April 28, 2022 – Class Notes by Siddharth Kashinath

Introduction

Vedasya eashwara ca atmavat – The spirit of Bhagavan is the Veda. The Veda is described in many ways. The Veda can be described as the word of Bhagavan. The breath of Bhagavan. This particular teaching is the spirit of Bhagavan or the center of Bhagavan. We are lucky that we have a path to reach the center of Bhagavan. That path is the Veda. That is what this course is about, but it is looked at differently. All of the words we are flowing through relate to the Veda. If one were to try to find their way to the center of God, one follows the Moksha Patha.

Review

Step 81 – upadeśa (advice)

– Advice is unique because though it comes from the outside, you feel this on the inside. As if you are telling yourself this advice. When one tells oneself a certain advice, it is harder to reject or to not follow. Comparatively, aadesha, which means instruction or command, comes from the outside and one feels this outside. When someone gives us a command or instruction, we may do it, but we certainly do not feel that coming from within. That is not natural.

Step 82 – mahāvākya (revelation)

– What is already there is revealed. There is a revealing that is happening. It is very different from creating. What is revealed to us is the source of joy. We stop trying to create joy. A way you know that you are shifting from creating joy to revealing joy is that you become more inward looking. More directly, it is to be introvert, but some still need to understand the power of this virtue.

Step 83 – śravanam (inspiration)

– When one feels that this is THE message one needs for their life, then this is THE message that inspires them. (First 3 verses of Ch. 7 in the Bhagavad Gita are very much about inspiration. To go from being a searcher to being a seeker.)

Step 84 – mananam (reflection) 

– This is THE message and by reflecting on it, the message becomes real. Those who do not reflect on that inspiration feel that it is a lovely message, but never feel that it applies to them. They postpone thinking that this may only apply to them at a future date.

Step 85 – nididhyāsana (contemplation)

– Your guide offers you upadesa. The form it takes is mahavakya, i.e. it is revealing. What we do next is that we reflect on this and then we contemplate on this. The word nididhyasana comes from ‘nitaram’ ‘dhyayhi’. ‘Dhyayhi’ means to think or to keep inside of oneself. And ‘nitaram’ means perpetually. There are no excuses not to be feeling this upadesa in the form of a mahavakya. If one wants to practice contemplation, it begins with purification. One’s lifestyle, one’s day has to be oriented towards purifying oneself. What it feels like is when one’s mind becomes quieter. When the mind is critically quiet, then we have to engage in preparation. Preparation is when we tend to matters like our room, our senses, etc. so that one can prepare to contemplate. Then comes contemplation, which is personalization. When the upadesa is given in the form of a mahavakya, we are personalizing that. We are personifying that. Contemplation is when we change who we are from one who is trying to create joy to one who is being joy. That brings us to the fourth aspect which is perfection. We then have the experience of a perfect happiness. It is one’s nature, it can never change. The flow is as follows:

Purification of lifestyle

Preparation is more immediate – the controlled environment

Contemplation is Personalization    

And if all of the above are checked off, we have Perfection

Discourse

Step 86 – vicāra (inquiry)

The word comes from the root ‘vich’, which means to filter. Which means there are at least two entities and we are filtering away everything except for one. There is a lovely saying in Vedanta: avichara krito bandaha, vicharena nivartate. Avichara is the one who does not think; kritah is the cause for bandah which is their bondage – their stress, anxiety, dejection, etc. It is all because of not thinking or ‘wrong thinking’. Vicharena, which means to think (i.e. the right thinking), nivartate means freedom – the right thinking leads to one being free. There is great power in right thinking. The more vichara you practice, the less viksepa (projection) you practice. The more one reflects, the less one projects. We tend to take projection to an extreme, for example projecting in a hallucination way or projecting a reality onto that which is changing. However, we do this in very common ways by labeling people or judging people, making presumptions, etc. – these are all projections. But if one simply slows down and engages in right thinking, then one understands themselves more and the other person more. One appreciates that there are two sides to every story. When we start to curtail viksepa, what happens is we are taking away what the ego survives on. The ego survives on the idea that one can create joy. It is a projection when we think that our profession can create joy for us. But if we practice right thinking that our professions cannot create joy for us, then one’s ego cannot go anywhere. It is no longer thriving, it is just in survival mode. Vichara really shifts the ego from thriving to just surviving.    

