Dec 7, 2023 Class Notes by Isha Darbari

Introduction

• Popular social media – tends to be compelling, and often, inaccurate (ie not backed by facts, truth)
  • Compelling +  inaccurate = misleading
  • Look before you leap via reflection– with nature, media, relationships, etc!
• Yaksha Prashna
  • In some commentaries of the Mahabharata, the yaksha can’t be seen (as opposed to in others the yaksha is a crane, etc)
    • Insight: this is just like us – we are asking *ourselves* the questions, answering ourselves, having a dialogue with ourselves

Review

• Question 31: An egg does not move after being born
  • The past the present
  • Whenever you have a regret – a way to come out of that regret is to realize it is the ego that went through the negative experience, but you are not the ego
    • You could have done the worst thing , but the person who did that in the past, is not *you* 
  • Tactile: Try to orient yourselves towards that which changes less  
• Question 32: A stone does not have a heart
  • Infinity = inclusivity
    • There is nothing that is not Infinite, including stones
  • What makes a human more valuable than a stone?
    • Based on purity, you can reflect Divinity
      • Someone with an impure personality doesn’t reflect a lot of Divinity; a pure personality does
  • Tactile: How we can reflect Divinity more is to have less dislikes and likes 
• Question 33: A river swells by its speed – the faster it goes, the bigger it grows
  • What’s like this? Our seeking
    • The speed for a seeker is being steady 
  • Tactile: Sign up and show up
    • Those who are steady find opportunities to serve
• Question 34:  A caravan is the friend of a traveler
  • When you are in a quality relationship, you don’t need to socialize
    • Socializing = I want to be heard and/or I want to be liked
    • When you’re in a quality relationship, you’re already heard; you don’t need that person to like you, it’s already understood
  • If you have a strong propensity to socialize, question the quality of you and those you relate with 
• Question 35: A bhariya (wife/ nourisher) is the friend of a householder
  • The one who encourages you to be independent is your spouse
    • In bhakti: what comes before surrender? Sakhya (close friendship)  
    • They encourage this relationship inside the home so that they can practice outside the home too

Discourse

• Question 36: Who is the friend of someone who is sick? Bhishak (physician)
  • Absolute: The original disease we’re all struggling with is bhava roga
    • Bhava = sickness, roga = becoming
    • Bhava roga = always trying to become someone who is liked
    • So the original physician is Bhava Isha -> bhavisha = the friend of someone struggling with insecurity 
    • When the milky ocean was churned, the 10^th article that came out was Dhanvantari carrying the amrita = the original physician holding the absolute medicine  
  • Relative:
    • Adhi = mental health / mental illness
    • Vyadhi = when it projects to your physical health/ physical illness
      • Often when our body is not doing well, it’s because of our mind (our stress, anxiety, etc) 
      • So look after your mind, reflect
  • Tactile moment: Reflect/ establish your personal tactile narrative for this question 

• Question 37. Kimsvit mitram marisyatah?: Who is the friend of a mortal? Dana (charity)
  • Absolute:
    • A brahmana (thinker) is one who studies scriptures and shares about scriptures
    • Our vocation in life / majority of our hours is: funds (profession) & family  
    • Traditionally: the thinkers & workers had a barter system
      • We (workers) would invite thinkers to our home at offer food (bhiksha) 
      • After they get to eat, the worker offers them dakshina for future food (bhiskha = current food, dakshina = future food) so that they can continue studying and sharing
        • That’s why traditionally with bhiksha we offer an envelope atop fruit 
    • Therefore, the answer is charity because they would have learned by inviting the thinker into their homes
  • Relative:
    • We live in a period called “kali” (selfishnes), one who gives to themselves
      • Do you like such people? 
      • Therefore, the antidote to kali = one who is selfless/ gives to others 
    • “The value of a human is not decided by a bank account, but rather when they shed a tear, how many hands are there to wipe that tear.” People are only going to wipe that tear if you have given them something
  • Tactile moment: Reflect/ establish your personal tactile narrative for this question 

