Summary:

This class talks about various Vedic concepts related to healthy living and self-realization. It begins with Vak (speech), emphasizing the importance of truthful, kind, and beneficial communication. The class discusses Prana (life force) and the need for a healthy relationship with food, suggesting mindful eating and gratitude. The senses are explored, particularly Shrotram (hearing) and Cakshu (sight), emphasizing their proper use and the role of discernment.

The mind's four functions are detailed: Manas (emotions), focusing on appropriate responses to situations; Sankalpa-Vikalpa (decision-making), highlighting the importance of finding nuanced solutions; Buddhi (intellect), emphasizing the development of cognitive capacity and logical thinking; and Cittam (memory), stressing its role in connecting ideas and solving problems. The concept of Samatvam (equanimity) is explained as a balanced emotional state aligned with reality, achieved by changing mental narratives rather than controlling emotions.

Ahankara (I-sense) is discussed as a faculty for self-preservation that can be subject to distortion, emphasizing the need for a healthy I-sense that acknowledges interconnectedness. The class delves into the concept of Brahman (the limitless) and its relationship to the individual self, stressing the importance of pursuing knowledge of Brahman and seeking grace. The purpose of prayer is explained as a means to influence unknown variables in one's spiritual journey.

Finally, the class outlines three types of obstacles in spiritual progress: Adhyatmika (personal biases and physical limitations), Adhibhautika (environmental and social challenges), and Adhidaivika (cosmic forces beyond individual control). Throughout, the class emphasizes maintaining a balanced approach to life experiences while pursuing moksha (liberation) and the importance of aligning one's actions and understanding with Vedantic teachings.

Kena Upanishad Prayer:

In previous session, we have briefly touched upon importance of healthy speech (vak), energy or physical well-being (prana), eyes (cakshu), and ears (shrotra). Now, let's go into details…

