Class 3 : Oct 06 2026

Lesson 1 (Contd) and Lesson 2:

A powerful couple and an awesome  role model in our culture is that of Rishi Yajnavalkya and Devi Maitreyi. This couple had gathered much prosperity in their life. Rishi Yajnavalkya reflected on this prosperity and felt that he did not give enough time and effort to peace. So he wanted to leave all this prosperity with Devi Maitreyi and give more time and effort to peace. As he was transitioning all this to her, she asks him if all the prosperity that is being given to her will give her peace, for which he says ‘no’. So she challenges him and asks him why he is giving it all to her.  Many of us feel this when our minds are quiet, but when our minds are not quiet, we trick ourselves into thinking prosperity is equivalent to peace.  When our minds are quiet we become Devi Maitreyi , questioning if we are putting enough time and effort towards peace. We are trying to do so through Advaita Vedanta. 

Advaita Vedanta is defined as non duality. But how to understand Advaita Vedanta?

There is one relationship with divinity entitled Dvaita Vedanta (veda means science/knowing, anta means inside, dvaita means duality/separation/differences). We feel we are the servant and divinity is our master. This relationship will always stay that way, there will always be a separation/difference. For our worldly reference, ISKCON follows Dvaita Vedanta. 

There is another relationship to divinity called Visishta (advaita) Vedanta (visishta means qualified/special). It is a feeling that ‘i am a part’ and divinity is the ‘whole’ and this is our relationship. There is less of a separation/difference. In the world, this is what BAPS follows. 

What we are trying to sync with is Advaita Vedanta (finding oneness inside). This is where ‘i and divinity’ are one, i have forgotten this and so i feel separate and different. This science is teaching me to remember that ‘I’ and divinity are one! In the world, this is what the Ramakrishna Mission follows. 

If we change the word from divinity to joy, then we come to realize that we never want to be separate/different from joy! 

This is our time and effort into the Foundation Vedanta Course. 

Our course will be 32 weeks. There are 24 lessons, so we finish ¾ lesson per week. 

Most of the content for this course comes from ‘Kindle Life’ and ‘Art of Manmaking’.

The first lesson is trying to encourage us to practice ‘Vichara’. Vichara means to reflect on oneself. Another word for this is ‘inquiry’ (to reflect on oneself). When we do this, we develop ‘Viveka’. Viveka means knowing and following what is important. 

Lesson 1 part 3: Human Heritage

Humans have sense organs.  The semi Gods also have sense organs which are super sense organs. Ours are less sensual, and for animals also it is less. When our sense organs are engaged, they are engaged in an extroverted way. Our sense organs are created extrovert and flow in an extrovert way.  Living like this makes one a human and keeps one a human. Pujya Swami Tejomayananda has taught that to live like this is not special – it is ordinary. But to disengage the senses makes one extraordinary! That is how we go from being a human to being God. We make this transition by having a relationship with a map (Ramayana , Bhagavatam). But for some this is abstract, and so the map comes to us in the form of a guide. If the map is theory, the guide is application. They have sense organs and interact with sense objects just like we do, but they do this differently. They do not depend on the organs and objects, they only interdepend. There is no projection or plan that the interaction between the organs and objects is going to bring peace. When someone who does not have a relationship with a map or guide hears about all this or they see someone extraordinary living like this, they feel like that person is disconnected from the world. But this is not true, they are the opposite because they are balanced. We feel that the more emotional we are, the more real life is but this is not helpful. Only by being balanced one becomes more objective, one sees more and experiences more. It is shared in the lesson that a master does not need to follow their emotions, although they have emotions. They do what is right. Human heritage is to evolve to the highest heritage (which means we are not human, but we are Brahman or infinite).

For a rajasic person who is aggressive, when it comes to following what is right, the word that proceeds is “but”. For a seeker, the word is “yet” and not “but”. 

