September 28, 2023 Class Notes by Isha Darbari

Introduction

Anecdote from Vivekji on how his kids made each other laugh by just saying “I’m tickling you.” That wouldn’t work on us, because we don’t give meaning to just the words.

·  Avidya = ignoring; when we don’t give something meaning (ignoring ourselves and our power); can make the worst experience meaningful, and the best experience boring

·  Vidya = remembering ourselves and our power

o   A Dialogue with Dharma = a course to mature out of avidya into vidya

About the Yaksha Prashna: 

·   Vana Parva — one section (parva) of the Mahabharata

One day, when the Pandavas are in the jungle, a forest dweller’s asks for help to retrieve his aradis (tool to kindle fire) that got tangled in a deer’s antlers. They run around but can’t find the deer, end up sitting beneath a tree tired and hungry. Yudhistra tells Nakula to go find water. He sees a crane and infers there is water nearby. When he reaches, he hears a message from nature that says, “This is not your water, you must earn permission to drink this water.” Nakula doesn’t not listen, and upon drinking, he dies. This becomes the prelude to the Yaksha Prashna, this popular potent dialogue on Dharma.

Discourse

Recap

Question 1: What makes the Sun rise? The creator

• Personalizing: The Sun = the scriptures/ map
  • The Sun brings light and clarity to the world
  • In the same way, the scriptures (Mahabharata, Gita) / map bring light and clarity
    • Ex: thinking via WWW – what would the wise do
• In our culture, the Vedas are known as Narayana’s breath; visualize that God breathed out, and that crystallized to become our scriptures
  • Anecdote: When the kids were very young, went close to their nose to check they were breathing and know they are alive; this is how we can follow and feel God 

Question 2: What travels with the Sun? The devas

• Personalizing: The devas = senses
  •   For us: our senses are what illumines the world for us 

• What distinguishes animals and humans? Intellect
  • Animals can’t be enlightened
  • If our intellect is aligned with our map, then our senses will be pulled towards the intellect, that is being pulled towards our scriptures
  • Imagery of this in the Bhagavad Gita
    • The path = sense objects
    • Horses = sense organs
    • Reigns / ropes = mind
    • Charioteer = Shri Krishna, who symbolizes the intellect

Today’s Questions: 

Question 3: What makes the Sun set? Dharma

• Our Sun/ scripture only has 2 subjects: dharma (responsibility) & brahma (serenity)
  • If you follow your responsibility -> you will feel serenity
  • Once serene -> one no longer needs the Sun/ map because they are already at the destination 
• Absolute perspective: dharma = integration
  • Integration is a means to oneness
    • Ex: Bring your hands closer and closer together; can’t move it closer once they are already one 
• Relative perspective
  • Micro level:
    • When one engages in their responsibilities well during the day-> at night the mind is quiet and one rests well
    • If one is irresponsible -> at night, one keeps thinking about what wasn’t done
  • Macro level:
    • Once one has engaged in a specific privilege for a length of time ->  should leave/ retire to give that privilege and opportunity to others/ the next generation   
• Establish your personal tactile narrative for this question 

Question 4: In what is the Sun firmly anchored? The Truth 

• Absolute perspective: all that is created has to have a creator
  • Within every effect is the cause/ the effect is rooted in the cause
  • Implication: Rather than ‘where is the creator/’, the question is ‘where is the creator not?’
    • Anecdote: Sri Ramana was asked by a man “Show me God.” He moves his finger left to right. The man repeats “Show me God!” Sri Ramana then moves his finger right to left and says, “if God weren’t here, how would this finger move?”
• Relative perspective: when you know who you are, you know what to do
  • When you know your roots, you can go far from those roots, but still be rooted (similar to how one’s job title & job description go together) 
  • Ex: Prince Arjuna’s identity crisis
    • Shri Krishna did not teach Prince Arjuna how to be capable; he was already capable (ex: able to shoot Acharya Bhishma even though his eyes were shut from crying so much)
    • Rather, Shri Krishna teaches him who he (Prince Arjuna) is and what his roots are and Prince Arjuna becomes incredible.
• Establish your personal tactile narrative for this question
  • Vivekji’s answer : “Save the drama for your llama” 

