April 25, 2024 Class Notes by Yaishna Santchurn

Introduction

• Tightness in one’s chest is an awful feeling; more impactful than tightness in the chest are the hrdaya granthi.
• Hrdaya granthi = knots of the heart
• These knots make us feel separate, sad, and stuck; if not properly addressed, these knots get tighter. 
• To not feel separate, sad, and stuck, we need to cut these knots.
• Our shastras (maps) are shastras (knives) to cut the knots of the heart.
• We are fortunate that these maps have been made easily accessible to us, i.e. Yaksha Prashna has been pulled out of the Mahabharata. 

Review

Answer 101: A real bath is removing the impurities of the mind. 

• After heavy rainfall, a stream appears muddy; to clearly see the riverbed (our Nature), we must first slow the water down to settle the dirt (address raja) and then sweep away the dirt (address tama).
• Having a well-thought routine and following through with that routine is a way to reduce aggressiveness and laziness. 

Answer 102: Charity is the act of protecting all beings. 

• The best way to help someone is through your own effort.
• Giving effort freely is preceded by giving time freely, which is preceded by giving resources freely.

Answer 103: The knower of dharma is considered wise. 

• A spiritual teacher is one who does not engage in the affairs of others without being asked.
• Mind your mind and mind your own business.

Answer 104: An atheist is a fool. 

• An atheist has a habit of taking for granted; most of all, they have a habit of taking the Creator for granted.

Answer 105: An atheist is a fool. 

• A fool is someone who is bored because they have not realized that everything that is happening to them is a learning experience. 

Answer 106: Desire is that which causes transmigration/samsara. 

• Our desire can evolve into desiring to help others.
• Samsara is often described as an ocean that we are drowning in; when your desires start to orient towards others, you stop drowning and you start to swim towards the shore.

Answer 107: Envy is the affliction of the heart. 

• Envy is forgetting that you/we are a unique part of the whole and forgetting what that whole is. 
• If we are unique, how can we compare ourselves?
• Swami Tejomayananda: there are 3 types of listeners
  • Shrota – open-minded, open-hearted, and ready to learn
  • Sarota – a nutcracker, i.e. as soon as something is said, they have a rebuttal  
  • Sota – sleepy; preoccupied and passive

Answer 108: Ego is the mighty ignorance.

• Jagadeeswara (God) gives and forgives; the jiva (individual) gets and forgets.
• Let us be godly by growing into giving and forgiving.

Discourse

Question 109: What is ostentation?

Answer 109: Ostentation is showing off one’s virtues.

• Absolute Narrative
  • Dhvajocchrayah = to raise a banner/flag of your own responsibility and how you are engaged in this.
  • Our Original Parent is living for us. Our dharma (responsibility) is to live for the One who lives for us. 
  • There is no reason to follow dharma other than because it is right. There is no need to show or say; just do. 
• Relative Narrative
  • Exaggerate less to be less show-offy.
  • We should be cautious when we start to believe our own exaggerations.

Question 110: What is destiny or good fortune?

Answer 110: Destiny or good fortune is the fruit of charity.

• Absolute Narrative
  • God helps those who help themselves.
  • God helps those who help others even more. 
  • First we need to learn how to help ourselves; when we are self-sufficient, then we can help others. 
  • Law of karma: if you engage in rightness, rightness will engage you. 
  • When a child is 0-5 years old, parents should nurture confidence.
  • When a child is 6-15 years old, parents should engage their child in direction to understand the law of karma.
  • When a child is 16 years old and over, parents should be like a friend.
• Relative Narrative
  • Good fortune is the fruit of generosity. 
  • We can manifest good fortune by learning from every experience. 
  • Generous people are those who learn more and those who learn more are generous/open people. 

Question 111: What is wickedness?

Answer 111: Speaking ill about others is wickedness.

• Absolute Narrative
  • In the Ramayana, the greatest sin (mahapapa) is to gossip.
  • Gossip, especially with digital communication, is like a bar of soap, i.e. slippery.
  • Small minds talk about people. 
• Relative Narrative
  • Become more objective: shift from talking about people to talking about events; shift from talking about events to talking about ideas. 
  • Make sure you are clear about details/context when talking. 

Question 112: Dharma, artha, and kama are mutually contradictory and ever opposing each other. In what situation do all these co-exist?

Answer 112: When a wife follows dharma, then in that situation dharma, artha, and kama will coexist. 

• Absolute Narrative
  • Bharya = the one who supports you to feel peace (not solely a wife)
  • Kama (pleasure), artha (possession), and dharma (position) are constantly changing, so they are conflicting with and contradicting each other.
  • Moksha (peace) does not change, so it never conflicts or contradicts.
• Relative Narrative
  • When you have the right contact in the world, then you live in a right way. 
  • Contacting rightly = contacting lightly
  • The right relationship with pleasure, possession, and position is a disciplined, or light, one. 

Discussion Subject

How can you practice having the right (light) contact with pleasure, possession, and position?

Vivekji’s reflection: Do not take things too seriously; just treat them as fun, in which case, that seriousness is not there, so it doesn’t lead to a vasana being formed. 

Dialogue

Question: A previous discussion subject was “If the world was unreal, how would your life change?” I see the world and logically know it’s not real, but I still see it. How do I navigate this contradiction?

• We should all have selective relationships; select relationships that will help you to make this world unreal.
  • Our trust triangle is maya, but it is vidya maya, i.e. it is helping us to cross over maya
• Care less about your name (what people think about you) and rupa (your appearance)
  • Pull away from the superficial aspects of life, and then you will zoom into guna and finally dama
• Do not depend on the world
  • You would never depend on that which is not real.
  • Stop trying to get emotional things (i.e. respect, appreciation) from the world.
• The above 3 suggestions are very hard to practice in the beginning, but easy at the end because you will have transcended relativity. 

Question: How do we stop trying to get emotional things from the world?

• Through sadhana/contemplation
• Whatever we need in life is already immaterial. If you can extract that from yourself (i.e. a self-reward system), then you won’t try to get it from somewhere else. 
• If I am feeling grateful for my opportunities, then I won’t need more things in my life; it’s when I’m ungrateful that I need more things to fill that gap.
• Know that people are the way they are, so don’t expect otherwise.

RAW

Be prepared to be called on to present on questions 63-112 for 3 minutes during the next 3 classes: May 2, May 9, and May 16 (presenter and question are selected at random). Find reasons to review, reflect, and prepare, rather than find reasons not to.