• EXPLAINING:  āpyāyantu mama aṅgāni vāk prāṇaḥ cakṣuḥ śrotram atha balam indriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi
  • Vak: Healthy speech. Presiding deity (devata) of speech is fire. It can either burn/throw light on things.
    • In Vedas there's a model how to use your Vak (speech):
      1. Satya vadam: Say what is keeping with facts. What you know and what you say has alignment.
      2. Priya vadam: Even if it's true, there's appropriate way of delivering it. EG: “Why wear this, it's so out of fashion! Speak louder!”. Avoid hurting through harsh tone or insensitivity.
      3. Hitam vada (Beneficial talk): Suppose I speak the truth and say nice things, but end of the conversation, it was just passing time, it didn't really inspire or add value.
         • EG: Speaking about someone. I talk about what someone knows, which I value, but also throw in criticism. Meaning I am not totally integrated. This won't produce an educational conversation.
      4. Rtam vada: Ensure what you think is right, else give definite opinions of things half-cooked.
         • EG: One says, “I'm not into rituals, but philosophy”. In that statement is an undercurrent that rituals are useless. But you haven't thought about why rituals. Rituals are prayers, who are for you. You're living in world of unknowns; don't know how things will turn out. Prayers are for  making unknowns in your favor. Converting your helplessness into action is called prayer.
         • Using one experience and generalizes and dismisses entire institution/person. Without even getting to know them, their struggles and achievements. If mind is doing this to most sacred objects (humans), it will likely do same to knowledge.
         • SUMMARY: Active research before speaking. Ensuring it's not partial data.
         • If you want to speak well (satyam vada), you need to sort your mind out.
  • Prana: All physiological functions, may they be healthy through physical exercise, food.
    • Food:
      • In modern times, we lost healthy relationship to food. Food, meant to provide lifeforce, has become a fetish.
      • Another complication is never throwing away food. Your system is saying “enough”, but you override it. Loss of trust in what body is saying. Rather take less.
      • You can engage in prayer before food to acknowledge the participation of plants, sun, farmer, digestive enzymes… all expression of Ishvara. You can ask, “May this food nourish me, and make my brain sharper”.
  • Shrotram: Healthy hearing.
    • Hearing, assessing, thinking about it.
    • Even constant music can become means of coping with unresolved stuff in the mind. Or filling day with non-stop chatter.
  • Cakshu: Eyes just report what's in front. But where you take that, is your discernment.
    • Mind has to lead you to use your senses, physical body in a way that helps you.
  • Mind (Subtle-Body as called in Vedanta): How do you maintain a healthy mind?
    • Mind is an instrument; capable of knowing the highest reality. Mind is made of 4 functions:
      1. Manas:
         1. Seed of emotion. We generally deal with emotions (a) express (b) (c) Bypass.
            • Respond with emotions keeping with what-is: A healthy mind is able to distinguish different situations, and respond emotionally appropriate to each.
              • EG: There's a marriage celebration, and you're happy for the bride/groom. Means your mind is aligned because what you're feeling is aligned to the situation.  Then go to hospital, the emotion is concern and wishing the person well. Mind changes according to what is called-for.
            • Artificial lows/highs: Natural flow of emotions are healthy. But as result of own stories, the natural flow reaches an artificial peak, not keeping with reality. Then, when things don't go your way, that mind goes through an extreme low. What we're trying to do is remove stories that created artificial highs/lows. This is what Samatvam (equanimous mind) is in Bhagavad Gita. A mind devoid of biases, but aligned with what's called for.
              • Samatvam isn't artificial equilibrium; creates awkwardness, unfriendliness, coldness. One loses spontaneity. Not achieved by controlling emotions, but changing stories.
         2. Sanklapa-Vikalpa (faculty which creates possibilities, presents options [rather then doubt]).
            • When situation arises, mind creates situation, “Should I do this, or that?”. Have to choose something that'll benefit your life.
            • INBETWEEN: Either I do something or I don't. However in between there are other possibilities, nuances. Have to cultivate and educate a mind capable of presenting you nuances in-between.
              • Examples:
                • Good dancer. When got married, she wasn't encouraged to dance. After 15 years, developed resentment for putting others ahead of her needs. So she wanted to being dancing, but husband said “No”. Her two possibilities were, “Leave husband and dance, or stay there and don't dance”. What are in-between possibilities? She requested to go once a week. It eventually became 2x a week. Eventually she was invited to dance overseas, and her husband encouraged her. She eventually travelled around world; famous. Therefore have to find way to get what you want, include others needs, and negotiate intelligently.
                • If want to influence, need to find a way to speak the others language, and slowly weave in your idea. You have to present your case, as solving a problem in a way, that the other hasn't thought off, and is actually beneficial for them.
                • Either I remain silent, or blow-up and say it all at once.
      2. Buddhi (Intellect):
         1. Cognitive capacity:
            • Ability to understand what things are, how they work, how they connect. Use of logic.
              • EG: Suppose I introduce idea of prayers/rituals, and intellect immediately discounts, showing it's logically still developing. It's unable to logically connect cause-effect.
            • Logics have to become clearer, able to find loopholes in thinking.
              • EG: When Vedanta says “Atma is free of everything”, it shows series of logics to demonstrate.
         2. Niścayatmika-buddhi (firm intellect):
            • As mind presents options, at one point buddhi collapses it. Other can't make decision, or remains endlessly in information gathering (seeker).
            • Way to make a decision is understand, no matter what you choose, there's unknown variables. So there's no perfect decision. Meanwhile gather data for know variables.
