ViBha Class Notes – October 1, 2023

Opening Prayers  

सच्चिदानन्द रूपाय विश्वोत्पत्यादि हेतवे

तापत्रय विनाशाय श्री कृष्णाय वयम नुमः

Sachidanand Rupaya Vishvotpatyadi Hetve, 

Tapatraya Vinashaya Shri Krishna Vayam Numha

We remember Bhagavan Krshna who is the only One who can help us finally. Everyone else we seek help from eventually needs help themselves. But if we don’t want to be helped once and for all, we have to ask for help from someone who doesn’t need help. 

Janmādyasya yato’nvayāditarataścārtheṣvabhijñaḥ svarāṭ

tene brahma hṛdā ya ādikavaye muhyanti yatsūrayaḥ|
Tejovārimṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra trisargo’mṛṣā

dhāmnā svena sadā nirastakuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

This phase trisargo’mṛṣā means – What we experience is relative, and the reason for that is – our ego is an illusion; our sense of individuality is false. So everything that comes from that also has to be of the same nature, just like everything that is made out of wood is flammable, just like wood is. So our experiences are not complete, so they are not going to make us complete, but deeper than our ego is our Spirit which is complete. So satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi means – We contemplate to Be one with our Spirit so that we feel complete. 

Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ‘tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ

vedyaṁ vāstavam atra śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam

śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ

sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate ‘tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt

śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte – Though many people are associated with Sanatana Dharma, very few know about Shrimad Bhagavata. This has been written by Mahamuni, so in the highest sense, it is Bhagavan Narayana Himself who has written Bhagavata, but in a more personal sense, it is Rshi Vyasa. In Sanatana Dharma, there is no founder, but certainly a fundamental facet of Sanatana Dharma is Rshi Vyasa – his relationship with the Upanishads, he has composed the Mahabharata, Shrimad Bhagavata. All of the maps that we associate with, they are attributed to Rshi Vyasa. This is one of the small meanings in this grand mantra. 

 We continue…

From a workshop that Vivekji conducted on Balancing the Mind with Vedanta, here are four perspectives from outside in, on how to balance the mind with Vedanta. The outermost perspective is a medical perspective, closer than that is a sociological perspective, closer than that, a psychological perspective, and the closest is a spiritual perspective. Our mental health, good or bad, depends on Awareness. Suppose we are experiencing anxiety, and we go to sleep, are we still experiencing anxiety? No, we are not as that mental equipment is dormant in sleep, so our anxiety is dormant too. Our mental health depends on Awareness, but Awareness does not depend on mental health. So if we can get to the deepest perspective that we are Awareness, then our mental health will be most balanced. And another word for Awareness in Sanskrtam is Bha which means Light, like in Bhagavan, in Bhagavata. It is the Light of Awareness by which we know fire, electricity, and so on.

Shrimad Bhagavata is a dialog between someone who knows and someone who wants to know. The ones who want to know ask six questions. These are –

1. What is the greatest good for all? – Keyword – Good
2.  What is the purpose of Avatara? – Keyword – Purpose
3. What is the performance of Avatara? – Keyword – Performance
4. What are the passings of Avataras? – Keyword – Passings
5. What is the play or leela of Avatara? The main question perhaps, specifically about Bhagavan Krshna. The grandest section of Bhagavata, Skanda 10, revolves around Bhagavan Krshna.
6. What is the home of Dharma? – Keyword – Home, the question we are immersed in now. When Bhagavan Krshna was physically present, He was the home of Dharma. Wherever He went, Dharma was an act. But now that He has gone back to His Infinite Nature, so where does Dharma go?

We are currently in the section of Bhagavata which is answering the 6th question – What is the home of Dharma? This dialog is being facilitated by Rshi Shuka and Raja Parikshita / us, just as in the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavan Krshna is really speaking with us, not just Prince Arjuna. We must feel that. We are listening in to this dialog, trying to feel that Rshi Shuka is actually speaking to us. 

Pujya Swami Tejomayananda, had once shared that Rshi Shuka was actually in contemplation while he was teaching. His eyes were closed, he was communing with his own Nature, and whatever was coming out of him, was coming out of him. The first time Vivekji heard this was in November of 2005, almost 20 years ago. Most recently, as Vivekji was preparing for Vedanta in Bhagavata class during a recent Yatra, Vivekji said he finally understood what Guruji meant, that to even to listen to Shrimad Bhagavata, we have to listen from a contemplative position or feeling. If we really want to feel like Raja Parikshita, we have to contemplate to be able to listen.  

This leads us to think about – What is the difference between a course like Vedanta in Bhagavata and a workshop? The difference between a year-long course and a short period workshop? Vivekji has observed that workshops tend to be more action oriented, and courses tend to be more reflection oriented. A workshop is short term, and the shortest term for what we do is our action. Courses are long term, and what is more long term than action is reflection. So Vivekji is encouraging all of us to be patient. If we can’t contemplate and listen, then be patient and listen. This is a course that we have to personalize.

