February 10th 2026
Vivekji shared how winter tyres are needed in some cars and when the switch happens from all-seasons tyres to winter tyres, a wheel alignment is needed. Without the wheel alignment, there is a slow deterioration of the tyres, wheels and brakes – this example was to highlight how our short-term and long-term goal need to be aligned. Pujya Swami Tejomayananda has shared that there has to be an alignment between our short term goals and long-term goal! Our long-term goal is freedom. Our short-term goals have to be aligned with that for us to realize this long-term goal, otherwise it will never be a reality. Swami Tejomayananda shared that so many live their lives based on bhoga (someone who is trying to find completeness externally – someone who buys too many clothes or someone who talks too much so that they can be heard) and they think that when they retire they can engage in yoga (they think their mind works just like a switch that turns on and off), but when such a person engages in contemplation or chanting, all one struggles with is roga (disease – physical disease and the disease of the mind which is loudness and lack of ease). So if one lives by bhoga then there is only going to be roga. But if we live by yoga (integrity) there will be experience of yukta (oneness). Our Jnana class using Manah Shodhanam, is a course in honesty – to be honest with the short-term goals to be aligned with long-term goal. The more honest we are, this becomes a course in accuracy, where we course correct our short-term goals to align with our long-term goals.
Vivekji shared that later this year, a book called ‘Self Development Essentials’ is going to be released, which is based on the Thursday study group from last year. One of the frameworks that is shared from Pujya Swami Chinmayananda starts off with ‘introspection’ (getting to know oneself more). When we get to know ourselves more, it is like us going from inquiry theoretically to inquiring (in an application way). The next part of this framework is ‘detection’. We come to know our successes, and if we are authentic and deep we come to know our vices.
Verse 11:
rāga-dveṣa-ādayaḥ kāmaḥ krodha-lobhādayo api ca,
ahaṁkārastathā svārtho vividhā manaso malāḥ
The first set of vices relate to the mind – Raga, Dvesha, aadi (etc)
Raga or likes is when we are being moody. A moody person is one who has let go of the functional because they want what they like.
Dvesha means dislikes. Pujya Swami Tejomayananda has shared ‘freedom is doing what we don’t want to do’. If we are doing what we don’t want to do with the right attitude, we become invincible and there is no context which can shake us or break us.
Aadi or etc here refers to Abhinivesha. Abhinivesha is fear, specifically the fear of aging and dying. The more purpose we have, the less we will fear aging and dying. So the ultimate remedy to experience a fountain of youth, where we age and die but actually don’t age and die is to have purpose.
The next set of vices ,which is going deeper into us, , from the mind to the intellect – Kama, Krodha, Lobha aadi.
Kama means desire. Desire is a sign of incompleteness. It means that we are not happy with our life. This gets expressed as Krodha.
Krodha means anger. Kama gets expressed as krodha because the probability of us getting what we desire or want is low. This makes us angry, we get angry at ourselves and we get angry at others.
If we do get what we want, then it becomes Lobha or greed.
Desire comes fast like a tornado (Trinavarta) but greed comes slow (like Pralamba from Sri Krishna’s life). So we have to be more careful with greed.
The ‘etc’ here refers to Moha , Mada and Matsarya.
Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Matsarya are known as the six enemies (shatripus). There are just three that are more internal and they get expressed more externally as the forthcoming three.
In Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna overtly shares that there are three gates to hell which are desire, anger and greed. Anything that is inside will come outside, so the fourth is moha (confusion). Someone who is struggling with inner desire, inner anger and inner greed just gets confused about what they should be doing! One is so consumed with the loudness of what is inside of them that they don’t know what to do. If they do know what to do, then comes ‘Mada’. Mada means arrogance. Anger and arrogance are very similar. An arrogant person is easy to anger. Matsarya is jealousy. If one who is confused thinks they know what to do then it gives rise to arrogance, but if they don’t know what to do they look at someone else and become jealous. Vivekji shared how jealousy is like a match stick, first you burn and then you burn others.
The vices of the intellect come to be because of the more serious vices of the ego (which are more like Vasanas) – these are Ahankara and Svaartha.
Svaartha means identification. Svaartha is me identifying with ‘some’ instead of ‘all’. If we love all people, then it is called detachment. When we love ‘some’ people, it is called attachment.
Identification comes from ‘Ahankara’ which is separation. Only if an entity is separated can you identify with it, if it is not separated we cannot identify with it. The core of this text (Manah Shodhanam) is about ‘how to use the intellect’. The untrained intellect is ever instructing, the trained intellect is ever inquiring.
In verse 8, Pujya Swami Tejomayananda is sharing about ‘inquiry’, specifically the benefits. In verse 10, He is sharing about ‘inquiring’, specifically the practice. In verse 11, it is no longer theoretical, but it is the application of inquiry which will lead one to discovering these deepening vices.
Verse 12:
ete sarve hi dṛśyante citte calati jāgrati,
pralīnaṁ ca yadā cittaṁ naiteṣāṁ dṛśyate gatiḥ
First quarter:
Ete – refers to what was shared in the previous verse
Survey – all of these vices – likes, dislikes, fear, desire, anger, greed, confusion, arrogance, jealousy , ‘my’ness (svaartha) and ‘i’ness (ahankara)
Drishyante – they are seen
Whenever we reflect on seeing, we tend to associate seeing with our eyes open. But the ‘seeing’ here can only be done with our eyes closed.
After introspection and detection, what is coming in this verse is ‘negation’. What do we do about all the vices? A catalyst to all this is being alone more.
One of the sadhanas Vivekji had shared earlier was ‘EAT’ – Eat alone time. At least one meal a day, we should eat by ourselves. During this alone time, we should close our eyes and see what is happening in our inner world.
Second quarter:
Chitte- means in the mind
Chalati – when the mind is moving
Jaagrti – the mind is moving in the waking state
Pujya Swami Tejomayananda is sharing that all of these vices, whether light, medium or heavy are only experienced in the mind as thoughts when we are awake.
The mind is made up of thoughts. Stress is a thought. When we go deeper into thoughts, thoughts are an expression of separation. We don’t fear ourselves, but fear everyone else – because we feel they are separate from us. When we feel an entity is separate from us, we have so many thoughts about it.
Vivekji shared the following quote He came across: “You have never thought on what is a thought” (from Pujya Swami Chinmayananda)
If there is separation, the automatic deduction or feeling towards this is – what precedes that or what is more fundamental than that is ‘oneness’ ! Separation can only be of oneness.
Third quarter:
Praleenam – to dissolve
Yadaa- when
Chittam – the mind
When the mind is dissolved, then it means there are no thoughts. Then automatically none of the vices will be there as well. When we are asleep, there is no mind , no thoughts, no anger, no my-ness. This means that these vices only belong to the inner world but we are more than the inner world because we do have the experience of not having these vices. The nature of nature is that it does not change. For example, if sugar is not sweet, then it is not sugar! If the sun is not hot, it is not the sun! The nature of sugar is to be sweet and the nature of the sun is to be hot. It may be true that the nature of the mind is all the vices, but sometimes the mind is not there! Sometimes the mind is quiet. So we should not brand ourselves or limit ourselves to feel ‘i am like this and will be like this forever’ !
Fourth quarter:
Na etesham- none of these
Drishyate gatih – none of these mind games, or thoughts or separation is felt when we are not in the waking state
Vivekji shared that in a long-term relationship in general, people normalize stress. This course should be a message to not normalize stress. The message for this verse is to not normalize these vices. The deeper we are the less normal these vices are, the deeper we are the less we will be subject to these vices.