11/9/22

Notes by Vikram Ranganath

• Krishna asks Arjuna how to overcome the feeling of knowing right action but it brings sorrow, how to overcome?
• When I am so confused or overwhelmed, how to use mental energy efficiently?
• One central idea: how to let go of what my mind wants to do right now, instead do the thing that I know I should be doing.
• Prince Arjuna asked: What is sacrifice? (How does a person who is constantly acting in the right way, what do they look like?)
• Lord Krishna responds: Such a person is able to let go of desires for immediate pleasure – crucial ability for all to pursue their goals.
• Let go immediate joy, delay the expectation to a later point (Delayed Gratification)
  • Ex: Marshmallow experiment: put a marshmallow in front of a child, if a child can wait to eat one marshmallow, they will get a greater return of marshmallows.
• Delayed gratification: fundamental ability to all successful endeavors, our ability to work and plan towards the long term.
• When we condition our minds to be constantly engaged, we are not training our minds to delay instant gratification
  • Mind so focused on how to get what it wants for the short term.
• Famous story: Abraham
  • Abraham was a faithful servant of God, 
  • One day God tells him, Abraham has to climb to the top of his mountain and sacrifice his first born son.
  • God says it is OK do not kill him, at the top of the mountain, I just wanted to see that you were willing to do this sacrifice for something greater.
  • Encoded idea that:
    • There is a future: in order for greater joy in the future (good life), Abraham has to do something now (sacrifice son).
    • Abraham is acting out a universal truth that in order to find any success, you MUST sacrifice in the present.
    • In Hindu philosophy: “yagnya”.
• Question is, how to let go of these desires, sacrifice these desires?
  • Dedication comes first, then sacrifice.
  • WHen thinking of sacrifice, during pooja, we sacrifice to an altar.
    • EXACT same framework is true in our actions: sacrificing everything we can use our time for, to an altar (often of pleasure)
      • Ex: Should wake up, but wants to sleep, sacrifices to pleasure
  • What we are really worshiping in our minds, is pleasure, the immediate feeling.
• First thing to break out of this: have clarity, KNOW which altar, ideal, we are sacrificing towards.
  • A motivation that would inspire us could help keep going, go for the long term goals.
    • Ex: history paper: doing it for the SAKE of discipline, being a disciplined person.
• Next step: Somehow getting ourselves to let go of all bad tendencies and habits.
  • Good way is to take more responsibilities, be in charge of more stuff, do more things for all.
  • Introduction of new things will motivate us to become more efficient.
• Last step: No need for anything else to be happy, be here and now.
  • No need for XYZ to be happy or feel better, think that you need absolutely nothing.
  • So much more satisfaction when we are able to face the pain that we fear head-on.
  • We say to the pain that it does not have the power to control us.