Class 1 : Sep 22 2026

Introduction and Lesson 1:

A vedanta teacher was sharing with a vedanta student about Advaita vedanta. The teacher sensed that the student thought she ‘knew’ what the teacher was teaching. So the teacher, wishing well for the student, wanted to bring to her attention that ‘she knows but she doesn’t know’. The teacher noticed a basket of coal , which had no coal but there was only coal dust. The teacher asked the student to fetch water from the nearby river in the basket which had coal dust. As the student was bringing water, the water kept leaking. This frustrated her, but the teacher asked her to go back and fetch water. As the student came, again more water started to leak out. The student realized this is a futile exercise, but the teacher insisted she should go back and bring more water. She did one more time, and again came back with the basket where all the water had leaked out. Now the teacher looked at her and smiled and asked her how the basket looked before he told her to bring water. Before it was completely covered in coal dust, but now the basket was clean. That student did not have the purity to ‘know’ fully, she was still holding herself back. She needed to go through this exercise again and again, despite not knowing the purpose of the exercise, but this had an effect on her! It specifically had the effect of unlearning. We don’t need to learn more, we need to practice now! This is the design of a study group. In a study group, we don’t need to take more diverse or deep subjects, we have to take a subject we relate to and personalize, and revolve around it again and again so that we feel this cleanly and clearly! The design of a study group is to encourage steadiness. 

Being in a study group with peers has a limitation based on how much the students in that study group know and have experienced. A study group should be with a trained teacher (who has learned from a lineage of trained teachers). In our culture, Vyasa Peeta has great significance because Rishi Vyasa is Bhagavan Narayana Himself who has come to us! A study group with a trained teacher encourages sincerity. The systematic study is a catalyst to sincerity. Sincerity is very powerful in a sacred field. To become the ‘Secretary of state’ or a ‘General’ takes a long time, because one has to go up the ranks, it is time based and status based. But the sacred field is not like that. It is sincerity based. If one is sincerely tired of ‘two-ness’ and wants to feel ‘oneness’, one can advance more rapidly than someone who is more comfortable. Sincerity makes everyone equal (it is not based on age or how much we know)! Steadiness and sincerity is very much appreciated in our community! 

Here is a history of the courses we studied (on Tuesdays) since our first virtual study group in January 2014 until September 2026: We need to track how many we were part of, how much we learned and how much have we evolved since then! 

1. Jan 2014 to May 2015 –  We explored the Foundation Vedanta Course. This is based on Self-Unfoldment. The questionnaires were not technical but more reflective.
2. Sep 2015 to Dec 2016 – We explored the Advanced Vedanta Course. This is based on Vivekachoodamani. The questionnaires were less reflective and more technical. 
3. Jan 2017 to May 2018 – We did the Bhagavad Gita Course (which Pujya Swami Tejomayananda had just made available to everyone). The Bhagavad Gita teaches us the art of living. (In terms of systematic studying, the very first grand map that one should study is Srimad Bhagavatam, which teaches one the art of dying. When one personalizes that today could be my last day, one becomes more steady and one is ready for Bhagavad Gita. Then one becomes ready for the Upanishad which teaches us the art of Life.)
4. Sep 2018 to May 2020 – Meditation in Life course. This course was about how to be more contemplative (while driving and walking and so on), and it was about the vision behind the verbs. 
5. June 2020 to Aug 2020 – A summer course on Aparoksha Anubhuti. One of the most prominent parts of Aparoksha Anubhuti by Acharya Shankara comes at the end, where  Acharya Shankara shares the challenges that come up with those who try to contemplate. The first challenge is sleepiness (laya). The second challenge is vikshepa (distraction). Aparoksha Anubhuti goes through the challenges and how to remedy them. 
6. Sep 2020 to May 2021 – Drg Drshya Viveka course. This course taught us about watching more than being involved. A deficiency in our relationship with dvaita (that which is changing) is that we keep trying to manage dvaita. One cannot manage the ocean! So instead of trying to manage the ocean, watch it! But we have this habit of getting involved and the propensity to get involved is a sign of doership. We need to learn to watch more! 
7. Sep 2021 to May 2023 – Upanishad Course. ‘Upa’ means near, meaning one can learn the sacred only when sitting near a trained teacher.  ‘Ni’ means (nishchayena) with determination. Nishchayena means to never give up! This will lead to ‘shad’ which means destruction of ego. 
8. Sep 2023 to May 2024 – Narada Bhakti Sutra. One of the most profound teachings in Narada Bhakti Sutra is the description of pain. Rishi Narada shares that every moment that one forgets the divine is pain! 
9. Sep 2024 to May 2025 – Amrita Bindu Upanishad Course. Amrita means to not have fear. One of the greatest antidotes to fear is faith. Faith comes into our lives through reflection (manana). Those who engage in manana feel that everything is alright and everything will be alright. 
10. Sep 2025 to May 2026 – Manah Shodhanam Course. The main message from this self development map was to inquire. Inquiry is only possible if one has a critical level of purity. A way to personalize to internalize and become pure in our inner world is the 5 S’s. 

