Feb 1 2024 Class Notes by Usha Chazhiyat 

Introduction

One night a wife had come home and her husband asked, how was the satsang. She shared with her husband that she got there late and she could only catch a few words at the end. Husband asked ‘What words did you catch?’ As they were having this discussion, a thief had come into their home. Wife shared with her husband – One of the words that I caught was ‘Aa gaye’ (in English – You have come). Hearing this, the thief thought that the wife knew the thief was in their house. Thief got frightened and in his worry, the thief slowly stopped moving and sat down. The wife continued to tell her husband, the second word I heard was ‘Beht gaye?’ (in English – You sat down?). This frightened the thief even more. This time the thief was sure that the wife knew that he was there so he started to run and got out of the house. At this same time, the wife shared with her husband that the third word I remember is ‘Jaa raha he’ (in English – are you leaving?). Thief left like that. The story is in reference to the power of Satsang, associated with spirituality. This is often described by our guides as infallible . This association will never fail and for everyone who is reflecting, it is sure that your relationship with self-development is working.

Review

Question 52: What is a person’s  life support?

·         Rain is a person’s life support. Rain is compared to knowledge. Knowledge is a cause for us to become more fearless, more courageous. When I know the roads of a city, I drive courageously. When we know our Nature is Existence, then we can live fearlessly.

Question 53: What is man’s ultimate refuge?

·         Charity is a human’s ultimate refuge. When one practices charity, one is training themselves to live for others the way they live for themselves. It is training, you naturally live for yourself. This is training to naturally live for others.

Question 54: Which is greatest among blessings?

·         Integrity is the greatest amongst blessings. Daksha – efficiency, dexterity, which means being able to do what only you can do. Be proud of being a human. If you are proud of being a human, you will leverage that which makes you a human which is to work to not be a human, to live to be Divinity.

Question 55: Which is the most valuable of all possessions?

·         Learning is the most valuable of all possessions. When one thinks of what is inside of oneself, that which is internal that cannot be taken away. What instrument is there for someone to take away my thoughts, my feelings? All that is external, someone can take it away. Learning will make someone pseudo-independent.

Discourse

Question 56: Which is the best of all gains?

Answer 56: The best of all gains is health.

• Absolute – This health refers to your equipment. When your equipments are healthy, that means you can use them for your evolution. When your equipments are not healthy, you keep having to invest in the equipment instead of using the equipment for evolution.
• Relative – When one is healthy, one is less needy.

Question 57: What is the best kind of happiness?

Answer 57: Contentment is the best kind of happiness

• Absolute Perspective – The first and foremost of one who is enlightened, is that they are content. Content means you are in tune/experience your content which is your nature (nature = Ananda). Comparison between tripti and trushti. Tripti – means happiness that is caused, and Trushti means happiness that is uncaused.
• Relative Perspective – When we learn what our ‘enough’ is, we enjoy what is within that ‘enough’.

Question 58 : What is the highest virtue in the world?

Answer 58 : The highest virtue in the world is empathy.

• Absolute Perspective – Empathy is a direct practice for oneness. We empathize the most with ourselves. One who is self-centered they feel, they are the center, and all should revolve around them. In empathy, it is society centeredness which means society is in the center and everything revolves around society.
• Relative Perspective – A way that one can develop empathy is to practice being deeper. When one is deeper, one becomes more accepting and less changing.

Question 59 : What is the dharma which always bears fruit?

Answer 59 : The three Vedas always bear fruit. Thriye here means the Vedas. The Veda originally volumized into three.

• Absolute Perspective- In Ramayana, Vedas are described as the breath of God. When Bhagavan Narayana breathed out, it crystallized into Veda. The Veda leads one to Divinity.

·         Vedas can also be understood as the precedence set by our guides. Our guides who have found the treasure within themselves, have documented this -they have set precedence. Following Veda, we too will be like our guides.

• Relative Perspective– Vedas teaches two subjects – prosperity and peace. The relative teaching here is to grow out of living for prosperity and grow into leaving for peace. Then the trust triangle (Guide, Map, Divinity) will become more apparent to me. Use the Veda for what it is really designed for.

Question 60 : What should one control to avoid grief?

Answer 60 : One should control the mind to avoid sorrow.

• Absolute Perspective- Our mind is made up of subtle matter. This subtle matter is attracted to gross matter. That’s why the mind keeps pushing out through the breath, through the body to articles, beings, and circumstances like a magnetic attraction. It is to block that and instead direct the mind to the intellect. What makes a human humane is by using the intellect to inquire into the purpose of life. Block the mind from being an extrovert, direct it to the intellect like how Prince Arjuna got directed by Shri Krishna.
• Relative Perspective : Swami Chinmayananda says – “The mind is a monkey riding on the donkey called the body in the circus of life”. However, a controlled mind can never be the cause of sorrow and can never be overwhelmed by sorrow. That is the power of our mind. The quieter our mind, the more of its power is being released. To quiet the mind, chant with the mind. Engage in japa.

Question 61 : Whose association never goes in vain?

Answer 61 : Association with good people never goes in vain.

• Absolute Perspective- Satbihi – those who live by Sat/Existence/Truth. It is such personalities that show us their potential through their actions, words, and thoughts. A noble person is inclusive- they do not make us feel ignoble but rather lift us up.
• Relative Perspective- They will never let us down. Our alliance with noble people never ends. Their influence and impact will continue to enlighten us even in their physical absence. Living with dharmic people will help us clearly see the good and the bad without any shades of gray.

Question 62 : What, if given up, makes one dear to all?

Answer 62 : By giving up pride, one becomes dear to all.

• Absolute Perspective: The ego’s primary function is to separate.
• Relative Perspective- Ego comes out as egoism; the secondary function of the ego is to identify. The implication of this is, with egoism we identify in small ways, eg:- This is mine, that is yours etc. If I give up my ego, the way I love me is the same way I love you. Egoism is expressed as expectations.

• Reflection Adventure of the Week (RAW):-

Review! Next week we will have a Pariksha on questions and answers 1-31. 10 questions from Yaksha Prashna 1-31.