Subodha Vedanta’s Chapter 9 is on creation. Chapter 10 is on Creator. Each chapter is a step from being dependently joyous to Independently Joyous. Chapter 11 is on partial freedom, while Chapter 12 is on full freedom. 

We continue with Chapter 12.

Verse1: 

The knower of the truth sings the SAma Mantras – “hA vu hA vu hA vu hA..!” Thus, he expresses the Supreme Bliss of his own Self. 

Verse 2:

Atma-krIdah svAtma-ratirjIvanmuktah sadA sukhI

punyApunya-vinirmukto sarvAnanda-karo yatih

The Liberated one sports and revels in the Self, ever happy. He is free from merits and sins, and he becomes the giver of Joy to all. 

Some insights: Why the one who is independently joyous doesn’t have punya or papa is because merits and sins relate to deservership, but that doesn’t apply to them as they are not the doer. If there is doership, there will be deservership and with that comes punya and papa. So if there is no doership, there will not be deservership either. A majority of the Bhagavad Gita invests in removing deservership and removing doership. 

The one who is free becomes the one who gives Joy to all. Our Joy goes away because of regrets of the past and anxieties of the future. The verb we should engage in to not have regrets of the past is to Learn from the past, so that it becomes an experience which is more meaningful. If we are distracted and get into a minor car accident, we can regret it or learn from it by not being a distracted driver and that becomes a learning experience. We shouldn’t live in the past as much.

And how do we have less anxieties about the future? Plan for the future as it is a methodology in doing our best. We tend to act for fulfillment. We make mistakes and so have regrets. We want fulfillment, so we plan. But the person who is more Independently Joyous stays in the present and pulls others to the present as well. They don’t go into the past or the future as much. So, a Joyous person creates Joy all around them. This verse describes someone who has come home. When we get back home after a long trip, it feels so nice to be home. So imagine the Joy of being home permanently after being away for lifetimes! This is a most beautiful thought. 

Verse 3:

Naiva kurvan-na kArayan kArayam sAdhnoti sarvadA

Ascharyam na hi kim-etat pashya tvam budha-vaibhavam

Neither doing, nor prompting others to do, he always accomplishes tasks. Is this not a wonder? See the glory of the Enlightened one!

Some reflections: One of the descriptions of Swami Chinmayananda is Satya SankalpayA – the one whose thought becomes the Truth. They are the Truth, so anything that comes from the Truth is going to become the Truth, just like anything that comes from sugar is going to be sweet. What is being shared is that the person who is enlightened is Bhagavan. The same is stated in the Narada Bhakti Sutra. So if anyone really wants to take on a new level of effectiveness in their lives, get enlightened. If we want to be the Best, get Enlightened. Then you are not functioning through yourself, but Bhagavan is functioning through you.

“A flute only realizes its potential, when it is picked up by the flute bearer himself.” – The implication is that we currently feel we are creating our own music – that is the Ego, but when we empty ourselves, then Bhagavan Krishna is creating that music. 

For all of us who are part of Sanatana Dharma, we have documented records of those who were enlightened. This is not poetry, but there are the Shri Ramanas, Shri Ramakrishnas, the Devi Miras. These are people who were alive and there is history about them. It is all the same enlightenment and this will be our future too. It is just a matter of how sincere we are for us to experience this. 

In January, the first chapter of Subodha Vedanta was on prArthana. Now this last chapter is on Kritajnata. The first chapter is on praying that we can become independently joyous and the last chapter is now on “I am now Independently Joyous”. This is not a step in the journey to Joy. This IS JOY!. 

Everyone likes a happy ending. So what happened to the seeker who went to the Guru’s Ashrama, asked questions and received answers? Did he accomplish the goal of his Life? The disciple expresses his feelings thus. 

We continue to the last chapter, Chapter 13. 

Verse 1:

Shishya uvAcha

Dhanyo’ham krtakrtyo’ham prsAdAt-tava he guro

bhAvaye padma-yugmam te satatam hrdi komalam

The disciple said, “O Guru! Due to your grace, I am blessed. I am fulfilled. I shall always meditate upon your holy lotus feet in my heart.”

For those who have studied the Upanishads, there are three methods or sadhanas to be enlightened –

1. Shravana – Active listening
2. Manana – Active reflecting
3. NidhidhyAsana – Active contemplating

However, the fourth factor is Krpa – it is the Guide’s Grace that actually takes precedence or is more powerful than shravana, manana or nidhidhyAsana. This is re-emphasized, but the word prasAda is used. It is through Grace that one can actually be active in their journey, and when they have completed their journey, they realize that it is only on account of the prasAda of their Guide that they are Joy. 

When we become enlightened, there is no trace of ungratefulness. One of the worst qualities one sees in the younger generation is the sense of entitlement. It is really a feeling of being ungrateful. Here, there is no ungratefulness as taking for granted in Sanskrtam is Avidya – I have forgotten, but the one who is enlightened is infused with Vidya. They don’t take anything for granted. They are grateful!

Let us now close our eyes and try to be active in our listening, reflecting and contemplating simultaneously. Let us try to feel that Pujya Swami Tejomayananda is sitting right in front of us and is teaching us in a most direct way – 

When he looks back on what he was when he came to the Guru’s ashrama and what he experiences now, his heart is filled with gratitude. This total transformation, this most difficult accomplishment, the attainment of the subtlest Truth, this rarest of rare achievement was possible only and only through the grace of the Guru. His loving guidance, inspiring presence and great teaching made the impossible possible. The disciple’s heart melts with devotion and gratitude, which he finds difficult to express. He promises to meditate and worship the Guru’s holy feet, the Truth that the Guru stands upon. At the end of the teaching, Arjuna too says, “My delusion has been destroyed, I remember who I am”. This doubtless knowledge was accomplished only by Your grace. Now I shall do what you say.”

Verse 2:

Guruh uvAcha

Tava bhaktyA prasanno’ham yathA jnAnam grhItavAn

Brahmanishtah sadaiva tvam parA-bhaktiyuto bhava

You have been enlightened. You are expressing your krtajnata to your Guide and now your Guide is reciprocating his gratitude to you. 

The Guru said, “I am pleased with your devotion and the way you have grasped the knowledge. Now may you remain ever established in the Truth and have supreme devotion for God.”

Verse 3:

ayam subodha-vedAntah guru-devAshishA krtah

samarpaye tam tebhyo hi prasannAh santu te mayi

This work, Subodha Vedanta, was completed through the blessings of Shri Gurudev and God. I dedicate it to them. May they be ever pleased with me. 

Om Tat Sat

We should always remember the Grace in our Lives.

Discussion: What is the most significant change in your life on account of your Guide? Think about your whole life and then think about a certain age in your life. Think about how you are and what you are now. What is the most significant change from then to now on account of your Guide and what He/She/It has done to you for you?

Vivekji shared his reflection that his Guide has helped him to Love himself in a full way.

RAM:

1. Join Meaningful Mornings daily.
2. Listen to the 55-day training recordings from the Highest Vocation on Chapter 6 of Bhagavad Gita on YouTube starting June 11th when Meaningful morning ends temporarily. Practice Contemplation daily using these recordings.

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We chant a mantra before we begin to study the Veda. The word mantra means mananAt trAyate – that which reflected upon, helps one to feel more courageous or fearless. However, only if we use our mind for this mantra, does it have this effect. That is why we do not just chant mantras, but personalize them. 

The difference between a cult and culture, as they are similar in English, is that in a cult one is encouraged not to think – avichara; just do. In a culture, on the contrary, we are encouraged to think or engage in vichara. 

We are completing our semester now, which is zooming into clarity. With clarity comes conviction, with conviction comes confidence. How are we going to be more clear? Through a cult or a culture? Through avichara or vichara? It is clear that we will nurture clarity through thinking. We are completing almost six months on thinking on the whole structure of Vedanta of Sanatana Dharma using Swami Tejomayananda’s Subodha Vedanta. 

Thus far we have studied:

Chapter 1 –  independent chapter with 2 verses

Chapter 2 & 3 – a pair of chapters with 3 verses each

Chapter 4 – independent chapter with 3 verses

Chapter 6 & 5 – a pair of chapters with 3 verses each

Chapter 7 & 8 – these go together with 3 verses each

Chapter 9 & 10 – these go together with 3 verses each

In Chapter 10, we have only completed Verse 1 – “What is this world and what is its purpose?” So asks the disciple to the Guru. All that which is known as “this” (known objectively), is the world. 

What is the purpose of the world? The word Jagatah, the etymology in Sanskrtam is that which is always changing. Wherever there is change, there are challenges. When we know the purpose of a challenge, it becomes training, but when we don’t know the purpose of a challenge, it becomes a problem. The only difference between training and a problem is purpose. There is going to be change, there is going to be challenges. Is it training for us or a problem? In the first verse, it is being shared – to know this purpose, so then all is training. Now we continue to Verse 2 in Chapter 10. This chapter is on the multiverse.  

Verse 2:

karma kartum phalam bhoktum ksetra-bhUtam hi prAninAm

Ishe samarpya karmAni chitta-shuddhim labhennarah

What is the purpose of this Jagata? 

Karma kartum – to engage in actions 

Phala bhoktum – to enjoy results 

Ksetra-bhUtam hi prAninAm – this is a field for all beings –  humans, animals, plants and stones as well

Ishe samarpya karmAni – when someone acts as an offering for Divinity

Chitta-shuddhim labhennarah – we then gain purity of mind. The first sign of having purity of mind is we are balanced. When outside forces come to challenge us, we stay balanced. 

The multiverse, our world is a kshetra or field. If we think of a farmer’s field, there is sowing, then reaping, then again sowing and reaping. This field facilitates the same cycle of acting and then the results. It is important for us to not externalize this as this body is also a field. We use this body to eat and then exercise and then again eat and exercise. We are in lots of fields and we have to reflect on the purpose of these fields – of this world, of this body. 

Swami Tejomayananda wrote a lovely paragraph about Pujya Swami Chinmayananda – The Chinaya Mission founded by Shri Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda through its various activities, projects, institutions and ashramas throughout the world, provides a field for people who desire to learn and serve.

Chinmaya Mission is also a kshetra. Chinmaya means to learn and the Mission is to serve. These fields we engage in are an opportunity for us to cultivate purity. We will know we have the right relationship with the world, this body if we are cultivating balance and focus. The more pure our mind is, the more we are able to focus. 

Verse 3:

brahmarUpam jagatpashyan mukto vidvAnbhavennarah

jIvArtham syAtprayojanam IshArtham na tu karhichit

BrahmarUpam – this multiverse is actually a form of Infinity; 

Jagatpashyan –  to see this multiverse as an expression of Infinity, then

Mukto vidvAnbhavennarah – the wise become free by doing this

JIvArtham syAtprayojanam – this multiverse has a purpose for the jiva; 

IshArtham na tu karhichit – this multiverse has no purpose for Isha or God.

This multiverse is for us to become wise enough to see we are creatures that are to live for this creation, bigger than that is the Creator, and finally Bigness which is Consciousness. Some reflections – 

The quieter our inner world becomes, the more one is able to feel Oneness, to feel hat there is no separation. When we are asleep, that is tamas. When we have this feeling of sleep when we are awake is Sattva. 

Bhagavan is free. Those who are free have no longer a purpose. Those who are pursuing Peace, they are not peaceful. Those who are not free have a purpose. So this multiverse is for us. 

This multiverse  is created just like the other dimensions of heaven, hell and they will also be uncreated as they are all created for us. The implication is that this multiverse is not going to last forever. If we go to hell, we will inquire. How did I get here? If we go to heaven, the sense object and sense organs are awesome, so people do not inquire in heaven. Heaven is purposeless. 

Chapter 11 is on Mukti or freedom. 

