Class Summary for Feb 24, 2019 - Chapter-2: 61 to 64

Summarized by :  Prarthana

We began the class with videos of Gurudev.

The following messages were part of Gurudev’s videos.

1. We are all happy when things are going our way and are unhappy when things are not

conducive. A sthitaprajna is one who is equanimous in both situations.

2. A sthitaprajna’s mind can be compared to a tortoise that can instinctively withdraw its limbs

under its shell when there is danger around it. So also his mind can detach from good and bad at

will. He can also bring out his senses to function in society adequately.

3. We spoke about the role of the sense organs and the interpretation of the mind. The sense

organs have been created to be well controlled in function. It is the mind that travels beyond

the realm of the sense organs themselves. Gurudev gave the example of how the mind can be

completely occupied by a thought of someone or something even though you may try to

deliberately look away or steer the sense organs away from it.

4. The interplay of temptations and the tempted mind. Once the mind is made up to avoid

something, those particular temptations slowly leave your life as well and will stop presenting

themselves to you. Gurudev gave the example of his habit of smoking and how everyone

stopped bringing him cigarettes once he quit and the temptation disappeared.

We reviewed shlokas 61-64.

In shloka 61 The Lord begins to reveal himself to Arjuna.

We also discussed the pathways to reach the state of a Sthitaprajan.

1.Use the concept of substitution of Rajasik and Tamasik with Saatvik tendencies.

2.Also use substitution to manage( and sharpen) our motivation to perform our actions. Working for a

higher goal is always better than working on a Rajasik or Tamasik goal.

3.We also discussed relationships as being Saatvik, Rajasik or Tamasik based on our level of attachment to the person.

We began the discussion of the flow of our mind from perceptions of objects to the stage of ruin.

Objects -->> Senses perceive -->> Attachment -->> Desire -->> Anger (when unfulfilled) -->>Clouding of judgement -->> Loss of memory -->> Loss of discrimination -->> RUIN

Desires are of 2 types – things that we want and things that we don’t want.

Class Summary for Feb 3, 2019 - Chapter-2: 57 to 60

Summarized by :  Sridhar V

We met at the basement on 02.03.19 and began the class with our routine rituals of Pranayama & meditation exercises, followed by the recap of previous class.

The class discussed about practicing F.I.R (Frequency/Intensity/Recovery) when it comes to dealing with emotions and the response and reaction to the same. 

We also discussed real examples from people's life on how to practice Karma Yoga in daily life, and the benefits of the same.

EXCERPTS of Verse 57,58,59 and 60.

Verse 57:

Lord Krishna replies to Arjuna’s enquiry as to how a perfect Master would speak,behave/conduct oneself and this verse may be considered as an answer to the same.

 He who is everywhere without attachment,on meeting with anything good or bad,who neither rejoices nor grumbles,his wisdom is fixed as, is called a Gnani.

Verse 58: 

In this verse, Lord Krishna reassures Arjuna that a man of steady wisdom is one who has the ready capacity to fold back his senses and emotions from any or all the fields of activity when needed.

“When like the tortoise which withdraws its limbs from all sides,he withdraws his senses from sense objects,then his wisdom becomes steady.”

Verse 59:

In this verse Lord Krishna clears Arjuna doubts that even in a Yogi or sage, the capacity to withdraw from the temptations of the sense world may be temporary and that under favorable or sufficiently tempting circumstances,they may again raise their hoods to hiss and poison.

“The objects of the senses turn away from the abstinent man leaving the longing behind,but his longing also turns away upon seeing the Supreme.”

Verse 60:

Lord Krishna warns the seeker within Arjuna that he should not on any account let his objective mind take hold of and enslave his subjective intellect.

“The turbulent senses, O son of Kunti,do violently carry away the mind of a wise man,though he may be striving to control them.”

Objective meaning of verses 57,58,59 and 60

·        One who remains unattached in all conditions and is neither delighted not dejected,he is a sage of perfect knowledge.

·        One who is able to withdraw the senses from their objects just like a tortoise withdraws its limbs and goes into a shell becomes a Gnani.

·        A Gnani remains the same in both favorable and unfavorable conditions and responds after proper thought to any situation.

·        Constant practice of the below 3 is required to accomplish sensory and mental discipline:

·        Shravanam(Active listening)

·        Mananam (relating to oneself and self internalization)

·        Nidhityasanam (Freedom from Vasanas through meditation)

We will continue with verses 61 to 64 in our next class.

Class Summary for Jan 27, 2019 - Chapter-2: 54 to 56

Summarized by :  Shivkumar Natarajan

With prior class the section of Karma Yoga has ended. We covered verses  54-56 in class of 27^th Jan.

