ViBha Class Notes – September 17, 2023
What every one of us wants or needs is more awareness. More awareness when we are driving, more awareness when communicating, more awareness in all directions. This is what the words Chinmaya means – “maya” means to be filled with Chit or Awareness. A conducive way to become a more aware person is to be in a community or a study group where the focus is Awareness. Vivekji referenced Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Once we feel a sense of belonging that comes with community, then we can start working on esteem. Majority of seekers have many insecurities. First, we have to start to feel that we belong, before we start to feel secure, leave alone the top of Maslow’s hierarchy which is actualization, which in our vocabulary is Liberation.
Relating to last week’s discussion subject – What stops us from living mindfully?, Vivekji shared his observation that it was FOMO or fear of missing out that makes our mind scattered. So a technique to mature out of FOMO is to raise the quality of our thoughts, which will automatically reduce the quantity of our thoughts. Mindfulness is not another FAD word. How do we know when the mind is full? When we have higher quality thoughts which leads to a reduction in thoughts, then what we come to experience is JOMO – the Joy of missing out, that what we want and need is in us. Then, it does not matter what the next person has or is doing.
Vedanta in Bhagavata, our course is for us to feel included, that we are in a community that cultivates inclusivity, where we are raising the quality of our thoughts, and to practice directly with those around us and also indirectly, when we are not in this controlled environment, for example when we go out to lunch, when we are in school, when we go to work tomorrow. It is us feeling and practicing inclusivity. Inclusivity leads to independence. Anyone who is a caregiver, what do we want for those we care for? Independence. This is an efficient way to live. The most inefficient way to live is to live with stress. Nobody tells us that as we normalize that. The most efficient way to live is to live independently.
This is all symbolized in Raja Parikshita. Bhagavan Vishnu protected him when he was in the womb, and another name for him is Vishnurata. When he was born, he was always curious as to who protected him. Vivekji feels that as infants and toddlers, we too are very curious, but then we get educated, and we just take for granted that this body should just work.
Raja Parikshita was invested in his outer world, but when pressure came and he was presented with a crisis that he was going to die in 168 hours, he shifted his investment from the outer world to the inner world. He sought out Satsanga, similar to what we are doing. For most of us, hopefully, we are not in this satsanga because we are under pressure and crisis, but rather because we are being proactive. That pressure and crisis will come, and this will help us to be balanced in all this. In Satsanga, as we associate, so we think, so we develop. Vivekji saw the movie Barbie with the devis at the end of the Chinmaya Inspiration Yatra XVI, and shared an observation about the character Ken. When he is living in Barbie Land, his mind is very clear, but when Ken comes to the real world, his mind becomes super confused.
Raja Parikshita shifted his focus from the outer world to the inner world, and he did this in the form of Bhagavata. Please try to remember – ta is defined as means, va as best, ga as to move, Bha ia Light or Joy; so Bhagavata means the best means to move towards Joy. When he invested in his inner world, he started to practice Bhagavata. It is not just a book we hold. In Chinmaya Niagara, seekers are asked to come to the altar and touch the feet of Bhagavan as there should not be any feeling of separation between us and Light. The more the separation, the heavier we feel. The more closeness there is between us and Light, the lighter we feel. The better we relate with Bhagavan, the better we relate with every being. This is through Sadhana, and we will just be better parents, teachers, spouses, children, workers and servers.
What is this Bhagavan, especially for those who are new? – Infinity out of compassion has taken on a form and a name, which we refer to as Bhagavan. Bhagavan Ganesha or Bhagavati Devi and so on are forms and names or icons of Infinity or us. This is a most personal journey and experience for us. Shrimad Bhagavata is an educational text or map. This is composed by Rshi Vyasa as he wanted to think about, write about Bhakti or Devotion. In our society we do not use this word devotion a lot, so we can supplement this word with dedication. Whatever we are devoted to, we will be dedicated to, and whatever we are dedicated to, we will feel that devotion.
