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Bhagavad Gita Dhyaanam 6
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 9
Chanting only of Chapter 1 by Pujya Swami Dayananda ji
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Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 2 - Saankhya Yoga 46
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 22
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Jnana-Karmasannyasa Yoga 30
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Sannyasa Yoga 20
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Dhyaana Yoga 15
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Jnana-Vijnana Yoga 16
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Akshara Brahman Yoga 17
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Rajavidya Rajaguhya Yoga 20
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Lecture11.1
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Vibhuti Yoga 22
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga 10
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Lecture13.1
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Bhakti Yoga 16
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Kshetra-Kshetrajna vibhagah yoga 42
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Guna-traya-vibhagah yoga 16
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Lecture16.1
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 Purushottama yoga 14
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Lecture17.1
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16 Daiva-Asura Sampat Vibhaga Yoga 6
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Lecture18.1
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1 Comment
So in this sixth chapter ध्यान-योग, the metaphor of दीप (a lamp) was given which has continuous वृत्ति-s/thoughts. The wick of the lamp is lit up and it doesn’t tremble because it’s protected, and it is a metaphor for the one whose mind is composed, so the mind of the योगी |
And what do we need a composed mind for? It is really to see oneself by oneself.
आत्मानं आत्मनि आत्मा तुष्यति ~ so you revel in yourself, you are able to see with your mind. So here आत्मा is used in a different meaning. And this reveling in oneself comes from knowing the truth of oneself.
If we have doubts about what the आत्मा is, then one will have doubts when you start to meditate. So, निदिध्यासनम् which is a kind of meditation where you are not expecting for anything new to happen, but you are going with a particular वृत्ति/thought and you see yourself as the meaning of the thought.
So for instance, we might take the word पूर्ण: | पूर्ण: , a Sanskrit word means complete in and of itself. So then, how will we go about it? We will say~ अहं पूर्ण: | Or I am पूर्ण: | We’re going with पूर्ण:, not saying complete, but you understand the meaning.
And then am I able to see myself as the meaning of the word?
So now when I say अहं पूर्ण:, then what comes up for me?
Without guided meditation, just thinking aloud collectively~ अहं पूर्ण:, I am complete in and of myself, I the consciousness that illumines everything, I am पूर्ण:| When this is said, what comes up for you? Are you able to stay with the वृत्ति/thought, or some questions/doubts come up.
~ No questions, no doubts.
~ Visual comes up of a yellow light.
~ It feels like an axiom.
If it feels like an axiom, am I able to relate to it is the question? Because axiom platitude is pretty remote, or something to live my life by. That I am that.
~ I see space.
So when I see space, here is where a little मननम् is required, that I am the basis of that space. So,
सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म, and then, तस्माद्वा एतस्मादात्मन आकाशः |
So from सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं, आकाशः वायु: इत्यादि, all the पञ्चमहाभूत-s have come.
~ vast feeling.
~ affirmation.
~ belief.
Now affirmation, is it true or not? Sometimes, we want something to happen, we don’t fully believe it and therefore I will say some statement. Is it that kind of a statement, or it’s a statement of fact which I try to see.
~ sense of calm.
~ liberated.
~ false notions falling away.
Is that visual? Yes.
So different kinds of things may come up for all of us. You stay with the वृत्ति, you stay with it. And in any case, anywhere your mind goes it is in ब्रह्मन् only. Wherever- to Timbuktu it goes, or even it goes to intergalactic space interstellar, that is also in ब्रह्मन् only.
So we don’t have to worry~ Oh, my mind is going here, my mind is going there. Let it go wherever it has to, it’s okay, it is all ब्रह्मन्, it is पूर्ण:, I am that पूर्ण |
Suppose for someone the question comes up- Oh, how can I be पूर्ण? Suppose it will happen. The ones who have not articulated this will be the question. So then, the reason that question comes up is because you have gone back into thinking from the body standpoint. Because I’m this little, little creature, however big I am, but still little in the context of space, galaxy. And so how can I be ब्रह्मन्? This is what we refer to as मनोमयकोश, immediately I identified with the mind, or I identified with the body.
So then the one who meditates, who is the simple person, who is not playing any role, who is साक्षी i.e. witness consciousness with respect to the साक्ष्यम् | Here the साक्ष्यम्, the object of meditation is really you. Which you are we talking about? Not the personality, not the one with the name and the coordinates and the address and the relationships.
