Vrindavan Bhagavad Gita Study Group

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...

Summarized by: Rajesh Recap of last class Ended with summarization of verses 7, 8 & 9.  Talked about the differentiation about Bhoghi, Yogi to Gnani. Don’t do tit for tat, reduce false obligations (this person did this to me, I owe him something in return) Lakshanas for a Yogi - they stay constant, while everything around them changes Examples dirt, stone and gold Treat everyone the same, example animal crackers differently treated by children vs. adults Emptiness is imaginary - we’re poorna (we are full) and we shouldn’t try to fill the imaginary void Teacher can only guide us, they can’t take us to Moksha Do not judge others Switching gears to core of this chapter, dhayanam.  Verses 10-13, here are a set of clear instructions to prepare for meditation.  This is not meant to be taken out of context where Arjuna can run away to the Himalayas for meditating, we still have to do our Dharma. Theme: Remove disturbances World -> Alone Body -> Posture Intellect -> ...

Summarized by: Yamini.K After opening prayers , we recapped the previous week’s topics. How do we reduce obligations? Reduce wrong obligations. In life we tend to take on the wrong obligations, for example when someone insults, we tend to keep account and insult them back at some point. Monetary obligations are something we have to keep. But we have to remember that we cannot reciprocate every good deed in the same condition we received and to the same person we received from. We can only pass on the good deed to others in the same or a different form instead. We have to remember that we are in the position to receive or give a certain deed based on our prarabdha.  We should also minimize the number of obligations. Instead of trying to attend every satsang, we should make some time for reflection as well. Moderating relationships : As a grihasta, there are some relationships that we need to maintain. But we need not go out of our way to try to maintain and accumulate more and more ...

Summarized by: Anuradha  Bhaskara We started with our class with prayers followed by Pranayama and Meditation. We recapped about what was covered in last class. Recap : - Yogi and Gyana how are they different. Yogi acts with non attachment or with no intention of karma Phala.  Gyana- acts with attitude of renunciation. How can one grow to higher?  What does growing to higher mean? How can one become Gyana from being a Yogi? What is the purpose of the events? We continued to discuss on how one can become gyani from yogi- this can be done via one practice of famer’s mentality or vyavasaya Budhi. Here the Sadhana becomes more intense.  As a farmers takes care of the plants or the farm. In the similar way being unattached to them things just taking care of them and nurturing them whether they grow well or grow for some time and fade away or don’t sprout is all dependent on various factors. In the similar way we can try and reach the state of Gyana from being a yogi. We s...