Revision:

Value 1: amānitvam: Absence of demanding validation/respect.
- People are seen, as if, band aids to one’s insecurity. Meaning, “One possesses an insecure personality. And instead of investigating into it, one resorts to quick external band aids”.
- CURE:
  - Get specific. “What specifically is lacking in me that’s motivating me to seek it outside?”.
  - Discover your strengths. Once found, external compliments/condemnations becomes irrelevant.
Value 2: adambhitvam: Absence of pretense (making up stories).
- Declaring glories one never went through. Dramatizing past. Or mixing imagination with what-actually-happened.
  - EG: Someone was ill-mannered. But we turn them into villain when describing them to colleague.
Value 3: ahiṃsā: Deliberation of thought/word/action.
- How does honouring life in living creatures (through thought/word/actions) help?
  - It’s one of fastest ways to convert gross buddhi into subtle buddhi. Only subtle buddhi can appreciate subtler realities.
- EG: Next time prune plants, see life pulsing through it, then prune it.
Value 4: kṣānti: Accommodation / Glad Acceptance of WHAT-IS.
- Using buddhi to delve into the matter, to avoid staying skin-deep-level (gives birth to reaction/assumption).
- You don’t have all information available. Knowing this, we intentionally attempt to understand where he/she could be coming from. What kind of background would THAT being/object have, to be like THIS?
- SUMMARY: The one who is most accommodation of different views, is often the most evolved.
  - EG: Start spirituality: critical of competing schools > Years after: inclined to appreciate their hard work.
Value 5: ārjavam: Straightforwardness (Alignment of thought/word/action).
- Your advice reflects your lifestyle. Meaning thoughts/words/actions are married and getting along. They don’t betray each other.
Value 6: ācāryopāsanam: Service to teacher.
- Teacher provides framework of consistency. Establishes context to present time.
Value 7: śaucam: Inner & outer cleanliness.
- Organizing our outer and inner house.
- EG: Manage type of content entering mind. Strive to be surrounded with an empowering environment.
Value 8: sthairyam: Steadfastness (Persistence).
- Keeping end in sight.
- Adopting a Karma-Yoga attitude:
  1. Taking whatever happens as opportunity/gift of Bhagavan’s grand order.
  2. Also seeing every action (conforming to dharma) as Bhagavan.
- Both align jīva with grand scheme of things, thus blesses jīva throughout life.
Value 9: ātmavinigrahaḥ: Mastery/Management of the Mind.
- Re-orienting way of thinking about things. EG: Instead of acting immediately, inquire, “And then what?”.
- Rising up the ladder in 4 ways of thinking.
Value 10: indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam: Dispassion Through Objectivity.
- Reassessing the worth of objects. Seeing objects for what they are (intrinsic value) Keeping with the facts.
Value 11: anahaṅkāra: Healthy “I-Sense”.
- Aham kāra is also an instrument provided by the grand order, just like one’s arm. Refuse to make them bigger/smaller then their innate function.
- EG: Catch aham kāra thinking, “I’m not loved / Everyone likes me”.
Value 12: anudarśanam: Reflecting on 5-fold limitations.
- Intimately knowing the limitations of human experience. The more know this, the more comfortable in own skin, thus motivates one to make best of life.
- SUMMARY: Get completely comfortable with aging, weakness, eventual death.
Value 13: asaktiḥ: Absence of Sense of Ownership.
- Keeping in mind, jīva doesn’t own anything. Only temporarily possesses. And it’ll be taken away anytime no matter how meaningful.
- Taking up “trusteeship” perspective in reference to body-mind.
Value 14: anabhiṣvangaḥ: Absence of Obsession over Wife, Son, House.
- Knowing fine-line between care and extreme attachment (precursor to control).
- Attachment vs. Extreme:
  - Attachment is unavoidable. And necessary. If wasn’t attached, no one would stick around.
  - Extreme attachment is whereby one’s utterly dependent on wife/house/children, for meaning in life.
Value 15: nityam samacittatvam: Constant Equanimity.
- Recognizing, whether you’re fortunate/unfortunate, it’s not personal. But consequence of billions of variables in the field, made possible by the infinite-intelligence.
- In fact, my win is someone else’s loss.
Value 16: ananya-bhakti: Unswerving Devotion to Lord.
- Converting life into Karma-Yoga, seeing one’s body-mind as mere servant or employee of the Lord.
Value 17: vivikta-deśa-sevitvam: Preference for Solitude.
- Noise-cancellation headphones.
- Especially high value for gṛhasta. Because enquiry into every facet of reality, is a luxury.
Value 18: aratiḥ jana-saṃsadi: Absence of Craving for Social Interactions.
- Valuing your time, thus minimizing jalpa/vitaṇḍā (chatter & argument mode).
- CURE: Take on vāda (constructive) and saṃvāda (informative).

The last 2 are the byproducts of purifying, or what the purification is meant to take you to…

Value 19: tattva-jñānārtha darśanam: Commitment to Self-Knowledge.
Value 20: adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvam: Understanding the Validity of Self-Knowledge.

– RESOURCE: 20 Values by Chinmaya

Keywords:

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Credit for help in Bhagavad Gita teaching given to Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya), Paramarthananda & Chinmaya Mission.

Recorded 31 Aug, 2021

Lesson 140

Index

Lesson 142