• Question 38. Kah atithih sarvabhutanam: Who is the guest of all beings? Agnih (fire)
  • Absolute:
    • Back in the day, people did not live in urban Chicago, they used to live in the jungle. How did they feel Nature? Via nature – they worshiped the sky, the air, etc
      • Which element is the first they could see? Fire
      • This fire is a personalized form of Nature
        • You can’t contain space, air, etc; but you can contain fire
        • So people could keep fire in their homes -> this was the first Vedic murti (altar) 
    • With time, people got distracted -> we needed a murti we could relate to more, that looked like us. That’s why in the Puranic period, Bhagavan Rama and Bhagavan Krishna are more human-looking.
  • Relative
    • Just like nature reminds us of our Nature, so too, our functional should remind us of the fundamental
      • Live in a very functional way, but your functionality should be dedicated to the fundamental 
      • How many purposes in life do we have? Just moksha
        • Dharma, artha, kama (position, possession, pleasure) are ONLY to facilitate peace; we just have 1 purpose  
  • Tactile moment: Reflect/ establish your personal tactile narrative for this question 

• Question 39. Kimsvid dharmam sanatanam – what is the dharma (means) to sanatanam (Eternality/ Infinity)?
  • Absolute:
    • The eternal dharma: Sanatana amrita dharma ->  sanatana dharma
      • Sanatana amrita dharma: the eternal means is to amrita (fearlessness)
      • Santana dharma = infinite nature [sanatana = infinite, dharma  nature]
    • When you know your infinite nature -> amrita(fearlessness)
      • Mrita = feeling of fear, feeling of dying
      • Amrita = knowing I can’t die; fearlessness
  • Relative:
    • You cannot create Infinity, you can only know Infinity
      • The vision statement: Sanatana Dharma
      • Mission statement: purification via self-development
      • Action statement: study and discipline
        • Study, like we’re doing
        • Discipline = change yourself; see how you can evolve, and you will change your nature  
    • VCR = know Vastness, Change, Responsibility
      • Those who know their responsibilities come to know that all is changing, and through that come to know vastness, their infinite nature  

Review (21-30): 

• 21. Rain is best for farmers (Pointer = effort) 
• 22. The seed is foremost amongst that which is sown (Pointer = gratitude) 
• 23. The cow is the best amongst the 4-legged creatures (Pointer = useful) 
• 24. A child is most valuable to those who give birth             (Pointer = completion) 
• 25. One who does not care about these 5: gods, guests, dependents, ancestors, themselves- although breathing, do not live (Pointer = leaving) 
• 26. A mother is weightier than the Earth (Pointer = endure) 
• 27. A father is superior than the sky (Pointer = attitude) 
• 28. The mind is faster than the wind (Pointer = thinking) 
• 29. Worries are more numerous than grass (Pointer = thoughts) 
• 30. Fish do not close their eyes while sleeping (Pointer = awareness) 

Discussion Subject / Vivekji’s Reflection

How do you feel about New Year’s Resolutions? What is yours? 

• Vivekji’s thoughts: Reminders to change are worthwhile
  • His resolution – to be more careful that anything that is consumed (particularly solids and liquids) are healthier 

Dialogue

Question 1: If we do not feel guilty for our actions (in reference to question 31), what is to prevent us from making excuses? 

• Absolute: Infinity does not change to become creation
• Relative:
  • The way we can use creation to go back to infinity is to focus on that which changes less (values > valuables) 
  • If you start to feel that you are not the ego: you will feel that anything negative in your life happened to the ego, not you
    • But you have to *feel* that; otherwise this will be interpreted in a destructive way
    • So until we get to that point of truly feeling we are not the ego: focus on values

Question 2: Why did Infinity/ Bhagawan choose to express creation as it did? 

3 perspectives: 

• Knowledge narrative: there is no creation
  • My name is Vivek, this is my form, my qualities, etc – but this is limited perspective; you’re looking at existence and seeing it as the ocean, but not seeing that fundamentally it is just existence / water
• Bhakti (devotional) narrative: meri marzi “because I wanted to”
  • That’s why some people go with the narrative that when God realized his powers, He couldn’t help but express them; like kids jumping up and down for fun; there’s no logic / rationale to it
• Karma narrative: infinity is expressed as creation (you & I) for us to train ourselves to come back to infinity
  • Hence we are born with vasanas, karmas, etc that we have to clean up, purify, etc — and when we’re ready, we’ll see that we are divine
• All of these narratives are right according to your evolution
  • At least intellectually, a few minutes every day, try to go through the knowledge narrative: “All is relative” – those 3 words, all the time, will change your life

RAW last week: actively engage 3 people to join the happiness series

• If you love what you’re learning, you won’t be able to hold it inside of you; you will naturally become an ambassador of this community
  • Happiness transcends social and not social
• Are you an ambassador? That’s a gauge of you making this your reality

RAW this week: to not rush No rushing this week (driving in the slow lane, etc) – just keep up with life ☺