Subodha Vedanta Class Notes – February 11, 2024

What does the word Shanti mean in English? When we are peaceful, that is when we finally feel full. When we have a sense of fulfillment, what do we do then? Most of us have nearly perfect lives externally. Everyone is sort of healthy and wealthy, we are not concerned about our safety, nor our education and so on, but we still have this feeling of incompleteness. So that is why in our culture, all is directed towards being peaceful because that’s when we can feel full and we do not have to do more then. Now on the journey to being peaceful, we chant –

OM Saha Navavatu – May we be safe

Saha Nau Bhunaktu – May we enjoy

Saha Veeryam Karavavahai – May we exert

When we do anything well, like if we studied well, if we cleaned well, we feel good. There is only goodness that comes from hard work. 

Our journey together, our journey to Joy has been for over seven and a half years. We started with the Map that is called the Ramayana and the final message of the Ramayana is Humility. As long as we are desiring or there is kama, there cannot be contentment, but as soon as there is Rama, then there cannot be kama. Humility helps us to be more inward looking. A sign of someone who is humble is that they do not need to talk about themselves.  

Then for five years we explored Vedanta in Bhagavata and the message of Bhagavata is to Surrender. Before us, is Krshna. In March, Vivekji plans to teach Meditation from Bhagavad Gita. Contemplation is synonymous with Surrender. When Raja Parikshita was bit by a poisonous snake, he was contemplating while it happened, and didn’t even know that he was bit. He had surrendered that he was more than the body. 

Now, we are studying Subodha Vedanta. What is our purpose for studying Subodha Vedanta? It is for Clarity. When there is clarity, there is conviction, and we start to practice this. So we are checking ourselves in our journey to see if we are practicing this. Summarizing –

• Chapter 1 has the theme of Invoke. Invoking is when we have the feeling of needing help and so we ask for help. Many lack the humility to ask for help. 
• Chapter 2, the focus is on Student and what it means to be a student of Happiness, a student to be Peaceful. In Sanskrtam, it is called the Sadhana Chatushtaya, the classification of four that makes one a student. The lighter interpretation of Sadhana Chatushtaya – some feel that the disciplines we engage in lead to these nine qualities. The heavier teaching is that we need to have these nine qualities before we can actually engage in real discipline and follow-through with practices, which means to have higher expectations of ourselves. The primary source of conflict is mismanaged expectations. So we should shift where our expectations are – have high expectations of ourselves and lower expectations of others. This is a secret to conflict resolution. 

The nine qualities to make one a student of Peace are – 

1. Vairagya – When we let go of what we are not. The Sanskrtam word for heart is Hrdaya. Hrt means I, Ayam means this. When we wake up in the morning we experience Hrt – the sense of I. Then we experience – I’’m tired, I’m miserable, I’m a worker, I’m a parent… this keeps weighing us down. When we just wake up or contemplate, we just feel this I-ness. That is a practice in Vairagya. 
2. Viveka – This plays out as engaging in critical thinking. Last night, there was a workshop on raising positive children while living in a negative environment. One point Vivekji shared – Encourage thinking – encourage children to think for themselves. Thinking by ourselves encourages independence in us. Thoughts are unconscious, but thinking is conscious and intentional.
3. Dama – When our body is calm, when we don’t do things all the time, like wanting to talk or wanting to look at a screen or wanting to be entertained.
4. Shama – When there is quietude of mind. Our mind has a default to interpret. The way to quieten the mind is to follow our responsibilities. Responsibilities are not optional.
5. Uparama – To withdraw or in a practical sense, learning to say No.
6. Samadhana – To absorb ourselves. When it comes to self-development, say Yes. The stronger we are in saying Yes, the easier it will be to say No.
7. Titiksha – Endurance. This is more mental. In a practical sense, to endure people. Different people will act and speak differently, so instead of managing people’s behavior, we should rise above them or absorb their behavior.
8. Shradha – Have faith or to hold on. If we hold on, we will follow-through. 
9. Mumukshutva – The desire to be free, the desire to be content. When we are honest about how tired we are, when we are tired of being tired, tired of being dejected, tired of being frustrated, that is when we change as we want more and we start to live for that. In Sanskrtam, the opposite of Moksha is samsara. Samsara is meaninglessness. When one is tired of this meaninglessness, they will start to nurture mumukshutva. 

This is the end of Chapter 2 which is about a Student, and now Chapter 3 is about a Teacher. There are seven qualities assigned to being a Teacher. But what kind of Teacher?

Pujya Swami Tejomayananda shared that there are three types of people who are sleeping or ignorant. Some people are genuinely sleeping or ignorant, so it is easy to wake them up. Next are those who are pretending to be sleeping or to be ignorant, so they do not need to be woken up. The third are those who think they are awake or not ignorant, so it is very hard to wake them up as they think they are already knowledgeable and thus don’t receive anything. There are lots of teachers and lots of Gurus in the world. This Chapter is about a Sat Guru. Sat means Truth. Sat means Life – A Teacher who knows the Truth, who knows Life. 

Shrotriyo brahma-nishthashcha naiva kaama-hatashcha sah

Dayaalurdeshiko dakshah shishya-prashna-nivaarakah

These are the seven qualities in brief:

1. Shrotrya – Educated – They know the scriptures well.
2. Nishtha – Experienced – This is a subjective science so they have already experienced this and can help us with our journey.
3. Akaamahata – Elevated. They don’t have their own desires. Their only desire is to help others. 
4. Dayaalu – Empathetic. They have experienced the hardships of ignorance and do not want others to experience that. 
5. Deshika – Engaging. Ordinary teachers preach, good teachers teach, better teachers guide and the best teachers live by example and are the most engaging.
6. Daksha – Effective. They are effective as a Sat Guru, as a Guide to the Truth.
7. Nivaaraka – Encouraging. They encourage a student to think for themselves and inquire. 

The implication of this framework is to nourish this more. There is a high expectation of a Guide of the Truth that Vivekji will explain more next time. 

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Discussion: Choose the most important quality of a Sadguru for you and sell that quality to the rest of the people in your group.

Vivekji shared that for him the most important quality of a Sadguru is Nishtha, one’s experience with the Divine. Then it is the Divine that brings the rest. 

RAW from last week: Rate how real we are living. 

Vivekji’s thoughts: A gauge of reality is independence, just like water is more real than a wave is. Water stays on, whereas a wave comes and goes. How much of our lifestyle is oriented towards independence? Vivekji shared that he would rate himself at a 66, living only for independence.

RAW: Memorize the seven qualities of a Teacher and reflect on who our teachers are in life.