Verse 1:

shrnu mukti-prakAram tvam yathA proktam vicintakaih

karmopAsana-prAptavyah svargo lokascha brahmanah 

Shrnu – listen; 

Mukti-prakAram – there are levels or types of Mukti –  this is not the Mukti of the Upanishad or Bhagavad Gita 

Tvam yathA proktam vicintakaih – you should listen to the wise people who have understood the multiverse and what you can get with inquiry;

KarmopAsana – karma and upasana – when we engage in certain actions or disciplines

PrAptavyah – get; 

Svargo lokascha brahmanah – we get to heaven or the highest dimension called Brahmaloka. 

Mukti or freedom is only in reference to bandah or bondage. If we were given the keys to handcuffs, that key is valuable only if we have handcuffs on. If we have no handcuffs, then there is no point to that key. That is why Acharya Shankara shares – Na muktih, na bandah. There is no freedom because there is no bondage. Freedom is still in reference to bondage.

Sometimes we are unable to understand what bondage is. When we have enough position, possession and pleasure in our life, we think we are liberated. Let us try to feel what this body does to us – it gets sick or we sometimes can’t move physically or mentally. In water, the weight of the body goes away. So, we like to be in water as we feel so free. That is just the limitation of the body. Now imagine being free of the limitation of the mind? The more we appreciate the bondage, the more we will live for this freedom. 

For those who engage in certain actions or disciplines, but we are not doing this for absolute Mukti, we will go to svarga (heaven or satya loka), but those are created. They will be uncreated and are not Absolute. One will come back to bondage. With Satyaloka, we will be enlightened, but it will take a very long time. It is called Krama Mukti and is unreasonably long and not something one should live for.

Verse 2:

PrasAdAtsveshta-devasya sAlokyam ca samIpatA

sArUpyam sArshtisAyujye muktim prAhurmanIshinah

PrasAdAt – it is only through the blessings or Grace; 

Sva Ishta-devasya – of one’s personal God or Divinity – what can happen? 

SAlokyam samIpatA SArUpyam sArshtisAyujya – through the facilitation of Bhagavan, these five levels of freedom can be experienced  

Muktim prAhurmanIshinah – they are as described by those who know or are wise

To reach heaven, we can do so only with Bhagavan’s permission. Here are some fascinating specifics about Mukti –

The lightest Mukti is called sAlokya. This means our entry into heaven is that we get to live in the same loka as our Ishta Deva. Bhagavan Rama’s loka is Saket. Bhagavan Shiva’s loka is Kailasha and it is the only abode that is on earth. That is why Kailasha is so powerful as we get to go where Bhagavan resides.

More intense Mukti is sAmIpya – one who is close to Bhagavan. We don’t just live in the dimension of Bhagavan, but live close to Him, like in the same neighborhood. When we are closer to Bhagavan, certain privileges naturally come to us. For example, when Bhagavan has a party, we are automatically invited! 

The third level of Mukti is sArUpya – we start to look like Bhagavan. Suppose we all start to look like Bhagavan Krshna, how will we know who the real Bhagavan Krshna is? When Bhagavati Rukmini is with a certain being, that is the real Bhagavan Krshna. 

The fourth level is SArshti, when we start to have the powers of Bhagavan. Past the nama and the rupa is the guna. We start to have the gunas of Bhagavan. What we can never get is being a creator like Bhagavan. Only Bhagavan can create creation. An example is Ravana who wanted to just become more powerful. He could have had Bhagavan Rama, but he just wanted Bhagavati Sita in the wrong way. 

Finally, SAyujya is when we become one with Bhagavan or we merge with Bhagavan, like Bhagavati Radha. In Bhagavata, Bhagavati Radha was there and then she wasn’t there as she became One with Bhagavan Krshna. This is the Mukti that we traditionally orient ourselves with. 

Verse 3:

HitvA svajIva-bhAvam yA brahmAtmanA hi samsthitih

jIvanmuktirvidehA ca sarva-vedAnta-nishchayah

HitvA – having renounced

SvajIva – that we are an individual 

bhAvam – this notion

YA – the one who does this – what happens?

BrahmAtmanA hi samsthitih – one is established that Atma and Brahma are One, that the individuality is actually Infinity. 

JIvanmuktirvidehA ca – they are free, with body or without body is irrelevant  Sarva-vedAnta-nischayah – this is what Vedanta teaches about Mukti. 

Acharya Shankara has shared what education is. This is the vision or fulfillment of education – vidya phalam syat asato nivrittih

vidya – education 

phlalam syat – this is the feeling or what it should do to you

asat – that which is less important or not real

nivrittih – one should renounce or let go to this

When Shri Nisargadatta was a beedi wala and his Guide told him that he was not the body, but the Spirit, and he was so illiterate in terms of information, but so literate when it came to education, he internalized that so quickly and became free. He became That, which the Upanishad is teaching. This is the feeling of education. 

Hitva means to renounce. In Contemplation, we keep going through the kosha viveka – we are not this, not this, not this, not this. When we let go of all that we are not, we naturally come to feel what we are. This is what Mukti is, a finality. 

Harvard Business School did a study on where people find more satisfaction. 

1. Buying products with a return policy; 2. Buying products without a return policy. They found out that people were more satisfied with products without a return policy because then people had to be satisfied with what they bought. 

If we are living by the last verse of Chapter 11, then what will come out of our lungs and throat is – we move on to Chapter 12. 

Chapter 9 was about creation (Maya); Chapter 10 about the Creator (relationship with Maya). Chapter 11 was about partial freedom. Chapter 12 is about Ananda or Joy. This is full freedom.

Verse 1:

hA vu hA vu hA vu hA sAma gAyati brahmajnyah

Anandam paramAnandam darshayannaho svAtmanah

HA vu – expression of Joy when we feel our nature; whatever we are feeling, it will make our body break; there is so much Joy that we cannot use words

SAma gAyati brahmajnyah – the one who knows themselves, they sing; they sing the mantras of the Sama Veda 

Anandam paramAnandam – their Joy is Parama, the factual, highest Joy Darshayannaho svAtmanah – they have come to feel or see themselves

Any source of Joy that is external will be diminishing since that is the nature of creation. How to practice this? To not expect creation to be a source of Joy. As long as we feel that creation is a source of Joy, there will be sorrow. Why? Since we are expecting this entity to fulfill us in a way that is not possible. There is a saying – You cannot get blood from a stone. So we must reduce or have no expectations to be less sorrowful. We should do this for every facet of creation – our job, the weather, government, our body, our mind.

This Joy is irresistible as it is most natural and it is incomparable. So why wouldn’t we live for this? This twelfth step is Being Joy. 

Last week’s discussion: Vivekji shared his thoughts from last week’s discussion – If we inquire daily, even if we are moody, we will still inquire. This is a way to inquire even when we are happy.

Discussion: Reflect upon independently – What is your message to not expect the Absolute from the relative?

Last week’s RAW: To feel that we were in heaven. 

• Vivekji shared that if we simplify our contact in heaven, then we won’t be trapped in that comfort. 

RAW: Explain all 12 steps of this journey to Joy to 5 people this week. 

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Vivekji shared a story about a King who had eye pain one day and no physician in his kingdom could help him. As the pain intensified, they reached out to everyone and anyone who had a solution. Many came, many shared and many left. One farmer from the edge of the kingdom came and said that the problem with the king was that he saw too many colors and that if he saw just the color green, then his pain would go away. It sounded ludicrous, but they were ready to try anything and so covered everything with green cloth, painted everything green, brought in more plants and the next day the King’s eye pain went away! The King wanted to thank the farmer, but he was gone. So, they went and brought the farmer back to see the King, but before he entered the court area the King’s guards poured buckets of green paint on the farmer. He asked them what they were doing, and they said that is what the farmer had advised. Then the farmer responded that what would have been better for the economy and environment was if the King wore green glasses. Then everything he would see would be green. 

This story was shared with us as we immerse ourselves in Advaita Vedanta – the science of Oneness. The benefit of this is not based on quantity, but on quality, just like everyone in the story thought that the green should be based on quantity, but it was really about quality. The map we are studying is Subodha Vedanta which is clearly outlining the steps to Joy. Everyone wants to move towards Joy, but if we miss a step, we will fall, and we will never feel that Joy then. 

The steps to Joy as we go through a review of Chapters 1-10 – 

1. Invocation – Chapter 1 – to pray for our privilege to be shared with others.

2. Disciple – Chapter 2 – In society, there are suckers – those who want to be happy, but do nothing about it; searchers – those who want to be happy and search outside for happiness; seekers – those who want to be happy and search within; and shishyas – those who are ready to live with one who is Happy. A Master, their Guide, they are the ones who experience this in a systematic way. For us, the inaccessible has become accessible just being home and this shows how much God loves us by providing us with this experience.

3. Guide – Chapter 3 – The most important quality of a Guide is that they are experienced, and we will change only if we can relate to our Guide. We should serve those who have great experience. So, we should have the right role models.

4. Spirit (Atma) – Chapter 4 – When we start to develop ourselves towards the Atma, this is the best practice in self care. Our body is called deha or sharira which means that which is burning. Self care for the body will not work. Real selfcare is when we go deeper into what we are. Sat-Chit-Ananda Asti, not Asmi. Asmi means I am, which means I am still present, but Asti means Is. When we are ready to let go of our individuality, that is when we really develop a relationship as a disciple and as a Guide. If we are not willing to let go of us being an individual, then all of this is just theory, just another objective science. 

5. Faith – Chapter 6 – There are five layers of faith that one has to have to reach Joy 

• Faith 1 in discipline
• Faith 2 in disciplined – in ourselves
• Faith 3 in Guide – one who is disciplined at a new level – disciplined x 2
• Faith 4 in discipliner – our Maps or Shastras – there is a sheer emphasis on one being uncompromising 

If we have these 4 faiths, it will lead us to step 5, which is

• Faith 5 in Divinity or Bhagavan

6. God – Chapter 5 – How many of us have faith in Bhagavan? How many of us experienced some sort of fear this week or even this weekend? That would be hypocrisy, to have faith and to experience fear at the same time. How can we have faith and fear in the same being, in the same sentence, as they are antonyms? If we tend to have an intellectual bent of mind, then Vivekji suggests – Know God through Vedanta. We should get to know Bhagavan through katha, like the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, but we should do it through the conduit of Vedanta.The more we know Bhagavan, the more we will have faith in Bhagavan. If we feel we lack faith in Bhagavan because of that fear, it is because we don’t know Bhagavan enough. For example, if we had an infant, we would only leave that infant with someone we know and have full faith and trust in. 

Our review continues – 

7. Sadhya or ends – Chapter 7 – inquiry into our ends or destination. What is our ends, our destination? Guruji, Swami Tejomayananda, has taught – Praptasya prapti. If we want to get what we already have, all we need to do is know that we have it. That is jnana in sanskrtam. We do not need to act, just know. Now where is happiness? We are Happiness. So that is why we do not need to do anything, but just know who we are, what we are. And the way to know is to be active with shravana, manana and nidhidhyasana. In the recent retreat, Vivekji shared this as Reading, Writing and Reflecting. Being active, in a practical way, is being steady. When we are steady with our study or self-development, it has a cumulative effect. 

8. Sadhana or means – Chapter 8 – The inquiry is into the means this time. If we follow the means to the ends, then we are called a sadhaka. How do we know we are following these practices or evolving? Three gauges Vivekji shared that we are evolving – 

1. We are becoming more balanced

2. We are becoming more focused

3. We are becoming more reflective

There should never be an experience that we go through, without learning how to be happier. If we follow this, we no longer have guilt or regrets. If this happened, it was a teaching moment or if that happened, it was a learning experience. How we can bring balance, focus and reflection into our life in a very natural way is Japa. 

