January 23, 2023 Class Notes by Bhamin Chhatrapati

Introduction
Review of Practices covered so far:

Practice 1: Read inspiring
Practice 2: Delete but
Practice 3: Chant samarpayami
Practice 4: Guide gratitude
Practice 5: Speak positively
Practice 6: Review disturbances (or Locate Disturbance)
Practice 7: Review quietude (or Locate quietude)
Practice 8: Smile mirror
Practice 9: Prepare experience
Practice 10: Set altar
Practice 11: Allow speak
Practice 12: Sleep early
Practice 13: Study happiness
Practice 14: Visualize guide
Practice 15: Invoke pages
Practice 16: Write notes (today’s topic)

In Ramayana, when Shria Rama left Ayodhya, the youngest brother, Shri Bharata was asked to sit on the throne.Shri Bharata out of love and respect for Shri Rama never sat on the throne and left Shri Rama’s paduka (sandals) on the throne. Shri Bharata sat below the paduka often, especially when he was dejected & confused. Shri Bharata sat in front of paduka and contemplated on them to quieten his mind and listen for guidance. 
How many feel this kind of faith can work ? Is this practical?  

Our Thursday class offers us to be in satsang where we listen, feel direction and reflect. 

Satsang is an opportunity to shift from functional to fundamental, i.e. find more meaning.

Meaning completes us. Guruji, Swami Tejomayananda, once said that one who lacks satsang has a rich body and poor mind. In other words, that individual’s context is rich but their content or mind is poor.

This class  is basically about sadhanas to reach the sadhya. Sadhana are practices or particularly disciplines and sadhya means the end. What we need is independent joy, which is sadhya. In Practices to Perfection, we are using a map (Sadhana Panchakam) written by Shri Adi Sankracharya with the purpose to make one independently joyous. Sadhana Panchakam is made up of 5 verses and each verse has 8 disciplines (totaling 40 practices).

In the second verse, the last practice was to write notes (practice 16). Writing notes is a form of manana, it is an overt practice in reflecting.

Discourse:

Verse 3, Practice 17:vakyarthasca vicaryatam
‘Vakya’ means that which is spoken/words which is in reference to Veda and  arth is ‘the meaning’ in reference to Veda. What is the purpose of Veda? The answer is Vedanta. Vedanta is to know what is inside of you & for you to be tuned into the purpose of life.
‘Vicharatyam’ is to inquire into the meaning of Vedanta. 

Absolute perspective:
In Shrimad Bhagavatam, the chirasagaramanthana occurs. There is a large body of milky water that is churned and many materials come including elixir for immortality, the ‘original red bull’, etc. So this is what happens with us. Where is the milky ocean? This milky ocean is our own personality. That which is milky you can’t see through. We don’t know what’s inside of us and if we churn the milky ocean then we reflect on what Vedanta is teaching us (i.e. who are we?) Are we truly happy? 

Relative perspective:

How many believe in God? How many worry about the future? 

If you believe in God then you shouldn’t worry about the future. We will never know this unless we reflect. Listening nurtures belief in us. It is reflecting that makes one faithful. Faith and fear are antonyms. Fear has a grip on our life. It has gripped due to lack of faith. As one reflects more, they become faith-filled and fear goes away. Once the fear goes away then their personality will be like a muni. When we think of muni, we think of an external personality (a person with  an orange robe). Muni means one who regularly and sincerely reflects. By regularly and sincerely reflecting, one becomes muni (faithful / faith-filled).

Tactile perspective 

Walk freely (practice 17)! 

We encourage freedom walking on Saturdays during Meaningful Mornings because our lifestyle is not oriented towards reflecting. The biggest challenge in silence retreats is the seeker gets drowsy. So we are encouraged to walk freely. Walk freely and reflect on Sadhana Panchakam – are you happy? Suggestion to all seekers from Vivekji is to walk freely for 30 minutes and reflect.  It is a game changer for the evolution from believing to being faithful

Verse 3, Practice 18: srutisirahpaksah samasriyatam
‘Shruti’ equals veda similar to vakya.

‘Sirah Paksha’ is the head or topmost subject of Veda which has many synonyms like Vedanta/Upanishads. 

‘Samasriyatam’ is to immerse yourself in Upanishad or Vedanta 

Absolute perspective: 

Offering puja, offering japa, and Vedic chanting are known as bahikarana sadhana. These are preparation practices. Preparation for what? Antakarana sadhana-which are final practices of which there are 3: listening (sravana), reflecting (manana), and contemplating (nidhidhyasana) What is lovely about the first 17 practices is that they were preparation for contemplation.  

The etymology of the word nidhidhyasana: dhyehi means to keep in mind;  nitarama means always. Hence nidhidhyasana means to always keep in mind. We become what we keep in mind. Nidhidhyasana is where you change your sense of I. You change factually what I is. Most will generally share that I am the body or what the body does (family / profession).  Through Vedanta, the seeker knows that they are the nature of Joy. The only way to change the sense of I is through nididhyasana. If reading makes you believe in something, then reflection makes you faithful. What does contemplation do? It makes you trustworthy. With nididhyasana one moves from faithful to trustworthy. One trusts that they are Divine. 

The most sublime teaching of Sanatana Dharma is you are Infinite. In our lives, we have disproven ourselves many times. When we migrated to the US / Canada we never thought we would be in the position (better) we are now. Similarly when our guide comes and shares that we are Infinite, at first we disprove. Though the more we listen and reflect, we come to the conclusion that we are Infinite. 

Tactile perspective:
Sit still (Practice 18)
When the body is still it becomes a catalyst for the mind and then the intellect to be still. When the intellect is still, we let go of limits. Why do people love to swim? It is because the weight of the body is on water and not on them. Hence swimming is good for muscles and heart as the weight is not on the body. You can do that actively by sitting. By sitting still, your breath, mind and intellect become still. Try this for at least 5 minutes, keep the body still and the mind will become quiet. The most dangerous way to live is to live a busy life. So busy that you don’t realize you are busy and you never slow down. Our Thursday class is to help us slow down and reflect on disciplines & to make us independent. 

Discussion subject
Q. How does faith change a person?
Faith makes one fearless. It evolves a person from being fearful to being fearless.
Q. Can you be independently joyous without a guide?
No, it would be challenging without a guide. For one who wants to be independently joyous one must be part of the trust triangle: Guide to Map to Divinity.


RAW for the week

• Walk freely
• Sit still