Review

Last class, we learned about jagātsakshi, which means to be observant. Being observant means being mindful of your surroundings, and your actions. In other words, observant means to look at things from a different perspective, in a positive, open-minded, accepting way.

Lesson

In today’s class, we learned about phalasaktirahita, which means: to be accepting. You have two options, you can fight against the situation (opposite of phalasaktirahita) or learn to be better, understand and accept what happened (phalasaktirahita). Accepting your surroundings is a key quality to have, and it means: being okay with whatever happens, and contently reacting to it.

Story

There was a saint, who had no home (believed in aniketa), went to bathe in River Ganga, and met a man. That man spits at him because he does not believe in god, while the saint does. This arrogant man became thirsty after spitting at the saint 108 times. The kind saint gave him water, and then the thirsty man asked the saint,” I spit at you so many times, so why are you helping me?” The content saint replied, “I should be thanking you. You spit at me many times, and because of that, I got to bathe in River Ganga 108 times!”

Moral

The saint had the ability to transform something negative (the man spitting at him) to positive (bathing in the River Ganga 108 times). He had this ability because the saint accepted the situation. That is the ability we all should have; cheerfully accepting the conflict, by changing the negative consequences into a positive scenario.

Practice

Shakarji randomly chose a few people, and each person had to do a quick task Shankarji gave them. The goal of this is to be accepting, and turn the anonymous task into an opportunity; happily accept the challenge.

Questions

Q. How do you talk to someone who is being egoistic in the current conversation you are in?

A. Play along with the conversation, to avoid any conflicts. In order to understand their point of view, interpret it differently, and be in their position. Know the reasoning behind what they are saying, and then can you make good decisions on how to resolve the conflict.

Q. How can I control my emotions and stop them from getting out of control and hurting others?

A. Try to keep yourself calm, by doing or listening to something peaceful. The goal is to try to detach your mind from those negative emotions and thoughts. You could even just move away from the conversation, take a few deep breaths, and refresh your mind, then come back with a content mindset. Also, identifying your emotions and feelings is a challenge, but if you practice that ability, it will help in those scenarios.

RAW

Build a snowman, and accept this fun challenge.

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Notes by Sidh Sridhar

Today the name of gurudev was Phalasaktirahita. It means one who is accepting.

What does acceptance mean?

Acceptance means to not resist something. The attitude of cheerful acceptance is one of the most important attitudes to develop in our lives. We don’t have control over many things in our life. We have two options whether we fight against our situation or we try to grow from our situations. Palasaktirahita is about trying to flow with whatever comes our way. We should take something that seems negative and find the positive. That is acceptance. It is an attitude.

Practice

Captain Shanker asked students randomly to do a task and they would do it and if they did not know they could make it up.

Questions:

Q: How do you talk with someone egotistical?

A: Play along with them. Don’t confront them about it.Sometimes, it is a matter of interpretation. In this circumstance you should try and look at it from Other person’s perspective.

Q: How should we express our emotions?

A: Just remove yourself from anyone else and do something which is therapeutic. The hard part is to identify when you have a lot of emotions.

Q: What if you disagree with someone and you don’t want to become angry but you still become angry?

A: Always settle conflicts when calm. If you aren’t calm you should do something else and bring the topic up later.

RAW:

Build a snowman.