February 24, 2022 – Class Notes by Juie Deo
Introduction
What percentage of our thoughts are directed towards our individuality, family, community, and society? Individuality has an identical form and name. Family has the same last name, typically. A community has the same form and in a society, there are different forms and names. The majority of our thoughts are directed towards our family – those with the same nāma, same last name typically. Purpose pulls performance. If our family is our purpose, what would be our performance in comparison to community or society being our purpose? Our rishis are social scientists. They knew that most people would only live for their families. They exposed children to the moksa patha at a young age so that they know their purpose is not just individuality, family, community, or society but ātman, Brahman, and Mokṣa. These are the last three words in the mokṣa patha – for one to be thinking about every being. When we are exposed to a higher purpose, we engage in self-development that can help societal development. A lot of our self-development is to have bigger muscles or bigger families. But how does that help society? Whereas if we become less angry, less afraid, less desirous, that would help society. In the language of Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna says, then when one engages in hita, that is caring for others.
Review
Step 55 – vikṣepa (projection). We project by engaging in articles, beings and circumstances. We project that we are perfect. When one projects that they are perfect, they are always defensive when an imperfection is identified. Projecting perfection and being oriented to self-development are antonyms. How do we practice not projecting? Slow down in all aspects which relates to simple living. Be SHIVA, an acrostic poem to be practiced serially:
Set your nature
Handle for evolution
Invest in effort
Value the deep
Absorb the shallow
By living simply, we start to reduce projection.
Step 56 – māyā (illusion). It is the source of vikṣepa or projection. For clarity, Vedanta teaches from three perspectives/filters.. We are hypothesizing that māyā is illusion. The three perspectives are:
- Shruti (the perspective of the scripture) shares māyā as “that which is (yā) not (mā).”
- Yukti (the perspective of logic) tells if there is Infinity, then there cannot be finitude. Teachers share that māyā is inexplicable. If we cannot explain it, it is not real.
- Anubhuti (perspective of experience, feeling) tells that we seek joy from outside- from articles, beings and circumstances.They are relative and cannot create absolute Joy. Māyā is defined as an appearance. We feel this appearance strongly in our mind. Treat negative thoughts as an appearance and there is no need to give them extra reality. What are we supposed to do with māyā? First, let go of the negative; eventually, when we are strong enough, we will also let go of the positive.
Discourse
Step 57 – guṇa (temperament/qualities)
At a macro level, māyā expresses as guṇas (qualities) which then get expressed as srshti (articles, beings, circumstances) or creation. Every article, being and circumstance has a certain quality. For example, the worst time for the intellect is after 9pm. At a micro level, our vāsanās express as guṇas, which express as karmas/actions. Varṇa means color of our personality. Our varṇa is based on our guṇas. Whether we are a worker, mobilizer, leader, or thinker is based on guṇas. If one has more tamas, then we are more of a worker. Varṇa does not mean caste or depend on our last name or location of birth.
When we interact with someone who is moody, we adapt to a temperament. We can adapt only when we accept our weaknesses. Acceptance leads to adaptation, but we can accept only when we analyze who we are. Analyze your qualities (not others) then accept and adapt.
Step 58 – tamas (laziness)
A lazy personality is one who:
1) is engaged in low living and low thinking.
2) does not work hard nor smart.
3) lives by no-term (not short or long term. For them, time does not exist and they do what they want when they want).
4) complains, particularly about circumstances that are not in their control (for example, weather). Pramādam vai mṛtyuh – laziness/careless/postponement is equivalent to death. Literally, a lazy person is less healthy. A sleepy driver is more dangerous. Implied meaning is laziness is equivalent to postponing happiness.They are not happy and not using the opportunity to be happy.
5) may not want to be happy but need to be happy.
Step 59 – rajas (selfishness)
A selfish personality is one who:
1) is engaged in high living, low thinking (all about lifestyle, but not vision).
2) works hard, but does not work smart.
3) live by the short-term (being instinctive).
4) blames beings (they cannot blame the abstract, so they blame who is in front of them).
