Feb 22, 2024 Class Notes by Isha Darbari

Review

• Review of pointers for 51 – 60:
  • 51. Wife is a God-given friend
    • Pointer = deepen: a relative is a relative if they direct you to the Absolute
  • 52. Rain is a person’s life support
    • Pointer = knowledge: all of us have free access to water; it is knowledge that we need now
  • 53. Charity is a human’s ultimate refuge
    • Pointer = training; practicing dana (charity) is a practice in being less self-centered, feeling one-ness 
  • 54. Uprightness is the greatest amongst blessings
    • Pointer = accountable
  • 55. Learning is the most valuable of all possessions
    • Pointer = insight; learning takes you from sight to insight, from the great to greatest to God 
  • 56. The best of all gains is health
    • Pointer = enables; being a healthy person enables you to do so much, being unhealthy inhibits from so much 
  • 57. Contentment is the best type of happiness
    • Pointer = enough; when one has a relationship with enough, it is easier to be content
  • 58. The highest virtue in this world is empathy
    • Pointer = empathy; the synonym for empathy is love, the synonym for sympathy is fear, the synonym for apathy is hatred
  • 59. The three Vedas always bear fruit
    • Pointer = precedent; the Vedas is the experience of those who are prosperous and peaceful and then left this map to follow; ie what would the wise do 
  • 60. One should control the mind to avoid grief
    • Pointer = engage; we cannot control the mind, we can only engage; when we engage the mind, it doesn’t go wild, causing stress, anxiety, distraction; importance of japa—japa, raises, reduces, redirects thoughts

Recap of last class

• 66. Charity is given to a Brahmana for the sake of dharma
  • Charity Navigator website – establishes how efficient a charity is
    • With a Brahmana: whatever they are given, they give back; their focus is the inner world
      • So anything given to them tends to their outer world, so that they can give more to us
      • Would have a high rating on Charity Navigator!
  • We tend to not be efficient: we have been given a lot but we give back little 
• 67. Artists should be rewarded for fame
  • Sanskriti = culture
    • Real culture = that which helps one relate to Sanatana Dharma
      • A culture that is disassociated from religion is just entertainment
      • Culture can be a means to religion, but otherwise art is simply entertainment
    • By supporting artists, we are encouraging them that this is where art gets expressed from 

Discourse

• 68. What is the reason for providing for brityeshu (dependents)? Because then they will support us
  • Absolute: When we support those who are dependent on us, it is the easiest way to train in selflessness
    • Is it easier to love your sibling or a neighbor? Sibling – because you feel they have the same blood, they’ll be there for you, etc  
    • How do you grow out of individuality? By tending to your family
      • BUT it doesn’t end there of course
    • This is training in selflessness, which requires sacrifice; if I’m dedicated to my family, I will sacrifice my individuality
      • That is the vision of Vedanta; the science of happiness/ the science of one-ness
  • Relative: By supporting those dependent on us, we are creating a succession plan of care and inclusivity
    • Earlier answer: how does one nurture wisdom? To serve those who are older than us 
  • Tactile moment: Reflect/ establish your personal tactile narrative for this question
• 69. Why does one give to the king? Bhaya (fear)
  • Absolute: We are very results-oriented
    • Who can give more to us– a king or servant? A king – we give to a king because we want something back  
    • Not a strength, but that is how we tend to be, so good to know about ourselves/ be aware so we can do something about it
  • Relative: If you have to give to someone for politics, work, etc – treat it like a game; like a card that you play, and then put that card away
    • Ex: when Vivekji teaches at corporations, he has to talk about achievements; but he only does so because that’s how the currency works for a message to be heard
    • Ex: can you interchange Monopoly and Life $?  It’s used just for each game specifically
  • Tactile moment: Reflect/ establish your personal tactile narrative for this question
• 70. What envelopes the loka (world)? Ajnana (Ignorance)
  • Absolute: we who are living in the world are immersed in the world — If there is a loka (creation), there has to be a loka-pati (Creator)
    • If you can quantify how much you remember creation vs how much you remember the Creator, it’s nearly zero – that’s how much the world is enveloped in ignorance; ignoring the source and only focusing on the symptoms 
    • The original Srimad Bhagavatam is not 18,000 verses, it’s only 4
      • One of these teachings Bhagawan Brahma shares with Bhagawan Narayana is: for the one who is ignoring, they will make the relative absolute and the Absolute non-existent 
      • One who is ignoring will push the relative to the position of absolute, and the Absolute gets pushed/ falls off the chart 
  • Relative: Ignoring = taking for granted
    • Reflect: what is one facet of our lives we take for granted? 
    • There are many who learn from posts, etc, but express no gratitude for it
      • When one does not express gratitude, it’s less intense/ impactful 
  • Tactile moment: Reflect/ establish your personal tactile narrative for this question
• 71. What causes an entity to be hidden? Tamasa (darkness or laziness)
  • Absolute
    • Ajnana (ignorance) triggers tamas (darkness)
    • When we succumb to tamas (darkness), we’re unable to be deeper -> so we stay shallow
    • Ex: fear of swimming at night – when there’s more darkness, you don’t go as deep; you stay on the surface
      • For those who contemplate – we tend to not go deeper, but going deeper feels unknown to us 
      • But if you don’t inquire, are you really utilizing your potential as a human?  
  • Relative: tamas also means laziness
    • Lazy people are unable to shed—unable to shed weight, vices, etc; unable to become lighter
    • Laziness inhibits your potential 
  • Tactile moment: Reflect/ establish your personal tactile narrative for this question
• 72. What causes one to break friendships? Lobha (greed)
  • Absolute: Greedy people give more interest to valuables than values
    • They are more interested in what you have than who you are – flimsy type of friendship
  • Relative: One who is greedy tends to be more controlling
    • Ex: Scrooge McDuck – very controlling 
    • The opposite of greedy = accepting
      • A greedy person is controlling – what can I get? 
      • A generous person is accepting – what can I give? 
  • Tactile moment: Reflect/ establish your personal tactile narrative for this question

