this life and do not waste it on underlying pleasure.

Chapter 7 -

Verse 23 -

Verily the 'fruit' that accrues to those men of little intelligence is finite. The worshippers of the Devas go to the Devas but my devotees come to me.

Verse 24 -

The foolish this of me, the unmanifest as having come to manifestation, not knowing my higher, immutable and peerless nature.

Verse 25 -

I am not manifest to all (in my real nature) veiled by divine Maya. This deluded world knows not me, the unborn, the imperishable.

Verse 26 -

I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, and present and the future, but no one knows me.

Theme/Discussion

• At Caesar's funeral, where Mark Anthony smashes what Brutas said and builds. Don't settle for small, trivial things was his message.
• Identify the Brahman beyond manifestation.
• e.g. Jesus was referred to as the carpenter's son.
• A container of clay will be appreciated and valued by a Potter not by a vegetable vendor or cloth merchant.
• e.g. Gold Jewellery v/s Shira
• As long as you view everything with colored glass everything will look the same color.
• e.g. Focus on the ocean instead of waves.
• e.g. View of different things by grandparent v/s parent v/s kids.
• Krishna is referencing the omnipresent consciousness. Also that which knows all of the three states (waking, dream and deep sleep).

Ended class