~ Oh, but that’s only coming in my mind.
Then please get in touch with the simple person. Because identities are so entrenched that I’m not able to drop it. I’m not ready for निदिध्यासन, let’s be very clear.
So then, if somebody says~ Oh, how can I use निदिध्यासन to improve the quality of my relationships?
You please come for a relationship workshop. Please do not use निदिध्यासन for this.
Because somebody might well say~ you know, when I feel complete, then it takes care of my sense of inadequacy. Then I will be able to better relate to people.
So some people with some little understanding here and there, they may try to use it, or rather misuse it. It is not meant for that.
सुखमात्यन्तिकं यत्तद्बुद्धिग्राह्यमतीन्द्रियम् ।
वेत्ति यत्र न चैवायं स्थितश्चलति तत्त्वत: ॥ २१॥
In verse number 20 i.e. 6.20, the चित्तम् that has been mastered with ध्यानम् is able to see oneself by oneself.
And what happens after, we always wonder~ but then what? After I’m realized then what will happen? After we get there, what will happen?
Oh, once you see yourself by yourself, सुखमात्यन्तिकं – you recognize a very deep and absolute सुखम् | सुखम् is happiness, simple translation. But this kind of सुख is अतीन्द्रियम्, it is not connected to your sense organs.
And how is it known? यत् तत् बुद्धि ग्राह्यम् |
So anyone who thinks that~ Oh, Kundalini will rise and Kundalini will bestow the knowledge on me. Here the श्रीमद् भगवद्-गीता is very clear, the ignorance lies in बुद्धि, what you have concluded yourself to be.
Because remember बुद्धि is the decision making function of your mind. So, so called self realization does not happen in your heart, or in your kidney, or in your spinal cord- Kundalini rising. It happens in your बुद्धि |
बुद्धि we use interchangeably~ it could be mind, it could be heart. Both. There is no discrepancy.
So, the I that is known, when I say ‘I am’, which is a statement of being self-evident self-illumining, and that everything else becomes evident to me. ‘I Am’. That ‘I Am’ is not referring to what you see in the mirror. That’s perception. How you look and appear and whatever else. That’s perception, and that’s just one aspect of you, your personality.
Then it is not even the ‘I Am’, the self-evident स्वत:सिद्ध, स्वत:प्रकाश: being, that you are चैतन्यम्, that is also not the result of an inference that you have reached.
So people love me, people care for me, therefore I am. Or I managed to achieve something in life, which society approves of therefore I am. ‘I am’ is not the result of any inference.
Nor is it a conclusion born of comparison, उपमान |
So when we really look at it, the सुख that we experience is born of स्पर्श/contact of the body-mind with different sense objects.
So I just had an ice cream – विषय सुख i.e. the सुख related to an object. Or you spent some nice time with a friend. That is also विषय सुख |
Or, I meditated, or I had a very nice, very relaxing आसन practice. That is योगानंद, योग सुख |
Or, because we enjoy our curiosity, we have a value for knowing more and you discovered certain things today in a domain that you are very interested in, whatever that topic of knowledge is. So this is विद्या सुख | सुख that is born of knowledge.
So like that there are different kinds of सुख/happiness.
Here, seeing oneself by oneself is recognizing that I am that सुख | सुख स्वरूप – this is my nature. What is your nature is intrinsic to you. It is not incidental.
Ice cream सुख, cryptocurrency सुख, person related सुख, spending time over coffee related सुख | Incidental- it all depends on an incident. And yes, the incident helps to manifest the सुख that you are. All that is great.
What all this is pointing out, and especially when you are able to see that I am that simple person, I am that consciousness that illumines the simple person, अहं पूर्ण:, there is no lack in me. All subject, all object, all forms are me. They come from me, and so on.
Then, when this is recognized by the बुद्धि,
then one knows/recognizes/वेत्ति,
अयं स्थित: न चलति – I am ever established, I am ever rooted in this,
and one cannot move away- न चलति तत्त्वत: |
So this is a concern that a lot of people have. In the class it all sounds okay. Soon after class, gone, everything is gone, and you are often wonder, for years you will wonder. Because the vision may not be clear, and otherwise you’re quite eloquent. And you can perhaps teach any kind of subject matter, but when it comes to वेदान्त you cannot. Because the vision is not entirely clear, and you’re not quite sure where/how the dots connect.
