March 3rd 2026

Vivek ji reminisced about meeting Sw. Tejomayananda when he was a teenager and his sense when meeting Swamiji was that of pure inspiration which was not context based. At that time, during a Q&A session, Swamiji had said that reading autobiographies of great saints generated and sustained the inspiration in Him. His advice to all the youngsters there was to read autobiographies to inspire them as well. Autobiographies are potent because they are not about theory but about practice. An autobiography of one who is great is of who struggled but then practiced and found peace eventually. This is the vision of Jnana class, Manah Shodhanam, to study slowly. When we study slowly and intentionally, we can then practice.

Recap:

Verse 14:  There is a conclusion: the cause for our struggling is ignorance. The effect is dukkha. Dukkha in a light way is stress and in a medium way, anxiety and in a heavy way, dejection. For those who accept this, this is Knowledge. Knowledge that is internalized (insight). We have to find our own way to inquire. There is a lot of attrition with this because we used to do’s and dont’s which are not inquiry focused. One part of Manah Shodhanam is not completed with this verse.

This Class:

Verse 15:

satya-buddhih yadā drishye, swātmano bhinnatā tathā

sukha-buddhis- tadā tasmin, dukkha buddhir- hi vā bhavet.

Tatha= therefore

swātmano bhinnatā= in my inquiry whatever I feel to be separate from me

tada= then what comes from that

satya-buddhih yadā drishye= I start to sense that what is separate from me is real

When separation is not understood, then whatever is separate, we feel that to be real. The fingers are separate from each other and there is an understanding that this separation is not full but functional separation. With the same understanding, we can apply this to every facet of this multiverse. There is no separation in Infinity (Ananta), any apparent separation is merely functional, not fundamental. So the sense that this separation is real, is coming from Ignorance. Through my inquiry, I understand this.

In the rope-snake example, one only senses the presence of the snake because of the rope. If there was no rope, one wouldn’t project the snake on to that. This sentiment that the separation is real is actually us longing for what is Real, which is existence. This longing for existence can never be erased. You are a seeker, trust yourself more. This “realness” is coming from ‘The Reality’!

sukha-buddhis- tadā tasmin= In that which is real, now I am seeing and sensing that this is going to make me joyous.

 dukkha buddhir- hi vā bhavet= finally settles down into dukkha

Main implication from this verse is that we long for Satya, Sukha because it is our nature. Its there but we feel it is separate from us.

Verse 16: For those who are inquiring, with verse 15, Manah Shodhanam is complete. Verse 16 is medium in deepness.

rāga-dweshau prajāyete, tadā chitte vrthā iva hi;

tābhyām hy-aham pravarte vā, nivarte loka-vastuni.

For the one who doesn’t check that the separation is functional, they start to feel that the functional is fundamental in the form of “this is going to bring me sukha” but it actually bring dukkha. Now I haven’t practiced this insight and so it has become my habit and Satya and Dukha are deep and I now do it on a regular basis as Rāga and dvesha (likes and dislikes). That which brings me sukha, I like and that which brings me dukkha, I dislike. All this is happening in the mind as thoughts. They actually have nothing to do with “fitbit, country, etc”, they are all in the mind alone. What we can learn from this is, we try endlessly to combine and permutate to have real Sukha but that real Sukha is not built into separation and therefore we try endlessly. When we engage in something that is endless, we get tired.

We have to be careful to not develop the habit and the Vasana of experimenting through combinations and permutations. Vasanas are difficult to change so try to live with all this in the background so you touch everything more lightly.

tābhyām hy-aham pravarte= indeed these likes and dislikes make me move

nivarte loka-vastuni= I keep moving and this multiverse keeps moving too

These are all moving and you can’t catch them. Sw. Chinmayananda shared, we run after half the world and we run away from half the world. Ignorance is holding us back. Ignorance makes me feel the separation and I start to infuse the separation with likes and dislikes. All of this is inside of our minds. Finally, what can we do about it? We have to find our own path to inquire.

Connecting this to Mahabharata, Raja Yayati answers Rishi Ashtaka’s sharing by saying that between the Jnani and Tapasvi, the Jnani becomes free first. Tapasvi doesn’t give sufficient time to make knowledge insight. Tapasvi is the steady seeker but not sincere one and gets distracted. And as their end of days come, they feel regret. Regret that even though they knew what is right, they didn’t follow it. So now they have to be born again, with a prayer and hope that they will follow through with what is right in the next lifetime.