We reviewed the virtue of Gunateeta — One who is unaffected by one’s moods. The 3 moods we had studied were — (1) Sattva — when your mood is calm, (2) Rajas — when your mood is energetic and full of action, and (3) Tamas — when your mood is not energetic or lazy. We should try to stay in a calm mood (sattva). One way to do this is to chant e.g., Hare Rama Hare Krishna …
Today’s Class — Jagat Sakshi
Om Jagat Sakshine Namaha — I admire the one who is observant.
What does observant mean? To pay attention to everything happening around you, even the small details.
Why is it important to be observant? It helps you focus more and stay in a calm mood
Story from today’s class
Shankarji studied in a school in Trinidad where the culture was one where all students had to serve their teachers. Then one day an important teacher came to visit the school and Shankarji was assigned to take care of him. For example, he had to bring food to his room, carry his umbrella and take care of his needs. The hardest thing was to serve the teacher for meal time — because this needed him to be very observant of what was happening without the teacher telling him e.g. how much he was going to eat, when to serve seconds, when to serve water etc.
After a week of serving the teacher and being very observant, Shankarji observed that he was able to learn much better and focus in class. He was able to do the things that he was supposed to do e.g. exercise after lunch.
Lesson from the story
When we are trying to be better, we are trying to change. In order to make any change, we have to know the thoughts and actions that we are trying to change e.g. If I want to be more confident, I have to be aware of the times when I feel nervous and the thoughts I am having. Once I am aware, then I can change. We must be observant if we want to change.
The most observant people are always the quietest people. They only talk when they need to talk. The way to become more observant is to speak less and listen more.
Practice and its significance
We played a fun game called “Detective” to see how observant we are.
In this game, a person who plays detective closes their eyes and the person who plays “It” starts doing an action that everyone else imitates. Shankarji then gives the signal to “switch” for the person who plays “it” to change their action. The detective had to figure out who plays “It” — the first person who is changing their actions.
RAW for the week
Serve your family meals and practice being observant e.g. if someone has an empty cup, observe and fill it for them before they even ask for it.
==========================
Notes by Pranavi Ananthanarayanan
Gurudev’s name — Jagat — sakshi- the one who is observant.
Story from today’s class
Shankarji was in an ashram,they had to respect their teachers like paying attention to them when they eat and etc. One day, a guest came to live in an ashram and shankarji was responsible to take care of the guest. During lunch time shankarji was instructed to give the correct quantity and not expect the guest to be asked for.
We have to speak less and listen more,then you can observe really well and you can be really good at school if you do that.
Practice: We played detective and practice how to be more observant.
RAW: Serve to family, be observant and refill before they have to ask for it