Verse 54: Arjuna asks the Lord “How does one identify a Sthitha Pragnya person ?

1. What is the state of his mind
2. How does that person speak/sit/walk (namely how does one identify that person?)
   
   
   By now Arjuna has forgotten his hysteria and in verse 53 Lord Krishna had introduced the idea of a Sthithaprajnya person: A person of steady wisdom has come to superconscious state/balance. So Arjuna is eager to know more about a person who has reached that state. He is also worried that if he attains that state he will no longer be able to lead a vigorous life as earlier.

Verse 55: Lord Krishna reveals that a person who has cast of all desires of the mind and is satisfied in the Self by the self then he is said to be of steady wisdom.

Desires are caused due to intellect getting contaminated by ignorance. However an equipoised person has rid self of ignorance through knowledge gained and has become desire less. A desire is capacity of mind to chase external objects to be happier than one is at present. Such a person is happy by himself (not dependent on external factors). The person feels contended and complete and if free from desires.

If one is putting conditions and dependencies then it is not Karma Yoga. If one is not happy with once own company then why would others be happy in your company?

Verse 56:  A Sthithaprajnya person is one whose mind is not shaken up by adversity and chase pleasures during prosperity. One who is free from attachment, fear and anger.

We then delved into few examples and had lively discussion around the same:

• As an example if one volunteers in the mission one will find what one is seeking.
  If one looks for Bhakti then there is ample opportunity for same. Similarly if one looks for gnyan, recognition or boosting once ego there is always tremendous opportunity for finding the same too.
• Taking care of once parents in India while working abroad. If one has done all that one can and then if mind keeps going back and second guessing then it will cause attachment and that will lead to vasanas that will come back in subsequent lives

• We then took another example of kids leaving an empty nest. We discussed how there were 2 sides to the coin. On one hand parents expectation from kids for calls and need for a mutual framework.  We discussed parents taking it to the extreme by being helicopter parents/tiger moms. On other side of coin kids going through multiple issues/items on their end. There is a need for the parent to practice unconditional love. We discussed what Swamiji would say about the need to “detach and to attach”. There being a need to have a higher purpose to get attached too. Thus by managing attachment the parent too will not react to the kid with baggage when the kid do call after a long gap.

Goals and objectives are different. Moderate them/ balance it and move on. One needs to perform Shravanam (Study)/Manana (Reflect or contemplate and make it your own) and Niddhi Dhyasam (Meditate) to internalize once spiritual learning

We then watched the videos for Ch2 verse 55 and verse 56

Verse 55 Summary : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhktIJopVUk&t=0s&index=30&list=PLm6DKuwwu5zqslPPdj-sepdn-nTcFLImC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kKYvIADi7c&list=PLm6DKuwwu5zqslPPdj-sepdn-nTcFLImC&index=30

To you and I this world is a distraction. Who in this world is a man of perfection. One who no more desires to enjoy the world outside. The mind has emptied itself from all the sensous desires of the world outside. This is not referring to suppression of desire. As the person has found satisfaction in higher consciousness he is no longer tempted by desires of lower world. (the person sees no value in same like an adult who finds no value in toys that were cherished in childhood) .. The person  has discovered a great treasure in higher consciousness, an infinite amount of happiness : person is enjoying Bliss infinite. It’s not escapism as one has found a far greater happiness.

Verse 56 Summary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp707r52uyI&list=PLm6DKuwwu5zqslPPdj-sepdn-nTcFLImC&index=31

Attachment, Fear and Anger are mentioned of the hundreds of emotions as the three are interconnected. A man of perfection is not caught in the three. When an individual develops a strong desire a deep Attachment is formed. The thought of not attaining what one desires leads to fear. If the object is secured, then one fears security of that object.  Anything that comes between the person and his object of desire, then the same attachment causes fear to get converted to Anger. There is no need to try to leave 3 emotions.  If we leave one (attachment) the other 2 will disappear as they are the consequences of the first emotion.

Additionally, you can also refer to another video of Gurudev on Sloka-56 -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1SIxMHcM88

Class Summary for Jan 6, 2019 - Chapter-2: 51 to 53

Summarized by :  Sunil Jyothi

We watched a video by Swami Chinmayananda on a simple but effective message around Thoughts and Consciousness. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n-6LVunHho

Gist of video: A thought cannot be without an object. In deep sleep there are no thoughts and so no objects. When you become conscious of an object, it becomes a thought.

So Thought = Object + consciousness

Therefore Thought - Object = Consciousness 

Mani Sir reminded us to think about responding on the following: 

1. Name a person who is practicing karma yoga in today's life &

( 2. State a situation where you could have or did practice karma yoga at work OR

  3. State a situation where you could have or did practice karma yoga at home)

What can I do to practice Karma Yoga?