Step 87 – advaita (oneness)

Sanatana Dharma is a religion, which is naturally one’s way of life (although many people say it is not a religion). It is a philosophy, a practice, a vision, a mission, etc. Sanatana Dharma is monotheistic polytheism, which means that Oneness is expressed as many-ness. What is great about this is that it is a reality. The world is a many-ness that comes from oneness like colours. For example, light has no colour, then it assumes a whiteness and then it turns into a rainbow. Likewise, food is also a monotheistic polytheism as the ingredients all come from the earth. All of creation is a monotheistic polytheism. Polytheism is humans, animals, plants, stones, etc. The source for all of this is the same Oneness. Knowing that the Oneness is absolute and unchanging, then naturally, the many-ness is relative. It is changing. These differences are relative and are to be treated relatively. It is only those who are childish who feel yellow is the best colour or brown is the worst. They feel that this relativity is absolute. So when we go about our lives, we must treat the relative as relative and that is a way of living this Oneness. In our culture, when we greet someone, we join our hands together and bring them in front of our hearts and bow down. What we are doing is that we are locking down the polytheism (body, mind, intellect) to go back to Oneness. If we don’t lock our body in discipline, it will go on doing whatever it wants.

Step 88 – dhyāna (meditating)

Purification is the pathway to inspiration, which is the pathway to reflection, which is the pathway to contemplation. Contemplation is the pathway to meditation. Meditation as a noun is Joy, the perfection that was described earlier. But here we are defining meditation as a verb. Nididhyasana and dhyana are synonyms. When we study the Veda, both words would be used, but in different ways. One cannot meditate without having a subject or knowing what one should be meditating on. If one wants to change one’s identity, what should one change that into? A lot of people claim that they are meditating, but they are either relaxing their body or quietening their mind. However, both of these are not meditating. Meditating is when one changes who they are. It is facilitated by jnana or insight into who we are actually and factually. What is fascinating is that we have been told who we are several hundreds of times – you are Joy, Existence, Awareness, Infinity, Divinity, etc. Then how come we are not changing our personality to feel so or be so? We are deeply stuck in an indirect world. For example, how often do we give our honest opinions to people? Hardly. Usually, we do it when we are angry and it comes off in a wrong way. This is what makes us indirect. We don’t share with people what is truthful and we don’t want them to share it either. In order to be a seeker though, one has to dismantle this indirect way of living and be direct. But it still should be done in a ‘priya’ way or a ‘mita’ way, meaning in a beautiful and measured way. And one should expect that directness also. The best way to embrace that directness is to live with a guide, to know a guide who will criticize you, but you will know that they are doing it for your welfare. Even kids eventually forget that their parents are criticizing them for their welfare. What is beautiful in a relationship between a disciple and a guide, is that there is such clarity of intention and it is easy to trust. When one is meditating, the evolution of contemplation is that, one feels that one is a creature, then that bhava has to evolve to one is the Creator and that bhava has to finally rest in Consciousness. This is the subject matter of contemplation – from Creator to creation to Consciousness.  

Step 89 – samādhi (realization)

Shravana – the message. Manana – the message is real. Nididhyasana – the message is real and personal. When all of that comes together, the realness takes over and there is a re-discovery. The etymology of samadhi: ‘sam’ means well. ‘aa’ means towards. ‘dadathi’, which becomes ‘dhi’ means placed. What has displaced us in our Joy is the ego. So that which has displaced us is being placed back The ego to the Spirit. Another way to reflect on this – the ego identifies. But if we don’t allow the ego to identify with anything, then it goes away. If it is not identifying, then it is not an identifier. So, we are not letting the ego thrive or survive. When we stop identifying with, we don’t allow the ego to survive.   

