March 10, 2022 – Class Notes by Prema Palaniappan

Introduction

We have engaged in an average of about 19 years of secular schooling.  In Bhagavad Gita, before Bhagavan Krishna teaches contemplation, he says that one must feel jñāna, vijñāna, tṛiptātmā.  One has to feel that any amount of secular education will not make one feel complete.  Only vijñāna (subjective science), will make one feel complete.  With such clarity, one will have more passion for contemplation.  No matter how much we explore the secular, it will not complete us; only the sacred will.  The Moksha Patha, and our course ‘100 steps to Infinity’, is designed for us to focus less on knowing and more on Being.  We must not just know what sattva is but must be sattvik.

Review

Step 61 – prakṛti (matter) & Step 62 – puruṣa (Spirit)

Prakṛti means matter and the feeling that comes with matter is incompleteness. Puruṣa means Spirit and the feeling that comes with It is completeness. Another etymology of puruṣa is puri dehe śete iti puruṣa.  The Presence that is residing in all bodies (matter) i.e. stones, plants, animals and humans is the same.  They have the same ability and the potential of all these bodies is not different. The capability of how much of that potential is captured and expressed by the bodies is different. This is why we practice being a vegetarian. An animal can express more of the ability than a plant. Therefore, a human (that can express most of the ability) has to live in such a way to have least damage to the potential of the other bodies.

There are humans who look like humans but their mind is like stones. They have no purpose in life.  There are humans with minds like plants and their purpose is pleasure (like plants that go in the direction of the sun). Humans with minds like animals have a purpose of possession (like animals in a jungle.  There is so much demarcation of territory and leaders of the pack in the jungle). Humans with minds like humans have the purpose of position (they have a feeling of being separate from others). This is a sign of insecurity. Insecurity starts with being distracted. Then we compare, followed by feeling jealous and finally feeling insecure. Insecurity is in reference to another and this reiterates a matter of position. There are humans with God minds and their purpose is Peace. They have no interest in position, possession or pleasure.  All humans have the same ability but different capabilities. 

Another viewpoint is where Prakṛti is processed while Puruṣa is Pure. Infinity is Pure and when It assumes quality, forms, and names, this too is a form of processing. However, prakṛti still has puruṣa as its foundation. Just like in Bhagavad Gita, where stone, gold, and earth have the same foundation of earth (Existence). That is why prakṛti is known as nature and Puruṣa is also called Nature. We need to live in a less processed way and tune in to the foundation of all articles, all beings and all circumstances.

As long as we live in a shallow way, all articles, beings and circumstances will annoy us. Titikṣā (endurance) is imperative for us to go from shallow to the deep. When one endures, they do not get distracted by annoyances. They are inquiring more and appreciate that all have the same root system and same root. If we look at the shallow, we will feel incomplete. When we look deep, we will feel complete.

Discourse

Step 63 – jīva (Individual)

We all have an inherent sense of being ‘separation’. Psychologists describe humans as being social animals. However, looking at it more deeply, there is a sense of Oneness which is why we socialize. This shows that deeper than the separation is Oneness. The sense of separation is dangerous and harmful.

The sense of separation we feel occurs because instead of working towards Oneness, we have started to identify with our equipment (the intellect, mind, breath, body). From the body comes beings, circumstances, and articles, and this keeps going outward like an extrovert. When one feels separate, they then feel their equipment and feel this smallness that ‘I am this intellect, this mind’. That separation gets further fermented and this now becomes a cycle.

We try to find completeness through pleasure but cannot find completeness. So now we get addicted to that pleasure. We try to find completeness from beings, but we do not feel this completeness and as a result get attached to them. The jīva will go on feeling this sense of separation until it matures and realizes that completion through the equipment will not work. We will have to go deeper to the Spirit. That is why in the book jīva is represented as a bubble. A bubble is in water but ‘feels’ separate from the water.  Once the bubble ‘feels’ it is not separate, it becomes one with water.

When this body dies, it is the jīva and not the Atma that moves to another body. Experientially, the following is a reflection by Vivekji on the many seekers who have had a hard childhood. Being exposed to such macro and micro negativity, sometimes we feel disheartened. Vivekji does not allow the disheartening to lower him but, conversely, it becomes an inspiration to not be a jīva, to not have to go through what the intellect goes through with respect/disrespect or what the mind goes through in terms of pleasure and pain. The jīva goes through these turmoils and not the Atma. 