9. Maya – Chapter 9 – How to cross maya? Maya is when we experience the relative. Logically, if the relative exists, then automatically we can suppose that the Absolute also exists. If we feel that there is an Absolute, then there is Not a relative. Infinity never became the finite, but we feel it as that is how much Maya has seduced us and we have normalized this hallucination. The only way to fight back against Maya is Bhakti. Six steps to develop Bhakti: 

• Sit
• Sing – For most, Bhakti ends there>
• Seek – Think about who Bhagavan is. What are we singing about? Are we being sincere and intentional? 
• Support – We give of ourselves, the easiest being giving resources.
• Serve – We give resources and time and it requires great dedication and sacrifice to find time to give to serving. Bhakti thus becomes more and more intense.
• Surrender – Bhakti should lead to surrender. We are surrendering the relative as we start to feel the Absolute. It is giving resources, time and effort. We are giving our effort to Bhagavan or Divinity.

This is the methodology to how to cross over Maya. 

10.  Purpose – Chapter 10 – The focus of this chapter is Jagata – world. The etymology of the word Jagata is – Jaayate gachchati tishtati iti jagat – Jayate – to be born, gacchati – to move, tishtati – to stay. When we think of the physical world or the multiverse, we acknowledge it is born, it is changing, but we like to think it will stay forever. Is it going to stay forever? And this also applies to us, doesn’t it? Living is a terminal condition. We are all going to die. We are all dying. In Sanatana Dharma, the words used for death are Yama, Dharma, like in Yamaraja, Dharmaraja. Yama means discipline. Death is not accidental in Sanatana Dharma. We cannot accidentally die. Medicine may share that one died accidentally, but in Sanatana Dharma, death is a Graduation. As soon as we learn all we can in this body, our body will die and we WILL get a new body. That is why there shouldn’t be too much grieving when someone passes away. Sorrow is ok, but not extreme grieving. 

All is changing, so we cannot depend on that which is changing. The change in our life is to teach us about the changeless. It is our EQ and SQ that will help us to age and die graciously, rather than fearfully. We have to therefore practice now to die like that.

Vivekji ended with another story – 

Once Baby Ganesha was sleeping and lots of noise coming from downstairs woke him up. He went down and saw many people in his home, cooking, decorating. Not knowing what was happening, he went to find his mother. Bhagavati Paravati was cleaning and he asked her what was happening and she told him that his older brother Kartikeya was getting married today. He asked – What is marriage? She told him that he was too young, so to just Enjoy. As Bhagavan Ganesha loved to enjoy, he danced and ate and joined the Barat and told his mother that he would like to get married as well. Bhagavati Parvati took him to the kitchen and wrote on a board that Baby Ganesha would get married tomorrow. He was very happy as tomorrow would be his marriage. Then the reception happened, and he went to sleep. The next morning, he woke up and only saw his mother there putting things away. He sadly went to her and said “Mother, today is supposed to be my marriage, right?”. As the wise Devi that she is, she took him to the board that said – Baby Ganesha will get married tomorrow. 

Who is this story about? We are going to be happy tomorrow. We are going to be disciplined tomorrow. The one who waits for the right moment is a moorkha, foolish or stupid. This is what Bhagavan Krishna tells Prince Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. 

Discussion: How to develop the habit to inquire in good times? 

Vivekji shared that in heaven, no one ages, nor dies. They have super bodies, super senses and super sense objects. So in heaven, all that beings do is enjoy, indulge. So they do not inquire into – Am I happy? What is my nature? That is why the Semi-Gods, as they evolve, become humans. Only humans have the ability to inquire. So it is easier to inquire in good times than in bad times as in bad times we don’t have the energy or enthusiasm. That is why the habit has to start in good times. 

Steadiness is another way as shared earlier. We should be steady with a study group, steady with centering as this leads to this cumulative effect. Rshi Narada shares in the 50th verse of Narada Bhakti Sutra – Sa tarati, sa tarati, sa lokAnstArayati. The one who practices these 12 disciplines is saved and once they are saved, they are able to save others. The saved becomes the savior. If we really want to help our family, we should get saved, become independently joyous then we will be able to share what we have. All of this comes down to inquiry. 

Last week’s RAW : To follow the three habits that we came up with – It is through practice that we start to feel Joy. 

RAW : To feel that we are living in swarga or heaven. Remember that in heaven, we do not get old, nor die. 

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These are three things that Vivekji shared with a vanaprastha seeker, three practices that would help them stay cheerful in life, especially if they are physically and spatially confined, and which is applicable to all of us as well:

1. Be in Nature more

2. Practice being grateful – reflect over reasons you have to smile

3. Listen to Katha more

When we reflect over reasons that make us feel grateful in life, some of us are extremely grateful for a simple thing like glasses that have changed our lives drastically. The clarity they provide us has led to conviction about everything we do, making us more confident as individuals. If we can imagine the physical impact of correcting lenses, then imagine how exponentially significant is intellectual clarity – about our purpose, about who we are, about what we are. This is what Sanatana Dharma, Advaita Vedanta facilitates for us through Subodha Vedanta – provides us clarity. 

We are now going to review all ten chapters of Subodha Vedanta, starting with the summary of Chapters 1-5 – 

Chapter 1: Prarthana or Invocation – Invocation should feel in our heart as quietude. If our prayer is not making us quieter, then we are not praying. The quieter we are, we nurture intuition or understanding. We come to understand others then, another community, and finally the Creator. A very practical way we can live by this chapter is to pray for others by name. Typically we tend to pray for ourselves. 

Chapter 2: Shishya or Disciple – We reviewed nine qualities that help us evolve from being a seeker to a shishya or disciple. The key difference between a seeker and disciple is discipline. The nine qualities are – 

1. Vairagya and Viveka 

2. Dama and Shama 

3. Uparama and Samadhana 

4. Titiksha and Shradha

5. Mumukshutva. 

These nine qualities help us to cultivate ekagrata, which means we know our purpose and we will follow our purpose. The way to practice this is to unitask. When we eat – eat, when we drive – drive.

Chapter 3: Guru or Guide – The Guru has the nine qualities of a shishya and an additional seven qualities. A Guide is really a distinguished student. The seven qualities exclusive to a Guide are – educated, experienced, elevated, empathetic, engaging, effective and encouraging. The most valuable quality is experienced – Nishta. 

Here is a short story – Once a person shopping for vegetables saw Picasso in the market. She noticed him and asked if he would draw her a portrait. He had a small sheet of paper and quickly drew her a portrait. She smiled and was happy and he said that it would be 1 million dollars. She said – But it took you 30 seconds! And he said that it took him a lifetime to do it in 30 seconds. 

It was the experience that allowed him to do that in 30 seconds. That we never acknowledge. So Vivekji is zooming us into experienced.. 

Making this more practical for us – Any Guide in our life, we may not revere them or love them, but our minimum emotion towards them should be respect. The more we respect someone, the more we receive from them. They have lots and lots to give and the least we can do is offer them respect. A way to show this respect is to be with them. We must make time and invest in the resources to be with them. 

Chapter 4: Atma or Spirit – The teaching from this chapter is Sat-Chit- Ananda-Asti – I Am Existence, Awareness, Joy, and the more robust word is Asti – IS. Existence-Awareness-Joy IS and there is no separation of I. When we are born and raised with this sense of individuality, it is so hard to feel that I am this family or community. So how can we begin to register that Existence- Awareness-Joy is my nature? – It is by knowing ourselves which is possible by loving ourselves. Whatever we love, we tend to know more about it. So we need to engage in real selfcare to really love ourselves. Not vacations or weekends off, but selfcare where I’m reading more, writing more. A practical way to do this is to listen more. First, we must start to listen to the people around us more, then we can start listening to what is happening in our inner world. If we can’t listen to others, how can we listen to our own mind then? How can we then listen to Bhagavan actually speaking to us? Listen more!

Chapter 6: Shradha or Faith – To be able to know what we are, five Faiths are needed – 

Step 1 – Faith in discipline – Sadhana. We need to have faith in something to do it, like if we do not have faith in seva, we will never serve.

Step 2 – Faith in the disciple – Sadhaka. If we have faith in discipline, we will follow through with it. That helps us to have faith in ourselves. When we lack confidence or self-esteem, the starting point is to be disciplined. One feels better about themselves then. 

Step 3 – Faith in the disciplined, the Guide or the Sadguru – When we see our Guide or Sadguru who is disciplined, who has faith in the discipline, we want to be like them as well

Step 4 – Faith in the discipliner – That is our Maps. The Bhagavad Gita teaches us to live by Yajna-Tapa-Dana. The Ramayana is teaching for our senses to be inward. 

Step 5 – Faith in Divinity – to have faith in God. 

A practical way is to challenge ourselves relating to our religious or spiritual practices, to check if they are helping us to rise in our faith through these five steps. If our religious or spiritual practices are not increasing our faith, then we are not engaged in these practices. In Sanatana Dharma, we tend to have a passive relationship with our religious and spiritual practices. But are our practices making us more faithful? 

Chapter 5 – Isha or God – The main thought is – God is Existence. Existence is uniform, ego is separate. Water is uniform, waves are separate. It is simply a matter of our identification. If we identify with the waves, there is a lot of separation. If we identify with the water, there is no separation. So what should our relationship with God be? Surrender that separation. And what does surreneder feel like? It is to feel less and less separate. The less separate we feel, the less insecure we feel. In Chapter 6, Vivekji had encouraged us to challenge ourselves whether our religious and spiritual practices are nurturing our faith. In Chapter 5, Vivekji is challenging us whether our seva is burning our separation. If our seva is not making us feel more united, then our seva has stagnated. A lot of seva is performed based on comfort or based on what is known to them. One doesn’t challenge themselves or engage in tapa to serve in an uncomfortable way, to serve that which is not known. We have to ask ourselves if we are burning that separation as it is that seva which will lead us to surrender. 

This summary of Chapters 1-6 is to help us have intellectual clarity. Intellectual clarity creates a very prasada mentality. It is choiceless cheer, wanting us to immerse ourelves in this. 

Discussion: Share 3 universal habits that will cultivate intellectual clarity. 

• Vivekji shared that self analysis enables intellectual clarity. Am I angry right now? Why did I get angry? If there is dessert in front of me, how come I can’t stop myself from eating? Self-analysis is a universal habit that can enable us to determine if our practices are nurturing faith. Are our seva engagements leading to burning separation? 

Last week’s RAW: To feel our body is a house. 

Vivekji’s thoughts: If we did this, we would live less by comfort and more by practice. We will use the body more practically, and not try to make it more comfortable. 

RAW: Whatever 3 universal habits we came up with to increase intellectual clarity, follow them. 

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Our ears, skin, eyes, mouth, nose, these organs can also be thought of as openings. When we reflect on openings like the doors of the ashram, using these doors, we come in and out. Our organs are openings. When these openings are in-disciplined, then these openings control us. But if these openings are used in a disciplined way – we are careful about what we hear, what we eat – then we are directing these organs. So these organs/openings, do they control us or do we direct them?. We are in a course where the input through our ears particularly, but really our whole experience – we see each other, we hear each other – when this input is causing us to be more inward, then we know we are using this organ in the right way. If what we are inputting is causing us to be more outward or extroverted, then we know that the organs/openings are being used in the wrong way.

Our course is leveraging the map called Subodha Vedanta. Su – good, Bodha – to know or good knowing. So what we should be feeling from this map is clarity, clarity  in all ways – clarity about who I am, clarity about what we are supposed to do. Currently we are in the chapter where we are studying the clarity directed towards Maya. Maya is the most unclear concept, so how can we be clear about this?

Reviewing Verse 1: The Lord’s Maya is divine, it is made of the three Gunas and is difficult to cross over. It expresses as I and My, and the craving for illusory material objects. 

