ViBha Class Notes: October 2, 2022
In the Ramayana, Rshi Bushundi shares what sadhanas or practices we should engage in based on the time of the day. Our initial sadhana should be Dhyana (contemplation). When we are unable to sustain that for more, then we should shift to Japa (chanting asking for help) and when we cannot sustain this anymore, we should engage in Puja (it is less about serving and seeking, and more about singing). When that cannot be sustained, we should engage in Katha, which is listening actively to the Divine.
When Vivekji lived in the Ashram, Swami Tejomayananda created a similar schedule for the students. In the morning, the day began at 5:30am with Dhyana, then studying the Upanishad, followed by Bhagavad Gita, and then to Ramayana. This is being shared as both Rshi Bushundi and Swami Tejomayananda are teaching us to always be engaged in sadhana, sometimes more intense and sometimes less intense.
We are celebrating Navaratri, but most people don’t know what Navaratri is about. It is about integration, and not partying. We should take the sankalpa to be a Sadhu. This is for all of us to commit to not fall further — that we will NOT allow ourselves to fall, to devolve, and a related commitment that we will rise. We will climb as we are. Are we taking this sankalpa for Navaratri or with Chapter 9 of Bhagavad Gita?
In the eleventh skanda, in the sixth chapter, Rshi Uddhava shares with Bhagavan Krshna that living is only meaningful because of Bhagavan, and that without Him there is no meaning. And he shares that without Him, even for an average person, life is insipid or instinctive. There is busy-ness. In the seventh chapter, Bhagavan Krshna is prepping Rshi Uddhava for a significant change that is going to happen to the world. He is trying to shift his focus from Bhagavan Krshna’s life to Bhagavan Krshna’s teachings. Why? There are many reasons –
Bhagavan Krshna stated that when He becomes unmanifest, Kali yuga will commence. A period of extreme disintegration will commence, where people will say one thing and do another. The opposite of disintegration is Dharma. With Bhagavan Krshna being present, there is Dharma, and without Him, Dharma will be invoked through the Shastra. In our culture, our Shastras are given the most importance, and without the Shastra, it is never a celebration, but partying.
When we think of Ramayana, when Bhagavan Rama was present, He liberated thousands, and when He became unmanifest, He liberated millions. How so? By people chanting “Om Ramaya Namah!”, by people referencing the Ramayana. The teachings of Bhagavan Rama and Bhagavan Krshna are more universal. We are accessing them right now. We can also access Bhagavan Rama and Bhagavan Krshna, but perhaps we are not ready. Teachings, we can access.
What is now going to start is the Avaduta Gita. Here, there is learning from many directions. Those who are learning from teachings, they start to learn from all of their experiences. Those who only learn from their Guru, who makes us learn from only him or her, then they will not learn from all of their experiences. It is just another form of attachment. The final prepping is that Rshi Uddhava is Bhagavan Krshna’s Utsava Murthi. A Chala or an Utsava murthi is moved to different places, unlike a Achala murthi which is fixed and cannot be moved. So Bhagavan Krshna is telling Rshi Uddhava that Bhagavan will be acahala or unmanifest, and that Rshi Uddhava will be his ambassador or chala murthi.
Bhagavan Krshna begins His teachings and these are subtle teachings. The more subtle a teaching is, the more transformative it can be. Bhagavan shares with Rshi Uddhava –
You should attach to Me, as in you should attach to Bhagavan. To do so, you have to detach from all else — from your individuality, from your family, community, society, humanity. To only attach to Divinity, as everything below Divinity is going to change. It will also become unmanifest. Divinity does not change. Our grandparents’ divinity, our parents’ divinity and our divinity — is the same. Our grandparents’ society, our parents’ society and our society — is Not the same.
Rshi Uddhava shares that only Bhagavan can teach him about detachment and attachment because He is the only one who is detached. Since everyone else is attached, they are not practicing this, so how can anyone else make this practical? He tells Bhagavan that He is the most detached as He is willing to let go of his whole family as they are selfish. Since Bhagavan is practicing this, He can make it practical.
Bhagavan’s first and foremost teaching in the Uddhava Gita:
All that we perceive is Maya. All that we perceive is magic, like sleight of hand magic or smoke and mirrors magic. Another way to reflect on this is — All that we perceive is the mind. There is proof of this. When we are asleep, what do we perceive? Nothing. No mind, no perception. If there is a mind, then there is a perception. This is called the law of inconcomitance. The solution is, we should place the mind in the Self, which is Divine, which is Infinite. What will happen then? The mind then knows the illusion, and we are never deluded. If we know the relative, then that means we also know the Absolute. Then how do we treat the relative? As relative.
