Class Summary for May 28, 2024 - Chapter-3 Slokas 32 - 35
Summarized by Srinivas:
Team reviewed Chapter 3, Verses 32, 33, 34, 35 briefly, on Karmayoga.
To recap,
Renounce distractions, attractions and attachments and have a ‘Delete’ button in the mind. Renounce and dispose of waste – renunciation here does not refer to letting go of all attachments and material possessions, in the classical sense. Act with a forgive and forget mindset, and don’t carry past baggage and endeavor to be in the present. Don’t dwell on the past. Get in the ‘flow’ or zone, as athletes do and let go of things at a lower level for the higher – substitute and sublimate
There was spirited discussion on the topic of how to apply these principles in the corporate world, where you are serving a faceless, profit-making entity, which may not have values aligned to your quest to become a true Karmayogi. Managing layoffs (both executing and while being the ‘executee’), managing teams with detachment while being fair and dispassionate, getting discriminated in promotions and raises (your time is yet to come), detachment does not mean not fighting for yours and others rights and being just in an unjust, ‘unfair’ world. We should do our jobs in the best way possible, based on our talents and training without regard to specific individual outcomes – Just bring your, as the cliché goes, best self every day to work.
The key is to understand that this is a transactional world we live in - especially inside our work places - and this should not be confused with the spiritual world that we should continuously strive to perfect and attain.
Do not overindulge – that is a form of attachment or distraction to something desirable. We need to manage the continuous stream of distractions bombarded at our mind by our sense organs.
An important tool to quieten the mind and strip away all the distractions is Sadhana. Consciously practice daily sadhana to improve the mental runway available to cope with increasing distractions in our lives, to calm the mind, to still it. It is after all, all in the mind.
We briefly reviewed Chapter 3, verses 36, 37, 38, 39 – will delve into them next class.
To recap,
Renounce distractions, attractions and attachments and have a ‘Delete’ button in the mind. Renounce and dispose of waste – renunciation here does not refer to letting go of all attachments and material possessions, in the classical sense. Act with a forgive and forget mindset, and don’t carry past baggage and endeavor to be in the present. Don’t dwell on the past. Get in the ‘flow’ or zone, as athletes do and let go of things at a lower level for the higher – substitute and sublimate
There was spirited discussion on the topic of how to apply these principles in the corporate world, where you are serving a faceless, profit-making entity, which may not have values aligned to your quest to become a true Karmayogi. Managing layoffs (both executing and while being the ‘executee’), managing teams with detachment while being fair and dispassionate, getting discriminated in promotions and raises (your time is yet to come), detachment does not mean not fighting for yours and others rights and being just in an unjust, ‘unfair’ world. We should do our jobs in the best way possible, based on our talents and training without regard to specific individual outcomes – Just bring your, as the cliché goes, best self every day to work.
The key is to understand that this is a transactional world we live in - especially inside our work places - and this should not be confused with the spiritual world that we should continuously strive to perfect and attain.
Do not overindulge – that is a form of attachment or distraction to something desirable. We need to manage the continuous stream of distractions bombarded at our mind by our sense organs.
An important tool to quieten the mind and strip away all the distractions is Sadhana. Consciously practice daily sadhana to improve the mental runway available to cope with increasing distractions in our lives, to calm the mind, to still it. It is after all, all in the mind.
We briefly reviewed Chapter 3, verses 36, 37, 38, 39 – will delve into them next class.
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