October 21st 2025

A slogan that Vivek ji came across at a Canadian Bank was “There is more to life than more…You are richer than you think”. We can all relate to this in a non financial way. But we need to learn to navigate this in our lives. With the right environment/community, one does figure out how to navigate and nurture this richness and how to be happy. Our Jnana class is this incubator for what we instinctively feel for us to act on this.

To do so, one has to give time and effort. When it comes to a sacred field like Self development, shortcuts end up becoming the longest route.

Recap:

Our last class focused on dislikes. We might feel like we don’t have dislikes until a particular context arises where that dislike starts to be felt. It was just dormant. When we accept that we have dislikes, it is will power to apply ourselves in our Sadhana/Dharma that does dissolve dislikes. We have to follow through with our Sadhana and our responsibilities (Dharma), then dislikes do come to be dissolved. The Divine blesses seekers who are engaged in Sadhana and Dharma by removing their supports. These supports are our dislikes. For example, as long as I depend on a tire, I am subject to the limits of that tire. But if I don’t depend on it, then whatever happens to the tire, doesn’t happen to me. This is how one goes beyond dislikes.

We all feel that there is more to life than meets the eye, we just don’t know how to find it. Having the right community helps us to find it but there are no short cuts. One does have to give great time and effort. Sw. Tejomayananda ji shares that we are so in touch with the world that we have lost touch with ourselves.

The sign that we are dissolving our dislikes is when there is more clarity in your life/profession/relationships/ purpose. Dislikes are clouding the clarity. The sign that one is gone beyond dislikes is that one is always relaxed! Our Upanishads state that no matter the context, a master is one who is always relaxed.

This Class: Theme is “Floating” (This refers to our state of knowing but not knowing)

Verse 4:

kathamchid yadi jāyeta, tattvecchā poorva-karmatah;

bodhah api jāyate yadvā, tat nishtha na eva sambhavet.

Quarter 1:

Kathamchid= somehow

Yadi= if

Jāyeta= arises/born

If somehow inquiry (of purpose of life) starts to grow in us.

Reflection: Older seekers complain that their minds are noisy and cannot engage in Japa. This is disheartening because if we cannot engage in Japa, then contemplation is hard. If we cannot contemplate, we cannot be free. We will be reborn again and again….This is a terrifying scenario. The reason for the noisy minds is because of lack of prioritization of useful thoughts/actions. We should prioritize that which is useful so that there is less noise outside and inside. When we start to live usefully, we retrace how we became a seeker. The sole dominant reason why any of us is a seeker is because of Kripa (Grace). You seeking is a blessing from the divine and we should therefore use this more fully.

Quarter 2:

Tattva= foundation

ecchā = wanting this

poorva-karmatah= past actions

Swamiji says if somehow what rises in us is an inquiry into the fundamentals it is because of our right actions and this is true but this is number two in relation to Kripa (grace).

Reflection: Punya is when we engage in the right actions. Right actions pull the right attitude. Right attitude pulls the right Atma. In Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna uses Atma for so many references (body, breath, ego, spirit etc). So the wrong Atma would be me feeling that the body is the foundation. Right Atma is when I start to prioritize this is not me and this is me.

We feel most strongly about Right Atma when we are in the right context but when context changes, we cannot continue to follow the higher, that is when we are floating. We know but we don’t know. We study but we forget.

To review, Without contemplation we can never be content. That means I have to live usefully. I become a seeker when I live usefully. The catalyst for me to live usefully is Grace. A characteristic of a seeker is that he/she is ever grateful. The secondary reason for our inquiry is our punya. Right action leads to right attitude that then leads to right Atma, knowledge that I am not the body, mind and ego. We do feel this but it is context dependent. When context changes, we fall. We keep lifting and lowering and this is because mind is not pure enough. The more we accept this, we will work on purifying our minds in ALL contexts.

Remembering God 99% of time is not being God. When I remember God 100% of the time, then that’s me being God!

In our Upanishads, there are two primary characteristics of a guide: Shrotriya and Nishtha. Shrotriya means they are educated and Nishtha means they are established. Many of us are shrotriya but Nishtha is missing. To be firm instead of floating. Nishtha is irreplaceable. Keep rising until we cannot rise anymore! That is our trajectory.