Question 5: What makes a human learned? The study of the Vedas  

• Absolute perspective:
  • In our Upanishad, there are two dominant qualities of a sadguru (a guide to the truth): srotriya (eloquent) which comes from nishta (experienced)
    • The one who has experienced independent joy can be eloquent about it  
    • When we come across “self-made” learners, we must be cautious ask whether what they are saying/doing/thinking is right? When one is solo, really one is isolated    
    • So to truly have nishta, one must have learned from someone who is already experienced, ie parampara (tradition)
• Relative perspective:
  • Question posed to class: For those 10+ years out of college, what % of what you learned in college do you use? Most answers ranged 5-10%
    • Implication: WAY more important than IQ (intelligence quotient) is EQ (emotional quotient). And WAY more important than EQ is SQ (social quotient).
    • The more you shift from IQ to EQ to SQ, the more one feels masuchah  (“don’t worry”)
• Establish your personal tactile narrative for this question 

Discussion Subject: What are practices to strengthen your willpower?
Vivekji’s Reflection: Publicly announce the change you will make in your lifestyle (in a humble way, not preachy way)

·  Ex: until you actually register/ pay for the GRE/MCAT/DAT, do you actually start studying for it? Or if you think about doing a half marathon but don’t actually register?

·  Announcement helps with accountability  

Dialogue

• Question 1 – “We have normalized referring to prakriti as matter — can we in the same way normalize referring to consciousness as energy?”
  • If prakriti is matter; then purusha is spirit, not energy
    • Consciousness and energy are not synonymous
      • Energy is not intelligent, it’s not expressing cit (awareness)
      • Ex: My body is energy but not aware of itself; my hands don’t know if it’s holding a pen or pencil
    • Consciousness is existence, not energy
      • Energy depends on existence, but existence does not depend on energy 
      • Ex: There are places in our multiverse without energy (ex: blackhole), but they still have existence 
  • Existence and awareness are not different from each other; wherever there is existence there’s awareness, wherever there is awareness there is existence
    • Suppose awareness and existence are together, and I remove awareness from existence, then how do I know the existence? I don’t, because there’s no awareness
    • Suppose awareness and existence are together and I remove the existence. It becomes non-existent.
    • Energy is the expression of that, not the foundation
• Question 2 – “What is the difference between the intellect and the mind?”
  • Overall, it’s sufficient to know that there’s an outer world (context) and an inner world (content)
    • Investing in inner world (content) increases EQ and SQ -> leads to worrying less
  • The nature of the mind vs intellect
    • The atmika (nature) of the mind is samchaya (well-shaded) – that which doubts (I can’t do this, why is this person like this, etc) 
    • The atmika (nature) of the intellect is nischaya (well-clarified) – decisions / decisiveness (plans that you follow through with ) 
  • Your inner world is made of: memory, mind, intellect, ego (ie anta karana = inner software/ inner doer)
    • ALL of them express as thoughts
    • The ego thought is very causal; a thought you don’t even know is there, but it’s there
    • The memory thought is very gross; like I remember in childhood, etc… 
  • The tendencies of mind vs intellect
    • The mind tends to live in the past-tense
      • The mind can only think of what it has already experienced; that’s why the memory and mind are related
    • The intellect tends to live in the future-tense; when you imagine things that you have not experienced
      • This is why we have to train the intellect to not feel anxieties
• Question 3 –  “Do we have to suffer and learn through experiences for the cycle of karma to be cut?”
  • We experience what we experience in life to teach us that we are more than limits – ex: Swami Chinmayananda (heart was operating 20% while still giving 90 min discourse)
    • For us: we go through experiences with the aspiration to learn that we are not these limits
    • Once we do learn we are not these limits, the prarabdha karma (consequences) still go on, but we are not affected by them 
    • That is the difference between Swami Chinmayanda and us, but we still have the same potential 
    • Udasina = to sit above; whatever happens in life, sit above it
    • Dvaita is inconsistent; the only strategy to handle an inconsistent person is to sit above them. Which means don’t depend on them, or your peace will be inconsistent. 

• RAW last week What makes the sun set? Dharma, or following through to the end
• RAW this week: How does one become intelligent?