One word summary of the teachings in the Uddhava Gita –
Verse 7 — Relative
Verse 8 — Separation — there is a separation between the relative and the Absolute
Verse 9 — Direction — direct the relative to the Absolute
Verse 10 — Joyous — then one will feel Joyous
Verse 11 — Free — those who are joyous are free
Verse 12 — Peaceful — those who are free are peaceful
After these teachings, Bhagavan Krshna is transitioning with Rshi Uddhava to help him understand this more. Here is the transition –
In the Bhagavad Gita, the Sarva Sangraha — the teaching that every interpreter agrees to is — “Uddharet Atmana Atmaanam — Our mind should be lifted by the Intellect”. Generally, it is Lift yourself by yourself, but the part that is being lifted is the mind, and this is done by the intellect. Those who are intelligent in this class, are those who have a high SQ — Spiritual Quotient. Outside of this class, it is IQ — intelligence quotient. Those who are intelligent, they inquire into, “What the World is? (Jagat), Who they are?(Jiva). This inquiry is facilitated by a Guru. They are trained in Vichara, especially Vedanta Vichara, by the guidance of a Guru. And a Guru will teach a disciple to Love learning, not learning about IQ, but about SQ. Once they love to learn, then they can learn from All. The Guru has taught one to be independent, but does one still need a Guru then? Yes, one does. If we are not ready to learn, no one can teach them. If we are drowsy, Bhagavan Krshna Himself could teach us, but there will be no learning. But for someone who is ready to learn, everyone can teach them. The Guru makes a shishya ready to learn. So what should we do?
What we should do is work to purify our intellect, make it more reflective. The more reflective one’s intellect is, the higher one’s SQ is. As our SQ increases, our experiences become more meaningful. For example, losing in a game and learning from it, checking one’s emotions shows a high SQ, but losing and complaining shows a lower SQ. Purify the intellect, learn from experiences, and then this Vishva becomes a Vidyalaya. The term used by Swami Tejomanyananda is “Vishva Vidyalaya”. And Swami Chinmayananda shares that the whole multiverse becomes a “College of Learning”.
Are we ready for Avaduta Gita? Have we become the Rshi Uddhava, ready to shift attachment?
Skanda 11:7:30 — Here Raja Yadu who is speaking to Rshi Dattatreya. Raja Yadu is wandering around in a jungle and in his wanderings, he sees this incredible being. This being is shining outwardly and he can feel that being is shining inwardly. And he asks, “O holy one, kindly tell me what is it that fills your heart always with Joy, though you are without any object of sense enjoyment, and are companionless and alone?”.
If we see someone alone, we think they are a loser. This actually shows the greatness of Raja Yadu, that this person has nothing, yet he senses that this person has everything.
Some of the transition details — Bhagavan Krshna is explaining to Rshi Uddhava that He has taught him to learn from anything and everything, so that he doesn’t need to depend on this name and form. And now He is sharing a precedent or a historical example of that. That way Rshi Uddhava can relate to this more.
Some details about Raja Yadu — The purpose of his life is Dharma, but he doesn’t know how to go past dharma. What is past Dharma? It is Brahma, Infinitude or Independence. He wants to go past this, but doesn’t know how? That is why he notices that Rshi Dattatreya is special. And he prostrates to him, showing his humility and readiness to learn. And then asks him — Why are you happy?
Skanda 11:7:38 — Rshi Dattatreya is responding to Raja Yadu and shares, “I have learned from lots. Out of the lots, my first teacher is Prthvi. For a spiritual aspirant should learn from the mountains of the earth and the trees on them to strive unselfishly for the good of others, and find meaning of his existence in such striving. Becoming a disciple of trees, he should live for others.”
In an earlier shloka, Rshi Dattatreya shares with Raja Yadu that he had only learned what he needed to from these different teachers. The point is that all of his teachers are relative which means they are not perfect. For example, one of his teachers is the ocean. We should learn from the ocean to absorb, without being inflated or deflated. But ocean levels are rising, which means Sanatana Dharma is affected by climate change. So we should learn what we need to from these examples.
One further point about Rshi Dattatreya is that he is known as a Brahmana, as an Avaduta. His parents, we met in the Ramayana, and they are the great Devi Anasuya and Rshi Atri. They are the best of the best, and he is even better. He is a combination of this.
The value to be learned from the Earth is Acceptance. In this section, twenty-four values will be shared, that we are to practice so they become our virtues, like that of Rshi Dattatreya.
- Acceptance — This is so obvious. We torture our Earth, yet here we are sitting in a stable way, eating, drinking, and breathing. She accepts us. He shares an example that for a seeker, they should always follow the path to the sought or Independent Joy, even if they are being attacked. They should not waver from the path. Rshi Dattatreya is in a jungle, but for us, the attack doesn’t come physically, but emotionally. Our family is holding us back, people’s mis-expectations of us. Just because everyone else is not engaged in Self development, we should not waver from that. The only way to not waver from that is to accept others. Our families have their own vasanas, organizations have their own purposes. To accept, then we will keep on striving.
This further value is Service. Trees are an icon of Service. In a prior verse, Shri Krshna shares that the greatest birth is that of a tree, as whoever comes to a tree, is never turned away unfulfilled. Who are we to critique this? Who are we not to follow this?
It is so interesting to learn about values, that values lead us to being Joyous