Last week’s class was immense. In our culture, there is an intimidating word called papa. What does papa mean in English, it is sin. The etymology of the word papa comes from pati – pati means to protect. Papa or a sin protects ignorance, which means we are going through an experience, but we are not learning from it. It is a wasted experience. Pujya Swami Chinmayananda has shared that papa is when we move away from ourselves. The third chapter of Skanda 12 focuses on how there is a Creator, and on a macro scale, when creation moves away from the Creator, what happens to creation. What is the effect of atrophy on society? Rshi Shuka specifically shares with Raja Parikshita and us – When deception, untruth, idleness, sleep, cruelty, sorrow, delusion, fear and wretchedness prevail, then there is Kaliyuga which is dominated by tamas. Do we feel that these vices are prevalent in society? Undoubtedly, they are.

So, as Raja Parikshita is listening to all this, he asks how we can be safe from all of this negativity and all of these vices. He really wants to know what these vices and negativity are, so he can prevent himself from succumbing to all of this. Put simply, Rshi Shuka shares – When the worshipful Lord, the Supreme Person, enters into the hearts of people, He destroys all the evil, wrought in the minds by Kali through food, place of residence and sense contacts. Where does Bhagavan live? In our hearts. And when we forget this, it is Papa, that the Creator lives inside me, but I feel that the Creator is far away. 

To summarize – When creation moves away from the Creator, selfishness grows. What is the antidote to this? Rshi Shuka shares to feel the Divinity that lives in our heart, and if Divinity lives in our heart, Divinity also lives in all hearts. That is what selflessness is. Here is our framework again –  

• The first period of creation is called Krta yuga or the Golden Age. In this period, people’s personalities are dominantly sattvic or quiet. Now on a macro level, creation continues with atrophy and…
• The second period is known as Treta yuga or the copper age. People’s personalities have become Rajasic or aggressive. Ravana is a good example of that. Atrophy continues and… 
• The third age of our society is Dvapara Yuga when Bhagavan Krshna is present. This is the silver age and people’s personalities are predominantly a combination of raja and tama – aggressive and lazy. When Bhagavan Krshna’s Nama and Rupa are dissolved, that is when Kaliyuga begins. 

Swami Tapasyananda has shared in the book from Ramakrishna Mission that people are dominantly filled with tama in Kali yuga, and that this period began in 3102 BC, more than 5000 years ago. This means that we are only at the beginning of society becoming selfish. It will become more and more intense, so what is the message? Get enlightened and get out, or be ready for exponentially more hardships, more selfishness. 

Being more specific, Kaliyuga is known as the Steel Age. When we are closest to Divinity, we live by four values – Integrity, Compassion, Openness and Generosity. As we move away from our Nature, these four vices start to attack these values. It is almost as if laziness starts to overcome quietness. 

• The opposite of Integrity is hypocrisy, 
• The opposite of Compassion is violence or to be violent. 
• The opposite of Openness is asantosha or being ungrateful, that nothing ever satisfies us. Young people exhibit this as being always bored. 
• The opposite of Generosity is selfishness. There are resources, but whose resources are these? My resources. 

In the beginning, there are lots of values and fewer vices, and at the end, there are lots of vices and little values. This all sounds quite systematic and negative, but Rshi Shuka has also shared how to stay safe from these vices –

– For those who are closest to their Divinity, it is Dhyana or to contemplate 

– When we are farther away, it is Yaga or a macro ritual

– Farther away, it is Puja or a micro ritual

– When we are farthest away from ourselves, the antidote to these vices is Japa

The etymology of the word Japa also includes the word Pati. Papa means protecting ignorance. Japa means protecting Janma. Japa is that which helps us not to be born into limits again, not to be born into dependence. Knowing how important Japa is, Vivekji had asked us to bring our Japa Mala to Class. He shared how to use a Japa mala in a sacred way. 

• Hold the Mala on the right hand ring finger. The sanskrtam word for the ring finger is Anamika, meaning nameless, that more important than our name is whose name we are taking, as in Bhagavan’s. The beads or here the rudraksha, symbolize thoughts. So how to hold these thoughts?
• The ring finger is holding the mala, and we hold the beads or the thoughts with the middle finger and the thumb. With the middle finger, which symbolizes our intellect, and our thumb, which symbolizes Divinity, we pull these beads towards us. 

A very simple mantra is Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, and we are pulling the beads, our thoughts, towards ourselves, and not away from ourselves. When we chant with the mind, we are raising the quality of our thoughts, reducing the quantity of our thoughts, then we redirect the flow of our thoughts. This ring finger is our mind and it is holding this mantra, and the fulfillment of this is that the intellect is engaged as well, from chanting with the mind to inquiring with the intellect. But where is the direction going? To Divinity, which is our thumb. So let us chant –

Shri Krshna Sharanam Mama, Shri Krshna Sharanam Mama, or in English – I am Joy.

