January 27th 2026

In general, people do not tell the truth because they don’t want to hear the truth.  Such people who don’t want to hear the truth feel that everyone is too direct. The way to become a seeker who does not make matters personal is ‘purity’. Purity is a direct way to freedom and joy. The more pure one becomes, the more one is oriented towards directness. An auxiliary benefit to this is, ‘purity pulls priority’. The more pure our inner world becomes, the more we will be able to tell what is important and not, and accordingly say a hard ‘yes’ to certain things and a hard ‘no’ to certain things. 

In verse 6, the theme of our class related to ‘resolve’. Advaita (oneness) is all. Sociologists and psychologists say that humans are social animals, and so they like to look after each other. But there is much more to this, the divinity in you and the divinity in me is divinity! So our resolve should be to do all you can to follow this oneness. This following is called ‘vrata’ – to make a promise to oneself to be accountable to others, to follow through with following ‘oneness’. 

In verse 7, the theme is ‘resolution’. The first resolution is ‘tapa’. Tapa has many interpretations, one of them being ‘to focus’. It is to burn down the sense that ‘you are only a human’. The third level of bhakta is one who feels that Bhagavan is in a murti only. The second type of bhakta feels that Bhagavan is in ‘manavas’(human) only. But the best bhakta is the one that feels Bhagavan ‘is’, Bhagavan ‘is all’ (stones, plants, animals, humans) . So we need to burn down this sense that we are an individual. Vivekji shared that someone had asked how to not get annoyed when someone is not completing their responsibilities, and Vivekji shared that everyone is a ‘part’ and we can only do our part and not be concerned about what another person is doing in reference to their part. We just have to follow through with our part. So this connects with ‘we are not an individual’ , we are not separate. We are infinity and we are united! 

In verse 8, the theme is ‘inquiry’. The technical reason for inquiry: the purpose of shravana (active listening) is to dismantle ‘abhavana’ (meaning this is not possible). For most who are uninspired, for them to feel they can live without stress is not a possibility. But when we actively listen, we come to feel that this is the message i needed in my life. The purpose of manana (also known as vichara) is to dismantle ‘asambhavana’ (meaning this is possible, but i don’t think this is possible for me). Example: that person can run a half marathon but not me, that person can be a morning-person but not me). But when we start to engage in inquiry/vichara, we start to feel ‘this is possible for me also’. The way for us to know we are inquiring is, we start to feel it is possible for us! The message is personal. The purpose of nidhidhyasana (contemplation) is to dismantle ‘viparitabhavana’ (that is the wrong identification/identity). Only through contemplation do we unlearn our wrong identity and go beyond identity. So inquiry is a mandatory practice. 

In verse 9, the theme is ‘revealing’. When we inquire, ‘who i am’ and ‘what i am’ is revealed. In verse 9, the first line comes from Bhagavad Gita’s Chapter 4 verse 38. The second line is from Bhagavad Gita’s Chapter 4 verse 10. We should feel that everything that has happened in our life and will happen in our life is a ‘call’, it is divinity calling just ‘you’. Everything article, being and circumstance is being staged for us to listen to this call, to reflect on this call, to contemplate on this call – there is only Advaita. For those who actually come to feel this, for them it becomes very easy to unlearn that you are an individual. I am only an individual in reference to ‘you’, but if there is no ‘you’, then how can there be an individual?! 

Verse 10:

etad bhagavato vākyaṁ svātma-śiddhaikasiddhaye

vicāryate mayā samyak śri harirme prasīdatām

This verse is about ‘inquiring’.

Etat – this (referring to the previous verse)

bhagavataH – that which is belonging to God

Vakyam – these words come from the divine (divine’s call)

At the end of the Ramayana, the question put out is what is the greatest ‘papa’(demerit) and the answer is gossip! When one thinks negatively and then speaks the negativity out, then it keeps on spreading. The way gossip spreads, satsanga spreads too! 

Why did Sri Krishna not fight the Mahabharata war by himself and give Arjuna all the weapons? It is because all of that is limited by context. That is all dravya or physical. But by teaching, the teaching spreads! These teachings helped Prince Arjuna and these teachings will help us too! These are God’s words or Upadesha, but it should be felt as Adesha (instruction command).

Swatma – what i feel to be me

Shuddi – purified

Ekasiddaye – this is the only purpose  

This is the only way to become pure. This is me transcending the ego.

The more pure our inner world becomes (signs being we are more balanced, more focused, more reflective), the more we tune into reality. All that we are experiencing are names, but more than names are forms , more than forms are qualities and more than qualities is existence/awareness. So all that happens to us is an opportunity to purify who we feel we are. 

Vicharyate – engaging in inquiry

Ma ya – by me

Samyak – well

Here is the system for inquiry which has 5 parts.

Step 1: pratijna (teaching). Bring in to your heart the teachings from Sri Krishna. 

Step 2: hetu (rationale). What is the rationale behind this teaching?

Step 3: udaaharana (example). A similar experience or example. What does dreaming teach us?  It teaches us about maya. Sleeping teaches us about Advaita. A dream is not directly maya but it is like maya, sleeping is not Brahma but it is like oneness. These examples are important because we are already oriented towards the world and this helps us to learn more from the world. Another importance of ‘udaaharana’ is to have a role model who is following the same. 

Step 4: upanaya. Now that we have found the teaching to be rational and have an orientation to this, what is the application of this teaching? How am i supposed to live this? What is the utility of me actually implementing this teaching? 

Step 5: nigamana (clarity). If we have gone through all these processes, this teaching becomes real and personal. 

Srihari – Bhagavan Narayana or Hari

Meypraseedatam – May He/She/Multiverse be pleased with me, May they support me and grace me with courage.

What makes a sincere seeker a strong seeker is courage! The courage to follow what is important, the courage to practice and letting go of gossip, the courage to hold on to the processes of inquiry. We should rate ourselves and inquire into – are we growing in courage? If the answer is no, then we need to think about why that is! Pray for courage!