2/10/21

Notes by Arnav Chugh and Saadhvi Mamidi

Notes by Arnav:

RECAP

Reflections/Summary/Key points from previous week’s Class:

Values of the valued. What do they live by?

Satyam (honesty, truth)

• Acceptance should only be accepted after careful consideration
• We get compromised if we don’t consider properly
• Compromising is a slippery slope
• Build integrity by making small promises with ourselves

Brahmacharya (self-control, discipline)

• Overindulgence tires us
• Our senses then consume us (addiction)
• Self-control is not a difficult discipline
• Go from suppressing to sublimating desires
• To control: make a list of things you will avoid and those things you will act upon (this makes us firm 2 fold)

Ahimsa (nonviolence, compassion, forgiveness)

• Nonviolence lives in our head
• When you make your head calm, then you will see more clearly
• Comparing and judgment is poisonous (Comparison is the thief of joy)
• Live up to this, leads to a more balanced and dexterous mind
• Improves efficiency (yoga)

DISCOURSE

Main Ideas:

• Efficiency
• Dexterity
• Cheerful while we are acting

Attitudes towards tasks affect dexterity

Example:

• Scenario 1: parents tell you to clear the snow on the driveway and its just miserable
• Scenario 2: your friends want to meet up to play in the snow but you must clear out the snow, you do it quickly and efficiently

Attitude:

Punya (merit):

• Love, compassion, peace (balanced)

Papa (demerit)

• Hate, jealousy, desperation

If you have the right vision you can generate energy

Vision determines if you do well during the task or not

Two leaky faucets:

• Regrets of our past weigh us down when we do certain tasks
• Anxiety for the future weigh us down when we romanticize something or have anxiety towards something in the future

Outcomes of these faucets lead us to waste our time and stay locked in the present, nothing gets done

Being brave and having courage means accepting these convictions every day and ignore what happened in the past or whats going to happen in the future.

Letting go of the past and letting go of the future

• Past only serves when you learn for it
• Future only serves when you plan for it
• Its not easy but try and strive for it, once you get it, hold on to it

Activity

Take 10 min and think about 3 activities you have been engaged in, analyze your attitudes on these activities, look at what energized you and de-energized you

Make a list of 3 responsibilities in your house

• Most disliked to least disliked

Notes by Saadhvi:

REVIEW

All great people have

• Satyam — honesty, integrity
• Brahmacharya — self-control, discipline
• Ahimsa — non-violence, forgiveness

We must integrate these values into our lives

• We can practice satyam by making and keeping small promises with ourselves
• We can practice brahmacharya by sublimating, not suppressing our desires. We can give something up for a week
• We can practice ahimsa by realizing that comparison is the thief of joy — we must stop comparing ourselves.

LESSON FROM THIS WEEK

Imagine you’re asked to shovel snow by your parents…

• You might cut corners
• You’d be exhausted easily
• You’ll be frustrated and angry

Imagine you’re shoveling snow because your friends are coming over and cannot park unless you clear the driveway…

• You’d be cheerful
• You wouldn’t complain
• You would be energized

The right attitude awakens dexterity!

Proper attitude in action generates and conserves energy and channels it

• Punya Paapa

Punya — merit, calm, quiet, love, compassion

Paapa — opposite of punya, hate jealousy, desperation

• Our vision determines our energy!
• We must be aware and vigilant of the tendencies of our mind → we must keep our mind in the present or our energy is dissipated
• The two leaky faucets of our energy and time — regrets of the past and anxiety of the future
• When these faucets leak, our resources are wasted and we are overwhelmed in the present

We must do our best to live these values, the past only serves us if we learn from it, and the future if we plan for it

• We should invoke energy in our every endeavor

*We must have courage to live up to our convictions every day*

Activity: Think of 3 activities you engaged in → reflect on your attitude. Where did your attitude energize you, and when did it drain? What was the shift? How can you try and invoke this energizing attitude next time? List 3 chores and rank them in liking.

• Making a birthday gift for my friend

It took many hours, and I would’ve been drained if I had to spend this much time on homework or assignments

• The appeal of this activity: getting to spend time with friends virtually, reaction of the friend is always fun to see, it seems like time is well spent
• This activity energizes me, compared to doing assignments or homework
• How can I invoke this attitude next time?
• When other people are dependent on me, I’m more motivated and have a better attitude (My group of friends was dependent on me to help make the gift)
• I need to put myself in the mindset that others are dependent on me or that I am someone else and dependent on myself
• Try and make boring activities more fun — play music, listen to a podcast, do them with someone else

RAW from last week: Give someone a compliment for every time you make a judgement.

• Peers found that giving a compliment seemed superficial when it was to undo the judgement
• Throughout the week, peers started judging less and less, and started giving more genuine compliments
• This RAW really helped us think before we make any kind of judgement and really evaluate our actions

RAW: After ranking your chores, take up the chores you dislike the most — invoke the energizing attitude. Reflect on your experiences.