1. Think well: Think before you ink. Make it a habit
2. Have pure motives: Have positive attitude behind every thought/action. Remember the values from Self Unfoldment of Satyam, non Harming and Brahmacharya
3. Be Duty bound - Think about your duties as a father, as a spouse, at work, etc
4. Give your best - You are the best judge of your best. Self measure and adjust
5. Forgo 'attachment' to results - Plan, have goals and execute. Dont get bogged down by results. Swamiji had said "Separate out praise from manager from best result". Get satisfaction from achieving the best result than waiting for your boss's feedback and being disappointed when you dont get it.
6. Serve all - What are you doing for the greater society above and beyond your duty? Do without any attachments. Karna didnt want his left hand to know what his right hand was giving.
7. Be Disciplined - Only when you are disciplined can you execute to a set rhythm and achieve your goals.

Another way to look at this:

1. Becoming aware - Many a times, we are not conscious/aware of our thoughts, words, actions and surroundings. Be aware.

2. Observing reactions - Observe your own reactions and reactions of others. This will help you adjust your communication when you become aware of other's reactions. You might be inadvertently reminding people of things that they want to forget and watching their reactions can help prevent that.

3. Developing immunity - Develop immunity from praise / criticism. This is not about being insensitive / impersonal. This is more for you.

4. Managing emotional expression - During celebration or during grieving

5. Letting go of obsessions - coffee, tea, alcohol, smoking, etc

Benefits of Karma Yoga

1. Purifies your heart- Sukshma Shariram - over this life and prior

2. Makes negative feelings such as ego, hatred, jealousy disappear

3. Will inculcate good qualities like love, humility and tolerance. When negative feelings goes away, these will surface and fill up that space. Definition of Ego from chapter 1: Attachment to pseudo self. The Mahabharatha character for this is Bhishma who identified himself more with Hastinapur and could not clearly identify the wrong side. When Ego becomes smaller and smaller and then associates with pure self, it is the right ego.

4. This path will make you look at life in a more broader and liberal manner

5. Helps forgo selfishness

6. Make you sacrifice oriented and feel one with everybody. Develop empathy and sympathy

7. Make you aware of yourself and feel bliss

8. Will develop your inner spiritual strength and power

A few of us talked about the exercise that Mani sir had given as the class started and we concluded with prayers.

Class Summary for Dec 9, 2018 - Chapter-2: 51 - 53

Summarized by :  Neelima Turaga

The class started with Om chanting, Pranayam and opening prayers. There was a recap of the shlokas 47-50. There were many views and questions about the practical applicability of Karma yoga in daily life. The concepts of not being attached to the result, and work itself being the reward, were discussed at length with many examples.

Mani Sir told us about the book, Scripture - A mirror,  about the importance of Study groups and the experiences of individuals who attended various study groups at Chinmaya. As it was relevant to the topic, we briefly discussed an individual’s experience with reference  to practice of Karma yoga. He was constantly overlooked, had a low self esteem, and felt he did not get due recognition at work. He talks about how his life changed for the better, and how he grew in his career and became a much happier person, by imbibing and following the principles of Karma yoga. There were several other work place related examples, and there was a reference to how many large Corporates in the Western world are now adopting the Bhagavad Gita.

Some of the Key points discussed were :

"Be committed to the process without being emotionally attached to the results."

“Detachment is an art of enjoying something while always being open to the possibility of losing   it someday.”

Karma Yoga is a combination of Proper action and a proper attitude.

It has been scientifically proven that an action performed without being attached to the outcome, results in higher gamma waves and thereby the right energy levels.

We chanted Shlokas 51-53, and briefly discussed the meaning.

51 - The wise, possessed of knowledge, having abandoned the fruits of their actions, freed from the fetters of birth go to the state which is beyond all evil.

52- When your intellect crosses beyond the mire of delusion then you shall attain to indifference as to what has been heard and what is yet to be heard.

53-when your intellect, though perplexed by what you have heard, shall stand immovable and steady in the self,  then you shall attain self realization.

Actions performed without attachment to the results, frees one from the cycle of life and death resulting in moksha.

Steadfast focus on true freedom is required to overcome the attraction to fruitful actions.

Karmayoga Exercise for next class

The class was divided into two groups and were given assignments to talk about, in the class next week.

1.      Name one person whom you consider to be practicing Karma Yoga

2.      Explain one incident /situation where as an employee you practiced /could have practiced Karma Yoga      or

Explain one incident /situation where as a parent you practiced /could have practiced Karma Yoga