5) wants to be happy and thinks they can create happiness. They become results-oriented. Their investment is in results/excellence and not in effort/action. Suppose the purpose of an academic setting is to do well on an exam, then cheating is a solution. It is not about learning, which is effort-oriented. They become vicious or filled with vices. Our society is based on creating results or excellence where we become highly result-, comparison-, and competition-oriented.
Step 60 – sattva (harmony)
A harmonious personality is one who:
1) is engaged in simple living, high thinking (all about aligning vision and lifestyle)
2) is hardworking and smart working (they know that they are not the doer but rather an instrument).
3) operates in the long-term (they are intentional; we should live our life not based on a year but based on a decade so we become more investment-oriented)
4) annotates (feel that they are an exception; a sattvik ego about their evolution)
5) is invested in spiritual quotient (SQ). They are living by an ideal – they are dharmik, most dependable, most harmonious inside. They are nodvijate lokan (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12)- not annoyed by any context. They are responsible and harmonious inside and because of that they are less annoying.
Analyze, accept and adapt. Guṇa (literal meaning is rope) means temperament/qualities. Tamas is a heavy rope, as if made up of steel. Rajas is a lighter rope made up of hemp and Sattva is the lightest rope, as if made up of string. Each rope gets lighter; eventually, we can break free of these ropes and become limitless.
At the ashram, one batchmate had a tough time waking up at 4 am when the bell rang. He shared in an accepting way that he has a hard time waking up, so he keeps a bucket of water and puts his head in the bucket of water to get up after the bell rings!! In Katha Upanishad, which Swami Vivekananda quotes- uttishthata jāgrata prāpyavarān nibodhata – Arise, awake and know who you are (your goal).
Summary
Step 57 – guṇa (temperament) Practice – Analyze our temperament to accept and adapt
Step 58 – tamas (laziness) Practice – Do not complain
Step 59 – rajas (selfishness) Practice – Do not blame and live a less results-oriented lifestyle
Step 60 – sattva (harmony) Practice – Do not annotate and do not feel you are an exception
Discussion subject
What are practices to become a long-term “live”-r?
Vivekji’s observations
Exposure to the long-term is humbling. If a long-term live-r plans minimally or does not get a chance to plan the work, they still tend to succeed due to the depth of their long-term thinking.
Questions
Q: With reference to Aham Brahmasmi, who is the doer? Is Bhagavan or purusha or prakrti the doer?
A: In Vedic teaching like Aham Brahmasmi, there is no reference to jiva and Ishvara. We or Bhagavan being the doer is not applicable. Aham Brahmasmi is “I am infinite” and in Infinity there is no doing, there is only Being.
Q: How can māyā express as guṇas or anything if māyā is that which is not?
A: Higher perspective: māyā is an appearance, anything that comes from that appearance will be an appearance. It has to have the same nature. Anything that comes from wood is flammable. Negative thoughts and positive thoughts are both appearances. But what hurts us more is the negative thoughts. So do not entertain them. But even positive thoughts are an appearance.
The lower perspective: anything that comes into our life is going to leave our life similar to thoughts in the mind. For example, home, degree, body, friends, everything that has come will also go. We should appreciate that but not be attached to that. Appreciation and attachment are very different. With attachment, there is almost like a sense of entitlement. Bhagavan is bhokta/deserver of all, because She created all of this. We did not create any of this. So appreciate it and let it go.
RAWs from last week
List first world problems that you have.
Vivekji’s observation: most of the first world problems that we describe drift into laziness or selfishness. When we analyze this, we will accept or like this, but then grow out of it.
Every time you shower, immerse yourself in cold water for at least 15 seconds at the very end of the shower.
Vivkeji’s observation: Bathing is functional, not therapeutic. If we live more functionally, we will be more objective. When we do not recognize the appearance we become subjective, but when we recognize the appearance we are objective about it.
RAWs for next week:
Donate to a charity that you feel is doing pure work. Offer an amount that gives you an initial feeling of discomfort. In the message field write: simple living high thinking.
Before complaining, stop and mentally do a cost benefit analysis for the complaint that you are about to make.