Shrimad Bhagavata is 18,000 verses, and these are spread over 12 Skandas or Sections. For most of us, we began Shrimad Bhagavata in January 2019, and we plan to complete this course in December 2023, over 5 years. We have invested deeply in this offering. The recordings are on the Chinmaya Niagara YouTube Channel. In May, we completed Skanda 11 or the 11th section, which is referred to as the Head of Shrimad Bhagavata. The message in this section is on Mukti, which means release or freedom, and there are two reasons for this. The more literal reason is that Bhagavan Krshna dissolved His name and form, and when Bhagavan has no name and form, that is Infinity or Awareness. So Bhagavan became free of a form and a name. The more applicable message for us is that in the 11th section, there is a lot of Upadesha or teachings on how we can be free.
Many of our great teachers left behind Padukas or sandals as a reminder of their teachings. When Shri Bharata goes into the jungle and wants Bhagavan Rama to rule, Bhagavan Rama says no, but gives him His Padukas instead, which Shri Bharata carries on his head and then places them on the throne sharing, “What would Bhagavan Rama do?”. This is why the 11th section is teaching us that one day our name and form will be dissolved or will die. How can we be free before that?
In Chapters 30 and 31 of Skanda 11, the way that we completed this section is very sad. At one point, Bhagavan Krshna’s family became lightly drunk or intoxicated, and started to goof around. At one point, one of the males pretended to be pregnant and went to a wise person and asked him to tell him the gender of his child. That Rshi, who can see what we cannot see, knew that they were drunk with an intoxicant which was pervading their personality in the form of ego, and essentially the Rshi said that what would be born from that male was metal, not a child made out of blood and bones, but metal, and immediately a piece of metal fell out from the fake womb. Now Bhagavan Krshna’s family was petrified by this wrong action, so they never told Bhagavan, but instead they shredded this metal. Most of this metal was put into the water, but there was one piece that they couldn’t shred, so they just threw it into the water.
Now in Chapters 30 and 31, Bhagavan Krshna’s family was not lightly drunk, but heavily drunk, and in their outer and inner drunkenness, they started feeling bhaya or fear of each other. They were one family, but they started to fear each other, including Bhagavan Krshna. That is what happens with intoxicants and arrogance, where this separation becomes stronger and stronger, and in this case, their fear turned into himsa or violence. These were powerful beings with lots of weapons, but in this fighting, their weapons were being destroyed, and in their intensity they just started to grab whatever they could, and they grabbed the grass that was growing and it was as hard as metal. The metal shavings that went into the ocean came back to the surface, and that became the substance of this grass. With this very strong grass, they fought with each other and all of them died – an intense family war. Bhagavan Krshna facilitated all of this as His own family was being egotistical.
Bhagavan Krshna was unaffected by all of this. So, one way we can be like Bhagavan Krshna is to love fully and be independent fully. We give and give and give, but if someone is not rising in that giving, we are still to be independent from them. For many of us who have children, what is hardest is attachment. Bhagavata teaches us to be loving and independent.
Finally, after everyone has died, Bhagavan Krshna goes to the jungle. He sits down with His left foot on His right thigh, and a hunter happens to be there and sees the toe, and he happens to have this arrowhead that is made of the one piece of metal that never got shredded. It is amazing that all the stories of Bhagavata have a closure, and no detail is missed, which is so reverence worthy. This hunter shoots Bhagavan Krshna’s toe with that arrowhead, and we say Bhagavan Krshna’s body died, as we are oriented to that, but we should know that Bhagavan Krshna is unaffected by all of this.
Now that Bhagavan Krshna is no longer present in the way that people are used to, a lot of change in society starts. And that is where Skanda 12, the final section begins.
When Raja Yudhishtira found out that Bhagavan Krshna was no longer with them, he lost his balance. When his brothers had died, he was still balanced, but with Bhagavan Krshna’s death, he lost his balance and left his kingdom to go on this yatra. And before he left, he made Raja Parikshita his successor. We started Bhagavata with Raja Parikshita already being the leader, but the connection on how he became the leader is made here.