Step 64 – jagat (multiverse)

Another word for multiverse is kshetra or field. This multiverse is a field for articles which are arranged to be circumstances for beings. The jagat is synonymous with prakṛti. Prakṛti will make us feel incomplete.  The unthinking being will keep trying to arrange the circumstances and articles in a perfect way but that is impossible. We do not realize it and go on living like this and keep feeling incomplete and insecure.  How do we break free from such instinctive living?  By sādhutva which means selflessness. A sādhu is one who serves beings and is not one who needs to be served by beings. When one furthers selflessness, they become a suhṛt, i.e. become large-hearted and are happier. They do not try to get from beings, circumstances, and articles but instead give to them.  Our relationship to jagat should be one of serving and giving.  If we are not serving and giving, we will be stuck (samsara).  The feeling of being stuck is stress, anxiety and dejection. 

Step 64 – Īśvara or Jagadīshvara (Creator)

Īśvara has 5 technical functions. 

1) Sṛṣṭi – Īśvara is the Creator

2) Sthiti – Īśvara is the Controller

3) Saṃhāra – Īśvara is the Consumer

4) Nigṛaha – Īśvara is the Corrector (when we engage in wrong thinking, wrongdoing and we are being corrected in a sincere way, This is Īśvara)

5) Anugṛha – Īśvara is the Conserver (the one who graces or blesses and conserves us)

We have been told that the cause pervades the effect. The cause of the jagat is Īśvara.  The cause of the jīva is Īśvara.  So the micro is us and our nature is Īśvara.  The micro interacts with the macro, and the nature of the macro is Īśvara  This is why we use terms like Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent.  Omnipresent is Sat; Omniscient is Chit, Omnipotent is Ananda or Joy. So the nature of all is the uniform nature of Existence, Awareness, and Joy.

Shiva is an icon of simple living. The ‘H’ in Shiva is ‘handle for evolution’. The fact that the cause pervades the effect means Īśvara is always looking at us and looking after us. Therefore, all that happens to us is for our evolution. If we have this vision, we will handle all our experiences as an experience to evolve. The one who is sattvik is a visionary. One who lives by vision, they know and then they see.  Inside there is change but outside there is no change.  For the one with vision, prakṛti will not change (e.g. a cup will not become a plate or the people in our life will not disappear) but our vision will be ‘I am complete and no one else can or needs to complete me’. This is a free way to live. We have the same vision towards all i.e. all are jīva, all are jagat but finally all are Īśvara.  

Summary

Step 63 – jīva (Individual)     Practice – Work towards Oneness by going deeper to the Spirit. 

Step 64 – jagat (multiverse)  Practice – To serve and give

Step 65 – Īśvara or Jagadīshvara (Creator) Practice – Live by vision

Discussion subject (last week)

What annoys you and someone else provides a solution on how to absorb it. Another word for absorption is titikṣā (endurance).

Vivekji’s feedback:  We create stress and therefore we are responsible for un-creating that stress. What causes us stress does not cause another person stress. We have to tell ourselves this.

Discussion subject (this week)

How do you keep moving on from an emotionally troubling experience?

Vivekji’s observations

If we want to help people we have to move on.  Vivekji referenced a sādhu. The word sādhu comes from sādhnoti parakāryam iti sadhu. A sādhu is one who helps others with their life.  If one still needs help with their own life, they can not help others with theirs. This is a trigger for us to keep moving on and to help others. Ramayana and Bhagavatam  teach us in an overt and covert way how much of an emotionally troubling experience Bhagavan Rama and Bhagavan Krishna went through. But at no point did they stop helping others.

Questions

Q: Explain the difference between jīva and Atma?

A: Jīva is one who has a name, form and quality. Jagat is also the same. The dhāma of the jīva is Existence, Awareness, Joy. The dhāma of Atma is also Existence, Awareness, Joy.  So the jīva’s actual nature is Atma.  The nature of Atma is Brahma.  Atma means center, Brahma means Infinite.  Hence, Brahma is like an infinite circle and we are centered in that. Until we know this, the jīva which is the inner world (memory, mind, intellect, Ego)  will move from body to body until we let go of nama, rupa and guna and become established in dhāma.  We must change our identification from the name to the foundation.  The jīva is reincarnated and not the Atma. Hybrid word is jīvatma and it means jīva.

RAWs from last week

1) Every morning, think about one major mistake and one minor mistake that you have made.  Openly share these mistakes with someone you respect greatly. 

Vivekji’s observation: When we share our mistake with someone we do not respect, it essentially is gossip. Whatever mistake we made we will feel it as casual and will do it again. When we share with someone we respect, they will help us learn from it so that we do not do it again. That is why having a wise person in our life is like the philosopher’s stone. Everything will be better for our inner world.

2) Pick an entertainment medium that you enjoy most. Test yourself – refrain from using it

Vivekji’s observation: If we have a habit of escaping, this means we do not have a habit of enduring.  We are addicted to the entertainment we have in our lives. We use it as an escape and this indicates we are not developing titikṣā (endurance).

RAWs for next week:

1) At the end of the day, reflect and list everything and everyone that helped you make it through the day. 

2) Delete the word ‘but’ from your vocabulary.