October 26, 2023 Class Notes by Yaishna Santchurn

Introduction

Dialogue with Dharma is a class designed for us to reflect on ourselves. 

• Reflection: Getting to know what you are (i.e. your strengths) and who you are (i.e. your nature)
• We must reflect to train our content (i.e. our inner world) to be calm, natural, and quiet, so that we can work, live, and be cheerful in any context.
• Our content is more powerful than any context. Our willpower is stronger than world power. 

Review

Questions 13 through 16 are a sequence of questions relating to a ksatriya, or leader 

• Question 14: Ksatriya’s noble attribute: performance of yajna = dedication
  • Dedication is leading oneself
  • If you lead yourself well, you will naturally lead those around you well
• Question 15: Ksatriya’s human attribute: fear
  • Fear occurs when we have a doubt in our minds, which makes us hold onto the context around us (attachment).
  • The more you hold onto your context, the more it breeds fear.
• Question 16: Ksatriya’s ignoble attribute: abandoning the afflicted
  • A leader/protector abandons the afflicted out of a sense of smallness and selfishness.
  • This occurs when they have the “I can’t” thought, which can develop into an “I can’t” mind, if left unchecked. 
• Questions 17: Essential Sama for a yajna: prana, i.e. being healthy

Discourse

Question 18: What is essential in a yajna (dedication) relating to the Yajuh Veda? 

Answer: Manah – the Mind

• Absolute Perspective
  • The Mind = an altar
  • When one is engaged in dedication guided by the Veda, then one’s altar is everything they come across.
  • All experiences are an opportunity to be dedicated.
  • “An altar alters one’s life.” – Swami Tejomayananda.
  • When your mind has a purpose, your performance is significant. 
• Relative Perspective
  • “Mind your mind and mind your own business.” – Swami Tejomayananda
  • Those who are judgmental are not minding their own mind.
  • Those who are minding their own mind don’t have the time to criticize and judge.
• Tactile Narrative: Seeker to engage in reflection and personalization. 

Course note: Many questions in Yaksha Prashna are context-specific, so one needs to reflect even more to make it relevant to today.

Question 19: Which among them accepts or chooses the yajna? I.e. What directs dedication?

Answer: The Rg alone accepts/chooses/directs the yajna

• Absolute Perspective
  • Question 17: inviting Divinity (Sama Veda)
  • Question 18: establishing Divinity (Yajuh Veda)
  • Question 19: uniting with Divinity (Rg Veda)
  • It is words and phrases (i.e. teachings and advice) that help us unite with what we’ve invited and established in our altar. 
• Relative Perspective
  • The phrases in a sacred science such as Advaita Vedanta are secrets about life and oneself.
  • Secrets are to be kept close to oneself and felt in one’s heart.
• Tactile Narrative: Seeker to engage in reflection and personalization.

Pareeksha Review

One must be an active learner and tune into reflection and personalization for this course’s map to be most effective. We must train our content in order to be balanced in our context. 

We can distill the first 10 questions into one word each to remember and practice. 

Question 1: What makes the Sun rise? MAP

• With a map in one’s life, everything becomes brighter.

Question 2: What accompanies the Sun? SENSES

• This map helps to direct one’s senses.

Question 3: What makes the Sun set? INTEGRATION

• Once you have followed this map, you come to feel integrated, or oneness, and then don’t need the map anymore.

Question 4: In what is the Sun firmly anchored? CREATOR

• The map is the words of the Creator.

Question 5: What makes a human learned? INTROSPECTION

• Knowing a lot about what’s outside oneself makes one educated but not learned. 
• Knowing a lot about what’s inside oneself makes one learned.

Question 6: How does one attain greatness? EFFORT

• When one works hard and smart to expand themselves, that’s what makes one great
• Tapasa: to burn one’s comfort zones 

Question 7: How does one double one’s strength or capability? DETERMINATION

• When you are determined, you will blow yourself away. 

Question 8: How does one become intelligent? SERVICE

• When you serve, you get to know the experience of others, so you become more empathetic.

Question 9: What constitutes the divine nature of brahmanas? EVOLUTION

• A brahmana is one who studies and follows a subjective science. 
• Evolution: when you become less of an object and more of a subject 

Question 10: Which virtue of brahmanas is like that of noble ones? FOCUS

• Tapaha: to focus one’s entire personality on what one is doing 

Discussion Subject

1. Which of the above 10 keywords/reminders could be improved? 

Last week’s discussion debrief:

• What causes one to be selfish?
  • Vivekji’ Observation: Focusing on differences makes one smaller and selfish.
• What does “mind your mind” look like?
  • Vivekji’s Observation: In a context of pressure, you don’t give in to vices. 

Dialogue

Question: Can Vivekji clarify the distinction between and structure of the 4 Vedas?

Answer: There is one Veda that has been volumized into 4 Vedas, all of which have the same content. However, they have each been written in a different manner in order to help different personality types. For example, the Sama Veda is written in the form of songs. Overall, the point is not about the Veda; rather, it is about puja. The sequence of a puja is to invite, then establish, and then unite. 

RAW

Last week’s RAW: Document your day on a daily basis.

• Vivekji’s Reflection: When you document your day, you become more objective and don’t make a big deal of this and that. 

This week’s RAW: How would Vivekji rate you as a student?