Our understanding of Maya is foggy or unclear. We know Maya, but yet we do not know Maya. A clear way to feel this in our own lives is – We know that a lot of what we input through our organs is not healthy, yet we still do this. Intellectually, we know the consequences, but practically, we do not. So that is what Maya does to us – we become unclear about consequences.

Verse 2:

Tartum imaam ye gacchanti hyasyaam te kila majjanti

katham tarennaro maayaam tatropaayo guru-proktah

Tartum – to cross; imaam – this Maya; ye gacchanti – Those who want to go over this Maya

Te kila majjanti – They typically drown. Those who are trying to cross over this Maya, typically drown in stress, anxiety and dejection.

Katham tarennaro maayaam – Then how should a human crossover Maya? 

Tatropaayo guru-proktah – The means are told by the Guru.

We are trying to cross over Maya. We are not just trying to know this intellectually, but practically know that Maya is confusing. There are consequences to not using the organs well. And as we try, we falter and feel like failures, in terms of the company we keep or how we feel during challenges. So we, the students, are asking, what is the means, the upaaya, the way to be free from all of this – and the Guru shares or teaches.

Reflection: What is brought out in this verse is a strong appeal from the student. 95% of people are searchers, 4% are seekers, 1% are disciples whose only discipline is to cross over this Maya. So in this verse, this strong appeal means the seeker is tired of drowning and cannot wade in this water any longer. So they need to know the way to not drown and come out of this mundane existence. 

Maya is our unconscious personality. This gets expressed as Gunas or our subconscious personality, and our Gunas then get expressed as our Karmas in our conscious personality. A lot of times even though our karma or our conscious personality is trying to be disciplined, our subconscious and unconscious personalities are so heavy, so strong that we are unable to rise. All of us need to be clearer about this play between the conscious, subconscious and unconscious so that our conscious personality (our actions), it is not just about working hard, but about working smart. 

In a recent RAD that was posted, it said that a Guide is needed to slow our life down enough to be able to see the sleight of hand that is the magic, the trickery of Maya. Can we imagine our life without a Guide or without Vedanta? Most of us would be much busier then. A Guide is encouraging us to slow down, not externally but internally, to inquire  – Why were we born? What does it mean to be a human? Only a Guide can slow all of this down enough to change our conscious personality to start affecting our subconscious and unconscious personalities.

Another reflection connecting verses 1 and 2 before we get into what the “means” is directly – Vivekji was sharing with the Balavihar kids what gift they can give to God on the occasion of Bhagavan Rama’s and Bhagavan Hanuman’s Jayantis. In the study of Advaita Vedanta, for us, another word for God is Existence. Built into Existence is the power to express as exists – we exist, the chair exists, wifi exists, the laptop exists. It is inherent or inside of Existence. So as we are trying to be clear about Maya – Maya is the expression and if we follow the expression, we will be led to Existence. 

One more way to understand this – Bhagavan’s nature is Div (Light), so Bhagavan expresses as the Devis and Devas – those filled with the same Light. So if we think about God, an expression of God is a Semi-God like Indra, Vayu and so on. So if we can go deeper into them, then we will come to feel The source of that, that is Div. 

We have so many outlets – our Guide, our Semi-Gods – so for us to use these hints that Bhagavan has provided to go deeper. 

In this next verse, we are trying to put out this strong appeal that we are tired of waiting and wading in this meaninglessness.

Verse 3:

Prabhu-krpayaa jnaanena sharanam gatvaa sarvesham

Svayam teertva taarayati janaan sarvaan hi sajjanah

What is The means to be free from this illusion or relativity?

Prabhu-krpayaa – It is  thru the Grace of God, as well as 

Jnaanena – By knowing the illusion

Sharanam gatvaa sarvesham – Go and surrender to the Master

If one follows through with this, and one will, the second line describes those who have been saved

Svayam teertva taarayati  – They have been saved and are now saving others

Janaan sarvaan – they are saving people

Hi sajjanah –  They are those who are noble, those who are living for others.

Reflection: God expresses as Grace, which expresses as guidance, which expresses as granular or specific. It is detail oriented or Subodha. It is designed for us. When we personally know one who is great, the way they live is what transforms us. When we had studied Shri Lakshmana Gita, Bhagavan Rama was preparing Shri Lakshamana as Bhagavati Sita was abducted right after that. But there was a detail we went into in the Ramayana, where Bhagavan Rama and Bhagavati Sita are in the future and know what will happen in the future. So, they started a fire. In a fire, it is hard to see things clearly. Bhagavati Sita went into the fire and who came out of that fire was Maya Sita. Now fast forward to the end of the Ramayana where Maya Sita is freed from Lanka and another fire is started and Maya Sita goes into that fire and who comes out is Bhagavati Sita, showing that the Ramayana is a Leela. Bhagavan is in the future, so why worry about the future.

In our lives, there is Avidya Maya or social media, and there is Vidya Maya which is our community. We have to use Maya to be freed from Maya. Vivekji shared this thought last week – If Maya is an illusion, everything that comes from Maya is also an illusion, particularly our problems. So we should not overthink our problems, but know that they are only relative.

Final thought – The word Jnana in Sanskrtam is a masculine word and Maya is a feminine word. So the implication here in terms of language is that those who are masculine do not understand those who are feminine. So more powerful than Jnana is Bhakti. Bhakti is feminine and can understand femininity better or Maya better. So how do we become free of Maya? It is through Bhakti. Through loving the Master of Maya, we become free. Bhakti is living at Bhagavan’s feet, as the net of Maya never falls at Bhagavan’s feet. 

Next chapter, Chapter 10, is a “what do I do next” chapter. It is called the Purpose of the Universe or jagatah prayojanam. 

Verse 1: Overall verse 27 of Subodha Vedanta 

Shishya uvacha –

Prayojanam svaroopam kim jagatashcha jagadguro

idam roopena yajnaatam, taccha sarvam jagatbhavet

The difference between a seeker and a disciple is that a disciple is more disciplined and  passionate about being free. The disciple is speaking here –

Prayojanam svaroopam kim jagatashcha jagadguro – What is the purpose of the world, also known as the universe? The disciple is asking one’s Guide or Teacher.

Idam roopena yajnaatam, taccha sarvam jagatbhavet – By knowing the nature or purpose of this world, one will live better in this world and know that they are different from this world. The Guide or Guru responds saying that this world is not what we think it is. This world is different and we are different. This will be elaborated upon. 

Reflection: Our Rishi’s have analyzed that we only have three directions of questions in our life –

1. We ask questions about the Jiva – individual – explored in Chapter 4

2. We ask questions about the Jagat – world – being explored in Chapter 10

3. We ask questions about Jagadeeshwara  – Creator – explored in Chapter 5

What is lovely about this verse or this chapter is that typically people ask – What is the universe? Here, it is not what is the universe, but what is its purpose. It is more authentic and deep. It is like when we explored Karma Yoga – more important than the how, is the why. Karma is how, and Karma Yoga is why. More deep than the action is the attitude. All scientists, their field of study is – What is the multiverse?. It is our Rishis – they are not external scientists, but internal scientists – who explored – Why this multiverse? Why was I born? What am I supposed to do until I die?

Here our Guide or Jagadguru, gives the first hint of what the purpose of the universe is. This universe is described as “this” or “known”, but the most personal word is “my”. If there is a “this”, then there has to be a subject to whom this applies. If there is a known, there has to be a knower. If there is a “my”, then there has to be me or I. That is what is being hinted at, that we are different from this multiverse. Me and my can never be the same, just like the knower and the known can never be the same. That is why the previous chapter was about Maya. Maya never lets us reflect so authentically and deeply. Anything that we describe as my, including our children, our hands, that is not who we are. 

Final reflection for this chapter – The only purpose of this multiverse is purity. This multiverse is designed for us to become pure. Pure means less affected by Maya. Pure means closer to Divinity. If we lock in that the purpose of our day, week, month, year, decade or lifetime is purity, our living will become so rich. We will become more interested, more generous, more focused and so on. Those thoughts will come out more clearly in the next verses.

Next week Vivekji will guide us through a review of all 10 chapters we have studied of Subodha Vedanta thus far.

Discussion: What has been the most impactful chapter or teaching from Subodha Vedanta for us?

• Vivekji shared that whoever gave us power, that we should use that power to give back to them. Bhagavan has given us all powers, so for us to use that power to give back to that Original Parent.

RAW: Feel that this body is a house.

If we want there to be Shanti inside  – Tapa, if we want Shanti nearby – Dana, if we want Shanti far away – Yajna. It is very different to wish for Peace and to work for Peace. This is how we can work for Peace – through Tapa, Dana, Yajna. 

Imagine that we can develop any skill or learn any subject we want. If we had to isolate and zoom into one subject, one skill, what would we want it to be if it could come to us instantaneously? Pujya Swami Tejomayananda shares in the commentary to Subodha Vedanta that we listen to teachings on Divinity, but when it comes to reflecting and engaging in manana, we reflect on worldly matters – what people think about me, about all the things we need to do. This is why after studying the Ramayana and Bhagavata and investing so much into these Maps, we now are flowing through Subodha Vedanta to encourage clarity about what we are and the path we have to follow to feel what we are.

Chapter 8 is on in-quiry, in-quiry into the means. 

Verse1 – The disciple asks – What is the inner spiritual practice and the outer spiritual practice? 

The Guide replies – The methods for attaining purity and absorption of mind are the outer practices. Our comprehensive practice should be to bring more balance and focus to our minds, to our inner world. 

Vivekji shared a framework to help us cultivate this balance and focus in our day to day affairs: 

– Provocation – When an outside force is pulling us down. Better than this

– Motivation – When an outside force is pushing us up. Additionally, when we are motivated, we are more balanced. Better than this

– Inspiration – It is an inside force that is pulling us up, no longer an outside force. We will feel that we are inspired when we become more focused. Inspired people are focused on their purpose. But the best is

– Transformation – An inside force that is pushing us up. There is a momentum there and we will feel this when our inner world becomes more reflective. In the Silence Retreat, those who are training in contemplation, they are transforming themselves from an individual to Infinity. 

So what is shared in Verse 1, is for us to develop balance, focus and reflectiveness. 

Verse 2: How to do this, more specifically –

Yajno daanam tapaschaadi sagunopaasanam japah

Saadhanam bahirangam tat kathyate shaastra-sajjanaih

We have flowed through the first three practices to develop a balanced, focused and reflective mind – Yajna – dedication, Tapa – renunciation and Dana – contribution. 

The fourth practice shared is Upasana – to sit near since whatever we sit near, we imbibe that. A physical example is like wood on fire. When we place more wood next to the burning wood, it heats up, dries up and burns as well. But if we put the wood far away, nothing happens to it. So Upasana is to sit near whatever we want to change about ourselves in our life. If we feel we lack discipline, we should sit next to someone who is disciplined. We are fortunate that we have access to Sadhus. A Sadhu is one who lives for others. They are sitting near Bhagavan. That is why they imbibe virtues like selflessness and generosity. So we have Bhagavan who is all-virtuous, a Sadhu who has imbibed these virtues, and now we can sit near them as well as we have that access. 

The next practice is Japa – chanting or meaningful repetition. Whatever we say with our mouth and think with our mind, we tend to develop into that. Some aggressive parents describe their children in a not so polite way, as being distracted and dumb. If children keep on hearing this, will they not turn into that? Similarly, if we say to ourselves that we are so indisciplined, so disorganized, so dumb, then naturally we will develop that. That is the importance of a Divine name. This is why in our culture, we name things like an Ashram, beings by a Divine name. Not a cool or convenient name, but a Divine name. Pujya Swami Tejomayananda says that we do not even have to say this in a formal way. We chant Om Namah Shivaya, but we can just say Shiva. Vivekji also shared in Bhagavata to identify our bodily functions with a Divine name, like when we burp, say Shiva, when we sneeze, say Durga. The point is to think or say that Divine name. Japa is that which will protect us from being reborn. Please do not misunderstand or underestimate the efficacy of Japa. 

