Summarized by: Neelima Turaga
The class started with Opening prayers, followed by pranayam and meditation.
We did a quick recap of last week's class. There was a question about how Lord Krishna gave this long discourse of seven hundred verses in the middle of a battlefield. One possible explanation is that the time was frozen and the teaching was given only to Arjuna.
"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with", is a quote by Jim Rohn. It basically means that the five people you spend the most time with will have the greatest influence on your personality. In the current conditions, it can be interpreted as not just persons, but also electronic devices and social media platforms as well. It's important to choose wisely as to with whom or what we are spending our time with.
We were given some book recommendations. Mahabharata, of course, is the background and setting for the Bhagavad Gita. Apart from that, two interesting books - "Many Lives, Many Masters" and "Same Soul Many Bodies", were suggested. Both the books are written by Brian Weiss, an American psychiatrist and hypnotherapist. These books reiterate and are a scientific take on the re-birth theory, which is emphasized by the Bhagavad Gita.
We then proceeded to chant the Shlokas 15-18, and saw the translation.
The best kind of people are not affected by the changes in the external world. The phrase "Purusha Vrishabha" is used. This literally means "Bull among men", and denotes the inner strength of a person. All of us come with an internal wiring, due to which we react to different things in different ways. Once this is re-wired, we can see the reality. We can then overcome our impulsive tendencies, and avoid getting carried away by emotions. This re-wiring can occur through attaining the Brahma gyan.
For example, when the seasons change, from summer to fall, the days are shorter and colder. It gets dark very early. If a person is not able to accept this natural change, and gets agitated because of the darkness, he will remain agitated all the time. But if he realizes that seasons will keep changing, and spring and summer will follow, there is no agitation. The key is to free oneself from this agitation, by realizing the truth.This needs to be applied to all aspects of our life.
Atma is the only reality. Rest are all unreal, and subject to change. Atma is indestructible, indivisible and all pervasive. It is "Aprameya", meaning, it is beyond our senses and intellect. We need to remove layers of impurity and ignorance, in order to perceive the real self or the Atma. Body is temporary, and is given as an instrument to perform karma and exhaust vasanas.
Several examples were discussed to understand this concept of the atma, like gold and the gold jewellery, clay and the pots, and electricity and the bulbs. Only gold is real, the jewellery is not, clay is real, the pots and vases are not, electricity is real, the bulbs are not. Atma is the only reality and is permanent, rest are all temporary or unreal.
We then watched Gurudev's videos based on these verses.
When the mind is unhappy, why should you also be unhappy. If you can see that your mind is unhappy, that means, it is not "you" that is unhappy. For example, if your dog sitting next to you is scratching it's ear, do you also scratch yours?
What is permanent is the only thing that's real. Your body, mind and intellect keep changing everyday, similarly your thoughts and emotions are constantly changing. But there is a substratum that is the same, in the past, present and the future. This is the Atma and only that is real. The others are like dreams. It may seem real at the time it's happening, but once you wake up, the dream is no longer real.
Fight the battle of life with self confidence, and without any fear. There is no need to fear death of the physical body, as that is bound to happen some day or the other,but the atma is always there, it's permanent.
We then proceeded to chant shlokas 19-22 and looked at the translation. The subjective analysis of these shlokas will be discussed in the next class.
We concluded the class with closing prayers and a short introspection to recap the class.
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Summarized by: Rajesh Nagella
Jim Rohn: ‘You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.’
It could also be replaced with 5 things - computer, TV shows,
Additional reading reference etc.,
Book reference.
- Many Lives, Many Masters - Brian Weiss
- Same Soul, Many Bodies - Brian Weiss
- Mahabharata
Slokas - 15 - 18:
Theme:
- “PurshVrishaba” - Bull among Men
- Soft wiring has been with us for millions of years. But it can be rewired.
- Move away from impulsive, animal tendencies to taking experiences in equipoise
- The process of re-wiring is Brahma Gyan, leading to Self Actuation
- Atma is Real. Anything that goes through change is Un-Real
- Atma is the subtlest and cannot be destroyed. It cannot be divided and singular. It is pervasive, not limited by space. (image of ‘the eye cannot see itself’). Coating of dust on a mirror, we have to clean the dirt (vasanas?) to see the true ourselves.
- Aprameyaha - not an object for knowledge, cannot be know by sense. (Sat or ultimate truth). It can only be realized.
- Body is temporary to exhaust our Vasanas (another form of rewiring?). (Asat - not true)
- Examples:
Atma Body
Electricity Bulb
Clay Pot
Gold Jewelry
Gurudev’s videos:
verse 15. Identification with mind: When the mind is not happy, why should you be unhappy? Sympathize with your mind but not more. Great example of my dog is scratching her ear, do i scratch mine?
verse 16. Real and Un-real: Real is something that remains the same, doesn’t change, in the past, present and in the future. What that currently keeps changing (did not exist in the past, will not exist in the future) is UnReal. Such as dreams which are UnReal.
verse 17. Change & the Changeless: You can’t observe change without the Changeless. In the middle of the Atlantic, you can’t tell which direction you might be moving. But if you’re closer to the shore, you can tell because you have point of reference. Who is the observer that can observe the change?
verse 18. Fight the battle of life: Never be frightened, go on with your life. The permanent cannot be destroyed and cannot be UnReal. The impermanent will not continue to exist and cannot be Real. Act as you were meant to and do your duty.
Subjective Analysis:
- It is important to understand what can and cannot be changed in different situations. Work only on what you can control and can be changed. (Serenity prayer)
- Many times, we become emotional and either do nothing or try to go after what cannot be changed. ‘Sleep on it’. (Attitude of Gratitude - sometimes think about how things could have been much worse, have perspective)
Chanted 19, 20, 21 & 22
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