Hari om everyone,
Quick update from our class this week:
We started the class with meditation. In our chanting segment, we chanted 'geetaa dhyaanam' and verses 39 - 72 from 'BG chapter 2'. Our students are getting better every week. If they practiced, they would be even better! :)
In our interactive segment, we asked questions regarding what the students think about 'rights' and 'duties'. Which comes first rights/duties? Why does one undertake any task, to begin with? Can we ever work without expecting results? When does our ego hurt? Upon achieving a task, do we gloat? When and why do people gloat? What are the reasons for people to gloat?
We tried to find answers to these questions in our discussion segment. All these questions lead to the fact - wrongful identification with our Body-Mind-Intellect.
We have duties first. The word 'duties' seems more limited than the word 'dharma'. Hence, we would like to use the word 'dharma' (we will understand this more as we go along)! Rights are privileges that we get to enjoy after doing our dharma. Especially at home, many a time, we feel entitled to the luxuries and amenities we are blessed with! The better option would be to have 'an attitude of gratitude' for our privileges.
In any task, our undertaking is only till we perform our actions. The outcome of our actions is up to the Lord. We cannot insist on a specific outcome for our efforts. The very famous verse 'karmaNyeva-adhikaaraste...' from chapter 2 was discussed in this context. Our prerogative is to study well. The result of the exams is not up to us! Due to many unforeseen reasons, the results may not be what we expected. But this shouldn't dishearten us. At the same time, this shouldn't deter us from preparing well for an upcoming quiz either. Our studying should focus on getting a good grip on the subject, rather than for the sake of grades. As an outcome of that, we can end up with good grades! Not the other way around :).
The next situation is, when we achieve something better than others, we swell with pride. As an outcome of that, we tend to gloat about our accolades in front of our friends/family. Our students were quick to cognize the precise reasons behind gloating - pride, superiority complex, inferiority complex, projection, overconfidence, insecurity. They were on-point!!
They said, our ego hurts when we face - failure, rejection, criticism, seeing someone better, being wronged by others, compared with others, proven wrong, etc. Again, they hit the bull's eye!
We went back to the example of water in a water bottle. Instead of identifying ourselves as the same water in the whole water bottle, in our heads, we crystallize ourselves. Perceiving ourselves as small ice cubes in the bottle, we assume ourselves to be 'different', 'better' or 'worse' than others. This is the play of ego which makes us think of ourselves as limited, unhappy, mortal beings.
We ran out of time by then. Before leaving, here's a suggestion to handle one of the evil plays of ego - criticism!
See you all next week.
Regards,
Rashmi and Raghav.