Saadhanam bahirangam tat  – These are all known as outer practices or disciplines. These make us more balanced and focused and reflective, so that we can engage in the inner disciplines.

Kathyate – Who said this? 

Shaastra-sajjanaih – The scriptures and those who have followed through with the scriptures. This is not random thinking; this is historical and experiential. 

One more thought: What is being shared in the last quarter is that more important than longevity is sincerity. Sincerity makes one a strong practitioner who feels a strong impact by these practices, strong impact as in becoming balanced, focused, and reflective. Just because someone has been involved with self-development for a shorter period, or one is younger in age, we should not feel held back as sincerity is key.

Verse 3: Overall verse 23 of Subodha Vedanta –

Yenaatma darshanam bhuyaat antarangam taduchyate

Shravanam mananam dhyaanam saakshaatkaarasya saadhanam

This verse connects back to the previous chapter, Chapter 7, which was about in-quiry into the ends and the teaching was that we have to engage in active listening, reflecting and contemplation to reach the ends. In Chapter 8, the inquiry is into the means. How do we get ready for these active listening, reflecting and contemplation practices? Five techniques were shared. Now we come back in this verse –

Yena – By which 

Atma darshanam bhuyaat – we will come to feel that we are not the vasana, but we are the Atma

Antarangam taduchyate – we will only feel this by engaging in inner practices or disciplines that are taking us inwards. These three practices are –

Shravana – active listening

Manana – active reflecting; we listen to Divinity and reflect on it. It is not listening to Divinity and reflecting on the world. 

Dhyaana – Active contemplation. 

These practices are very important. If we think of the greatest hindrance in our evolution, it will finally come down to vasanas. For our light vasanas – the antidote can be shravana; for medium vasanas, it will require shravana and manana; for heavy vasanas, it requires shravana, manana and nidhidhyasana. If we do not learn how to contemplate, we will never learn how to be content. Why? As the heavy vasanas are still trying to make us feel that we are Not the Atma, that we are the unatma or the individual. 

Saakshaatkaarasya saadhanam – These disciplines are the direct means or disciplines to experiencing what we are. They are not optional, but mandatory. 

A revealing teaching from Pujya Swami Tejomayananda – Doing something without this understanding, may either lead us to nothing, something or anything, but not the desired result.

How many of us expected us to be more evolved or more advanced in our journey based on how long we have been a seeker or on this path? This acknowledgement is for us to form clarity, and not feel dejection. Are we clear that we have to engage in these outer disciplines, to be ready for the inner disciplines which are the direct cause for freedom? When we don’t know the ends, we won’t know the means. And if we don’t know the ends and the means, we will never get to the ends because we are not following the means. 

The next chapter, Chapter 9 is on Maya. Pujya Swami Chinmayananda has shared that – We all campaign for Brahman, but vote for Maya. We love to talk about Brahman, but do we actually live by Brahman? No, we tend to live by Maya. 

Verse 1: 

Daivi hyeshaa gunaatmikaa prabhu-maayaa duratyayaa

Aham mameti roopaa saa mithyaa-bhoga-pralobhikaa

When we studied the Ramayana together, in Shri Rama Gita, Shri Lakshmana asked Bhagavan Rama – What is Maya?, and Bhagavan Rama responded with – Aham (i-ness) and Mama (my-ness). Now in Meaningful mornings, in Bhagavad Gita’s Chapter 4, Bhagavan Krishna describes – Mama Maya Duratyaya – It is very difficult to transcend My Maya. 

Something lovely about Subodha Vedanta – Pujya Swami Tejomayananda has been teaching since 1975, for over 50 years, and he has summarized all that studying and reflection in a book like Subodha Vedanta. He has done the thinking for us, so we don’t even have to think about it too much. We have to just follow it, just follow. How many of us take Vitamin supplements? Did we research it or develop it ourselves or do we just take them? Someone else did the research and we just take the vitamins. We do that about medicine, and here this is about enlightenment!

Some reflective points – Starting with the second quarter – 

Maya – Maya has the etymology of Ya Ma Sa iti Maya. Ya means Is, Ma means Not, Sa is referring to the concept of Maya – So, Maya Is Not. So our whole lifetime and lifetimes, we are trying to cross over that which IS NOT. That is why it is Duratyaya – very difficult. What makes understanding and then transcending Maya difficult is that we do not think enough; we only engage in thoughts. Thoughts are not deliberate, are not directed. They just come out. We have thoughts, but we don’t think. That is why even though Maya is not, we feel Maya is. And this is becoming more difficult to understand and transcend because now we live in a busier way than ever. Busy people do not think, they just do. 

In the third quarter – Sa which is Maya, Rupa – gets expressed as, Aham and Mama. Aham is the separation from Atma and as soon as there is separation, comes identification or Mama. 

Who told us that our thoughts are our thoughts? We need to really reflect on this.  Whatever we are thinking about, how do we know that they are not someone else’s thoughts? We just identify without the intention to identify and it just keeps on happening. This I-ness and My-ness is Maya. 

Another insight – Maya is mithya, an illusion. Just like in an eclipse, it seems the sun is going away, but if we are on the Sun, would the Sun ever go away? Sun will not go away until it exhausts its chemical energy. An illusion, when we know it is an illusion, is fun, but when we believe in the illusion, it becomes a delusion. It is not entertaining any more as we suffer. So it is shared here, in this illusion, bhoga pralobhika – we are in the delusion that sense objects will provide fulfillment. If we are honest with ourselves, before we engage in any sense object, whether it’s a cake or a movie, we do go in with the plan that it will make us more fulfilled, but as we are experiencing it and definitely after, we feel less fulfilled. We feel more drained of resources, time and effort. 

A positive reflection – Maya is often described as the original problem. Anything that comes from Maya is also problematic. But if the original problem is NOT, then all of the matters that we think are problematic, are NOT either. So whatever problem is in our life, its cause is Maya. So as Maya is not, the problem is not either. If we have clarity about this, we will never have a problem.

Discussion: What is a dominant cause for us to feel hopeless and a dominant cause for us to feel hopeful? What makes us feel hopeless and what makes us feel hopeful?

Vivekji shared that when he feels hopeless and he reads the Shastra, then that hopelessness becomes much less then. There is a re-orientation towards hopefulness, that there is so much advice and so much love that we should be faithful. Purposelessness also causes hopelessness. Purpose pulls performance. High purpose, high performance. Bhagavan Hanuman is a great icon of one who is hopeful. He is always clear about his purpose. We should also invoke hope and evoke toughness.

RAW from last week: KMF or keep moving forward –  When we keep moving forward, then living becomes much lighter. When we are clear that a purpose supersedes a person, we keep moving forward. It is that person who is slowing us down, with their judgments or their moods and so on. But if a purpose supersedes that, then we have to keep moving forward as the purpose is bigger. That is why a Guide is not described as a person, they are described as a purpose. Gurudev is often described as an institution.

RAW: Write or document all the false promises we make to ourselves.

A much broader and deeper subject than AstroPhysics or any other science is Reality, studying Reality, being intelligent about Reality and that’s what we do in Advaita Vedanta. That’s what we do in our Sunday courses. We study Reality. We know there is a relative reality and an Absolute reality. But how are we supposed to live in this relative, in this Absolute reality? With the relative reality, our relationship should be loving, and being independent will take us to the Absolute. We have had the best icons to teach us. First with Bhagavan Rama who is most loving, and yet most independent. An example was when He took on so much negativity to protect Bhagavati Sita’s name. Then Bhagavan Krshna who allowed His entire family to be corrected. He cared for them, but allowed them to be corrected. Swami Chinmayananda and Swami Tejomayananda were most loving, yet most independent. It is for us to follow the same.

Two weeks ago, our class focused on making sense of detachment and the main thought was that detachment would come naturally to those who are content. If we are becoming more content oriented or content, then detachment will come naturally. If we are very hungry and a tray of desserts is presented, we would want it all, but if we are full and the tray of desserts is presented, theoretically we should not want it or be detached from it. For the one who is Independently Joyous, the notions of tyaga or letting go do not have to happen externally, in a formal way; they are all natural. 

Reviewing some thoughts from the last class about God – 

Therefore, Existence alone is the cause of the Universe. United with its own power (of creation), this Existence is known as God, Ishwara, – the Almighty Lord. You should surrender to Him, the all-pervading One. 

The main thoughts related to this verse – Whoever gave us power, it is natural or right to serve the one who gave us that power. Let us try to feel all the power we have in life – physical power, financial power, emotional power, etc – so to try to serve the one who gave us that power, with that same power. The primary source of this power is God, so the natural, right way to live is to serve God with that same power. 

Another thought from this verse – If we try to find ourselves at the feet of Bhagavan, we will naturally start to feel what Bhagavan feels. Bhagavan is all-pervading, all-potent, all-peaceful. We will also start feeling this Bigness. Shared in a more Jnana oriented way – If we become an instrument, all of that power or Grace from the One who is holding us will flow more fully and naturally. 

That was Chapter 5 on God (according to Vivekji the hardest chapter thus far), and as we have completed our review of Chapter 6 on Faith prior to that, now we will review Chapter 7. 

Verse 1 – Anyone can attain any goal by the right means alone. In order to gain something which is unattained, the means are knowledge and action. 

What Pujya Swami Tejomayananda is sharing in this verse is that if we are clear about the purpose, that will pull the related path. If we are clear about the ends, the means will come. If it relates to SQ or Self Realization, Divinity is in the details. The ends, the means, specificity is needed. We cannot be casual about this. That is why our RAW from last week was Vyashti manana – to only reflect, not just reflect while engaged in another verb or action.

Another thought from this verse relates to Rshi Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Chapter 1 is on Purpose; Chapter 2 is on Practice; Chapter 3 is on Power, the power that comes from following Yoga; Chapter 4 is on Peace. Vivekji is sharing this so that we are clear that the purpose of Yoga is not power, but rather Peace. If it were power then that would be the final chapter. In the Bhagavad Gita, the final chapter is on Moksha, Peace. So as we start to be clear about the purpose, it is not about power or success, but Peace. When we are clear about the purpose, that path will become clear as well. 

Verse 2 – If something was unattained due to ignorance, then knowledge alone is the means to gain it. Clear knowledge arises by inquiring through a valid means of knowledge. 

That which is apraapta (we do not have), two verbs are needed then – knowing and acting. We have to know how to get what we do not have, and then have to act in that way to obtain it. However, that which is praapta (we have it), but we do not know it, we have forgotten this, in Sanskrtam – avidya, then only one verb is needed – just knowing, and not acting. We are so stuck on doing that even when the means is knowing, we intellectualize it to think that we still have to do something. We just have to KNOW. We do not have to do. That is the difference between an objective science and a subjective science, and if we understand that, this verse will become clear..

Now new content from the 3rd verse of Chapter 7 which is on In-quiry into the Ends – 

Verse 3: 

shravanam mananam dhyaanam vedaantasyaiva saadhanam

prochyate svaatma-laabhaartham mukhyatastu guroh krpa

Shravana – Active listening, Manana – active reflecting, Dhyaanam – active contemplating of Vedanta –  these are the means. For one to know what is inside of them, the final three means are active listening, active reflecting and active contemplating. This is said to be the way to know, feel the Self. The fourth, but primary way to know the Self is through the Grace of one’s Guide. 

Shravana feels like this is the message. Do we ever listen to the news and feel that this is the message that we need in our life? No, we never feel that. But Shravana is the message, and the message is “I” is Infinite. 

Manana has the specific purpose of feeling that this message is Real. We have a lot of doubts about I being Infinite, but through manana these doubts get purged and we feel the message is real.

