ViBha Class Notes – April 23, 2023
How many of us would never want to experience hunger, thirst, getting older, death, confusion and sadness? If we had our hand up for all of these, that means we want to go to Svarga. In Svarga, there is no hunger or thirst, no aging or dying, no confusion or sorrow. Now, what else is not in heaven? Mukti. There is no Mukti, nor Shanti. In Svarga, there is no Vichara, no reflection to feel that there is more to life than hunger, thirst, sorrow, and so on. And those who do not engage in Vichara, their lives are filled with vikshepa or projections, and in terms of relationships, it is expectations. The less Shanti we have inside, the more expectation we have outside. What we are doing in our Vedanta in Bhagavata course is we are together engaging in Vichara. Everyone’s lives have gone through rough patches. We are fortunate for this roughness because it helps us to engage in Vichara. And when we engage in this reflection, that is when we start to live for Mukti or freedom. We don’t want to just live to be free of hunger, thirst or confusion, but we want to be independently Joyous.
All of the hard times in our lives, where there is hunger, thirst, aging and dying, are all opportunities to reflect. Vivekji has found that those who have escaped from Vedanta, it is because the world has not brought them down to their knees yet, the keyword being yet. The world will bring everyone down to their knees. The proactive way to approach this is to be strong enough so that we do not have to be brought to our knees.
The 11th Section or Skanda of Srimad Bhagavata is known as the Head of Srimad Bhagavata, and another word for this is Mukti. This whole section focuses on how we can be free. The reason for this is that Bhagavan Krshna is going to become unmanifest. A seeker recently asked Vivekji what is the greatest change he has observed in himself after completing the Vedanta course. Vivekji shared that what he observed is that he has become very independent of articles, beings, and circumstances. By definition, that is Mukti. When we are not dependent, we feel free.
In Skanda 11, Chapter 23 is also known as Bikshu Gita. In this chapter, what is highlighted is greed, and what greed can bring to us is fifteen specific vices. One of them is matsarya or jealousy. It is an awful vice, and a genesis of jealousy is greed. Those who are not greedy, they do not feel jealous.
Chapter 24 focuses on the Gunas, that all of us have different colors inside of us – sometimes laziness, sometimes aggressiveness, sometimes quietness.
Chapter 25 – If there are Gunas, what is the foundation for these Gunas? It is Maya. We cannot touch Maya, but we can only infer Maya. The more we are clear about Gunas or qualities or limits, then we start to feel that Maya is real, that Maya is having an influence on us.
Chapter 26 is also known as Aila Gita. In Aila Gita, what is focused on is lust. In Chapter 23, it was not Kaama or Krodha, but Lobha. We already know Kaama and Krodha; it comes out strongly in the Bhagavad Gita. There aren’t many teachings on Lobha and Bikshu Gita focuses on that. Kaama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Matsarya are known as the six enemies. Every one of us has six enemies that live inside of us. They start with Kaama which means Desire. Now visualize that Kaama is like a parent. If this parent is there, then the kids of Kaama are Krodha (anger) and Lobha (greed). Then these kids have grandkids which are Moha (confusion or lust), Mada (arrogance) and Matsarya (jealousy). Who is the parent? Desire. If desire is present, then the kids are anger and greed, and the grandkids are confusion, arrogance and jealousy. Now these grandkids have so many kids that we do not have names for them. We call them stress, anxiety, worry and so on. So Aila Gita talks about confusion, and how with confusion, we become more extroverted in life.
Chapter 27, that we just finished, focused on Krya Yoga or Puja. Bhagavan Krshna shares that there are five places where we can offer Puja. He focuses on the “where” first. So a Dvija, the one who knows that there is more to life, this is where they can offer puja –
- Standile – a drawing on the ground
- Agnau – in fire
- Surya – in the Sun
- Aapsu – in the water
- Hrdi – in the heart
What is remarkable is that Vivekji sometimes comes across presentations on cultures and religions, and the sentiment is that one can offer puja in a very exclusive way. It can only be done in this building, in this way. But who is teaching us here? It is Bhagavan Himself, and He shares that we can worship Him in any of these five places. Another interpretation is a sixth place, which is Dvija. Dvija can mean the one who is practicing Puja in these five places or Dvija can also mean another place where we can offer puja, to one’s Guide or Sadguru. Do we not call Bhagavan Krshna the Jagat Guru? It is also meaningful and perfectly aligned to our Mother Earth – we can worship on earth, in fire, in the sky.
