February 3, 2022 – Class Notes by Siddharth Kashinath 

Introduction

If you are an employer, an organizer or leader, or someone who works with people, what quality would you want in a person to fulfill a certain position? An ordinary employer looks for IQ, which has very much to do with the body, i.e. the brain. A better employer looks for EQ, one’s emotional quotient that relates to the mind (how one deals with emotions). The best employer looks for SQ (spiritual quotient), which relates to the intellect. They look for the ideal that one wakes up for. 

Our course is not designed for IQ. Our EQ may go up. But, the primary focus of our course is on SQ – improving the most powerful equipment that we have. We must burn down our comfort zones and shift our focus from IQ to EQ to SQ. By shifting our investment to SQ, we become more focused and less attached. One sign of a person that is engaged in tapa (burning down one’s comfort zone) is that they become more focused and they have less likes and dislikes. Likes and dislikes are really an expression of attachment. 

Review

Step 46 – citta – (memory) 

Our memory is a weight on our mind. Typically described as emotional baggage. It becomes heavier when we are disorganized and leads us to have bad experiences. But if someone is better organized, they have much better experiences. The more organized one is, the less regrets they have. We’ve tried our best, what else could we do? When one has less regrets, they have less anxieties. They are not afraid of the future because the past wasn’t bad. Those who are high in anxiety are typically high in regret. One has to deal with those regrets before one can deal with their anxiety.  

Step 47 – ahaṅkāra – (identification) 

The ego identifies with the equipments and the equipments create experiences. The vision of yoga is to balance the equipments. One balances the body through asanas. One balances the breath through pranayama, etc. When all of the equipments are balanced – i.e. body, breath, mind, intellect – then it blocks the ego. It is as though the equipments come together and the ego can not penetrate that and there is nothing for the ego to identify with. 

Step 48 – indriya – (senses)  

The more time we spend trying to create happiness with our senses, the more time we waste. In the Bhagavad Gita there is a reference – the enlightened person is like a tortoise. They are in charge of their senses. Hence, the reason  a tortoise should be placed at the entrance to our living space – to remind us that when we come in, our senses should come in too. This is why we take our shoes off upon entering – to remind us to be more inward looking. 

Discourse

Step 49 – upādhi – (tool) 

A simple reflection is the following – if upadhi is a tool, that means we are different from the upadhi. If upadhi is a tool, that tool has a purpose. Likewise, our body is an upadhi. However, we almost always forget that our body is an upadhi or a tool. It is different than us. It also has a purpose. When this tool is used for the right purpose, one will find that the limitations of the tool will become less. When this tool is used for the wrong purpose, one will find that the limitations will be more. (For example, if one puts diesel in a gasoline engine car, the outcome is not good). Therefore, use this tool for its purpose. The body is Bhagavan’s tool and hence it must be used for God’s work. And one will observe that it has fewer and fewer limitations. 

Step 50 – vṛtti – (thought) 

The knots of one’s heart – avidya, kama, and karma – incompleteness manifests as desires and when one has so many desires, one has to act. The missing piece in this framework is thoughts. Our sense of incompleteness expresses as desires and desires express as thoughts. If one thinks about what they experience the most on any given day, it is their thoughts. It is not what one’s hands felt or the number of breaths one took, but it is the thoughts. On average, a person has ~60,000 thoughts a day and those whose minds are not quiet have even more thoughts. Our thoughts are one of the most powerful facets of creation and definitely of us.

Suppose we are going to cook a dish, we think about it. We can observe that the thought precedes creation. And suppose the food gets burnt and we are about to put it in the compost, we can see that the thought precedes destruction also. We give so much emphasis to creation and destruction not realizing that it is the thoughts that are facilitating all of that. 

That is why the practice of japa is emphasized. Japa is the practice of meaningful repetition. It is where we are directing our thoughts. Thoughts are powerful and we must make sure we are directing them. When we practice japa, we are helping our mind to be a manager rather than an interpreter. The extrovert mind is always interpreting – i like this, i don’t like this – but what the mind is supposed to do is manage. What the body gives, the mind is to manage that and give it to the intellect to make decisions. But when one’s thoughts are wild, no decisions get made. And whatever decisions get made are wrong decisions. Once we understand the role of thoughts in our lives, japa becomes that much more beautiful and relevant. 

Step 51 – vāsanā – (print)  

Typically it is defined as blueprint, but we are going to define it simply as print. The reason for that is a blueprint always tends to be external, whereas a vasana is the least external. Everything we do in a conscious state has an impact on our subconscious. The subconscious impacts our unconscious. The unconscious is our vasana or the print. 

Connecting this with vritti. Print expresses as desires and thoughts, which is the subconscious, which then expresses as words and actions, which is the conscious. The import is that one is not their actions, but instead one is their print. Those actions are only coming because of one’s print. 

Our past has formed who we are in the present. Our present has a high potential, because if we live consciously in the present, then we can start changing our print. That is why we must stop wasting resources, time and effort, on that which carries on the past. If you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got. Einstein shared that the definition of insanity is doing the same actions and expecting different results. If my past is making me who I am in the present and I don’t do anything about it, then my past is going to stay with me. Live consciously or intentionally and substitutingly. Which means whatever we want to change about ourselves, we must practice the opposite – substitute negative vasanas with positive ones. For example, habits of indiscipline must be substituted with habits of discipline. How does one be stronger than pressure? By doing what makes them anxious. Otherwise, that anxiety will simply ferment. 