Dhyana or Nidhydhyasa feels like the message is real and personal. We have vasanas or habits that are anaatma. They make us feel that the message is real, but it doesn’t apply to us. However, through contemplation we feel that this message applies to us. 

Connecting all this, if we feel that we are holding ourselves back, a reason for this is attachment – attachment to our identity, to our ideas, to our vasanas. That is why the opposite of attachment is passion for others. By being passionate about all beings, animals, plants and stones, Vedanta becomes more powerful.

The fourth factor which Swami Tejomayananda has described as most important – How we can feel God is through Grace and how we can feel Grace is through Guidance. If there is God (there is), inherent to God is Grace, like if there is a Sun, then there are the Sun’s rays. Even if the Moon is in front of the Sun, like in a Solar Eclipse, the Sun’s rays will still be there. And God’s Grace is felt as a Guide who is sharing guidance. It is such guidance that makes us practice and feel that this is not theory, but application.

In the next chapter, Chapter 8, the theme is in-quiry into the means – verse 21 overall.

Verse 1: 

Saadhanam-antarangam kim bahirangam kimucyate

Chitta-shuddhi-samaadhaana-kaarakam saadhanam bahih

Saadhanam-antarangam kim – What are the inner or advanced means? – The student is thinking to themselves as this was stated in Chapter 7 – Antakarana sadhana.

Bahirangam kimucyate – What are the outer or intermediate means? – The student is asking what will help him follow what is stated in Chapter 7. 

Chitta-shuddhi-samaadhaana – That is purity and focus, immersion

Kaarakam saadhanam bahih  – The outer practices are to prepare the mind, with purity and focus. 

Bahikarana or outer disciplines, these train us for the antah karana or inner disciplines, but two very specific qualities are needed, which are Shuddha – a balanced mind, Samaadhaana – a focused mind. If we do not have a balanced mind, if we do not have a focused mind, then active listening, active reflecting and active contemplating are not happening, which means we are not feeling that – I is Infinite. Only the balanced and focused mind can finally become reflective.To be a shishya or disciple, we have to be reflective. 

We will only study the first quarter of Verse 2 and study only three of the many Bahikarana sadhanas or outer practices – yajna, daana and tapa.

Verse 2:

Yajno daanam tapaschaadi

Further reflections from Vivekji – three of the many Bahikarana sadhanas –

Yajna means dedication and when we are dedicated, we start to feel bigger. In Sanskrtam, the word for Infinity is Brahma or Bigness. So yajna or dedication is training in feeling bigger than what we feel now. Pujya Swami Chinmayananda has described this as a cooperative endeavor where when everyone is living for a purpose, it doesn’t matter about the person – whether we like it, we don’t like it, whether it’s comfortable or uncomfortable.

Dana – Swami Tejomayananda has shared that Dana in English is charity, but for us it is contribution. He has shared three statements, all starting with It. See if this describes us –

• It is to give to the needy generously and respectfully. 
• It is to share what we have as a duty as we thank God for showering us with abundance
• It is to take on the responsibility of taking care of the less fortunate and is a meritorious way of distribution of wealth. 

This is an awesome checklist on contribution. In Bhagavad Gita’s Chapter 17, Shri Krishna describes Dana as daatavyam – as one’s responsibility, and not an opportunity. Another reflection Vivekji shared is that since we are Prasada loving culture – Prasada is when a result or Karmaphala comes to us, we share it and what is left, is for us. So who are the actions for? Others. Who are the results for? Others also. And whatever remains, is for us. 

Tapa is renunciation. It is to conserve our experiences and equipments, resources and time, so that one has more effort to burn the ego. Just like a rocket needs a certain amount of escape velocity to get out of the Earth’s gravity, to burn the ego and push the ego into the Spirit, we have to conserve. That is why renunciation leads to Surrender. More practically, tapa is what trains us for Titiksha. Tapa is voluntary discipline and Titiksha is discipline, but not by choice. Vivekji encourages everyone to choose discomfort so we can train ourselves in dvaita. 

We will continue with this chapter next week. 

Discussion: Vivekji shared the names of three icons who are great, loving and independent – Bhagavan Rama, Bhagavan Krshna and our Gurus (Sadguru-Shishya-Parampara). What are practices for us to develop KMF – keep moving forward? Being loving and being independent and continuing to move forward.

Vivekji shared his reflection that when we know that all is changing including this body, why judge it? Do we judge clouds? The clearer one’s purpose, the easier it is to keep moving forward. 

• Bhagavan Rama’s purpose was not Himself. He even went to the jungle based on what the King said, and not what His father said. 
• Bhagavan Krshna taught Rshi Uddhava and so many that He is Bhagavatam, so that many had something to hold on to. 
• Swami Chinmayananda felt that NRI kids wouldn’t know about Sanatana Dharma as parents themselves didn’t know that much. So Gurudev starting Balavihar was his caring for our children 50 years ago. 
• Pujya Swami Tejomayananda, when he gave up leadership (in a secular way) of Chinmaya Mission, he was still healthy – physically and mentally. It was to keep moving forward and help someone else lead. 

RAW from last week:

Vivekji shared that the more we offer intensity, the more we get clarity. Intensity leads to clarity. This map and course is about clarity. We feel the message when we are engaged in active listening. If there is a lack of clarity, then it is possibly because there is a lack of intensity. 

RAW: KMF – Whatever happens in this week, we keep moving forward. 

Vivekji shared that he is planning to give a talk on Faith helps healing and that the prayer we chant at the start of our class Om Sahanaa Vavatu is most universal and it shares – “May we be safe, May we enjoy, May we exert, May we shine – apply what we are learning, May we understand. If we follow through with these, then there will be Peace inside, Peace nearby and Peace far away”. 

So much of the knowledge or what we know, we use for proving and competing, basically we externalize the knowledge. However, when it comes to Self Development, it is not about competing or proving or externalizing, but it is just about ourselves. It is about our not so good version competing against our better version and our best version. That is why after seven and a half years after investing in our grand Maps like the Ramayana and the Bhagavata, we are now investing in a shorter and simpler Map called Subodha Vedanta, which basically means Clarity about Self Development – to be clear about it. When we are clear about Self Development, we will stop asking others – How are you? Instead, we will ask them – Are you happy?. How are you tends to be about the context, but Are you Happy is about the content. Normally, when we are asked – Are you happy?, we tend to deflect. And when we say we are happy for a reason, then we are not really happy as when we are happy for a reason, then that reason will come and go. 

Summarizing the Chapters studied so far:

Chapter 1: Invocation

Chapter 2: Disciple

Chapter 3: Guide

Chapter 4: Spirit

Chapter 6: Faith

Chapter 5: Divinity or God

Continuing with Chapter 5 on Divinity or God, we tend to approach God in an artistic way. If we are asked – How does God look? How does Divinity Sound? – there is an artist’s image of that. Looking at an altar, some of us may see Bhagavati Lakshimi, some of us may see Bhagavati Radha, and some others Bhagavati Sita. That is an artist imaging our interpretation. But in this chapter, God or Divinity is defined as Existence or Sat. That is not open to interpretation – Existence IS, whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not. 

So, let us try to train to live less in a gross way and more in a subtle way, in a causal way – We see a pen, and we can say it exists, but if it exists, there has to be something more than exists, which is Existence. The pen is gross, it exists is subtle, but Existence is irrespective of it being a pen or the pen existing. So that is causal. We have to train ourselves to have such a narrative. 

Another example is looking at seeds which over time can become a tree. It is from this Existence of the seed that the potential for so much more to exist, happens. So if we are asked – What is God? What is Divinity? – the most universal explanation is that God is Existence, irrespective of the religion or spirituality we follow. 

Chapter 5 – Verse 3: 

Sadeva kaaranam tasmaat tatsvashaktyaayutam prabhuh

Ishvarah sa hi vijneyah yaa hi tvam sharanam vibhum

Sat eva kaaranam tasmaat – Therefore, the final cause of creation is Existence. We can deny a lot about ourselves, but we cannot deny that we exist. That is the most fundamental part of who we are. 

Svashakti aayutam prabhuh – This Existence is endowed with its own power and is independent. That is why we call this Existence Prabhu, Lord, Master. 

Ishvarah sa hi vijneyah – And this is what we should know in life. More important than any IQ or EQ is to know the foundation, that is SQ or Spiritual Quotient. 

Yaa hi tvam sharanam vibhum – To this great Presence, we should know This and we should Be This. 

This is how Chapter 5 is concluded.

Vivekji asked how many of us believed in God, Divinity, then followed by asking how many of us know God/Divinity. Fewer hands were up for knowing God. What happened between believing and knowing? What is missing between believing and knowing is Faith. Faith is a facility that changes us from believing to knowing. So the next question is – How do we develop Faith? How does one become more faithful? By reflection or manana. If we feel we don’t know Divinity enough, perhaps it is because we do not reflect on Divinity enough. Wisdom comes with reflection. We typically reflect in a casual way, reflecting while we are doing other things like eating, driving, washing dishes, messaging and so on. We don’t just reflect. Instead, we should reflect in an intense way, in a vyashti way. This is how knowing comes to be. 

Chapter 7 is on Inquiry into the Ends. What is the difference between Inquiry and Enquiry? An example of this difference is – The government sets up an enquiry commission, but for us it is inquiry – Are we following the means or following the ends? 

Chapter 7 verse 1: This is Verse 18 of the book.

Saadhyate saadhanenaiva saadhyam kimapi kenacit

Apraaptasya hi praaptyartham jnaanam karma ca saadhanam

Saadhyate – means can attain or can get.

Saadhanena eva – means you can only get if there is the right path or process

Saadhyam – is the ends

Kimapi kenacit – only through this can we get to the goal

If we want to reach the ends, we have to have the right means. For example to measure sound, we use decibels and to measure liquids, we use liters. We cannot measure sound in liters. If we are clear about the ends, then we will become clear about the means, but if we are unclear about the ends, we are not clear about the means. 

The more relevant line is –

Apraaptasya hi praaptyartham – if we don’t have something or it is ungained

Praaptyartham – to gain this we have to do two things

Jnaana and karma – We have to know and act.

This is the saadhana or means.

If we do not have something in our lives and want it, then we have to know everything about it fully and then act on it to get it. However, if we already have something, but are not feeling it, then the sadhana is not knowing and doing, but just knowing. For example, suppose we wake up early and are groggy. We put on our glasses and then forget that they are on and think that we need to find our glasses. What do we need to do to feel those glasses? We don’t need to do anything as we are already wearing them. We just need to know that we are already wearing them and that in itself will help us see better. We just need to know it. 

So now – Who is the source of our Joy? It is ourselves. We are already the source of our Joy, but are not feeling this. So we just need to know this. That is what is most powerful about spirituality and Self-Development. We don’t need a specific context. We do not have to go anywhere, as that Peace is us. So we have to find our Peace wherever we are. Those who reject this, they become escapists. They keep trying to change their context, instead of changing their content. What are some ways in society that people escape? Watching too many movies, too much alcohol, and according to Vivekji, being a workaholic. Some people work and work and work, escaping from working on themselves, their own competitive nature. This is easily justified for them. They are working on the context and not on the content.

Final thoughts: We started our satsanga today by understanding what Holika dahana is, which is dropping that which is wrong and holding that which is right. 

We are doing this through Subodha Vedanta, that is clarity on self-development, to not theorize this, but to follow this.

There is a big difference between knowing about happiness and knowing happiness. It is not passive, but it is active. 

Chapter 5 is about God, Divinity, Existence being most universal. 

It is for us to train ourselves to have a more causal narrative, and not live in a gross way. 

Chapter 7 is on inquiry. If we do not have something and want it, we have to know it and then do it. But in terms of being Happiness, we cannot create Happiness and once we are clear about that, we stop trying to create Happiness by manipulating the context and instead, we inquire more. Upon inquiring more, we have to know what we are, not who we are. When we are sleeping, we don’t know what time it is, what season it is, but when we are sleeping, we are happy and we know nothing, which means we have nothing, but we are still there. We do not know what is limiting us in terms of clothing and money and so on. But we cannot deny we are not there, as our being is there. Trying to create joy is tiring.