• When we get to the clasp or the meru rudraksha, the bead that is extended, we are not to use that to chant, but we are supposed to turn the mala around and start chanting again. So this accentuated bead is to make sure that we are not being mechanical, but we are being intentional. 

This is a course and a course means to reflect more, and to be patient. A message is shared with us in one week, and we are to reflect on it during the week, and if we have, then when the review comes, the message becomes more real. 

Moving on, this is the second last chapter of Upadesha. In this chapter, Rshi Shuka talks about Pralaya – dissolution. Laya is sleep and pralaya means a comprehensive sleep. There are four types of Pralaya – 

The lightest or most short term pralaya is Nitya pralaya – which means regular dissolution, where the body goes through regular dissolution. The theme of this chapter is Apaashraya or dissolution. In this chapter, Rshi Shuka goes away and Raja Parikshita goes away. The cells in our body completely get refreshed every 7 years, so if someone is 42 years old, they would have gone through six complete changes in their body. If Vivekji were to ask which body we were, which one would we be? Or for example, if we had six different last names, which is our last name? 

If we knew what time we slept, we wouldn’t have been sleeping at that time as we would have been awake to know the time. But when we are sleeping, we don’t know what time it is. We don’t know our body weight, we don’t know our family. We don’t know that space and time even exist. That is the regular dissolution where our body goes away, our mind goes away, our intellect goes away. That is Nitya pralaya. 

Next is Naimittika pralaya which is more long term. It is when creation dissolves into the Creator, but more poetically, when Bhagavan Brahma goes to sleep. In Nitya pralaya, we go to sleep, as in creation. Naimittika pralaya is when Bhagavan Brahma goes to sleep, and it is so lovely. Do you know where Bhagavan Brahma sleeps? He sleeps in Bhagavan Narayana and Bhagavan Narayana is also sleeping. Isn’t that beautiful!

The third type of pralaya is Prakrta pralaya, when the creator or Bhagavan Brahma is dissolved. He is not sleeping anymore, he is dissolved. So who remains? Only Bhagavan Narayana.

The most important pralaya is Atyantika pralaya, when we become Bhagavan Narayana. In the previous dissolution, it was Bhagavan Nararayana, but not us. In the final dissolution, it is the dissolution of the ego, and we become Bhagavan Narayana. There is lots to reflect on this. 

Vivekji then read the last 3 paragraphs of this chapter in English. Let us close our eyes and try to contemplate on what Rshi Shuka is sharing with us  –

This book of ancient wisdom was communicated by the Rshi Narayana to Rshi Narada, who in turn instructed Sage Krshna Dvaipayana in it (that is Rshi Vyasa). O King (that is Raja Parikshita), out of his abundant love, that sage also known as Badarayana, transmitted to me, his son, (that is Rshi Shuka) this great text of the Bhagavata which is equal to the Veda itself. Now there is a very subtle teaching and change that happens here – O the noblest of the Kurus, this Suta, who is sitting in our midst, will in the future narrate the Bhagavata at Naimisharanya, at the long drawn satra, on being questioned by Shaunaka and other Rshis. Rshi Shuka is teaching Rshi Parikshita and there are many who have joined this satsanga, including Rshi Suta who is listening to all of these details.

Shrimad Bhagavata starts with six questions, six answers. The questions are asked by Rshi Shaunaka and are answered by Rshi Suta, but where did he learn these answers from? From the dialogue of Rshi Shuka and Raja Parikshita. Now Raja Parikshita is hinting that now that he has learned all of this, he is going to teach this in future. The implication is that Rshi Shuka is going away, but the greater implication is that the fact that we are listening to this, shows how this goes on in a perpetual fashion. We are experiencing Shrimad Bhagavata! 

Discussion: How do we develop the courage to not be an extrovert?

Vivekji shared that we should value experiences accurately. When we are extroverted and engage in more pleasure, if we value that accurately, it feels good for a short time, but feels bad for a much longer time. Whereas coming to Satsanga feels bad for a short time, but feels good for a much longer time. 

Question – How do we listen in a contemplative way? 

We should first force ourselves to respect our Maps. Vijayji, Vivekji’s father, encourages everyone who comes to the Altar to bow down and for those who are more sensitive, to bow down to him as well, not because he cares about the respect, but if we do become more respectful, then we will receive more. Vivekji shared that we should bow down to another before we speak to anyone. The forced respect makes us receive more. Next, the more we practice contemplation, the less we need it. For someone addicted to Social media, even when they are not on the phone, where is their mind? It is still on the phone. But if we are contemplating regularly, when we walk, when we drive, then when we are listening, our propensity will be to be contemplative then as well. 

RAW: Feel like Rshi Shuka is your mind. Feel like it is Rshi Shuka who is making the decisions for us.