February 2, 2023 Class Notes by Theos Stamoulis
Introduction
Pujya Swami Chinmayananda was in Italy once and He was on a bridge just overlooking a stream. And someone saw Him there looking very majestic and noticed that a big red dot on His forehead. This person asked, “Why do your people wear dots on their forehead?” He responded by sharing “my people traditionally wake up early and engage in disciplines to cool their minds. And then they put this dot on their forehead to remind them to keep a cool mind all day. So if you ever see one of my people without a dot on their forehead stay away from them because they didn’t cool their mind that morning.”
When you reflect on this notion of being cool, it only benefits the individual who is cool. But with worldly coolness, you can’t keep up, you’re working so hard and smart and it’s tiring. Whereas with sacred coolness, the one who has a cool mind is not the only beneficiary as their ‘coolness’ radiates outward. For everyone who has a lot of relationships in their life, the cooler your mind, the cooler your relationships are. The more heated you are it’s harder to relate to others.
Our course Practices to Perfection is putting that dot on our foreheads.
Recap
In the third verse, the 17th practice, Acharya Shankara shares, “reflect ever on the meaning of the commandments of the Upanishads.” What does Upanishad mean? It is not just a book. It is a feeling. It means, “near, sit, below.” When one is near, sitting, below, they are trying to quieten their mind. When your mind is quiet, you can hear the multiverse (which is always speaking to you) speak. If you can quiet your mind, the multiverse will speak to you.
I’ve shared with all of you repeatedly any sort of success that our community has experienced, which I have been part of those ideas and that implementation has only come when I’ve been able to quieten my mind and I know that it’s the divine that’s facilitating all of this. Thus our practice, walk freely with the plan to quiet the mind.
The 18th practice – Take refuge in Brahman as given in the Upanishads.
What is unique about humans is the development of our intellect. Stones, plants, animals, humans, we all have intellects. Semigods also. But humans have the most developed intellect.
Now what does the intellect do? The initial function of the intellect is viveka. The practice that comes with viveka is inquiry. A human’s intellect can inquire into am I a human? What does it mean to be a human? Then, utilize the intellect to inquire into the more evolutionary function of the intellect, which is to build up to shraddha. The word shraddha is a compound word made up of two parts shradth, which means “existence or truth” and dha which means “to hold onto.” So the more refined function of the intellect is to express faith. First you inquire, then you hold onto the Truth, which is being faithful.
As expressed in Chapter 11 in the Bhagavad Gita, logic is to take you far, but after that faith takes you farther.
Our Practice – Sit still. Sitting still allows us to feel our intellect. Then, you can inquire and you can have faith. Now for some faith may be an abstract term or feeling. How do you know that you are faithful? You are accepting. Inquire, then accept.
The 19th Practice – Avoid perverse arguments.
Once a philosopher came to Shri Kabir and said, “I want to debate with you.” Shri Kabir said, “Why?” The philosopher then said, “So I can defeat you.” Shri Kabir said, “I’m defeated. He followed up by saying, “Your aim is to win the argument and defeat me; not to find the truth.” The purpose of logic and argumentation is to extract the truth. It’s not about being right or wrong in reference to one another.
Our Practice – Eat alone. Instead of being in the company where there’s this notion of not extracting the truth, be alone. It’s more efficient, it’s more effective, and this is a practice of burning your comfort zone.
The 20th Practice – Follow the rationale of Shuti.
When one does so, they learn how to think.
Shruti, Vedanta, Upanishad. These are all synonyms. When one follows Shruti, they learn how to think and not what to think.
Our Practice – Ask Wise
And if I can qualify the wise for anyone seeking their Sadhguru, here are 2 qualities: 1) Nishta (Experienced) and 2) Shrotriya (Empathetic).
Discourse:
Verse 3, Practice 21: brahmasmiti vibhavyatam – Intensely feel you are Infinite.
According to Swami Chinmayananda’s translation, this reads as, “always be absorbed in the attitude, ‘I am Brahman.’”
Absolute perspective: Infinity and One are synonymous. They are all. You are not excluded from That. In reference to Infinity, there is no other. Similarly, in reference to Oneness, there is no other. That entity that pervades all.
What’s unique about the Truth is that the Truth is not affected by you knowing. Most of us might not feel Infinite. That doesn’t affect Infinity. And that should be a realization of hope, that although I have neglected Infinity for 40-50 years, Infinity is not affected by it. So I can feel Infinite this month.
Relative perspective: Currently we feel we’re finite. Specifically, in feeling finite, we feel we are the body.
Who told you that you are your body? Who told you? When you’re dreaming, you don’t know what your body looks like? This practice requires a lot of effort to unlearn that we are the body. Then we have to learn that we’re Infinite.
We have to feel that we are Infinite as much as we feel that we are this body. We should get to the state that we don’t do anything to affirm that we are this body. That same intensity with Infinity is to happen, and that’s why Swami Chinmayananda has called this process, “Self Re-Creating.” We are re-discovering who we are.
Tactile perspective: Label less. By labeling (nama) you associate something with what is beauty (rupa).
What is your label based on rupa? That’s beautiful. That’s not beautiful. If you label less, you’re not so concerned about the nama or rupa. This is a way we will feel more Infinite.
Discussion Subject: What are higher and lower practices to reduce body identification?
Vivekji’s observation:
My higher practice is contemplation. In contemplation, that’s the second sheath (the body) you disidentify from and there’s so much more after that. So definitely contemplation.
My lower practice would be less comfort. The more you give this body comfort, the more you’re acknowledging its reality and its importance. The less you give the body a comfort, the more you’re making this body function.
RAW for the week. Label Less.