Discussion Subject: Will you be enlightened in this lifetime, and why!?
Vivekji’s Reflection:

• Those who don’t respect time have a lower chance of enlightenment
  • The importance of being organized
  • Do you respect time? Are you on time to class?
    • Shri Krishna says kalasmi (I am Time)— respect time more 
• When you have the prompt/ trigger that there is no next lifetime, your viveka will become more intense
  • Imagine if whatever you were feeling today – mixed happy, mixed sad – imagine you were to feel this forever: would be terrible! That’s why this has to be your maximum priority

Dialogue: 

• Question 1: Should I just work on my sadhanas and not worry about the enlightenment part? Ie “na mukti na bandha”
  • As you engage in svadhyaya (self-reflection): if you feel that you are moving slow/ stagnant/ complacent with sadhanas – then you need to shift back to the desire “for mukti” so that you get re-energized
  • As you get closer to mukti, that desire for mukti will naturally fall off
    • Ex: loving the trust triangle initially requires thought/ intention, but for advanced seeker it is an honor to be able to know and love the trust triangle  
    • So if one is a beginner seeker I would discourage one from thinking “I shouldn’t desire mukti” – as one advances, it will naturally fall off 
• Question 2: Can you elaborate on the trust triangle?
  • Course Hinduism 101 – good podcast on the trust triangle
  • For a seeker – how to evolve and rise?
    Triangle of: Guide-Map-Divinity
    • First contact is the Guide
    • The Guide holds my hand and takes me to the Map
    • The Map then connects me to Divinity
  • This is an equilateral triangle: all angles are the same – Divinity is all of them
• Question 3: Related to the point about how it can be scary to go deeper– when we feel discomfort or resistance to being consistent or disciplined, how much should be forced discipline vs being more gentle and acknowledging our feelings? Analogous to the gym knowing when to stick to the goal vs easing.
  • Organizational Vivekji– be gentle with the feelings
  • Non-organizational Vivekji – just push it
• Feelings are just thoughts, thoughts are just the mind, which you’re trying to dissociate from anyway – just force your way through sadhana 

• Re: The fear of going deeper
  • It’s not so much a fear of going deeper, but rather a fear of letting go of the shallow 
  • We’re so comfortable, we have no idea how attached we are to the shallow; and when we have some idea, we justify it 
  • So, it’s not so much the unknown that’s scary, but rather letting go 
• Therefore, one’s whole lifestyle has to be towards independence – so that you can facilitate and practice this in deeper ways
  • Live in a less gross way: be less articles-oriented 
• Question 4: Regarding #68 (“Why should we provide for our dependents? So that then they can provide for us”) – isn’t that fostering expectation?
  • One aspect is: inter-dependence – when we are older, our physical needs will increase significantly – your partner and children will need to help more, and will remember how much their mother helped
    • General observation: we don’t tend to have old-age homes, rather the parents live with us – that’s part of our culture, to tend for the aging
  • Other matter re: expectation – you’re right: a sign of a good person is they give without sentiment of getting
    • However, if it does come to you, be grateful/ appreciative
    • Then one has the right relationship – it’s not expected, it’s all a bonus then 

RAW last week: listen to the song “We are the World” 

• Netflix documentary: Greatest Night of Pop – an example of how individuals (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie) can bring other individuals together to bring great strength and success
  • You may feel you are an individual, but if you bring more individuals together – can bring great strength

RAW this week: Discuss this discussion subject every day – ask another person not in this course: are you going to be enlightened in this lifetime, and why?