S1 is to Slow IN , become inward looking

S2 is to Step Higher , to step towards the divine

S3 is to See Her, if there is creation, then there has to be a creator

S4 is to Smile All, if we see Her then where is she not? So smile at all! Sri Rama’s virtue Priyadarshana means welcoming. Although Rani Kaikeyi removed Sri Rama from being the leader and exiled Him, when she went along with Bharatha and many others to find Sri Rama in the forest, Sri Rama first embraced Rani Kaikeyi and told Sri Lakshmana to do the same. So ‘Smile All’ is indicative of our purity when we are able to smile at people although they may not smile at us!  

S5 is to Serve Hers, all belongs to Her. And if we have this bhava towards the divine, we serve all as Hers. 

Pujya Swami Tejomayananda gave the example where when one is asked to clean a room, the person is upset but if that person is told to clean the room because Swami Chinmayananda was going to sleep in the room, then people would fight for that honor! We should serve all as Hers! This is the way for us to become pure enough, to inquire enough to feel we are not humans but rather we are free!

When we come across the word Foundation in the sacred, we tend to think this relates to terminology. Foundation is not about terminology but it is about how to think. Only if we are trained how to think, we can move to Advanced Vedanta, Bhagavad Gita and so on. When one learns how to think, the scriptures come to life. Pujya Swami Tejomayananda has shared that a gift that a Guru gives a shishya (disciple) is Viveka (right thinking). Every experience is to be framed as a learning opportunity, with a growth mind set. 

What one needs to think about is Vedanta. Veda means ‘to know’ and anta means ‘inside’ – to know what is inside of life, and what is inside of us! We live in Kaliyuga, a phase of creation where there is maximum externalization. With externalization comes deflecting. We need to unlearn deflecting by reflecting. Our Foundation Vedanta Course is not to become a scholar but to know what is inside of purpose and what is inside of peace. This course is designed by the Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF). It provides us with a practical self-development map. The majority of content is derived from Self-Unfoldment. 

Lesson 1:

The focus of this lesson is freedom. Acharya Shankara in Atma Shataka (also called Nirvana Shataka) has shared ‘na muktiH’ – there is no freedom. How? Because ‘na-bandhaH’ – no smallness. 

‘There is only Life, there is no one who lives a life!’ – Sri Nisargadatta from the book ‘I am That’. Individuality is simply a concept. Separation is a dream. There is only Life. The fabric of Life is existence, awareness and joy. ‘Existence -awareness-joy’ (sat-chit-ananda) is not doing but it is being. Then why is it that we are always ‘becoming’ (bhava roga) ?! We have forgotten Life (sat-chit-ananda , being). This is not our experience because of Avidya. All we have to do is ‘remember’. 

(In the last scene of the movie Inception , when Saito and Dominick are together, all that they have to do is to remember this is limbo. As soon as they remember it is limbo, they come back to freedom. Vivekji shared how this movie is surreal in its syncing with Advaita Vedanta!)