February 17, 2022 – Class Notes by Rahul Kuppachhi 

Introduction

In simple psychology, humans have six simple emotions. These emotions are

• Anger
• Disgust
• Fear
• Joy
• Sadness
• Surprise

In simple psychology, when one accepts these six emotions by establishing that they are the mind, then that is not helpful for one to be happy. Why? Because there is acceptance that we are only the mind in this case. When one is exposed to Sanatana Dharma, there is acceptance also, but the acceptance is geared towards an acceptance that change will come. Change from accepting that we are the mind to accepting that we are existence, awareness, and joy. If we are not exposed to that which is deeper, we will always live in a shallow way. There is utility to depth.

The Moksha Patha is a way for us to see that there is more than these six emotions. We are signing this by practicing these reflections and RAWs.   

Review:

Step 52 – artha – (meaning)

Numerous studies have shown that workers in professions are ready to accept lower-paying jobs if there is more meaning in what those jobs entail. Those who live instinctively, however, focus on jobs with more money and less meaning. If the latter is the case, however, then one must keep up with all which comes with making more money such as competing with others, and this “keeping up” makes one busy. Worldly concepts such as ideas related to business make us feel stressed and unable to go to sleep or wake up cheerfully. This all comes from a wrong understanding of artha. To counter this, we must practice svādhyāya because the more svādhyāya we engage in, the more we will respect our guide and map. 

Step 53 – rūpa – (form)

The term rūpa is to encourage us to know that there is more to us than simply our own form. We must also account for our qualities (guṇa) and spirit (dama). The closer we go to dama, the less change there is and vice-versa. So if we find that life is moving too fast, we should shift from focusing on forms to qualities and we will find that there is less change.  

Step 54 – varṇa – (color)

Bhagavan Krishna has shared that we are made up of guṇa, varṇa, and karma. The unconscious manifests as the subconscious, and the subconscious manifests as the conscious. Our print expresses as our personality which then expresses as our profession. It is important to remember not to identify solely as our professions as then there will be no bandwidth to focus on our personalities. When we only focus on our own karma we forget that these professions are solely for our own growth and so we divide each other based on these professions.

Discourse

Step 55 – vikṣepa – (projection)

Avidyā means forgetting how to be happy. This triggers vikṣepa which means projection, and this projection happens in very specific ways

• Shobha
• Sukha
• Sampurna

We forget how to be happy, so we then project onto articles, beings, and circumstances. This is called shobha (they are beautiful), sukha (they are pleasurable), and sampurna (they will complete me). So incompleteness triggers projection but what happens next?  

Incompleteness triggers projection which then triggers rāga or attachment. Whatever we project beauty, pleasure, and completeness onto, we then become attached to that. The more attached we are to a being, the less we accept them. We have more expectations of them and less acceptance of them.

After rāga there is bhaya or fear, and anger. What’s most fascinating and powerful in all of this is that vikṣepa is just a thought. When we sleep are there any projections? No, but when we are awake we immediately begin to project. These are just thoughts, so we must slow our thoughts down. More practically, we should focus because when we focus then the quantity of thoughts is less. Because of this, everything we do should be oriented towards unitasking as this will guide us into being more focused.

We should also remember that there are always two sides to every story. This will help us in not projecting as much. Finally, as a last practice for dealing with projection, we should admit when we simply do not know. We should not dive deeper into that which we do not know, and instead should stop when we know we are ignorant.   

Step 56 – māyā (illusion)

Māyā is when the relative is made to be the absolute, and the absolute is made to be non-existent. We keep making the relative more and more important even though it is relative. This is exactly what māyā is. We do this in many ways. Think of your favorite color, colors are just illusions. It’s just optics, but it is white light that is broken into these colors. Is white the color of light? No, because light has no color. We can only see the reflection of light. See how real we make colors when actually there is just white light. Going even deeper, there is simply just light. To make this more personable remember that Infinity simply is, that is it. Māyā makes Infinity feel like an individuality. What is built into being an individual? Incompleteness, which is simply an illusion. Infinity is synonymous with Joy. How is it possible that we can feel incomplete even though it is simply an illusion? Because this  illusion is so stealth-like that we do not even feel this incompleteness. Even when we do have this sense of incompleteness, we just keep playing with forms and names, as another expression of māyā is playing with rūpa and nama. So what to do? 

Practice mauna.  Mauna is when we keep our mouth closed to keep our minds open. With mauna, we loosen this idea that we are not an illusion. Mauna helps us with manana or to reflect. Manana is anti-māyā because māyā cannot handle inquiry. Mauna triggers manana and manana de-stabilizes māyā. When the illusion is destabilized, the foundation then becomes revealed. Here is what we should do with mauna from least intense to most intense

• Perceive – with your mouth closed perceive the lights and sounds. 
• Chant – chant with the mind.
• Inquire – inquire into subjects such as “what is happiness?” and “am I happy?”
• Observe – when we inquire into māyā, we legitimize māyā but observing makes it illogical. 
• Be – this is the highest practice because if one is being then one is re-discovering Infinity.        

Summary:

Step 55 – (vikṣepa) Practice: Slow down and remember that projections are simply thoughts

Step 56 – (māyā) Practice: We should practice keeping our mouths closed and keeping our minds open

Discussion Subject (from last week):

How are we thinking differently now in reference to the Moksha Patha? 

Vivekji’s Observation: 

The deeper reflection of these words has helped with having more faith than ever before. Faith helps us to feel at ease, this is the utility of faith.  

Discussion Subject this week:

What are personal signs of māyā?  

Vivekji’s Observation:

Overthinking is one of the most destructive things we can do because it makes us stuck. To combat this, we must do something and get out of our head.

There is no way we can touch māyā,\ and māyā is technically expressed as guṇas. It is unmanifest and manifests as guṇas. There is no solution to incompleteness. All of us have all that we need and want, and still feel incomplete. We think we will find a solution when really we will not find a solution. This means that the problem is wrong. If it is a legitimate problem it should have a legitimate answer, correct?    

Questions: 

Q: How do we balance chanting and contemplating?

A: Engage in that which is making us more independent. The purpose of sādhana is to lead us to sādhya, so do that which makes you feel more like that. Do not do things out of fear or because you are supposed to do them. This is how animals live. 

Q:  Does Vivekji have any tips on how to share insights on dharma and profession for those who are still making those decisions?

A:  Our secular affairs are designed for us to learn about us. So in terms of learning, one should learn about one’s self. Dharma is about bringing the mind and intellect together. Individuals should choose a profession that will help them do that. Do not make it about academics and resources. Start with what the world needs most and then go backwards on what you will be paid for.  

Q:  How do we address being judgmental?

A:  Being judgmental is an expression of vikṣepa and the source of being judgmental is the ego. The ego feels small so it judges to feel bigger. Also, if we find ourselves judging then we should not overthink that judgment. Overthinking is a form of breeding negativity.  

RAW for this week:

1. List ten first-world problems that you have

2. Everytime you shower, immerse yourself in cold water for at least fifteen minutes before getting out