The final section of the map, of Skanda 12, is also the final section of our life. Shrimad Bhagavata teaches us the Art of Dying. Bhagavad Gita teaches us the Art of Living and the Upanishads teach us the Art of Life, not as a verb, but as a noun. First, we need to know the Art of Dying, to know the Art of Living, to know the Art of Life.
Section 12 focuses on Apaashraya or finality, the implication being – our final foundation, final destination or final rest will be Bhagavan or Divinity. Raja Parikshita’s body, his form and his name, does die, but he is resting in this foundation. Many teachers have shared that all of Shrimad Bhagavata is directing us to this singular message that the foundation of all, of all of the verbs we engage in, of all of the nouns that we Identify with, is Divinity. This is not just a story of Raja Parikshita, but a mirror to our own individualities.
In the first chapter of Skanda 12, the whole chapter is focused on succession. Very specifically, names like Chanakya are used, also the Maurya empire, and Chadragupta being a Raja. At the end of the first chapter, the more specific observation made is that when Bhagavan Krshna leaves, Kali comes. With the dissolving of Bhagavan Krshna’s name and form, the vibration of Kali starts. The keyword is Anudina here – daily. The vibration of Kali grows every day. It isn’t 100 years and a pause and another 100 years. It is happening daily. The least important meaning of Kali is darkness, and the more applicable meaning than that is fastness. Everything is moving fast. And the most awful meaning is selfishness. In society where there is Kali, people only think and act for themselves, and only speak about themselves as well.
In the second chapter of Skanda 12, in Verse 1, Rshi Shuka shares that – these things start to decline as selfishness starts to rise –
Dharma – Religion, Satya – Integrity, Shaucha – Cleanliness, Kshama – Forgiveness, Daya – Mercy, Bala – Physical Strength, Smrti – Mental Strength (remembering) – all of this decreases “anudina”, daily, and goes away with selfishness.
Skanda 12:2:2 – Wealth alone is what people live by in the period of Kali. The way they are born as in their family, more so their lifestyle, this is not indicative of one’s personality; wealth alone is. – If one is rich, one must be virtuous, and if one is poor, one must be vicious. Don’t we question a poor person wearing real jewelry? And do we question a rich person wearing fake jewelry?
The establishment of the rules of society should be based on rightness and rationale , but instead society only functions on power – Those who are powerful are right and rational, and those who have no power are wrong, and irrational. So we can see that these teachings are most applicable, even though this was composed thousands of years ago.
There are lots of indicators of what happens when selfishness grows – In Kali, plants get reduced to the size of tiny grass, trees become small and shadowless, like Shami plants, and clouds begin to emit only lightning. Now doesn’t this describe climate change? Trees become small, fire comes from above, fire comes from below. With the advancement of Kali, when humans have begun to be animal-like, the Lord will incarnate again in the form of Sattva for the protection of Dharma. What is the antidote to Kali? Bhagavan Kalki! – To be elaborated upon in our next class!
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Discussion: How are you personally deciding how much wealth is enough?
Vivekji’s thoughts – “Me includes every other being. My personal practice is – If I have food, another person should have food too. If I have enough clothes, then another person should have enough clothes too. I do not feel that whatever wealth comes into my life is mine, and I feel that it really helps me to give more wealth, but then more wealth does come. It’s incredible! So much is being given, so more comes back.”
Wealth is a personal matter. Every personality type is different, but what’s great about this course and this discussion is – When was the last time we thought about this or listened to someone share their perspective? Even if there is no one answer to this, we are going to get clarity just by listening to others, just like Raja Parikshita and Prince Arjuna.
Last week’s RAW: Write 5 utility points on why we must be in Satsanga.
Vivekji’s reflection – What we discuss in Satsanga is so much deeper than what we typically discuss at work, or in any other gathering. Our brain, and mind-intellect, or the physical and subtle structures, are so big, have so much capacity that when we discuss shallow matters, we are not using that. But in Satsanga, when we think about authentic and deep matters, like death, we are utilizing our brains more, which is good for our physical health, and utilizing our mind and intellect more, which is good for our metaphysical health.
RAW: Write one paragraph, all the way up to one page, on what it means to be a humble leader – Vinaya Nayaka.