Notes by Arnav Chugh

Reflections/Summary/Key points from ALL previous classes:

• Align yourself with a purpose
• Outcomes are determined by you
• When your mind is not in a state of indecisiveness, you work better and have clarity
• For there to be clarity, there must be reflection

Discourse

3 qualities of the wise: fearlessness, Oneness, and Independence

Fearlessness:

• What are people fearful of?
  • Death
  • Unknown
  • Sorrow

• When you reflect on these, there is a contradiction 
• Scriptures say to be happiness but these fears are inevitable
• There is a contradiction because we work with the wrong knowledge
• It’s because of the belief that we are this body which causes us to be limited.
• Scriptures tell the real truth, however, and tell us that these experiences with our fears are somewhat false (not real).

Oneness:

• Our scriptures share there is only oneness
• And desiring is not possible in oneness, which eliminates problems
• Perpetual contentment is not possible
• But with a vision of gratitude, we let go of our expectations
• Invoking a vision of constant learning keeps us at peace

Independence:

• Nothing in this world will complete you
• Being the source of joy is important

Because of our fears, we have something to gain and let go

Fearlessness becomes natural once one understands oneness

Example:

• Sumanji’s Party poop story
  • You need to go really badly meaning REALLY BADLY in the middle of a party where the bathroom is in the middle where everyone can hear vs. when you are at home  

Path to oneness is cultivating the qualities of the wise

Practice oneness by changing your vision

Dynamics:

Process to approach fear – 4 steps:

1. Write down 3 things you are most fearful of
2. Take notice of these fears and introduce them to your mind
   1. Take notes if you found a spot of where your fear manifested,
   2. Pay attention and be curious about the qualities of this spot
3. Having done this , it’s time to inquire, ask yourself why are you so afraid, and then answer the question
4. Observe slowly carefully shift from inquiry to observation just ask what’s going on now
   1. What is happening?
   2. Do this every 30 seconds or minute
   3. Allow your thoughts to run freely without being judgemental
   4. Become the observer

One should be proactive and prepared to engage them in a systematic way 

I personally used the cockroach fear

By approaching the fear in this way, we disempower this fear. Its a systematic and nonjudgmental approach

RAW: Keep a tally of every time you avoid a specific responsibility, and then write down why you did that. (Make a tally)

Notes by Dwija Ramesh

Discourse: 

Today’s quality is fearlessness. Typically we are afraid of :

1. Unknown
2. Death
3. Sorrow

When we think about these three fundamental fears, and the truths shared by our scriptures, there are contradictions. Our scriptures share that your nature is Happiness – sat cit ananda. They are in direct contradiction because we are functioning with the wrong knowledge – that we are the body. 

Starting philosophically, our fears of these are because we feel that we are this body and we don’t want it to end, feel pain, or not know what is coming. This is what limits us. Our scriptures tell us the opposite – that what we are experiencing is the relative truth. If we operated solely on our senses, we will still believe that the world is flat. If we were to subscribe to this knowledge, we realize that in oneness, who/what is there to desire? There are no verbs in oneness which means that we are complete. Desire stems from a feeling of incompleteness. Duality draws in separation and thus these three fears. Our purpose is to correct this notion and realize that there is only oneness. Nothing in this world will complete us – we are the source of joy and it is in our power to project this joy into our actions. Change is something that is constant. Our attitude in action is the only thing that can keep us balanced throughout every change. It is from this wrong thinking that we have something to gain and something to lose. Tuning into this knowledge will help us realize that there is only oneness so there is nothing to gain and nothing to lose…..it just is. Self development and reflection(leaving thoughts) helps our mind to free itself. Virtue development will help purify our mind so that we can think about this knowledge, otherwise, there’s no iCloud data to store it in.

Example: Imagine that you are at a party and you ate the dip that had been out for a while. Your stomach starts rumbling and you feel uneasy. At the same time, the person you are attracted to walks through the door. You feel conflicted because you need to use the bathroom in an explosive way (thank you for the details Sumanji), however, you don’t want anyone, especially the person you like, to hear you. We have the fear of being ridiculed or making a fool of ourselves. However, if we were alone, there is no fear (we joked: our house has the fear now 🙂 ). The more attached we are to the situation and the duality we feel, the more fear we have.

Activity:

For two minutes, think about what you are most fearful of.(3 things) 

When your fears come in front of you, the reflection and inquiry you put in will help you face them in a calm and collected way rather than a reactive and truly fearful way. 

RAW: Last week, our RAW was to pick a part of our room every day and organize it. External organization influences internal motivation and organization. Being clear about our purpose and goals is internal organization because all is clear and accessible.

This week’s RAW is: Keep a tally of every time you avoid a responsibility and write down why.