Now in this “where”, we in our religion do have icons, and actually every religion has icons, except that we accept it. In a Catholic school, we will see the Cross. That is an icon too. When people offer Namaaz, which direction are they facing to offer Namaaz? Towards Mecca. That is an icon too. We accept that we need icons. We have Emojis, Emoticons, Bindis – those are all icons. Bhagavan Krshna shares that His icons can be made up of eight materials . These are –
- Shaili – icons made of stone
- Daarumai – icons made of wood
- Lowhi – icons made of metal
- Lepya – icons made of sandalwood paste (Before Bhagavan Rama went to Lanka, He made a Shiva linga made of Lepya)
- Lekhya – icons made of writing or painting
- Saikati – icons made of sand
- Manomai – icons, the way we imagine in our mind
- Manimai – icons made out of jewels
Vivekji has found that this chapter and these details to be most empowering and it makes us very proud of Sanatana Dharma that there is no exclusivity. Where can we worship? Anywhere. With what can we worship? With anything. That is why in our culture we cannot take God’s name in vain.
The implication of this chapter on Krya Yoga is to first surrender all you have, and then the fulfillment is to surrender all you are. When we engage in a Puja, there are three entities – the Pujaka, the one offering the Puja or the subject, the Puja – the offering or the verb, and then the Pujya which is the altar, the object or the ends. The finality of the Puja is when the Pujaka becomes the Pujya. If we are a Bhakta of Bhagavan, what should happen to us? We should stop being a Bhakta and we should become Bhagavan!
Bhagavan Krshna is sharing that more important than any verb is the virtue of Shraddha. More important than the technicalities is the Faith. When we are faithful, we can offer or practice in a simple way. Those who serve and study together, they have more faith in each other, and their relationship is more simple and direct.
Vivekji would like all of us to start offering Puja and for the sake of simplicity, suggested that we just say our Ishta Mantra for every step. One of the steps is Avahayami – where we invoke that Divinity. So just say Om Namah Shivaya. At the end, where we push the idol away or Udvasana, just say Om Namah Shivaya. If that is too challenging, we can just sit in front of our altar, close our eyes and visualize that we are offering Puja, that we are washing Bhagavan’s feet and offering betel leaf. If that is too challenging, then just talk to God.
Vivekji shared a story about a taxi driver who, while driving Vivekji to his car parked in Buffalo, shared his philosophy, that he talks to JC every morning. He asks JC to give him work, to keep him safe and in between customers, he talks to JC, talking about the Buffalo Bills and the weather. And at the end of the day, he thanks JC for keeping him safe and for giving him work. Vivekji realized by listening to that man that this man was living what Vivekji is teaching about prarthana or prayer. The taxi driver had shared that he had seven kids, and all of them were in college or had graduated. This man was following Krya Yoga according to Vivekji. How should we engage in Puja? Talk to God, be dear to God, be near to God, Be God.
In Chapter 28, we shift from Krya Yoga to Jnana Yoga. This is the last teaching chapter of our Bhagavan. Just like the final teaching of the Bhagavad Gita is about Jnana, so too the final chapter of this section of Bhagavata is on Jnana. After this chapter, the focus is on Bhagavan Krshna and Rshi Uddhava in Chapter 29, and Chapter 30 is about the war, the Civil war that happens within Bhagavan Krshna’s family. It is an awful chapter – what Bhagavan Krshna’s family does to each other, and what Bhagavan has to do to His family.
Then in Chapter 31, which is the final chapter of this section, we will see what happens to Bhagavan. It is not awful as Bhagavan willed this, but it feels awful. So we have some rough chapters coming up. So let us tune into this final teaching on Jnana Yoga.
Skanda 11:28:8 – The one who knows what I have taught – Shri Krshna has taught a lot in this section. This is Jnana Vijnana Naipunam (He went from an intellectual appreciation to a practical appreciation), when one is established in this knowing – one does not criticize, one does not compliment excessively (one does not do it, one does not feel it either), just like the Sun that wanders around the world. Does the sun become stinky because it shines on a landfill? No. Does the sun become more fragrant when it shines on a sandalwood tree? No. So everytime we see the sun, we must remember not to say it or feel it in terms of criticism or compliments.
