Summary:
- We started off our class with prayers
- Suggestion to have class members chant the prayers
- Deep dive on verse 8:
- Different types of karma:
- नित्य कर्म (Nitya karma) - Daily duties
- नैमित्तिक कर्म (Naimittika karma) - Duties to be undertaken on special occasions
- काम्य कर्म (Kaamya karma) - Actions that are prompted by desires
- निषिद्ध कर्म (Nisiddha karma) - Actions that are condemned
- नियत कर्म (Niyata karma) - Obligatory duties that include both Nitya and Naimittika karmas
- Why Niyata karmas to be done and not Kaamya karma?
- Example of camera capturing the picture
- Camera captures everything in front
- Associated likes and dislikes
- Kaamya and Nisiddha karmas gets captured and repeated again
- We always do what we like
- Selfish intentions
- Creates impressions - vasanas
- if white paper is kept in front of camera. nothing is captured
- Selfish intentions has to become selfless in order for not getting captured
- Method to exhaust vasanas
- Discussion about atheists being happy
- They see the reality as it is
- In order to have spiritual progress, Viveka (discrimination) is needed
- understanding of the principle behind the reality
- Pattern in chaos gets repeated
- Example - Swami Chinmayananda
- Review of verse 5:
- Prakriti - three gunas
- satva, rajas and tamas
- Review of verse 6:
- Satya
- Mithya
- Disconnect between what's in mind and action
- Review of verse 7:
- Impressions are created and gets registered and comes out as desire
- We give energy to the desire
- Needs Viveka (discrimination) and Vairagya (dispassion) to control the senses
- Vivekachudamani
- Review of verse 8:
- Connect verse 8 to verse 5
- Minimum work is to be done
- Kurukshetra always happens in our mind
- let nara (man) surrender to Narayana
- let Narayana guides us
- Before doing any puja, sankalpa is done
- Time
- Place
- Panchangas
- Shree Lakshmi Narayanasya Preethyartham
- Swami Vivekananda and Swami Ramakrishna
- If you ask, it will be given
- If you do not ask, you will be given more
- Needs and wants - come from where?
- Source of thoughts
- Passion, purpose, falling in line
- Passion without purpose - delusional
- Duty is with purpose, but no passion - drudgery
- Align passion and purpose (Satvic state) - "Flow" happens (book "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)
- Passion - getting lost in the work, abundance of energy
- Swabhava and Prabhava
- Sadhana
- Gita dhyanam
- Verse 4:
सर्वोपनिषदो गावः दोग्धा गोपालनन्दनः।पार्थो वत्सः सुधीर्भोक्ता दुग्धं गीतामृतं महत्॥
sarvopaniṣado gāvaḥ dogdhā gopālanandanaḥpārtho vatsaḥ sudhīrbhoktā dugdhaṁ gītāmṛtaṁ mahat
- What is Mantra?
- Mananat trayate iti mantrah
- Shravanam, Mananam and Nididhyasanam
- Verse 9:
- "The world is bound by actions other than those performed for the sake of sacrifice; do thou, therefore, O son of Kunti, perform action for that sake (for yajna) alone, free from all attachment"
- Binding actions creates impressions - vasanas, hence do actions with yajna attitude
- Yajna meaning
- yaja deva pujayaam
- Trees give out oxygen, animals utilize it
- ओषधिः (Osadhi) - plants gives energy
- Higher entity is behind the universe
- Karta - Doer
- Bhokta - Enjoyer
- Do the work and accept the results as prasad (prasada buddhi)
- Happiness is not in external world
- Yajna is happening everywhere, all the time - Sun, Body hairs
- सङ्गः (sangah) - "I" thought + "I want"
- Arjuna is referred as Kaunteya (son of Kunti) in this verse
- Three states - Waking, dream and deep sleep
- Give up the attachment to the fruit of actions
- Santana dharma
- Behavior - Child like versus Childish
- Assignments
- Contemplate on yajna attitude and look into the selfless activities done within the family and outside
- Contemplate on what can I do right now with yajna bhavana?
- Keshav ji showed us the technique to remove toxins from the body