Class Summary for Jan 23, 2024 - Chapter-2 Slokas 57 - 60

Summarized by:  A.K. Srinivasan

The class started with Opening prayers, followed by pranayam and meditation.

Class engaged in lively discussion of the Ram Lalla temple praana pratishta ceremony of Jan 22 at Ayodhya, UP. Many class participants watched the ceremonies live, some at home and some at Vrindavan, late into the night, and were appreciative of the significance of this shared moment in history that we witnessed. 

We did a quick recap of last week's class, and proceeded to review Chapter 2, Shlokas 57, 58, 59 in detail.
Bhagawan says that the one who remains unattached, under all circumstances, and neither exults in fortunate outcomes, nor is dejected when confronted by misfortune and maintains balance and equipoise, is the human who has attained the highest state of consciousness. Just as a tortoise withdraws its head and limbs into its hardened, protective shell at the first sign of danger, we should aspire to control our mind when the senses present us with stimuli, both good and bad. We should be inherently content/happy and free from anger and jealousy and are always emotionally independent and in control of the mind. This is not easy!

You need to prepare your equipment, the human mind, to be strong and resist sensory temptations. And this can only be achieved thru constant practice of Shravanam, Mananam and Nidhithyasanam to accomplish the required mental and sensory discipline and free us from vasanas.     

Class watched Gurudev’s video of shlokas #57, 58, 59, 60 
Swamiji draws parallels with the tortoise and how it instantly and intuitively withdraws when facing danger. A human of perfection, when faced with distractions everyday pulls themselves effortlessly, and with felicity, away from these distractions. 
The sense objects of enjoyment and temptations retire and recede from you when we consciously practice their rejection (eg. cigarette smoking, desiring a beautiful object). When we indulge our senses, sense objects come to you; and conversely, when we reject them, they dissipate. The mind leaks out thru the sense organs and the only antidote for that is to focus the mind on a higher purpose. Constant practice will help us attain this state. This is not easy, but is attainable, as evidenced by some of the examples shared in class (ekadesi vratam is difficult at the outset but gets progressively easier as we get better at controlling the mind).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Class Summary for Feb 25, 2025 - Chapter-5 - Slokas 7-12

Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 Study group - 02/25/2025 - Summarized by Anuradha Bhaskar Recap:- Arjuna’s confusion on whether it is karma yoga and karma sannyasa yoga. Bhagwan recommends Karma yoga. Doing the duties with the right attitude is more important. The grihastha is allocated many duties and is expected to perform the Karma yoga- no attachment to results. Gyana yoga- no attachments to doer ship. For both the underlying thing is Bhakti. Pratima ji’s explanation:- chapter 1:- Arjuna is lamenting and he is worried that hinting of knowledge of sankhya. With the Evenness of mind two important things emerges is knowledge and wisdom. How does a wise man behave and what are the characteristics. With the controlled mind and controlling the senses- when man attains wisdom he has control of senses. Action-wisdom- controlling the mind – controlling the senses (with the support of knowledge) In chapter 3 -We have action and knowledge. Knowledge beyond In chapter 4:- action is source for Gyana an...
Read more

Summary of Karma, ViKarma and AKarma

Image
Summarized by Prathima Srinath based on her understanding Karma, Vi-karma and Akarma Verse 17 states - karma, vikarma and akarma are all actions, and that the way of action is mysterious and there is more to understand about them. Below is my interpretation of verse 17 and Verse 18 based on the commentaries, of Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Sarvapriyananda, Sridhar Swami, and Sri Ramanuja Gita Bhasyam. Literally Karma, Vi-Karma and Akarma means: Karma: performing actions as prescribed by Vedic scriptures -Nitya and Naimittika Vi-karma: performing improper action, forbidden action Akarma: inaction, non-performance of action It is important to understand the real nature of action to know what they mean in the spiritual sense. What is the real nature of Action – Karma and Vi-karma? Sense organs, constantly in contact with external stimuli, keep sending impression to mind. The mind gathers new impressions and gets colored by the Vasana hoarded within and are translated into action through our...
Read more

Class Summary for Jun 17, 2025 - Chapter-6 Slokas 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Summarized by:   A K Srinivasan Class started with   opening prayers,   followed by a recap of last week’s class. The theme of preparing for meditation continues in these slokas.   Slokas 14-15 exhort the practitioner to have a disciplined mind, by controlling the sense organs. The concept of celibacy, loosely translated in English,   actually refers   to   controlling all   the sense organs, a state of brahmacharya, to still the agitated mind. Our senses are compared to a pot with 5 holes, the equivalent of our 5 senses, that constantly leak attention.  The ideal state to be in, in preparation for meditation, is to have a calm, fearless and serene mind, that is focused and in control.  One of the methods suggested to quieten an agitated mind is to do ‘ japa ’ by taking the name of your favorite deity, so that distractions are vanquished. This will also help in the intellect getting ‘fixed on Me’, the Brahman.   We can progressively...
Read more