A practical way to substitute – whenever one does that which is right, one will feel right. When we feel right, we must accentuate and exaggerate that feeling. For example, if we sleep early and we wake up early and have a productive morning, then we must make sure we keep thinking and saying, “This morning was productive. I felt great and I am not rushing today.”. This is how we create the print, which then becomes the subconscious and then the unconscious. We typically do the opposite. Our default is to accentuate the negative instead of the positive. However, we should try to reverse that. It will then start to have an effect on the subconscious.

Summary:

Step 49 – (upādhi)       Practice: Use the tool for its purpose and it will have fewer limitations. 

Step 50 – (vṛtti) Practice: Practice japa (meaningful repetition) and direct your thoughts.

Step 51 – (vāsanā)       Practice: Accentuate the positive feeling when you do something right.

Discussion Subject

How to be stronger than pressure?  

Vivekji’s Observation 

This is our life. Why would we let another entity (person, family, community or society) control our life? When most of the entities such as family, community, society are out of our control, why should we let them control our lives? It shows a lack of understanding and value for one’s life. The way to protect what we value is to direct it. It is for us to direct our lives. It is our life and it is valuable. All other valuables are in reference to our life, so we should be directing it. 

If one is moving towards moksa, that is because of that individual. If they are moving towards avidya, that is also because of them. It is not a game of snakes and ladders where one landed on a snake and slid down. The snake is a vice, which makes one slide down. The ladder is a virtue, which makes one climb up.

The vision of Ashtanga Yoga – start by identifying the “don’t’s” in our life to create space and then one must start climbing. It is similar to moksa patha, except with 8 spaces (instead of 100). 

Questions 

Q: We surrender when we need to get help. Are there any guidelines from the scriptures as to whom we should get help from?

A: Some gauges for us – ask for help from someone who does not ask for help. Someone who does not ask for help is independent. They do not need help, but can share help with us. They can balance us. 

From a more relative perspective, we must ask for help from someone who is a giver in a genuine way. On the other hand, a person that is not genuine offers help because they want something in return. That is an exchange relationship. But someone that is genuinely offering their resources, time, and effort, means that they have enough and are willing to offer help.

A reference from Bhagavatam is with regards to Sudama or Kuchela. Bhagavan is the only one who can give to us and we will never need again. Everyone else will give to us, but we will still need again. The same message comes in Bhagavad Gita too, where Bhagavan Krishna says that I will look after your yoga and kshema. What you want to procure, I will procure for you. What you want to protect, I will protect for you. 

Q: A way to look at moksa is to be free of vices. How to do that in a world that often causes frustrations that motivates us to be an advocate or an activist for something that is of value – eg. for climate change or racial or social injustice. What is the balance of being frustrated in the right way? 

A: Higher perspective: One who is sensitive. We interpret sensitivity as one who is easily affected. Rather one who is sensitive knows where help is needed. They help where help is needed without them ever losing their peace. That is what we should build up to. All of our greatest leaders were like that, but they did not start off like that. They also had their flaws, but they learned from their mistakes and grew out of them. For example, Gandhiji was not perfect when he started off, however, he built up so much positivity that he was balanced even when his own family was trying to pull him down. 

Lower perspective: Whenever we sense injustice in society, if the frustration is leading to activism, then the frustration will end that injustice. When the frustration has turned into a productive emotion, that rises even higher to being sensitive. But if the frustration does not lead to activism, then it is futile. One may as well not be frustrated.  

Q: What is the difference between Sankhya Yoga and Vedanta?

A: Sankhya has two meanings – one is not in reference to Vedanta. The other, which comes in Bhagavad Gita Chapter  2, is in reference to Vedanta.

Sankhya means to know well. Sankhya also means to count. Vedanta also means to know well. 

The other Sankhya is different from Vedanta because there is dvaita. In Advaita Vedanta, there is only oneness. In Sankhya darshana, which is in reference to counting, there is a separation between oneself and the highest. It is best to focus on the practice and not the technicalities. 

Reflection Adventures of the Week

Vivekji’s observations on last week’s RAWs:

Listen actively and allow others to speak freely – This is a practice in tapa. Tapa means to burn down our comfort zones. Our comfort zone is to always think of ourselves or “like” ourselves. We need to practice to not think of ourselves all the time, but to be attentive to others fully. 

Go to a local park and pick up litter for an hour – When we are picking up litter in a park (which is the environment), we are really picking up litter in our own home (which is our environment). If we all did this, there would be more animals alive. The biggest garbage dump is in the ocean which is impacting several animals. 

This week’s RAWs: 

Take Vitamin R3 daily and start no later than 6 am. Run for 30 mins (for the body), read for 20 mins (for the mind) and research into yourself for 10 mins (for the intellect).  

Drink a cup of hot water (not tea or coffee) and write about anything that is disturbing your peace.