Lesson 1 part 4: The joy of living

There are two drives for all of us in life. The baser/lower/unproductive drive is called ‘Duhkha Nivrutti’ (meaning escaping pain). The higher/evolutionary drive that lifts us is called ‘Sukha Praapti’ (meaning embracing peace). For those who only live at the sense organ level, their instinct is that their incompleteness can be filled in with the contact of sense objects with sense organs. But this does not create completion, it only creates exhaustion. This only leads to escaping pain and not embracing peace. We can use this to hash out the proof of joy. What is the proof that ‘I am joy’? 

• Quality of objects – There is no object in creation whose quality/nature is joy. If there was, then every being would want that object. 
• Quantity of objects – If we suppose that an object has 1% joy and we have 100 of those, then will we have 100% joys?! This goes against the law of diminishing returns.
• Absence of objects – The only time we experience absence of objects is when we are sleeping. In sleep there is rest and so we look forward to sleeping. Although there is no objects, ‘you’ are still there. Sense organs with sense objects is in the realm of objects that can only provide escaping pain. We have to do this forever and it is exhausting. In terms of embracing peace, we just have to do this once. Once we have embraced peace, it is forever. This means we have to shift from putting time and effort into objects, and put time and effort into subject. 
• Escaping the unnatural – When we feel stress, anxiety, annoyance or anger we engage in some sort of verb (breathe, eat, walk, chant etc). If these emotions were natural, then we will not try to change them. We try to escape from it because we don’t like it. 
• Embracing the natural (peace) – If we feel grateful, calm, cheerful or accepting then don’t do anything and we are just ‘be-ing’. We are not trying to change it. We may just close our eyes and just experience ‘be-ing’. If this was not our nature we would try to change it. 

Joy is our nature. Just like sweetness is the nature of sugar and heat is the nature of fire, our nature is joy! If we know that we will start to live for that. Our interactions with the world as we go from escaping pain to embracing peace is highly subjective. If our strategy is to be peaceful through the day because of the day, this will be temporary. If our strategy is to be peaceful irrespective of the day then eventually it will become permanent. 

We need to learn the art of quietening. The quieter the mind, the more that one feels that their nature is joy. 

Our experience should be more about doing and not knowing. Pujya Swami Chinmayananda has shared ‘Knowing not doing, doing is doing’. 

Lesson 2:

2.1 Inevitability of action: 

All act, but the ‘why’ of acting is different for all. There are three categories of ‘why’.

1  To be a laborer. A laborer is one who acts to get (whatever will benefit the individuality and family). 

2  To be a worker. They are also acting to get. One of the dominant facets of Karma Yoga is to act without the plan of a result. But a worker is not doing Karma yoga so no evolution. The worker is also trying to get, but this getting is not for the individuality or family, it is for the community and society. Their radar of love is expanded, which means their ego has shrunk.  

3 To be an achiever. An achiever acts not to get but to give. This means they are following Karma Yoga. Their acting is not for fulfillment but it is from fulfillment. 

We need to reflect on how we grow from dislikes into likes, and from likes into opportunity. 

The one who is acting on likes/dislikes is like the laborer/worker. There is an agenda of getting, and this is from the outside, which means there will be no peace. But in terms of opportunity, that person becomes the achiever. They feel like every moment is an opportunity for them to become quieter and know their nature. 

2.2 Secret of Success

Value is determined by an ideal. The value of a laborer, worker and achiever is different. (One’s ideal is shallow, one’s is in-between and one’s is deep). What this means is anyone and everyone can be valuable. Skill does not determine value, it is the ideal. 

Work does not tire us. ‘We’ tire us!  We tire ourselves by being negative. If one has a positive outlook they conserve energy. If one has a negative outlook, they dissipate energy. 

The diversity of work that the previous generation had to engage in was not as much as the diversity of work that one has to engage in, in the present generation. Both have to work hard, but how much has to be managed went from simpler to more complicated. Generation to generation, this complexity will keep growing. This is the reason why conservation of energy is critical. This comes from being positive, and being positive comes from having an ideal. An ideal comes from the right role-model.