So you try to repeat, or you try to in the good old learning orientation~ what were the bullet points of the class. And then there is a sense of uncertainty. You may remember two-three things. And then you say~ Oh, but the class, it should be structured more. But it’s an unfolding class, it will not have a lot of bullet points. So you may offhand remember some story, or you may offhand remember some one line, and that’s about it. And then you say~ Oh teacher is useless, or something is wrong with me, I should be able to better grasp. And so I have moved away from what I understood in the class. Or this also happens during a camp, or after a camp. So you get back into whatever is your routine, and you feel like you’ve moved away. But for the one who is very clear about the reality, that all activities, all projects, all roles, all forms, everything is really sustained by you the आत्मा | So where will you go?
Either physically- whether you are on earth or you go into space, it is all the आत्मा anyway. And your thoughts wherever you go~ Oh, I have some immoral thoughts. That also. Moral thoughts, immoral thoughts, illegal, whatever kind of thoughts you have. And whoever you are thinking of~ Oh, I shouldn’t be thinking about this one, that one. All those thoughts, they are all sustained by तत्त्वम्~ reality.
And so He is just saying that for the one who is स्थित:, who is well established in oneself as consciousness, you can never move away from the truth that you are.
*Guided meditation- निदिध्यासनम्* ~ Minute 19:20 – Minute 31:20
यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं तत: ।
यस्मिन्स्थितो न दु:खेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते ॥ २२॥
When you get a glimpse of the reality of who you are, that is this अत्यन्तिकं सुखम् आनन्द, then there is nothing that is better than that. As we say, tiger has tasted blood, and will want to return again and again to seeing a glimpse of who you really are.
So that’s what is being said that gaining that, यं लब्ध्वा, अपरं लाभं न अधिकं तत: – there is no other gain compared to this.
Because this gain is as though. It was not like I was अपूर्ण first. अपूर्ण means incomplete.
So at a personality level, it’s possible that I suffer from a sense of inadequacy. But that’s the personality, that’s some conditioning from the past, some childhood related situations, some sort of ideas, and these are all experiences that can be processed to come to a relative sense of okay, I’m okay. So, I’m okay is good enough for us.
So, the पूर्णत्वम् that you are is not opposed to these different kinds of feelings, sensations that come up from time to time and need to be addressed. In fact, there is nothing that is opposed to the reality that is you.
Still, what is being said is when one is established in this reality, that is you, then what happens?
Even if there is great दु:ख गुरुणापि | One of the meanings of गुरु is heavy.
गुरु is गुरु ~ Teacher of self knowledge. But गुरु is also heavy. So people who are learning Sanskrit, in the initial lessons you will read गुरु translation is heavy. Okay, so heavy here means very big. So even if there is a great दु:ख that comes, the person is not affected.
Now here we are not trying to be stoic. That~ Oh, I am consciousness therefore, nothing must affect me. No. Again you have converted knowledge into a rule that you should not be affected. We’re not talking about that.
It’s like this- So as a parent, suppose if your child is bawling her eyes out because the toy broke. And you in your great wisdom you feel sad that the child is crying as if disaster has struck. But for you, you’re not looking down on the child, that~ oh my God come on, don’t you realize it’s a toy. No. You also empathize, you also say~ yeah of course. And then we may say~ Oh, I’ll get you another toy, or we distract, or we stay with the child who is crying, hold the child, and all that.
So, the दु:ख is there because the situation that calls for some दु:ख is there, but it doesn’t affect you. The human medium is there so the capacity to experience all emotion is there.
Understand this well, the capacity to experience emotion is there, but does it have a staying power? It affects you, this is मनोमयकोश | मनोमयकोश means you identify with the mind and emotions only. I am my feelings full-stop.
So I am sad. The statement is ‘I am …’, whatever the emotion is.
Here, maybe there is something, maybe there is an event, some disaster that has happened, and yes most people are likely to have दु:ख | But you are not affected. Not because you’re a stone. You can experience whatever are the emotions, but you are not identified with the emotion.
Why you’re not identified? Are you dissociated? Not dissociated. But you see here that the mind has its emotions and that’s it. And I illumine all this, in fact this disaster, let’s say a tsunami, has also come from me only, because I am the आत्मा |
Whoa, you are to be blamed? No, this is my nature. All forms come from me.
Oh, then the Amazon rainforest. Yes, that also comes from me.
Oh, the galaxy. That also comes from me.
So, there is clarity.
