October 27, 2021

Notes by Akshera Mukkamala

Review

We are talking about the 9 virtues to be happy all the time. The first one we learned is Viveka – Prioritization. If we don’t remember what is important, we will regret it later on. The second one, which we are talking about now, is Vairāgya – Acceptance. We need to focus on the positives and take what comes.

Vairāgya – Cheerful Acceptance

Vairāgya is not just acceptance, but cheerful acceptance. Learning cheerful acceptance has 2 parts, the first is understanding that we don’t have control over the situation, but we do have control over our attitude or reaction to that situation. The second part is focusing on the positives. Even if you think that you are in the worst situation in the world and there’s nothing positive about it, there is always at least one positive to every situation- we can always learn from that situation. We should turn every situation into a learning opportunity.

Story

This week’s story was about a saint that lived on the banks of the river Ganga. On his way to the bath one morning, a man that hated religion spit on him. The saint calmly goes to the river and bathes. As he is coming back, the same man spits on him again. The saint calmly goes and takes a bath again. This happens 108 times. After the saint comes back from his bath for the 108th time, the man is parched, and asks the saint for water. The saint obliges and gives him some water. After he drank, the man questions how the saint forgave him so easily. This man has just spit on him 108 times. The saint responds, “Thanks to you, I got to bathe in the holy river Ganga 108 times.” The saint only focused on the positive of the situation.

Practice

For this week’s practice, Shankarji called a random person and told them to do a random task that he chose. Our job was to take it positively and do the task cheerfully.