Step 90 – saṁnyāsa (renunciation)

Etymology: ‘Sam’ means well, ‘ni’ means down, ‘asa’ means to throw- to throw down well what one is not. All that is not, one should throw down. More specifically, one should throw down their dependencies. What some people do is they throw down their dependents – articles, being, circumstances, etc. But what is supposed to be thrown down is the dependency. In another way, a distraction is a distraction if one is distracted. Likewise, if we renounce the dependency, then everything is fine and one is balanced. In contemplation, we are taught that even the notion of renunciation must be renounced.   

Summary

Step 86 – vicāra (inquiry)

Practice: Engage in right thinking by reflecting more and projecting less.

Step 87 – advaita (Oneness)

Practice: Know that Oneness is absolute and unchanging and treat the relative as relative.

Step 88 – dhyāna (meditating)

Practice: Dismantle the indirect way of living and be more direct, but in a beautiful and measured way. Meditating is when one changes who they are.

Step 89 – samādhi (realization)

Practice: Stop identifying with anything.

Step 90 – samnyāsa (renunciation)

Practice: Throw down your dependency altogether rather than just the dependent.

Last week’s discussion

If you design Thursday class for fall 2022, what would it be like?  What would you study, how would you study, would there be discussion? 

Vivekji’s Observation: The message Vivekji is getting from the Creator and creation is that the next course will flow through the Narada Bhakti Sutras. It will be unique in that one will learn to practice devotion. And everyone in the course will have to actively share. The course will be designed to shift from manana to nididhyasana.  

Discussion subject

How can you help society objectify bodies less?

Vivekji’s observations: Society has brought this upon us. We create this society – weight, hair colour, teeth structure, etc. If it is always about appearances, then nobody has time for reflection. So, it is upon us to change the fabric of society.

Questions:

Q: Samadhi and letting do of identifications. Does letting go of identifications also include letting go of identifications such as being a parent, daughter, sister, etc. And if so, how does one balance the responsibilities that come with those roles?

A: We most definitely have to let go of those identifications as well. But we have to let go of identifications so much that we must not even identify with our own body or with our own thoughts. But it has to start at a lighter level where one is not just a daughter or just a parent. How does one balance all of this? The best way is to establish one’s relationship with one’s Original Parent. Then all of the other relationships in one’s life will become a means to that end. For example, if one’s purpose in life is to be with Bhagavan Narayana, then all interactions one has must be in the context of being with Bhagavan Narayana. So one should be more generous, polite, supportive, etc. Another way to look at it is that all of us identify with individuality and family. Now the training is to identify with the community and then the society. When one identifies with that which is bigger, then one becomes less dependent on that which is smaller. Not depending on the smaller means that we don’t depend on it as a source of joy, but there is still an interdependency. When one does not depend on something for joy, then all of their responsibilities become much more objective.

Q: Does more trust help build more respect or does more respect help build more trust?

A: The sequence is: one starts with respect, which is to evolve to love, which is to evolve to reverence. The word trust in the question is equal to love. The evolution happens when the way one trusts oneself, that they trust whomever else in the same way. We trust ourselves not to hurt ourselves, in the same way, we must have that trust with others too. For example, as our kids grow up, our love starts to become conditional. In the beginning, it was unconditional, but as a toddler becomes a child, conditions start and expectations start to develop. So, it is almost like we fall out of that trust. So it is important to keep on reflecting and contemplating so that it keeps those relationships relative.

Last week’s RAW

Whenever you are engaged in any task, do not look at any time keeping device until the task is finished. 

Vivekji’s observation: When one multitasks, things take longer to get done than they do when one unitasks. Hence why we look at the time more often while multitasking.

Wear a rubber band on your right wrist. Whenever you find yourself losing focus, pull and release that elastic band onto your wrist.

Vivekji’s observation: It is important to name the vice one has to be able to grow out of it. That snapping of the elastic band is us naming that vice that we are distracted. That verbalization is important as it provides the acceptance that one needs of the vice they have so that one can get out of it.

RAW for this week

Each morning write down one virtue that you would like to develop. Try to keep that ideal in mind all throughout that day.

Each day, take one full hour to eat one full banana.