यस्मिन् स्थित: न दु:खेन गुरुणा अपि विचाल्यते – the person is not affected if the person is established in this reality that is the आत्मा |
तं विद्याद् दु:खसंयोगवियोगं योगसञ्ज्ञितम् ।
स निश्चयेन योक्तव्यो योगोऽनिर्विण्णचेतसा ॥ २३॥
And there is something to be understood here. This is the third definition of कर्म योग |
Which are the other two?
(i) कौशलम् – योग: कर्मसु कौशलम् (२.५०)
समत्वम्- a gracious equanimous acceptance.
(ii) समत्वम् – सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्यो: समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते (२.४८)
कौशलम्- a competence in धर्म based कर्म.
Now, the third definition of योग is here. And what is that?
तं विद्यात् – may you know,
that योग सञ्ज्ञितम् – this is called योग |
What is that? दु:ख-संयोग-वियोगम् |
So वियोग is separation or like a dissociation, moving away from,
from what?
दु:ख-संयोग – association with sorrow.
So this sounds very weird. Who in their right mind will be associated with sorrow? No one. But we are.
So tell me how?
‘I will be happy when…’
I will be happy when I go on vacation. But the way our company is struggling, every time I plan I have to cancel. Why? Because so many people are getting laid off. Or people are choosing to quit. So now my happiness is being held hostage. Only when I go on vacation I will be happy.
So now, this condition I have placed on myself, no one asked me to do it. But I did it. Because of course I have freedom of choice. The condition is actually a राग – Only when I go on vacation I will be happy.
I will be happy when I go on vacation. Or, I will be happy when this person understands. Then you will have to wait for a long time in your life.
So anyway, I will be happy when I go on vacation. राग | By all means go on vacation. But don’t hold your happiness hostage to a condition. Because we have become so habituated to being unhappy. It’s a habit to be unhappy. But, nobody taught me this habit. I learnt how to brush my teeth, and take a bath and all that but this habit who taught me?
Well it is thanks to अविद्या | Thanks to अविद्या, I start to put conditions on myself. So this is called दु:ख-संयोग – the association with दु:ख that we all naturally have is really got to do with our self identity. And for most of us, self identity is that I am this limited body mind only. As long as you have that, even if you are Elon Musk, you will suffer. Why? Because limitation. We can’t handle limitation, we are always going to struggle against it. And so you can learn to manage your रागद्वेष, but all of it is coming from where? From अविद्या |
So the दु:ख-संयोग, this natural association with दु:ख that we have. When somebody asks me~ how are you? We will, just as a matter of routine say~ yeah, I’m fine. Something we will say.
Then somebody says~ I am happy. Anytime you ask the person~ I am happy. Then you wonder, what’s wrong with this person? Actually there is nothing to wonder, we have to say there’s something right with this person. I am happy. Then we will ask~ Is it love or is it Dove (the soap)? You know one old advertisement there used to be.
So there has to be a reason why you are happy, you cannot be happy for no reason. Or what we say~ उन्मत्त: i.e. somebody who has a mental disorder. So that is what is said in Sanskrit सुभाषितम् | Only children and people who are crazy, they will just be happy for no reason.
Or, of course wise people are also happy for no reason.
So we have bound ourselves so much that even if somebody’s happy around us, we will say~ oh maybe the person is having an affair. You know something, or there is some mystery to this, there is some secret. The person was not like that earlier, so how come this person is happy all the time? When I look around, nothing is okay with that person. Everything is falling apart. But this person seems to be happy. See how we have habituated ourselves to feeling unhappy?
And there are always different people to blame, or different conditions to be blamed. All that goes on and on and on. So we may couch our language differently. But there is no respite from recognizing something or the other is responsible or is worthy of being blamed.
So this रागद्वेष that we are placing on people and conditions around us, coming from अविद्या, not knowing who I really am therefore, I need X-Y-Zed to complete me. This is दु:ख-संयोग | This is our natural association with दु:ख Why? Because of self identity.
So when it comes to one definition of योग, of course people would have heard uniting the body with the mind, uniting जीवात्मा and परमात्मा, and so on. Now, any kind of uniting implies there are 2, at least. But here He’s not talking about any uniting. He’s actually talking about dissociating. Dissociating as in whatever comes together, sooner or later will fall apart.
In one narrative, Lord Raama talks about his relationship with Sita Devi, saying that for some time we came together, like logs floating in the river we traveled a certain distance and then it was time to part.