When Vivekji was in the Vedanta course, Puja Swami Tejomayananda shared so many times that the person we are complimenting today, tomorrow we may have to criticize them. The point is that everything is constantly changing, so this notion of absolutism that – You’re just like this or that you are just like that – is not factual, nor practical.
Bhagavan tells Rshi Uddhava that all subjects and all objects are the same. What is another name for sameness? Oneness. What is another word for Oneness? Infinity. Bhagavan’s final teaching is that there is Only Me or Shri Krshna or Infinity. All subjects and objects are One.
So if we are a subject, then why invest so much in objects, like they are different from us? Why invest so much in trying to get what we do not have when this is already us? That is a subtle thought. Bhagavan is trying to share how relative our experiences are. Let us think of a time when we thought we couldn’t do it, like running a half marathon or for us owning an Ashram. Though there was a time when we thought we couldn’t do it, we did do it. Our whole life we have disproven ourselves. This is all relative, and the relative cannot make us feel Absolute. So we must treat it as relative.
Remember the last time we had a dream? When we wake up from any dream what do we do? When we wake up from a lucid dream, the mind is very powerful. But when we wake up from a regular dream, if it is pleasant, we indulge it for a little while, and then we go brush our teeth. If it is a bad dream, where we got sick or someone died, we feel so relieved when we wake up. This is relative. This is a dream. We are more. Let us feel our heartbeat, feel our breath, feel our thoughts, and that Bhagavan Krshna’s home is inside of us. Feel that we are Divinity.
Rshi Uddhava shares that samsara is not experienced by the Spirit because the Spirit is of the Nature of Awareness, and samsara means that which is changing. When we are awake, and when we are dreaming, that does not affect Awareness. Then he says that samsara is not experienced by the body as the body is inert. If we are comfortable with the person we are sitting beside, let us put our hand on their shoulder. Does our hand know whose shoulder it is on? No it does not. It does not know change. So who experiences samsara? It is not the Spirit, it is not the body, then who experiences this?
Skanda 11:28:12 – Bhagavan says – As long as we feel that we are the body, breath and senses, then we feel that we are changing, and we will keep moving away from our Self. This is meaninglessness or one who is not reflective.
Do we know why we feel like we are experiencing samsara? Because we are mixed up. We have mixed Awareness and the body together, and this only leads to moha, bhaya, shoka – stress, anxiety, dejection. What does Viveka or Jnana do? Viveka comes from the root Vich which means to filter or separate. So Viveka is to separate the body and the Spirit, and when they are not mixed, we are not messed, not confused. We then feel dear, near, and that we are Bhagavan Krshna.
Final thought: Our whole life we have only had two experiences – I and i am. In the Upanishad this is known as Aham and Idam. As long as we feel we are “I”, we WILL be Joyous. As long as we feel “i am”, that is the ego which makes us feel “i am the breath”, “i am the body”, i am the mind”, “i am articles, beings, circumstances”, and that is the mix, and as long as we are mixed up, we will experience moha (confusion). When that is not checked, we feel bhaya (fear), and when that is not checked, we feel shoka (dejection). In Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita, Prince Arjuna’s skin is on fire. He is just feeling this hallucination that it is a physical burning, a metaphysical burning.
We have been experiencing this for lifetimes.
And now Bhagavan Krshna’s final thought – He is telling Prince Arjuna that He has taught him ALL now. We have to engage in this Viveka, this separation, that the body and Spirit are different. We are not the body, just like Bhagavan Krshna is not the Body. Bhagavan Krshna is not going to die, even though we may say that. We may use that language, but He will Not die. He will just become unmanifest.
Discussion: What are practices to compare less?
Vivekji’s thoughts: To have someone in our lives who we feel is so much greater than us, that is a Grace that is hard to quantify or qualify. That person is so much greater that they don’t need to be great and that is why they want us to be great. And if we have such a relationship, no one will be able to inspire us more than that. We should never feel dejected when we are with that person, rather we must find ways to be inspired by them. It is indeed Bhagavan’s Krpa to have such a personality in our lives with whom we have such a relationship. It is that relationship that makes this real.
RAW: Stay in “I” instead of “i am” – Be “I”.