Discourse:
We had class with Shankarji today!!!!
- What is Vairagya?
- Cheerful acceptance….but what is acceptance?
- Acceptance is to be able to keep moving forward.
At the highest level, acceptance is when we no longer seek to change something. We no longer feel regret from the situation. We do not feel sorrow anymore.
Real life application:
Before we can accept any given situation, there are some prerequisites.
- You have to acknowledge the situation and that things that are beyond our control
- BUT we can change our attitude and how we deal with the situation
QUICK INTERJECTION: We paused here and watched Season 5, Ep 45 of Adventure Time to take a look at acceptance.
He did not know that he got a cursed sword and he had no control over this situation. This leads us to the next step in acceptance. Every time he used the sword, he only thought about the negative aspects of the sword. Once he stopped being so focused on the negative aspects, he was able to see the positives of the sword and could ultimately control it and use it to his betterment.
Whenever we feel like we are stuck, we are focused on all the bad things coming out of the situation. If we try to list the positive aspects of the situation in a calm manner, we are able to cheerfully accept anything.
One day, there was a Rishi that was going to go bathe in the Ganga river(supposed to be purifying). On his way back, he encountered this mean man who he didn’t believe in God and spits on the Rishi. The Rishi just calmly turns and goes to bathe in the Ganga. This happens 108 times. Then, he sees the same man begging the Rishi for water as he is parched. The Rishi gives it to him and now the mean man feels bad. He asks the Rishi why he was so compassionate. “This is my gratitude to you for making me bathe 108 times in the river Ganga.”
The Rishi looked for the positives of the situation and did not try to change the person from who he was. He wanted to use this situation as an opportunity to grow.
The three steps of Vairagya:
- Realize that we don’t have control over everything in our lives(especially the past) and the only thing we can change is our attitude
- See the positives in every situation
- If we can’t see any other positive, we can use the situation to grow
Activity:
Shankarji had a list of activities and he called on us at random. We don’t have the ability to change who gets called on. All we can do is look for the positives in the situation and to accept and learn from it. Typically, we want to run away from uncomfortable situations. However, by doing that, we will never grow and we will often miss out on opportunities to try new things and grow different skill sets.
Example of some of the activities
- Explain the process of photosynthesis
- Compose and recite a poem for us
- Tell us what your greatest weakness is and how you plan on changing
- Sing us a few lines of your favorite bhajan
- What is one virtue that you have learned from your parents?
- Do a 15 second dance routine
This week’s RAW is:
If you’re really ready to practice cheerful acceptance, keep taking cold showers!!