But recognizing that any relationship- mother-child, partner, friends, of course it goes through different phases, so there is a coming together, there is falling apart, and so on and so forth.
So in terms of our different relations, this association and moving away from association happens all the time.
Even if you say till death do us part, it’s only for this lifetime. And even then it’s possible you have a long distance relationship, or people are traveling, so not always together.
So now when it comes to this दु:ख-संयोग, to have the honesty to recognize how I am building up my दु:ख, we have to see this. And to see something clearly, without blaming, without getting exhausted, is quite an art. Because this is what objectivity is. You just see what is, you’re not building up reaction.
Oh, this is how I build up दु:ख, that’s why even more I have दु:ख now. I am so sad. Earlier I was okay. Now with all this वेदान्त now, you are forced to look at oneself, and one’s patterns, and also seeing I take responsibility. Because it’s कर्म योग | So taking responsibility for my कर्म and not ducking under any issue. Not saying~ Oh my Raahu is like that, what can I do? What? What kind of an excuse is that? Raahu is only reflecting your कर्म | Raahu is not making you do these things.
Or what to do, my father was like that, so I got this habit. No. You take responsibility.
So without getting exhausted, we have to see how I build up दु:ख |
And here we go back to one of the योग सूत्र-s which Swaminiji mentioned prior-
अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः ॥ २.३ ॥
The five sources of क्लेशाः are अविद्या i.e. ignorance and its crop- अस्मिता (I-notion), राग (binding desire/attachment), द्वेष(aversion), अभिनिवेशाः (fear of death).
So just looking at how रागद्वेष works. So I do this, and I am objective to it.
So again, and again what is to be done?
निश्चयेन योक्तव्य: |
So that may you do this practice. What is the practice? योक्तव्य: किम्? What is to be done?
अनिर्विण्ण-चेतसा ~ so with a mind that is steady, that is not easily discouraged. Again and again this दु:ख-संयोग that is there in one’s life- ‘I will be happy when…’ is an example of दु:ख-संयोग | That I am placing a condition on my happiness. Or I will be happy when the world is in order. Well actually how do you know the world is not in order already? The world is in order. And the disorder is also a part of the order. All thanks to us only. We are the ones who have contributed to global warming and all mayhem. It is very much in order.
I am, the world is.
Whatever conditions we are placing on it, you go one level deeper and you see that it’s रागद्वेष, so it is अविद्या | You own it up. And then again and again you say that all this दु:ख-संयोग is related to my conclusion about myself, does it stand up to scrutiny? I am this limited body mind only, is it absolute reality? Because body mind is incidental, I consciousness am intrinsic and I cannot even give up that.
For संन्यास suppose you say~ oh I want to give up. But you cannot give up your own nature. So you are consciousness anyway. Even if you wanted to, you can’t give it up.
So this योग, दु:ख-संयोग-वियोगम्, dissociating from the natural association with sorrow that we have because of रागद्वेष, अविद्या and so on,
may you pursue this.
So may you not approach it in a symptomatic way. I’m feeling a little sad, I distract myself. Over, situation handled. Sometimes we do that.
But go one level deeper.
Oh, my parents are like this. My situation is not so good. Okay, that’s कर्म, that’s the law of कर्म | It’s all पुण्य, पाप coming back to me, my own कर्म is coming back to me. Oh, I feel so sad about that. Yeah, of course there will be these reactions.
Law of कर्म is sustained by whom? ईश्वर | What is ईश्वर’s स्वरूप? Consciousness आत्मा, that is me.
The स्वरूप of ईश्वर is आत्मा consciousness that is me.
So again and again, I am able to see this. Yes, all these situations have to be handled. We are not denying it. Please do so with कर्म योग बुद्धि: | But don’t make that as an excuse. Oh, once I will deal with my situation then I am ready for आत्मा विचार | No. Let both of these go hand in hand. Because otherwise you are just building up दु:ख-संयोग | There will never be a situation when everything is perfect in your life, and this is not a curse okay. Something will be there- the walls are cracking, and something requires some help, or some problem with the job, or you are okay but the people around you are sick and you have to look after them. So, not all things will be perfect as you envision. But that’s not our aim. We have stopped, or at least we are trying to be less of control freaks. That despite everything I am okay. Because that दु:ख-संयोग, again and again I am doing वियोग i.e. I am moving away from it, moving away from the buildup of दु:ख |
So it’s an important definition.
ॐ