      3. Cittam (Memory):
         • Need it because memory is required to put things together given you different time. Poor memory = Mind is unable to connect things and solve a problem.
         • Can improve it by taking on new skills.
      4. Ahankara (I-sense):
         • Definition:
           • Aham = “I”. And kara = Gives sense that “I” (atma) is doing, thinking, suffering, etc.
           • Ego, assuming mean I-sense, and not pride.
         • What is it?
           • I-sense is a faculty for self-preservation and growth of a single entity. EG: When this entity is hungry, it feeds this body, not somebody else.
           • It isolates experience to a single individual.
             • EG: Hand is picking up bottle, bottle touching mouth, mouth swallowing, falling through esophagus, landing into stomach. But rather then explaining all that, we say, “I am drinking water”.
         • Subject to distortion:
           • A healthy I-sense can get loaded with different opinions.
             • EG:
               • Something is achieved, then says “I am accomplished, I am better then others”. I-sense has inflated itself.
               • Ravana was bhakta of Shiva, started being blessed and started thinking “I am invincible”.
           • Meaning stories are added to healthy I-sense. “I am no good, etc”.
           • Through Vedanta, we're not trying to demolish it, as it's Ishvara's But through it, we understand the real “I” is much more then ahamkara.
           • Avidya (ignorance) is when I-sense is taken as Atma.
         • How to have healthy I-sense?
           • Story has to change, and incorporate laws of Ishvara. EG: I breathe same air as you, I need you for my success. Then it goes from isolation to connection.
           • Rather then feeling helpless, ask for help through prayer; it acknowledges presence of Ishvara. Otherwise an unhealthy I-sense is caught up in delusionary state, and will try to skip Ishvara, and park itself in some reality.
  • EXPLAINING: sarvam brahma upaniṣadam
    • With a healthy I-sense, my desire to understand myself as Brahman is authentic, and coming from a mature place, ready to put the hard work into it.
    • EG: Chandogya Upanishad, CH7: Suppose there's a sun, always shiny & bright. Shining on 3 vessels (muddy water, less muddy, calm water). Which reflects the sun completely? Clear water. Water (mind) in bucket has to become clear to have accurate reflection of sun.   Similarly, Atma is already free and shining. What's needed is a clear mind, healthy I-sense… to understand the vision of oneness.
    • What is Brahman?
      • From root “bṛh“, meaning “to grow/expand”, or “big”.
      • In normal sense “big” is adjective. It qualifies a noun (object). Word “big” changes according to what object it's describing. EG: Big mountain. Meaning as big as mountain.
      • Brahman “big” isn't adjective, but used as noun. Meaning, the “big-ness” is not restricted by anything. It is limitlessly-big.
      • Can limitless exclude me? If I'm separate, then I'm limiting limitlessness. When there's two, neither can be limitless. Therefore limitless means Advaita/One. Therefore understanding Brahman, it has to include me.
    • How will I know Brahman? The only method is by using words of Upanishads, to correct my limited understanding of myself, to being free of limitation.
  • EXPLAINING: mā aham brahma nirākuryām: Let me not neglect this pursuit of Brahman in life.
    • Because life offers so many opportunities; that can take up most of your time. In this case, nothing can take your commitment away from Brahman.
    • EG: Suppose you're told about discovering Brahman in north, and the guru is in the south. So you have to walk. During travel, many experiences. Meet pretty lady. Slowly relationship. Now I'm in love. Marriage. Have to find secure job. Etc.
    • RIGHT APPROACH: No matter what, don't lose sight of moksha. In this case, every experience becomes a means to moksha. Even marriage can support your journey; it all depends on how you use it.
  • EXPLAINING: mā mā brahma nirākarot: May Brahman [grace] be not indifferent to me.
    • How can Brahman be indifferent to you? The more you make effort to know Brahman, the more Ishvara (all-knowledge manifesting as laws/order) can grace you with clarity. Universe is constantly giving feedback about quality of your participation. If quality of participation is inappropriate, you get obstacles.
    • When pray, are you praying to the to the law or to Ishvara? It's to Ishvara which governs the law of cause-effect. Your prayer/inquiry into the teaching, is a cause, and what comes back to you is grace (conducive mind/life for knowing Ishvara). So grace is a potential you have to collapse through actions.
    • What is purpose of prayer?
      • Suppose you inquire for years, and follow the teaching to the word. But still knowledge is not taking place. It means there are unknown variables beyond your knowing. Purpose of prayer is to make those unknown variables conducive for your moksha.
      • Need it because there's a much larger order beyond your control.
        • EG: You do everything right, show your best self, and still don't get the job. Or last minute cancellation to retreat, and others who said they can't come, suddenly urge to come. Thus prayer makes these unknown variables in your favor. Result of your prayer is called grace.
  • EXPLAINING:  anirākaraṇam astu anirākaraṇam me astu: Let me not be indifferent, and let me receive grace so my studies are brilliant.
  • EXPLAINING: tat ātmani nirate ye upaniṣatsu dharmāḥ te mayi santu, te mayi santu: For study to be brilliant, may I have the proper attitudes, faculties, and grace on my side.
  • EXPLAINING: om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
    • 3 kind of obstacles can come during your pursuit to learn, and we're asking them be reduced in our favour:
      1. Adhyatmika: My biases. Physical illness, brain unable to concentrate.
      2. Adhibhautika: Surroundings demand your attention. EG: You're attentive, but family needs help. Noise pollution, problems within family and you're in the line-of-fire.
      3. Adhidaivika: You're attentive, perfect environment, listening for years, but knowledge is going over your head. So you're asking God's help to help remove these unknown factors.
         • Cosmic force beyond our control. EG: Earthquake, severe weather.

  Keywords:  
  

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  Recorded 8 July, 2024

  Lesson 2

  Index

  Lesson 4