Discussion: What can we do to be less intellectual about Happiness and to experience Happiness more?

Vivekji shared that when we get tired of theory that is when we really start to apply. “Theory doesn’t affect people’s lives” – from Oppenheimer. When we see the deficiency of theory, application comes more naturally. 

RAW: Try reflecting only, without engaging in another action at the same time.

We commence all our courses, our workshops with a prarthana in order to realize our potential. Maa Vidhvishavahai – May we understand who we are! By doing so, peace radiates from the inside out – Shanti, Shanti, Shantih!

Back in the day, when one studied in an Ashram, students and teachers shifted from Ashram to Ashram. Now let us try to envision that our courses are like moving from Ashram to Ashram. Our courses are the most intense offering in our community. They are weekly, they are Map-based, the expectations of the students are high in terms of self-development. However, back in the day, as students and teachers went from Ashram to Ashram, in Bharat, there was the monsoon. In the four-month period, when it was too rainy to move, they stayed in the jungle, in an Ashram. This period is called the Chaaturmaasya in Sanskrtam. It is an immersive experience to be more introspective. For us, that is a Retreat, which is a more immersive experience than the weekly classes. 

What we are doing in our courses is Veda-Anta-Advaita. Veda means to know. Know what? Anta, what’s inside of life and me. And those who follow through with their self development to Self Realization, what are they going to find? Advaita. They are going to find Oneness. Whoever they are, wherever they are, everyone will find the same Oneness. Naturally, a course on Vedanta Advaita will trigger, will express as Viraga or detachment. This Retreat is on “Making sense of detachment” and when one makes sense of attachment, one starts to live by detachment – from raaga to viraaga. Through our courses and Retreats, we are studying the documented experiences of those who have felt this Oneness, this detachment. For some, it is Subodha Vedanta, and for others, it is Bhagavad Gita. In Bhagavad Gita proper, we are using from Chapter 2, the Sthitaprajna Lakshanas. Chapter 2 is the syllabus of Bhagavad Gita and in this chapter, there are signs of those who have remembered how to be Happy, how to be Joyous. Here is a review and KMF – Keep moving forward!

Chapter 2, Verse 55:

Prajahaati yada kaamaan sarvaanpartha manogataan

Aatmanyevaatmanaa tushthah sthitaprajnastadochyate

The first and foremost sign of the one who is feeling Oneness and detachment is contentment. If we want to know whether we are evolving or not, the first sign would be cheerfulness, which is the means, but the ends is contentment. Some practical pointers on this verse are – 

• To become content, we must shift our power from context to content. We give less authority to our outer world and more to our inner world. 
• We should be grateful for what we need. Most of us have 99% of our needs met, needs related to space, water, retirement fund and so on. If we are grateful for this, contentment will arise.
• We should guard what we want. And there are lots of things we want, so we should guard ourselves from getting trapped in our wants. If we use parameters for the time we spend on our wants, we will begin to shift from context to content. 

Chapter 2, Verse 56

Dukheshvanudvignamanaah sukheshu vigatasprhah

Veetaraagabhayakrodhah sthitadheermuniruchyate

When I am in a bad space, my mind is balanced. When I am in a good space, my mind is again balanced. So the second quality of someone who is feeling Oneness, who is feeling detached is they are balanced. 

Bad spaces and good spaces come and go. So they are relative. If we think of all the relationships in our life, they have come into our life, which means they are going to go from our life. That which is relative, we can interdepend on, but we should be careful not to depend on. Interdepend means we are functioning together, but depending means when we are expecting from the functional that which is fundamental. That is a dysfunction. So here Shri Krshna is sharing – be balanced with that which comes and goes. We will not hold on to it so tightly then. 

2nd line – veeta – to renounce , raaga – attachment, bhaya – fear, krodha – anger. The 3 As are – we tend to be attached, which causes us to be afraid, which causes us to be angry. How to be without this? – By practicing detachment, we begin to detach from fear. After being attached, we become afraid. So how do we know we are becoming more detached? We are becoming more courageous as we have less fear. Fear manifests as stress, anxiety, worry, nervousness. Pujya Swami Tejomayanandaji shared a leveling thought on this verse- We don’t fear death. We fear detachment. Imagine if we all died together, we would be OK with death. But we are not OK with death because we know we are not going to be together! 

Sthitadheehi – Those whose inner worlds are strong, Uchyate – they are described as Munis, as those we want to be. 

In this verse, four more qualities have been shared – be balanced, to be independent, to be fearless, to be accepting (opposite of anger). 

Three more practical pointers from this verse on practicing detachment, then fear and anger will go away – 

• When it comes to articles, like our clothes, jewelry, phones, we should practice minimalism. The less articles we have, the less there is to hold on to.  
• When it comes to circumstances, a way to develop viraaga is to choose discomfort. The more comfortable a circumstance is, the more we want to be in that circumstance, but if we intentionally choose discomfort, then we do not want to be in that circumstance. 
• When it comes to beings, we should feel we are serving them. Seva is about giving. If we have nothing to gain, then we have nothing to lose. Then we become less afraid, become less angry. 

Can we do this? Will we do this? 

Chapter 2, Verse 57:

Yah sarvatraanabhisnehah tattatprapya shubhashubham

Naabhinandati na dveshti tasya prajna pratishthita

Yah – the one who – the implication being the one who is following through with these different markers, these lakshanas

Sarvatra – everywhere

Anabhisneha – Sneha is another word for attachment, but specifically attachment to the lower (Prema is Love for the Higher)

1st Quarter – the one who in all circumstances is without attachment

2nd Quarter – As they are engaging everywhere

Tattatpraapya – they touch this, they get that, they feel that. 

Shubhashubham – some of it is shubha, some of it is ashubha. Some of it is what they want and they like, and some of it is what they don’t want and what they don’t like. 

Putting the dots together – It doesn’t matter what circumstance one is in, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, while one is in that circumstance, one is practicing detachment which means we do not escape. When we experience that which is unpleasant, we try to escape. When we experience that which is pleasant, we escape towards it, which means we are escaping from that which is comfortable or normal. 

Some review here before we proceed – Prince Arjuna feels that being happy is impossible. Leave alone happy, he feels not being afraid is impossible. However, in Verse 54, he begins to shed this impossibility, and he asks Bhagavan Krshna – Tell me, how does the Happy person think? How does the Happy person speak? How does the Happy person sit? And how does the Happy person walk? Looking at the genesis of the questions – How does the Happy person be in a super controlled environment, which is their own mind, to a super uncontrolled environment, which is wherever they are walking? And Bhagavan Krshna is sharing that they are the same in the controlled environment and in the uncontrolled environment, which is everywhere. They are the same everywhere. 

How can we bring this line to life? By feeling one noun in every verb. That one noun can be Divinity, Awareness, Presence, Bhagavan. We feel Bhagavan in every verb, in every action that we do. That is how these signs of one who has felt Oneness and detachment will be ours. The complication with us is that we feel different nouns in different verbs. It is overwhelming. Feeling one noun in every verb is also overwhelming, but in an awesome way. Expressing this in the language of Meaningful Mornings – One insight should flow through our sight. We see lots of differences, but the one insight that these differences are only in names, forms and qualities, but the Center, the Locus, the Dhama, is not different from us. Continuing –

Na abhinandati na dveshti – abhinandati – likes, dveshti – dislikes. As they are going about living, they are without likes and dislikes, and that’s why

Tasya prajna – their wisdom, their knowing, pratishthita – it is established

The way we can ensure that our learning from the Retreat doesn’t get loosened, is to tie it more tightly. That which is important to us, we tie it more tightly, and that which isn’t, we tie it loosely. 

Some practical points on how to live Verse 57 –

• Dislikes and likes are indicative that we are not living in God’s world. Who lives in God’s world? God! If we really feel that the Creator has created this world, we would also feel that the Creator is in creation. Can we dislike God? No, we don’t. So since we don’t dislike God, that should also evolve to not liking God, as liking indicates specificity. We liking one God indicates us disliking another God. Children may do that, but not us adults. Beyond likes and dislikes is Prema, Love – to feel that we are living in God’s world
• From bigger picture to smaller picture – We must try and feel that what we are doing is our Dharma or responsibility. If it is our Dharma or responsibility, our emotions towards it are not applicable. With Dharma, likes and dislikes go away. They are not applicable.
• What is the way to start to practice to have less likes and dislikes? With food, to try to treat food like medicine. If we feel food is medicine, we wouldn’t take too much of it, nor too little of it. We would take it at the right time, and we wouldn’t need it to be tasty. This is training for rightness that is Dharma, which is training for This is all Bhagavan. 

The theme of this Retreat is Making sense of detachment. The slogan for this Retreat is Slow down. The mascot or visualization for this Retreat is a Turtle or Tortoise. And now the next verse –

Chapter 2, Verse 58

Yadaa samharate chaayam koormongaaneeva sarvashah

Indryaanindryaarthebhyah tasya prajnaa pratishthitaa

Yadaa means we should automatically go to our checklist. Tadaa is coming.

Samharate – hara means to take, so Hari means the One who takes. When we chant Hari Om, we are asking Bhagavan Hari to take away forgetfulness, and then what will remain is Om. Samharate – the One who is able to take away completely. 

Iva – like, Koorma – a tortoise or a turtle, angaani – the limbs – the way a turtle is able to take back its limbs completely (Are we able to do so? – If one says, stop being distracted. Can we? Give up mustard. Can we?)

Indryaani – our senses, Indryaarthebhyah – the wealth of the senses which means the sense objects – If we are able to take back our senses from the sense objects, like a turtle is able to take back its limbs, that means we have remembered how to be Happy.

Tasya prajna pratishthitaa – Our remembrance or wisdom is strong.

Final reflections or points – 

• Artha means wealth, what we get. The person who feels that sense objects are their wealth or what they can get, that is a sign of how shallow they are, how little they feel they are. Someone who lives for sense objects, only feels they are the body. They don’t even feel they are the mind or the intellect. They feel they are small, so they live in a small way. Vivekji’s thought flow for us – How dare we live like that? For all of us, who have been exposed to the possibility of the Highest, us being the deepest, how dare we live in a sensuous way? That is an insult to our Trust Triangle. 

• Everyone of us does need downtime. As we engage in downtime, whether it is going to a movie, to a restaurant, eating ice cream, while we are doing it, we must treat it like a movie, like a play, like a game. We should have no expectation of it, not be confused in any way that the movie is going to make us Happy. Then it is so easy to give one’s senses and take them back. It’s only a game! We should neither have higher expectations, nor lower expectations. 

• As our sense organs are engaged with sense objects, we should keep a tortoise or a turtle near us. In our culture, we put a turtle or tortoise right outside of our home (or inside the home in colder places), to remind us to let go of the secular and hold on to the sacred, to stop going outside, and start coming inside. In Sandeepany, as soon as we get to the top of the stairs to go to Bhagavan Shiva’s mandir, there is a turtle facing Bhagavan Nandi, who is facing Bhagvan Shiva. The first thing we do is touch that turtle. We are using our sense organ to touch a sense object, but it is a reminder now, for us to pull all of our senses from outside of that mandir to what is going to happen inside that mandir. Then we go and meet Bhagavan Nandi. The culture is that we privately whisper in his ear “Can we meet Bhagavan Shiva?” Generalizing that, Bhagavan Nandi is symbolic of Dharma. If we have followed our Dharma, it will be very natural to us that we are going to whisper to Bhagavan Nandi that we really want to be with Bhagavan Shiva. Next, we are supposed to ride Bhagavan Nandi to Bhagavan Shiva. If we follow our Dharma or our responsibilities, we will reach Bhagavan Shiva or Brahma or Infinity or our Nature. That’s how awesome the traditional design of our mandirs are. 

One more point – Between Bhagavan Nandi and Bhagavan Shiva, we are never allowed to cross that. That’s why in the Sandeepany mandir, there is a pool of water there, not allowing us to cross that. The idea is that we should never cross Dharma, which means no complaining, no blaming, no annotating. In many mandirs, one does not follow this tradition. But now that we know these traditions, we should walk around and be with Bhagavan Shiva or Brahma. So we must keep a turtle near us. 

Making sense of detachment or attachment, both make sense. If we make sense of it, we will follow it. We went through Verses 55-58 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita, Verse 58 ending with our Retreat mascot, which is a turtle. This turtle is a reminder to slow down. Slowing down is a reminder to make sense of attachment – it doesn’t make sense. To make sense of detachment – it makes sense! 

Discussion: Why do we forget that which makes sense? We can see the clarity right now, but how come it stops making sense? Next part – How can we keep making sense of this knowledge?

Vivekji shared – If we imagine someone who has to run a lot, they will eventually become out of breath, and when one is out of breath, they can’t keep playing the game. Those who live in a busy way are like those who are out of breath. They just cannot be intentional. They just cannot remember that which is not in front of them. So the whole notion of turtle, slow down, make sense of attachment and detachment. We are busy. 

Vivekji’s thoughts –  In a harsh way, we are shallow or we very much live by preya. Shallow translates into being small hearted in the short term. Satvik Daatavyam – Largehearted in the long term, but we tend to be the opposite. This is what we identify with and that’s why unlearning this is very hard. Vivekji has observed that seekers who are under 40 tend to come to these courses and Retreats to learn, but those who are older come to unlearn which is more challenging than learning.  

RAW from last week – Read Chapter 5 of Subodha Vedanta which is Proof of God. Vivekji feels that when we read it everyday, Proof of God makes sense to us, that God IS. Everything else has come from God IS. 

RAW: Re-establish our turtle. Fix it, clean it, reorient it or set it up if we don’t have one. 

May we be safe, may we enjoy, may we exert, may we shine, may we understand. Today, we will focus on the power of understanding. We pray for this to manifest and when it is present, then Shanti Shanti Shantih. We have a tradition of chanting Shanti three times, from loud to quiet. The first two Shantis are connected and the second two Shantis are connected, but the last one is a standalone. The reason for this is that the first locus of peace that is felt and needed is within oneself (inside our inner world). Then, we can be a catalyst for Shanti nearby, like family and community. The third Shanti, which is the quietest, is for those who are far away, like society and humanity. So, if the individuality is peaceful, then they become a catalyst for family and community, and then it is peaceful families and communities that become a catalyst to radiate that peace to society, to humanity, to animals, to plants and to stones. We have now completed our insights into this universal prayer. We should continue with this clarity and to use this prayer, use it as our life plan, in our work spaces, and if we don’t use it, we will lose it. If we use it everyday, we would then be living this prayer. 

We are in a yuga, in an age where what we need the most is Satya. Satya has lots of meanings, and the simple meaning is ideals. This is why our Creator is facilitating our need by reducing the barriers for Satsanga (we become clearest about ideals in Satsanga). An expression of this is that we are now able to attend Satanga virtually as before it had to be in-person. Another great expression is Subodha Vedanta, a simple map to affirm what we have learned in the Ramayana and Bhagavata. 

The 6^th chapter is on Faith or Shraddha. When we explored the Ramayana, only after Bhagavati Parvati, who is the icon for Shraddha (Faith), and Bhagavan Shiva, who is the icon of Vishwasa (Trust), only when Faith and Trust come together, did Bhagavan Rama or Joy come. Bhagavan Rama was not born until the 135^th page of the really large book that Vivekji was teaching Ramayana from. That is how much of an investment in Faith and Trust is needed for Joy to arrive. Vivekji recently explored the Rama Gita to facilitate a Devi Retreat with the theme “Finding our Roots”. We are exploring Rama Gita in Subodha Vedanta as well. Finding our Roots is really being strong in Faith. 

In The Rama Gita, Shri Lakshmana asks Bhagavan Rama 5 questions:

1. What is Jnana?

2. What is Viraga?

3. What is Maya?

4. What is Bhakti?

5. What is Ishwara?

Bhagavan Rama answers these questions, but in the order that he knows Shri Lakshmana needs – 

1. What is Maya? – Separation

2. What is Jnana? – Unification – If what we are learning is not leading to unification, then it is not jnana or knowledge.

3. What is Viraga? Independence

4. What is Ishwara? Independent – The jiva or ego should practice independence so that we become Ishwara or the Spirit, which is independent. 

This whole Rama Gita is building up to the 5th answer.

5. What is Bhakti? Dependence – For the one who feels separate, to depend on the One who is independent

Connecting this to Subodha Vedanta, where is this samvada or discussion happening? The samvada between Shri Lakshmana and Bhagavan Rama is happening in Panchavati. Pancha is five and vati means trees – five strong trees. Before Bhagavan Rama answers, He almost offers this non-verbal language to Shri Lakshmana, implying that if he wants to be receptive to His answers, he needs to have firm Faith, like these strong trees. So these are the five types of Faith we have to nurture in order to feel these answers, and not theorize them –

1. Faith in Sadhana – discipline – If we do not have faith in discipline, we will never follow discipline.

2. Faith in Sadhaka – disciple – If we do not follow discipline, we cannot become a disciple then.

3. Faith in one’s Sadguru –  Guide. One’s because it is personal. The disciple needs to have that personal relationship for that Guide to become one’s Sadguru. The less faith we have in ourselves, the less faith we will have in our Sadguru.

4. Faith in Shruti – map or scripture – A map describes a purpose. A Guru is a person. What is extremely difficult for us to theorize, leave alone apply, is that more important than a person is a purpose. 

Some reflections – If we look at the Bhagavad Gita, Prince Arjuna starts the Mahabharata war identified with the Purpose of Dharma. In Chapter 1, that collapses as he shifts from purpose to persons – it becomes about the Pandavas. That falls more and hits the ground when it moves to person, when it becomes just about him – Arjuna.

Our whole lives we have been educated and trained that we are important; our name should be on the forefront. But we are now infused with this sacred orientation that we are not important, that purpose is more important. Our name is not important, but the person who is providing this opportunity is important, and it is very difficult for us to release this cancer. The only way to do surgery on this cancer of doership, is to have a personal relationship with one who is great. 

5. Faith in Sadhya – Ends or God. This is the highest Faith. Though we feel we have Faith in God, we still have fear which means we do not have enough Faith in God. We cannot have fear if we have Faith in God. 

Faith is not a casual matter. If it is casual, it is belief, possibly blind belief. We cannot jump into becoming faithful. It requires incremental change to develop this powerful value or virtue. 

We began this course with Chapter 1, the Invocation and we studied 2 verses in 2 classes. Next, Chapter 2 is on Student and we studied 3 verses in 2 classes. Chapter 3 is about Teacher and we invested 2 classes in studying 3 verses. Then Chapter 4 is about the Self. It is about the journey to find the Self with a dialogue between a searcher and a seeker. Vivekji then jumped to Chapter 6 – 3 verses in 1 class. Why skip Chapter 5? Because we have more faith in ourselves than in our God. We have more faith in our reality than God’s reality. Chapter 6 is about Faith and Chapter 5 is about God. Vivekji wants us to be clearer about building up the same Faith that we have in ourselves to the Faith we have in God. 

Now Chapter 5, Verse 1 or the 12^th verse thus far. 

Verse 1:

Sarveshvarosti nasti vaa shankaam maa kuru he somya

Asti nishchitam shraddhatsva tato jnaatum vichaaraya

Sarveshwara – the Master of all, synonym for God

Asti nasti vaa – Does God Exist? Does God not exist? 

Shankam maa kuru – This doubt or confusion, please do not have 

He somya – My child, the one I love and am trying to protect – Please do not have a doubt about whether God exists or doesn’t exist. 

Asti nishchitam shraddhatsva – God Exists – be decisive about this and this comes through Shraddha. 

Tatah jnaatum vichaaraya – We will know this if we engage in vichara or reflect. 

If our default is not reflecting, then our default will be deflecting. That personality type will then be indecisive and be filled with doubts. If we are an overthinker, that is a sign that our default is deflecting, instead of reflecting. Vivekji shared that in his life, when it comes to Satsanga, Seva and Sadhana, he describes himself to be decisive. But when it comes to worldly matters, he is more indecisive or just doesn’t care. 

Reflections on  this verse:

• Sarveshwara or God, in terms of philosophy, is described as the Supreme Truth. Another word for Supreme is First and the implication of that – On account of the Supreme Truth, can there be other truths? If the first is not present, we cannot get to the second. There is an implication here that this is the start or foundation. 

• Sarveshwara or God is known to be independent, or in a practical sense, not conditional. Pujya Swami Tejomayananda’s commentary shares – Whether we believe in God or not, doesn’t affect God. Whether we like God or not, doesn’t affect God. If we all do not believe in a certain restaurant, eventually that restaurant will go bankrupt. If we like a certain phone, if there is demand, there will be a supply – it is conditional; God is Not like that. 
• God is self proving. Do we need a light to see the Sun? The nature of the Sun is light. Similarly, the Nature of God is Truth, is Independence. It itself is proof. Everything else needs proof, not God. Even wanting proof of God is highly illogical. It is too egotistical to accept that. Another example given in our scriptures is of fire. Touching fire is proof for us that fire is hot, but fire doesn’t have to do anything to prove that it is hot as its nature is heat. 

This chapter, Proof of God, requires the most reflection. 

Verse 2: A very conclusive verse 

Asti roopena chedbhaati jagat-sarvam tathaiva tvam

Asato naiva kalpyeta utpattirjagatah sthitih

Asti roopena cha bhaati – Our life has been filled by experiencing that which exists. Have we ever experienced the horns of a rabbit or a hare? We never experienced it or never even thought about it until now. There is no logic or beauty in that. 

Jagat-sarvam tatha iva tvam – This includes this whole multiverse and us. We only experience that which exists, including the macro and the micro. 

Asato na eva kalpyeta – It cannot be hypothesized that the cause or the foundation for our experiences can be non-existence. 

Utpattih jagatah sthitih – specifically in the utpatti (creation) and sthiti (conservation) of this multiverse. 

A few more reflections –

• We have never experienced non-existence, especially our non-existence. We have to exist to experience our own non-existence. 
• Everything we are experiencing cannot come from non-existence because non-existence does not exist. What is the source of this creation? We cannot say it is non-existence. Have we extracted light from a dark room? We cannot do that. Also, that which  exists cannot go to non-existence. For example, a tree can be destroyed into logs, which can be further destroyed into ash. But we can see that the tree exists, the wood exists and the ash exists. So what is being destroyed is only the names and forms. Science says the same thing that energy is neither created nor destroyed – it just changes names and forms. Hydro power changes into electric power – it is still energy. Nothing goes to non-existence. If we really feel what is being shared, we cannot die. We weren’t born, so we cannot die. So we should stop being afraid.
• We cannot see existence. This pen and pencil exist. Exists and existence are different. Exists is an expression and we can see that. Existence is causal and we cannot see that. It requires insight. Our personality, in the way we engage the world, we have to drop this gross relationship, that living is about eating and drinking, money and power, and become more causal. We should train ourselves in that. 

Discussion: How do we know we have Faith in God?

• Vivekji shared – He knows he has Faith in God because all that we have studied in this chapter makes complete sense. There is so much that happens in our life that doesn’t make sense, like why are people moody? That doesn’t make any sense, but this chapter does. 

RAW: Read the 11 pages of Chapter 5 daily.